- “Enemy Recon:
You've already encountered Tripods on other missions, but you'll find larger numbers of the flying foes on Macbeth. That's because Tripods are manufactured here. These newest versions are equipped with Andross's latest aerial combat computers. Shoot them down before they lock onto your Arwing.” - —
Tripod Fighters are a series of triple pod-shaped starfighters, manufactured in the weapons labs on Macbeth and utilised by Andross's armies during the Lylat Wars. They are probably the most common enemies in "Star Fox 64", appearing in four Missions and many promotional materials for the game.
Schematics
Hence the name, these fighters are triple polygonal-pod shaped space craft that resemble the Butterfly Fighters, but are not to be confused with them. Tripod Fighters are armed with laser cannons which shoot cyan plasma bursts rather than beams. They seem to resort to using surprise attacks, evident by their sudden appearances should the Arwing take a flight path through Corneria City's shattered buildings or under bridges, or the canyons of Corneria's sea or Venom's plains. Tripods tend to fly low and slowly, making them easy to target and take out clusters with charged laser bolts for racking up bonus Hit points, but in Expert Mode they are more aggressive and tend to attack in a level's positions that they wouldn't have done so in the Main Game. More Tripods appear when playing Expert Mode, which is evident for most enemies during the harder gameplay.
In the games
- “Lock on fast fighters:
Clouds of Tripod and Dragon Fighters cover this section of the track. Tripods fly low and slow, so it's easy to knock them out with a single shot, but the Dragon Fighters are fast and tough to follow. Lock on the Dragon Fighters and let your Landmaster's tracking system go to work. While it's tempting to completely clear the skies with several Smart Bombs, save them for the large clusters of enemies. Destroying fighter groups with a single bomb will quickly boost your overall score.” - —
- “Canyon Run:
Stay high along this stretch. You'll have fighters ahead of you, and Tripods will be coming in low from behind.” - —
Tripod Fighters appear frequently in "Star Fox 64" and the 3DS remake, even making an appearance on the 3DS game's box art, where they shoot laser beams instead of bursts. Tripods are only encountered on planets, with the exception of the Training mode. In the N64 game's manual, Tripods also appear in the diagram of the All-Range Mode explanation, even though no Tripods are actually present in any of the All-Range Missions.
Arriving instantly at Corneria City, the Tripods were present at the battles of Corneria, Macbeth, Titania and Venom, making these fighters among the most widely used of all the Venomian arsenal. In the case of Macbeth, they were also in large supply due to the planet being the place they were manufactured at, plus they were fitted with a new improved aerial combat computer.
In the Comic
Tripod Fighters appear in the Lylat Wars Comic, repeating their role as commonplace enemies where they attack Fox McCloud at Corneria City and tail him, causing Peppy Hare to shoot them down and save him. More Tripods attack Slippy Toad, who performs a Barrel Roll at Peppy's advice to lose them.
Gallery
References
NINTENDO POWER: Official Nintendo Player's Guide. Redmond, WA, Nintendo of America. 1997.- .com
- Star Fox Zero: DK/Prima's Official Strategy Guide
