T.A.C.T.

   

T.A.C.T.
General information
Type	Call for fire desiginator
Affiliation	Earth Defense Force
Usage
Used by	Sam Stone Earth Defense Force soldiers Any playable character (Co-op mode)
Effect	Targets a large area for bombardment with artillery strikes
Game information
Designed by	George Koshelev (concept art)
Entity name	ArtilleryCall

 

"Show them their place."

―In-game description

The T.A.C.T., (Topographic Artillery Call Targeter) is a gadget introduced in Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem.

Overview

Designed as equipment of last resort, the T.A.C.T. works in tandem with NETRICSA's holographic interface for calling a precise artillery strike from multiple Earth Defense Force-maintained multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) into extreme combat situations.

When equipped, NETRICSA will display a large targeting area for the artillery strike. Firing the device has a short delay, after which it will bombard the selected area with missiles for approximately 20 seconds, with each missile doing 1000 damage (500 direct damage + 500 splash damage). These missiles cannot harm the player or their allies, although they can gib enemies due to having a high piercing power stat of 500 and also inflicting Piercing damage.

Appearances

There are a total of five T.A.C.T.s that appear throughout the campaign in Siberian Mayhem, the first of which can be found at an oil pump to the left of the first large area's exit in Siberiade, across from one of the three outposts holding the optional keys. A few more can occasionally be picked up from secrets. The player can obtain more of these gadgets in New Game+.

Tactics

• The artillery strike covers an incredibly large area and easily tears through large hordes of weaker enemies, allowing the player to easily pick off any stragglers. An example of an ideal moment to use it would be when dealing with the massive Beheaded Kamikaze rush at the beginning of Roadside Picnic and during the big battle near the end of Crime And Punishment.
  • If the player activates the T.A.C.T. on a huge enemy horde (at least 30 enemies) and then immediately rides a Draconian Burner, they can unlock the "Combusion Tamer" achievement/trophy. This is much easier than riding the Burner and trying to kill 30 enemies with his weapons since he moves quite slowly, making him an easy target for Adult Arachnoids, Gnaars, Kleer Skeletons Hatchling Arachnoids, Major Bio-mechanoids, and especially massive swarms of Kamikazes.
• The T.A.C.T. can easily destroy an Octanian Sentry Tower regardless of whether or not its core is exposed.
• The T.A.C.T. is not recommended to be used against the Cryomorph Gnaar Pair and final boss fight, as they have more than enough health to outlast the air strike and the smoke and explosions make it difficult to see their attacks coming.

Related achievements

	Death from Above 10
	Now it's your turn.

Behind the scenes

• As seen in early concept art, the T.A.C.T has undergone 10 different designs before reaching the final version.
• In early versions of the game, the T.A.C.T would continue to rain down missiles once activated, even during cutscenes. This was fixed in the 1.03 patch.

Trivia

• The T.A.C.T. has the Serious Sam logo on it. The Serious Sam logo can also be seen on the gadget's display monitor when it is activated.
• The T.A.C.T.'s rockets have the same hit effect and roll effect terms (CannonHit, CannonRoll) and material effect and pierce material effect types (RocketHit, CannonPierce) as the cannonballs fired by the SBC Cannon and the airstrike missiles fired by the Octanian Sentry Tower.

Gallery

Artwork

Early concept designs.

Concept art.

Retail

Worldmodel.

The T.A.C.T.'s display.

Projectile called down by the T.A.C.T.

The targeting area for the T.A.C.T.

NETRICSA description.

List of appearances

• Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem (First appearance)