Primary Weapons - Guns

Guns are the main weapon used by ships. The different types of guns are as follows: Lasers, Longest range but lowest damage; Railguns, Medium range and medium damage; and Plasma Cannons, Shortest range but highest damage.

All guns have infinite ammunition, but firing is limited by heat buildup. Firing for too long will cause your weapons to lock up until they have cooled down again!

Information about the other weapons available to ships can be found on the Rockets and Special Weapons pages.

Lasers

Lasers tend to have the lowest damage output of all the guns, but they have the highest accuracy due to being a constant beam with no travel time- unlike Railguns or Plasma Guns, Lasers are aimed at where the target is, as opposed to where the target is going to be.

Lasers deal Thermal damage by default, but can be modified to deal EM damage. As lasers build up heat and stay on the same target, they deal more damage - but care must be taken to avoid overheating.

Lasers are the preferred gun weapon of the Empire, but are often employed on Jericho frigates as well.

Lasers come in two variants at higher tiers-

Pulse Lasers

Pulse Lasers fire rapid pulses, as the name would suggest. They have fairly high Thermal DPS due to their high rate of fire, but rapidly build up heat - and unlike normal lasers, they have an element of spread and inaccuracy to them.

Long-Range Lasers

As the name implies, these are longer-ranged lasers. They have the lowest DPS of all laser types, but the longest range - almost twice that of standard Assault Lasers.

Railguns

The preferred gun weapon of Jericho ship manufacturers, Railguns have good accuracy, a decent rate of fire, and deal a respectable amount of Kinetic damage to rapidly tear through enemy hull plating. They are fairly ineffective against shields.

Rapid-Fire Railguns

A variant of the Railgun that fires three projectiles near-simultaneously, R-F Railguns are best used at short range.

Stabilized Railguns

The long-range variant of Railguns, Stabilized Railguns have a significantly reduced rate of fire, but are highly accurate and deal much more damage than normal Railguns.

Plasma Guns

Short range, rapid-fire weapons used by the Federation, Plasma Guns deal EM damage to rapidly tear through enemy shields. They are less effective against hull plating, however.

At higher tiers, Plasma Guns can be modified to deal Thermal damage instead of EM.

Rapid-Fire Plasma Cannons

RFPCs have very short range and low damage, but an extremely high rate of fire.

'Hail' Plasma Cannons

With superior range and accuracy, the 'Hail' Plasma Cannons are more suited for long-range engagements. They also have respectable damage, and can be charged up to inflict even more.

Guns