Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt A-10 Warthogs strike hard and fast. They are best used to take out single targets before a ground assault.

—In-Game Description

Thunderbolt
Unit Tier	3
Blueprint Acquisition	Unknown
Build Requisites	Unknown
Metal Cost	420,000 Metal
Basic Information
Unit Type	Fixed-Wing Aircraft
Unit Role	Airstrike
DPS	1,021
Health	1,700
Unit Speed	250
Capacity Used	200
Weapon Information
Weapon Type	Armor-Piercing Missile
Advanced Information
Equipment	Reinforced Fuel Tank
Targets	Structures

General Information

The Thunderbolt is a Tier 3 Fixed-Wing Aircraft, unlocked by reaching player level ?.

Unlike the Reaper, it is a dedicated ground attacker.

Weapons

The Thunderbolt's weapon deals Armor-Piercing Damage to a single selected structure once. If the target is behind a Barrier, the attack may end up hitting the Barrier.

Usage in Battle

Thunderbolts present a radically different option for early game offense. They're expensive and fragile, but can offer highly valuable support. As a strike aircraft, it is called directly to its target and attempts to make its move. If it does, it attempts to escape and will become avaliable after a cooldown period, should it survive.

The one valuable use of Thunderbolts is their ability to eliminate specific buildings that may hinder the rest of the platoon greatly. Such targets may vary, ranging from production structures like Helipad or defenses like Railgun, as when left unchecked, they can spoil an attack. Calling in several Thunderbolts early gives them little time to react, easily dealing critical damage if they're not destroyed outright should all hits connect. Its very high speed means they will more often than not make a successful alpha strike and survive for another. Alternatively, Thunderbolts may be used to help clean up what remains of a base, or to provide strategical support after removing any potential AA units and structures.

Despite its promising potential, Thunderbolts quickly becomes unviable due to several key issues. They are very fragile for a CC5 unit, meaning Flak Guns and SAMs can take them down easily before it could attack, and while enemy defenders can only retaliate, Thunderbolts are only able to target structures, leaving them at the mercy of PKs and Riflemen. Even when it does survive, its massive cooldown limits the support it could provide, which in turn barely contributes to any platoon. Cobras and Hinds can only be hit by so many defenses, the M270 Launcher can snipe Railguns before the tanks and Infantry move in for the kill, while Humvees are so fast that they practically blitz the whole base with or without air support. As such, it's better to avoid upgrading Thunderbolt and phase it out for the Raptor as soon as possible.

Unit Promotion

Level	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Stats
DPS	1,171 (+150)	1,346 (+175)	1,552 (+206)	1,794 (+242)	2,079 (+285)	2,416 (+337)	2,816 (+400)	3,291 (+475)	3,858 (+567)
Equipment	Reinforced Fuel Tank (Armor)	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None
Promotion Cost
Critical	11	12	14	15	16	18	20	22	24
Common	6	6	7	8	9	10	10	11	12
Metal	5,500	6,000	6,500	7,501	8,001	9,001	10,000	11,000	12,000
Thorium	0	0	0	0	488	663	851	1,075	1,250

External Links

• Reaper on Wikipedia