Laser Cannon Upgrade, D1
Type: Energy Weapon
Damage (Level 1/2/3/4): 20/22/24/26
Fire Rate: ~3 shots/sec
Velocity: Low/Medium
Energy Consumption: .5/shot
Description: Increases the power level of lasers, from laser level 1 to a maximum of laser level 4. Low/medium damage. Low/medium velocity. Low energy usage.
Weapon Analysis: When you start in the game, you start out with laser level 1. The D1 version is slightly stronger than the D2 version, and considerably stronger than the D3 version (with the exception of weapon velocity).
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: When you have these, use them until you get a better weapon, like quads (since you can fire twice the amount with the same amount of energy), vulcan, D1 spread, plasma or D1 fusion, since you may not want to use these things against players of your own skill level or higher when they are using a better weapon. Against trichorders, they can be a bit hard to lead with, since they are quite slow. Can be used to shoot randomly down tunnels.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: Same as in Player-to-Player Combat, except for the fact that if you have spreadfire and you're at long range, I would use the lasers over spread.
Laser Cannon Upgrade, D2
Type: Energy Weapon
Damage (Level 1/2/3/4): 18/19/21/22
Fire Rate: ~3 shots/sec
Velocity: Low/Medium
Energy Consumption: .5/shot
Description: Increases the power level of lasers, from laser level 1 to a maximum of laser level 4. Low damage. Medium/low velocity. Low energy usage.
Weapon Analysis: Same as the D1 Laser Cannon Upgrade, but they are weaker compared to their D1 counterparts.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: Same as D1 Laser Level Upgrade.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: Same as D1 Laser Level Upgrade.
Because of the heavy mass of these projectiles, if you happen to trap a Thief-bot in a room, and you're in the doorway, which is the only way out of the room, using laser shots will damage him and push him away at the same time to try to keep him from getting past you.
Description: Standard lasers that inflict low damage. Medium/high velocity. Very low energy use.
Weapon Analysis: These guns are weaker than D1's Laser Level 1s, with 15 per shot, with 3 shots a second. D1's Laser Level 1's do 18 per shot, with 3 shots a second. However they have higher velocity which means that players and robots are easier to hit (though certain robots that have great dodging skills can counter this strength deciseively). The velocity of this weapon is equivalent approximately to the D1 Spreadfire. It also creates more damage than the superlaser per energy unit, while the superlaser creates more damage per second. (For damage per energy unit, compare the laser's 15 * ~7 = shots with the superlaser's 18 * 4 = 72. For damage per second, compare the laser's 15 * 3 = 45 against the superlaser's 18 * 3 = 54).
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: If you're used to D1 and D2, make sure you don't overlead with these. If you have only Superlasers in addition to this weapon and are low on energy, use these to maximize damager per energy unit, saving you energy in the long run. Randomize your shots, but also use little slides to help you aim them. Switch to these from superlasers or any other energy consuming gun when you're low on energy or if you want to save energy in the long run. Use at short, medium and to some extent, long range.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: Ironically, you should be using these more often than the other weapons. Here are the reasons why: Having only marginally less damage than the superlasers, they save more energy due to the fact that they disk out more damage per energy unit than superlasers; you would want to save the Vauss and Mass Driver for those bots that dodge laser shots too well; Napalm has limited fuel; Microwave Cannons dish out too little damage for the energy they use (they use lots of energy); even though the D3 Plasma Cannon is the Champion of Energy Savers in that game (they use 0.1 energy per shot for 18 points of damage per shot with 5 shots a second), the shot's velocity is almost too slow to hit a robot that moves around at moderate speeds and dodges well (hence, use plasma on only turrets as well as the slowest moving, hardiest bots, as well as on bots that just don't dodge well, like the Stormtrooper, and use it for blowing up crates full of powerups so that you wouldn't waste the amount of energy required by the regular laser cannon); the EMD gun, Fusion Cannon, and Omega Cannon all dish out too little damage for the amount of energy used. Quad the regular lasers, and these will become your best friend.
Superlaser Cannon Upgrade, D2
Type: Energy Weapon
Damage (Level 5/6): 24/25
Fire Rate: ~3 shots/sec
Velocity: Low/Medium
Energy Consumption: .5/shot
Description: Increases the power level of superlasers, from superlaser level 5 to a maximum of superlaser level 6. Medium damage. Medium/low velocity. Low energy useage.
Weapon Analysis: These things aren't really "superlasers." If you quad the laser level 4 in D1, which does 52 per shot, and compare it against the D2 quad superlaser level 6, which does 50 per shot, the D1 quad laser level 4 wins. The quad 6 takes two full shots plus a flare to kill an opponent's ship with 100 shields, but two full hits of D1 quad 4 will kill with nothing extra needed. However, it is more powerful than D3's superlaser (with exception of velocity)...
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: If you don't have the quads but you have the vulcan, gauss, spread, helix, plasma or omega, I would use them over the superlaser. Otherwise, if you want to use the superlasers, wait until you get quads.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: Same as the Laser Level Upgrade. Because of the heavy mass of these projectiles, if you happen to trap a Thief-bot in a room, and you're in the doorway, which is the only way out of the room, using laser shots will damage him and push him away at the same time to try to keep him from getting past you.
Superlaser Cannon, D3
Type: Energy Weapon
Damage: 18
Fire Rate: ~3 shots/sec
Velocity: Medium/High
Energy Consumption: .25/shot
Description: A very slightly more powerful laser cannon. Low/medium damage. Medium/high velocity. Medium energy usage.
Weapon Analysis: This is NOT a superlaser in terms of damage per second. Sure, it has a velocity equivalent to the D1 Spreadfire, which does make it easier to hit with because you don't have to lead as much with it. It does have a better energy use than the D1/D2 lasers though. Without quads, maybe only in the sense of dishing out 72 shields worth of damage per energy unit, as opposed to D1 laser level 4's 52/unit, it is a superlaser. (Though if quad both of them, the D3 quad super laser does 72 for a single energy unit and D1 quad 4 does 104 for one energy unit. The reason why there seems to be a discrepancy in the data is because if you quad the D3 superlaser, it takes off twice the energy because twice as many shots are fired, but if you quad the D1 laser, the energy consumption is the same as the regular laser; the standard laser 4 and quad 4 consume the same amount of energy, .5 per shot.) However, in either case, the damage per second is much greater for the D1 laser level 4 or quad 4 vs. D3 superlaser or quad super laser. The quad super laser also has a slightly slower firing rate than the regular super laser, which is done to give it the illusion that it is more powerful. It is very hard to tell though between the overall effectiveness of both weapons though...the D3 version is easier to hit but weaker and the D1 quad 4 is more powerful and saves more energy, but it's slower and thus harder to hit with.
As this weapon does a little more damage per second than the lasers, the lasers do more damage per energy unit used. Compare the laser's 15 * ~7 = shots with the superlaser's 18 * 4 = 72.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: If you're used to D1 and D2, make sure you don't over-lead with these, as the shots of these are faster than their earlier counterparts. Randomize your shots and use little slides to help you aim them. If you're low on energy and have no other weapon, switch to the regular lasers, as they only do marginally lower damage per shot, but dish out more damage per energy unit, saving you energy in the long run. Otherwise, use this weapon if you have plenty of energy or if you want more damage per second than lasers even though it uses up more energy than the lasers. Use at short, medium and to some extent, long range.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: You can use these to create more damage per second than lasers. If you plan on using these regularly, I would leave them unquaded, otherwise, you'd be wasting your energy on robots that have excellent dodging abilities on later difficulty levels, like the Gunslinger and Old Scratch. Should you pick up the quads, I would advise you to use quad regular lasers over quad super lasers, since quad regulars do only marginally less damage but save more energy. Compare Quad Regular Lasers (90 or 120 damage per energy unit) to Quad Super Lasers (72 per energy unit).
Quad Laser Cannon Upgrade, D1 and D2
Type: Energy Weapon
Damage: Generally twice as normal, unquaded lasers, but also varies slightly depending on laser level.
Fire Rate: ~3 shots/sec
Velocity: Low/Medium
Energy Consumption: .5/shot
Description: Modifies your existing lasers or superlasers to fire four projectiles instead of the standard two, making it do twice the damage. Low/medium velocity. Very low energy useage.
Weapon Analysis: With these, you will dish out twice as much damage for the same amount of energy. The shots are also wider than unquaded lasers because the outer guns of the Pyro are also used (and the shot width may approximately equal the shot width of plasma). They fire at the same rate as the standard, unquaded D1 and D2 lasers, but the D3 quads fire at a slightly slower firing rate.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: Use these in narrow tunnels with lots of turns that are short distances from each other, and in short hallways that are wider, in low ceiling rooms or in long hallways at short range, or for use in firing randomly down hallways to get a chance kill, if it seems to work better than plasma.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: In D1, once you get your hands on these, stick with them! Otherwise if you're in D2 and you have Quads AND Gauss, and if you have plenty of ammo for the Gauss Cannon, use Gauss until you get around 10,000 Rounds, then switch back to the Quads. You can also peek a wing around the corner to fire at bots that are otherwise too dangerous to face against in their totality (they can only really "see" you if the very center of them is exposed to you; hence, you can peek a wing out and fire at the bot even though you only see less than half of him, but he still won't see you).
Because of the heavy mass of these projectiles, if you happen to trap a Thief-bot in a room, and you're in the doorway, which is the only way out of the room, using superlaser shots will damage him and push him away at the same time to try to keep him from getting past you.
Vulcan Cannon
Type: Ammo Weapon
Damage: 4/shot
Fire Rate: 21 shots/sec?
Velocity: Almost Instant Hit
Ammo Consumption: Medium/High
Description: High-velocity cannon that shoots bullets at an extremely rapid firing rate. Medium damage. High ammo usage.
Weapon Analysis: Appears to do less damage in the game than Gauss, even though the damage per second is greater. Uses more ammo per second than gauss and its velocity is very slightly slower. The D1 vulcan appears to be more powerful than the D2 variant, even though each bullet appears to do 4. Fire rate appears to be the same. The reason why the D1 vulcan may appear more powerful than the D2 counterpart is probably because people use their afterburners to dodge cannon fire in D2, and so, targets are harder to hit, making the vulcan less effective in that instance. Numbers for the vulcan may be sketchy at this point and will probably need to be reviewed (I can't see how they can precisely measure a weapon's firing rate when the fire rate is so rapid that it's impossible to make precise caluculations). Shots go through grates better than any other weapon. The shots are scattered in a "spray" formation a little wider than the Gauss. It is effective at long range, but if you're too far away, the shots scatter too much...but if your target is hard to hit, you may want this extra-scattering. When firing this gun into lava, it creates the effect of super-rapid fire Gauss, or more accurately, "the blast radius effect of rapid-fire missiles hitting a wall" as Ender said.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: If you play D1, use this gun on players who are at a distance from you. If you play someone who likes to use the Spreadfire Cannon in D1, and it's the only Spreadfire in the level (or if your opponent is guarding the spew and you find a vulcan someplace else), don't randomly shoot down tunnels or you'll waste your ammo. You need it to equalize your opponent's spread because his weapon is dangerous at all ranges, except at a ultra-far distance. Use the vulcan on him only when you know you see him and when you're able to score even just a few shots on him. If you find someone who likes to use the Vulcan Cannon on you, you can get them to waste their ammo on you by doing peek-a-boos around corners and instantly jumping back around the corner before the shots get to you.
If you play D2, use this gun if you are making lots of gauss-suicides. Don't foget to use Mercury Missiles with this one too, as you need their help to add damage to the vulcan because it appears to be weaker than gauss. Otherwise, use the Gauss Cannon, because it seems to make more damage and it will save you ammo.
In both games, use the Vulcan Cannon if you want a more quiet attack or when sniping. While the gunfire from both cannons does make noise, the shots from a Vulcan Cannon make no noise when they hit a wall. In fact, no other cannon has shots that make zero noise when hitting a wall. You may actually want to use the Vulcan rather than Gauss in some situations. It also is well-suited for attacks through grates as well, as the tiny shots make their way through them easier than with any other cannon. Can be used to open up doors at a distance to make your opponent think you're there, and when he draws towards the door, you have the jump on him. Use it also if you're low on energy.
If your opponent is near Lava, spray the Vulcan into the Lava next to him to take out your opponent faster than if you fired Vulcan Shots at him directly. Consequently, it will also save you ammo. In this instance, it's better than the Gauss Cannon!
Usage in Single Player/Coop: These guns are great for "freezing" vulcan and gauss drones so that it keeps them from continuing to fire at you, so the amount of shots they fire at you is minimized, therefore minimizing damage done to yourself from those shots. It's also great to use this to "freeze" other very dangerous bots too, such as the Purple Fusion Hulk, or homing missile bots (like the Red Homing Missile Bot in D1, or the Lou Guard in D2), Concussion Missile Bots (Medium Hulk in D1, Class 2 Platform in D1, Green Spider in D2), or the Smart-Missile Bots, like the Boarshead in D2, or Mercury Missile Bots, like the Seeker in D2. You can even use it to freeze and Omega Guppies (very fast fish-like bots that drop bombs on later levels). I even recommend using this weapon rather than Gauss to kill off those Omega Guppies because, one second, they're away from your, and the next second, they're in your face, and you might hurt yourself or otherwise suicide yourself with Gauss. In D2, save it for the Thief, because firing lasers or plasma is very ineffective on him because the bot runs away from you so fast, that by the time the Lasers and Plasma are just about to hit him, he hangs a corner and they all miss (it isn't so bad if he's coming at you in order to fly past you, so that your Lasers and Plasma hit; switch to Lasers and Plasma or some other gun if you trap him in a room with only one way out). Has no effect on "freezing" Boss Robots though (though it sure would be cool to do so!). Use it also if you're low on energy. When you see bots near lava, switch from the Gauss to the Vulcan and spray it into the lava to maximize damage and save ammo.
Gauss Cannon
Type: Ammo Weapon
Damage: 12/shot
Fire Rate: ~5 shots/sec
Velocity: Almost Instant Hit
Ammo Consumpion: Low/Medium
Description: High Velocity Weapon with medium firing rate and tiny blast radius. Medium damage. Medium ammo usage.
Weapon Analysis: Even though the damage per second supposedly is higher, it seems to be more powerful than the vulcan cannon. Uses less ammo than the Vulcan Cannon and its velocity is marginally faster. Fires less rapidly than the Vulcan Cannon. Has a blast radius impact that doesn't appear to have much significant effect on other players, but with the exception that the blast radius impact knocks an opponent's aim off when he or she takes a direct hit. The blast radius can cause Gauss Suicides when used too close, however. Is more accurate than the vulcan at long distances and while it may scattered just a tad at ultra-far range, scattering appears to be minimal and may even be preferred at ultra-far range, making targets at that range easier to hit. Can't go through grates as well as the vulcan or lasers because the shots are larger. Can be hard to aim when less experienced players use it. The best players tend to use this weapon against each other because they can dodge plasma and lasers too well. The Gauss isn't as damaging as Vulcan when shot into Lava next to opponents.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: This gun is an effective sniping cannon, and even though when it hits a wall it creates noise, in certain situations the opponent will not know exactly where the shot came from (provided that the shot's impact isn't made on a wall that is the end of a long hallway, making the source easier to trace). Can be used to open up doors at a distance to make your opponent think you're there, and when he draws towards the door, you have the jump on him. It is best used at medium or long range. Therefore, switch to this weapon when you get at medium to long range. If the opponent's ship comes very close to the point that it is about to collide with your ship or otherwise brush up against it or come almost within touching range, stop firing right away and wait only until the player gets a good distance away from "touching" range so that you don't take your shields down with this weapon's blast radius or risk suiciding yourself with Gauss. Or even better, if your opponent is in close range, do yourself a favor avoiding suiciding yourself with gauss by switching to a slower velocity weapon, like plasma or quads. I only recommend using a Gauss at close range if your opponent is very difficult to hit. If you have a Vulcan with you, go with that instead if you want to fight up in close range with a high velocity weapon that you can't suicide yourself with. Use it also if you're low on energy.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: See the Vulcan Cannon for more details, since much that applies to the Vulcan Cannon also is true for the Gauss Cannon, but with the exception that Gauss should be used regularly, rather than occasionally, since it saves a lot of ammo and seems to pack a more devastating punch. If you have plenty of Ammo for the Gauss Cannon, definately use it! Use it to hit a very dangerous robot and freeze him before he has a chance to shoot at your or to minimize any damage you take from him. Use it also to kill robots very quickly without sweating any unnecessary effort or if you want to sharpen your Gauss aim. If you use this weapon on a very tightly crowded group of robots with weaker shields, such as the ITD Droid, the blast radius can take them all out with only about a couple or so shots. Use it also when you're low on energy.
Because of the heavy mass of these projectiles, if you happen to trap a Thief-bot in a room, and you're in the doorway, which is the only way out of the room, using Gauss shots will damage him and push him away at the same time to try to keep him from getting past you.
Spreadfire Cannon, D1
Type: Energy Weapon
Damage: 30/shot (or 10/ball)
Fire Rate: ~4 shots/sec
Velocity: Medium/High
Energy Consumption: .5/shot
Description: Automatic Spread-Type Shotgun-Style Weapon. Medium/high damage. Medium/high Velocity. Medium energy usage.
Weapon Analysis: This weapon is strongest up close, but even at far range it can still be powerful because each ball does 10 shields worth of damage, they're fast and they're hard to see to some degree. It's effective and hard to dodge therefore at close, medium and far range, but not in ultra-far range. Has the highest velocity of all the energy weapons in D1. Seems to be the best overall weapon in D1.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: Use this as an all-round weapon. Most frequently, your opponents will show up at close range, medium range and far range, but not ultra-far range...coming across an opponent at ultra-far range is not very common but can still happen sometimes. Therefore, carry this with you until you see your opponent, then you can decide whether to still shoot with this gun or switch to another one if necessary (like the vulcan, if you see him at ultra-far range where the spread isn't as effective) or if your opponent seems to be weaker against another weapon than spread.
What should you do if someone uses this weapon on you? Well, in most cases, it is wise to avoid dogfighting them because most likely the player will want to get closer to you in an effort to try to land all three balls on you for every shot that he scores on you...it's better to get as far away from him as possible because I'd rather have one ball hit me than three. Save your vulcan for situations like this so that you can pull away from him until you're as far away as you can get from him and use the vulcan on him. Worse yet, if you don't have a Vulcan, or if you're out of Ammo for the Vulcan Cannon, select whatever seems to be the next best weapon to use, or whatever your opponent seems to be weakest against, and use mind games (like opening up doors just to make noise to make him think you're there when you're really not) and hit-and-run so as to try to sneak up on him and get the jump on him when his head is turned.
Another thing you can do would be to seek out opponents as good as or better than yourself. Do a dogfight-only practice game. Take out all missiles if you use D1x or D1x Rebirth so that guns are only used. Practice with spread vs. spread, not only that but even with you using plasma, lasers, or even fusion vs. spread, so as to build more confidence using somewhat weaker weapons while at the same time improving your technique. Learn to try to dodge the balls up close so that you can take that skill with you in the next match you play. Skunk told me this: "The shots of the Spreadfire Cannon are too quick for you to try to dodge them effectively. Rather than trying to dodge them, fly around as unpredictably as possible, avoiding falling into any flight patterns of any kind. Also be sure to move where your opponent doesn't want you to go." While it may seem impossible to dodge a weapon of this magnitude up close, nothing is impossible; only probable.
The near worst case scenario would be dealing with a player who uses the Spreadfire Cannon and does hit-and-run all the time, exposing very little of himself in the process so that it's nearly impossible to score any hits. (Sometimes they even camp in safe areas where its easy for them to get away right after firing some shots, in which case, you will need to fire into the camping area the moment you see it, even though he may not be there.) You can try waiting in the room for them to see if they will dogfight you, whipping out your Vulcan (or spread if you don't have Vulcan) ahead of time in case they do. Unfortunately, nearly 100% of all cases are not like that, so after you try this, do something else. Whatever you do, do not attempt to chase the runner down...at least most of the time or almost all the time. If you come across as a chaser to him, he'll retreat around a corner and select his Vulcan, knowing that you're coming. Then he'll back up so that he's at a distance and so that he's at another corner or intersection where he'll get away again. Then you appear and get a face full of Vulcan shots, and now he's gone. Chasing can be good...a little and when he least expects it. It's best to hang back...at least most of the time, until he gets used to what you're doing. Then select the Vulcan or Spread, and stalk him...be careful not to make any noise by running into walls or picking up powerups or missiles (this might be a good idea even if he's in a different part of the level; he might still hear you pick stuff up), even flying past the reactor, since the reactor will shoot at you and in doing so will alert your opponent where you are. Use stealth. Or you might use noise as a tool, like opening up doors to make him think you're there so that you can get the jump on him. (Using flares might be effective in this case because it takes time for a flare that has been shot from a distance to reach a door, giving you time to change position when the door opens, though the flare might be seen by your opponent. You can use Vulcan to do this, but its near-instant hit nature doesn't give you time to change position, but it also doesn't show where you're shooting from.) Also make sure you keep track of your opponent and try to figure out his cruising patterns throughout the mine. See if you can catch him when he least expects it.
It only gets worse from here...what would you do if you don't have vulcan, or don't have enough ammo, and the level has only one Spreadfire Cannon, and he runs? Select whatever seems to be the next best weapon or whatever weapon your opponent is weakest against, and use mind-games, use stealth, use noise as a tool by opening up doors to trick your opponent, use hit-and-run, fire randomly down hallways, camp, or even camp in the spots that he uses most frequently so that when he comes back to use it, you can ambush him. Take the missiles so that he can't use them, or use the missiles to go out missile boating or to fire smart missiles (or even homing missiles) randomly down rooms, hallways and tunnels and into camping spots (using missiles along with your guns can equal the power of the Spreadfire)...do anything you can, bar none.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: I'd use this for short range only because if you use it at long range, each individual ball, rather than two or all three balls is not effective and it's a great price to pay in terms of energy useage, having only one ball per shot hit when the Spreadfire takes off .5 energy per shot vs. all three balls taking off .5 per shot. Otherwise use some other weapon at a longer range. Lower velocity weapons at long range would be okay because bots don't dodge very easily, even on higher difficulty levels.
Because of the heavy mass of these projectiles, if you happen to trap a Thief-bot in a room, and you're in the doorway, which is the only way out of the room, using laser shots will damage him and push him away at the same time to try to keep him from getting past you.
Spreadfire Cannon, D2
Type: Energy Weapon
Damage: 24/shot (or 8/ball)
Fire Rate: ~4 shots/sec
Velocity: Low
Energy Consumption: .5/shot
Description: Automatic Spread-Type Shotgun-Style Weapon. Low/medium damage. Low velocity. Medium energy use.
Weapon Analysis: This weapon is significantly weaker in D2 than in D1. It has the lowest velocity of all the energy weapons and its damage has been reduced slightly down from the D1 version.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: I very seldom use this weapon except in multiplayer games that are very lagged. If you're in a very laggy game, use this weapon, but especially when firing into a room full of dogfighters. Cloud up the room with this weapon and soon you'll be landing all kinds of kills because everyone keeps running into a slow-moving cloud of balls. Using this weapon in a laggy one-on-one match may not be effective if both players are highly skilled. Otherwise, use another weapon.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: What goes for the D1 Spreadfire also goes with this weapon: Use it at short range. This actually is more useful Single Player/Coop than in a Player-to-Player Combat game. Use it to take down groups of red hornets and green spawn if you don't have the Helix or if you have the Helix but are too low on energy to use it. It's also useful on Omega Guppies (very fast fish-like bots that drop bombs on later levels) down hallways that are not too wide, so that there are plenty of slow, floating balls for them to run into. If you plan on using a spread type weapon regularly, it's best to go with this weapon rather than the Helix because of energy use. Otherwise, the Helix is a better choice.
Because of the heavy mass of these projectiles, if you happen to trap a Thief-bot in a room, and you're in the doorway, which is the only way out of the room, using Spreadfire shots will damage him and push him away at the same time to try to keep him from getting past you.
Helix Cannon
Type: Energy Weapon
Damage: 45/shot (or 9/ball)
Fire Rate: ~6 shots/sec
Velocity: Low
Energy Consumption: .75/shot
Description: Rapid-fire, Automatic Extra-Wide Dispersal Shotgun Style Weapon. High/Extreme damage. Low velocity. High energy use.
Weapon Analysis: This weapon does a whopping amount of damage when all five balls hit, equaling 270 shields/sec! Also consumes lots of energy. Very tough weapon to dodge in small, medium and large sized rooms, but otherwise ineffective in rooms that are extra-large, like those found in Panic 1-10. It can be very devastating in close-up encounters in the tunnels though.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: Use this weapon up close in dogfights and to fill up a room with dogfighters in it. Avoid using it down long tunnels and hallways and use it instead in curvy or otherwise tunnels or hallways with lots of turns that are short distances from each other. Use it in moderation because it eats up energy like no other (with the exception of the Phoenix).
Usage in Single Player/Coop: This weapon is very useful on red hornets and green spawn, or on Omega Guppies in hallways that are not too wide, and best of all, even on Boss Robots! Use it to quickly take down Boss Robots on Level 4, Level 8, Level 20 (energy weapons of all kinds have no effect on Boss Robots on Levels 12 and 16), and if you're good enough, use it on the level 24 Boss (you must get behind him first--best done if you have a cloak, invul or both). Use the Helix only for these occassions so that you save lots of energy, and use Gauss and Lasers regularly.
Because of the heavy mass of these projectiles, if you happen to trap a Thief-bot in a room, and you're in the doorway, which is the only way out of the room, using Helix shots will damage him and push him away at the same time to try to keep him from getting past you.
Plasma Cannon, D1 and D2
Type: Energy Weapon
Damage: 22/shot
Fire Rate: ~5 shots/sec
Velocity: Medium
Energy Consumption: .5/shot
Description: Rapid-Fire weapon. Medium/high damage. Medium velocity. Medium Energy use.
Weapon Analysis: While this weapon is very well balanced on Damage, Velocity and Energy Consumption, the greatest strength of this weapon is its ability to fire rapidly. This makes it probably the most popular gun in both the Descents, maintaining its ability to dish out a medium amount of damage while having a high enough fire rate to make things easier to hit and making shots fairly hard to dodge. The shots are also larger around than unquaded lasers, making the shots further easier to hit with (quad lasers are wide because the outer guns are also added, so the width of quad laser shots can approximately equal the width of plasma shots). Using the Afterburner while using the weapon in D2 might drain your energy a bit much though. More experienced players tend to use this weapon against each other in one on ones because quad lasers are somewhat easier to dodge.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: Use this weapon in close range, medium range and medium to far range. Use it to fire randomly down tunnels and scatter and spray these shots into rooms full of dogfighting players or while at somewhat of a distance in a dogfight, so that the shots are harder to dodge. Up closer, use it "to move your opponents where you want them to go" (skunk) by "firing to the left of them, to make them move to the right, and then firing at the right side of them, making them move left" (Djcjr), so that they run into your line of fire constantly. Because of this, it can be a viable alternative to either D2 Spread or even D1 Spread if you get good enough at it. Pros, especially the people at the AtLANta crew who have a taste for this gun call it the "pea shooter" for an obvious reason: they shoot green balls of plasma (you know what they mean when they say "Eat y0 peas!").
Usage in Single Player/Coop: Use this weapon until you get the Quad Lasers in D1 or D2, or until you get the Gauss in D2 so that you save energy. You can even use this weapon on the Thief-Bot if you're firing Flash Missiles at him and you want to use a weapon that doesn't make him bounce around too much, making him harder to hit (weapons with heavy mass like Lasers, Superlasers, Gauss, Spread, Helix may bounce him around too much for your tastes).
Phoenix Cannon
Type: Energy Weapon
Damage: ~15/shot
Fire Rate: ~6 shots/sec
Velocity: Medium
Energy Consumption: 1.0/shot
Description: Rapid-fire bouncing weapon. Medium/high damage. Medium velocity. Very high energy use.
Weapon Analysis: This weapon is a lot like the Plasma with some differences. The most obvious thing about this weapon is its ability to bounce. The second most obvious thing about this weapon is its ability to kill other players just as well as killing your own self with it. The third most obvious thing is that it uses more energy per shot than any other gun. It also drains your energy much more rapidly than any other gun, including the Helix. The least most obvious thing about this weapon is that its fire rate is marginally higher than the plasma.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: This weapon is my favorite. This is a very interesting weapon. The only problem is, is that you shouldn't use it regularly and that you should only use it when the situation makes it necessary, because of its extremely high energy use. Also, don't use it longer than you have to. This weapon should mainly be used for indirect attacks. Use it only in the following circumstances: Bounce this weapon around corners for indirect assaults. Shoot it down a curved hallway or tunnel so that the curved shots hit opponents hiding around the curve. Use flares to open up doors rather than this weapon when you're armed with it because you can hurt yourself if you do it (unless someone is chasing you down and you're doing down a hallway toward a door or a square corner, and you fire shots at the door or wall and slide to the side (make sure you have enough room first), so that the shots bounce back and hit your persuer in the face). Use it for firing into rooms full of dogfighters---spray and scatter the shots all over the place into the room rather than firing a well-defined stream so that the shots bounce in all directions...these shots bounce twice so they will still be airborne with plenty of time to hit targets Filling a room with these shots may even be more effective than smart missiles, which have slow blobs and given that the blobs don't bounce. If you do choose to use it regularly, use it only for hit-and-run and only when you're moving away from your opponent and if the situation is right for it and/or if you have enough room to dodge your own shots should they come bouncing back at you. It's best not to charge at someone, nor dogfight with someone, when using this weapon. It's not good to use the afterburner while firing this weapon because you can run into your own shots even as you're firing it. Bounce the shots to open up doors around corners. As for the less important but still neat tricks you can do for fun when pulling stuff off with this weapon, this is the only gun that can do the "splits." Fire it at a corner of a block and the left and right shots will bounce away from each other and go their own separate ways. Try to find other neat, novel tricks you can do with this weapon.
This weapon has unfairly gotten a very bad repuation for killing the very people who use it (but that's really because they use it improperly). It's sad to not see this weapon allowed in games because it really is a useful weapon and definately deserves more play. Have a "ball" executing many fun tricks with this challenging weapon! It shouldn't be looked upon as a weapon that shouldn't be used, but rather honestly that it is a weapon that requires lots of skill to use! Experiment! See how it changes the tactical "feel" and possibilities within the game, and the game will be more interesting; the game will be given a lot more flavor! The bottom line is, make sure you use it properly, and/or only when you need to and you will avoid killing yourself with this weapon.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: Everything that was said about this weapon in the above section also applies to this section. But since you're most likely long distances from an energy center, I would use it sparingly. If you haven't gotten control of an energy center in the level, and if you're low on energy, it's better to use a smart missile or a guided missile for an indirect attack.
Fusion Cannon, D1
Type: Energy Weapon
Damage: 60/uncharged shot (the longer the charge the higher than damage)
Fire Rate: 1 shot/sec
Velocity: Medium
Energy Consumption: 2/uncharged shot (the longer the charge, the more energy it uses)
Description: Charge-and-fire weapon. Very high damage. Medium velocity. High energy useage.
Weapon Analysis: This weapon is very good for penetrating through and killing multiple targets at once. Intermediate and advaned players might have some fun with this fusion shot, but they are more likely to tap the trigger rather than to charge it because it is hard even for advanced players to aim. However, even better players, like experts, can wow others with by showing off their aiming skills even when their ship shakes their aim while they charge it. Some people may believe that this weapon flies faster than plasma, but that's because the shot is much longer, and so, the leading edge of the shot arrives at the target before the plasma does. The shots are also thicker, making the target easier to hit than if the fusion shot was a thinner shot, further making it appear that it flies faster than plasma. Cannot go through grates well. The side edges of these shots catch pretty easily on the edges of walls, ceiling and the floor, so make sure you have clean shot. This is the only primary weapon in D1 that you can kill yourself with if charged for too long so that your shields melt. In the original D1 version, just like in the original D2 version (no D1x/D2x), you can charge up the fusion, then just before firing it, you switch to another weapon so that the energy is "stored" in the gun. Then you switch back, and all you need to do is tap the trigger to fire a charged shot. This bug was fixed in D1x and D2x.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: There are several uses for this weapon. Though it may be hard to use at first, practice with it, to either get better at it, or to add another weapon under your belt, or to throw people off with your aim in the future, or just to create impact and wow your opponent. First, if this is your first time trying to aim fusion, I would learn the weapon by starting out with tapping the trigger. This will help sharpen the abilities that you need most with this weapon: not just aiming, but timing. Once you get good at it, start charging it up just a tad before firing. Then once you get better still, you can try charging it longer for one-shot kills. The reason why I give you advise on getting better with this weapon gradually is because the shaking of the fusion while you're charging it can hinder your aim, so you would need to get used to it a little at a time. Though once you do get good at using it, you may find that charging it up all the way all the time may not be as effective as charging up one shot more than another or even tapping it on occasionally. This is because using the fusion in the most effective way depends on timing as well. You may find that you originally wanted to charge up a fusion all the way, but then all of a sudden you saw your opponent move where you wanted him to go and you release the shot, stopping it short of firing the fusion when it is fully charged, so that you score the hit. Or you're at a longer distance and you don't have a high velocity weapon, you tap the fusion rather than charge it, so that you can fire as many shots as possible. If you use regular D1 (not D1x or D2x), you can "store" energy in the fusion. Fully charge up the fusion and switch to another weapon without firing it. Then switch back, and if you tap a trigger, it will release a fully-charged fusion shot without shaking your ship. This is particularly useful, for instance, if you were to take down someone's shields with another weapon, then you charge up the fusion, switch to another weapon, and switch back, and run for the tunnels, where it isn't easy for your opponent to dodge shots. Once your opponent pops out in front of you, tap the trigger to fire a fully-charged fusion shot for an instant kill.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: This weapon is very useful for punching through crowds of robots. In fact, if you think of it, say you have eight bots packed tightly in a group with 75 shield. If you charge up the fusion all the way and fire at the group of robots, it will kill them all in one hit because the shot penetrates right through them. This might save more energy than firing a bunch of quad shots at the group. The shots are wide too, and so will kill or seriously damage robots at the end of the group because the shot's side edge grazed them. Like in Player-to-Player Combat, since the robots don't dodge shots well, you can use the fusion at long range. You can fire a long range shot without shaking your ship and messing up your aim by charging up the fusion, switching to another weapon, and switch back, and fire a well-aimed shot at a hoard of robots from long range and it should kill them all or otherwise severely injure the strongest ones.
What I do when I am in a large room and robots come at me, firing, I keep circling all the way around them repeatedly so that I can pack them tightly in a group (I can circle all the way around them safely in D1 because they always fire where you are rather than where you're going, but in D2, don't try this same trick because the bots fire where you're going; the fusion in D2 sucks as well so that's another reason why not to do this trick in D2). Once they are all tightly packed, I charge up the fusion as strong as I can get it without taking away my shields and fire a shot right through them, getting me a huge point count score with just one shot.
Here is advice when NOT to use this trick: Don't try this trick in a small room...you won't have enough room to manuever. Also don't try it if homing missile bots are among the group, at least not in a regular sized room. You can get away with it if the room is very large because you need room to dodge incoming homing missiles as you approach them in order to circle them. Don't try it when vulcan bots are among the group. If you circle continuously around the group, you will lose lots of shields in the process. The same thing goes for other robots that are very dangerous to you (it may also depend on the situation and your skill level...for instance, for a medium skill pilot, circling around a hoard of robots with Class 2 Platform (missile-launching) bots in it may be more risky to do in a large, low ceiling room than in a large room with higher ceilings because if the missiles hit the floor or ceiling, one can feel the blast radius). It's best to take out the most dangerous robots in the area first, then only do you start circling around to condense the robots into a group. Also, if you choose to do this in a room that has such low ceiling that it is lower than the height of an average door, and if you hold down the fusion so that it shakes so that it may mess up your aim after you fire it, the ceiling and/or the floor may catch the edges of the fusion shot so that it hits the ceiling and/or the floor first before it hits the group. Therefore, it's not really advisable to use this weapon in a room with ceiling lower than the height of an average door.
Fusion Cannon, D2
Type: Energy Weapon
Damage: 30/uncharged shot (the longer the charge the higher than damage)
Fire Rate: 1 shot/sec
Velocity: Medium
Energy Consumption: 2/uncharged shot (the longer the charge, the more energy it uses)
Description: Charge-and-fire weapon. Medium to high damage. Medium velocity. High energy useage.
Weapon Analysis: Like its D1 Counterpart, it penetrates through multiple targets at once and you can charge it. This weapon is only half as powerful as the D1 version. Even when fully charged it isn't capable of killing a ship with 100 shields in one hit. It takes a shorter period of time to kill someone with Quad 6 Lasers than it would take for someone to fully charge a fusion and fire it. Some people may believe that this weapon flies faster than plasma, but that's because the shot is much longer, and so, the leading edge of the shot arrives at the target before the plasma does. The shots are also thicker, making the target easier to hit than if the fusion shot was a thinner shot, further making it appear that it flies faster than plasma. The side edges of the shots appear to catch onto walls, ceiling and floor more easily than the D1 version though. Not good for shooting through grates. Energy useage is the same. In the original D2 version, just like in the original D1 version (no D1x/D2x), you can charge up the fusion, then just before firing it, you switch to another weapon so that the energy is "stored" in the gun. Then you switch back, and all you need to do is tap the trigger to fire a charged shot. This bug was fixed in D1x and D2x.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: Many of the things mentioned for the D1 Fusion apply to the D2 Fusion as well, except that the D2 Fusion is weaker and therefore is less useful. Charge up the fusion while in short range and fire when the timing is right (not necessarily when the fusion is fully charged). Tap the trigger at a longer range if you don't have a higher velocity cannon. In serious matches, I wouldn't use this weapon. Other weapons would do a better job and pack more of a punch. (However some people might actually be weaker against it than the other weapons, in which case, you know what to do.) This weapon is also less useful when you think of the fact that players use the Afterburner and so it's harder to aim with fusion. However, you can practice your aim with it, which wouldn't hurt at all, and it could actually be fun if you like to show off (like me :) )...
Usage in Single Player/Coop: Since this weapon is weak, you should save it for weaker bots. Fire at a hoard of ITD Droids, Red Hornets, Green Spawn, and other smaller, weaker, harder-to-hit robots to put an end to them quickly.
Omega Cannon, D2
Type: Energy Weapon
Damage: ?/frame...most likely Very High (The higher the frames per second you have, the more damage it does. Also the longer you hold it down, the more damage it does.)
Velocity: Instant Hit
Fire Rate: Extreme
Energy Consumption: ?/full charge...High
Description: Charge-and-fire, instant hit short range homing weapon. High to extreme damage. High energy useage.
Weapon Analysis: The first thing you notice about this weapon is that it can only be used at short range. If your target it outside that range, the arm of lightning can't reach him. It's also the only primary weapon that is a homing weapon. It also uses up lots of energy. The longer you hold the trigger down and the longer you let it charge, the more energy it sucks from your ship. This weapon is an unfair weapon because people with faster machines gives them more frames per second, which gives the Omega more power. It also homes in more easily on blue ships than other-colored ships. On a fast machine, the user can expect instant kills with this weapon.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: Use this thing at short range to instantly fry your opponent's ship. Better used if your opponent is cornered since he can't back up away from you, but best used in close engagements in the tunnels, where your opponent can't slide side-to-side to evade it. Don't attempt to use it if you're low on energy. However, if you're disturbed that it's an unfair weapon (like me), don't use it. Most people don't, anyway. Put it under "Never Autoselect" in your Primary Weapon Autoselect Ordering and you won't have to worry about your ship selecting this thing at all.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: This has some good uses, but I usually don't use it or use it much due to its high energy consumption. Use this weapon on small, hard-to-hit bots, like red hornets and spawn (Sirius pointed this one use out to me). But this weapon is very, very useful for killing bots that are very fast, like the bomb-dropping Omega or Omega Guppy. In fact, no other weapon performs as good at killing Omega Guppies than this weapon, especially in an open room...those things move around so fast that you need a homing weapon to even get a bead on them, let alone something that instantly hits them! Watch out though, they may drop a smart mine the moment before you kill them! You can also try using it on the Thief bot. You can also use it to freeze-and-kill very dangerous bots before they have a chance to fire at you.
Omega Cannon, D3
Type: Energy Weapon
Damage: ?/frame...very high, depending on the frames per second you get.
Velocity: Instant Hit
Fire Rate: Extreme
Energy Consumption: ?/sec...very high
Description: Dual fire, instant hit short range homing weapon. Very high to extreme damage. Very high energy useage.
Weapon Analysis: This is the same weapon as the D2 Omega cannon, except that it fires two beams instead of one, and unlike D2's Omega Cannon, which needs to be charged in between bursts, it can be held down as long as you want until you run out of energy. Course, this means you run out of energy quicker. I also heard that this weapon can be used through glass walls in D3 (also known as the D3 Omega bug).
Usage in PLayer-to-Player Combat: See above.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: I would definately use this on small, fast bots like the Sharc, but don't try using it very often---it will drain your power reserves with extended use.
Flash Missile
Type: Tactical/Stun/Blinding Dumbfire
Damage: Low/Very Low
Fire Rate: ~1 shot/sec
Velocity: Medium
Max. Capacity: 20 Missiles, 40 With Ammo Rack
Amount You Drop When You die: 10 Missiles if you have 10 or greater
Description: When missile lands near or hits opponents, either stuns and/or disorients robots or blinds players. Low damage. Medium velocity.
Weapon Analysis: This missile does the lowest damage of all the missiles. However, this missile is the one that turns people's screen's white, depending on how close one is to the blast radius of the missile or if the missile was a direct hit. Its blast radius size is the same size as the Mega Missile however. For this reason, one can load up several missiles at a time, not really needing to hit the target with them, but rather trying to land those missiles as close to the target as possible for maximizing the effect of blindness. This missile is slightly faster than a concussion missile, making it somewhat of a better missile to use because Concussion Missiles are a bit too slow for them to be very effective. The Flash Missile is a missile that can easily be recognized by its dark color; it's the only missile with a blackish color. When players are affected by this weapon, they are blinded. When robots are affected, they will be disoriented; they will spin around (if they are light), or freeze (if they're heavy). Doesn't work on Boss Robots.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: If you see a dark-colored missile heading your way, it's a good idea to get out of the way! Though it may be somewhat hard to aim these missiles at or at areas near fast moving targets like players, chances are that the blast radius can still be felt because the blast radius is very large. These missiles do their best job in levels where there is enough of these missiles to be a formidable weapon in the game and in small to medium sized rooms. Land these things on areas close to your opponent, preferably with a barrage of many flash missiles. The reason being is that if a flash missile hits near a player, it's probably not going to land very close, but it may land close enough for him to feel the edge of the blast radii. Therefore, with each blast radius felt by the other player, you need many more missiles to gradually increase the blinding effect. If you happen to hit him/her with a direct hit, that's even better. Keep firing those flash missiles to keep your opponent blind for as long of a time as possible, and continue to pound away at hit shields with your guns. Make sure you have enough (and that the level has enough). Use them around corners that are small enough for the blast radius to be felt and fire several of them there at a time, all while slowly moving around the corner to get the blast radii positioned as close to your opponent as possible, but be careful of any incoming fire. Note that if you're blinded, you're still able to move, so make sure that you keep moving and fire all your guns and missiles with all of your might, even if you do happen to get blinded by an incoming Flash Missile or barrage of Flash Missiles. The dumbest thing you can do would be to stay in one spot doing nothing, giving your opponent a free kill. Oh, and you might end up killing yourself by the very mild blast radius of your own flash missiles if you're low enough on shield, so be careful.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: This missile is even more useful in Single Player/Coop! Only that the robots spin around or freeze when hit or otherwise affected by the blast radius of this missile. The further away they are from the blast radius, the less time they spin or freeze up. Most robots aren't hard at all to hit, so you don't have to fire a whole barrage of them as you would in Player-to-Player Combat (unless there is a crowd of very dangerous bots hoarded together, in which case, you would want to keep them stunned as long as possible until you kill all of them). You can also use the blast radius of these missiles around corners that are small enough for the blast radius to be felt. If there is a very dangerous bot hiding around a corner, land a flash missile close to it, and as you are moving around the corner, fire another, then another, so that the blast radii of each consequtive missile get closer or until you hit him directly, then finish him off. Oh, and you might end up killing yourself by the very mild blast radius of your own flash missiles if you're low enough on shield, so be careful. Don't use these on boss robots--they are completely ineffective against them. Also, use these on the Thief-bot as you're chasing him down, but especially when chasing him through small rooms or when he's about to head to a door. Finish the Thief off with your Flash Missiles and your guns once you got him spinning.
Smart Missile, D1
Type: Multi-Target-Tracking Missile
Damage: Extreme
Fire Rate: ~2 shots/sec
Velocity: Low
Max Capacity: 5 Missiles, 10 with Ammo Rack
Amount You Drop When You Die: 3 missiles if you have 3 or greater
Description: When missile explodes, it releases homing plasma blobs that track nearby targets. Damage depends on how many blobs hit a target. Low velocity.
Weapon Analysis: The first thing you notice is that the missile flies more slowly than any other missile (except for the guided). The missile itself does not home, but if it hits a wall, ceiling or floor, or even after flying a long way without hitting something (approximately 250 level units), it will explode, releasing six homing plasma blobs that will track several targets within a range of 250 level units. It won't track any target that is outside the range of 250 level units. If the missile hits a target, and if it's the only target that's hit, the target will absorb all of the plasma blobs and will most likely kill it unless it's strong enough to take another direct hit. If that target is a strong robot, it may need to take two direct hits with a smart missile. (Most robots are weaker than that and can be killed with one direct hit.) If it's a player ship with 100 shields, it's an almost guaranteed instant kill (unless the player is hit by the missile while he's backing up, but especially while he's trichording backwards, and manages to fly around the corner without absorbing any plasma blobs; or he might absorb some plasma blobs but not all of them and mananges to have enough shields to live through the experience--such cases are rare but possible). If the target is hit and there are other targets around, the target will absorb some plasma blobs and the others will track the other targets.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: The most obvious use of this weapon would be to switch to it when your opponent is around a corner, and fire it into the corner so that when the missile explodes, the blobs will home in on him around the corner. You can also try to score direct hits by hitting someone head on with it, usually resulting in an instant kill.
There is another variation of this that may work against even good players. If you see a good player in a game who has a naturally aggressive style, and he chases you, and you're approaching a corner, once you're in the corner, using your slide, slide into the turn. Then once you're out of the way, turn in the opposite direction and fire a smart missile at the outer part of the corner, because he's going to be coming at you so fast that he will find himself up against the wall. Once he's there, it's too late for him to change direction and he will catch the smart missile in his teeth. (Example: It's a right hand turn, so once you get to the corner, slide right to get out of the way of his line of fire which is coming up from behind you. Then turn left, because it's the quickest way to turn towards and face the outer part of the corner, then fire your smart missile so that it's flying right next to and parallel to the right hand wall.)
As someone is chasing you, fire a smart missile at the wall, ceiling, or floor near your location so that the blobs will track the person behind you and hopefully you score a kill. There is another variation of this: If someone is chasing you, go up to a door and instead of firing a flare at the door to open it up, use a smart missile. The smart missile will do two jobs for you in this situation: To open up the door, and release plasma blobs towards the pilot that is chasing you down. Most likely, he won't expect you to fire a smart missile at a door to open it up; normally people use their plasma, gauss, lasers or flares to do it, but he will be caught off guard with this trick, so he suddenly finds himself unable to change direction in time and he will most likely eat a mouthful of hot, overcooked peas.
There is another trick you can do with smarts. Collect as many smarts as you can, and toss them into rooms or hallways when they're full of pilots fighting each other. You might score multiple kills, but the more smarts you have, the better the chances that you will score more kills.
Whether you are in one-on-one matches or whether you're in multiplayer games, you can toss a smart missile down a hallway, room, or tunnel just to see if you happen to score a kill, even if you don't see anyone at the moment. Someone might move into the hallway, room or tunnel at just the right time the smart arrives and so you may score an instant kill.
Usage in Single-Player/Coop: You would want to save these missiles for later, especially for emergencies, not merely because they are powerful, but because they aren't found in abundance. Most robots are too easy to kill with guns alone, so save these for the most dangerous robots that you otherwise wouldn't attack directly because of the risk. Use them for indirect attacks. Use them on Fusion Hulks around corners, but especially around narrow corners on Homing Missile Hulks, Concussion Missile Hulks, Class 2 Platform (Green) bots that shoot missiles, because of the risk posed to you by the blast radius of the missiles around narrow corners. You might even use them on Vulcan Drones around corners when you're low on shield. They are Descent 1's only indirect attack weapon (well, sort of; one can use the blast radii of Concussion Missiles, and even Mega Missiles (make sure you stand back)).
You can even use them missiles to "bomb" boss robots with. First, make sure that the boss robot is fully uncloaked or he won't absorb any hot peas. Then fire a single smart missile while letting loose with all guns, with quad 4 lasers (with highest damage/second) recommended to maximize damage (when you're invulnerable, of course---in such cases invulnerability is preferred over cloak), or for every time he uncloaks, for an indirect attack (without invulnerability or cloak). I would avoid firing two at a time for indirect attacks, since bosses only stay uncloaked for so long before disappearing again, in which the homing missile blobs from the second missile won't home in. Bosses in D1 are very responsive to homing weapon fire, and if they detect it, will cloak themselves to make the second missile worthless.
Smart Missile, D2
Type: Multi-Target-Tracking Missile
Damage: Extreme
Fire Rate: ~2 shots/sec
Velocity: Low
Max Capacity: 5 Missiles, 10 with Ammo Rack
Amount You Drop When You Die: 3 missiles if you have 3 or greater
Description: When missile explodes, it releases homing plasma blobs that track nearby targets. Damage depends on how many blobs hit a target. Low velocity.
Weapon Analysis: Pretty much the same as the D1 Smart Missile, but the blobs move more quickly and have more "tunnel vision" than its D1 counterpart. When it doesn't hit anything, it explodes automatically in mid-air 250 level units from the place it was launched, releasing twelve blobs instead of six.Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: Same as the D1 Smart Missile, but since it releases more blobs if it explodes in mid-air after not hitting anything, you can flood a room with more homing blobs than the D1 Smart Missile. Just toss some into a room chock full of dogfighters, and watch the "fireworks" and ships explode. :) Since the Afterburner is available in D2, you can use it to cheat death, should a smart missile explode right in front of you in a narrow tunnel. Just trichord backwards away from the blobs, and turn away from them a the same time. Then when you have turned 90 degrees, keep turning, and when you are turned around in the opposite direction, trichord and burn away from the blobs and get around a corner or way to the side where the blobs can't turn fast enough to hit you.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: Same as the D1 Smart Missile, but beware that the Level 12 and Level 16 Boss are totally immune against energy weapons. You can also make it release twelve blobs instead of six around a narrow corner where a very dangerous bot is sitting. Just back up as far as you can from the corner until you're 250 level units away from it (if you have that much room to back up). Then fire a Smart Missile at the corner. The Missile will explode by itself in mid-air, releasing twelve blobs instead of six. This means that you don't have to fire two smart missiles at the corner, releasing 6 each, so that you save an extra missile, if it takes more than 6 blobs to kill that bot around the corner (hint: Use Smart Missiles in indirect assaults against the Thief in this manner; you'll save extra smart missiles).
Mercury Missile
Type: High Velocity Dumbfire
Damage: ~45/shot
Fire Rate: ~1 shot/sec
Velocity: Very High
Max. Capacity: 10 Missiles, 20 With Ammo Rack
Amount You Drop When You Die: 10 missiles if you have 10 or greater
Description: Fast missiles that quickly blast your target to pieces.
Weapon Analysis: This missile is probably faster than any of the other Descent's missiles, with the Black Shark rivaling it in speed. This makes it a great weapon for sniping and long range attacks. It has a larger blast radius than the Concussion Missile, Homing Missile, Smart Missile, and Proximity Bomb, with the D2 Guided Missile rivaling it in blast radius size. This means that one doesn't necessarily need to score direct hits in a dogfight with this missile, but rather, highly skilled pilots can land mercury missiles on the walls, ceiling or floor right next to their opponent to take a good chunk of shields off with its medium-sized and damaging blast radius. Due to its small size, it may go through grates, but it is still large enough that it may not always go through. The weapon doesn't fire very rapidly and is hard to aim with, and moderately skilled players usually avoid using this weapon for that reason. However, because of its high velocity and highly damaging large blast radius, aiming is worth the effort, and so, this powerful weapon is a favorite among elite pilots with a very high degree of skill.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: In dogfights, combine the firepower of your guns with your mercury missiles. Land these missiles next to your opponent when he's close to the walls, ceiling or floor. Aim the best you can and fire as many of them as you can with the best timing you got. It takes a good chunk of shields off and it will greatly aid your efforts against opponents in small and medium sized rooms.
When firing down a hallway or tunnel, combine the firepower of your guns with your mercury missiles. Fire as many of your mercury missiles as you can to maximize the chances that the blast radius of the missiles will take down his shields or to even score a direct hit, as well as maxmizing damage itself.
If you encounter your opponent at a corner, don't bother trying to aim...if you try to aim and then fire, he will have time to react and possible score the first shot on you. (This method isn't easy at first, but it will train you to quickly aim split-second-wise without much thought.) The moment you see him pop around a corner, fire the Gauss (or some other weapon, preferably Quad Lasers, Helix or Plasma) and Mercury Missile at the first moment at the same time, and make sure you keep on firing the Gauss and Mercury Missiles, continuously trying to smash his ship with them. If he gets hit with both, he will either limp away or you will get an instant kill. When I played Glock21 one day in KegParty v1.0, he used this same trick on me, firing the Gauss and Mercury Missile at the first moment, when he suddenly saw me coming around a corner, and this is where I got this trick.
Also, avoid trying to fire this missile through grates if you are forced to be close to the grates and if you're low on shield. (Whether I have high shield or low shield, I only try to launch them through grates at a point where I'm far enough from the blast radius. That way, if the missile hits the grate, rather than going through it, it won't hurt me.)
Usage in Single Player/Coop: If you play Single Player or Coop, this is simply a missile you NEED to learn to use! Robots typically don't move very fast, so aiming the Mercury Missiles should be easier (this Missile is more useful to more moderately skilled players in Single Player and Coop than in Player-to-Player Combat). This is a great missile to use alongside the Gauss when Fighting against any boss (with the exception of the Alien 1 Level 20 Boss, which is vulnerable only against energy weapons). When fighting a boss, get as far away from the Boss Robot as you can (as for the Alien 2 Level 24 Boss, you need to get behind him). When I mean far, I mean far enough away to the point where they won't fire at you, even though they see you. Once you're at that range, give it all you got and let 'em rip.
When you see a bot with strong shields, nail him with the Gauss, and then half a second later, fire your Mercury Missile. The reason why you would want to fire the Gauss first, and then the Mercury Missile to finish the bot off, rather than firing with both at the first moment is so that you would want to save the Mercury Missiles for the strongest bots. Using Mercury Missiles in this way will also keep you wasting them on weaker robots. Though some players are so good with Gauss they hardly even need to use Mercury Missiles (except on Boss Robots, of course)!
You can also use this weapon on groups of smaller, weaker bots. Firing one Mercury Missile on a tightly crowded group of ITD Droids will take them all out instantly. Whipping out your Helix, Spread, Plasma, Fusion or Omega Cannons, and firing your Mercury Missiles at the walls, ceiling or floor, right next to groups of Red Hornets or Green Spawn, you are sure to make short work of them.
Smart Missile, D3
Type: Target-Tracking Plasma Blob Missile
Damage: Extreme
Fire Rate: ~2 shots/sec
Velocity: Low
Max Capacity: Pyro GL: 5. Phoenix: 3. Magnum AHT: 7.
Amount You Drop When You Die: 3 missiles if you have 3 or greater
Description: When missile explodes, it releases homing plasma blobs that quickly track a nearby target. Extreme damage. Low velocity.
Weapon Analysis: Pretty much the same thing as the D1 and D2 Smart Missiles, but the difference being that the homing plasma blobs have a very high velocity when tracking a target and that the smart missile releases five plasma blobs when it explodes, rather than six. Also when it explodes, ALL the homing blobs track one target rather than, say two to one target and three to another. After flying a long distance without hitting anything, it doesn't explode by itself until it actually hits something. Outside, however, if it flies a long way without hitting anything, it takes a nose dive and hits the ground when it runs out of fuel and releases the plasma blobs. A direct hit with a Smart Missile on a Pyro-GL will take off exactly 100 shields, but if the same thing is done on a Black Pyro, it's an instant kill (thanks to Theftbot for this piece of data).
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: Basically the same as the D1 and D2 Smart Missile. Since the missile doesn't explode by itself after flying a long way without hitting something, you can't place an explosion in the center of a room in mid-air like you can with the other missiles. However, you can stand a distance from a dogfight in the great outdoors, if you can get a feel for the distance estimated when a missile runs out of fuel and takes a nose-dive. You can place that nose dive shot in the middle of a dogfight that distance away from you. But since the Smart Missile is quite slow, the dogfight might end or move to some other spot before the Smart Missile arrives at its nose-dive point. Also, be advised that this Smart Missile releases a cluster of blobs to one target and not to two or three. Tactics can get pretty interesting when this missile is fired down a Gravity Accelerator...
Usage in Single Player/Coop: Same as the D1 and D2 Smart Missile, but without the ability to explode in mid-air. Place nose-dive shots from a distance over hills where those very dangerous Mass Driver Tanks are hiding. Also, all blobs from one Smart Missile track one target, rather than some blobs to multiple targets.
Mega Missile, D1
Type: Oversized Blast Radius Homing Missile/Torpedo
Damage: 186
Fire Rate: ~2 shots/sec
Velocity: Low
Max Capacity: 5 Missiles
Amount You Drop When You Die: 3 Missiles
Description: Homing missile with huge blast radius. Extreme Damage. Low Velocity.
Weapon Analysis: Also called "The Red One" by Zoom, this weapon is known for almost guaranteeing an instant kill when launched at a victim. The missile doesn't even have to hit its target in order to kill it. It just needs to land on a wall to either kill it or otherwise make it limp away. It has a pretty wide locking angle in D1, so it can be used around corners (provided that corners are not too narrow otherrwise you might nuke yourself in the face). If launched around a corner, it will home in on its target (the D2 version seems to have more "tunnel vision") due to its good peripheral vision. Has a large and very deadly blast radius, and a player can only carry a few of these massive missiles. Also, in D1, the Mega Missiles fire twice as more rapidly than in D2.
Usage in Player-to-Player Combat: The most common use of this missile is to fire it at a single target for an instant kill. On occasion, you may fire it at two players so that you can score a double kill, or at three players, scoring a triple kill. Use your evil imagination. If a player is hiding around a corner and the hallway is wide enough for the missile to lock onto the target around the corner, fire it around the corner. Or if the hallway or tunnel is narrow, making it so that the corner is also narrow, and if the target is hiding just around the corner within the Mega's blast radius range, just fire it at the wall (using the blast radius of the Mega) to give your opponent a good jolt, severely injuring or otherwise killing him in the process. If you can't stand a ways away from the blast radius, you can still "cheat" and not get yourself injured. If you must use the blast radius of a mega around a narrow corner while firing it at the wall, instantly move yourself around another corner before it explodes so that you can't see the center of the blast radius. If you see the edge of the blast, that's fine...just as long as you don't see the center of it while close to the location of the blast.
Usage in Single Player/Coop: Use this to take down hardy bots such as the Fusion Hulk or the Homing Missile Hulk. Use it to take out a group of robots at once. If they are loosely grouped together, just circle around them constantly as long as the bots inside the group aren't too dangerous, such as those that fire homing missiles or vulcan. Circle around them to tightly group them together, then back up and fire a mega at the group, killing them all at once. Depending on the strength of the bots, if some remain, fire another mega if necessary. You can fire these around corners (the wider the better) so that they home in on bots due to their good peripheral vision. Or you can just use the blast radius of the missile around narrow corners (again, if you can't back far enough away from the blast radius, hide behind something right after you launch the missile and before it explodes so that you don't see the center of the blast).
I have an innovative idea for making weapon switching easy as heck. Forget using the cycle button--That takes too much time to select the appropriate weapon. Instead, look on your keyboard. You will notice a flat space in between the F1-F12 keys and the number keys 1-0, a small gap. Cut a strip of paper (lengthwise) narrow enough to fit in that space, so that you have a piece that's long enough. Tape both ends down. Then with a mechanical pencil, write labels on the strip of paper above each key. Labels are given below:
Key 1 = L/S (Laser/Superlaser)
Key 2 = V/G (Vulcan/Gauss)
Key 3 = S/H (Spread/Helix)
Key 4 = P/Ph (Plasma/Phoenix)
Key 5 = F/O (Fusion/Omega)
Key 6 = C/F (Concussion Missile/Flash Missile)
Key 7 = H/G (Homing Missile/Guided)
Key 8 = Px/Smn (Proximity Bomb/Smart Mine)
Key 9 = Sm/Mc (Smart Missile/Mercury Missile)
Key 0 = Mg/Sh (Mega Missile/Shaker Missile)
I use my left hand's fingers to quickly select numbers 1-6, and my right hand to quickly hit 7-0. Even though I do take one of my fingers off a sliding key, for instance, I'm able to bring it back quickly enough in a fraction of a second, so it doesn't really hinder me. With just one or two key presses (usually one), I'm able to select the weapon I need for the situation, rather than taking a few seconds longer to cycle through a list of weapons to find the right one. Switching weapons in this way while in battle (or even before seeing my opponent) takes only a fraction of a second, and this is the reason why I can score many kills. Though I don't use the strip of paper because I memorized the weapons each key has.
I don't really use a definite, static autoselect for all games. I might vary my autoselect depending on the level, how many players are playing, the skill level of the players and what weapons seem to actually work the best depending on the situation. Needless to say, here is a general autoselect for that one can use. While it may not be appropriate for all situations, it is the one I use maybe a little more than half the time. It's probably better for Descent 2 multiplayer games than in one-on-ones though.
1. Gauss
2. Plasma
3. Helix
4. Spread
5. Vulcan
6. Super laser
7. Laser
--Never Autoselect--
8. Phoenix
9. Fusion
10. Omega
1. Earthshaker Missile
2. Mega Missile
3. Homing Missile
4. Smart Missile
5. Mercury Missile
6. Flash Missile
7. Concussion Missile
--Never Autoselect--
8. Smart Mine
9. Guided Missile
10. Proximity Bomb
1. Spreadfire Cannon
2. Vulcan Cannon
3. Plasma Cannon
4. Fusion Cannon
5. Laser Cannon
--Never Autoselect--
1. Mega Missile
2. Homing Missile
3. Smart Missile
4. Concussion Missile
--Never Autoselect--
5. Proximity Bomb
One note about the Autoselects above. Instead of using only these two general setups, it's best to re-adjust them so that they fit the particular level, the number of opponents, and the skill level of the opponents. For example, in a level like Neptune, where the majority of hallways aren't very long and where rooms are smaller, the plasma should probably be selected over the gauss if the amount of players is over two. (If you are armed with quads and plasma, you may want to experiment with both of them in that game just to see what happens to get the most results. Even though quads is not in the autoselect, you can select the quads in the game once you get them...you may find that quads may win in one game and plasma may win in another. Quads MAY work better when you're ratting and plasma MAY do better in dogfighting.) If the number of opponents is very high in this level and the skill levels of your opponents are mediocre, smart missiles should probably be above the mercury missiles because there are so many targets and since mediocre players may not have adequate dodging skills, they won't have what it takes to dodge the relatively slow bomblets.
On the other extreme, if you are playing a level like Minerva or Darkhall, where there are lots of long hallways, mercury missiles would be preferred over smart missiles. Long-range and high-velocity weapons will come in handy there. In such levels where homing missiles are included, if you have good aiming skills, select the mercury missile over the homing missile because the main room isn't too large, and the hallways are low ceiling and not too wide, so using the blast radius of the mercury missile is useful in taking down your opponent's shields.
If you're playing in a level with large rooms, so that landing the mercury missiles next to your opponents is very hard, and all the players are high skill, you should probably go with Megas and homing missiles over the other missiles.
If you find that you may gauss-suicide yourself a lot in the game, you will probably want to put another weapon first. Wait until you die and don't hit a button to respawn again. Go instead into the game options using F2 and by going into primary autoselect and move the vulcan cannon up the list so that it's above the gauss cannon. If that is not available, move some other weapon above the gauss, like plasma or even helix.
If you're in the game with less skilled players than yourself, and you have a high survival rating, you can keep the Earthshakers and Megas (if there are very few of them, maybe one or two of each), so that none of the other players can use them on you. You can do the same thing with Smart Missiles, and hog them, so that you don't come around a corner into a hallway only to be smacked in the face with a smart missile.
These same principles apply towards the Autoselects geared towards one-on-ones, in which case, the opponents you play are most likely highly skilled.
1. Gauss Cannon
2. Vulcan Cannon
3. Plasma Cannon
4. Helix Cannon
5. Spreadfire Cannon
6. Super Laser Cannon
7. Laser Cannon
--Never Autoselect
8. Phoenix Cannon
9. Fusion Cannon
10. Omega Cannon
1. Homing Missile
2. Mercury Missile
3. Smart Missile
4. Flash Missile
5. Concussion Missile
--Never Autoselect--
6. Earthshaker Missile
7. Mega Missile
8. Smart Mine
9. Guided Missile
10. Proximity Bomb
This page is currently under construction at this point, so more will be added on in the coming days!