Vertibot

Vertibots are robots found in Appalachia.

Background
Developed before the Great War, Vertibots are automated aircrafts utilized by the United States Armed Forces. In the late 2060s, the U.S. Army deployed cargobots all over Appalachia to provide reconnaissance and deliver supplies. The Strategic Air Command used these cargobots, protected with at least three Vertibots each, to deliver additional nuclear keycards if the DEFCON rating continued to lower. Vertibots were also part of the cancelled Sugar Grove BR-04 "LOCUST" project, which planned to create a self-directed bugging network swarm capable of covertly accessing enemy installations, hacking into mainframe systems, and extracting data of interest. However, engineering research indicated that an aircraft equipped with Project LOCUST technology would be approximately around the size of a sedan, making covert actions by a swarm infeasible and thus rendering the project obsolete.

After the Great War, the Fire Breathers at the Ash Heap targeted survey Vertibots in order to obtain valuable salvage from its wreckages. By 2104, since the DEFCON level at Whitespring Congressional Bunker is maintained at 1, the SAC system continues to function across Appalachia. Moreover, lone Vertibots can occasionally be spotted surveying the region.

Characteristics
Vertibots are an automated version of the standard Vertibirds. Autonomous in nature, they appear similar to the piloted variants. Vertibots can be visually distinguished from vertibirds by their opaque windows and inaccessible cockpits. Vertibots are usually found escorting cargobots and will turn hostile if either the cargobot or the Vertibot itself is attacked by the player character.

Gameplay attributes
Vertibots are high level robotic enemies, challenging to fight due to their generous armor, health pool, and ability to fly. If attacked, the Vertibot will continue attacking until it either is destroyed, kills the attacker, or loses interest. In that case, it will not respond to any harassment fire. Survey Vertibots identical to the regular ones appear during the Fly Swatter event in the Ash Heap, allowing for a near-constant supply of Vertibots to shoot down. Three under the Strategic Air Command will usually appear escorting a SAC cargobot carrying a nuclear keycard and will attack anything that either attacks them or the cargobot.

If a player character controls a public workshop with a Vertibot landing pad, the pad can be repaired to spawn a friendly Vertibot, which will automatically take off and attack enemies. Vertibots can be summoned by vertibot signal grenades collected from a yellow box near the landing pad, and will arrive to assist the player character in combat. However, the assisting variant has lower stats. Vertibots are resilient to ballistic attacks but explosive and energy weapons prove effective against them.

Variants

 * Vertibot
 * Survey Vertibot
 * Strategic Air Command Vertibot

Locations

 * Crashed Vertibots may be found in random encounters.
 * Three can be sighted protecting cargobots.
 * One Vertibot may appear flying northwest.

Fallout 76 workshops
Some of the public workshops have a landing pad, which can spawn a Vertibot if the landing pad is repaired and fully operational. The Vertibot defends the workshop and the general area surrounding it until all threats are eliminated, at which point it returns to the landing pad to repair and recover health. If it is destroyed, repairing the landing pad spawns a new one.

Workshops with functional landing pads are:
 * Converted munitions factory, with a crate of Vertibot signal grenades next to the pad, just outside the facility's entrance.
 * Grafton Steel
 * Poseidon Energy Plant yard
 * Wade Airport

Appearances
Vertibots appear in Fallout 76.