Tenlar's Guide to Lasers and Tactics (updated 8 August 09)

[Gazz]

-Phased Repeater Gun-
...
Uses: the PRG replaces the PAC in many regards, mostly because of its firing speed and velocity. It can hit things that the PAC would have a lot of trouble with, but suffers from slightly decreased range and damage.

PRG has 400 m more range than PAC, does more damage,
and uses the exact same amount of energy for each point of damage done.

Obviously it drains energy a bit faster because it does more damage.

[Carlo the Curious]

kurush, is PALC using both graphics and stats of LT weapon? Or just graphics?

LTs use Plasma Beam Cannons (at least, according to the ship info).

PBC: 100 rounds/min, 2000 energy, 2700 hull, 7182 shield, 0.6s/10,644ms (5.8km)
PALC: 143 rounds/min, 2000 energy, 2970 hull, 3969 shield, 2.5s/2,561ms (6.3km)

[pjknibbs]

PRG has 400 m more range than PAC, does more damage,
and uses the exact same amount of energy for each point of damage done.

Obviously it drains energy a bit faster because it does more damage.

That was already pointed out back on page 1, but since Mr. Scarflame hasn't posted since the middle of January, I'm not sure we can rely on it getting updated properly now!

[jimmydude]

I'm still wondering if the fire rate stats in the Encyclopedia are worth anything at all...

According to it the PRC fires at an extremely high rate due to its triplet bursts, yet each shot in the burst does damage. If so it's nearly four times as powerful as PAC regardless of accuracy. I don't think that happens in the game though... (I do recall my Scimitar getting mauled by some PRG-spam from a wing of Elites though...)

Also the ISR is supposed to have a very high fire rate as well, which in theory gives it vastly greater firepower than the CIG or M-AM. But is it true?

And I'm pretty sure the EMPC fires a bit faster than what it says in the Encyclopedia. According to that source the EMPC is so slow even the IRE is significantly more damaging against shields! (plus it can hit the broadside of a TL, unlike the EMPC! ) Even if it is wrong, the EMPC still flat-out SUCKS in 2.0, low energy usage and slightly-better-than-a-PAC hull damage nonwithstanding. It cripples the Terrans completely (not a single decent fighter thanks to the EMPC!)

[delray]

Encyclopedia lists damage per second.

And about the original post, why can't moderators just edit it?

[Tenlar Scarflame]

WHOA, this is still around.

Sorry I dropped off, guys, didn't know it was going to get stickied. I suppose I should get around to correcting it, which definitely needs doing. Will do sometime this week.

[eladan]

And about the original post, why can't moderators just edit it?

It would be somewhat bad form, IMHO, to edit someone's post without their permission for something like this. Editing someone's post in the course of doing our moderatorly duty is one thing. Editing it simply to correct a mistake seems more of an abuse of our position.

[Hieronymos]

Yes, let's keep all editorial abuse by Moderators under control!

[ScAvenger001]

Here's a question that I think is probably relevant here.

Do the Flak weapons actually explode? I've never tried the CFA, but after much dogfighting around my FAA-equipped Deimos, I've concluded that the flak "burst" is smoke and mirrors: it looks big and it sounds big, but you only take damage if the flak "shell" hits you directly. That is, the impact animation shows a giant flaming Galactica-style explosion, but as far as actual damage the FAA is a direct-fire weapon like almost any other, essentially a PBE reimagined as a capital anti-fighter weapon.

That's also why the FAA sometimes seems to be firing at maximum range even while aiming at closer targets. The flak bursts that are exploding at max range simply missed and are popping when they hit the end of their range like we've all seen FBLs doing.

Anyway, I noticed this while in a very close-range dogfight (my M3 vs Joe Pirate Cannonfodder) around my Deimos, where my target started to take a lot of flak hits while I was only meters away, but I was completely unharmed despite being only a handful of meters away and well inside the explosion image. In subsequent battles I took a lot of very close risks involving friendly flak and never came out the worse for it.

This affects the strategies for their use, of course, since it means that someone can mount all the FAAs he wants to a ship that's meant as the anchor of a fighter force without having to worry about friendly fire. Again, I haven't tried it with CFAs, do they actually explode? If so, that might make them a better choice for lone patrol frigates that might need to do a lot of damage to several enemies quickly due to their lack of support but don't need to worry about blasting that same support in the process.

[Geek]

Yes, FAA does direct damage, while CFA does not (that is why CFA is not popular). CFA explodes without harm and send a few shrapnels, each doing the real damage if something is hit.

[Tenlar Scarflame]

Shameless self-bump for update. The information here is considerably more correct now, though still subjective. I've moved the Phased Shockwave Generator to Capital-Grade weapons, and I've added in the Ion Pulse Generator which I completely forgot about when I first made this. I've also added the Photon Beam Cannon, the weapon used in the Lasertower. Finally, I've added a "In the Field" section which is a short description of what the weapon looks like when fired- which I imagine could be useful if you're unfamiliar with the game and don't know what's being shot at you.

I do hope to add helpful, uncluttered images of each weapon being fired, but that takes time, so: if anyone would like to submit an image of one or another weapon being fired, you get lots of brownie points, and your picture might end up in the Superbox!

in case anyone wants to propose a picture, make sure it's:
-against a relatively dim background, so the weapon fire is distinct.
-if other weapons are also being fired in the picture, they are very obviously not the subject.
-the HUD is turned off and the mouse pointer is hidden.
-preferably, it's being fired by a ship class that more generally mounts it (as in, I'd prefer a Katana shooting M/A-MLs, not the Spitfyre.)

[EmperorJon]

Mistakes I Could Find:

1. Plasma Beam Cannon, not Photon.
2. Kha'ak weapons can be aquired, Kha'ak M5/4/3s do bail, and sometimes have weapons onboard. At high fight ranks Kha'ak capitals sometimes drop them.
3. Was there no mention of Fragmentation Bomb Launcher?
4. You said something about a capital weapon and strafing, unless your in an M2. M2s can actually avoid enemy M2 fire very well when strafing.

Oh, and more info about Capital Grade Weapons would be nice:

IBL: Charging does less DPS.
PSP: 8 charged can one-shot a Q.
Etc.



Yeh, this may look a bit critical , but this guide actually rules. Very usefull, informative and easy to understand. Thanks!

EDIT:

Taking some screenies now!

[Tenlar Scarflame]

1. Plasma Beam Cannon, gotcha. Thanks for that!

2. Oh do they now? I am quite interested. Fiine, I suppose I should elaborate on their uses...

3. Yup, it's in the Low Caliber list, last one I think.

4. Did I? I might have just not changed that, I actually love strafing around in an M2. I'll look for that.


with regards to IBL and PSP, those are both good points. I shall include them. If anyone else has interesting points like that that I haven't covered, like a weapon-specific tactic or "this can kill this in exactly x hits" sort of trivium, it's quite welcome!

Awesome, screenshots! You get bragging rights and a lollipop. Any other takers?

[Doc Quixotic]

I've been taking some screenshots of light and medium caliber weapons for you, I had a boatload of guns in my hold after a few pirate trips. I'll upload them sometime soon if you want.

[Tenlar Scarflame]

They'd be very much welcome. Thanks!

[7ate9tin11s]

You may wish to briefly mention the terrifying amount of hull damage Kha'ak beams do. Letting your shields go down is pretty much instant death in most situations...then again I am used to death with IR

[EmperorJon]

Well, I'm going on holiday very soon, but I've got a spare hour, so I'll go get some more screenies for you... Maybe we could add more than one for each weapon, like a picture of the weapon, a picture of it hitting, a picture of someone using clever tactics to avoid it etc. This guide has so much amazing potential.

I might even come up with a few more tactics...


EDIT: And I see there is no Phased Array Laser Cannon on the list, but you did have a discussion about it.

Mountable on the port and starboard turrets of a few Split capitals, the PALC is an instant-hit beam weapon, much like Kha'ak Kyon Emitters. It is used mainly for fighter defence, although it's power does make it hard to use against well sheilded M3s and upwards. It's speed and range make it perfect for hitting those pesky M5s and M4s which try to flee.

It cannot be found on NPC controlled ships, but 2 can be obtained during the Final Fury plot.


A bit of information there for you.

[Tenlar Scarflame]

True, there are a couple of acquirable PALC's aren't there? Fair enough, I can give it a few lines. Are they mountable on anything other than Split capitals?

And @7ate, that IS a good point. Definitely worth a mention.

[Deadbeat_Spinn]

Only three ships can mount the PALC, the Tiger, Panther, and TrueLight Seeker (granted the TLS can mount anything).

[pH7.0]

(buffing a spot off my vanilla PALCs which live happily in the RH turret of my Tiger and quoting from the weapon's info window)
Phased Array Laser Cannon:

Spoiler

Show

Hull: 7.0K
Shield: 9.4K
Range: 6.37 km (!)
rate of fire: 142 round per minute
projectile speed: 2561 meters per second
maximum energy 2000MJ
consumes 278/s

Apart from the numbers, my qualitative experience with it is that with a little rolling to place targets in the correct hemisphere, these weaps make m5s and m4s go puff, and M3s and above get (somewhat) shield-stripped. They start frying things at max range and the rest of my arsenal (Ion Shard Railguns and Flak Artillery Arrays) generally has 50% or less of enemy shields to deal with by the time the enemy breaks their respective range shells. I would pay millions per weapon for their effect (fabulous range for M7) and the unmatched coolness of the effects of fire
(look, pretty lights!!)