Wreckers are extremely powerful top-tier enemies encountered in Phoenotopia Awakening. They are giant, hulking robots that were created before the Great War and far surpass lesser robots in terms of power, even Wendigos.
The first Wrecker encountered in the game appears as the boss of Thomas's Lab, having been discovered and repurposed by Thomas to protect his lab from Peace Ministers. When Gail enters the Wrecker's boss room, it can be seen alongside Thomas as he holds two Peace Ministers, Floret and Gilroy, hostage for trying to arrest him. Thomas then notices Gail but doesn't recognize her; thus, his paranoia kicks in and he assumes that Gail is another Peace Minister, so he orders the Wrecker to capture her, beginning the boss battle.
After that, a few Wreckers appear as rare enemies in the Scorchlands and E.D.E.N. One Wrecker appears on the surface of the Ancient GEO Base, where the player must lure it into smashing the weak ground in order to gain access to the actual base under the ground, and two Wreckers appear at the end of the Ancient Vault.
Whether encountered as a boss or just high-level enemies, Wreckers are very dangerous and extremely durable as they can withstand a ton of damage from Gail and use a variety of ranged and physical attacks against her. They can dash at Gail to try and grab her; if successful, they'll throw her down, which deals very heavy damage unless Gail performs an Ukemi before hitting the ground. They can also swat her away if she gets too close. Sometimes, a Wrecker will jump into the air and then slam its fists down on the ground, dealing damage and knocking Gail back if she's too close. Wreckers can also use the gun in their heads to shoot EMP bombs and volleys of lasers. The EMP bombs emit an electric blast when they explode, which stuns Gail unless she has a Rubber Ducky or Elastic Pellet in her inventory. However, these EMP bombs can also be knocked back towards the Wrecker that fired itwith a melee attack; if an EMP bomb hits a Wrecker, it'll be stunned for several seconds, leaving it vulnerable.
Wreckers are also highly vulnerable to explosive attacks when stunned, so utilizing tools like the Bombs (specially the Remote Bombs) and the Kobold Blaster's explosive bullets will quickly deplete the powerful robot's healthpoints. Another optimal strategy that can be used as early as the fight in Thomas' Lab is to utilize the Refurbished Crank Lamp on the Wrecker while it is stunned, dealing around 6 fairly high damage points each time the lamp crackles. While the rate is of damage is unpredictable, it can shred lots of health without wasting any energy, thus being more effective than resorting to other tools besides the Kobold Blaster.
Trivia
- According to one soldier at the Last Wall, Wreckers are so strong that one of them was able to rip the arm off of a Wendigo that was trying to attack it.
- In E.D.E.N., one of Grasso's logs says that he and his team had a Wrecker which they used to fend off threats such as Trolls who wandered too close to the vicinity of the facility.
- In the E.D.E.N. EN-72 teleporter room, a Grasso log states that a team member of his was ambushed by a 'BT43', which the wrecker 'thankfully' defeated. This log also gives a tip for easily dodging the Wrecker's grab attack, which is to perform a roll. This log also reports that Grasso and his team discovered a baby BT43, which may be able to roll under a wrecker.