The Analysis of Infinite Space, Part 2b: Small Weapons

The Analysis of Infinite Space, Part 2b: Small Weapons

Small weapons are the bread and butter of Infinite Space III: Sea of Stars. They are generally cheap and fit on almost any turret on any ship. Most of them do only a small amount of damage, but all of them have at least one redeeming feature. Some can even be used as point-defense weapons for shooting down incoming missiles. I will now give a summary of each weapon and rate their overall effectiveness.

The Explosive Shell Chaingun is a very basic weapon, with a short range and very low damage per shot. However, its fire rate is very high, making it effective against fighters and lightly shielded capital ships. For this reason, it should not be underestimated, particularly when several of them are brought to bear on your fleet. This also explains why a Garthan flotilla is always nasty at close range - their ships can tear you apart if you get too close to them.

Neptunium Railguns are standard equipment on your starting ship, along with the entire Terran fleet for most of the game. Its fire rate is slower than the chaingun but each shot delivers considerably more damage. Despite a similarly short range, this weapon is far more useful than the chaingun due to its point-defense capabilities. It definitely makes you think twice about attacking a Terran flotilla with missiles.

The Laser Beam and Laser Repeater are not as effective as the previously described weapons because despite being beam weapons, each beam delivers a small amount of damage, even less than the railgun. However, a large number of them can be painful. This makes Tan Ru Drones and Demolishers much more dangerous in large groups. Nevertheless, they are ineffective against anything with stronger shielding than an Electron Matrix Shield.

Molybdenum Cone Cannons can also be used for point defense, but are more expensive. However, this is justified by their greater damage per shot. They are the standard-issue short-range weapons of the Muktians and can be even more painful in large groups than a similar number of Neptunium Railguns. It will take a lot of shots for individual cannons to do any real damage, but the high fire rate is a mitigating factor.

The Calatians use the Iridium Pellet Gun and the Electric Bolt Gun for short-range combat. They are essentially cheaper versions of the Plasma Blaster and Neptunium Railgun respectively. Pellet guns are too weak to be used for anything other than point defense and should be swapped out for superior weaponry as soon as possible. Electric bolt guns are more powerful, but are still very tame compared to a Neptunium Railgun.

The Electron Accelerator Beam is the standard short-range Urluquai fighter weapon. Its fairly high damage per shot is offset by a slow fire rate. However, all Urluquai vessels carry advanced targeting computers, which negates this drawback to some extent. In fact, a large number of Urluquai fighters can be deadly against most foes, including you unless your tactics and weaponry are up to the task. Still, it is less useful for human players since there are better weapons available for similar money.

Mass Drivers are like miniature shotguns, as implied by their description. They are more expensive than Micrometeorite Guns but have a longer range and a faster fire rate, although their damage per shot is even less than an MMG's. The rapid-fire capability and surprisingly long range makes a close-up shootout with a Tan Ru Fabricator (those large, boxy ships which spew out drones eight at a time from the front) positively suicidal. 

Now we're talking! These last four weapons are the best of their kind, and are well worth obtaining by any means. The Gluon Gun, Fusion Rocket Launcher, Plasma Blaster and Proton Blaster are the most effective weapons when you're faced with a swarm of fighters coming at you. Gluon Guns have the lowest damage per shot of the four but compensate for this with a fast fire rate and a longer range than similar weapons. Still, they are more expensive than Plasma Blasters and Fusion Rocket Launchers, both of which are preferable when you reach the point at which more firepower is necessary.

Fusion Rocket Launchers are available immediately to the Urluquai and Calatians, although the Terrans will not utilize them until the midpoint of the game. These are good all-around weapons, with decent damage per shot, fire rate and range. Although the missiles they fire can be shot down by point-defense weapons, one can negate this drawback by installing several of them on the same ship. In fact, it is a good idea to retrofit the Thunderbucket (the Calatian capital ship which joins your flotilla upon delivering the Calatian Castaways to their home system) with these, since its all-around weapons coverage makes it potentially one of the best ships in your flotilla.

Plasma and Proton Blasters are fielded by the Zorg and Terrans, although only the former use either of these weapons from the start. The Zorg will also use Proton Blasters much sooner than the Terrans. Proton Blasters are basically heavily upgraded Plasma Blasters, with more damage, a faster fire rate, and much longer range, as well as point-defense capabilities. They are also far more accurate and are distinguishable by a short green beam fired from a small tube, compared to the Plasma Blaster's heavy barrel, which fires blue teardrop-shaped bolts. However, they also cost more to purchase at Haven Station, which orbits the Terran homeworld of Hope. Buying them for their superior firepower, accuracy, and range is still worthwhile, though; a Calatian Destroyer or Cruiser armed exclusively with these, and equipped with high-end shields, targeting computers and thrusters, will make mincemeat of all but the toughest boss flotillas (Kawangi, Primordius) in seconds on its own.

In short, small weapons may seem puny at first due to their limited range, but can be extremely effective when used correctly. Some also deliver plenty of damage per shot, have a high fire rate, can fire farther, or a combination of all three to justify their extra cost. The cheaper ones can even serve as trade fodder for more expensive items. Your flotilla should ever be without at least one of these unless you have a very good reason. But once you've mastered the small weapons, you'll want to arm your ship with bigger guns...