Hastatus

A bluesteel Hastatus

Hastatus is a natural 5-star infantry unit that can be obtained from event unit chests, crafting, and through event rewards.

## Statistics and Info

Following the one shot, one kill strategy, the Hastatus shoots a very powerful shot at very slow intervals, similar to the Sniper and Kasuga, capable of severely damaging enemy units or instantly eliminate them in a single attack. This is amplified with a type-specific critical strike, increasing this unit's attack damage so much that a bluesteel Hastatus can instantly destroy almost any tank at full health while coming very close to the toughest ones. Paired with its long range, the Hastatus fills a role similar to that of artillery, delivering slow but powerful punches from the backlines. Its explosive shots can help out with dealing multiple enemies, though it should not be relied upon heavily due to this unit's slow fire rate. An intermediate stun can put enemy units out of commission for a bit and can make the difference in a duel between the Hastatus and another unit. The Hastatus is also noticeably tougher than most, if not all, of the natural 5-star infantry. When promoted to 7 stars and equipped with three carbide platings, it is capable of tanking a powerful final revenge explosion from units such as the Inferno or Cullen at full health.

As mentioned briefly before, one of the drawbacks this unit has is its slow fire rate, causing it to struggle in combat by itself. Although its stun can help it out in a duel, it is easily countered with multiple units deployed at once since stun can only affect one unit, meaning it will still get overwhelmed by numbers. Unless the player is particularly unlucky, the explosive shots should not be too big of a problem when taking on the Hastatus alone. The critical strike ability is easily countered by deploying units of a type unaffected by it, such as swapping out a tank for a high health air unit such as the Chall when facing a bluesteel Hastatus and vice versa against a whitehawk Hastatus. Doing so will also cause the Hastatus to be unable to take advantage of its manufacturer boost, reducing its firepower against the player's distraction units even more. The Hastatus also has a very expensive deploy cost as an infantry unit, meaning it is not feasible to deploy this unit early on unless garrisons are used or a death refund is activated.

## Abilities

* Minor - Explosive Shot
* Intermediate - Stun
* Major - Critical Strike (Unit type specific)

## Variants Available

* Redpoint (red) - UNKNOWN
* Greenbrake (green) - Hastatus YN08
* Bluesteel (blue) - UNKNOWN
* Goldfire (yellow) - Hastatus VZ07
* Whitehawk (white) - Hastatus ZR03

## Trivia

* Hastati were a class of infantry employed in the armies of the early Roman Republic who originally fought as spearmen, and later as swordsmen.
* This unit has the same name as the various Hastatus infantry units from League of War, the prequel to LoW: Mercenaries and are very similar to them, with all of them being long range, slow firing, high damage, single-shot railgun infantry. Unlike the Hastatus in LoW: Mercenaries, Hastatus units in League of War were unable to hit air units and dealt reduced damage against recon units.
	+ Despite this unit being named after the Hastatus units, the Kasuga bears more resemblance to them, holding an almost identical weapon and is also a railgun unit.