WEapons Guide
STandard Energy WEapon Classes
Each weapon class has its own play-style and advantages. While each class consists of multiple sub-types and weight levels all weapons within a class operate similarly. Standard weapon classes are found in the Core Set in abundance and do not have any special rules or requirements.
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Fastest Recharge / Poor Energy Ratio Pulse weapons are designed around steady sustained fire that recharges completely each round. Pulse weapons have a low minimum cost to fire making them very efficient against support units. They do suffer from inefficient damage to energy ratios however and can never burst as high as other weapon classes.
High Burst / Slowest Recharge Energy Cannons have some of the highest burst damage in the game. Burst is important because it allows a mech to overcome a target’s shields. Energy Cannons only fire once every three rounds however. So the attacker will have to rely on other weapons for a while after firing. Extremely inefficient against support units.
Good Burst / Fast Recharge / Poor Ratio Laser Rifles are a mainstay for mech warfare. With burst almost as high as cannons, lasers can fire twice when fully charged and once the following round. The draw back is its one-to-one damage to energy ratio and a high minimum cost to fire.
Good Energy Ratio / Slow Recharge Energy Blasters have the best damage to energy ratio of the standard weapons (2 to 1) but can only fire every other round. Energy Blasters are dependable weapons due to their relatively low minimum cost to fire.
The four stats of a weapon: Cost, Damage, Recharge & Overheat create the following tactical aspects to determine if a weapon is right for your mech.
Burst: the highest amount of damage a weapon can cause in a round. Important for overcoming shields.
DPE Ratio: how much bang do you get per energy. Higher efficiency frees up energy for other actions.
Firing Rate: how frequently can the weapon fire. Slow weapons are powerful but can leave you vulnerable.
Minimum Cost to Fire: how much of an investment a single shot requires. Low MCF weapons require less planning and timing and are more efficient against support units.
SPECIAL Energy WEapon Classes
Special weapons have an additional requirement to use but provide unique tactical advantages. Most of these require their own call out or announcement. For example Plasma Artillery requires the attacker to announce “artillery strike” when they are firing, and melee weapons use the term “melee hit” instead of just “hit”. Unique call outs create more transparency and organization. See the individual entries for each special weapon in the Rules Reference Guide for more details on how to use them.
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Best Energy Ratio / Melee Melee weapons have some of the best DPE ratios in the game (reaching as high as 4 to 1) making them extremely cheap to operate. They also have the lowest activation costs per strike making them efficient against support units while their decent burst makes them effective against mechs. They require adjacent targets however which restricts their utility. They can only be attached to arm slots.
Indirect AoE / Delayed / Deployment Artillery weapons provide excellent utility and safety as they do not require line of sight to fire and can damage multiple hexes. The drawbacks are that it requires deploying your mech before firing (if its not a tetrapod) and artillery damage is delayed until the damage phase, often giving targets time to move away. Plasma Artillery comes in various forms like the short range multi-shot mortars to the single ultra long range howitzers.
Highest Burst / Fast Charge / Deployment The Pulse Turret is one of the most formidable weapons on the battlefield. It has the highest potential burst (up to 12 in a single round), fast recharge, a good DPE ratio and low minimum firing cost. Their primary drawback is that they require deploying your mech before firing and are some of the most expensive weapons in the game. Tetrapod mechs specialize in using Pulse Turrets because they are always deployed.
AoE / Anti-Infantry / Delayed A prototype weapon developed only recently, Death Rays can target every unit in its wide beam at range, including support units that usually require an adjacent attacker. The draw back is its poor DPE ratio and delayed damage giving units time to move out of the beam before it fully charges up. A difficult weapon to master that can turn the tide of battle.
Ammo Weapon Classes - Core Set
Ammo weapons require ammo tokens to activate instead of energy gems. They increase a mech’s utility, defense and burst by providing a weapon system free of the constraints of the energy pool. Ammo is not returned to the mech during the recharge phase which means it is a limited resource. Fortunately mechs automatically reload 2 ammo when they are located in their base or a corner station during the recharge phase.
Great Damage per Ammo / Low Burst Assault Rifles are simple weapons with great damage per ammo ratios. Because they use a full magazine in fully automatic mode in order to inflict any reasonable damage they can only fire once per round, but can fire every round, using up an ammo token each time. Assault Rifles are the go-to spare weapon.
Good Burst / Slow Loading / Ammo Intensive Kinetic Cannons are ancient weapons that attempt to duplicate the burst of energy cannons by using extremely heavy ammunition fired at high speed. The 2 ammo tokens required to fire a Kinetic Cannon allow a mech to dramatically increase their burst damage. They are slow to reload however, requiring a round in between firing.
Great Burst / Good Ratios / Requires Deployment / Ammo Intensive Gatling Guns are similar to Pulse Turrets in that they require deployment and can dominate the battlefield with a high frequency of fire and good damage ratios. To make full use of a Gatling Gun for more than a round however requires large ammo racks and a readily available reload source. Gatling Guns are bulky like Pulse Turrets, reducing a mech’s armor slightly.
Tactically Versatile / Ammo Intensive Wire guided missiles allow mechs to fire around obstacles and between elevations. Unlike other indirect fire weapons, missiles impact immediately. Because of their precision guidance systems missiles are very effective against Support Units. Missiles come in many variations from the multi-firing short range racks to the single-shot, ultra-long range Cruise Missile
More weapon classes are available through the Add-On Pack Expansions: Tactical Warfare and Advanced Recon. Guides Coming Soon (Dec 2017)