Lasers vs Kinetics

[Aeonic]

At least in the early game, you seem to have a pretty clear cut choice between fast, long range energy weapons and slow, short range projectile weapons that do slightly more damage. Does anyone ever actually use the kinetic and blast weapons besides launchers? Because I'm finding they kinda suck.

In a recent game I had my Molotok equipped with the Trident + 70%, so it wasn't a bad deal, but I stumbled upon a turbolaser and decided to have it installed, and you know what? In spite of the fact that the Trident did half again as much damage, the turbolaser was still so much freakin' easier to use it wasn't even funny. Trying to hit things with the slow, clumbsy trident was a nuisance compared to the turbolaser (and to be clear, the trident is one of the easier kinetic weapons besides Flensers to actually hit things with).

With the turbolaser, you just aim in the general direction of your target, and it fires fast enough that you're bound to hit something since the target can't get out of the way fast enough. With the trident, you have to predict where you think the target is going to be by the time the projectiles reach them.

So why would anybody want to use kinetics? Short range, easy to dodge, and generally the damage doesn't make it all that much more worthwhile to use.

[Atarlost]

Put me down for kinetics.

There are three reasons: One of them's the trident. It's a very good short range weapon, and downright fun. The second is the Arbalest. Its range is closer to a lasers and it does good damage. The third is the Morningstar. Very good damage, very good for stopping missiles.

Flensers are nice too, but don't fit the pattern so I'll not count them.

For blast it's tougher. The Mark III and Moskva 33 are without peer for killing Sung and Dwarg, but earlier on particle is superior, and later particle takes the lead again since there's no blast equivalent to the tev 9 family, though at that point I prefer ion.

[Aeonic]

Hmm, I just found a Dwarg xiphon cannon in Eridani, which is basically a Slam cannon with a 20 degree swivel. Very nice toy, since the swivel helps to make up for the Slam cannon's dramatically poor accuracy.

[digdug]

i'll go with trident, or dual turbolaser, or morningstar and NAMI launcher.
Then storm or Mark I or III.
Later I'll switch directly to ion, because i don't have a particle weapon that i really like. To survive i rely on mark V and MAG launcher

I think that I'll try the new moskva, they are incredibly short ranged, but they are early blast weapons nonetheless.

[Prophet]

The morningstar is one of my preferred early weapons. With +fast and a cannon accelerator it is a formidable weapon that is somewhat decent at skirmishing and basecracking.

I recently fount an omni turbolaser and a laser collimater which was a fantastic weapon. The mag launcher then fit in for basecracking. I upgraded from this set up to an xray laser about the time I started acquiring cluster mags.

Personally, my choice of weapon in Eridani is partly decided whether I can acquire a collimater or an accelerator. I will postpone upgrading my main weapon a system or two while I look for an enhancer.

The Moskva 33 isn't a bad weapon, but requires a second longer range weapon. The Mark I and III are nearly unmatched due to the fact that 2 enhancers will affect them, vastly increasing their destructive power.

[Psycholis]

omni-turbo w/ collimiter is almost a must for the freighter all the way to st. k's. for everything else i use a mark iii or v if i've got the power.

[Aury]

should blast have a tev9 equive though? personally i think its fine to stick with ion from that point out.

[Wurmish]

Well IIRC some later armors seem to be weaker to blast than ion or particle... so maybe not a full set of blast, but a couple more level 6 or 7 blasts may be nice. Preferably at least one non-ammo.

[Vastin]

I avoid kinetics and ammo consuming weapons for the most part. I generally find the the additional damage really doesn't make up for the drawbacks.

The shorter effective range and maneuvering needed to hit with them generally means you're going to be taking more hits, whereas lasers hit more while allowing you a wider maneuvering envelope. The minor damage bonus is rarely worth it unless you just can't find a laser enhancement.

Then of course there's the matter of Omni's which can dominate the game as long as you can keep their firepower high enough to kill in a few shots. There's no kinetic equivalent - though there is a blast equivalent which can be quite nice in the mid-late game.

I am a big fan of the Mark III/V/Fusion howitzer group however! Their combination of range and firepower makes them quite valuable.
So basically I skip kinetics unless early necessity dictates their use.

Bear in mind that some enemies do have armor that specializes against certain forms of damage, though this is rarely a big factor till later in the game, by which time kinetic is long dead.

[Viperion]

Dual Flenser+fast with the cannon accelerator is a great weapon all the way to Sanctuary (and beyond sometimes.)

With the addition of a +fast and a booster, Laser/Kinetic weapons are viable longer-term than most people would expect, I think.

The Hyper Viper

[Aeonic]

Flenser is little different than a laser in performance. It just has a different damage type. That's why I don't consider it when talking about kinetics in general.

Also, when I say kinetics, I'm referring to non-energy, projectile based weapons. Recoilless, missiles, thermo cannons, etc... They're typically slower and shorter range than energy weapons, for now.

[Bobby]

I always have at least one good energy weapon, and it's usually my primary because I can reliably hit things with it, though I sometimes try to use kinetics just for a challenge, or added punch on a tougher opponent. Ease of hitting is a huge factor in real damage per second.

Generally the only ammo weapons I use are launchers, and only as a supplement. I don't want to rely for survival on anything that could run empty.

Strangely enough I don't use many omni's, despite flying in a freighter, with exceptions for the starting laser and im90.

[Prophet]

The smart cannon is a decent kinetic ammo using weapon that benefits from the cannon accelerator and the rasiermesser enhancement. Slap a +Fast on there and you have a mean weapon. It's tracking, not omni so you can hide behind something and shoot around unlike with an omni that always travels in a straight line.

I made a dual x-ray laser (4 beams) that performs well in the mid-late game. It eats the ranx quite fast and benefits from the collimater's +75.

There's still no beating the howitzers because they start off decently and accept 2 enhancers plus a regular enhancement. A double fast +50 Mark III performs well as a skirmish weapon and a basecracker.

[Psycholis]

for mid/late game binds when there's nothing available (ie omni-tev9), the akan 600 is still very viable with systems that have lots of ranx. it's okay for the freighter but i keep a close eye on the ammo and retreat when it dips below 500. i think my strategy late game is to usually wait out the IM90 but one game i bought the much less expensive omni-ion (a 1/3 IM90 basically) and it works well for a fix.

[Aeonic]

I'm probably the only experienced player who has never purchased an IM90 in this game.