Addendum to the Weapons of Infinite Space: Integral Weapons
This is my first blog post in more than a week - I was on vacation in Europe during most of that time, and needed to take a break from this blog for a few days after I returned home - but bear with me, I am still pursuing my interests as vigorously as ever. I'll resume posting right now, beginning with an addendum on the starship weapons featured in Sea of Stars. Since my earlier posts did not mention the various weapons used by the Tchorak and Ravians, I shall describe them here. One important thing to note is that all of the following weapons are integral weapons, i.e. they are built into the ship's structure and cannot be replaced by anything else. Nor can they be fitted to any ship belonging to any other faction.
The Burst Cone is the closest thing you'll find in the Sea of Stars to a shotgun.
Let's begin with the Tchorak arsenal. Their primary weapon is the Burst Cone, a modified volcanic cone which emits hot gases and rock fragments over a short distance, with a wide area of effect. All Tchorak vessels are equipped with at least one of these as standard, with the exception of the Lava Pod. The Burst Cone acts very much like a shotgun; it delivers a lot of damage at close range, but is less effective at longer ranges, where the rock fragments are more spread out. As such, it can be easily countered with the use of advanced long-range weapons such as the Particle Vortex Cannon.
Lava bombs - the weapon of choice for silicon-based inhabitants of Sector Prime.
Speaking of long-range weapons, the Tchorak have fashioned one of their own out of a long volcanic tube. This one is called the Lava Bomb; unlike the Burst Cone, it is fitted as standard to the Lava Pod, as well as being found on Crust Busters and Vent Mothers (but not the Rock Breaker). It fires a remote-controlled stone pod which causes heavy damage on impact, and if the pod is destroyed in mid-flight, it will release rock fragments over a short distance, just like a Burst Cone. However, Lava Bombs have a slow fire rate, travel equally slowly through space, and are much less effective against any ship fitted with onboard countermeasures, particularly the Signature Projector; most of the time, such devices will cause the pod to spin out of control. Moreover, any weapon with point-defense capabilities can shoot down pods in mid-flight, although the fragments released from the explosion can still cause significant damage. Finally, if a ship targeted by a Lava Bomb activates a cloaking device, the bomb will simply continue flying in a straight line and lose track of its target.
Finally, every Tchorak ship larger than the Magma Probe carries at least one Flash Crater. This point-defense weapon sprays out hot rock and gas over a wider arc and across a shorter distance than the Burst Cone. The debris ejected from a Flash Crater can intercept and destroy incoming missiles; however, if too many missiles are fired at a Flash Crater at once, the crater will most likely be overwhelmed. To counteract this, most Tchorak ships are armed with multiple Flash Craters for better coverage. As such, although a single Multi-Missile Launcher is seldom of much use against a crater cluster, two or three launchers should be enough to penetrate a Tchorak ship's defenses in most cases. However, Flash Craters can also be used against enemy ships which get too close; under these circumstances, they are almost as effective as Burst Cones.
In short, the Tchorak arsenal may seem intimidating at first, especially if your ships have inadequate shielding and/or weaponry. However, once you manage to exploit the weaknesses of their weapons, you should be able to demolish even the largest Tchorak ships without too much trouble.
Ravian ships also have their weapons built into their structure. However, Ravian weapons are generally short-ranged, with low to medium damage per shot. To compensate for this, they tend to have a high rate of fire. Even so, their lack of range often makes Ravian ships vulnerable to long-range weapons.
Ravian Hand Lasers are, quite frankly, puny. They do too little damage per shot to be effective even against most fighters. The fact that they're never mounted on any ship other than the pitifully small and weak Bug Commandos limits their usefulness even further. It's no surprise, then, that these fighters are commonly dismissed as fodder.
Gluon Web Launchers are more dangerous than Hand Lasers, and are standard equipment on all Ravian capital ships. They can fire multiple streams of gluons at a target simultaneously, whereas Gluon Guns only launch one gluon stream at a time. However, they are useless against any countermeasures system, which will simply deflect the gluons harmlessly away from the target. Even so, they can be quite devastating when combined with the next weapon in this list.
Proton Claws are the most powerful weapons in the Ravian arsenal. They are fitted to Battle Beetles, Hive Lords and Moon Mutants, with each ship having two more claws (one on each side) than the last. Generally, they act like Proton Blasters, but deliver slightly less damage per shot. However, their rate of fire makes them deadly at short to medium range, especially against lightly shielded ships. In addition, they can be used for point defense. Small wonder, then, that many an unwary flotilla has been decimated by a Ravian proton barrage.
And so we have finally completed our description of the six integral weapons found in Sea of Stars. Although they debuted in the previous game, only now have we been able to take a look at their stats. So the next time you go up against a Tchorak or Ravian Flotilla, be mindful of their weapons' strengths and weaknesses, lest your fleet be reduced to space dust in a matter of seconds.
The Flash Crater - flashy for sure, but short-ranged.
Finally, every Tchorak ship larger than the Magma Probe carries at least one Flash Crater. This point-defense weapon sprays out hot rock and gas over a wider arc and across a shorter distance than the Burst Cone. The debris ejected from a Flash Crater can intercept and destroy incoming missiles; however, if too many missiles are fired at a Flash Crater at once, the crater will most likely be overwhelmed. To counteract this, most Tchorak ships are armed with multiple Flash Craters for better coverage. As such, although a single Multi-Missile Launcher is seldom of much use against a crater cluster, two or three launchers should be enough to penetrate a Tchorak ship's defenses in most cases. However, Flash Craters can also be used against enemy ships which get too close; under these circumstances, they are almost as effective as Burst Cones.
In short, the Tchorak arsenal may seem intimidating at first, especially if your ships have inadequate shielding and/or weaponry. However, once you manage to exploit the weaknesses of their weapons, you should be able to demolish even the largest Tchorak ships without too much trouble.
Ravian ships also have their weapons built into their structure. However, Ravian weapons are generally short-ranged, with low to medium damage per shot. To compensate for this, they tend to have a high rate of fire. Even so, their lack of range often makes Ravian ships vulnerable to long-range weapons.
Seriously, unless you're a Bug Commando, why would you go into combat with a Ravian Hand Laser?
Ravian Hand Lasers are, quite frankly, puny. They do too little damage per shot to be effective even against most fighters. The fact that they're never mounted on any ship other than the pitifully small and weak Bug Commandos limits their usefulness even further. It's no surprise, then, that these fighters are commonly dismissed as fodder.
Watch out for this one - it can put you in a sticky situation more quickly than you would expect.
Gluon Web Launchers are more dangerous than Hand Lasers, and are standard equipment on all Ravian capital ships. They can fire multiple streams of gluons at a target simultaneously, whereas Gluon Guns only launch one gluon stream at a time. However, they are useless against any countermeasures system, which will simply deflect the gluons harmlessly away from the target. Even so, they can be quite devastating when combined with the next weapon in this list.
Underestimate the Proton Claw at your peril - it can make mincemeat of your fleet if you're not careful.
Proton Claws are the most powerful weapons in the Ravian arsenal. They are fitted to Battle Beetles, Hive Lords and Moon Mutants, with each ship having two more claws (one on each side) than the last. Generally, they act like Proton Blasters, but deliver slightly less damage per shot. However, their rate of fire makes them deadly at short to medium range, especially against lightly shielded ships. In addition, they can be used for point defense. Small wonder, then, that many an unwary flotilla has been decimated by a Ravian proton barrage.
And so we have finally completed our description of the six integral weapons found in Sea of Stars. Although they debuted in the previous game, only now have we been able to take a look at their stats. So the next time you go up against a Tchorak or Ravian Flotilla, be mindful of their weapons' strengths and weaknesses, lest your fleet be reduced to space dust in a matter of seconds.
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