Floater (EU2012)

For the original UFO: Enemy Unknown (1994) version, see Floater

A twisted ball of airborne agony, the Floater provides close air support for the Alien forces. Unlike their older cousins from the original, these Floaters fly with powerful jet powered packs integrated into their bodies. They have pretty weak armour but they are very fast and agile. Their mobility makes them ideal for flanking.

They take advantage of their superior mobility and evasiveness to outflank even the strongest defensive positions. They can also use their Launch ability to drop down anywhere they wish on the battlefield. They cannot fire after launching though, leaving them defenseless if they drop into the middle of your squad. Be wary of your snipers though, they can be caught unable to fire if a Floater launches down to them.

Floater groups may be easy to dispatch by themselves but in the middle of a heated firefight they can drop in unexpectedly, catching your soldiers off guard and leaving them flanked. Their flanking maneuvers can sometimes leading to disastrous situations for your operatives.

You may want to keep a stock of their corpses on hand, as they are used for the useful one-use-each Defense Matrix module for your Interceptors.

Info

1st Appearance	{{{appears}}}
HP	4/4/4/6
Aim	50/50/60/60
Defense	0
Will	10
Movement	12
Easy/Normal/Classic/Impossible

Floater Armaments

Weapon	Base Damage	Critical Damage	Critical Chance	Abilities
Floater Plasma Light Rifle	4-6	7 or 9	10	Suppression 20%

Abilities

• Launch: The Floater can launch to any point on the map (ends its turn).
• Flight: Has 35 fuel.
• Floaters are always considered to have at least half cover even in the open or when flying, unless in proper cover and flanked. This bonus does not stack with existing cover bonuses - they only receive the best cover.

Notes

• Floaters start appearing on April.
• If killed during a successful mission a Floater Corpse will be recovered.
• After finishing Floater Autopsy research, their corpses can be used to create Defense Matrix modules to be used by interceptor craft.
• If captured during a mission and interrogated afterwards they will provide a reduction in the time required to research Basic Armor (Carapace Armor and Skeleton Suit).
  • Capturing a Floater will also recover intact its Light Plasma Rifle, which can be used later by your troops after it's researched.
• Does not count as robotic enemy for purposes of HEAT Ammo.

Trivia

• These Floaters use jet packs to travel around, unlike the gravball units used by the Floaters of the original.
• Floaters may be back, but the same cannot be said for their signature terror units from the original, the Reapers.
• According to this link [1], Floaters were created via the Ethereals using Meld (present in the Enemy Within DLC expansion) to fuse organic and inorganic materials together.