Subset Games Forum

Just went through the artillery list.
Dayum...
I'll have to keep this list up next time I record.
Seem to have tested only the "boring" artillery systems like the Lattice lockdown and standard heavy burst laser (which I was able to buy in a shop as regular weapon due to a mess up by the Randtrell mod).
Really want to try the wave form, emperor missile battery, valentine missile rack and tool XL beam.
Screw it, they all look awesome except for the ones stated as boring above and the ones that only deal crew damage (personal taste as they don't fit all to well with a boarding strategy I feel), stunner on slug ships might be fun though.
Does artillery work as intended with the Randtrell mod?
As in using randomized ships still giving the same artillery system as stated on the wiki ?

Also, the explanation behind the artillery was pretty enlightening to read.
Always wondered how you managed to create those stealth missiles...
Cheeky bugger... Kind of obvious if you think of it. But there in lies the greatness, thinking about it.

Biohazard063 wrote:Does artillery work as intended with the Randtrell mod?
As in using randomized ships still giving the same artillery system as stated on the wiki ?

I think Randtrall actually randomizes artillery to some extend, but I'm not sure if there is a way to tell which artillery your ship got rolled.

If you want a basic damage artillery I recommend trying the verdict focus beam for the Zoltan ships. It's probably one of the more powerful ones, very close to the vindicator beam in overall power. I still maintain that all artilleries can be useful depending on how much you adjust to them. A six damage heavy burst laser for four power every 20 seconds isn't that bad, especially if you can't find any other weapons. This can free up a weapon slots for controll guns and helpd you out if you can't manage to find a good loadout combo. It's a high investment of course. Tool XL is kind of clunky to build a loadout around, fits the ship it comes with. The artilleries are kind of designed to be rather specific challenges that match their ships relative power. Verdict is pretty straight forward, I've seen a some people winning their first CE runs exclusively due to that artillery. Waveform tends to become Ion overkill if you use regular ions with it, it shines when you switch to a full laser or beam loadout with your regular guns, as it can take out almost any shields on its own. Emperor can be rather unpredictable, but shines against large enemies. Valentine gives you pretty reliable constant damage ticks. Bliss allows you to stunlock enemy crew ones it get's to lvl4, which is comes with a pretty unique advantage that can carry entire runs, but can also fall short if you don't have firepower to follow up. Muther Sun is comparably weak (in line with the Rock B being an outdated ship that depends on being "modernized" at some point during the run), but it can become devastating with reliably shield suppression or good fire coordination. The crux with the internal teleporter is that it allows you to move your borders out of the way. A lot of the artilleries need you to use them in specific ways in order to unfold their full potential.

/Edit: Welcome to page 500 of the CE thread.

Hey, I've been playing this for a few weeks now and been reading up on the opinions of many users here.
For the most part, I agree that most of the new stuff is really situational. However, that is not a bad thing. Some weapons are simply just not viable for the build I was using.

Missile Batteries
Perhaps the single most scariest weapon that I've ever encountered on an enemy. It even beats finding a breach missile on an enemy ship and even the flag ship's swarm missile launcher (though I've encountered the latter two so many times that I may have just been desensitized to seeing them) Using them, however

Phase Ions
Surprisingly useful. The shield piercing sorta makes it over powered but it's nothing too drastic.

Effector
Didn't really get much use out of it, but I can see using it in a build in the future.

As for the artillery weapons, I've only ever used the Ion wave, triple heavy laser, and the zoltan focus beam. I used the artillery crash fix to make it that I have one at the start of the game. It made early game a bit harder because fights never really last longer than 30 seconds until maybe sector 5.

The Ion wave crippled the flagship, allowing my combat and beam drones tear it apart - I also had hacking and an Ion Burst 2 so the shields didn't really stand a chance.
The triple heavy laser was a treat to use. Combined with a Halberd Beam, Ion Charger, and Swarm Missles, I was basically turned the Red-Tail into a miniature Rebel Flagship.
The Zoltan Focus beam got its use. I focused mainly on getting as much damage in one volley as possible so I bought a hacking module and two extra hull beams. The Focus Beam ended up doing away with the flagship since I was so busy fighting off the boarding crew that I didn't notice 50 seconds had already passed and the beam was charged.

As for the rest of the stuff, I wasn't able to used them yet. CE and CEI all have so much content that its hard to give an opinion on the ones I haven't used because I just haven't seen enough of it. It doesn't help that the wiki is basically just a tutorial on what the weapons do.

Anyway, thank you for this wonderful mod. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll get back to playing.

redlerred7 wrote: The triple heavy laser was a treat to use. Combined with a Halberd Beam, Ion Charger, and Swarm Missles, I was basically turned the Red-Tail into a miniature Rebel Flagship.

Considering the size of the Flagship compared to the Kestrel, it's more like you were flying another Rebel Flagship

Yes, off course every artillery has it's niche.
But some are easier to make a build around then others.
I mean the ones that do only crew damage are probably not a safe way to go when boarding unless you have a clonebay or are intent to use different means then hand to hand combat for killing crew : Bio weaponry, light lasers, fire etc...
I suppose I'll play around a bit with the artillery systems to see what I can pull out. Actually knowing what is possible was a bit of an eye opener.

The main thing holding me back is the fact that it replaces something else.
Going through the list can make you realize a few things as far as cost/usefulness goes.

Example : The crystal shards that deal crew damage.
Having this means you also have crystal crew members, crystal crewmembers mean teleporter (for me at least).
What's better in a boarding strategy : The shards, that can kill your own crew potentially or mindcontroll?
Again, situational on whether or not you have a clone bay. If not, artillery is out since you can kill your own crew. That and it being artillery means uncontrolled fire and aim. Having to depower a system that cost you a decent amount of scrap (150 compared to 75 of MC) makes it less then ideal. If the ship has a medbay, you can't really use it to soften them up either.
On the other hand with a clonebay the story changes.
Also this artillery + hack on medbay/clonebay gives you an alternate way to kill crew without risking your own.
As said, some experimentation will be required...

The ASB that sometimes appears when you enter a sector with a pirate toll doesn't disable if the pirate surrenders(or dies). This is really bad for ships that don't have powerful engines, as you get barraged at least once when the encounter should be over. I don't know how feasible it is to stop the ASB, but iirc killing marker drones/mantis spotters readies up FTL instantly, which would be better than taking 6-12 damage you shouldn't have

Just wanted to get in on this historical landmark. (500th page, whoo!)

RandomGamer342 wrote:The ASB that sometimes appears when you enter a sector with a pirate toll doesn't disable if the pirate surrenders(or dies). This is really bad for ships that don't have powerful engines, as you get barraged at least once when the encounter should be over. I don't know how feasible it is to stop the ASB, but iirc killing marker drones/mantis spotters readies up FTL instantly, which would be better than taking 6-12 damage you shouldn't have

Hey the pirate may surrender, but his buddies on the ASB are not going to quit just because they did.
Artillery spotters are technically using "dummy weapons" and that's why the drive charges instantly.

I'm now wondering why after defeating and scrapping an enemy ship that you should keep hanging around a hazard. Because it's not there when you return, so obviously you don't need to be in the danger zone to jump. I know it's for game balance reasons but maybe some beacons should allow moving out of the area. "You destroy and loot the ship"

1) Stay here, let the FTL charge
(Advanced Engines/FTL Navigation) Go riding from the danger zone!

I just tried the Waveform EMP.
I...


Ep 155 and beyond. (uploads on 27th)
P.S : Isn't the artillery on Zoltan ships basically a maul beam with roughly double the charge time?
Kind of another thing I dislike with most of the artillery, blind fire... Nothing that can be done, I know, just another negative point in the comparison with other systems.
Great about it though is that you get rid of system power it requires to work in the first place.
For the maul beam for example, not needing 4 weapon power to use it outweighs the longer charge time.
You do have to deal with the "Do I give up a weapon slot or a system slot..." dilemma though.

I've been having a lot of fun with this mod so far. Also there's this one track from the music addon that is just bloody amazing.

1 minor bug though is that the layout of the rebel pusher doesn't match even though the changelog says it has been fixed so you might want to look into that.