 UEF T2 Air Staging Facility: Refuel & Repair | |
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| Build costs |  -2100 -175 350 |
|---|---|
| Max health |  500 |
 Cybran T2 Air Staging Facility | |
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| Build costs | -2100 -175 350 |
|---|---|
| Max health | 500 |
 Aeon T2 Air Staging Facility: Cradle | |
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| Build costs | -2100 -175 350 |
|---|---|
| Max health | 500 |
 Seraphim T2 Air Staging Beacon: Iathu-uhthe | |
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| Build costs | -2100 -175 350 |
|---|---|
| Max health | 500 |
An air staging facility is a structure that refuels and repairs aircraft.
Gameplay[]
Air Staging Facilities are stationary platforms to repair and refuel aircraft. In fact, they are one of the most useful structures to have in a base as it can help mantain aerial patrols.
All platforms can support up to 4 T1 aircraft but only one T3-T4 unit so having more to accommodate large squadrons is highly recommended.
When heavily damaged, or running low on fuel, all aircraft will try to return to the nearest Air Staging Facility for repairs; You can tell from this by the purple circle surrounding the facility when selected. However, you can also manually order aircraft to return for forced maintenance; Incredibily useful before an attack, to repair expensive aircraft, or to refuel light ones.
On larger maps however, where there is much more ground to cover, Air Staging Facilities become more restricted for perimeter patrols and mobile Carriers and the Fatboy become essential when launching aggressive air raids closer towards the front lines..
Costs[]
At 2100 energy, 175 mass and 350 time, the Air Staging Facility costs less than most Tech 2 units, and should be built as early as possible if you plan to make substantial use of aircraft.
The cost you will invest in the air staging facility will be dwarfed by the maintenance cost of repairs, but the resources saved from not rebuilding your aircraft will justify your investment.
Repairing an aircraft costs about 3.5% of its cost, so you can repair about 30 aircraft for the cost it takes to build one. An aircraft is repaired and/or refueled in a matter of seconds; the real bottleneck is the waiting line to dock with the platform if a large group of aircraft is waiting for repairs.
Tactics[]
After seeing how cheap it is to repair aircraft instead of rebuilding them, we can understand the gunship hit-and-run tactic. Build a small fleet of gunships, and send them only on little hit and run missions, always making sure they return. Repair them after every mission, while building more. As the game progresses, your fleet will increase in size, and minimize losses (a big army destroys its targets quickly). By the end of the game, you should have a fleet big enough to destroy the opponent's entire base. If not, it'll be big enough to destroy the opponent's ACU. The absolute unit of choice for this tactic is the Aeon T3 AA Gunship: Restorer, as it combines high HP for a low cost, and sacrifices a bit of land fire power for excellent anti-air.
Factional differences[]
All of the faction's air staging facility are equivalent. The UEF's, Aeon's and Seraphim's are nicknamed Refuel & Repair, Cradle and Iathu-uhthe. The seraphim equivalent has a slightly different description and appearance; it is called an Air Staging Beacon instead of an Air Staging Facility.
