Annihilator tripod

The Annihilator Tripod was a heavy walker used by the Scrin, first seen during the Third Tiberium War.
==Background==
The heavy walker classified as the "Annihilator Tripod" was one of the Scrin's largest terrestrial assault units (surpassed only by the colossal Eradicator Hexapod). Armed with a proton cannon array mounted on what look like tentacles, these behemoths also have legs so massive that they can crush tank divisions. Furthermore, their near-impregnable armor sometimes cannot be so much as scratched due to powerful forcefields.Jason Bender. 2007-03-20. Command & Conquer 3 Faction Feature -- The Scrin. IGN.
Despite its alien nature, it shares many of the same weaknesses as the mechanized walkers developed by humans, as demonstrated when a GDI commando disabled one of them by planting an explosive charge on its legs. The disabled walker was subsequently repaired and reactivated by an engineer, who was able to communicate in a rudimentary fashion with the walker's control entity by utilizing decryption programs similar to those found in the Tacitus.Electronic Arts Los Angeles, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. GDI InOps, "Alien Tripod Captured".
The Global Defense Initiative first encountered these monstrous walkers during their operation to retake the cities of Stuttgart and Cologne, where they had previously assisted in the elimination of the GDI garrisons stationed there and now patrolled the area for survivors to exterminate.
The Scrin subfaction known as Reaper-17 uses a heavily mutated version of the Annihilator Tripod, the Reaper tripod, which is even more dangerous due to being armed with conversion beams.Electronic Arts Los Angeles, Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath. Nod Weaponry, "Reaper Tripod".
==Game Unit==
The Annihilator Tripod has better firepower, range, mobility and maneuverability than the standard Mammoth tank. However, its armour is not nearly as durable - causing it to still lose in a pitched head-on engagement. A Mammoth upgraded with railgun weaponry can easily damage or destroy an unprotected Annihilator in range, and at 3000 credits, the walker is also one of the most expensive Tier 3 units in the war. They were also unable to attack aircraft, and were vulnerable to quick and heavy airstrikes by human bombers if the appropriate weaponry to counter them was absent.
Despite this, the Tripod is superior mobility and range, as well as its inherent abilities and possible upgrades, namely: its beam arms' high flexibility and autonomy, its short-ranged EMP burst (capable of immobilizing even Epic units), and its recharging forcefield, respectively—easily make it one of the most dangerous Tier 3 units in the war - capable of cutting apart armor from a great distance, and disabling it should it foolishly decide to try and close the distance.
The Tripod's unique choice of weapon and method of attack (horizontally sweeping the target zone) meant that they are also tough enemies to deal with, regardless of chosen weaponry. Infantry squads who challenge Tripods often leave the engagement with severe injuries, if at all, and the Tripod's proton weapon is especially potent against armor and structures. In this respect, they serve as something of an in-between of the Nod Avatar assault walker and the GDI Juggernaut artillery walker, possessing the close-range combat capability of the former and the range and indiscriminate damage of the latter.
Like other heavy walkers, Annihilator Tripods can crush most Tier 1 and Tier 2 vehicles as well as heavy infantry by simply walking over them, and can do so without suffering any penalties to movement speed. They also share a weakness to human Commandos' detpacks, though their ability to combine with Buzzers lessens this problem.
The Annihilator Tripod leaves a husk upon death, which can be captured to bring the Tripod back to full functionality.
===Abilities===
	Uncombine with Buzzers	Orders the Buzzer swarm attached to the vehicle to detach and roam freely (Ctrl+A).
EMP Burst (Passive)	The weapons of the Annihilator Tripod overload the circuits of a targeted vehicle or structure within a radius of 100. The EMP lasts 10 seconds per shot and each Tripod can only EMP one object at a time.	The EMP takes 10.6 seconds to recharge, so a Tripod can permanently keep one vehicle or structure disabled.
===Upgrades===
	Forcefield generators	Adding Forcefield Generators equips Annihilator Tripods with glowing energy shields for added protection, absorbing up to 2500 points of damage. Shields take 100% damage from all damage types except Sniper (1%). Shields regenerate 2 minutes after being damaged or destroyed (Ctrl+A).	Purchasable at a Scrin Technology Assembler for $4000 and takes 1:30 to research.
==Development==
Design-wise, the Annihilator Tripod was considered one of the more difficult units, as it went through multiple vastly different iterations. The original design for the Annihilator Tripod looked more mechanical than organic, the design was scrapped because it did not fit with the design of other Scrin units.
The next design iteration was a tripod with one or three tentacles, with no connecting body piece between the tentacles and the legs, but the in-game model based on this idea felt too spindly. This version was considered not imposing enough and lacking any sort of focal point.
In the final design iteration, a center bulkhead piece was added to connect the legs to the tentacles, along with a central “eye” for focus. According to Art Director Matt Britton, the Annihilator Tripod soon became a favorite unit among much of the development team.Electronic Arts Los Angeles. 2007-03-08. CREATING THE SCRIN Annihilator Tripod EA Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars - News
==Changelog==
*Tiberium Wars patch 1.05:
**added ambient sound effects
**added new visual effects for the Annihilator Tripod's close-range EMP attack.
*Tiberium Wars patch 1.07: fixed a bug that caused the drone platform to self-destruct when coming in contact with an enemy upgraded Annihilator Tripod.
*Kane's Wrath patch 1.02: 
**decoy Tripods can no longer cast EMP strikes
**damage increased by 10%
==Gallery==
Portfolio_Gallery_2_01.jpg|Render by Chris Tamburino
Tripod.jpg|Tripods attacking
CNCTW Tripod Concept Art.jpg|Early concept art
Tripods Concept.jpg|Mid concept art
CNCTW Tripod Concept Art 2.jpg|Concept art
CNCTW Tripod Concept Art 3.jpg|Concept art
CNCTW Tripod Concept Art 4.jpg|Concept art
CNCTW Tripod Raw Model.jpg|Model
CNCTW Tripod Intel Image.png|An Annihilator Tripod in the Intelligence Database
Tripods Texture.jpg|Texture
CNCTW_Annihilator_Tripod_Husk_Cameo.png|Cameo of Annihilator Tripod husk
== Trivia ==
* The Annihilator Tripod may have been inspired by the tripods from the War of the Worlds novel.
==See Also==
*Reaper tripod, Reaper-17 variant
*Mammoth tank, GDI counterpart
*Juggernaut, GDI walker counterpart
*Avatar, Nod counterpart
*Purifier, Black Hand counterpart
==References==
Category:Tiberium Wars vehicles
de:Annihilator-Tripod
ru:Аннигилятор