Question for the Pro's

[Starhawk]

Okay I have the demo still but I have a good feeling that I'm getting SEIV this Christmas so I have to ask this.

Okay:
Meson BLasters: They seem to be useless to me as they can't usually hit their target and if they do they don't hurt much.

DUC: Seems to be useless against shields although they rip through unarmored targets rather quickly. I never use these either as my early ships usually have missile tubes instead until I get the AP cannons.

Anti-Proton Cannons: They are good at knocking out shields as far as I can tell and they are also pretty good against armor so I usually equip my early stage light cruiser gunship designs and even my early dessy's with these. But the AI continues to use DUC cannons as the majority of their guns even when they have AP guns.

So which of these weapons is good for what and which is the best of the three?

And as for later stage weapons in the demo I can't really comment on them as I tend to either use Phased Polaron beams or Incinterator beams only. Ripper beams are good and all but just don't hit HARD enough or am I mistaken?

[narf poit chez BOOM]

well, Meson's are cheap, research wise. not that i'm a pro.

[ December 16, 2003, 02:00: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Fyron]

The weapon balance in the Demo is quite different than that in the full game.

[Slynky]

I think you'll find (at least MY experience) you will see DUCs and then PPBs. PPBs are a good weapon for most of the game.

My opinion, the other weapons have a more special use. A lot of the people with the Religious Talisman swear by the APs but it's quite a bit of research to get their range and damage past the PPBs.

I could go on but when you get into deeper discussions, you will see that the weapon you choose sometimes depends on the game situation. When you have several games under your belt, you will see what I'm talking about.

[Starhawk]

Ah because in the demo the AP cannon is not hard to get at all so I generally go for that as apposed to Meson BLasters or DUC cannons.

I take it in the full Version AP cannons come AFTER phased weapons?

[Fyron]

No. There are 12 levels of APB in the full game, 5 levels of DUC and 5 levels of PPB. 6 Levels of MBs.

[Starhawk]

Okay.....but still is a Meson bLaster actually any good because the only times I used it I ended up watching my ships die rather quick and sad ends?

[ December 16, 2003, 03:15: Message edited by: Starhawk ]

[Fyron]

It is not quite as strong pound for pound as the APB, but it has other advantages. It is cheaper. It is smaller, so there can be more of them, and you might be able to get less wasted damage with the Last shot that destroys each ship because of that. Also, in some situations the fact that there are more shots done might lead to more damage done overall due to differences in number of hits with MBs as opposed to APBs, with the right combination of offense and defense bonuses on each side. And then there is the missing more at max range with ABB (max range 8) than with MB (max range 6), which is not much of an issue if your ships use Optimal Range and not an issue if they use Point Blank.

[Taera]

meson bLaster is a killer if used right because of the low cost and decent damage-to-kt-to-cost-to-reload-to-range-to-research ratio. easy to get, difficult to employ. fails miserably in mid-game, but late game its good.

DUC is an early game weapon, nothing beyond that.

APB is the all-round weapon, has good range, cost, damage, everything you want

PPB is early/mid game weapon, but youll find that higher levels of APB are better

Ripper beam is the best weapon in the game, if you get to shoot it. it has all the best ratios except for perhaps being difficult to research.

EDIT: im not a pro

[ December 16, 2003, 05:40: Message edited by: Taera ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

hey Starhawk, where's your sig from?