Vibro Blade

General Information

The Vibroblade is a melee weapon capable of dealing powerful attacks at close range. It is essentially a large drill with an ultra hard drill bit powered by a Zrbite power core.

The Vibroblade is best suited for scouts or anyone seeking to move quickly and perform a succession of rapid melee attacks. While weakest of the drills, the attack of a Vibroblade is often deadly and will cripple even the strongest Lobsterman in a single attack. It is also the fastest of the drills. For more information on how this can benefit you, refer to Reactions.

The Vibroblade mainly fails against units with tough external armour, such as the Hallucinoids and Xarquids. For these aliens, the more powerful but slower Thermic Lance and Heavy Thermic Lance provide superior armour piercing abilities to puncture heavy armour.

Vital Statistics

Vibro Blade

• Damage: 80 Drill
  • Attack Cost: 10%
• Weight: 10
• Selling Cost: $1,500
• Build Cost: $7,000 plus:
  • Technician Hrs: 150
  • Workshop Space: 3
  • Zrbite: 1

Usage notes

• It is worth noting that the alien AI does not know how to use any of the melee weapons. A Lobsterman carrying a drill will only attack with its claws. Aliens with drills are always given four Sonic Pulsers, so it's safe to assume that any alien carrying a drill will be a grenadier and have no ranged combat abilities.

• A limitation in the game engine's handling of melee attacks reduces the utility of the drills somewhat by preventing them from targeting inanimate objects like scenery objects and walls. They can only attack living enemy units.

• While the lightest of the drills, at 10 Weight units, the Vibroblade is still somewhat cumbersome. It should only be carried by advanced soldiers who can handle the extra burden.

See Also

• Weapons