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Anti-Air missiles fired from an Adaptor
The Cybran Adaptor Mobile Shield, Anti-Air and Anti-Missile (also known as ADV Adaptor) is a Cybran mobile land unit. It provides shields, anti-air, and anti-missile defenses. Best used in combination with experimental units or massed loyalists. Can be upgraded with jump jet technology via Research.
Strategy[]
The Adaptor is primarily a Mobile Anti-Air Gun. It has substantial Anti-Missile Defense, though not as powerful as that of the other factions'. Its shield is very light for the price.
As you would expect, if your opponent employs both air and missile units against you then the Adaptor is perfect. As a purely anti-air unit the Adaptor is still very competitive, with the same cost-to-damage ratio as the other factions with the shield to boot. As a purely anti-missile unit it is not as cost effective, but the addition of the shield generator makes it just about competitive in this role. The only role in which the Adaptor really fails is as a mobile shield generator, as the shield is much weaker than its counterparts in other factions, and if used primarily for this purpose it is not cost effective.
The Adaptor shield is able to stop one shot each shield, which means in sufficiently large quantities they can negate some very powerful units. 30-40 adaptors will be able to stop a commander overcharge for instance, thus in theory allowing your un-upgraded commander, or even 1 loyalist to be able to take out the enemy ACU. In large quantities adaptors are the best mobile shield unit.
Whilst units are unable to fire whilst airborne from jump jets, the Adaptor`s shield remains active during the jump, providing valuable protection from anti-aircraft guns.
Comparison with other units[]
Mobile Anti-Air Gun[]
The Adaptor is more expensive than the other faction's corresponding units. It costs exactly twice as much as a Mobile Anti-Air Gun (Archanist, Crahdow), and has only slightly more DPS. This means that in sheer Anti-Air firepower; the Adaptor is just as good as that of any other faction, plus additional benefits. As a minor detail, the missiles the adaptor fire will track their target beyond the maximum range of the adaptor, unlike the direct-fire anti-air weapons used by most other units.
Mobile Shield Generator[]
The Adaptor's shield has only 140 health. The UEF P-Shield, at 3/4 the cost, has a shield of 600 (was 400 untill the patch 1.20). The Adaptor's shield is an added bonus, though it cannot be relied on for active defense. If you really need mobile shield protection, it is actually more cost effective to build standard Shield Generators along the way.
However, if your strategy is spamming ground units, and your opponent is using large amounts of artillery, this shield, though inferior, still proves invaluable in keeping your forces safe, especially with its quick rebuild time.
Mobile Anti-Missile Defense[]
The Adaptor has the same rate of fire as that of the other factions, but lower damage. This makes it less capable than the other factions.
However, its power comes from its earlier and easier deployment than all other Anti-Missile Defense units. A Cybran commander needs only one tech researched before Adaptor research, Rate of Fire. It is one of the most useful techs that are available at the very beginning. The Illuminate requires two techs before their missile defense unit. It's total RP requirement (6 points) is the same with the Adaptor. However, these required two techs (Build Cost, Build Time) is less useful for improving combat effectiveness than other available tech at the same time; Weapon Range and Damage +15%. Finally, UEF requires 9 RPs, the most expensive cost to grab their missile defense unit, Sharpshooter.
And those who play the Illuminate or UEF may feel not worth picking the AMD unit tech with cost of 3, as it's only for AMD capability. When you are being shelled by missiles, in most cases it is better to move and take out the source of incoming missiles, rather than stay and trying to intercept missiles. In contrast of other factions, Cybran players may pick Adaptors rather easily, as they also provide AA.
When defending solely against long range tactical missiles, the Adaptor's shield can be viewed as another layer of anti-missile defense assuming the adaptor is stood near to the missile's target, absorbing missiles that the Zapper failed to shoot down. In this case, the adaptor will appear to be more reliable than other missile defenses, particularly in numbers.