Ankylon Titan
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The Ankylon Titan is the TEC Loyalist's Titan added in the Rebellion stand-alone expansion. The Ankylon is a massive tank and buff machine capable of defending an entire gravity well. It can extend its shields around other ships, disable enemy abilities, reduce allies' ability cooldown timers and extend enemy ability cooldowns; all while giving and taking a severe beating.
Its weapons layout is different from the other Titans: it is the only one of them to be focused on broadside combat and also has equally powerful fore and aft batteries. As such, many place it right in the middle of an enemy fleet to inflict maximum damage and where its AoE abilities will have their greatest effect.
Tactics
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The Ankylon, being the epitome of the TEC Loyalist philosophy of isolation and entrenchment, excels in unparalleled defense and fleet assistance.
Because of the AOE nature of all except one (Furious Defense) of the Ankylon's skills, It is very effective if accompanied by a large fleet kept within the range of effect. The most significant drawback to this, is that it also exposes the fleet to the enemy's own AOE.
It is often a common mistake made by players to clump the fleet and the Ankylon together, spam a barrage of Disruption Matrix, Group Shield and Inspire and Impair, then let the Ankylon and the fleet just sit and shoot without any afterthought.
For example, if pitted against the TEC Rebel's Ragnarov Titan, the immense AOE damage of Explosive Shot or Scattershot skill can decimate a group of smaller frigates gathered around the Ankylon even if they are engulfed in Group Shield.
Therefore, one must keep in the mind that the Ankylon was not meant to provide invincibility and infallible static defense, but rather to assist a fleet that is constantly adjusting itself in the face of battle, whether in position or tactics.
One way to best use the Ankylon is to let it lead in front, with the accompanying fleet in a considerable safe distance behind it (not too close yet not too far). Once the Ankylon is in range of the enemy fleet, Disruption Matrix and Inspire and Impair must be used as an opening move to gain initiative. Upon its effect, the accompanying fleet can now swoop within range to get buffed by Group Shield then commence attacking, while keeping position and tactics in check.
A common aassumption by newer players is that the Ankylon is weak, due to its being different from most other Titans, in that it does not have massively powerful attacks or abilities. And due to Disruption Matrix not affecting Titans, this was somewhat correct, as while Group Shield provided some protection against enemy Titan AoE (~46% at max rank, not the 86% shown in game, the way Sins displays percentages is highly misleading, it actually allows ships to survive 86% longer, rather than taking 14% of damage), a skilled player could simply wait for Group Shield to wear off, then use their AoE. You also have to keep in mind that Group shield provides no cover against the Vorastras "The Maw" ability at all. It will litarlly consume your whole frigates if you clump up too much. It's a dilemma you face against the Vasari loyalist titan, because it's the best way to counter the AOE it gets from its desperation ability.
However, in the recent 1.04 patch, Disruption Matrix was changed so that it can affect Titans, making the Ankylon the only ship in the game capable of directly disabling enemy Titan abilites, rather than doing so through draining their antimatter. At max rank, this means that a skilled TEC Loyalist player can use Disruption Matrix to cover the 15 second gap between Group Shield wearing off and its being usable again, affording TEC Loyalist fleets significantly increased survivability against enemy Titan AoEs over other factions, as well as allowing it to disable or interrupt other powerful Titan abilities. This forces those who face a high level Ankylon with a supporting fleet into a dillema, if they focus fire on the Ankylon to put its powerful support abilities out of the picture, the Ankylon's fleet can attack freely for a long period of time, due to a high level Ankylon being almost impossible to destroy, especially in its owner's own gravity wells, due to the hull restoration and damage increasing effects of Furious Defense being greater (this in addition to the Militia armor and weapons upgrades which affect all TEC Loyalist ships in their own gravity wells). On the other hand, if they attempt to destroy the supporting fleet, the Ankylon's powerful support abilities will make it that much harder to do.
In the 1.50 patch, the Ankylon was buffed again, and is now a much more viable counter to the heavy damage of the other factions' Titans. Group Shield's duration was increased to 40/50/60/70 seconds, so it can now provide constant defensive coverage for ships within its range as long as the Ankylon has antimatter. Disruption Matrix now disables enemy passive regeneration, giving the Ankylon and its fleet further advantages in pitched battles. And finally, Inspire And Impair now lasts 60/75 seconds and affects enemy Titans, making it drastically more effective in general, and in particular as a means of mitigating the direct firepower of enemy Ragnarovs, Vorastras and Eradicas.
The best way to deal with a high level Ankylon with a supporting fleet is to throw every antimatter draining ability you have at it while Disruption Matrix is not active. Once its abilites are disabled, the Ankylon is little more than a giant nearly indestructable block of metal. Though it does have respectable firepower, it is not nearly as fearsome as other Titans in this regard, and so can be saved for last. Also, if possible, you should engage an Ankylon on neutral or friendly territory, where the effects of Militia Armor and Militia Weapons and the increased power of Furious Defense are not a factor, as these can make the Ankylon a fearsome opponent even when it does not have a fleet backing it up.
Ship Info Ship Type: Titan Faction: TEC Primary Role: Sustained Combat / Support Shield Power: Very High Hull Points: Extreme Armor Level: Extreme Armor Type: Titan Weapons (Fore): 4 x Hvy Beam Cannons / 2 x Flak Cannons / Ship-to-Surface Torpedoes Weapons (Side): 8 x Hvy Laser Batteries (Port) / 4 x Missile Launcher Banks (Port) / 8 x Hvy Laser Batteries (Starboard) / 4 x Missile Launcher Banks (Starboard) Weapons (Aft): 4 x Hvy Beam Cannons / 2 x Flak Cannons Squadrons Supported: 2 - 4 Compliment: 5,000
Added by Beamonde
