Weapon Types and Armor, what they mean to the player.

I have gone over in detail before what different weapons and armors are in the game but with the latest changes being put into place I think it's time for a refresher as to what each weapon has going for it and where that is important.

Cannon - A Cannon is a Kinetic weapon that is typically used to deal a high amount of damage to vehicles and structures.  It is the most basic weapon type out there for these rolls.  Artillery Cannons have a blast radius applied to them.

Rocket - A Rocket weapon damage type is much like a Cannon.  Its a Kinetic weapon but it does have a few advantages.  It can have a blast radius applied to it, it can be targeting or non-targeting depending on if it's considered a Missile or a Rocket, and it typically does better damage against air units but weaker against really big air units like Kodiaks or Scrin Capitol Ships.  Rockets can have additional weapon types also, these are considered payload rockets.  The GDI Sonic Rocket Barrage weapon on the Sonic Gear is an example, at the point of impact it does Rocket damage but it does Sonic blast damage as well.

Gun - A Gun type weapon is a Kinetic weapon that is typically used against infantry and lighter units.

Grenade - A Grenade is a Kinetic weapon that may not have the range of other weapons if they are thrown they are very effective against biological targets like Infantry.  They have the ability to clear out structures that may be garrisoned by infantry as well.  Finally grenades always have a blast radius making them effective at dealing with swarming infnatry units.

Sniper - A Sniper type weapon is a special Kinetic weapon that deals a massive amount of damage to infantry and biological units.  Sniper weapons are typically long range though some payload weapons can have the Sniper sub-class blast radius to show that the weapon is specifically designed to kill infantry and biological units.

Fire - A Fire type weapon is a Heat based weapon that continues to burn or is a stream type weapon.  It deals a low amount of continuous damage to units and is especially effective against biological units and certain enemy armor types.  For example Mobile Suits without shields are more suseptiable to fire damage than when they have their Arm Shields.  Scrin Energy Shields are extra useful against Fire weapons but once the shields are down the Scrin Units burn quickly.

Plasma - Plasma weapons are another Heat based weapon that typically deals not only a massive amount of damage to a target but also have a splash effect of fire on them.  Plasma based weapons are some of the strongest in the game, but armor designed to protect against Fire also protects well against Plasma.  Plasma is also effective at overloading energy shields like the Scrin use.

Laser - Laser weapons are the most common Energy based weapon out there.  They are the Energy equivalent to Cannons.  A unique aspect of Laser weapons is that they can also be seen used as an Energy equivalent to a Gun weapon giving them a certain level of flexibility not normally seen.

Beam - Beam based weapons work a lot like Laser and Cannon based weapons.  They are Energy based but react differently depending on the type of unit they are used against.  Against exterior armor / plate armor / energy shields / arm shields they work just like any other projectile.  This means that they can have their efficiency reduced due to the armor/shield.  However once past that armor/shield and when dealing with the Frame/Main part of the unit Beam based weapons always have a 100% efficiency rate meaning it doesn't matter what the frame is made of most of the time as the Beam Weapon will treat it all the same.  This will show how a Mobile Suit with a Heavy Beam Shield is much better protected than the same unit with a Small Arm Shield against beam weapons even though both units are using the same frame.

Lance - Lance weapons are energy weapons used by the Scrin.  They are incredibly powerful, cutting through enemy armor quite efficiently.  Armor that is designed to protect against Energy weapons are only half as effective as they normally are against Lance weapons.

Sonic - Sonic weapons are a unique Energy weapon developed by GDI.  They are not very effective against armored units but do add the side effect of slowing units down and causing them to fire at a slower speed.  If enough sonic weaponry is brought against a heavily armored unit the combined power can effectively stop the enemy unit in its tracts.   Against infantry and tiberium based units Sonic Weapons are incredibly effective.

Rail - Rail weapons are typically used by GDI.  They are incredibly powerful weapons and always have a 100% efficiency rate against enemy armor.  That means that there is no armor out there that can stop or lower the damage output of a Rail shot.  For GDI this is key as they do not have many effective ways to get through Scrin Shields except though Rail Technology.



Those are how the weapons now work in the game.  Each one is unique and has it's own use and place in the game.  But the only way this works is if it's tied to the Armor of the units as well.

Armor will have 3 different ratings on it.  K is for Kinetic, H is for Heat and E is for Energy.  This means if you see a unit has a Frame of K30% H 20% and an armor of K60% E 40% the units armor is effective against Energy and Kenetic weapons but once the armor has been cut down / removed / is no longer effective the internal frame can only protect a bit against Kenetic and Heat based weapons.  If a player was to build a lot of units with this kind of armor setup they would have to be wary of enemy units that are equipped with Heat based weapons as they will cut though the armor quickly and then Energy based weapons as they would destroy the frame quickly.  An enemy unit that would have this kind of loadout would be the Avatar for example.

Armor also has the chance of having a bleed-through effect.  Some armor is just not very good at protecting against certain weapon types.  For example the Titan Tank, being an older tank and having not been designed for dealing with Energy weapons is exceptional at protecting against Kinetic weapons but if it gets hit by an energy weapon like a Laser not only will its armor take some serious damage it will also take bleed-though of 50% to the frame, meaning half the damage dealt go's to armor and half to frame.  As the unit is destroyed if the frame is destroyed weather or not the unit still has armor on it this makes the unit very susceptible to energy weapons.



I hope this breakdown of the way the games balancing system with armor and weapons.  Next week we will go over Strength / Armor Levels / Assault vs Offense and Class type and Roll.  See you then.