The Pneumatic Tower is a large unmanned resource excavator used to shatter rock to look for natural resources. It is found in the Western Frontier in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.[1] They are a common outpost site to be destroyed in the game.
Specifications / Overview[]
Pneumatic Towers are large ground vehicles that is supported on two large tank tracks for maneuverability with an additional two smaller tacks at the front of the vehicle.[1] They are very similar to their sister vehicles, the Pneumatic Prospector, as they are both nothing more than a giant tower which is used to shatter the earth to search for resources with their giant pneumatic jackhammers.[1] The key difference is that the Towers are much simpler in design than the more complex and expensive Prospectors.[1]
The vehicle has two decks, compared to the Prospector's four, with a front and back 'entrance' deck used as elevation to climb up to the main deck.[1] Once a resource deposit is found, four stabilizer legs would unfurl at the base of the vehicle's superstructure and be put in place for the process extraction.[1] After which, the vehicle will activate its giant jackhammer which will pound the earth every ten seconds, causing miniature earthquakes, flinging a cloud of sediment and leaving the ground a glowing blue.[1]
Whilst the Tower has a lot of similarities with the Prospector, there is a key difference, specifically their vulnerabilities. A Prospector's safety system relies on two lower-pressure valves.[2] Shutting both of them off will make the machine vulnerable if the safety control system at the highest deck is compromised.[2] On the other hand, the safety systems of a Tower relies on a cooling unit and a generator.[2] The cooling unit is vulnerable to hacking or sabotage and once this unit is destroyed, the Tower's generator would vent excess heat to avoid a meltdown.[2] This makes the generator vulnerable to being destroyed causing a cascading failure event.[2]
RDA Mining Installations[]
There are five pneumatic tower mining installations located across the Western Frontier.
Guide: IGN.com - Pneumatic Towers
| Installation | Subregion | Region |
|---|---|---|
| Pneumatic Tower Alpha | Stoneblade Ridge | Kinglor Forest |
| Pneumatic Tower Bravo | Stone Cloud Valley | Clouded Forest |
| Pneumatic Tower Charlie | Mother of Rivers | Upper Plains |
| Pneumatic Tower Delta | Mother of Rivers | Upper Plains |
| Pneumatic Tower Echo | Spinner's Circle | Kinglor Forest |
Trivia[]
- It shares the same structural profile as the Pneumatic Prospector, the Gas Collector and the Seismic Scanner, being both large, mobile towers.
- Given that it is pneumatic and it causes a loud, noticeable miniature earthquake every several seconds, it is highly likely that this vehicle is a giant, mobile jackhammer used to shatter and soften up the earth for other vehicles to safely excavate and extract.
- Likewise, the blue glow on the ground after the hammer strikes strongly indicates that the jackhammer uses plasma as its cutting power.
- The Tower, whilst superficially similar to the Prospector, does have some key physical differences. The design of the Tower is far more simpler, with only two decks and a much more vulnerable weakspot. A Prospector is noticeably larger despite being the same height, and more complex.
Gallery[]
References[]