This article is considered accurate for the current version (1.59) of the game.
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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.
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— In-game description
The Niska-Rycker Mk. IX Skycaller (also known as a Skycaller or Rocket Half-Track) is a Warden Rocket ArtilleryHalf-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 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. It can soak 12.7mm machine gun fire but not for long. Heavy explosives and anti-tank weaponry are an extremely dangerous threat to it. 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.
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 do this nearly twice as fast). This fire effect blocking repairs has good synergy with conventional artillery. A single hit from a rocket can start a low level fire which will burn for at least 5 seconds, preventing all repairs for that time. By preventing repairs, the time to destroy the target and cost to destroy can be minimized. Note that not all structures can be set on fire.
The 200m minimum range is at the limit of what a forward spotter with a pair of binoculars can see and triangulate, or what a spotter in an Observation Tower can see. At greater distances, more advanced artillery tactics will be needed. The spotter needs to be close enough to determine the effect of the wind and the effect of tall obstacles.
The Skycaller's ability to rotate the rocket's aim without moving the vehicle is a huge quality of life feature, giving it a leg up over other rocket artillery platforms.
Rockets have a lower "angle of attack" than other artillery platforms. They do not strike their target from straight above, but at an angle roughly equal to the viewpoint of the player (if the rocket is fired in the same direction as the top of the player's screen). This makes it easier to hit taller structures, which can be useful if the tall structure is the target (such as a Town Base) but more difficult if the target is obscured by hills or unimportant structures.
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.
Rocket Ammo Strategy
High Explosive Rocket ammo deals roughly 2x the damage of an Incendiary rocket per hit, while the fire effect from incendiary rockets is nearly 2x as strong. The fire damage over time requires about a minute of burn time to reach the same damage done as High Explosive Rockets (assuming equal hits, assuming fire is self sustaining). If damage needs to be done in less than 1 uninterrupted minute, then HE Rockets will be more damaging. If Damage can be done over more than a minute then Fire rockets are more damaging.
Tips
Like all artillery equipment, rockets can be quickly submitted into them without accessing their inventory
While this can be done for all vehicles, it should only be done if they can carry/use large items
Equip the rocket and walk up to the vehicle
Submit the rocket into the vehicle - pressV
Trivia
Unlike its Colonial counterpart, the R-17 “Retiarius” Skirmisher, the Niska-Rycker Mk. IX Skycaller does not need to be deployed in order to fire its armament
To compensate for the lack of deployment, it must be completely stationary in order to fire
Gallery
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