Thrusters

LynxPantherLeopardPumaCheetahCheetah Carbon 6

Type	Movement
Purpose	Advanced propulsion

Thrusters are a type of movements.

Overview

Thrusters provide thrust in the direction they are facing as well as a high amount of Speed boost, however, this boost is only counted for the direction the thrusters are facing.

It can be a design challenge to enclose and shield larger Thrusters from damage, though this design strategy may not be cost effective as Thrusters have high armour values and are difficult to destroy. This high durability is often exploited by covering the exterior of a robot with a protective layer of Thrusters.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Can be used to boost speeds of most other movement forms.
• Can be used to aid steering of other movement types.

Cons

• Use a lot of CPU when used in bulk.
• Must be placed at the right place to avoid flipping.

Performance

Poorly placed thrusters will cause spinning rather than propel a robot forward. This is especially true for satellites and drones, which need thrusters as the primary movement method.

Thrusters are also useful for providing airborne steering ability when correctly mounted.

From the Dec 2014 "Tanks Are Rolling Out" patch, diminishing returns apply to Thrusters. Up to 15 Thrusters in each of the six directions will have 100% thrust, with diminishing thrust from the 16th through the 25th, and no boost from the 26th onward.

They are affected by Front-or-Back Cube Behavior.

Statistics

Image	Name	Price	Base Health	CPU	Mass	Base Speed	Speed Boost (%)
	Lynx	400	2,700	10	4.2	120	0.7
	Panther	480	4,050	12	5.4	120	0.93
	Leopard	1,400	5,670	14	6.6	120	1.19
	Puma	1,600	7,560	16	7.8	120	1.48
	Cheetah	4,500	9,720	18	9	120	1.8
	Cheetah Carbon 6	Only in crates

• The Carbon 6 variant of the Thruster Cheetah cannot be forged and can only be found in Salvage Crates.

Trivia

• The space behind the Thruster does not have to be empty for it to provide boost.
• Thruster were originally called Jets
• Before wings were implemented, the only way to fly were thrusters and helium blocks, a design that is still viable.
• Tier 1 Thrusters were removed from the game for a short time, but were reintroduced in Tanks Are Rolling Out update.
• The general name for Thrusters is referred in code as "KUBE_Jet".