Weapon Types

Weapon Types

Beam Weapons

The location and range of beam weapons are indicated by red firing arcs originating from the players' ship. After the Weapons officer selects a target, the ship's beam weapons will automatically fire at that target when it is inside a beam's firing arc. The officer can use the frequency selectors at the bottom right, along with data about a target's shield frequencies provided by the Science officer, to remodulate beams to a frequency that deals more damage. Note that you can change the beam frequency instantaneously.

Each beam fires in a single burst followed by a brief delay. Each firing generates heat to the beam weapons system and consumes energy, so a ship's chief engineer must monitor both and distribute coolant appropriately. Overpowering the beam weapons system increases both the rate of fire and damage output, while damage to the system or underpowering has the opposite effect.

Some beams are turreted, as indicated by a second fainter arc that represents the extent of the turret's rotation. Turreted beams take time to rotate toward a target and are slower to switch between multiple targets within its turret arc.

Beam weapons fire at a target's hull by default, but the Weapons officer can also target specific subsystems to disable an enemy. If you simply wish to destroy an enemy, however, it's best left on hull.

Missiles

Missiles are one of a ship's most destructive weapons. Before a missile can be fired, the Weapons officer selects it, then selects one of the weapon tubes to load it. Loading and unloading weapon tubes takes time. (Mines are also be loaded into a special type of weapon tube.) Weapon tubes face a specific direction, and some ships only have tubes on certain sides of a ship, making cooperation with the helms officer's maneuvers especially important.

To fire a missile, the Weapons officer presses a loaded missile tube. Except for HVLIs, missiles home in on any target selected by the Weapons officer. Otherwise, the missile is dumb-fired and flies in a straight line from its tube. The Weapons officer can choose to lock the tube's aim onto a target or click the Lock button to the top right of the radar to manually angle a shot.

Overpowering the missile weapons system increases the loading and unloading rate of missile tubes, while damage to the system or underpowering has the opposite effect.

Homing

A simple, high-speed missile with a small warhead.

This target-seeking missile is the workhorse of many space combat arsenals. It's compact enough to be fitted on frigates, and packs enough punch to be used on larger ships, though usually in more than a single missile tube.

Nukes

A powerful homing missile that deals tremendous damage to all ships within 1U of its detonation.

A nuclear missile is similar to a homing missile in that it can seek a target, but it moves and turns more slowly and explodes a greatly increased payload. Its nuclear explosion spans 1U of space and can take out multiple ships in a single shot.

Some captains oppose the use of nuclear weapons because their large explosions can lead to 'fragging', or unintentional friendly fire. Shields should protect crews from harmful radiation, but because these weapons are often used in the thick of battle, there's no way of knowing if hull plating or shields can provide enough protection.

EMP

A homing missile that deals powerful damage to the shields of all ships within 1U of detonation, but doesn't damage physical systems or hulls.

The electromagnetic pulse missile (EMP) reproduces the disruptive effects of a nuclear explosion, but without the destructive properties. The EMP missile is also smaller and easier to store than heavy nukes. Many captains (and pirates) prefer EMPs over nukes for these reasons, and use them to knock out targets' shields before closing to disable them with focused beam fire.

Mines

A powerful, stationary explosive that detonates when a ship moves to within 1U of it. The explosion damages all objects within a 1U radius.

Mines are often placed in defensive perimeters around stations. There are also old minefields scattered around the galaxy from older wars. A ship-mounted mine launcher propels a temporarily disabled mine to a position away from the launching ship, and the mine arms itself after a few seconds.

Some fearless captains use mines as offensive weapons, but their delayed detonation and blast radius make this use risky at best.

HVLI

A high-velocity lead impactor (HVLI) fires a group of five simple lead slugs in a single burst at extremely high velocity. These bolts don't home in on an enemy target.

This weapon is usually found in simpler ships since it does not require guidance computers. This also means its projectiles fly in a straight line from its tube and can't pursue a target. Each burst requires precision aiming and coordination with the helm to be effective.