Raptor

Unreal Tournament 2004
The Raptor is a flying vehicle, first seen in Unreal Tournament 2004.

Fire Modes
The primary fire mode of the Raptor fires team-colored plasma shots with splash damage and is useful against both infantry and vehicles.

The secondary fire mode fires a rocket which automatically follows Raptors, Mantas and Cicadas. However, the turn radius of the missile is quite low, therefore it misses very often, leading into long lasting fights between Raptors. Leading the target is helpful in this scenario.

Tactics against the Raptor
The Shock Rifle performs extremely well against the Raptor. The primary fire of the Shock keeps on pushing the Raptor around, making it hard for the pilot to hit. Besides that, the Shock beam does quite a lot of damage.

The Hellbender's second turret is also very strong because it does massive damage and the Raptor hasn't got a real chance to dodge it except hiding behind an obstacle until the Hellbender is down.

In order to destroy a Raptor with the AVRiL it is advisable not to fire the missile directly at the Raptor. This would give the pilot an immediate warning and - in most cases - enough time to break the lock by hiding behind an obstacle. A better tactic is to fire the missile only in the rough direction of the Raptor and lock it when it is close to the Raptor. That way the pilot has much less time to evade the missile.

Unreal Tournament 3
"The FZ-5 Raptor maintains Axon's strangelhold on air-to-ground combat superiority.  A grid array of magneto-conducting cells, powered by phase-induction plasma turbines, covers its articulated wings. The grid array vectors gravity away from the Raptor in the direction the pilot chooses, enhancing mobility and giving the Raptor the ability to hover in plac eat will.  Armed with two solidstate plasma projectors and a homing missile mount, the Raptor is effective offensively, but given the grid array's susceptibility to damage, the Raptor is best used for stealthy interdiction rather than frontal assault. Due to the vehicle's delicate nature, Rapor pilots must always be cautious of guided Longbow rockets and turret attacks from the ground."

- UT3 manual

Using the Raptor
With its air-to-air homing missiles, the raptor is most efficient against other flying or hovering vehicles, like the Manta, Viper, Cicada or Fury. Against other Raptors, often the pilots' skill at evading the opponent's rockets plays a deciding role. If you have to take on another Raptor, a surprise attack is your best chance to get an advantage. Taking down other flying (not hovering) vehicles with the Raptor gives its pilot a "Top Gun" award.

Against ground vehicles the Raptor's rockets won't lock on, but still do a lot of damage. It's almost impossible to hit fast-moving ground vehicles like the Scorpion or Scavenger with them, but against the larger and slower vehicles they can do considerable amounts of damage.

At any time, watch out for enemy AVRiL fire, especially when attacking heavier vehicles that need some time to destroy. The driver might decide to jump out and fire AVRiLs your way. In any case, never just hover in mid-air - this makes you an easy target for regular Rocket Launcher rockets, which don't give any lock warning, or even for a Goliath or SPMA. Both vehicles can take down a Raptor with a single hit, the Goliath even gets an "Eagle Eye" reward for doing so and there's nothing more satisfying for SPMA drivers than picking off an enemy Raptor in mid-air. Also, watch where you're flying; SPMA camera shells are deadly for a Raptor crashing into them.

Going against the Raptor
The best weapon against a Raptor is the AVRiL Longbow. Two hits definitely destroy a Raptor and at medium range there's often no escape from the rockets. As always, firing the AVRiL only roughly in the direction of the Raptor and locking on later will delay the warning the pilot gets and give him less time to hide behind obstacles. Also, the closer the AVRiL rocket gets, the less it tries to "plan ahead", which greatly reduces the chance of it crashing into some nearby wall.