Category:Weapons
Each ship in Elite: Dangerous can equip a variety of energy and projectile based weapons. In addition some weapons are available in either gimballed, turreted, or fixed variants. Weapons are organized into classes ranging from 1-8 (C1, C2, C3, C4, etc.) indicating their relative power usage, damage output, and accuracy. Gimballed weapons are suffixed with a (G) in the outfitting store. Turreted weapons are suffixed with a (T) in the outfitting store. Fixed weapons have no suffix.
Very little information about the specifics of weapons was discussed during the Kickstarter campaign. However, in a Dev Diary video, David Braben confirmed that both beam and pulse lasers would return, as well as missiles. Projectile and plasma based weapons have also been made available.
Weapons
Weapons come in wide range of types and classes, which on their turn are divided in subclasses (A-G). An A-subclass being superior to a G, which translate in better performance of the weapon. Standard is a F-subclass.
There are 2 types of weapons; Energy-based and Ammo-based, some of them are of defensive nature like the point defense turret. Weapons generate heat, which increases your signature on the radar. When you have more than 100% heat, you won’t be able to fire (given that you’d be overheating, you probably have other problems on your hands however).
Energy weapons:
These weapons use a recharging capacitor, they don’t need ammo, but they tend to drain quickly and take time to recharge.
Ammunition weapons:
You can buy ammo for these weapons at any station. Be sure you do or you´ll find yourself unable to fire!
Regardless of type, all weapons are placed in different mounts, which determine how they aim at targets:
Weapon Mounts
Fixed
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 maneuverability; however, they are cheap, use little power, and every weapon is available in a fixed mount.
The following weapons have fixed mounts:
Gimbal
Gimballed means that the weapon is hung in a gimbal-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, being one level lower than a comparable fixed weapon. 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.
The following weapons have gimbal mounts:
Turret
Turrets are fully independent auto-firing weapons that have a 360 degree range of fire. The following weapons have turret variants (denoted by a T).
Pages in category "Weapons"
The following 4 pages are in this category, out of 4 total.