"Sure, they don't look like much. But when you're trapped on Eos, where the electromagnetic fields keep 'advanced' airspeeders grounded, you'll wish you had a whole fleet of AT-PTs."
AT-PTs were made to take single troopers into intense combat situations on their own, with a firepower of a squad. They stood only three meters tall, and were driven by AT-PT pilots.
The walkers were capable of speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour and climb a 45-degree angle, and hydraulic adjusters kept the unit balanced. The vehicles carried a long-range comm antenna for patrols. The main drive unit provided power and hydraulic pressure for the two legs, and featured cooling vents. The cockpit entry hatch was on the side,[5] while the emergency flare launcher was just above the viewport.[7]
The AT-PT was — compared to its intended threat, enemy soldiers — heavily armored, enough so that most small-arms fire couldn't penetrate the craft's armor. The walker was armed with twin blaster cannons and one concussion grenade launcher, which were only effective against infantry. The walker's superior agility made up for its light armor (in comparison to most other cavalry units).
The units often traveled in packs for increased firepower.[7]
The AT-PT was designed for the Galactic Republic decades before the Clone Wars, but during the wars, the Republic found a need for a small, anti-personnel walker, and the AT-PT became more relevant. It was one of the earliest AT series transports.
The AT-PT was a limited production model, the majority of which were stationed aboard the Dreadnaught-class cruisers of the legendary Katana fleet, and many were lost when the fleet itself vanished.
Many of the concepts pioneered in the AT-PT were used in the AT-AP, AT-ST and the AT-AT.
An AT-PT in the field.
During the Galactic Civil War, the Galactic Empire utilized a number of the walkers. They were often used as sentries and patrol vehicles near Imperial installations.
Imperial commander Brenn Tantor ordered the use of AT-PTs in several battlefronts prior to his defection.[8] Tantor also used them during the Battle of Eos.[9]
The m'Yalfor'ac Order in Guiteica used some three dozen of AT-PTs during the Rebellion era. Due to the AT-PT being designed for Human users, and to the Order being composed almost exclusively by Bitthævrians (who were larger than Humans), the Order's AT-PTs were commonly piloted by short Bitthævrians. It was believed that the Order took control of those AT-PTs by boarding a pirate ship in one of the rare situations where Bitthævrians left Guiteica.[12]
The walkers of the Katana fleet, along with the fleet itself, were rediscovered by the New Republic, and were used in the Republic's war with Grand AdmiralThrawn.
In Alliance Intelligence Reports, the cost of an AT-PT was specified as 15,000 credits and its capacity as 25 kilograms; those stats were superseded by later publications.
Originally the AT-PT's forward viewport was restricted to a small window near the roof, with a large anti-glare panel below it. Sometime after its first appearance in the Imperial Sourcebook the anti-glare panel was mistaken for the lower half of the viewport, and every image of the walker since then has carried over this mistake.