Raptor (vehicle)

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

The Raptor is a vehicle found in Unreal Tournament 2004 and Unreal Tournament 3.

Overview

Due to its fast speed, the Raptor is good for getting places quickly. It is easy to take out Manta and Vipers with the Raptor's rockets. The Raptor rockets also lock on to other Raptors, Fury's and Cicadas. They also are quick to kill Goliaths, by hovering over the Goliath and firing away due to its rapid fire of plasma.

Unreal Tournament 2004

Raptor
Background info
Faction	Axon
Game info
Type	Air
Health	300
Seats	1
Seat functions	Fire Plasma Shots/Rockets

"The Raptor maintains a stranglehold on combat air superiority. Constructed of tritanium-ceramic alloys, the airframe allows fast response and high durability. A grid array of magneto-conducting cells covers its wings, powered by dual phase-induction plasma turbines. The grid array vectors gravity away from whichever direction the pilot chooses, allowing the Raptor to accelerate. Armed with two solid-state plasma projectors and a homing missile mount, the Raptor can decimate specific targets very quickly, although Raptor pilots must be cautious of guided rockets and stationary turret attacks from the ground."

– UT2004 manual

The primary fire mode of the Raptor fires team-colored plasma shots with splash damage and is useful against both infantry and vehicles.

The secondary fire mode fires a rocket which automatically follows Raptors, Mantas and Cicadas. However, the turn radius of the missile is quite low, therefore it misses very often, leading into long lasting fights between Raptors. Leading the target is helpful in this scenario.

Unreal Tournament 3

Raptor
Background info
Faction	Axon
Game info
Type	Air
Health	300
Seats	1
Seat functions	Fire Plasma Shots/Rockets.

"The FZ-5 Raptor maintains Axon's stranglehold on air-to-ground combat superiority. A grid array of magneto-conducting cells, powered by phase-induction plasma turbines, covers its articulated wings. The grid array vectors gravity away from the Raptor in the direction the pilot chooses, enhancing mobility and giving the Raptor the ability to hover in place at will. Armed with two solidstate plasma projectors and a homing missile mount, the Raptor is effective offensively, but given the grid array's susceptibility to damage, the Raptor is best used for stealthy interdiction rather than frontal assault. Due to the vehicle's delicate nature, Raptor pilots must always be cautious of guided Longbow rockets and turret attacks from the ground."

– UT3 manual

In UT3, besides the visual update, the Raptor now seems to be a bit more responsive to maneuvering, and both the rate of fire and locking ability for its missiles have dramatically improved.

The primary fire mode fires team-colored plasma shots with splash radius at fire rate of 5 shots per game second. Damage scales depending on time the projectile was in flight.

The secondary fire mode launches a rocket that homes in on other flying or hovering vehicles. The rocket is relatively fast, deals 300 damage against vehicles and 200 against players, but turns very slowly and, unlike the Longbow AVRiL, doesn't predict movements. The fire rate is one rocket per 1.2 seconds.

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 Raptor only has 300 health, thus it is very susceptible to damage from AVRiLs and other Raptors.

Unreal Tournament 2004

Capture tips

The following are a series of tips released by the defunct website Capture.

"Onslaught 101! - The Raptor

The Raptor is a flying vehicle, its movements can be described as helicopter-like.

With the Raptor, you have to keep moving. If you stop moving, you are going to get spammed with fire from the enemy shock rifles, lightning guns, laser turrets, minguns, and AVRiLs. That’s not to mention the opposing Raptor pilots who would be more than happy to eliminate you from their sky dominion. So keep moving, and try to add as many directions to your movement as possible – the more variable your movement, the harder it will be to aim at you!

The Raptor has two modes of fire – primary being a barrage of plasma blasts and secondary is an air-to-air missile. That air to air missle will lock onto enemy Mantas as well as Raptors – so keep that in mind when flying air cover for the boys and girls on the ground. When you see a Manta bee-lining for a node you are trying to capture, let him have the missiles! Keep in mind that after you fire a missile, there’s a delay before you can fire with either firing mode."

– SlayerDragon

Using the Raptor

• The primary fire is particularly useful against Goliaths, since a Goliath cannot cover the area above it with its weapons. You can stay hovering on top of the Goliath and chip its health away with plasma blasts without fearing retaliation (until the Goliath driver decides to bail out of the vehicle and fire his own AVRiL at you). Other ground vehicles can be disposed of in similar ways - a Scorpion is no problem as long as you fly far enough to dodge its sticky plasma lines, and the Hellbender isn't a threat either if you can avoid skymine combos (beware of its rear turret, though).
• Against a Leviathan, the Raptor can be useful if you stay circling above it (to avoid being hit by rockets) as you keep hitting the Leviathan with your primary fire. It takes quite a while to kill a full health Leviathan in this way, but can be done. A Leviathan with passengers manning its turrets is far more difficult to take down, however.
• A low health Raptor (20 or below) can be ditched into an enemy for high amounts of damage from the resulting explosion.
• Swooping low to run over an enemy, or strongly push vehicles as heavy as a Hellbender around. Useful when nearby a canyon or ditch, as the vehicle can be pushed in.
• Dodging the AVRiL-Charging towards the missile, and strafing in one direction while facing it. Missiles will, as a result, lose the lock-on and fly in a straight line.
• When a low-health Raptor is almost dead and targeted by a strong weapon or AVRiL, exiting the vehicle before impact can (possibly) save your life. Should you die from fall damage, it counts as a suicide.

Fighting against the Raptor

• The Shock Rifle performs extremely well against the Raptor. The primary fire of the Shock keeps on pushing the Raptor around, making it harder for the pilot to hit. Besides that, the Shock beam does quite a lot of damage.
• The Energy Turret works even better, since it has better damage, rate of fire and knockback effect, along with a zoom for better aiming.
• The Hellbender's rear turret is also very strong because it does massive damage (a fully charged shot usually kills the Raptor) and the Raptor hasn't got a real chance to dodge it except hiding behind an obstacle until the Hellbender is down.
• In order to destroy a Raptor with the AVRiL it is advisable not to fire the missile directly at the Raptor. This would give the pilot an immediate warning and - in most cases - enough time to break the lock by hiding behind an obstacle. A better tactic is to fire the missile only in the rough direction of the Raptor and lock it when it is close to the Raptor. That way the pilot has much less time to evade the missile.
• In Air-to-Air combat, shunting an enemy Raptor can temporarily throw off the aim of the Homing Missiles.
• In Air-to-Air Combat, pushing an enemy Raptor downwards by descending while above it can lower it to Goliath ranges, and easily kill the enemy Raptor.
• Against low-flying Raptors, a Manta can easily outmaneuver the missiles by spinning around the Raptor.

Unreal Tournament 3

Using the Raptor

• The Raptor is extremely deadly in close encounters, as is able to kill pedestrian players well under one second, provided the pilot is able to catch them in the splash radius.
• Raptor is also one of the fastest way to destroy Goliaths, Power Nodes and Power Cores.
• Faster vehicles, like Mantas or Vipers, can sometimes escape the rocket, or trick it into crashing into ground, but it's still a very effective weapon against them.
• The Cicada, being slow and unable to attack Raptors, stands no chance against it. Note that the Raptor pilot should position themself above the Cicada, otherwise, its Shock Turret will easily deal quite a lot of damage. The Cicada's rockets pose no threat to the Raptor, though.
• Rockets don't home in on other vehicles or players, but they still do quite considerable damage. Although plasma is much more effective at close range, rockets can be used to attack stationary or slow-moving targets from large distance. Most of the time, however, it would be more effective just to close in and attack with plasma instead.
• At any time, watch out for enemy Longbow AVRiL fire, especially when attacking heavier vehicles that need some time to destroy. The driver might decide to jump out and fire AVRiLs your way. In any case, never just hover in mid-air - this makes you an easy target for regular Rocket Launcher rockets, which don't give any lock-on warning, even for a Goliath or SPMA.
• Speaking of the SPMA, watch where you're flying; the camera shells are deadly for a Raptor crashing into them.
• Energy Turrets are also something worth watching out. However, plasma shots can destroy turrets in a matter of seconds if fired at close range, so it might be a viable tactic to ambush the turret.
• It is common for people to attempt a "pickup" with the Raptor. Basically, one player drives the Raptor, while another player grapples on. The pilot flies to the enemy flag/orb, the other player grabs the flag/orb, and grapples back on to the Raptor. This is dangerous because it takes one Stinger Minigun or Stinger Turret shot to kill the grappler, or an AVRiL missile to take out the Raptor, forcing the grappler to fall to their (possible) doom.

Fighting against the Raptor

• When dueling with other Raptors, the deciding factor of the winning is who makes a mistake first. Two Raptors can circle around each other indefinitely, firing rockets that never hit. In certain situations, the solution would be to leave the Raptor and attack opponent's Raptor with AVRiL. However, ambushing a stationary or slow-moving Raptor will likely bring you a free kill.
• Although it's rare to have both the Fury and the Raptor on one map, the Fury, with its ability to quickly jump, it clearly at advantage here.
• Both the Goliath and SPMA can take down a Raptor with a single hit, the Goliath even gets an "Eagle Eye" reward for doing so and there's nothing more satisfying for SPMA drivers than picking off an enemy Raptor in mid-air.
• The best weapon against a Raptor is the Longbow AVRiL. Two hits definitely destroy a Raptor and at medium range there's often no escape from the rockets. As always, firing the AVRiL only roughly in the direction of the Raptor and locking on later will delay the warning the pilot gets and give him less time to hide behind obstacles. Also, the closer the AVRiL rocket gets, the less it tries to "plan ahead", which greatly reduces the chance of it crashing into some nearby wall.
• There is a glitch in vCTF-Suspense, if done correctly, where the Raptor can fly into the spawners close to where the Manta spawns.

Gallery

UT3 Wallpaper

UT3 Concept Art