Malta Sappers! Look up "rat bastage" in the dictionary, and you see a picture of one of these guys.
I actually didn't know they could fly either until right now, but in hindsight, it kinda makes sense. They usually don't fly because they're typically encountered indoors and are pretty much purely ranged attackers. I'm not even sure they can Brawl. They do, however, have those large backpacks that are suspiciously similar to certain kinds of jetpack you can get. I mean, sure, it looks like it would be a Ghostbusters-style energy pack for their sapper rifle. Ask yourself this, though - is there any other mob in the game with a high-tech backpack, with the sole exception of crab spiders, that can't fly or teleport?
They were the one group I hated more than any other.
I made it a point to find every Sapper I could. i even had a special bind that would automatically select the closest sapper within range for me to target. Then rather than go in there and attack them with my most powerful attacks killing them with a blow or two, I would only attack them with my holds. I kept them there, held and helpless, as their hit-points slowly ebbed away. I must have killed thousands that way. I couldn't make it to the portal corp without being diverted half a dozen times when flying through Peregrine Island. I always diverted and got the sapper.
On hindsight its probably a good thing I did too. if I hadn't been so diligent about killing them they would have been all over the place.
this brings back memories.
I was a god. Nothing could stop me. I tanked things 9 levels higher than I was. Must have been in my mid 30's on my main back then (Golden Ace Inv/Ice Tank). Issue 3 I believe.
Then I got this tell to come to a mission by a couple of higher level blasters saying that they needed a tank. I said sure. they told me it was a Malta mission. Malta? I thought. Cool I've never seen them before.
I come into the mission and charge toward the first group. no sk no nothing. I didn't even get close. I was held, drained and killed in nothing flat. I think I asked something like "what was that?"
and was told "That my dear Tank was a sapper." died more times in that mission than my entire career to that point.