Firebird GZ

The **Enforcer S14 Mechanical Unit**, otherwise known as the **Firebird***,* is a type of machine in Generation Zero. Owned & controlled by the Soviet Union, Firebirds are the only machines besides Seekers that are capable of flight. They were added as part of the Dark Skies update.

Firebirds will passively roam the skies with a far-reaching searchlight seeking out threats, then provide aerial support with long-range weapons, bombs, and a distinct hum equally as terrifying & reverberant as the footsteps of a Tank.

## Physiology

Firebirds are huge, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with four armored "arms" in an X-pattern connected to a spherical fuselage. Each arm features a jet engine at the midpoint for thrust & flight stability. There is an autocannon or a flak cannon mounted at the base of the sphere portion depending on which class the machine is of.

With an arm span of approximately 10 meters, Firebirds are the largest machines in the game, being only slightly larger than the standing height of the Reaper.

### **Scout**

#### Ranged

* Incendiary autocannon
	+ Similar to the Wolf's minigun, this autocannon has a high rate of fire, long range, good accuracy, and will set the player ablaze on contact.

#### Misc.

A firebird can only be equipped with **one** of the following:

* Cluster mines
	+ If the player moves beneath the firebird, it will drop a cluster of stick shaped mines onto the player.
* Incendiary bombs
	+ The scout class firebird is mentioned in its schematic that a weapon of unknown operation method known as incendiary bombs will be its alternate weapon aside from the Cluster Mines. However, the Firebird doesn't seem to use it in game.
	+ Incendiary bombs may be scrapped by the developers due to unfair gameplay reason or the weapon is extremely buggy and causes the game to crash often.
	+ The schematic notes may be a window into a future update where firebirds spawned during campaign missions or Rival firebirds are exclusively armed with incendiary bombs.

### **Soldier**

#### Ranged

* Explosive Autocannon
	+ Similar to the incendiary autocannon but deals more damage and does not set the player ablaze.

#### Misc.

A firebird can only be equipped with **one** of the following:

* Gas grenade
	+ The Firebird will pitch forward for several meters, deploying a series of gas canisters. As with other gas weapons, the gas cloud will damage players over time so long as they are within it. (In the profile tab under eye wear apparel you can equip a gas mask that increases your gas resistance by 40 points, also under the skills tab in the combat tree the third level armor skill give you an extra 10% gas damage resistance against machines, the vanguard specialization in the combat tree can also increases your overall damage resistance by 25%, also note that gas damage can stack.)

* Tesla spike
	+ Those are dropped by the firebird like land mines, they will emit an electrifying shock as they hover several feet above the ground which is devastating even one chose to close ground on them. They will stay on the ground for an extended period of time before exploding into a blast of ionized gas.

### **Spetsnaz**

#### **Ranged**

* Flak cannon (a.k.a. Howitzer)
	+ A slow firing cannon that fires highly explosive rounds, dealing moderate damage. It is also capable of penetrating through cover and inflicting minor chip damage. Fires up to five times and it is guided by a laser sight.

#### Misc.

A firebird can only be equipped with **one** of the following:

* Laser Trip Balloons
	+ The firebird will pitch forward and releases a series of explosives tied on balloons. Beneath them are laser tripwires awaiting a careless player to walk underneath them before it releases the balloon and dropping the payload onto the ground.
	+ Shooting at the balloon will cause the payload to be released, but the payload has the ability to lock on to anything close to it.
	+ These will only stay airborne for a limited amount of time. They will expire and drop down to the ground or lock on to whatever target close to the trip wire.
* Thermobaric Deployment
	+ Using the same physics as the Reaper's Thermobaric Explosion, the Firebird will drop a series of gas canisters that disperse thermobaric gas after a small airburst explosion. A few seconds later, the firebird ignites said gas, causing an explosion that knocks down any player. The explosive yield is smaller than the Reaper's Thermobaric Explosion, however.
	+ The most recent and only sighting of the firebird equipped with such dreadful weapon is in the later stages of the main story mission, 'Death from Above'.

## Weak Points

* The black sphere with a slit that is near the searchlight is the optic module. Shooting it off will blind the Firebird.
	+ On higher classes, they're strongly protected by armor.
* It's four jets on each of can be shot to inflict reasonable damage and cripple its flight capabilities. Once all of them are destroyed, the fight automatically ends.
* Two bomb bays are located on its sides that can be shot. They're protected by light armor.
* Two separate fuel cells together are attached to back and behind its undermounted weapon. Destroying each of them will cause an explosion.

## Strategy

Firebirds have weapons that are hard to dodge even with full movement upgrades. Take this into consideration before engaging one, as you may find yourself moving around a lot to both keep up with the Firebird and dodge its cannons. What players should do is run away if they're being targeted, and have friendly players attack it as this is happening. **The best opportunity to attack a Firebird is whenever it isn't firing a gun,** and there is no better time to do this than when it is doing a bomb run, as Firebirds will never drop ordinances and fire guns at the same time.

Whilst the Pansarvarsgevar 90 or the hunting rifles may sound attractive for their long range & high damage per round, they are not recommended due to reality that they aren't effective without ADSing, and take significantly more time to aim & shoot, time that could be better spent avoiding the Firebird's guns. The "X" shape of the Firebird also makes it surprisingly easy to miss, especially with these weapons. The height & distance at which Firebirds prefer to attack renders close-range weapons such as handguns & shotguns impractical, and renders melee weapons entirely useless. Players should use instead weapons with high fire-rates and good range, which leaves only LMGs and assault rifles. Despite its low fire rate & projectile speed, using the Grenatgevar m/49 or RLG-7 can be effective if the player can lead his/her shots well and consistently aim for the fuselage. Using the G79 or Experimental Algstudsare are discouraged due to the fact their projectiles arc, which only adds another unneeded variable.

Being incapable of close-combat and not possessing any attacks specifically for enemies directly beneath them, attacking Firebirds from below is a smart tactic. This position also increases the effective area of where the Firebird can be hit, as all four arms are clearly visible & spread-out from this view.

Note: With some good shots from the PVG or another high crown rifle on the ''eye'' you can deal high amounts of component damage

Since Firebirds always hover about 10-20 meters off the ground, they're difficult to aim at without taking your view away from the ground, which can be dangerous in the presence of other machines. Players must keep a mental picture of where all the ground machines are when attacking a Firebird, or alternatively focus only on it whilst another player focuses only on ground enemies.

Firebirds are not immune to EMPs, and as counterintuitive as it seems, they will not fall out of the sky if their systems shut down. Instead their arms will sag and they will remain flying in place, allowing players to freely damage deal damage until reactivation. It's recommended to shoot at the jet engines of firebird, since having them all destroyed will end the fight automatically.

## Trivia

* Despite being technically weaker than Harvesters, there have been instances where Scout Firebirds outlast FNIX Harvesters & Tanks,
* Firebirds use the same optical system as Wolves.
* Firebirds are named after a magical, glowing bird from Slavic mythology. They are depicted in a variety of Slavic fairy tales, typically serving as a reward for a difficult task and/or a simultaneous blessing & curse for the person who obtains it.
	+ Slavic firebirds are not to be confused with the phoenixes of Greek mythology (FNIX's namesake).
* The firebird’s auto-cannons resemble the | GSH-23 auto-cannons that are used on Soviet aircraft.
	+ The firebird’s auto-cannons use incorrect ammunition. They use 7.62mm while the real life one uses | 23x115mm.
* Firebirds share their namesake with the Pontiac Firebird, an American muscle car that was in production during the events of Generation Zero.
* Especially when looking at the fuselage from the front, the Firebird greatly resembles the Northstar Titan from *Titanfall 2.* Coincidentally, Northstar is also flight-capable and has four jets.