ScrinScrin has by far the best anti-air tower of the three factions. A Plasma Battery will take down an Orca in two shots and does considerable area-of-effect damage. If Orcas are clumped, it may take down four of them in two shots, otherwise it will still probably get at least two. Once upgraded it transforms from an extremely potent anti-air unit into a complete no-fly zone, one-shotting several Orcas at a time. Storm Columns are also effective, one-shotting Orcas; however, they are considerably more expensive and should only be used where they can defend against land units as well. Scrin's mobile anti-air defense is not so great, though. Seekers and Gunwalkers perform reasonably well against Orcas; however, the aircraft can tank a small amount of this fire, allowing them to hit-and-run expensive units such as Devourer tanks with minimal losses. Shard Walkers are more effective due to the sheer damage they produce, but care must be taken to ensure that the Seekers and Walkers are kept close to your army so they can provide effective defence. Anti-air Mechapedes become available at Tier 3 and can work effectively, but if your opponent micro-manages his Orcas well, he can take down single Mechapedes quickly with Orcas by making use of headshots.
Strategic considerationsThe main objective is to counter Orcas cost-effectively. Spamming AA towers all over your base will keep the Orcas out, however they will still be able to chew up any units you send out of your base. If you spam AA towers and then spam AA units, you will get overrun by tanks and probably run out of Tiberium at your heavily defended field. One airfield of Orcas costs $4400, and this takes down a Harvester in two full volleys. If you can kill one Orca before the second volley, they now need to stick around for a third shot, and they will all probably die. If you can kill two before the second volley, then they are all going to die for nothing and your Harvester is safe. Determine the appropriate level of anti-air required and try to rely on Missile Squads and base defences minimally, as it is expensive to cover your whole base with these units (exception for Scrin factions, because a single tower can lock down all Orca activity within its area, provided you are careful and do not let your Harvesters get picked off near the edge of the Plasma Battery's range).
It can be expensive to cover your whole base sufficiently using anti-air turrets.In the field you must make sure that your anti-air units are close to your main force and that you have enough of them so that any trade-offs you opponent makes go in your favor. Orcas will commonly come in multiples of four, so become familiar with how much anti-air is required to effectively counter four Orcas. If you now come across eight Orcas, you can approximate how much constitutes an appropriate anti-air defense. Over-spending in anti-air units means you may be rolled over by a tank force, so be careful.
Keep in mind that Tier 3 is where the heavy anti-air comes into play. Reaching Tiberium Core Missiles or Firehawks will make countering Orcas significantly easier, and Scrin factions have some nasty tricks of their own at this tier which can force an Orca spammer to change tactics. I hope this tip has been helpful!
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