Support Power | Old version(s) | Changelog |
The Tactical Nuke is a support power that is the ability of the Soviet offensive superweapon, the Tactical Nuke Silo. It is the small "sister" of the MIDAS that, once fully prepared, can be launched anywhere on the battlefield to wipe out all enemies of the Soviet Union.
The Tactical Nuke is strong enough to reduce anything (except heavily armored or invulnerable units and buildings) caught in its blast zone into ashes and the lingering radiation will slowly, but surely, take care of any unlikely survivors.
For a detailed list of changes from the original game, click here.
Strategy[]
General tips[]
- As with all offensive superweapons, the Tactical Nuke can weaken a heavily fortified base once it is activated. While the Tactical Nuke has a large radius, the center of the targeted zone deals the most damage. The best targets for crippling an enemy base are the following:
- War Factories
- Technology buildings (i.e. Tech Center)
- Radar buildings
- Power plants too packed together
- Construction Yard (only brings down approximately 3/4 of its health, so a player must have the means to finish it off).
- Once the nuclear missile hits the ground, its damage is dealt instantly, while the radiation it leaves deals damage over time (the radiation will deal less damage the farther from the blast zone).
- Unlike other superweapons, there can be multiple Tactical Nuke launches at the same time. Two Soviet players on the same team can easily finish off a Construction Yard or other heavy structure this way.
- Vehicles rendered invulnerable by the Iron Curtain are free to continue their rampage within ground zero of the Tactical Nuke blast, provided the Invulnerability does not expire before the missile impacts. These invulnerable units can be ordered to finish off any units or structures that have survived the nuclear explosion.
- A loud siren will play that is audible to everyone after a Tactical Nuke is launched. Unlike in the original game, this sound effect has the same volume on the entire map rather than centered on the impact location.
- The Tactical Nuke has a special weakness, along with other missile support powers: an Epsilon Mind Reader can predict where the Tactical Nuke will precisely hit (see Mind Reader's gallery) within its radius. Human Epsilon players will react with better precision in this case.
AI behavior[]
The AI will use Tactical Nuke to target the following structures, assuming they are not cloaked. These are ordered according to priority:
- War Factories
- Tier 3 technology providers (e.g. Epsilon Pandora Hub)
- Power providers
- Construction Yards
If all these do not exist, it will target airfields, base defenses, then finally units.
Appearances[]
In these missions, Tactical Nuke's countdown is modified:
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Act One[]
- Tactical Nuke is first usable for the player in Death From Above.
Act Two[]
- In Exist to Exit, the player can use the Tactical Nuke once after Morales is evacuated.
- In Firewalking, similar to Exist to Exit, the player can use the Tactical Nuke once after a while of constructing base.
Cooperative[]
- In Backbitten, the Epsilon forces used a Tactical Nuke to strike a coast guarded by the Allies. This is a reference to 2.0 mission Jealousy, where the player can use a Nuclear Missile Silo.
1-time Tactical Nuke is a usual easter egg reward in some missions like Peacekeeper, Relentless, Unthinkable and Time Capsule.
Challenge[]
- At the start of the Judgement Challenge, challengers' Tech Hospital and Tech Machine Shop will be instantly destroyed by two Tactical Nukes.
Skirmish/Multiplayer[]
- In the Islands map Cold War Stalemate, no matter which faction the player chooses, only the Tactical Nuke from the initially-given Tactical Nuke Silo can be used as the only offensive superweapon. Cooldown of Tactical Nuke in this map is changed to 25 minutes.