Re: Early weaonry?
 

Question: what use is a graviton hellbore?

Re: Early weaonry?
 

GT: to bore the h**l outta gravity, what else?

Java: try different things, find some method/tactic/setup(s) that seem to fit your style. I still haven't found that special setup...yet http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[ August 20, 2002, 15:01: Message edited by: pathfinder ]

Re: Early weaonry?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Range 8 (at max tech, obviously). Of course, the damage is really attenuated at that distance, but if you put it on a weapon platform (or even a base), with mounts that provide even more range and/or combat bonuses, it's pretty effective.

Re: Early weaonry?
 

Due to less punch per shot, MB are less effective than APB or PPB against ships with lots of crystalline armor and/or emissive armor.
Large mounts attenuates it, but one can always use custom mounts.

Re: Early weaonry?
 

I like DUC V early in the game. However, I will use CSMs or organic Parasites if my opponent does not have adequate point defenses on his ships. DUCs V will server you quite well until you get PPBs or Null Space weapons. Null Space are costly in Min & Rad, so they will build slower, but a must if you face Organic and Crystalline armor. Might be more important if players use the improved Emissive armor more. If you opponent uses Shields, PPBs are the good replacement for DUCs. A couple of the Organic weapons have a nice Damage/KT ratio as well. I have never cared much for the Graviton Hellbore weapon because at long range they do so poorly, but max level at 225K research, might make this a good weapon against emissive armor, if you can close to Point Blank: 145 Damage - 30 Emissive is nice compared to PPB (60 - 30). Quantum Torps look nice against emissive. Late in the game, you will want WMGs against emissive armor. I really like the improvement of Emissive armor as Dam/KT is not as import as Dam/Hit is now a consideration to be balanced against it.

Re: Early weaonry?
 

Graviton Hellbores have no use. They do about half the damage of APBs, and have the same range.

Emmisive Armor is easily countered by mounts. A large mount PPB V does 120-100 dmg. That can breach Emmissive Armor in a single shot.

As such, Torpedoes, like Graviton Hellbores, are pretty useless.

The key to APBs is that you don't research them in the early-mid game. Use DUCs, then PPBs, then APBs + Shield Depleters (not Disruptors). http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Early weaonry?
 

"For that matter, races electing to research PPBs will likely have a research deficit in other areas. Those points could be put into Astrophysics and Stellar Harnessing for Solar Sails, or Propulsion, to get an edge in speed; they could be sunk into shields, to get Phased Shields; Armor gets a +30% to defense pretty cheaply; Combat Support gets you ECM; Combat Sensors makes you hit more often than the PPBs; etc., ad nauseum."

PPBs cost the same amount to research, total, as Meson BLasters.

Phoenix-D

Re: Early weaonry?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I really don't get the graviton hellbore. By the time you research physics 3, and gravitational weapons, you should have a better weapon.

Maybe if graviton hellbores skipped shields and armor, but we have null space for that. Maybe quad damage to armor? What I'm trying to do is apply some technobabble to this weapon -- it's focused gravitions, it should do damage to anything that has mass, maybe armor has more density and is affected more? Meh, I'm just being stupid here. Maybe if graviton hellbore was earlier on the research tree, or a racial tech, or I dunno if you found it as a ruin tech when everyone else had APB4, you'd be pretty bad ***, but ...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Don't scoff at the disruptor out of hand, if the opponent has shield regenerators or crystaline armor, you may want to take out shield generators as well as drain the shields, or theyll be back up again the next combat round

Re: Early weaonry?
 

I have found that missiles often have a devastating effect on the AI very early in the game. A common AI ship design is the DUC I escort/frigate...which is completely ineffective when faced with missile fire in tactical combat...and can be very deadly in strategic as well if you have been careful of your combat strategy. Even against other missile races they hold their own - especially if you research Point defense early, which many AI races do not.

Re: Early weaonry?
 

My experience has been the same.

Put missiles on Maximum Weapons Range (Primary) and Don't Get Hurt (Secondary) and watch the carnage begin in strategic combat.

The only drawback is going through a warp point and finding the enemy next to you or facing a vastly superior fleet (then they run out of space before they can shoot off enough missiles to destroy them).

[ August 20, 2002, 20:49: Message edited by: tbontob ]