Plasma Accelerator

Revision as of 04:51, 21 December 2024 by Fandom>Bean4141 (→Notes)

Template:Quote A Plasma Accelerator is a weapon module that fires slugs of superheated plasma. Although they are powerful weapons, their projectiles travel relatively slowly, and they require a brief period to recharge after each shot.

File:Class-4-Plasma-Accelerator.png
Class 4 Plasma Accelerator

Usage

Plasma Accelerator projectiles move relatively slowly (875 m/s); this and the lack of gimballed variants make them challenging to use, especially against smaller targets. However, Plasma Accelerators have among the highest raw damage ratings of any weapon, and much of this damage ignores the various resistances of shields, hull, and armoured Bulkheads, as well as Armour Hardness. In addition, plasma slugs inflict thermal damage, which adds to the heat of any ship they hit.

The drawbacks of these weapons include the higher level of skill required to consistently strike targets with them, and their vast energy requirements and thermal load. The latter issues make them inadvisable to use alongside other energy weapons such as Beam Lasers, and can force a pilot to limit their rate of fire to prevent overheating.

Specifications

Class Rating Mass
(T)
Integrity Power
Draw
Weapon
Mode
Damage
Type
Damage Armour
Piercing
ROF/s DPS Thermal
Load
Ammo
Clip Size
Ammo
Maximum
Value
(CR)
2C4.00401.430FixedAbsolute, Thermal, Kinetic54.31000.317.915.65100834,200
3B8.00511.970FixedAbsolute, Thermal, Kinetic 83.41000.324.221.851003,051,200
4A16.00802.630FixedAbsolute, Thermal, Kinetic 125.31000.331.3129.5510013,793,600

Engineering

This weapon can be modified by Engineers to enhance its abilities.

Modifications

The following modifications can be applied to this module:

Experimental Effects

Notes

  • The Plasma Accelerator fires a ball of plasma every 3 or 4 seconds, and is only good for direct fire.
  • Any Plasma Accelerator (regardless of size) using Plasma Slug requires approximately 110 kilograms (0.11 tons) of fuel per reload (where one reload is five shots).
  • Maximum range is 3500m, but Damage Falloff begins at 2000m.
  • Main problem is overheating after just 3 or 4 shots, best used with a few projectile weapons as if you use lasers the ship heats up too fast and then you can't fire the Plasma Accelerators.
  • Hard to hit very maneuverable ships; especially smaller ones.
  • Plasma Accelerators should not be mistaken for Plasma Repeaters, which are a small projectile weapon exclusive to the Scarab SRV and various Ship-Launched Fighter variants.

References