Cicada

Cicada
Background info
Faction	Axon
Game info
Type	Air
Appears in	Unreal Tournament 2004 Unreal Tournament 3

The Axon Cicada is a vehicle that is found in Unreal Tournament 2004 and Unreal Tournament 3.

Overview

It is an airborne vehicle that has rocket pods mounted on its side which can be shot from the air. It also can be held to hold up to 16 rockets in the pods and launch in a volley of rockets which can kill its target immediately (ground-deployed fighters).

The Cicada is known to be less flexible in turning than the Raptor, but it is more apt at climbing and diving. The primary fire sends a stream of rockets towards a point with limited precision. The alternate fire marks a point that will be attacked when the corresponding button is released (or the maximum capacity is reached) by up to 16 rockets. (When the primary fire button is pressed and held while the rockets are being loaded using the alternate fire button, the loading pauses.)

The second position gives access to a rapid-firing laser cannon that is instrumental in protecting the vehicle. The gunner's HUD also marks incoming homing missiles (such as those of an AVRiL or a Raptor), which, via the gunner's alternate fire, can be lured away from the Cicada using a flare.

The Cicada is notable for continuing to hover in the air even if only the gunner (and no pilot) is present. It falls to the ground when both seats are vacant.

Unreal Tournament 2004

Cicada
Background info
Faction	Axon
Game info
Type	Air
Health	600
Seats	2

"A two-seat ground attack craft, not as maneuverable as the Raptor, but with a much better climb/dive rate that allows it to quickly duck behind hills to escape incoming fire.

The pilot has control of the side-mounted rocket pods. The rockets can be fired singly at the pilot's point of aim, or the pilot can lock on to an area, load up the rocket pods, and fire off a volley that will seek the target. The second position has remote control of the lower laser turret with a high rate of fire and an impressive coverage area. The turret also has the ability to detect incoming AVRiL fire, allowing the gunner to respond by launching flares to confuse the missles' target lock."

– Vehicle description

In UT2004, The Cicada is a vehicle only given through the Mega Pack, and appears in 3 of the 5 maps for Onslaught given from the pack.

Its main uses are for node attacking and general annoyance.

Maps that feature the vehicle

Main article: Category:UT2004 maps that feature the Cicada

Unreal Tournament 3

Cicada
Background info
Faction	Axon
Game info
Type	Air
Health	500
Seats	2

"The Axon Cicada provides versatile near-air support for both offensive and defensive operations.

Dual wing-borne rotors allow for vertical takeoff and landing, hovering capability and multi-vectored propulsion. Side mounted rocket pods can be fired in quick succession to suppress a target at distance, or loaded up to 16 at a time and launched in a single volley that will home toward and annihilate its intended target. A secondary gunner position controls the underslung ball-turret plasma cannon.

The Cicadas low top speed and distinctive flight signature make it a ready target for anti-vehicle rockets so the secondary gunner also has chaff defensive countermeasures available."

– Vehicle description

In UT3, the Cicada sports a much bulkier and boxier look but is mostly unchanged, however, ascending and descending seems even faster than before. Missiles can still be charged and held with the Altfire. It's also the rarest of the vehicles, only making a large appearance in WAR-Torlan, WAR-Dusk and a few other official maps, and even then they appear in short numbers.

Maps that feature the vehicle

Main article: Category:UT3 maps which use the Cicada

Related Achievements

	Jack of All Trades  10
	Kill an enemy with every vehicle (except Hoverboard).

	Ace  10
	Get the "Top Gun" award in 20 matches.

Tips and tricks

• The Cicada is agile for its health, strong against many vehicles and destroys Goliaths easily. This compensates its rareness and that it's not very useful against Raptors and fast moving targets such as the Manta.
• The primary purpose of the Cicada is for taking out enemy Power Nodes. As a flying vehicle, it is designed to reach enemy Power Nodes before ground attackers, especially on terrain that is extremely rough and forces ground troops to detour around areas that they cannot climb over; the Cicada truly excels under such conditions. Using its secondary fire, it can mark the enemy node, and then, due to its fast ascent/descent rate, duck safely behind a hill while it loads its massive payload of rockets. However, some skill is needed in marking the node precisely while the Cicada bobs up and down in the air. This tactic of hiding behind terrain while loading rockets, coupled with a skilled gunner, makes the Cicada one of the best tools in a team's arsenal for direct node assault.
• The Cicada is best used with a pilot and a gunner. The pilot controls the side-mounted dual rocket pods and can either spam random death from above with individual rockets or lock on to a target to load up and fire up to 16 rockets at once. The gunner's main task is watching for incoming AVRiL rockets and keep them away using the secondary chaff fire mode. The turret's primary beam fire mode provides additional fire power against ground-based targets and at least some defense against attacking flying vehicles as long as they stay below the Cicada. If there is only one player in the vehicle, and you switch to the gunner seat, the craft will continue to hover in the air at the spot where you switched seats. Press the 1 key to switch back and continue flight. If you don't have someone in the second seat, you can quickly switch to deploy the chaff countermeasures and switch back which might save your skin.
• A Cicada with an experienced gunner can be quite a problem for ground-based players, since its chaff will lure AVRiLs away from it. The best vehicle to use against a Cicada, probably is the Raptor, since its rockets are not affected by the chaff.

Trivia

• In Unreal Tournament 2004, the Cicada was manufactured by Liandri Mining Corporation, but in Unreal Tournament 3, it is manufactured by Axon Research Corporation instead. It is possible this change was for in-game reasons to categorize the vehicle as an Axon vehicle, or that both companies developed their own Cicada models.

Gallery

UT3 Model