Talk:Malta Operatives

• Adv Assault Rifle: I'm not sure about the Knockback effect. Other groups' AARs attack with a single shot and Knockdown. The Malta one has a burst type attack, and I don't remember having been Knockdowned by them never. If someone can confirm this, it would be great, as I think the icon is incorrect due to this. (It would fit perfectly as Adv Sub Machine Gun, indeed)
  Despite of all of this, the effect is listed as "Knockback", where it should be "Knockdown".

• Operation Engineers build their Turret always at the beginning of a combat, and is their first move. Apparently, only one Engineer can build one turret in a group of Malta soldiers, independently of the number of Engineers the group may contain. An Engineer can build only one Turret, and he can be interrupted. Advice: keep an eye on him and interrupt if possible, he won't try to build it a second time.
  Of course, Engineers are irrelevant if the group of Malta soldiers contains one or more Sappers.

• Turrets aren more a nuisance than anything else. I consider them dangerous because of their ability to pierce through Stealth and agro the whole group. I have confirmed the fact they see through Stealth. No idea about Invis. Notice they are Pets and have close to Lieutenant class enemies Hit Points.
  Defeating a Turret gives no xp at all.

• Sappers are universally hatred and can drain you of 80% of your Endurance in a single attack, in barely two seconds. They should be targeted and dispatched as soon as possible, being always the first target in an engagement with a group of Malta soldiers.

• Agents are rarish spawns that I have found in at least two different missions, so I decided to put them there as a mob. I have found Malta named soldiers as Agents: Agent Tulip, Agent Gator and such, so I suspect they could be a bug, and be "regular" named soldiers with a blank space where the name should be. Anyways they seem to be regular Gunslinger, yet I have had no chance to study them properly. Any new info on these welcome.

I checked the data files and there's no listing for an Agent class, so it probably is a bug. --StarGeek 12:04, 3 Feb 2006 (CST)

I will remove them from the list in that case. Thanks for confirming it, Star! =D

--Yakovlev 03:04, 4 Feb 2006 (CST)

• Stun Grenades are the first attack Operation Officers and Tac Ops Commanders will try on you. Be warned that the Stun effect lasts forever (perhaps 20 seconds or so), and is absolutely deadly for an unsuspecting squishy class. Be status-protected or have a Break Free inspiration before engaging one of those!

• Titans in general tend to use different attacks depending on the distance you fight them at: They use Plasma Blast for moderate distancies, most of the time; they will use Pummel when in Melee combat, and finally they will use their missiles when you engage them at long range. The Gunslingers may follow the same pattern of behavior, but I'm still not 100% sure about that.

• Hercules Class Titans will Merge with other of them when one is almost destroyed. The resulting Zeus Titan will have completely full Life and Stamina bars.

• Quad Plasma Blast, used by Zeus Titans looked very dangerous to me. One of these attacks from a even level Zeus Titan caused my Blaster more than 800 damage points, and sent the lifebar of my character directly to the red zone. Very damaging, even for a boss.

• Kronos Class Titan can be found at two different points in the Crimson's Story Arc. Unlike other Giant Monsters, these are no random spawns in a determined zone, and will never spawn out of that Story Arc. (at least so far)

• Moment, finally, is a shapechanger mercenary working currently for Malta that I haven't decided where to put him yet. Regardless of being just a regular boss who does not have even his own bio, I find him interesting enough to be considered a Named Boss. Any ideas?

If I recall, he's the one who shows up as a Greater Devoured at one point? And I think he has a Devouring Earth faction at that time. I would say put him as named boss, with details on his various shapes. --StarGeek 12:04, 3 Feb 2006 (CST)

Yes, he has at least two different forms: Greater Devoured and Rikti Boss. Supossedly he has a human one as well. Problem is that when he spawns in those forms the game uses just a regular model of those beings and he comes under their respective factions. Will try to make something about it, and create a file for him, but I still think it's a pity that the devs didn't bother to add a profile of him =/

--Yakovlev 03:04, 4 Feb 2006 (CST)

--Yakovlev 09:54, 3 Feb 2006 (CST)

New images

While I like their clean and crisp looks, I can't help but be bothered by one thing...

They're TINY! - Skarmory The PG 07:53, 1 February 2007 (PST)

New Turrets

With the release of Issue 12 the Auto Turrets are no longer Immobile, they hover around.

True story. The Devices power set got an upgrade from Gun Turret to Gun Drone. The Malta Engineers got the same upgrade. (For that matter, I saw some of them floating around in RWZ missions defending Vanguard outposts, too.) I guess we just haven't gotten around to updating them here, yet. Will have to see if I can grab a screenshot of one some time this week. --Eabrace 16:26, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

The Slinger?

Where is The Slinger? One of the most unique AVs in the game (and the only Malta AV until Gyrfalcon's appearance) has been missing for ages. Does anyone have enough info to start an entry? Weatherby Goode 03:13, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

Unfortunately, he doesn't appear in Mission Architect so can't get a list of his powers. Wasn't there something you could buy from the Black Market to look up his powers or something? Sera404 10:47, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

He also doesn't appear in City of Data. And except for [Sap Shot] and Archvillain Resistance, Gyrfalcon is just a Gunslinger (with regard to his powers). I think The Slinger is in a similar situation. I believe the Robotics pets that show up when you engage him are part of the mission scripting, not his powers, and other than that, I can't think of anything specifically he does aside from normal Gunslinger powers. -- FW (talk · contrib)  07:05, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

Doesn't the Slinger carry a robotics rifle from Mastermind set though? I don't remember him using Gunslinger-type attacks at all.Sera404 10:31, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

Quite likely. Looking in the ham-flavored crystal ball, Slinger's power set appears to be defined as "Robotics_Mastermind", whereas Gyrfalcon's power set is defined as "Malta_Gunslinger". --Eabrace 13:27, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

Kronos Class Titan

Kronos appears as a Giant Monster which everyone knows.

However, it also appears as an Archvillain (Crimson arc) and as a Monster (Recluse Strike Force). Should separate entries be added? Or would a simple note on Kronos suffice? Sera404 00:58, 17 September 2009 (UTC)

SMOM?

Is there any indication of any ties between the Malta Operatives and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, either in canon or in design inspiration? Perhaps something to ask in Fodder for the Canon... -- FW (talk · contrib)  07:07, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

I suspect that their connection to Malta has nothing to do with the Knights of Malta other than that the shadowy intelligence organizations that founded the Malta Group used the location of the island nation of Malta for symbolic purposes. They see themselves as the last line of defense to defend "the Holy Lands" (the Western powers) from the heathens (Communists, or the rise of the Superhuman). I doubt the canon will reveal any connection to the actual Order, either historical or modern. But who knows, it's worth a Fodder for the Canon question. --K26dp 19:31, 28 October 2009 (UTC)