What’s your favorite weapon type?
dudn’t have to be the best, just your favorite 
- Lasers
- Particle Beams
- Mesons
- High-Powered Microwave
- Plasma Carronades
- Railguns
- Gauss Cannons
- Missiles
0
voters
Curious to see where community tastes lie!
While I only really use lasers in my CQB ships so I can stay out of PD and gun range and avoid getting sandblasted/shot back, I gotta say, plasma carronades offer unmatched drip and I need to use them more.
Yeah your 30cm laser is cool and all but my ship is powered by hatred and violence and an array of 30cm carronades that each deal 24 damage every 10 seconds.
2 Likes
I’m pretty new to Aurora and so haven’t really come to grips with all weapons types but I do like lasers, mostly thanks to their all-rounder style. I suppose I could make better attack or better PD with different weapons but lasers are simple.
Plus who doesn’t like flashy space lasers?
My second would probably be missiles. Once I get a proper handle of designing and using them I think they may jump to no1 on my list!
BOARDING.
9 Likes
I usually mix railguns and particle lances. Did not play with missiles since the rework. It is something I will have to tackle eventually…
I voted particle beams, but only because particle lances wasn’t an option. Particle lances are utterly devastating to anything unshielded, which covers a lot of what you’ll run into.
Spinal lasers are fun, and I assume the same would be true of plasma carronades but I haven’t tried that yet.
Boarding is fun in that it nets you prizes. The logistics can be quite tedious, unfortunately. Although it does reduce the number of wrecks needing to be cleaned up later.
A special shout-out to the Gauss cannon and microwave guys
I voted missiles, even if I like almost the same lasers, railguns and gauss. 
1 Like
I try to set a theme for the Star nation. I tend to start with lasers as they are the turreted weapons and I model off real world navies.
I’m all about Missiles. They are the most interesting because they have the most variety and capability - you can also create (or face) an array of tactical dilemnas by layering different types and capabilities of missiles across salvos. The trade off of course is the logistics end of things. My typical setup is a Task Group with a Carrier carrying fast beam fighters, one Escort with PD weapons (gauss and AMMs), and a pair of Destroyers throwing salvos of ASMs.
1 Like
I like particle lances/beams. They are pretty fun to play around with. But missiles are super cool because you can do so much with them.
I’m a fan of light fighters using anti-ship rockets (range just over direct fire weapons) and gunships with particle beams.
Missiles are just the most fun though because ause you can really tailor them to your needs.
I voted for lasers, which are my favorite out of the standard weapon uses. But actually I most like to warp the meaning of “missiles” with small warhead size to emulate ranging naval artillery shells. It is somewhat less viable in C# though once EW tech and decoys develop so favor moves to mid to large sized missiles, but RP fun comes first.
I’m a railgun and gauss enthusiast even though its suboptimal until later techs. I am a roleplayer player first and foremost, and most of my playthroughs take place in the near future. To me, railguns and gauss pd turrets make the most sense for our current naval technologies being uplifted to space.
Missiles get mixed in if I have the patience for them (games with me using missiles tend to take days irl for initial planning of ships/doctrines/designs).
I usually reserve plasma/lasers/particle etc. for NPRs/Spoilers and have a house rule not to research them until I first reverse engineer a piece of their tech.
My favorite combo is always missile + gauss. Usually I’m partial to teching into particle beams/lances once I have the tech to support all-energy tactics.
Asking what a favorite weapon is is like asking a contractor what their favorite tool is. He may have a favorite to use, but they’re all useful in their own right (microwaves aren’t real and can’t hurt you).
Lasers: I feel as if people tend to glaze them a little much. It’s strange to me that the main draw to them is the range, because the damage drop-off for them is absolutely diabolical. They tend to be very good in terms of damage over time at close range, even compared to carronades, but the first volley or two before point-blank range are brutal, a problem that railguns and partical beams/lances don’t have.
Carronades: Very high damage (especially if spinally mounted), but obscene damage drop-off makes them only useful at point blank (which is kinda their whole point). They’re also not efficient in terms of damage over time. But the sheer damage they output all at once can be worthwhile, as the brutal first volley can disable/destroy ships that would do more damage over time. Also a couple Carronade STO’s are very useful for any ships that make it to close range.
Particle beam: @nakorkren makes a good point that the real point of particle beams are the lance tech applied to them. 24 damage going in a virtually straight line through armor is no fucking joke, and no I don’t care that I can’t turret them or that they are large. Not to mention they’re reasonably accurate even at medium range. They are limited in terms of range, which actually makes them good for close-combat warships after they close the gap. That, and if you have speed advantage you can kite (which is great if the enemy is using lasers). They are my favorite tbh.
Railguns: Also based af. The sheer damage output they can generate is a lot. But the real reason they shine is that, like particle beams, they have no range drop-off. That first volley means a lot, because it can disable/destroy ships before they have the opportunity to hurt your fleet. The fact that they fire a spray of small projectiles make them slightly poor against armor, but great against shielding.
Mesons: I tried them. They kinda suck as main weapons. I’ve heard they make for good PD, and I can see that being the case mid/late game, but haven’t tested it. Either way, tbh I’d just prefer to invest in gauss cannons.
Gauss Cannons: Premier PD. Not great main guns, but they still can shoot ships reasonably well, which means your PD isn’t useless in close combat (unlike if you use AMMs or flares). They also fire every game turn, which means there are 0 holes in your missile defense coverage.
High-Powered Microwave: In all seriousness, haven’t tried them. I’m frankly a lil scared to lol they sound kinda weak. Yeah, they pierce armor and shields. I’d rather use particle lances lol.
Missiles: Honestly, missiles are such a radically different ball game that I feel like they’re apples and oranges when compared to direct fire weapons. They are insanely versatile, and you can make every kind of missile imaginable. Basically, if you want to shoot the enemy before they shoot you, use missiles. Also, an alternative to a spinally-mounted carronade is a beefy short range missile. They’ll usually do far more damage once you have a high enough missile damage tech
This is actually an interesting idea I’ve seen AI races do that I’ve wanted to try. Have you done it yet? How did it go?
I offer a pity cheer >.</
1 Like