Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars/Scrin Units

Infantry
Most Scrin infantry can garrison inside buildings, but those that can cannot fire out in the manner or riflemen or missile squads.

Description
Buzzers are the equivalent of GDI riflemen and Nod militants. While previous versions of the game made them inflict Gun type damage (thus, a large group of Buzzers could eliminate tanks), current versions have them inflict sniper-type damage instead.

Therefore, they are only effective against infantry. Being a large cloud of razors, the Buzzers are immune to being squished, but have low armour and no range. On the other hand, Buzzers are the fastest-producing and cheapest infantry, making it very easy to simply rush a group of infantry with them and call it a day. Their cheap cost also makes them gain veterancy quickly, but considering they are already most effective against infantry, their usefulness remains limited.

Buzzers can also clear enemy garrisons.

Although buzzers themselves can garrison inside a building, they are incapable of firing out. This is primarily a security measure to keep your fragile Buzzers protected.

Counter
Since they cause sniper-type damage, any kind of vehicle or aircraft can attack Buzzers with impunity.

Description
The Scrin response to missile troopers, Disintegrators are armed with destructive beam weapons that cause quite a lot of damage and fire very quickly. On the other hand, their range is almost equal to that of Buzzers, and as such must close the distance with enemy vehicles first to bring them down.

Their special gimmick is that they explode when crushed, causing damage to the crushing unit. A predator running over a squad of Disintegrators will often critically damage it. Unfortunately for the Scrin, Nod can equip their Scorpions with Dozer blades, making them impervious to Disintegrator explosions.

Counter
Anti-infantry weaponry will always work. Riflemen are the cheapest counter, but Grenadiers, Snipers, Shadow Teams, Commandos, and Black Hand are all viable counters. Although anti-infantry vehicles will also work, Disintegrators can easily counter.

Description
The Scrin engineer, Assimilators are equivalent to that of GDI Engineers in all respects but one - they are invisible while not moving. This special ability is extremely difficult to use properly, but it can turn the tables on a lone enemy engineer who thinks he can just grab that neutral tiberium spike and get away with it.

Being engineers, they are able to capture enemy buildings, repair your own buildings instantly, and capture neutral structures.

Counter
Being unarmed and having absolutely no defences of its own, Assimilators can be killed by any unit. Staying still is a good strategy for the Assimilator for the most part, but if the enemy wants that Assimilator dead, she or he can bring in stealth-detecting units for an easy kill.

Description
More akin to missile squads than Disintegrators, Shock Troopers also double as the heavy anti-vehicle infantry of the Scrin, making them similar in purpose to Zone Troopers. While Zone troopers pack more power, the Scrin can teleport their shock troopers short distances once upgraded with the blink packs. This allows them to teleport behind tanks, hitting them in the thin rear armour.

What separates shock troopers from the zone trooper, however, is its plasma disc upgrade. This transforms the shock trooper weapon from a pulse-firing laser to a Seeker-like plasma disc. While it provides a firepower boost, the biggest advantage now is its ability to strike air units.

Counter
Infantry and anti-infantry weapons are the way to go with Shock Troopers. They can also be crushed by Scorpion Dozer blades. APCs, Raider Buggies, and Gun Walkers also can prove effective against Shock troopers.

Description
The Mastermind is essentially an alien clone of Yuri from the Red Alert series. It can control any unit or structure via its Manipulator Device ability, putting it under your control. Its secondary abilities allow it to teleport units to its location. Therefore, if one can run a Mastermind to the back of an enemy's base, one can summon a group of Shock Troopers to that position and wreak havoc.

The Mastermind, however, remains completely unarmed aside from its manipulator device.

Essentially the Scrin's commando, only one Mastermind can be created at a time.

Counter
The counter varies on which units you are attacking it with. Anti-infantry vehicles, like APCs, are best. That way, when one gets mind controlled, it won't be able to cause considerable damage to nearby allies. Its manipulator device cannot be applied to aerial units, so the Kane's Wrath specific Hammerhead gunship is effective in an anti-Mastermind role, but be wary of its teleport ability. It can easily turn the tables against you.

Description
Seekers are the light tank of the Scrin. They are often compared to the GDI Pitbull and the Nod Attack Cycle. It packs a little more armour, but it is otherwise comparable. Scrin Seeker rushes are often viable and quite deadly if employed correctly.

Seekers, like all Scrin vehicles, can combine with Buzzers for additional anti-infantry support.

Seekers can also detect stealthed units.

Counter
Missile squads and anti-tank infantry work just fine. While Seekers are strong against vehicles and aircraft, their attack against vehicles is weak given strong armour. Pitbulls and Scorpions (Attack Cycles are a little on the weak side given armour) are effective in numbers against Seekers.

Description
Gun Walkers are equivalent to APCs and Raider Buggies. Although they have no special abilities apart from combining with Buzzers (a little redundant since Gun Walkers are already most effective against infantry), Gun Walkers' weapons systems are nothing to scoff at. In groups they are just as, if not more, effective against aircraft than Seekers are.

Gun Walkers can also run over enemy infantry, but apparently they cannot fire and move at the same time, unlike Raiders and APCs.

Counter
Any form of vehicle will stop Gun Walkers quite easily. Their gun-type damage prevents them from significantly damaging any buildings or vehicles, but aircraft and infantry are susceptible to its attack.

Description
Devourer tanks are closely akin to that of Predators in terms of attacking power. Aside from their ability to combine with Buzzers, however, Devourers can supercharge their lasers by absorbing Tiberium. Aside from that, however, they can be employed with good effect against enemy tanks and structures. Unlike Seekers and Gun Walkers, however, they have no response to aerial attack, and should be escorted by other vehicles.

Counter
Infantry are nigh immune to the Devourer's attack, since it causes cannon damage, as are aircraft. However, with infantry, be cautious if it has combined with Buzzers, as attached Buzzers can make short work of any form of infantry. Aircraft, especially Orcas, are your best bet.

Description
Corruptors are the Scrin response to Nod Flame Tanks. While they don't pack the overall attacking power of flame tanks, they also double as medics. By force-firing Corruptors on your units, you can heal them in this manner. Although the Corruptor is essentially a Scrin ambulance and repair unit, the Corruptor will not replace any units lost in a squad (i.e if a disintegrator squad is reduced to two, the Corruptor cannot heal that squad all the way to full health).

Health aside, the Corruptor is also relatively effective at attacking buildings and infantry. A side effect on infantry is that they create visceroids, which then attack any units (yours or theirs) with miniature versions of the Corruptor's weapon. Despite its healing abilities, it is rarely seen because it takes a long time to heal a unit, and because of its somewhat weak attack.

Counter
Predators, Scorpions, or Seekers. Aircraft are largely wasted.

Description
Harvesters operate identical to that of the others, except they are a little more conventional; they are neither armed nor stealthed. In the early versions of C&C3, they used to create localized ion storms when destroyed, but later patches removed this feature.

Counter
Harvesters are completely unarmed and can be countered by any unit.

Description
Explorers operate identically to that of GDI Surveyors and Nod Emissaries. They are capable of deploying, after several seconds, into an outpost building that allows bsae construction around it. Once ordered to deploy, however, the Outpost cannot revert to an Explorer. Although they are cheaper, they take several seconds to deploy, unlike Drone Ships which can transform immediately into a working Drone Platform.

Counter
Any unit can counter the unarmed Explorer.

Description
The Annihilator Tripod is, without a doubt, the strongest Scrin land-based unit. Nicknamed the "Apod" and equipped with three tentacle-mounted lasers, the Tripod is a match for the GDI Mammoth Tank and the Nod Avatar. Annihilators are capable of crushing smaller tanks and are also equipped with a close-range EMP attack that disables nearby enemies, making it deadly at both close and long range.

The Apod can be upgraded with shielding, fortunately. It absorbs a single EMP blast or a set amount of damage, but it recovers extremely slowly. As with all Scrin vehicles, Annihilators can be combined with Buzzers for anti-infantry defence.

Apods leave a husk that can be captured by any side's engineer unit to recover it and make it switch sides. It may be a good idea, therefore, to destroy husks if you're in no position to reclaim them, to prevent your investment of powerful walkers from turning against you.

Counter
Despite being the strongest Scrin unit, it is extremely vulnerable to Commandos and most anti-vehicle infantry. Orcas can freely rain missiles down on Apods and make short work of them. The Brotherhood can make use of Stealth Tanks, massed laser Scorpions, or Avatars to eliminate Apods. Venoms and Vertigos also work.

Description
The Drone Ship is essentially a flying MCV. Capable of deploying on a moment's notice to a fully functional Drone Platform, the Drone Ship is fast for its size and quite manoeuvrable. Since it flies, it can reach otherwise unreachable locations, like above mountains or another natural barrier. This gives the Scrin the mobility they otherwise lack, since the Scrin do not have the Call for Transport ability.

Drone ships, unlike MCVs, cannot run over enemy infantry, so they are completely defenceless in the air.

Like all Scrin aircraft, however, the Drone ship benefits from increased armour when flying inside an Ion Storm.

Counter
Any unit capable of striking air units is capable of shooting down a drone ship.

Description
The basic attack unit for Scrin and, shot for shot, the deadliest aircraft in the skies, the Stormrider is a powerful fighter/bomber that is capable of attacking ground and air units with its pulse-firing laser. Since it fires a laser instead of a missile or other projectile, it does not have to land and reload; it only must land to repair itself. Despite this, however, a single Gravity Stabilizer cannot support more than four Stormriders - thus making the unit more difficult to mass produce, unlike Venoms. This, unfortunately for the Scrin, means that Venoms rule the skies.

Stormriders are far from useless, however. Against unescorted tanks, Stormriders can make an effective harassment unit. Their swift and aerial nature allows them to strike at odd angles.

Counter
Stormriders may be powerful, but they are far from invincible. Missile squads and Shock Troopers are capable of downing Stormriders without taking too many casualties themselves. Pitbulls, APCs, Attack Cycles (en masse), Raider Buggies, Seekers, and Gun Walkers are all capable of downing Stormriders as well. The deadliest anti-air weapon, however, are large groups of laser Venoms.

Description
The Devastator is less like a warship and more like a flying artillery piece. As with the Planetary Assault Carrier, the Devastator requires a Devastator only for construction.

In battle, the Devastator works just like any artillery piece. While it doesn't have the nigh infinite range of the Juggernaught or the sheer power of several Beam Cannons, the Devastator can pack a powerful wallop with its plasma discs. It fires in a nice spread capable of eliminating infantry in just a single volley.

As with all Scrin aircraft, Devastators have an armour boost in Ion Storms.

Counter
The Devastator cannot strike any air units, so Venoms, Stormriders, and Firehawks are all viable counters. Since the Devastator can strike from out of structure-based AA, ground units are your second-best bet. The Devastator's cannon, however, can cause extreme damage even to vehicles, so air-to-air combat is the way to go against the Devastator.

Description
The Planetary Assault Carrier, or the PAC (occasionally pronounced "Pack" or letter-by-letter) has the distinction of being one of two tier four units - requiring a Gravity Stabilizer, Technology Assembler, and a Signal Generator.

The Planetary Assault Carrier is an airbourne mammoth tank. This advantage alone puts it above (no pun intended) most other units' weapons range, making it almost invincible. While PACs lack an attack of their own, they are capable of launching eight small hook-shaped fighters armed with rapid-firing lasers. As an added feature, PACs detect stealth and are capable of generating Ion Storms to boost the armour of themselves as well as their automated fighters.

The fighters can be shot down, however, and take several seconds to rebuild. Construction of fighters is free, however.

Counter
The Planetary Assault Carrier is difficult to destroy at best. Venoms are a player's best bet to shooting down PACs. GDI's lack of anti-air, however, puts them at a disadvantage when dealing with the Scrin. In Kane's Wrath, the best bet is Tungsten-equipped Slingshots. Against lone or small groups of PACs, Firehawks are quite effective. If all else fails, however, massed missile squads are your best bet, but be wary of any Devastators.

There is little to no defence against massed PACs, so the best defence is preventing them from being built. An early rush strategy often puts sufficient pressure on Scrin to at least delay the construction of a Scrin "victory fleet".

Description
The Mothership is essentially a flying superweapon. It is inherently more destructive than any form of superweapon because the Mothership has, theoretically, infinite range. When the mothership fires, it essentially starts a massive chain reaction. Everything glows white before exploding, and creating a small shock wave around it. The shockwave contacts other units, and those units also turn white and explode. The result is a massive chain reaction that is more than capable of destroying an entire enemy base or, if structures are crowded enough, an entire map.

The Mothership remains, however, slower than any unit, including most forms of infantry. While early patches made the mothership almost unstoppable once it was over an enemy base, later patches have nerfed the mothership to the point of nigh uselessness.

An old strategy that worked on earlier patches was to use the Wormhole support power in combination with a Mastermind and a queued up Signal Generator. It involved a few simple steps; first, the target base is scouted with light units. Then a Wormhole support power is called into the middle of the enemy base. The Mastermind is then sent through, and the old Signal Generator is sold. The Mastermind then captures a structure with its Manipulator Device ability, then a queued up Signal Generator is put down. The mothership is then summoned at the new Signal Generator in the middle of the enemy base. The mothership then can fire on the enemy base.

Counter
Countering the mothership is actually quite easy. Due to its slow moving nature, any form of anti-air unit can counter the mothership and win, so long as it doesn't fire. A player attempting to summon a mothership at his base and then manually fly it across the map will ultimately lose his mothership, as his opponent will immediately focus all his firepower on the mothership, eliminating it quite easily.