Launchers are complex weapons that can rain down destruction in the form of powerful Radioactive shockwaves. Understanding how to harness this awesome power can be key to building a formidable fleet!
Some basics about launchers:
- Launchers will fire Radioactive Flechettes on their target
- Flechettes that hit will apply stacks towards the shockwave
- New launchers (Raptor and Stalker) require 1,200 stacks to trigger a shockwave
- Older launchers require fewer stacks
What kind of Specials/bonus affect the Flechettes?
- Flechettes are accuracy based weapons and have NO inherent splash
- Flechettes DO benefit from Radioactive Damage bonus specials
- Multi Shot DOES increase the number of Flechettes fired
What kind of Specials/bonus affect the Shockwave?
- Shockwaves DO have Splash and are affected by Splash buffs
- Radioactive damage bonus does NOT affect the shockwave
- Shockwave damage can ONLY be buffed with explicit bonus shockwave damage stat
- Specials that boost Building/Wall Damage will NOT affect shockwave damage
Okay, so what about Launcher Supercharge and Supercharge?
Great question! Supercharge is a unique stat that will affect how many stacks a Flechette will apply when it hits. Launcher Supercharge and Supercharge DO NOT stack; If you have both equipped the launchers will use the highest of the two available.
Now lets look at an example:
Lets look at a Launcher Weapon and its stats:
The Raptor Launcher has a Multi Shot of 6 so it will fire 6 Flechettes each time. These Flechettes will do 27,000 Radioactive damage and apply 1 stack for each hit. When it reaches 1,200 stacks on a target a shockwave will trigger for 25,000,000 radioactive damage.
Now lets add a Special to the Weapon:
This Launcher System special will increase the Supercharge from 1 to 6. This means that for every flechette that hits, it will now apply 6 stacks at once! Remember: Supercharge and Launcher Supercharge do not stack.
If all 6 flechettes hit, that is 36 stacks towards the shockwave. Increasing the Multi Shot will further increase the rate of stacks.
Additionally, the shockwave damage will be increased by 40%, meaning an additional 10,000,000 damage per shockwave!
Combining various specials and weapons can allow you to maximize the effectiveness of these launchers.