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For other planes of the same class, see Vertigo.

Vertigo, flight check complete!
- Vertigo

The Vertigo Bomber is a stealth bomber of the Brotherhood used during the Third Tiberium War.

History[]

The Vertigo is the Brotherhood of Nod's next-generation heavy bomber aircraft built between the Firestorm Crisis and the Third Tiberium War. It utilizes the Lightbender stealth generator to render itself invisible to the unaided eye, and its single heavy bomb can cause massive damage to both structures and vehicles.

Abilities[]

Disruption pods The Vertigo launches a small cloaking pod onto the designated segment of the ground, or onto a unit or a structure. This power costs $300 and has a 60 second cooldown (Ctrl+D).
Return to base Orders the Vertigo to break off and immediately return to its docking station (Ctrl+A).

Upgrades[]

Disruption pods Disruption Pods allow Vertigos to drop small cloaking pods onto the ground, units, and structures. Each pod lasts 2 minutes and generates a cloaking field stealthing everything within a radius of 200 (Ctrl+S). Purchasable at any Air Tower for $500 and takes 0:15 to research.

In-game[]

Vertigos sacrifice speed and a flexible loadout for high firepower and stealth. They are good at evading anti-air until it is too late to counter them: they can withstand moderate amounts of anti-aircraft fire and can negate incoming rockets upon leaving enemy detection range. Their stealth makes them very good at not just harassing poorly defended base structures, but enemy units in the field that don't have much anti-air protection or stealth detection with them.

Vertigo Bombers carry only a single bomb, so once they unload upon a ground target they must fall back and rearm. However, their bombs do a lot of damage and have a large blast radius, allowing them to kill most infantry squads in a single hit (with the exception of cannon-resistant elites, such as Black Hand, Shock Troopers and Zone Troopers), do great damage to heavily armored vehicles and lethal damage to most light vehicles—often killing them outright. Buildings take good amounts of damage, but are mildly resistant to cannon-damage, which means the Vertigo loses to the Firehawk and it's grenade-type bombs in this role.

Vertigos prove difficult to deter using even ground-based AA turrets, unless they are deployed in force. An expensive group of 4 Vertigoes can take out any anti-air turret in a single bombing run and often survive.

An additional feature is the rear-mounted AA turret—though the turret only does light damage, it allows Vertigoes to attack other aircraft without air-to-air capability, such as Orcas and Devastator Warships. A wing of Vertigo bombers can serve as makeshift interceptors if the need arises, though Vertigoes quickly lose to aircraft with air-to-air capability.

Unfortunately, Vertigo Bombers suffer from slow speed (in comparison to other aircraft) and average armor, so if they are intercepted or encounter a decent amount of anti-air fire upon detection they can be quickly brought down. They are also very expensive at 1800 credits per unit, so building a group of them is a large investment. They will most likely have to carry out and survive several bombing runs before they pay themselves off—as such, they would not be something a commander should build in a desperate defensive situation, rather: something to harass and wear down an enemy ground force over a period of time.

Their secondary ability, (which requires research to unlock) is the deployment of Disruption Pods. For a research cost of $500, a Vertigo can drop a Disruption Pod on the field. The pod, upon landing: stealths allied units around it for a short period of time. This can be a useful ability to drop on an attacking force right before an assault as it gives them cloaking ability at a low cost.

Assessment[]

Pros[]

  • Stealthed; can strike without warning, and retreat before retaliation
  • Does incredible damage to most ground targets
  • Does Splash damage to clustered enemies
  • Decent armor and durability
  • Stealth lets it evade incoming missiles and rockets upon leaving detection range
  • Disruption Pods are a cheap upgrade at $500; stealths Nod forces without the use of Disruption Towers
  • Rear AA gun may cause some damage to enemy aircraft
  • Only aircraft with limited ammunition that is capable of attacking after payload is depleted

Cons[]

  • Only available at Tier 3
  • Relatively slow; if detected, AA defenses will have plenty of time to unload on them
  • Unlike the Firehawk, Vertigoes cannot bypass enemy defenses with stealth detection
  • Expensive; costs $1800 compared to the Firehawk's $1500
  • Missile-armed Firehawks can tear through them with little effort
  • Rear gun can only fire at targets at the rear and does negligible damage
  • Vulnerable to scout units (Pitbulls and Attack Bikes), especially Venom craft
  • Inaccurate against mobile targets; most units can dodge bombs effectively
  • Orca Sensor Pods are excellent detectors and counters to Vertigoes and their Disruption Pods

Quotes[]

Created[]

  • Vertigo, flight check complete!
  • Vertigo bomber, standing by!

Select[]

  • Vertigo bomber!
  • Standing by!
  • Stealth system check!
  • We have a target?
  • Ready for coordinates!
  • Channel open!

Moving[]

  • Adjusting course!
  • Confirmed!
  • Heading to new sector!
  • Getting into position!
  • Got it!
  • Going there now!

Move to Attack[]

  • Fixed on new target!
  • Attack run confirmed!
  • Bombing run initiated!
  • Ready the bomb bay door!
  • Target verified!
  • Prepare bombing run!

Retreating[]

  • Mission compromised!
  • We need repairs!
  • Aborting bombing run!
  • We're turning back!

Shot Down[]

  • It's over!
  • No no no!
  • Whoops!

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Vertigo pilots saying "whoops" when getting shot down is a callback to Banshee pilots in Tiberian Sun who would unfittingly, albiet humorously say "whoops" calmly before crashing into the ground.
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