External hardpoints hold equipment which is mounted on the outside of the ship. External hardpoints have a specific classification and size. A lower classification can always be mounted on a higher classification hardpoint, but not the other way around. However, with the release of the hangar module, weapon hardpoints are not functional with all weapons within their class or below (ex: plyons can't equip guns), and size is actually the more important stat for what can be equipped to a given hardpoint.
Class 1
Fixed gun. This is the standard forward facing laser, neutron cannon, particle gun, etc. Class one hardpoints allow to mount larger weapon systems.
Class 2
Articulated gun (gimbal-mounted). Class 2 hardpoints are rarer and more expensive, but they allow guns to rotate on an arc rather than fire point blank. The increased cone of fire comes at the cost of smaller weapon size.
Class 3
Pylon. This is where you mount missiles, ECM units, radar pods, drop tanks, additional ammunition, missile racks, special scanners, etc.
Class 4
Turret. Uses the same guns as class 1, but mounted in a separate area of the ship which may be crewed by another person. Turret slots can also mount pylon-type weapons (i.e. a tractor beam or a chaff dispenser.) Some ships can also use these hardpoints for increased cargo space and other ships systems.
Class 5
Manned point defense turrets, generally mounted on larger ships and capital ships.
Class 6
Heavy manned capital ship turrets â€" used for ship-to-ship combat.
Class 7
Spinal mount lasers - heavy hitters that are effective against medium and large ships.
Class 8
Capital ship cannons - extended range heavy weapons used for capital ship battles in space.
Class 9
Short Range Automated Defensive Systems.
Nice find! :thumbsup:
So I've been reading up on the different weapons in SC.
There is a difference in what SC Energy or Kinetic weaponary does vs Elite. Basically the polar opposite.
Elite kinetics rip through armour but bounce off shields with certain exceptions such as focus targeting areas the shields do not cover as throughly and a lucky projectile makes it through. (i.e. Shields are not 100% effective). Energy weapons overload shields but take longer to melt armour but high end lasers will melt the hull of a poorly protected ship.
SC kinetics attack shields somehow I cannot find explained scientifically. Energy weapons breakdown armour but do little in the way of shield overload/ damage.
I would think that in order to take shields offline one must overload or damage the power source of the shields. Shields in SC are stated as being enhanceable to allow ramming, a kinetic action that should result in more damage. Kinetics are more effective against shields, go figure?
I personally think SC have it wrong. Shields should repel objects better than they absorb energy. (A shield that recycles absorbed energy would be an interesting idea).
Someome please enlighten me.
I don't think that is how SC weapons work? Energy weapons are deflected by shields but if shields are down they will strike and damage the hull. Kinetic weapons pass through shields but are defended against by plate armour. Energy weapons require no ammo so are effectively a free resource although they do draw energy from the ship. Kinetic weapons use ammo which is a limited resource and needs to be used sparingly. They are defended against through plate armour. This is how things work in the real world i.e. tanks being heavily armoured against projectile weapons. This seems to make prefect sense to me?
Useful video here
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That video makes more sense. I expect the energy weapons that are absorbed by the shields to break the shields down eventually.
I think the SCAM guide oversimplifies it.
The other point is that people often confuse the hardpoint class with weapon size. The hardpoint class more or less says what type of thing can be mounted on that hardpoint. The actual weapon size is more important.
Take the Freelancer & Freelancer MIS as an example: the base Freelancer has Class 3, 4 & 5 hardpoints, which seems better than the MIS which only has Class 3 & 4 hardpoints. However then you look at weapons size:
Freelancer base: 1 x Size 1, 4 x Size 2, 2 x Size 3, ---------
....compared to the Freelancer MIS which has:
Freelancer MIS.: -----------, 4 x Size 2, 2 x Size 3, 2 x Size 5
Clearly the MIS has a bigger weapons loadout.