The Stealth Tank. An iconic unit since the beginning of the first Tiberium War. Designed to strike fear into your enemy. Designed to harass. Designed to confuse. Designed to destroy.
Designed to win. In a match vs. Nod or Marked of Kane, you are freely harvesting your tiberium at your new tiberium field when along comes the message "Harvester under attack!" You know it all too well and are certain Stealth Tanks are after your Harvesters. But what do you do to counter Stealth Tanks effectively at home and on the field and how do you use Stealth Tanks if you happen to be Nod or MoK? In this week's tip, you will be shown just how these babies are used and how to counter them.
How to use Stealth tanks
The Stealth Tank is Nod and MoK's powerhouse in terms of damage, but what it gains in damage it loses in health. It is best suited for work outside the main attack force but occasionally it can work wonders with small attack forces that feature EMP. It is best to keep Stealth Tanks away from your main force since they will often attract unwanted attention and in turn, you may lose your pricey $1800 Stealth Tank to Orcas or possibly some Vertigos.
The Stealth tank as a 3 Man (or Woman) Army (3MA) This method of using Stealth Tanks is the most effective use of them. The total cost of 3 Stealth Tanks is $5400, 400 more than the price of an epic. The reason it is best to use 3 Stealth Tanks instead or 1, 2, or 4, etc is because the chances of all Stealth Tanks attacking at the same time diminishes as more are acquired. 2 Stealth Tanks will most likely be the best in terms of attacking together but they will lack the firepower that is needed. 3 Stealth Tanks will attack at the same time 9 times out of 10 and have 50% more power than 2 stealth tanks. The 50% higher firepower means that the Stealth Tanks will take a lot less time to attack fragile targets such as Harvesters, Power Plants, and Tier 2 tech structures. In a scenario where it would take the full 2.5~ seconds to almost level a Power Plant (or level it completely with Tiberium Core Missiles) with 2 Stealth Tanks, it will take as little as 1.5 seconds for the job to be done. Timing is critical when using Stealth Tanks. You simply cannot let Stealth Tanks stand still. You are asking for a death warrant like that and they come easily for Stealth Tanks. Storm Columns, Obelisks, Stasis Fields, and a combination of Pitbulls and Orcas are your worst enemies with the worst being the Storm Column.
As mentioned before, Stealth Tanks can occasionally be useful on the battlefield. On large maps such as Tournament Rift and Dustbowl, where the battlefields are large, Stealth Tanks quickly find a niche in the main battle. When a battle erupts between two clashing armies of equal sizes, take advantage of bringing your Stealth Tanks around the battle at the start or before it starts. As soon as the battle engages, take out any lagging units in the back of the army such as a lone Predator, Seeker, etc. If the lagging unit is a Mammoth Tank, Tripod, or Avatar, do not engage this unit unless you are
certain that you can take it down in 1 volley or less. If artillery units such as Devastator Warships, Juggernauts, or Specters are unprotected or lightly protected during the battle, destroy the units defending the artillery before engaging the artillery. Out of the 3 artillery units, Juggernauts are the hardest artillery to take down since only 2 shots are enough to take down a Stealth Tank. Furthermore, always engage main battle tanks such as Predators, Devourers, and laser Scorpions from behind! Never engage these units if they are facing you. Attacking from behind is critical to your success. Not only does attacking from behind give you a 25% attack bonus vs. the unit (Titans receive only 10%) but it also means that it will take a half second to a second before the unit can turn its turret and fire at you. The unit can be destroyed before it ever gets a chance attack you once.
Maintaining your Stealth Tank army
Before I tell you how to keep Stealth Tanks healthy and running, let me first say why you should even consider it. Although it may not seem like much of a loss to lose an $1800 unit, a loss like this is a huge detriment to your success. Always avoid losing your Stealth Tanks. If you keep them alive, they can be guaranteed to be the first unit in your arsenal to rank up to heroic and become extremely deadly. The reason they are the most likely unit is because the way a unit levels up is determined by how much damage they do to buildings and/or how many units they destroy. If a unit can accumulate three times its value in damaged buildings and/or units, than it will gain a rank. Veteran units do 10% more damage per shot and have 10% more health. Elite units do 25% more damage and have 40% more health. This means that even an elite Stealth Tank can be a hassle to take down thanks to its added armor and 25% attack bonus. Heroic stealth tanks can signal defeat for any enemy since it takes them a significantly shorter amount of time to release 10 missiles and their refire rate is boosted by as much as 100%. On top of that, their health is doubled and their damage bonus is easily boosted to 50% or more damage. Such a unit like this is one to shoot for when using Stealth Tanks. So finally, the question is: How do you keep them alive and in a healthy running state?
It's very simple I must say. Whenever a Stealth Tank loses more than half of its health, retreat it back home along with your other Stealth Tanks and repair at the War Factory. If while retreating you happen to find resistance, avoid them. If its unavoidable such as 3 or 4 Pitbulls, let your damaged tank continue retreating and let your other tanks in the 3MA fight off the Pitbulls.
Never let the Pitbulls continue to attack your weakened Stealth Tank. If the Tank is damaged to 25% of its health, it will lose speed and eventually be lost as it lags behind your other 2 stealth tanks. Survival is key in patch 1.01 and especially 1.02 (thanks to the buff for elite units) of Kane's Wrath and you must act accordingly. Let your Stealth Tanks re-enter battle when all are fully healed. If you choose to not retreat when the 50% threshold is reached on one of your Stealth Tanks, then you are at your own risk. But, if an excellent situation presents itself such as lone Harvesters marching from a field back to their base or visa versa, take advantage but if you can, make the most injured Stealth Tank go to the back of the group so as to draw the least amount of fire. Sharing is caring in real life and it is no different in KW. Share the damage, live longer, its that simple.
What units/buildings should I attack?
Good question! When you first acquire stealth tanks, your first priority targets as soon as you get 2, is to go straight after your opponent's Harvesters. All Harvesters, when up against Stealth Tanks, no matter what faction they are from, will go down in 2 volleys to Stealth Tanks, upgraded or not with Tiberium Core Missiles. But why 2 you ask? Waiting 20 seconds (2 second delay on getting out of the War Factory) extra for your third Stealth Tank to arrive is the time it takes for your Stealth Tanks to arrive on your opponent's tiberium field on maps such as Tournament Dustbowl or Rift. 20 seconds more means that they will have 20 seconds more to make more units and/or scout your base and realize that you are making Stealth Tanks, therefore allotting them time to transfer units over to their priceless Harvesters and thwart your attack. That is why in this case, 2 Stealth Tanks are better than 3. While attacking the unprotected Harvesters, keep watch of what units are coming into the battle. If they are slow units like Predators and are unaccompanied by a stealth detector unit such as a Pitbull,
keep hammering those Harvesters! Its okay if you take a shot or 2 because as soon as your stealth tanks disappear, they will not be able to shoot at you again. If 3 or 4 Pitbulls come running along and no other units are following along, change targets and aim for those Pitbulls being careful to
micro your Stealth Tank's missiles. It only takes around 4-5 missiles to destroy a Pitbull so half way into your Stealth Tank's attack, switch targets, you will be glad you did. If you are new to using Stealth Tanks, you will quickly realize that it overkills just about every light unit out there, especially all aircraft (besides Planetary Assault Carriers and Devastator Warships) and 2x especially when upgraded with Tiberium Core Missiles, giving it twice as much damage against air units.
Back on topic: so once you have retreated from demolishing your opponent's Harvesters or possibly finding that they were smart enough to fend off your attack before you even started, your next objective is to destroy the Tier 2 tech structure. If you can't kill your opponent's economy, then you might as well kill their power. Without power, production of all units and structures goes to a teeth grinding crawl
not to mention it makes detection of your stealth tanks for your opponent significantly harder since their radar is gone. Not only does this have a bad side affect on your opponent's overall effectiveness, but it also can break down their mind! It may cause your opponent to start thinking irrationally, making the wrong units, freezing for a few seconds trying to think of what to build next to counter your Stealth Tanks, etc. Taking down your opponent's power also relieves you from the worry of Obelisks, Sonic Emitters, or Storm Columns popping up to take down your Stealth Tanks in 1 shot. Once you have taken down a sufficient amount of Power Plants and your opponent's army has not arrived in the scene yet, aim for your opponents Tier 3 Tech Center. This will ultimately bring down their tech level to 1 and furthermore, they cannot put a fence around it while your taking it down because their power is down or they have lost their Tier 2 tech structure. Remember that Stealth Tanks are harassment units more so than they are main battle units.
But... for those of you worthy to be called micro-maniacs, I bestow upon you the honor of owning the following units very cost effectively:
- Pitbulls
- Seekers
- Bikes (before they get Tiberium Core Missiles)
- Flame tanks
- Rigs
- Mechapedes (just forcefire on the head)
- And to some extent, Avatars(since they take the full 100% damage from rockets)
Seekers are by far the easiest targets for destruction with proper micro of your Stealth Tanks. With a combination of reverse move and orders to attack front line Seekers directly, you can expect your Stealth Tanks to rack up many kills with almost no damage taken. The hardest units to take down in this particular group are Avatars followed by Bikes. If you can manage to take down an Avatar in under a second with 3 stealth tanks (using its back armor penalty for an additional 25% damage) you can expect to attack it without getting shot once. Furthermore, if there is a battle and the Avatars are engaged, you can safely attack the Avatars without drawing much fire from them. However, your opponent can always order them to turn around and shoot your Stealth Tanks, knowing that they go down very easily. Bikes are just as tough to take down as Avatars when they are in groups larger than 6 or more. The reason is because Stealth Tanks overkill the Bikes excessively and Bikes are very hard to target directly when they are moving. But in simple 1v3 battles, a Stealth Tank can effectively kill 3 Bikes. Tiberium Core Missiles however makes Bikes receive a 50% attack bonus vs. ground targets, making it best to avoid using Stealth Tanks vs. a Nod player who is using
excessive amounts of Bikes at all times.
In KW there is an upgrade called Tiberium Core Missiles. Is it worth getting?
The answer is yes, yes, and yes! Although a 15-20% attack bonus to your Stealth Tanks ground attack doesn't seem like much, it is just enough for it to take down a Power Plant in 2 volleys instead of 2.2 volleys (essentially the start of a third). But Tiberium Core Missiles stand out when used against air. This upgrade gives your Stealth Tanks a 100% attack bonus vs. all air units. What used to take 2 volleys to destroy now takes only 1! Furthermore, Tiberium Core Missiles upgrade your Bikes with a 50% damage bonus vs. ground targets and a 200-300% attack bonus vs. air units. Lastly, Tiberium Core Upgrades your SAM sites with Tiberium Core Missiles, effectively doubling their damage as well. For $2500, Tiberium Core Missiles are a fine addition to your arsenal.
