Weapons

Weapons in Galaxy Reavers are grouped into three main classes of primary weapons: projectile, missile, and laser. Damage is dealt to ships in 3 types: kinetic, thermal, and electric. Ships may have resistances to each of these types that reduces the damage they take.

Weapons follow the rarity system, which classifies weapon quality and DPS under 5 distinct rarity levels each associated with its own color: Common (gray), Good (green), Superior (blue), Rare (purple), Super (orange). Increasing rarity raises a weapon's damage output relative to its Common tier value (100%). Higher rarity tiers increase damage output based on the common tier by fixed percentages: Good (130%), Superior (160%), Rare (200%), Super (250%). A weapon that occupies 2 hexagonal tiles has a DPS value 2.2 times that of the exact same weapon that occupies 1 tile. A weapon that occupies 3 tiles has a DPS value 3.75 times that of the same weapon that occupies 1 tile.

All weapons that fire any kind of projectile (including missiles, ion rail gun, and subsystem max quoted damage) start roughly at 20 DPS at common (gray) rarity and increase at a rate of around 6-9 DPS per rarity tier, depending on the type of weapon. Longer ranged projectile weapons have higher base DPS than short ranged ones. Instant-hit beam weapons start at around 15 DPS at common (gray) rarity and increase at a rate of around 5 DPS per rarity tier. The damage number shown on a weapon is the exact amount of damage it will inflict if its entire salvo hits the target (i.e. the entire duration of a beam, all three shots of a cannon, etc).

Weapons can be earned as possible loot rewards received upon completing a mission or can be obtained in the store by purchasing weapon packs under the device section. Rookie weapon packs cost 5000 gold and may drop gray, green, blue, or purple rarities. Expert weapon packs cost 20 khorium and may drop blue, purple, or orange rarities. Weapons can be sold for gold in the docking screen and prices are set according to rarity: common (80), good (160), superior (800), rare (2400), super (4800). Two-tile weapons sell for double their single-tile price. Most subsystems can be sold for 800 gold.

Some weapons have a minimum range from which they can fire, preventing most long range weapons from being able to fire on targets at short range. Range is measured in arbitrary units, where each square tile on the battlefield grid measures approximately 90 units.

Firing Sequence
Weapons can be fitted onto warships by dropping them in the equipment slots in the docking screen. The placement of non-subsystem weapons in relation to one another determines the order in which they fire in battle. The firing sequence flows first to last from the bottom row to the top row, with weapons in each row firing in order of left to right.

Every ship has a limited number of guns from which it can fire.

Projectile Cannon
Projectile cannons have higher DPS figures than their beam cannon counterparts; however, their projectiles can be dodged by fast ships or ships using a Sublight Propeller. They primarily deal kinetic damage, though one type deals light thermal damage.

Short range: Long range:
 * Cannon - Kinetic Damage, Short Range, 3-shell salvo
 * Machine Gun - Kinetic Damage, Short Range, rapid bullet salvo
 * Piercing Cannon - Kinetic Damage, Medium-Long Range
 * Gauss Gun - Thermal and Kinetic Damage, Medium-Long Range, 3 shell salvo

Missile
Missiles are slow projectiles that can be intercepted by other projectiles or passing meteors and primarily deal thermal and kinetic damage. Unguided torpedoes boast higher damage but are easily dodged by fast ships (e.g. Frigates and Chasers) and by ships at the edge of their maximum firing range. Guided missiles trade damage for consistency, and are not easily evaded without using a Sublight Propeller or being a very fast ship to begin with.

Guided missiles: Unguided torpedoes:
 * Mid-range Missile - Thermal and Kinetic Damage, Medium-Long Range, Guided, 4 missile salvo
 * Long-ranged Cruise Missile - Thermal and Kinetic Damage, Extreme Range, Guided, 4 missile salvo
 * Strategic Antiship Missile - Electric and Kinetic Damage, Short Range, Semi-guided
 * Torpedo - Thermal and Kinetic Damage, Short-Medium Range, Unguided
 * Photon Torpedo - Electric Damage, Short Range, Unguided

Missiles have a limited ammo supply, typically 4 salvos. Once they run out of ammo they will no longer fire, and ships that position themselves by range (like Battleships) will no longer consider the missile weapons for this. Their raw DPS while they are firing is less than 10% higher than their equivalent-range projectile cannon counterpart, so for a battle that could last notably longer than their ammo does it would be better not to use missiles.

Beam Cannon
Most beam cannons instantly hit their target and cannot be dodged like normal projectiles. However, beam cannons deal less damage than their projectile counterparts. Some beam cannons can penetrate through and damage multiple targets or slow enemy ships. They primarily deal electric damage, though one type deals thermal damage

Short range: Long range:
 * Ray Gun - Electric Damage, Short Range, Beam
 * Kation Ray Gun - Electric Damage, Short Range, Beam
 * Ion Rail-gun - Electric Damage, Short Range, Projectile
 * Laser - Thermal Damage, Medium Range, Projectile
 * Ion Gun - Electric Damage, Medium-Long Range, Beam

Subsystem Weapons
Subsystems are specialized, tactical equipment that are triggered manually during battle under each ship's HUD. They are characterized by long cooldown timers but have powerful effects on the battlefield, encouraging players to time their use wisely. Some subsystems behave like more powerful versions of normal weapons like torpedoes, missiles, lasers, and cannons. Other subsystems provide unique capabilities like launching a UAV fighter squadron, firing a dense blanket of anti-aircraft guns, boosting ship propulsion for a short duration, and temporarily encasing a ship in a moderate defensive shield.

Subsystems include: Antimatter Torpedo, Explosive Torpedo, Antimatter Cannon, Heavy Quantum Reaction Cannon (HQRC), Antiaircraft Firepower Network (APN), Shield, and Sublight Propeller. When pressing and holding down the button for a targeted subsystem weapon, blue aiming lines will be traced from the ship. Shaded blue areas highlight the weapon's potential target range, while unshaded areas indicate space outside a weapon's reach. Subsystem cannon weapons can be fired forwards from the front of a ship. When firing subsystem cannons, a ship will automatically rotate until it points at its target.

Subsystems have a few restraints:
 * Each ship can only have 1 of each type of subsystem (e.g. Shield, Sublight Propeller, Antiaircraft Firepower Network).
 * Each ship has a limit of 4 total subsystems.
 * The energy cost of activating a subsystem cannot exceed the ship's maximum energy storage.
 * Most subsystems are limited to 3 uses per battle (except Sublight Propeller and Antimatter Torpedo, which allow 5 and 1 uses, respectively).