User:Mathchamp/Equipment Quick Guide

This is currently a quick guide to equipment in Community Core, the most popular core in the game (as of April 2012). All numbers are from cc_14, but most changes from cc_13c are indicated as cc_14 is unavailable on planet2. It will not explain absolutely everything, but it will give a quick overview of the different items you can load onto your ship, their stats, and in which situations they are used for. If you are a veteran player, feel free to add your own tips or correct existing tips.

This is a "quick" guide as for each item it just gives a paragraph for a quick description, some bullet points for uses and tips, and a table with the more important numbers. It is not a complete tutorial or guide to using each item, the way the Cadet I Nanning Guide is for the nanite gun, but it should explain when, where, and how to use various equipment.

Damage Modifiers and Armour Classes

Every projectile and missile has a damage modifier, and every ship, station, probe, or any object (including minefields) except floating parts/cash/powerups and bullets has an armour class. All shields also have an armour class. The damage modifier determines how much weapon damage is multiplied by against a certain armour class. Unused armour classes and damage modifiers are omitted from the table. A chart of the damage modifiers and armour classes can be found here (however it is out of date).

In short, the damage modifiers determine what kind of targets different weapons are most effective against. For example, the gattling gun is most effective against light targets, while the disruptor is most effective against shields and capital ships, and the anti-base missile is most effective against stations.

Weapons

Weapons (guns) are generally your main tool for attacking. Nearly all ships can mount some type of weapon. All ships can equip 0-4 forward-firing weapons, controlled by the pilot, and 0-4 turret weapons, each controlled by a turret gunner who is another player on your team. The number of each type of weapon mount depends on the ship, and which types of weapons can be equipped to which mounts also depends on the ship. Note that the number and type of weapon mounts can vary between factions, even for the same ship. For example, Belters ships tend to mount a larger variety of weapons than other factions' ships, some Omicron ships have an extra turret mount, and so on.

Small Ship Weapons

Scout Weapons

While the scout can mount the same weapons the fighter can, the scout only gets one weapon mount, whereas fighters get 2-3. However, the scout has its own unique "weapon".

ER Nanite

i.e. "nan"

This is probably the most important "weapon" in the game. Note the quotation marks; this isn't really a weapon, but a tool for repairing nearby friendly ships, drones, and stations. You fire it the same way you would fire an ordinary weapon, except that you target a friendly unit instead of an enemy. It fires bright blue rings containing nanites, which instantly repair any target they hit. As a scout pilot you will want to always carry this with you, either mounted or in cargo, as it is EXTREMELY effective at saving the life of a friendly miner or constructor from enemy attack. Note that the nanite gun is ineffective against shields, so do not fire until the target is damaged or about to take armour damage. The nanite gun drains the scout's energy rapidly and you will fire very slowly if your energy runs out. For a guide on using ER Nanite, go to this Cadet I article.

• Nan friendly miners when they come under attack to reverse the damage done by enemy ships. Even one nanite-equipped scout can save a miner's life.
• Follow friendly constructors and nan them when they come under attack to keep them alive long enough to build.
• Escort your team's bomber and nan it so that it can destroy the enemy base.
• If your team's station is damaged, use the nanite gun to repair it. The station can repair itself, but very slowly, and repairing it fully will allow the shields to charge, which is much more rapid.
• While capital ships can be repaired, it is rather inefficient and you will generally be more useful as a gunner. However, if your team is too poor to afford additional capships, feel free to nan the ones you have. It's better than doing nothing.
• Belters can mount the nanite gun on nearly all of its small ships, including all levels of fighter, stealth fighter, and the heavy interceptor. You should always carry one in cargo unless you absolutely need the space for extra ammo/missiles/fuel.

Weapon	Damage Modifier	Damage Per Second	Rate of Fire	Warm-up Time	Spread	Signature	Projectile Speed	Maximum Range	Ammo/sec	Energy/sec	Prerequisite
ER Nanite 1	Repair (DM10)	-90.0	4.0	0.25	0.01	5%	400	400		120.0	None
ER Nanite 2	Repair (DM10)	-120.0	4.0	0.25	0.01	5%	400	400		120.0	Starbase, or Treasure

Fighter Weapons

PW Gattling Gun

The gattling gun is one of the most commonly used weapons in the game. It is mounted on the fighter and scout, as well as being the forward-firing gun for the bomber, however in this scenario it is rarely fired. The gattling gun is an ammo-consuming weapon with moderate damage and range, and does decent damage versus almost everything except stations. In particular, the gattling gun is most effective on lightly to moderately armoured targets. Therefore, it is the default weapon you will mount on your fighter, and you will almost always be using it except when the situation calls for a more specialized weapon.

• Use it when dogfighting against other fighters and interceptors, however you will generally lose a one-on-one dogfight against an interceptor.
• Use it against enemy scouts to get rid of the enemy's eyes.
• Use it against enemy stealth fighters who stray too close to your ship.
• Use it to destroy enemy bombers, transports, and other threats.
• Use it to destroy enemy miners and constructors. The gattling guns don't do great damage to utility hull, but so do nearly all other weapons in the game. A fighter with gattling guns and dumbfire missiles can kill an undefended miner rather quickly.
• Do not use it against capital ships (except for the unpiloted carrier drone) unless you have no choice, as the EW Disruptor is much more effective against them.
• The gattling gun is also your primary damage-dealing gun on scouts (as the nanite is only useful for repairing friendlies, and is useless when you are out alone).
  • Use it to clean up any enemy probes you find.
  • Use it to harass enemy miners early in the game. You probably won't kill one unless the enemy team is careless, but you are likely to slow down their mining somewhat.
  • You can dogfight with the scout's gattling gun, but only as a last resort. You are not meant to dogfight in a (non-Technoflux) scout, and will always lose to a fighter or interceptor. Resist the urge to use that gat and run.
  • On the other hand, if you run into a stealth, your gattling gun will kill it quickly. Just watch out for their own guns and missiles, and remember that they have low agility.

Weapon	Damage Modifier	Damage Per Second	Rate of Fire	Warm-up Time	Spread	Signature	Projectile Speed	Maximum Range	Ammo/sec	Energy/sec	Prerequisite
PW Gat Gun 1	Light (DM02)	32.0	10.0	0.25	0.005	200%	600	600	10.0		None
PW Gat Gun 2	Light (DM02)	40.0	10.0	0.25	0.005	200%	600	600	10.0		Supremacy
PW Gat Gun 3	Light (DM02)	50.0	10.0	0.25	0.005	200%	600	660	10.0		Adv. Supremacy

EW Disruptor

The disruptor cannon can be mounted on any weapon mount that can take a gattling gun, however it is not used as frequently. The high projectile speed and lack of ammo consumption may be attractive to new players, but the very low damage output means that you're much better off with the gattling gun, even if your aim is mediocre. The main use of this weapon comes from its damage modifier: The disruptor is most effective against heavily armoured targets, such as capital ships and light stations, and should only be used against those targets. The disruptor is also very effective against shields compared to the gattling gun, however most targets do not have enough shields to merit using a disruptor over a gattling gun.

• While disruptors will quickly lower the shields of the target, it will take forever to chew through the hull of even a scout with this weapon. Do not use this against small or medium ships unless you have absolutely no choice.
• Disruptor's main use is against capital ships, as disruptors do bonus damage against capital ship hull and shields, while gattling gun is poor against both. Note that you will need a group of players in fighters, all carrying dis, to destroy a capital ship.
• Do not use disruptor against the carrier drone. The carrier drone has no pilot, no weapons, no shield, and utility-class armour, which takes negligible damage from disruptors. The attack carrier, on the other hand, has a pilot, turrets, shields, and takes bonus damage from disruptor, but is a very rarely seen ship.
• Disruptor's other main use is against the light stations of Gigacorp, or the light tele-refineries of Omicron, or the light He3 refineries (as of cc_14) of Dreghklar Empire. Again, you will need several fighters, preferably enhanced at least, and preferably with Disruptor 2 at least. Disruptors drain energy rapidly and it takes a lot of disruptor fire to destroy a light station.
• If you are playing on the Dark Nebulae core, which is Community Core's predecessor, the Phoenix faction can mount medium assault shields on their bombers and transports, since their ships can't be nanned. In this case you may want to use disruptor on their bombers and transports as most of their HP is in shields.
• Again, scouts can also mount the disruptor gun. Since the scout can only carry one disruptor, it drains energy just as fast as the scout's energy regenerates, therefore you can fire indefinitely.
  • This does not mean you should take one, however. The damage is even worse considering you only have one, and once you drop the target's shields you do about 0 damage.
  • If you find Disruptor 2 floating in space at the beginning of the game, however, feel free to grab it. It's a nice tool for harassing miners. Drop their shields, make their AI start running home, and retreat. You will never kill a miner with disruptor alone, though, even if the enemy team is stupid.

Weapon	Damage Modifier	Damage Per Second	Rate of Fire	Warm-up Time	Spread	Signature	Projectile Speed	Maximum Range	Ammo/sec	Energy/sec	Prerequisite
EW Disruptor 1	Heavy (DM03)	12.8	8.0	0.25	0	200%	1250	625		60.0	None
EW Disruptor 2	Heavy (DM03)	16.0	8.0	0.25	0	200%	1250	625		60.0	Supremacy
EW Disruptor 3	Heavy (DM03)	20.0	8.0	0.25	0	200%	1250	625		60.0	Adv. Supremacy

EW Galvonic Blaster

The galvonic blaster is one of the more advanced technologies in the game, and just like the disruptor, it is a specialized weapon. It can only be mounted on the Advanced Fighter, and only on its first gunmount. It is extremely effective against capital ships, even moreso than Disruptor. A swarm of fighters with galvonics + disruptors can tear apart a fleet of capital ships. However, its more common use is against minor stations. A group of fighters will frequently engage in what is called a "galv run" where a pack of fighters carrying galvonic blaster swarm an enemy minor station (teleport receiver, refinery, or outpost) and destroy it.

• While this weapon eats through shields, again it is mostly useless against small or medium targets, though significantly better than the disruptor.
• Use it in any situation where you would use disruptors. Simply replace your first disruptor with the galvonic blaster.
• Use the galvonic blaster against minor stations to damage or destroy them. It takes a while to eat through the shields but the hull goes down rather quickly to galvonics.
• Attack minor stations in groups. While you will probably not run out of energy firing your galvonic blaster, even minor stations have a lot of HP (especially outposts, which have a lot of shields), and a solo galver will usually be podded before they do much damage.
• If the enemy is building a new minor station, rush it with galvonics. When a station is brand new it has no shields and galvonics tear through minor station hull much more quickly than shields.
• Press 1 on your keyboard (not on the numpad, but on the main keyboard above the letters) to disable your other guns, allowing you to just fire your galvonic blaster and save energy/ammo. When you want to fire your other weapons, just press 1 again.
• The galvonic blaster is quite heavy and will weigh down your fighter quite a bit, decreasing your acceleration. If you have no plans to use it, it is best not to take it.
• Iron Coalition's minor stations are Heavy, meaning they have major base hull and shield armour classes. Therefore, the galvonic blaster is completely ineffective and utterly useless against their stations.
  • This also means if you are Iron Coalition and the other team captures one of your minor stations, you can't galv it. On the flip side, if they are Iron Coalition, you are not, and they capture one of your minor stations, you can galv it.

Weapon	Damage Modifier	Damage Per Second	Rate of Fire	Warm-up Time	Spread	Signature	Projectile Speed	Maximum Range	Ammo/sec	Energy/sec	Prerequisite
EW Galvonic Blstr	Medium-heavy (DM07)	28.0	8.0	0.25	0	200%	1250	937.5		96.0	Adv. Supremacy + Dis2