Super Tank (Beta Class)

 

Super Tank (Beta Class)
Health	1500 health plus Power Shield (400 cells)
Attack Damage	Rocket Launcher: 50 per rocket Chaingun: 6 per bullet Grenade Launcher (2023 remaster): 30-40 per grenade
Found in	The Reckoning Call of the Machine
[Source]

“	The ultimate combination of man and machine has been enhanced with powerful energy armor.	”
—The Reckoning Manual

The Super Tank (Beta Class) is a new enemy introduced in the The Reckoning expansion pack, and is an upgraded version of the Super Tank from Quake II. Compared to the original Super Tank it sports a Power Shield which increases its durability.

The 2023 remaster makes its chain gun less accurate than in the original The Reckoning, but gives its rockets a homing ability, and gives it a new grenade launcher attack. The remaster also tweaks the way power shields work, making energy weapons more effective against them - see the Power Shield chapter below for the implications of this.

Another Beta Super Tank appears in Call of the Machine.

Weapons

Heavy Chaingun: Just like the original Super Tank, this weapon fires a long stream of accurate bullet fire, dealing 6 damage per hit. In the original game it is deadly accurate at any range even if the target is strafing, but less so in the 2023 remaster.

Rocket Launcher: The other flank sports a shoulder-mounted Rocket Launcher, which fires three rockets in quick succession. Each rocket does 50 damage for a potential total 150 damage. In the original game this attack can easily be dodged by strafing, but in the 2023 remaster the rockets have gained the ability to home in on their targets.

Grenade Launchers (2023 remaster): The Super Tank may fire two grenades from the launchers mounted above its tracks. These can fire at a high elevation, although the Super Tank still needs to see its target in order to fire.

Power Shield

The Beta Super Tank's power shield works in the same way as the Power Shield available to the player. Essentially, it causes the bearer to suffer less damage from incoming attacks, at the cost of consuming some cells. The Beta Super Tank has 400 cells for its shield.

When struck by a non-energy weapon, one-third of the incoming damage will be suffered by the Super Tank's health, one-third will be suffered by its cells, and the remaining one-third will go to waste. For example, a shot from your Railgun - which normally deals 125 damage - would deal 41 damage to the Super Tank's health and deplete 41 of its cells, with the remaining chunk of damage going to waste. Once all the 400 cells are depleted, the power shield offers no further protection.

Energy weapons are more effective against a shielded target, depleting the cells twice as quickly. In this case, one-third of the incoming damage is suffered by the Super Tank's health, and the remaining two-thirds are suffered by its cells, with none of the damage going to waste. For example, a hit from your Ion Ripper - normally dealing 50 damage - would deal 16 damage to the Super Tank's health and deplete 33 of its cells.

Energy weapons are those which use cells for ammunition, as well as the Phalanx Particle Cannon and the Blaster.

Strategies

• The first encounter with this behemoth takes place in the Intelligence Center near the end of Unit 2. It is one of the more potentially dangerous parts of the game and is well worth saving a Quad Damage and/or Dualfire Damage for (there's a Quad Damage in the Inner Compound, and a Dualfire Damage in the Outer Compound). Quad Damage is the better option of the two since it reduces the ammo needed to defeat these sturdy foes, whereas Dualfire Damage won't. The battle takes place in an outside arena with two giant pillars, and one Beta Super Tank will soon engage. However, if the player retreats too far around the pillar to stay in cover, the second Beta Super Tank will soon engage as well. In the original version of The Reckoning, the best option is probably the Chain Gun buffed by Quad Damage - it'll take less than 100 quad-damage bullets to kill each Beta Super Tank, which only takes a few seconds to achieve. However, in the 2023 remaster, energy weapons are more effective against an enemy bearing a Power Shield (see the section above) which makes the Ion Ripper a more attractive option than before; the Hyperblaster isn't available yet, but the Ion Ripper's damage output isn't far behind. The Ion Ripper can kill a Beta Class Super Tank within 40 shots, or 10 if Quad Damage is used. Another option is to use the Ion Ripper first to deplete the power shield quickly and efficiently, and then switch to the Chain Gun for a higher damage output once the power shield is down.
• Two more Beta Super Tanks are encountered are in the Industrial Facility, but separately. The first is faced in the outdoor area near the beginning of the level, appearing from a large garage-style door that opens as you approach it, or the steps leading to the facility entrance. There are two Laser Guards in this area as well, near the pillars, and it's wise to kill them both before going close enough to commence the fight with the Super Tank. You can also first collect the Phalanx in the corner of the area (it's a secret, but not difficult to find) and, from there, drop down and head around to engage the Tank. The Phalanx can be a good choice for taking potshots around the corner, but beware the Beta Super Tank can pursue you all the way around; the Ion Ripper may be the better choice due to its higher damage output per time.
• The fourth and final Beta Super Tank is in another outdoors area in the same level. This encounter is the easiest of them all, because the Beta Super Tank cannot reach the area near the door from which you entered the outdoors area; therefore you can easily take potshots around the corner and use cover to avoid its return fire. The Phalanx is the best weapon to use here. Once you defeat this final Beta Super Tank, the Green Key is revealed.
• The Beta Class' more deadly weapon is his Chain Gun as his rocket launcher is easily dodged in the original game, although the 2023 remaster gives his rockets the ability to track their target to some extent. The Tank is very large and very wide, so take advantage of this by taking cover and nudging out so that the player can only see the left side of the Tank, thus the Chain Gun is out of the picture. This allows for continued fire until the Tank starts up his rocket launcher animation where the player can take cover and repeat. This is very easy to do in the Intelligence Center (until both tanks flank from both sides) and the first fight in the Industrial Facility.

Appearance statistics

Campaign	Any difficulty
Quake II	-
The Reckoning	4
Ground Zero	-
Quake II PSX	-
Quake II 64	-
Call of the Machine*	1

*The Strogg Megatank is essentially a Beta Super Tank with varying health depending on the difficulty setting.

Sounds

Sounds
The Super Tank (Beta Class) talking
The Super Tank (Beta Class) moving
The Super Tank (Beta Class) being injured
The Super Tank (Beta Class) being killed

Trivia

• Like the original Super Tank, Beta Class Super Tanks appear to have weapon barrels above their treads that they never use in the original game. However, these have been restored in the 2023 remaster as grenade launchers.

Gallery

Beta Class Super Tank's texture map

Beta Class Super Tank's texture map when injured

Remastered model