Inquisitor



"Piloting one of these feels like holding a Holy Grail. Some say that only those pure in heart are worthy of the honor"

Introduction
The Inquisitor is a medium robot with 1 heavy and 2 medium hardpoints. It was released in version 3.2.0.

Ability
It has an unusual and unique ability that blends two standard abilities in the game. Known as Descend, this robot can deal punishing attacks on enemies and wreak havoc because it is cloaked and imperceptible to enemies while in the air and for five seconds after it lands. Targets of this robot shouldn't take it for granted, as its hardpoints mimic that of the Lancelot, and has similar stats as that of the Griffin (the Jump ability and similar design).

The Descend ability, when activated, will propel the robot into the air, simultaneously activating stealth with it. The stealth that is triggered immediately after the activation will last for however long the robot is in flight. Upon landing, no matter how long the robot is in the air, it stays in stealth for 5 seconds, allowing you to hide behind cover or do as much damage as possible before the stealth is over. Afterwards, the robot becomes visible for 20 seconds until this ability can be used again.

Strategy
When using this robot, the ability it can use has a very long cooldown time (20 seconds after the 5-second stealth), longer than the Griffin's time on ground. This means that timing is extremely important to a successful descend and "death from above". If you jump too early or at the wrong place, you can end up having short stealth times, as the 5-second stealth begins after the stable landing, no matter the timing. Thus, it is extremely vital not to jump while under places like the center beacon of Moon or other obstructions above, which can severely reduce your stealth time and effectiveness.

To use the Descend ability to its maximum potential, it should be used to jump over bridges, over enemies, towards enemies (but find cover before the stealth runs out), or to retreat. Be careful, though, as if you jump under obstructions, like the bridge in Canyon, the stealth made would be useless as it has only 5 seconds of stealth upon landing, and its slow speed means that it takes longer to find cover than the Stalker. Another way to use it is to jump in place, as it knocks the aiming off of enemy robots and allows you to either (1) reload without finding cover, (2) deliver a barrage from above, or (3) allow allies to cover enemy fire if they are willing to take damage for you to do the damage. Using the ability this way can save health without losing your position.

Despite having the same hardpoints as the Lancelot, it is more similar to the Griffin, as it has no shield and the Descend ability is very similar to the Jump ability. It should be played like a Griffin, using the Descend ability to get the jump on enemies or to escape. Due to it having no shield (unless you equip the Ecu or Ancile, which is ill-advised) it is very vulnerable to energy weapons, but rockets can be avoided by the ability. Unlike the Stalker, it does not have the speed or small size to use the stealth as well, and as such, should be used to protect yourself.

Acquirement
This robot can only be achieved through the Black Market as separate Components. This, considering its price, must be used properly in order to gain the full effects. The ability Descend is very self-explanatory and can be used to "descend" on enemies without the fear of getting shot and the 5-second stealth after lets you to get to cover. This, as well as the status of being the only heavy robot with stealth, can be as dangerous to the player as it is to the enemy when not played effectively.

Possible Setups
Some common and powerful setups include; a pair of Tarans, with either an Ember or the Redeemer, they both work well with Tarans due to both sharing the same range (350 meters), however the Ember has the ability to not only bypass Ancile shields, but also can go through physical shields. The advantage of using the Redeemer with the Tarans is dealing almost instant damage to the enemy, due to the very fast projectiles, the Ember usually requires leading into (shooting ahead of) the target (especially agile robots), which counteracts the way the Tarans fire. Using Orkans with the Ember is a way to alleviate this problem, due to Orkans also requiring the user to lead the projectiles into the target, however, the ranges of these two weapons differ. A possible mid-range build could be a Zeus or Dragoon, with two Scourges or Ions, with these combinations the Inquisitor can use its Descend ability for retreat if a brawler closes in, or use it to jump above cover to get a clear shot at the enemy.

Trivia

 * This robot shares the same hardpoints as that of the Lancelot but has a Griffin build and jump. It can be considered as an "upgraded Griffin".
 * Although this robot's design is similar to the Griffin's, they are easily distinguishable due to the Inquisitor's red color scheme in contrast to any of the Griffin's duller colors.
 * This robot has the same speed as an in-rushing Carnage.
 * It is ranked 7th in health, with a maximum of 165,000 hitpoints. It also has the following other distinctions:
 * Longest name with 10 letters
 * Longest time on ground with a jump ability (without falling off cliffs)
 * One of five robots with only one paint job (the others being the Strider, the Spectre, the Hover, and the Schutze)
 * "Major upgrade" of a Griffin compared to the Stalker being an "upgrade" to the Destrier due to ability additions, hitpoint differences, and/or hardpoint changes
 * Only medium robot to have stealth (the other is a light robot named the Stalker)
 * One of seven robots without an official faction (the others being the Strider, Spectre, Hover, Stalker, Carnage, and Rhino)
 * When the ability is triggered, any homing weaponry, such as Spirals, Hydras, and Aphids will hit the ground at the location of the triggering of the ability.
 * A visual animation will occur upon the activation of the ability as the two thrusters in the rear will fire for as long as the robot is in the air. However, falling off cliffs will not trigger this visual animation.
 * Inquisitor is based on a Latin word it literally means "searches out" or "inquires" (Latin inquirere < quaerere, "to seek").
 * Inquisitor is based on a real organization devoted to eliminating heresy or other things against the Catholic Church.
 * You can normally hit an Inquisitor on the ground in stealth mode as it is much taller than the other robot with Stealth, the Stalker. All you have to do is manually aim your weapons and you usually will get a hit. However, this is useless for robots armed with Zeus, Scourge, Shocktrain, Hydra, Spiral, and Aphid weapons as they all need a target lock to fire.