Ferret

Members of the Freight Union, aka the "ferrets", use their long bodies to carry around their mortar cannon, laying siege upon enemy units from afar. They are tied with the Artillery Cannon for the longest range in the game at 8 tiles. However, to offset their range advantage, mortar shells linger in the air for two seconds before landing on the ground, giving time for mobile enemy units to move out of the way if possible. Although they lack AoE damage, ferrets can hit a maximum of 1 unit and 1 structure per shot if they overlap. For example, if a ferret were to attack a squirrel standing on a warren, both the squirrel and the warren would be hit.

Strategy
Ferrets are long range siege units. Due to the travel time of their mortar shells they are most effective against stationary fortifications or large groups of units where they are unlikely to miss.

Playing with Ferrets
With the longest range in the game, ferrets excel at harassing and pressuring your opponent. Use the range advantage to poke at the enemy army from a safe distance. While the attacks can be dodged, you are still keeping the opponent on their toes. Poking like this can be particularly effective against larger armies as it is difficult to move every unit out of the way. Ferrets are especially useful for demolishing fortitications like machine gun nests or artillery cannons, which cannot move. Despite their long range, ferrets have an average vision range and so cannot use the full extent of their range unless given vision by the commander or other units. For that reason, pairing ferrets with pigeons is usually a good way to unlock their full vision potential.

Playing against Ferrets
Ferrets are relatively fragile and their damage is inconsistent, which makes them less effective in full army engagements. Until you are ready to take a fight, try to move your army around to dodge the mortar shots or keep them positioned further back out of range. Falcons can be especially useful as they cannot be hit by the mortar fire and their high DPS will make quick work of the fragile ferrets. Alternatively, you can zone ferrets away from being able to safely harass using your own long range units such as sniper balloons, foxes, or your own ferrets.

Trivia

 * The Freight Union is voiced by Andrew Creightney

Changelog

 * Pre-Alpha 27:
 * shots will no longer be capped at 2 maximum targets
 * Pre-Alpha 25:
 * Are now 25 DEF, up from 20
 * Can now hit up to 2 targets, up from 1
 * Now stops moving for .25 seconds upon firing their weapon
 * Pre-Alpha 24:
 * Are now 20 DEF, up from 15
 * Pre-Alpha 15:
 * Damage now 5 (was 4)
 * Pre-Alpha 12:
 * Cooldown now 2 seconds (was 2.5)
 * Hitpoints now 20 (was 15)
 * Pre-Alpha 11:
 * This patch changed the “damage per 5 seconds” system to a “damage per second” system.Therefore, damage values have to be divided by 5 before they are comparable.
 * Pre-Alpha 3:
 * Damage now 20 (was 25)
 * Hitpoints now 15 (was 20)
 * Can now damage more than 3 units in a single volley
 * Higher volley time