Category:Weapons: Difference between revisions

Each ship can equip a variety of energy, projectile and missile based weapons. Most weapons are available in either fixed, gimbal, or turret variants. Weapons are organized into classes ranging from 1 to 4 indicating their relative size (the higher the number the bigger the hardpoint must be to equip the weapon). In the outfitting store fixed weapons are indicated with a crosshair icon, gimbal weapons with a gyroscope icon, and turret weapons with a small turret icon.

There are 2 types of weapons; Energy-based and kinetic-based which carry ammunition. In addition there are also weapons used for defence such as the point defence turret. Weapons generate heat, which increases your signature on the radar. When you have more than 100% heat, you will not be able to fire (however, given that you would be overheating, you probably have other problems on your hands).

These weapons use a charging capacitor and thus do not need ammo, but tend to drain weapon energy quickly and take time to recharge.

Energy weapons are effective at stripping shields, but less effective at destroying hull armour.

• Beam Laser
• Pulse Laser
• Burst Laser

Kinetic-based weapons require ammunition to fire but generate less heat and consume less power as a result. Ammunition can be replenished at most stations or outposts.

Kinetic weapons are good against armour, but are not as useful against shields.

The following list is not limited to kinetic weapons.

• Cannon
• Multi-cannon
• Railgun
• Plasma Accelerator
• Missile Rack
• Torpedo Pylon
• Mine Launcher
• Point Defence Turret
• Fragment Cannon

Regardless of type, all weapons are placed in different mounts which determine how they aim at targets:

Fixed weapons are rather powerful, but have very little tracking ability - they shoot straight ahead, and can only do minor tracking when the target is within the weapon's crosshairs. Because of this, fixed weapons depend heavily on your ship's manoeuvrability; however, they are cheap, use little power, are not affected by chaff and every weapon is available in a fixed mount.

The following weapons have fixed variants:

• Beam Laser
• Pulse Laser
• Burst Laser
• Cannon
• Multi-cannon
• Railgun
• Plasma Accelerator
• Missile Rack
• Torpedo Pylon

Gimbal means that the weapon is hung in a rotating construction, so it can move independent of the ship's orientation. Gimbal-mounted weapons can keep track of a target even when you're not pointed directly at the target, allowing far more firepower to hit a target. In exchange, gimbal weapons are usually weaker than their fixed counterparts and are vulnerable to chaff as it disrupts the weapon's ability to track the target. Also keep in mind that tracking systems track heat; if a target is not generating sufficient heat, gimbals will not lock on and behave much like fixed weapons. Gimbals also have difficulties targeting sub-systems that have been turned off, through the modules management screen, although they still try to get a lock, it is much less precise.

The following weapons have gimbal variants:

• Beam Laser
• Pulse Laser
• Burst Laser
• Cannon
• Fragment Cannon
• Multi-cannon

Turrets are fully independent auto-firing weapons that have a 360 degree range of fire. Standard turrets generally act autonomously.

Note: You can select one of three "Turret Weapon Modes" from the Functions tab of the Systems menu

1. Forward Fire - Your turrets will act as fixed weapons and will be shooting only manually.
2. Targeted Enemy - The turrets will shoot automatically only wanted targets which you lock manually.
3. Fire at Will - The turrets will focus automatically on any wanted target which firing at you. In this mod 2 turrets can focus on different targets at the same time.

The following weapons have turret variants:

• Beam Laser
• Pulse Laser
• Burst Laser
• Cannon
• Fragment Cannon
• Multi-cannon

Gimbal and turret weapons dead zone: http://imgur.com/CDi0I1N