Tribes 2/Vehicles

Tribes 2 modified several of the original vehicles from Tribes and introduced a several new ones. The vehicles include hovering ground vehicles and high flying turbogravs.

Wildcat Grav Cycle
A light, one-person, weaponless vehicle that hovers just above the ground. Extremely fast and difficult to pilot but ideal for flag capturing or quick-strike assaults. Some players use these for running over enemies on the ground. This vehicle can also be used to travel over water and underwater briefly before it is catapulted out of the water and back into the air at high speed (up to 900 km/h).

Shrike Scout Fighter
Fast and packing a considerable punch, this one-person vehicle is armed with dual energy blasters. These are powered from the crafts energy banks, and so when there is no energy, they cannot fire. Energy is used for thrust and firing and is depleted by incoming fire. It can fly at high altitudes to avoid enemy fire. Useful for attacking other aircraft, as well as a quick escape for flag cappers. An onboard sensor system extends the team sensor net significantly around the Shrike and can easily detect incoming hostiles. Advanced players may claim this vehicle in the beginning of a round and never give it up again. One problem with Shrikes and the game engine is that skilled players can fly almost in contact with the ground and ram players while they're walking - this is usually fatal, and very annoying; it's very difficult to dodge or to even notice before it occurs. The lack of game balance adjustment due to the end of official support has prevented the removal of this behaviour.

HAVOC Gunship Transport
This slow-moving turbograv has no weapons, but the four passengers and one tailgunner can use their own weapons while riding. Even heavy-armored players can be ferried in these craft. Players can bring flare grenades to distract missiles and wear Sensor Jammer packs to avoid sensor detection and prevent the automatic detection of enemy turrets.

The main weakness of this gunship is the vulnerability to Shrikes. Though five missile toting Juggernauts can ride, obtaining missile lock on a close Shrike is difficult. Many consider the loss of a HAVOC worth the risk to possibly bring in five Myrmidons to attack a position.

Beowulf Assault Tank
A heavily shielded hovertank. Although the tank is shielded, it is vulnerable against missiles. One player pilots the vehicle while a second can man the turret. The turret mounted on this tank fires powerful fusion mortars which explode on contact with a large explosive radius, dealing more damage and traveling further than the hand-held version. A Vulcan chaingun is also mounted on, which is again much more powerful than its hand-held version. Skilled pilots can use the tank for ramming enemies and are able to dodge Shrike fire and the occasional missile.

Thundersword Bomber
This turbograv can be manned by a pilot, a bombardier, and a tail gunner. The bombardier can switch between firing an energy turret and dropping powerful fusion warheads. The turret is very difficult to aim in a maneuvering bomber, and a highly skilled pilot is essential if anything is to be hit. The on-board targeting laser, unlike its related hand-held version, not only targets things, but its target spot lingers as an invsible beacon. The tail gunner is essential for defending the vehicle against enemy turrets, missiles, and Shrikes. A tail gunner typically carries a sensor jamming pack to prevent turrets from picking up the bomber, a repair pack for in-flight fixes, or an ammo pack for carrying more flares.

Jericho Mobile Point Base
This is an extremely slow-moving but well-shielded ground vehicle. It is the only wheeled vehicle in the game. Additionally, it can jam enemy sensors within a limited radius to prevent discovery as well as prevent enemy sensor jammers and cloak packs from functioning. When "deployed", it contains a full inventory station and stationary turret on top. Note that enemies can "hijack" this vehicle while it is the process of deploying and the cockpit has not yet been shielded, often following this option by either destroying the MPB or deploying it out of the level boundaries in a place where it will be useless. Since enemy players aren't protected by a vehicle's shields they can be removed by killing them with the chaingun, sniper rifle, or shocklance to prevent the loss of your team's MPB.