Air Bomb

The Air Bomb is an enemy commonly found in the Survival-Map Safest Gate as well as in Research Facility. It is round in shape with a gray metallic finish and a red light in its center. The bottom of the bot houses a small pale purple light that emits a wave-like effect, presumably an anti-gravity device that enables it to "fly." However, due to the device giving a slight propulsion, its flight is somewhat erratic and unstable as the Air Bomb will rotate to aim. The casing on Air Bombs will open and close as it patrols, keeping mostly closed. When it spots an enemy (such as yourself), it will unfurl to reveal its gun. As it takes aim, there is a slight pause and a beep before it will actually shoot. After it fires, it will the close back up as it reloads and the gun retracts. Air Bombs can come equipped with an array of weapons, but in the above mentioned maps it is only equipped with the Slugger Pipegun, sometimes with minor upgrades. When furled, it is completely invulnerable to bullets (excluding explosives, plasma shots and the Beam Gun) but unable to attack.

Due to its unsteady nature, Air Bombs can not aim very well and most shots will miss, provided you are moving. However, if you remain still and an Air Bomb chooses to attack, the shot will most likely hit. If the bullet is deflectable, it is sometimes possible for the redirected hit to kill the Air Bomb as it is closing, but this counts on a clean deflect and a powerful round.

Plasma weapons are very effective against them, a plasma shot (tested with the Plasma Pistol and Plasma Assault) or a direct hit with a Flashbang (tested) will force the Air Bomb to become vulnerable and will "stun" it. Also, the Beam Gun will ignore its protection. Matter charges will be redirected away, sometimes back into the aggressor. Slugger guns bounce off harmlessly, but may fall onto you, resulting in a minor hit. The Phaser will push it away, and will kill an Air Bomb if it is open.

Bugs
Occasionally, if the Air Bomb chooses to shoot as it closes, the shot will materialize outside of its shell and shoot as it would if it were open. If a player is controlling an Air Bomb, this can be exploited nefariously.

Sometimes an Air Bomb's pathfinding will drive it into and along the ground. It may attempt to attack or not, and will be easy to hit.

Previous/Historical Information
As its name suggests, Air Bombs are explosive. In previous versions of the game, when nearing the player, Air Bombs would unfurl, and beep before exploding, the red light in the center flashing. This would trigger bullet time, and its explosion was quite deadly.