| “ | A first of its kind, the Skycaller is a variation of the Niska Motor Carriage with a Rycker designed rocket battery fitted in the rear bed. This unique armoured vehicle quickly fires rockets over long distances with ease, and can be rearmed and relocated at the drop of a hat. The Skycaller is the deadly result of combined Nevish and Caoivish engineering. | „ |
| — In-game description |
The Niska-Rycker Mk. IX Skycaller (also known as a Skycaller or Rocket Half-Track) is a Warden Rocket Artillery Half-Track. It is equipped with a Rocket Battery, which can load and fire up to 17 4C-Fire Rockets at once.
The Niska-Rycker Mk. IX Skycaller houses a crew of two soldiers:
LMBMouse Scroll Wheel to adjust the firing distanceThe Niska-Rycker Mk. IX Skycaller is equipped with one main armament:
It has a dedicated ammo slot that can hold 1 4C-Fire Rocket.
The Niska-Rycker Mk. IX Skycaller has 1500 HP and is disabled under 30% health. It has "Light Armor" resistance: it can soak small arms fire and shrapnel, and it is immune to Flamethrowers. But it won't last long when faced with 12.7mm machine guns, heavy explosives, or anti-tank weaponry.
It has subsystems that have a chance to be disabled by heavy explosives and anti-tank weaponry if hit specifically: Tracks: 30% (Anti-Tank Mines always disable them).
It has Tank Armor. With it, in best case scenario, penetrating projectiles only have a 65% chance of penetrating and doing damage. That chance goes up quickly if the armor is worn or if it is shot from up close, or on the side or rear from a direct angle, or with ammo that has penetration bonuses.
It takes 110 Basic Materials to fully repair it from 1% to 100% health with a Hammer. Its health, subsystems, and Tank Armor can be instantly repaired at a Garage for 100 Basic Materials.
| Structure | Input(s) | Output | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Assembly Station (Battery Line) | 10 x Processed Construction Materials  10 x Assembly Materials I  8 x Assembly Materials III  2 MW of power  1 x Niska Mk. I Gun Motor Carriage  |
Niska-Rycker Mk. IX Skycaller  |
00:05:00 |
Must be fully researched in the Vehicle 
Tech Tree in order to be produced.
The Niska-Rycker Mk. IX Skycaller can be stored in a Storage Depot, Seaport or Storage Ship.
It can be packaged into a large Shippable and transported only by certain Shipping Vehicles (Barge, Freighter, Storage Ship, Flatbed Car, or Large Crane).
Unlike most artillery emplacements and vehicles, the Niska-Rycker Mk. IX Skycaller is capable of being operated by one crew member, who can act as both the Driver and Gunner. The only limitation with this is that the loading of all the rockets takes twice as long compared to doing it with two players.
Although its mobile, it should follow standard artillery defensive precautions, and set up a defensive perimeter around it to protect it from enemy infantry, vehicles, or counter-artillery. (unless its being used in hit-and-run tactics)
Due to its ammunition, it relies more on their ability to set targets ablaze and catching them on fire, rather than Heavy Explosive damage.
Rocket Artillery Strategy
All equipment that uses rockets excel at burst damage, compared to regular 120mm artillery, which are suited for sustained barrages. Due to the rocket's relatively low damage and their high dispersion, they are most effective when attacking in groups, as the large volume of rockets increases the chances of hitting targets. Additionally, every rocket has a chance of setting their target on fire, preventing them from being repaired (though the 4C-Fire Rockets have a higher chance of doing this).
Nearly all rocket vehicles can be reloaded prior to their actual deployment, meaning it is possible to do hit-and-run tactics with them. This can be done by loading up the vehicle with rockets, driving to the location, fire all of them, and evacuate before any enemy QRF forces arrive.
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The Niska-Rycker Mk. IX Skycaller from the front
The Niska-Rycker Mk. IX Skycaller from the rear
A Niska-Rycker Mk. IX Skycaller with all rocket tubes loaded
The Niska-Rycker Mk. IX Skycaller introduced in the Update 1.50 ('Inferno') Dev Stream
Concept art of the Niska-Rycker Mk. IX Skycaller
