Orca Fighter

Orca Fighter
Air Vehicle
Faction	Global Defense Initiative
Role	Attack VTOL
Health	400 (Recruit) 450 (Veteran) 500 (Elite) 600 (Heroic)
Armor type	Aerial
Seats	2
Cost	$900
.50 Cal Minigun
Damage	Base Damage 12 Headshot x1.5 Kevlar Armor x0.7 Flak Armor x1.3 Lazarus Armor x1 Heavy Armor x0.185 Light Armor x0.185 Aerial Armor x0.185 Building x0.185 MCT x0.75
Projectile type	Explosive - Shell
Projectile speed	18000
Range	4500
Rate of fire	0.06
Hellfire Missile
Damage	Base Damage 35 Headshot x10 Kevlar Armor x1.2 Flak Armor x0.5 Lazarus Armor x1 Heavy Armor x1 Light Armor x1 Aerial Armor x1 Building x2 MCT x3
Projectile type	Explosive - Rocket
Projectile speed	4000
Range	4500
Rate of fire	0.40
Miscellaneous
Internal name	Rx_Vehicle_Orca

The Orca Fighter is the attack VTOL gunship of the Global Defense Initiative and a direct counterpart of Nod's Apache.

Appearance

The Orca Fighter is equipped with 2 jet engines attached to the sides and stabilizers and a fan on its back. The 2 missile launchers and the machine gun are on the front of the Orca.

Function

The Orca is one of the basic GDI units on flying maps. It is very fast, universal and capable of dealing a lot of damage (especially in a group).

Strategy

Usage

Orcas work good against all kinds of infantry and vehicles. Their speed, long reload time and low health make it best to use the hit-and-run tactic. Thanks to its mobility and ability to fly high and keep eyes on a big part of the map, Orcas are great as scouting units and at controlling large areas of the field. They are a good counter against sneaking Technicians.

Orcas are of fragile nature; one should be careful not to fly too far into the enemy lines, especially on open maps. If the enemy fired locked-on rockets at you, you will hear an alert sound. It is possible to evade those rockets if you fly behind some cover or if you fly fast (holding shift) in one direction.

Generally, the machine gun works best against flak armored infantry, while missiles are made for dealing with vehicles and buildings, but actually both weapons can as well be used against all targets. Ramming infantry is a good idea, because it is hard to run from the very fast Orca. When fighting enemy vehicles - especially Apaches - it is best to wait until the rockets are locked on the target.

The Orca Rush, along with the Medium Tank Rush, are the two most deadly tactics in the game for GDI. An Orca Rush can reach the target quickly and deal a huge amount of damage to a building in a short period of time using the rockets. Even ~6 Orcas are enough to destroy a building in 2 bursts of rockets. They are also able to cover an Ion Cannon Beacon on a roof a building effectively.

Orcas can also be used to drop infantry (especially sneaky Hotwires) in the enemy base, a common tactic for example on Walls.

Counters

There is plenty of counters against Orcas. Because of their light armor, all automatic rifles and cannons (like the ones of a Buggy, APC or an Laser Chaingunner - or even a regular Soldier) deal considerable damage to Orcas. All units with locking-on rockets (Stealth Tanks, Apaches, Rocket Soldiers) work good, too. Raveshaws and Sakuras can be very annoying and troublesome for Orcas as well.

It is best to mass the units mentioned above when defending against an Orca Rush.

Gallery

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  Render

Videos

Community

• Orca Fighter Gameplay on Lakeside (BioHazard TV)

See also

• Orca on the Command & Conquer Wiki
• Apache, Nod counterpart