Cadet I/Weaponry: Difference between revisions

From FreeAllegiance Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
(Wikify - Info and such is good, grammar is god awful like the rest of the academy info :/)
(giving it the once-over)
Line 6: Line 6:
[[Image:minigun.jpg|center]]
[[Image:minigun.jpg|center]]


===Energy weapons===
Weapons in Allegiance come in one of three varieties:
Energy weapons consume energy. Your ship's energy can recharge itself. This is useful when attack runs are expected to be long-lasting, since you don't have to worry about ammo and can store more items in the cargo bays, since no ammo has to be stored. However, during a fight, running out of energy can be devastating. If you use energy consuming equipment, the problem can come up quickly. These items along with energy weapons will deplete your energy in seconds.


Energy weapons fire energy, which travels much faster than particles. This means that you don't have to lead your shots as much because the bullets travel faster, making aiming a bit easier when you don't have a lead indicator.  
{|align="center" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5 border="1"
|-
|width=20%|
|align="center"|'''Pros
|align="center"|'''Cons
|-
|align="center"|'''Energy Weapons (EW)
|valign="top" width=40%|
*Consume energy instead of ammo.  
*Since your ship's energy recharges this means you don't have to return to base as often.
*You can carry useful equipment in cargo instead of spare ammo racks.
*The bullets travel faster than particle weapons making it easier to hit your target.
*Generally have less spread than particle weapons.
|valign="top"|
*If you run out of energy in a dogfight you are in a lot of trouble. It takes a lot longer to recharge energy than it does to reload ammo.
*Cloaking devices and nans also require energy so you may find you are unable to use them if you waste energy firing.
*Energy weapons are usually specialised against a certain armour class, meaning they do little damage to everything else. So you need to learn which EW is useful for which task.
|-
|align="center"|'''Particle Weapons (PW)
|valign="top"|
*Good damage against most armour classes.
*Doesn't depend on your energy levels.
*Doesn't take long to reload.
|valign="top"|
*Needs to be reloaded.
*Your ship is useless once you run out of ammo.
*They're more difficult to aim, due to their spread and "slow" bullet speed.
|-
|align="center" rowspan=2|'''Particle Energy weapons (PE)
|valign="top" colspan=2 align="center"|PE are unique to [[Technoflux]] although any other [[faction]] can use them if they steal them. <br>They are very similar to PW in terms of Pros and Cons except:
|-
|valign="top"|
*No spread whatsoever.
|valign="top"|
*Slightly less damage than their PW equivalents.
*Consumes both energy and ammo when fired.
|}


===Particle weapons===
===Mix-and-match weapons===
Particle weapons consume ammo. The ammo, indicated on your HUD, will reload itself when completely depleted (review the lesson on managing your cargo for reload details). You have to bring ammo packs if you wish to be able to reload your weapons. When you run out of ammo, your weapons will be of no use to you, and you might as well eject them into space to lighten your ship.


During a fight, running out of ammo can be costly, but not as much as it is for energy weapons. Here, you wait a few seconds for the reload to be completed. However, if you have no ammo left at all, you're done for in terms of weaponry. Make sure you keep your weapons filled with ammo if not in combat.
Most ships have the ability to mount different weapons in different gun slots at the same time. While you may think you're getting the best of both worlds by using a combined-arms approach you are really just shooting yourself in the foot. The differences in range, rate of fire, and bullet speed between the different guns makes it impossible to get all your guns to hit your target unless you're at point-blank range.


===Aiming right...for real===
===Aiming right ... for real===
Your HUD displays a reticule that indicates whether you are aiming at your target or not, as we have seen in a previous lesson. However, this reticule is not entirely accurate. A green reticule does not mean that you will surely hit your target. It means that you are quite close to hitting it or are hitting it with at least one weapon. You have to look at the bullets themselves and verify if they're hitting. Only a few talented pilots are able to hit their targets with all their bullets in all kinds of situations, which causes devastation upon their targets. Note that most pilots don't look at their bullets and therefore miss with most of their ammo, making themselves easy targets for good pilots. Hitting with all your bullets requires not only that you aim well but also that you rotate your ship properly so that all your cannons are capable of hitting the ship.
You will have noticed the reticule on your HUD which shows whether you're leading your target properly or not - it turns green when you'll hit, red when you won't. Right?


Sometimes, certain types of assaults require you to combine energy and particle weapons on the same ship. While this saves on ammo, it's a tough break for aim. Indeed, your HUD will only indicate whether one of your weapons is hitting the target. As we've seen, energy bullets travel faster than particle bullets, and so you need to aim both weapons differently. In those cases, your best bet is to get closer to your target, making it possible to aim all your weapons at the enemy. Unfortunately, this is exactly the opposite of what you would do against an interceptor, since getting too close generally gets you killed quickly. Again, simply look at your bullets, and try to make them all aim.
Wrong. The reticule is '''not''' entirely accurate. A green reticule does not always mean that you will surely hit your target with all your guns, all it indicates is that you're close to hitting it with your primary weapon. It may be missing by the narrowest margin or even if they're hitting perhaps the bullets from your second gun are missing - very possible with the gunmount layout on certain ships! You have to look at the bullets themselves and verify that they're hitting. Most pilots don't do this and so waste most of their ammo, making themselves easy pickings for good pilots.


{{Tip|Once you have the basics of this game down, consider switching to another aiming reticule. A lot of players use just a tiny dot.}}
{{Tip|
*Rebind your rotation keys so they're easy to reach. Rotating your ship is the easiest way to bring all your weapons to bear.
*Shooting at someone moving at right angles to you is difficult. If possible try to come up behind your opponent and you will find them a lot easier to defeat.
*It is highly recommended that you replace the default reticule with a player created crosshair, many of which are available [http://www.mesialonline.com/Allegiance/targetNew/target.html here].}}


===Moving around===
When dogfighting, you'll also want to dodge bullets as you're fighting. Use your sidethrusters and boosters to move around the place. Using sidethrusters can be very effective, since bullets that have already been fired in one direction will go straight, while you will move from them. When your adversary fires in one direction to hit you, you can move in an unpredictable direction to avoid the bullet. What good pilots do is simply change sidethrusting direction every second or so. Do not use opposite thrusters when doing this. For example up then down. This will cause you to sit still for a moment that will allow the opponent to destroy you quicker. Go with other combinations such as left/up or down/right as examples.


Rotating your ship is also helpful. If you're taking fire from a ship afar, rotating your ship to expose the smallest surface is the best thing to do. Similarly, in dogfights, always try not to expose your larger surfaces. The best example is with the GigaCorp Stealth Fighter. Indeed, this ship is extremely slim when looked at from the front. However, going under or over it, you can see its large, rectangular surface. As such, it is easy to fire at if you manage to move over or under it and hit the large surface. Conversely, SF pilots will try not to expose this large surface, and turn their ship in consequence. Most ships are designed so that their thin surfaces are also the ones exposed when the ship is facing a target, so that a pilot can both fire at a ship and expose the least surface.
===Deployable weapons===
'''Prox mines & mine packs


Using alephs and minefields is also a great tactic. If your ship can mount them, you can deploy minefields and attempt to draw your enemy in it. For example, as a scout, you can fly straight and away from your enemy, using your high speed. As the enemy is following you with a booster, you can lay a minefield in which the enemy may fly and get destroyed. If in proximity of an aleph, you can use it to hide from bullets/missiles, which cannot go through alephs. You can also go inside the aleph, and turn around so that you're ready to fire at your enemy as he enters the aleph. You can even go through the aleph, deploy a minefield, and wait for the enemy to either pass through it or abandon the fight.
These deploy a small cloud of mines behind your ship that remain stationary. Any enemy ship flying through them will take damage proportional to the speed they go through. They take 4 seconds to activate and so require a bit of forethought to get a kill with them - try boosting away from your opponent and once you have a decent lead drop prox so that they smash into it as they chase you. Or fly through an aleph and drop them just as you exit the other side.


{{Tip|It takes four seconds for all types of mines/deployable objects to activate. Timing is crucial!}}
'''Plasgens
 
Plasgens are unique to technoflux. They deploy a small tower behind your ship that remains stationary and fire upon any enemy ship in close range. Unlike the prox mines that you want your opponent to go through as quickly as possible, with plasgens you want your opponent to go past it very slowly. Dropping them while you're circling each other dogfighting is a good idea. Once again, they take 4s to activate.
 
'''Combat drones
 
CD are unique to [[Rix]], normally dropped by stealth fighters. Like plasgens it is a small tower which fires upon the enemy. Unlike plasgens CD have a long range but only fire at the person you had targeted when you dropped it, making it quite difficult to use. A good trick is to fly in front of your target and lay them beside their path so that they're flying towards them as they arm. Once again, they take 4s to arm.




{{Nav2|Missiles|Ships}}
{{Nav2|Missiles|Ships}}

Revision as of 00:49, 14 February 2009

Cadet I · Week Three Index · Edit

Start · 1 · 2 · Week 3 · Appx  · All

← Missiles Ships →

Weapon Basics


Minigun.jpg

Weapons in Allegiance come in one of three varieties:

Pros Cons
Energy Weapons (EW)
  • Consume energy instead of ammo.
  • Since your ship's energy recharges this means you don't have to return to base as often.
  • You can carry useful equipment in cargo instead of spare ammo racks.
  • The bullets travel faster than particle weapons making it easier to hit your target.
  • Generally have less spread than particle weapons.
  • If you run out of energy in a dogfight you are in a lot of trouble. It takes a lot longer to recharge energy than it does to reload ammo.
  • Cloaking devices and nans also require energy so you may find you are unable to use them if you waste energy firing.
  • Energy weapons are usually specialised against a certain armour class, meaning they do little damage to everything else. So you need to learn which EW is useful for which task.
Particle Weapons (PW)
  • Good damage against most armour classes.
  • Doesn't depend on your energy levels.
  • Doesn't take long to reload.
  • Needs to be reloaded.
  • Your ship is useless once you run out of ammo.
  • They're more difficult to aim, due to their spread and "slow" bullet speed.
Particle Energy weapons (PE) PE are unique to Technoflux although any other faction can use them if they steal them.
They are very similar to PW in terms of Pros and Cons except:
  • No spread whatsoever.
  • Slightly less damage than their PW equivalents.
  • Consumes both energy and ammo when fired.

Mix-and-match weapons

Most ships have the ability to mount different weapons in different gun slots at the same time. While you may think you're getting the best of both worlds by using a combined-arms approach you are really just shooting yourself in the foot. The differences in range, rate of fire, and bullet speed between the different guns makes it impossible to get all your guns to hit your target unless you're at point-blank range.

Aiming right ... for real

You will have noticed the reticule on your HUD which shows whether you're leading your target properly or not - it turns green when you'll hit, red when you won't. Right?

Wrong. The reticule is not entirely accurate. A green reticule does not always mean that you will surely hit your target with all your guns, all it indicates is that you're close to hitting it with your primary weapon. It may be missing by the narrowest margin or even if they're hitting perhaps the bullets from your second gun are missing - very possible with the gunmount layout on certain ships! You have to look at the bullets themselves and verify that they're hitting. Most pilots don't do this and so waste most of their ammo, making themselves easy pickings for good pilots.


Idea.png
 Tip: *Rebind your rotation keys so they're easy to reach. Rotating your ship is the easiest way to bring all your weapons to bear.
  • Shooting at someone moving at right angles to you is difficult. If possible try to come up behind your opponent and you will find them a lot easier to defeat.
  • It is highly recommended that you replace the default reticule with a player created crosshair, many of which are available here.


Deployable weapons

Prox mines & mine packs

These deploy a small cloud of mines behind your ship that remain stationary. Any enemy ship flying through them will take damage proportional to the speed they go through. They take 4 seconds to activate and so require a bit of forethought to get a kill with them - try boosting away from your opponent and once you have a decent lead drop prox so that they smash into it as they chase you. Or fly through an aleph and drop them just as you exit the other side.

Plasgens

Plasgens are unique to technoflux. They deploy a small tower behind your ship that remains stationary and fire upon any enemy ship in close range. Unlike the prox mines that you want your opponent to go through as quickly as possible, with plasgens you want your opponent to go past it very slowly. Dropping them while you're circling each other dogfighting is a good idea. Once again, they take 4s to activate.

Combat drones

CD are unique to Rix, normally dropped by stealth fighters. Like plasgens it is a small tower which fires upon the enemy. Unlike plasgens CD have a long range but only fire at the person you had targeted when you dropped it, making it quite difficult to use. A good trick is to fly in front of your target and lay them beside their path so that they're flying towards them as they arm. Once again, they take 4s to arm.


← Missiles Ships →
Retrieved from "https://www.freeallegiance.org//FAW/index.php?title=Cadet_I/Weaponry&oldid=7004"