- 2 Talk
-
Planetary Assault Carrier
| Planetary Assault Carrier | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Unit | |
| Affiliation | |
| Role |
Heavy Capital Ship/Aircraft Carrier |
| Armament |
|
| Protection |
Heavy |
| Production | |
| Cost |
3000 |
| Build time |
0:30 |
| Produced by | |
Planetary Assault Carriers are among the most fearsome and powerful Scrin aircraft witnessed during the Third Tiberium War.
BackgroundEdit
Resembling giant, floating, legless stag beetles, each Carrier arrives above the battlefield armed with a contingent of smaller Scrin Invader fighters, which immediately detach from it and swarm around their target, firing plasma weapons. When working together these fighters are able to deal significant damage, and if destroyed the Carrier is able to "grow" a replacement.
However, carriers are perhaps most dangerous when generating an ion storm, as they were apparently able to do at will. It has been observed that these ships actually regain hull integrity while in an ion storm. While harming human forces, ion storms enhance the fighting capability of Scrin aircraft in particular. Carriers have also been witnessed possessing an energy shield, similar to that seen on the Annihilator Tripod and Devastator Warship, which greatly enhances their durability.
These are considered analogous to our aircraft carriers in that they both transport vessels for combat aircraft, that they are the main ships of a fleet, and that they have very few defenses of their own. However they can fly, carry twice as many aircraft as the current aircraft carrier, can utilize shields, and can create ion storms which distinguishes them greatly from the aircraft carriers of GDI.
In-gameEdit
Pros
- Deadly for Tier 3 units; the PACs are like flying Mammoth 27s
- Feared by all air and ground units, even Epic Units
- Swarms of Invaders
- Can replace lost fighters free of charge
- Has shield or engine upgrades
- Strong Armor
- A strong combination of PACs with Stormriders and Devastator Warships is a nightmare for other factions.
- Can generate Ion Storms
- Able to destroy enemy bases in superior numbers
- Self-repairs in Ion Storms
- Has Stealth Detection
- Perhaps the most powerful Tier 3 unit in the war in terms of aerial combat
- Virtually matchless in one-on-one fights
- Slow, but faster than the mothership
Cons
- Defenseless without its fighters, and it takes time to replace destroyed ones.
- Slingshots, APCs and Mantis can accurately hit its fighters in swarms.
- Unavailable to Reaper 17
- Hard to repair despite the Gravity Stabilizer's repair drones.
- The EMP Control Center's EMP can take down an unshielded PAC.
- Very expensive and without the Signal Transmitter it can't be built
- Not very effective against infantry
- Cannot generate ion storm while moving
- Range of fire of its fighters is limited.
- Even Mammoth Tanks can sometimes outrun it
- Defenseless against large groups of enemy AA units
- One of the most expensive Tier 3 unit in the war, next to the Annihilator Tripod, Reaper Tripod, and the Black Hand's Purifier Warmech (3000 credits).
- Easy to defeat in a well-defended GDI Base, especially if the base has not only enough AA Guns to take out their Swarms (and then the PAC itself, with enough time), but 4 Firehawks with Air-to-Air Missiles can easily take it down under covering fire of their AA Guns.
- Requires a tremendous amount of resources to produce en masse.
- Despite it's stealth detection abilities, Stealth Tanks are still a serious threat in sizable groups.
