Goliath



A Goliath is a massive walking siege battery employed by the Chimera to assault fortified positions or cities. Each Goliath is approximately 150 feet tall, though they are 305 feet (93 metres) tall in Resistance 3.

Goliaths makes use of concussion mortar batteries that soften up enemy opposition. Entire companies have broken under the mortar barrages of the Goliath, the human soldiers simply fleeing for their lives. This, however, only exposes them to the Goliath's most fearsome weapon, Spire missiles, which deliver Crawlers. One missile can infect thousands, and Goliaths never fire just one.

Resistance: Fall of Man
Goliaths are mentioned several times during the course of Resistance: Fall of Man, and can be assumed to have been present as early as York, since a barrage of Spires are fired at the bus depot at the end of "Spires." However, Goliaths are not seen until Cheddar Gorge; a number of partly-built Goliath chassis and limbs can be seen strewn around the facilities clustered near the excavated Chimeran tower. The threat of Goliaths is also the reason for the evacuation of Southern Command.

Assembled and active Goliaths are not seen until London, when a group of them are attempting to cross Southwark Bridge to encircle the British forces attacking the London Tower; due to Nathan Hale's actions, all but one are destroyed by demolition charges placed on the bridge by engineers who were slain by Crawlers before they could detonate them. The single remaining Goliath is engaged by Hale and Stephen Cartwright in a captured Stalker, and eventually destroyed.

Strategy
The Goliath appears in London - "Giant Slayer" and serves as a boss battle against the player while commandeering a Stalker. The Goliath will strafe, albeit more slowly, and is armed with a total of three weapons: it can launch a volley of missiles, fire a single large missile, or launch a slow-moving mortar in the player's direction.
 * Due to the Goliath's slow movements, the Stalker can strafe and avoid its attacks. Furthermore, move by holding "X" button and moving by the Left analog stick; it will give the Stalker a temporary burst of speed in the direction they're moving. It’s perfect for quickly changing direction or dodging an incoming volley, but it takes a few seconds to recharge.
 * For the rest of the battle, try to lead the Goliath around the large pieces of rock in the middle of the zone and use that to block its shots while leading it with the Stalker's missiles.

Resistance 2
At least two Goliaths attack SRPA Station Igloo; one of the Goliaths is seen continuously throughout the level and serves as the level's boss.

Strategy
In order to destroy the Goliath, the player must target and destroy all four of the rear exhaust ports on its back throughout the level, meaning that the Goliath will take the entire level in order to be destroyed. Once the player destroys one exhaust port, the Goliath usually turns directly toward the player and attacks, so as soon as the player lands a hit, they must quickly follow Major Blake to a safer position.
 * The player first receives the L210 LAARK after clearing out the first few enemies, in which the player can fire only one shot at one of the Goliath's exhaust ports. There are additional rockets that can be obtained from a ammo box if the player somehow misses hitting the Goliath. After hitting the Goliath it will retaliate against the player, in which they must quickly follow Major Blake outside and into a sewer pipe to avoid the Goliath's counterattack.
 * While accompanying Major Blake to the airfield, the player finds another LAARK and attack the Goliath once its back is turned. Like before, escape with Blake before the Goliath attacks.
 * On the last attack after fighting through a corridor, the player finds the last LAARK that can be used to finally bring down the Goliath.

Resistance 3
Goliaths are now 305 feet tall which means that their height has doubled since Resistance 2. They have been upgraded and redesigned to be more effective at combating human resistance cells. The Goliath seems to have become near-invincible against human attacks, as the vulnerable exhaust ports of Resistance 2 are no longer mentioned as a target and no character ever implies they can be successfully attacked. In the Goliath enemy journal, the survival tip is to simply "Avoid at all costs."

A group of Goliaths participated in the attack on Haven, and Joseph Capelli and Tommy Dean narrowly avoided the feet of the massive machines as they advanced.

In Wrightsburg, Missouri, these machines patrol the flooded area of the Mississippi River, accompanied with Dropships and Shock Drones. Capelli and Dr. Malikov attempted to avoid these patrols during their journey to St. Louis by boat. Unfortunately, several Goliaths detected them and destroyed their vessel. In New York City, Joseph Capelli's attempt to gain access to the New York tower was thwarted as a group of Goliaths advanced on him, raining down concussion mortar rounds on the park and ultimately forcing him to retreat in the Remnants' VTOL.

Trivia

 * The Goliath is named after the "giant" Philistine warrior, famous for his battle with the young David, the future king of Israel, described in the Hebrew Bible/Christian Old Testament and, more briefly, in the Quran. This is appropriate, since in Resistance: Fall of Man the player uses a smaller Stalker to destroy a large Goliath.
 * Goliaths appear to be unmanned drones, as an Intel in Resistance: Fall of Man implies their reactions are entirely dependant on target size and they will never launch Spire missiles at small groups no matter how badly damaged they are. No crew access is visible on the vehicle, nor does it have any obvious cockpit or bridge location.
 * Despite their stated purpose, at no point in any of the games is a Goliath actually seen to launch Spires. The first Spire attack in gameplay takes place in Resistance: Burning Skies, but the Goliath responsible is never seen.
 * Goliaths in Resistance: Fall of Man repeatedly change size, appearing only a couple of stories tall at times, not much larger than the Spires they're supposed to carry; for example, when seen crossing the Southwark Bridge. At other times they tower over their surroundings, as in the mission "Giant Slayer." During Resistance 2, their size is at all times consistent.
 * In Resistance 2, if the player has left the bottom left and bottom right exhaust ports undamaged until last, and the player shoots the bottom left port, the right one will still blow up. In addition, if the player dies before taking the final shot, the Goliath will spawn with all three other exhaust ports destroyed, even though the player has only shot the Goliath twice.
 * In the first level of Resistance: Retribution, a Goliath can be seen shooting down a VTOL in the background, but it is not fought in the game.