- "Ranged weapons platform. Strong against armored targets." — In game description
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Artillery Cruiser
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| Vehicle Information | |
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Classification
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Cruiser
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Purpose
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Long Range Bombardment
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Vehicle Type
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Artillery Cruiser
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Cost
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450 CUs 250 RUs
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| Technical Information | |
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Length
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110 meters
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Speed
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50 km/h
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Armaments
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16x Quad Artillery Missile Launchers
2x Point Defence Cannons |
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Damage
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100
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Rate of Fire
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LOW
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Hull
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2700
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Armor
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5
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Build Time
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70s
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Fleet Supply
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6
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| Usage | |
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Eras
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Affiliation
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Note: These are stats are from multiplayer.
Campaign units have different stats. | |
The NAC-14 Eclipse-Class Artillery Cruiser is a Kiith Naabal-designed heavy weapons platform mounted on a cruiser chassis used by the Coalition of the Northern Kiithid, especially in Operation Khadiim.
Lore[]
- "The Eclipse-class is tribute to Kiith Naabal's long relationship with artillery. Ever since they surged forth from Tiir to end the chaos of the Heresy Wars, the Naabal have depended on two key assets: the power of unassailable logic and the strenght of long range firepower. This cruiser design is long past her original service period but the Eclipse-class is a case of the weapon being so perfect for its job that the three scheduled replacements over the past fifteen years failed to outperform the original. " — Expedition Guide
Campaign[]
Artillery cruisers launch unguided artillery missiles in volleys of four at any targets within its massive range, inflicting extreme amounts of damage in a large area. Their firepower is exceeds that of several railguns, with each artillery missile possessing a very large blast radius, potentially obliterating an entire Gaalsien hovercraft column. A single salvo easily inflicts more than 1000 damage if they all hit near their target. Their range also greatly exceeds their sensor range and is significantly greater than railguns. They are also capable of firing over any terrain unlike most units.
Fabrication of artillery cruisers is first made available by Kapisi's engineering team during the battle supporting the Sakala against the K'had Sunder and K'had Retribution at the Whispering Gallery. A terrain which is notably difficult for the ground vehicles available for the coalition fleet at the time.
Producing large numbers of artillery cruisers can easily destroy large, slow moving formations of ground targets from afar regardless of the terrain, provided that artillery cruisers can see their targets. They later gain access to EMP launchers, which can disable Gaalsien hovercrafts in a moderate area for a lengthy period of time. These EMP shells have a slow projectile velocity, and generally need to be aimed carefully if they're to hit moving targets.
Artillery cruisers are very fragile, they function only as mobile weapon platforms and require various escorts to defend it against ground vehicles and air strikes. Despite being a cruiser, they are even more fragile than support cruisers, with less hull, less speed and roughly the same armor. Although they have two point defence cannons, they are merely token weapons that cannot be relied on, even to destroy a few sandskimmers.
Both the artillery launchers and EMP launchers have a minimum range, targets within this minimum range cannot be targeted.
Artillery cruisers can damage friendly units with its artillery missiles, they can be toggled not to attack nearby targets.
Abilities[]
| Name | Effect | Cooldown | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Area Barrage | Long range bombardment over a massive area | 65s | 0 CUs |
| Toggle Auto-Targeting | Toggles auto-targeting to reduce undesirable collateral damage | 0s | 0 CUs |
| Launch EMP Shell | Launches EMP shell that deals moderate damage and disables target temporarily | 45s | 0 CUs |
Veterancy[]
| Rank | Effect | XP Required |
|---|---|---|
| Officer | +2 Armor | 4000 |
| Lieutenant | +200 Hull | 6000 |
| Lt. Commander | +4 Armor | 9000 |
| Commander | +300 Hull | 14000 |
| Captain | +75% Damage | 20000 |
Research[]
| Name | CU Cost | RU Cost | Time | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artillery Cruiser Fabrication | 650 CUs | 175 RUs | 45s | Enables artillery cruiser production |
| Artillery Cruiser - Payload | 550 CUs | 25 RUs | 15s | Increases artillery blast radius by 25% |
| Artillery Cruiser - Damage | 675 CUs | 50 RUs | 20s | Increases artillery damage by 25% |
| Artillery Cruiser - EMP Shell | 500 CUs | 50 RUs | 25s | Enables EMP shell ability |
| Artillery Cruiser - Ability Recharge | 1000 CUs | 150 RUs | 25s | Reduces recharge time of all abilities by 50% |
Multiplayer[]
Artillery cruisers launch artillery shells from extreme range dealing substantial damage with its unguided missiles that have a large blast radius. They are predominantly mobile weapons platform that require escorts to protect it from ground vehicles at close range as well as air strikes. It is best positioned behind cover, where enemy railguns cannot gain a line of sight on it and fire. Given that they do not need line of sight, they are effective in rugged terrain that nominally neutralize railgun's range advantage.
A significant investment of resources and time to research artillery cruisers is required, behind they can be produced. They are very fragile, and require thorough protection even against LAVs or sandskimmers. Artillery shells being fired have a long and slow trajectory, they can always be easily dodged by faster vehicles, while dealing damage is always desirable, displacing enemy positions behind entrenched positions or high ground also has tactical value.
The artillery cruiser has two abilities that share the same cooldown. The area barrage launches roughly thirty shells in a large area from an extreme range, dealing moderate damage over a large area. Precision strike launches roughly the same number of shells in a precise area. Although this ability costs CUs, it does have half the cooldown, so its ability can be used again.
In comparison to artillery cruisers in campaign, artillery cruisers deal roughly a third the amount of damage per shell, but are still quite potent. They fire far more missiles per salvo with its area barrage abilities. Artillery cruisers in multiplayer do not have the ability to launch EMP shells. They have access to alternate abilities like the precision strike.
Strong against:[]
Coalition/Soban:
Gaalsien/Khaaneph:
Weak against:[]
Coalition/Soban:
Gaalsien/Khaaneph:
Abilities[]
Area barrage and precision strike abilities share the same cooldown.
| Name | Effect | Cooldown | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Area Barrage | Long range bombardment over a massive area | 65s | 0 CUs |
| Precision Strike | Accurate bombardment in a precise area | 30s | 200 CUs |
| Toggle Auto-Targeting | Toggles auto-targeting to reduce undesirable collateral damage | 0s | 0 CUs |
Veterancy[]
| Rank | Effect | XP Required |
|---|---|---|
| Officer | +2 Armor | 1120 |
| Lieutenant | +200 Hull | 2128 |
| Lt. Commander | +100m Weapon Range | 4043 |
| Commander | +2 Rate of Fire | 7682 |
| Captain | -20% Reload Time | Unknown |
Research[]
| Name | CU Cost | RU Cost | Time | Effect | Prerequisites |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artillery Cruiser Fabrication | 500 CUs | 300 RUs | 100s | Enables artillery cruiser production | Assault Cruiser Fabrication |
Trivia[]
- Artillery cruisers are crewed by Kiith Soban.