Primary Weapons and Powerups

Primary weapons are the main component of your offensive arsenal (although some pilots seem to believe that "ramming" enemy ships is more effective). The two most important concepts to know in the care and operation of this system are weapon levels and weapon types. Current information related to your ship's primary weapon is available on the Heads Up Display.

The "level" of your primary weapon is an important concept since it affects the destructive potential of your ship very heavily. Weapon levels range from one to five, with higher levels being more powerful. Much of your strategy should be focussed on attaining and maintaining a high weapon level, as it makes your offense - and by extension your defense - much more effective.

There are two main ways to gain weapon levels: the first is to pick up weapon powerups (shown above). Once you pick up enough of these, you will automatically move to the next level (no extra charges or hidden fees). The number that you require depends on which weapon level you are at; higher weapon levels require more powerups. You can see how many powerups you have picked up relative to how many you need on the HUD.

The second way is to get a specific weapon type powerup (ex. lasers, torpedoes; see below) that matches your current weapon type. This will instantly move you to the next weapon level regardless of how many yellow weapon powerups you have picked up. If the powerup does not match your current weapon type, it will change your primary weapon type without affecting your weapon level (see below).

Unfortunately you can also lose weapon levels if you take a particularly strong hit (or collision, as in the "ramming" strategy mentioned above), or too many weak hits in a short time. Therefore it is very important to avoid being hit as it has the doubly negative effect of damaging your shields or hull and potentially causing you to lose weapon levels, which can in turn cause you to take more hits.

Several different types of primary weapon are available. Your current weapon can be changed by picking up the corresponding powerup (see the table below). Note that the first level of every weapon type is dual lasers since the necessary power for more advanced weapon types is not available until level two.

You should be very careful about which weapon you choose, based on the types of enemies that you are fighting, as well as your own personal skill with the various weapons. Choosing the wrong weapon can be absolutely devastating: it can even get to the point where it's better to take a collision with an enemy ship than to accidentally get the powerup for an ill-suited weapon. Practice with each of the weapons, learn the types of situations that they do well in, and don't blindly grab different weapon powerups!

Following is a list of the different primary weapon types available to you, as well as a brief description and summary of the advantages and disadvantages of each:

	Lasers: A standard projectile weapon that excels against large numbers of fairly weak enemies. Pros: Excellent spread Very easy to use Cons: Lacks power compared to other weapons, so your ship can become overwhelmed (your weapons don't have the power to kill enemies fast enough) Smaller enemies or missiles can be hard to hit due to the small size of the laser projectile
	Torpedoes: Another fairly standard projectile weapon that works especially well against powerful enemies. The purple torpedoes can be redirected slightly by flying in the intended direction right before they are launched. Pros: Quite powerful, even at lower weapon levels Larger projectile makes it easier to hit small targets Cons: Less spread than some other weapons, but still decent when the purple torpedoes are used correctly Lower weapon levels are ineffective against faster enemies due to the slow projectile and lack of spread
	Beams: An extremely powerful weapon when used correctly, especially against individual large enemies or clusters of mid-range ones. Beams fire instantly and penetrate through virtually any material, doing extensive damage to anything that they contact (don't try this at home). Pros: Delivers a huge amount of damage Penetration means that you can take out entire lines of enemies in one shot, or render directional defenses useless Cons: Almost no spread makes your ship very vulnerable to attacks from the side Smaller enemies can slip in between your shots making precise aim and timing necessary

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Copyright © 2004 by Andrew Lauritzen and Chris Iacobucci.