Recon Drone Side: Imperium Type: Air Movement Type: Flying Ground Weapon: None Anti-Air Weapon: None Range: N/A Damage: N/A Hit Points: 66 Sight Range: 9 Movement Speed: Very Fast Cost: 400 Requirements: Headquarters 2 Built At: Headquarters

Although they have no offensive capabilities, Recon Drones are excellent scouts that can quickly reach any part of the map thanks to their zippy speed combined with the fact that they are air units.

Scouting

Recon Drones serve as the Imperium’s answer to the Freedom Guard Scout. They do only one thing, but they do it fairly well. What they lack for in camouflage, they make up for with their greater speed and the fact that they can fly to any spot on the map with ease. Also, since most units in the game cannot actually attack air units, Recon Drones have some measure of protection. Even so, they are not as easy to “park and forget” as Scouts and will require a bit more maintenance unless you don’t care about losing them.

Use drones to see what your enemy is up to and to spot for your S.C.A.R.A.B.s. You can also use the Scout behavior on the sidebar to send them off to the far reaches of the map; however, if the enemy has any anti-air capabilities, your drones will probably wander into trouble and get themselves destroyed sooner rather than later. This works fairly well earlier in the game, though, before the enemy sets up very much in the way of air defense.

When posting a Recon Drone somewhere for surveillance, try setting its Damage Tolerance to LOW. This will encourage the drone to seek repairs when damaged (assuming you have a Repair Station for it to flee to). Although drones have very little in the way of armor and hit points, they are fast enough to usually escape trouble before they are completely destroyed. Just don’t forget to occasionally find the drones as they pile up at your Repair Station’s exit point and send them back to their reconnaissance positions.