The Hauler is the Protectorate air transport, a Tier 2 flyer with 500 health and Heavy armour that heals the units it is carrying and can land to heal biological units around it. It has no weapon of any kind. Figures below describe build ZS.c36778 of 11 September 2026 and move with the weekly patch cadence.
Stat Block
Stat | Value |
|---|---|
Cost | 100 hexite and 100 flux |
Health | 500 |
Shields | 0 |
Armor | 2 |
Armor type | Heavy |
Status resist | None listed |
Move speed | 600 |
Vision | 18 |
Supply | 4 |
Build time | 40 seconds |
Tier | 2 |
Domain | Flyer |
Infuse / Reanimate / Replicate | 11.25 each |
Built by | Skydock |
Abilities
Ability | Effect | Cooldown | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
Unload | Unloads all contained units at the target location | 0.1 seconds | No listed cost |
Heal Aura | Passive. Heals units inside the transport for 5 health per second | 1 second | No listed cost |
Combat Landing | Lands the Hauler, unloading its passengers and healing nearby biological units for 4 health per second | 0.5 seconds | No listed cost |
Upgrades
Upgrade | Tier | Cost | Effect | Researched at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Medbays | 1 | 100 flux, 30 second research | +75 percent healing rate and +20 percent healing radius | Mechanical Research Lab |
Transport | 1 | 100 flux, 30 second research | +50 percent transport capacity, +50 percent movement speed out of combat, and units can be loaded while the Hauler is flying | Mechanical Research Lab |
Role
The Hauler does two jobs that usually belong to different units. It moves infantry across terrain, and it is a mobile field hospital: 5 health per second to everyone inside while flying, and 4 health per second to nearby biological units once it lands. With Medbays that rate rises by 75 percent and the radius by a fifth, which turns a landed Hauler into a static healing station a Bastion line can rotate through.
Five hundred health behind Heavy armour with 2 flat armour is a lot of transport to shoot down, and the 2 armor blunts light anti air fire in particular. That durability is what lets the Hauler operate near a fight rather than only behind it.
The loading rules have tightened during Early Access. Since 19 August 2026 the Transport upgrade permits loading while airborne, and since 28 August 2026 the Hauler can no longer pick up sieged units, which closed a pattern of lifting a Hellfire out of trouble without first unsieging it.
Faction Context
Haulers come out of the Skydock alongside the Ironwing and the Griffin, and both of their upgrades sit in the Mechanical Research Lab.
The healing overlaps with the rest of the faction's sustain rather than duplicating it. Base and production structures repair nearby units on their own, the Prospector carries a 150 point healing wave, and the Griffin repairs vehicles specifically. The Hauler covers biological units in the field, which is the gap the other three leave. Note that the heal is restricted to biological units, so it does nothing for vehicles or mechs.
Tier and Armour Interactions
Heavy armour with 2 flat armour. That combination is unusual on a flyer and it is the reason Haulers survive the ordinary anti air fire that removes an Ironwing, since most anti air weapons fire many small hits and each one loses 2 damage.
The tradeoff is that Heavy armour is the most heavily punished type in the game. Anything holding an anti Heavy bonus doubles into a Hauler, and the transport has no weapon to answer with.
Counters
The Hauler has no attack and no favourable matchups. It contributes by keeping other units alive.
Weak to:
Unit | Why |
|---|---|
+200 percent against flyers, which removes a Hauler and its cargo together | |
+100 percent against air | |
+100 percent against Heavy armour | |
+100 percent against Heavy with splash | |
+100 percent against Heavy, though only once the Hauler has landed |
Balance History
28 August 2026: the Hauler can no longer load sieged units.
19 August 2026: the Transport upgrade now allows unloading while flying.
14 August 2026: health increased from 400 to 500.
Notes
The engine name is Troop_Prot_MP_Hammerhead_C, so older material that refers to a Protectorate Hammerhead is describing this unit.
For the rest of the roster and how to read a stat block, see Units. For hexite, flux, supply and the power pool behind unit conversions, see Resources and Economy. For the commanders that lead a Protectorate army, see Heroes and Commanders.
All figures come from build ZS.c36778, stamped 11 September 2026. ZeroSpace is in Early Access and its versus numbers change most weeks, so this page records a snapshot rather than a settled value.