Contents
Description
The most heavily armoured and armed of the machines, the Tank towers over houses and players alike, shaking the very ground with each step. Do not engage it without a strategy, plan your encounter in advance, and always be ready to run when the rockets start flying.
The Tank is most often heard before it is seen, emitting loud thumps with each step and oftentimes, loud whirring sounds.
Abilities
Prototype
Ranged
- Machine Gun
- The Tank fires a large burst of heavy rounds with its Machine Gun at a player, dealing medium damage per round. This attack has 360° of reach and can even penetrate the Tank's own legs (without dealing damage).
- Missile Launcher
- The Tank fires a large barrage of missiles at a player. The rockets move rather slowly, but deal a lot of damage.
Melee
- Concussion pulse
- If a player enters the vicinity of the Tank, it will sometimes charge up (indicated by it standing still and straightening its legs, pushing the body up) and then release a fast traveling shock wave with a medium damage radius. It will damage players nearby once and knock them off their feet if they don't have something like a house or shed between them and the Tank, or the "Steady Feet" perk (Left Survivor tree, fourth skill).
- Melee stomp
- If a player enters melee range, the Tank stomps one of its feet on the ground and damages players in a small radius around its foot. This deals a lot of damage.
- Melee Rush
- The Tank runs towards a player, damaging any players in its way with each step. It can perform this move anytime, but is commonly used when both weapons are shot off the Tank. It will also use this to rush towards a Seeker that has spotted the player and alerted the Tank about their presence.
Army
Ranged
As for ranged weaponry, Army Tanks have:
- Tick deployment
- The Tank releases an army of Army Class Ticks.
And one of the following:
- Linear Accelerator
- This is a Railgun with very long charge time, but incredibly high damage output. Only one Army Tank has the Railgun, it is located at (-2924.72, -3224.89).
- Machine Gun
- As mentioned before.
As well as one of the following:
- Mortar
- The Tank fires a single projectile into the air which lands next to a players position at the time of the shot. It deals high damage in a small radius. Usually, a hissing noise moving towards the player announces this incoming projectile.
- Missile Launcher
- As mentioned before.
Note: In extremely rare occurrances, an Army Tank can have both the Mortar and the Missile Launcher.
Melee
- Gas Release
- If a player gets too close, but not within melee range, the Tank releases a cloud of toxic gas that will damage players within slowly. This does not apply a status effect to the players who enter it, so it will stop damaging them as soon as they move out of the cloud.
- Concussion Pulse
- As mentioned before.
- Melee Stomp
- As mentioned before.
- Melee Rush
- As mentioned before.
FNIX
Ranged
As for ranged weaponry, FNIX Tanks have:
- Tick deployment
- The Tank releases an army of FNIX Class Ticks.
And one of the following:
- Linear Accelerator
- This is a Railgun with very long charge time, but incredibly high damage output. Only one FNIX Tank has the Railgun, it is located on Himfjäll Island (Alpine Unrest DLC required).
- Machine Gun
- As mentioned before.
As well as one of the following:
- Mortar
- As mentioned before.
- Missile Launcher
- As mentioned before.
Melee
- Gas release
- As mentioned before.
- Concussion pulse
- As mentioned before.
- Melee stomp
- As mentioned before.
- Melee Rush
- As mentioned before.
Apocalypse
Ranged
- Incendiary machine gun
- This iteration of the Tank has a machine gun that fires incendiary rounds. Any player hit by one of the shots will start to burn and take damage over time for a few seconds.
- "Stinger" Tick deployment
- The Tank deploys Apocalypse Class Ticks.
- Anti-personal cluster mine launcher
- Instead of an explosive shell mortar like its predecessors, the Apocalypse Tank has a cluster mine launcher that will fire a single projectile that travels towards a player. Upon getting close to that player, the projectile will split into several football-sized mines that stay where they land (unless they land on a slope, then they will start rolling downwards) and explode as soon as a player gets too close to them (they have a several second period after landing in which they won't explode, regardless of how close they are to the player; this allows for some time for the player to react). The mines will beep louder and faster the closer they are to the player. They can be destroyed from a distance by shooting at them.
Melee
- Wall of Flames
- This melee skill works like the previous iteration's Concussion Pulse, but the shockwave consists of fire and will burn any players caught in it on top of dealing a great amount of initial damage.
- Melee Stomp
- As mentioned before.
- Melee Rush
- As mentioned before.
Weakspots
The primary weapons can be shot off. At this point, the Tank will not be able to use them anymore.
The main body (above the weapons array) is heavily armored from the front, but once the armor plate is broken, the components beneath can be targeted for heavy damage. The sensor on the head farthest right (player view), usually red when engaged, can be destroyed.
"Cylinders" located on the back of the machine above the feet are critical spots that will end in the Tank's destruction provided a high powered rifle was used and required multiple hits.
Damaging the hinge located near the model number can cripple the Tank. A High voltage sign beneath the top left hinge is also a critical hit point.
There is a bolted square above the "knee pads" armor on the front of the Tanks legs. If the armor is shot off, the metal beam underneath is revealed, between the square and the knee joint. This is a weak point easily accessible from the front. A player can hit this spot easier from a slightly elevated position, like on the second floor of a house, inside a church tower, or on uphill from the Tank.
On the back of the Tank, the Tick Pod will be the lowest component, a big barrel hanging from the main body. Directly above it is a battery pack. After using flares to distract the Tank, a player can easily walk around it and shoot these off, dealing medium damage.
Strategy
Tanks are large and slow, but heavily armored and armed. Heavier hitting bullets will help destroy the armored parts quickly. Slug rounds and armour-piercing (AP) rifle ammunition are especially potent. After the armor is gone, the underlying components should be targeted using FMJ or Hollow-Point ammo, as those deal more damage to components.
A fight should always be started by distracting them, be it with a radio, flares or a co-op partner moving in.
The first main target should be the Machine Gun, as it is the most difficult weapon to avoid. The Machine Gun should be shot off, while the secondary armament (Missile Launcher or Mortar) should be left alone. The reason for this is that the Tank will start running after players if both of his ranged weapons are shot off, making him a more difficult target. The secondary weapon is also fairly easy to dodge.
Second, the back of the Tank should be targeted. The Tick Pod can easily be shot off and the battery pack above it is also an easy target. At the top of the backside, there's a quadratic panel that, when shot off, reveals a component that takes a lot of damage when shot. Of course, the Gas aggregate all the way at the top of the body is also a valuable target quickly taken out from the high ground.
A more unconventional strategy involves the use of an EMP effect combined with exploding placed items like Mines or Gas Canisters. These do extreme amounts of damage and are a great way of stripping the Tank of its armor. However, if the tank is active when the player deploys the mine, it can detonate too early and the player can get caught in its blast. EMP rounds fired from a Granatgevär are advised to keep the Tank inactive while the player plants the mine and gets away. A difficult strategy to pull off, but very rewarding if done right.
Story
Diary Extract 3 - The Tank
We almost lost half the group today. It was so stupid too, so pointless. We should have heard that…thing approaching sooner, but we were too busy rummaging through the shelves of a garage to realize that we weren’t hearing the sound of thunder. It wasn’t until the items on the shelves started to shake that we realized something was very wrong.
That thing was like a Tank but on legs, massive. Beyond massive. It towered over all the houses, every step of its two heavy legs shook us to the core. Thankfully it was slow, but every aspect of it from its size to the gigantic weapons hanging underneath it screamed danger. Death. Run.
So needless to say, we ran for our lives the moment we saw it. We were severely unprepared to face whatever that monstrosity was; we barely made it out alive. The robot started shooting at us with some kind of automatic machine gun, hitting the ground, nearby cars and even a few of us. Thankfully mostly flesh-wounds. When the bullets stopped, I foolishly thought we might have made it. Then a weird whizzing noise filled our ears, getting closer and closer. We weren’t prepared for the rockets. The explosion sent us tumbling to the ground, ears ringing from the impact. It took us way too long to get back on our feet, but helping each other we were able to hide long enough for it to stop pursuing us. I pray we never see one again.
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