| Ability User: | Rapture Battlecruiser |
|---|---|
| Ability Type: | Active |
| Target: | Targets enemy frigates and cruisers. |
| Antimatter Cost: | 75 |
| Cooldown Time: | 20 |
| Duration: | 25 |
| Range: | 4500 -> 5110 -> 5720 -> 6325 |
| Effect(s): |
|
Note: Values in table are current as of Patch 1.90.
Reduces Hit Chance and increases weapon cooldown of affected enemy forces. -Extracted from the game
Tactics[]
The effective damage reduction on affected units from the combined penalty is 19% -> 33% -> 45% -> 56%.
There is no limit to the number of affected targets, so this ability is particularly effective against tightly clustered forces. This is also one of the few ways the Advent have to reduce the damage they receive from phase missiles, although it does not effect the most damaging phase missile unit, the Vasari Bomber. Remember that Vertigo's cooldown is shorter than its duration, so leaving it on autocast could cause it to waste antimatter on targets that are still affected by the previous cast.
This ability is useful to reduce the performance of ships you do not want to fulfill their function, for example, reduce the damage caused by long-range vessels.
It generally pays to level Vertigo as the ship gains ability points, as it doesn't suffer from diminishing returns. The combined bonus increases quite significantly: Reductions in damage output relative to the previous ability level are 19% -> 17% -> 18.5% -> 20.5%. Additionally, the range increases, while not individually large, eventually add up to a rather large difference in area affected (100% -> 129% -> 162% -> 198% area size, all relative to level 1 range), and also allow you to keep the Rapture farther away from enemy fire. (Which is where it should be, as it is almost purely a support ship.)
Like most AoE, this ability is great against the Pirates, who (i) have no way to counter it, lacking as they do support ships of any kind; (ii) tend to rush your positions in tight clusters; and (iii) are built around strong attack, which Vertigo can blunt, but have poor staying power otherwise.
Against regular enemies, it should be focused on their front-line damage-dealing ships, as it won't do much to reduce the effectiveness of support vessels. However, if the enemy relies on anti-strike craft frigates to counter your strike craft, catching the frigates in the effect might improve your strike craft's effectiveness significantly.
For Advent Loyalists, when Vertigo is combined with the Coronata titan's Suppression Aura, the double debuff reduces incoming damage significantly even at low levels; at maximum levels, there is hardly any damage left, even before shield mitigation and armor. (Assuming both abilities are at equal level, the combined damage reduction is 39% -> 53% -> 64% -> 74%.)