Author Topic: Gunnery for dummies v1.3.2 - A beginner's guide to the common weaponry.  (Read 81457 times)

Offline Echoez

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Gunnery for dummies  v1.3.2

 

  Welcome again dear reader, thank you for visiting this page, you are doing your fellow crewmen and captain a great favor by putting some effort in actually learning the game, your presense here validates that and I'm glad to have you around.

  This is the second time I write this guide on weaponry as the last one is out of date due to the latest update of Guns of Icarus Online, its purpose, same as before, is to teach the very basics of how to use your guns, ammo types and what the various symbols for damage types stand for, so let's begin with the damage types briefly.

  Each gun has two types of damage, first is the direct damage the projectile/bullet itself deals, the secondary type is an Area of Effect explosion that all guns have, some have very wide radiuses, others have almost no explosion radius.

 

Symbol explanation:

: This symbolizes Piercing damage, a damage type very effective against enemy ship armor. Armour is the repairable part of a ship's health, you need to take it down before attacking their 'real' health that can not be repaired. Guns with this kind of damage are very good at destroying armour.

 

: Flechette is represented by this symbol, this damage type is extremely effective against enemy balloons, making short work of them. If you take out an a ship's balloon, it will start making a rapid descent towards the ground and of course, impacting the ground will cause the ship to take damage.

 

: This stands for Explosive damage, which is very effective against the enemy ship's hull. The hull is ship's 'real' health as said before, if this goes down, the ship will explode in a majestic display of screws and scrap metal. Weapons with this kind of damage are very good finishers, but are usually not effective against enemy armour, so make sure you wait for the armour to go down before taking your shots, you will know the armour went down when you see a black cloud appear on the enemy ship and black metalic parts falling down.

 

: Shatter damage is very effective against a ship's components, like their engines and guns, this damage type gets an 100% bonus against these components, making guns with that damage type very effective disablers. Aim for the guns and engines to cause some havoc!

 

: This should be pretty obvious, it symbolizes Fire damage which is pretty effective against enemy balloons by itself, though the main use of guns with fire is to ignite the enemy ship's components, putting fire stacks on them that will cause extra damage over time, anything with fire stacks on it is cursed to go down unless extinguished. Guns will also be disabled if 8 or more stacks of fire are applied to them from flames. Use with caution.

 

! IMPORTANT !

  Just a short note about something that many people seem to misunderstand, if you want to use a certain ammo type you need to EQUIP it first, that means you have to reload your gun with the appropriate ammo type you want, you can see the ammo types you are carrying at the bottom of your screen when you are manning a gun and you can switch to them by either pressing 1, 2, 3 or 4 on your keyboard or switching through them with the mouse wheel, the ammo you are loading will be highlighted.

  You can switch ammo types during any time of a reload, only the ammo type you have selected when the reload ends will be loaded in, ALSO make sure you are ON the gun when the reload ends, else the gun will be reset to normal ammo.

! IMPORTANT !

 

 

Enter! Light weaponry.

  The guide will focus on the light guns of Guns of Icarus Online, I will be giving a brief explanation of how the gun handles and what ammo types to bring, as well as when is the appropriate time to use them.

 

 

The Whirlwind, Light Gatling Gun.



Primary Damage:

Secondary Damage:

 

The Whirlwind is a high fire rate, low damage gun, mimicing the old school machine-gun weaponry from your standard FPS game, it fires a stream of bullets in a wide cone, don't be allianated by its low damage stats though, it is a beast and can keep the pressure on the enemy's armour like nothing else from closer ranges. It is also a very good component disabler, so if you need a gun or engine down, just aim for it.

Also as side note, cause I see people do it, don't burst fire the gatling gun, it will not improve your accuracy.

 

Preferred ammo as an Engineer:

Heavy clip is still the most preferred round for this gun when used from medium ranges as it completely nullifies its wide spread, all your bullets will be hitting dead on your crosshairs. Of course this comes at the price of a reduced magazine size, so making your shots count is important. Switch to normal rounds for when you are close to the enemy, your spread won't matter much there so you might as well make usage of a larger magazine.

 

Preferred ammo as a Gunner:

As a Gunner, you will need Heavy clip for when you are closing distance, Greased rounds will make your DPS sky-rocket when you are close as it increases your fire rate and magazine size at the cost of some range and damage, but only use it when very close otherwise the Whirlwind's wide spread will make you miss most of your shots.

 

 

The Mercury Field Gun.



Primary Damage:

Secondary Damage:

 

The Mercury is a slow firing sniper cannon, its high damage makes it an ideal long range armour destroyer as well as a very good disabling weapon, as one shot from it will instantly destroy any single gun or engine. The gun fires a fast moving projectile that has a slight drop that you need to compesate for at longer ranges.

 

Preferred ammo as an Engineer:

If you know you will be firing only a Mercury as an engineer, it's always good to bring Charged rounds for the added damage, the clip reduction on it will not take away from your magazine so you only have to worry about the slightly reduced firing rate.

 

Preferred ammo as a Gunner: or

As a gunner, the Mercury will usually be a secondary weapon on most ships, so if you know you might need to fire one, bring Charged rounds in your loadout as well as other rounds you will use for other guns. You might also consider Lesmok rounds if you will be using the Mercury mainly for disabling enemy components as it makes the rounds fly faster and have reduced drop, making it easier to snipe enemy guns and engines (keep in mind you will only have one shot with Lesmok loaded though).

 

 

The Echidna, Light Flak Cannon.



Primary Damage:

Secondary Damage:

 

The Echidna is an all explosive gun, fires highly explosive rounds in a small cone with a slight drop, pretty accurate at range, careful though cause it has an arming time of 300 meters, meaning that it will not apply its secondary AoE damage if the enemy is any closer than that.

Being an explosive focused gun, this is a very good finisher, so save your shots for after the enemy's armour goes down, else you will end up just scratching them a bit.

 

Preferred ammo as an Engineer:

As an Engineer, you will want to get Greased rounds for when the enemies get close as the reduction in projectile speed they provide actually lower your aming time, so you will be able to net full damage shots a bit closer than usual and it also grants you some extra shots, use normal ammo for longer ranges so the projectiles aren't as slow.

 

Preferred ammo as a Gunner:

As a Gunner, if you will be firing the Echidna, make sure you bring Burst Rounds for medium range volleys as well as Greased Rounds for the close range volleys, Burst will give you  extra shots, enabling you to kill larger ships within one clip, Greased will help you when they get too close for the arming time by cutting it a bit shorter.

 

 

 

The Scylla, Double-Barreled Mortar.



Secondary Damage:

 

The Scylla, just like the Echidna, is an all explosive weapon, it deals a bit less damage per round but has a much larger clip and no random spread, its projectiles have a massive downward arc though, restricting it to mostly close range engagements, but this weapon will drop any ship that gets hit by a whole clip directly to their naked hull. Due to its larger magazine size, it can start firing slightly before the armour goes down to assist in breaking it and then continue to destroy the hull.

 

Preferred ammo as an Engineer: or

You should either bring Greased rounds for the close range engagements or Lesmok rounds if you want to be hitting targets that are further away and generaly be more accurate, beware of the smaller magazine though.

Preferred ammo as a Gunner:

As a Gunner you will want to bring both Lesmok and Greased so you can easily adjust your engagement range and DPS. Third ammo choice is up to debate with your captain.

 

 

 

The Barking Dog, Light Carronade.



Primary Damage:

Secondary Damage:

 

The Barking Dog, is the light shotgun of this game, it deals a large ammount of both Flechette and Shatter damage, making it an effective balloon popper and component disabler, keep in mind that this gun has a very restricted range and gun arc, you should immidiently notice how this gun can't turn downwards much. Blast away at close range and pop those balloons!

 

Preferred ammo as an Engineer:

If you will be firing a Barking Dog as an engineer, it's usually being used as a secondary gun, so bringing Heavy Clip to snipe an eneny's balloon and then get back to repairs is a very good choice. If the carronade on your ship is being used as an offensive weapon and as an engineer you are instructed to fire it bring Heavy Clip as well, it's the most effective by itself.

 

Preferred ammo as a Gunner:

As a Gunner, bring Heavy clip for the longer distance shots, it will completely nullify the Barking Dog's wide cone and focus all your pellets into a ray of destruction, use it for pin point accurate shots, very efficient at taking out enemy engines and guns, when you get close in, switch to Greased rounds for maximun DPS.

 

 

 

The Banshee, Light Rocket Carousel.



Primary Damage:

Secondary Damage:

 

Don't be fooled by the low explosive damage stats on this gun, the Banshee is feared for its high ignition chances per shot. Yes, every rocket from this gun has a very high change of putting fire stacks on enemy ship components, they also have a very wide explosion radius, so every round will probably be hitting more than one components, spreading fires from range! The will rockets fly in a small cone with a slight drop, it doesn't have much random spread but is still not that accurate.

Now with the 1.3.2 update, the explosive damage of this gun is actually something to worry about as it can chip away at the enemy's hull very efficiently, alas, not as effectively as a Mortar or a Flak.

 

Preferred ammo as an Engineer:

The rockets are relatively fast, so using this over any range is fine, usually you will be firing it from mid to close range, so you shouldn't have problems with landing strikes, using Greased rounds will increase your magazine size and fire rate, helping you to rapidly spread fires across the enemy ship.

 

Preferred ammo as a Gunner:

This gun is mostly used as a secondary, so bringing specific ammo just for that as a Gunner shouldn't be a thing, but if you absolutely need to fire it, just bring Greased rounds as well. If your captain has a certain strategy in his head, you should be asking him about what ammo types he wants you to bring.

 

 

 

The Artemis, Light Rocket Launcher.



Primary Damage:

Secondary Damage:

 

The Artemis is a long range rocket launcher, its primary use is disabling enemy ship components because of its wide explosion radius of shatter damage and helping with the final killing blow on the enemy ship with its exlosive damage. The rockets don't have any spread and have a slight drop you want to account for. Make sure you aim for enemy ship components with this one as much as you can.

 

Preferred ammo as an Engineer: or

You want to either bring Lesmok rounds for the faster projectile and accuracy, or Burst rounds if you are looking to disable mulitple components, although, the wider explosion radius and extra shot Burst rounds provide is usually more beneficial than using Lesmok, seeing as how that will actually reduce your magazine size by 1, the wider explosion also means you don't need to be as accurate as you still have chances of the exlosion actually damaging the nearby component, BUT Lesmok will make this gun much longer ranged, enabling you to land shots that you wouldn't be able to land with Burst.

 

Preferred ammo as a Gunner: or

Same reasons as above. This is mostly a secondary weapon as well, if you realy need to shoot it, just bring either Burst or Lesmok.


« Last Edit: October 11, 2013, 08:08:10 pm by N-Sunderland »

Offline Echoez

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The Dragon Tongue, Flamethrower.



Primary Damage:

Secondary Damage: -

 

The Dragon Tongue, or just the Dragon, works just like you would expect a regular flamethrower to work, it unleashes a fiery hell onto the enemy from close range. While the fire damage from the weapon is not all that high or powerful against anything but the enemy's naked hull and the balloon, the weapon's ability to ignite enemy ship components and apply multiple stacks of fire continuously is probably unmatched. This will make enemy engineers run around in panic, extinguishing the fires you set. Spread the warmth!

 

Preferred ammo as an Engineer: or

If your captain is going full close range, you will want to bring Greased rounds, this will increase your magazine capacity and will make your flamer fire faster, which means more stacks of fire in less time! On the other hand, if your captain wants you to have that extra range, bring Lesmok rounds.

 

Preferred ammo as a Gunner: or

Mostly a secondary gun as well, the Dragon is not a weapon you might use much as a gunner, but if you need to make use of it, bring either Greased or Lesmok, depending on what your captain needs.

 

 

The Hades Light Cannon.



Primary Damage:

Secondary Damage:

 

Now this is an interesting gun, the projectile itself deals fire based damage, which is a good all-rounder type, but after its arming range of around 150 meters activates, the gun also deals the secondary piercing damage AoE, you will notice that after the arming range has been reached the projectile will burst into flames, that's when it will deal full damage.

With this combination of damage types, this is a very good weapon at taking down an enemy's armor and pester their balloons from medium range, keep in mind that is also has the power to ignite due to its fire damage!

 

Preferred ammo as an Engineer:

You will need Lesmok Rounds in order to hit far away targets due to the high arc this weapon's projectiles have, you will lose some magazine capacity and fire rate, but it's worth the accuracy you get for it. Switch to normal rounds when the enemy gets closer.

 

Preferred ammo as a Gunner:

You will want Lesmok Rounds for the same reason as stated above, but as a Gunner you have the option to take Greased Rounds with you as well, giving you much more DPS up close and lowering that arming range a bit, use with caution cause it will make the arc of the gun much steeper.

 

 

The Beacon, Flare Gun.



Primary Damage:

Secondary Damage:

 

The Beacon is a utility gun above all, it shoots flares that will light up clouds, revealing enemies inside and behind them, its random spread is roughly equal to that of the Echidna and the flares have a slight drop. If you land a hit on an enemy ship with this weapon, the flare will still go through it and will ignite any component it touches, instantly putting 10 stacks of fire on it.

 

Preferred ammo:

As any class, you realy don't want to bring an ammo type just for this gun, since it is mostly for utility and that good shot on an enemy's balloon or armour once in a while, but if you have Heavy clip in your loadout already, load it into this gun as it will make your flares more accurate for when you want to actually hit an enemy ship with it. You could also bring Heatsink rounds as they will give you one more flare per magazine when loaded.

 

 

I decided not to include the Phobos Mine Launcher and the Javelin Light Harpoon cause the first one is a realy advanced gun that beginners will have a very hard time to use and should avoid doing so (Friendly fire issues as well), the Harpoon is just a novelty with no real purpose so far (In my opinion at least, its physics are too weird to use in a reliable manner)

 

Thanks again for reading, I hope this guide helped you comprehend how the variable damage types, ammo types and guns work as well as when to use each one of them. Good luck in your future games and I hope to see you in the skies soon!
« Last Edit: October 11, 2013, 11:28:20 pm by N-Sunderland »

Offline N-Sunderland

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More than one flare gun per ship?

Shink, get in here!

Offline Shinkurex

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*Looks up*

You called?

Honestly, the main reason why I originally put to flares on my boat was so that my engineers wouldn't get that "get in that last shot" mentality. Then I got a Naufrago, and never looked back :P. With the latest patch, I switched my mounts on the goldie to a mine and banshee to test.... I dont like it as much tbh. Probably going to switch back.

Offline Echoez

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That's a specific strategy you might use with a certain person, this is a beginner's guide, you don't want them to be running around loading Heatsink in Flares and try making shots with them when you realy would like them to be repairing things :P

Offline RearAdmiralZill

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Incendiary is a good choice for flamethrowers too.

Offline Shinkurex

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Oh no dont get me wrong... I use the dual flares for beginners, as it teaches them that when you're an engie, you should be focusing on other things other than shooting the enemy ship.

Offline Moo

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With how dangerous fire is in 1.3, manta ray with 4 flareguns and a flak or something may be deadly...

Offline N-Sunderland

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With how dangerous fire is in 1.3, manta ray with 4 flareguns and a flak or something may be deadly...

I can just imagine... Two engis empty the main deck heasink flares, then jump down to the lower deck heatsink flares. Then the pilot jumps up to the flak for the finisher, with the third engi doing general repairs.

Offline HamsterIV

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Again, good guide. The pictures for the dammage types was a nice touch. I am surprised you put any ammo type next to flare since mid combat nobody ever stick around for the reload. Like Shink I initially started bringing flares to keep my engies focused on repairs, but the weapon is like the ninja flamethrower. It is very easy to miss 20 stacks of fire on your balloon if your ship is not covered in fire particle effects.

Offline Pickle

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Re: Gunnery for dummies v1.3 - A beginner's guide to the common weaponry.
« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2013, 11:55:22 am »
With the changes to fire-fighting the use of incendiary on the Gatling shouldn't be overlooked.

The Scylla is an indirect fire weapon with a high arc.  To negatively say it has a large downward drop is to completely miss the point of the weapon.  Greased is definitely the primary ammunition choice for the Scylla for me.

And as I'm not the only Captain that will jump onto a gun, it might be useful to note that the choice for Pilot is generally the same as that for Engineer.

Offline Echoez

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Re: Gunnery for dummies v1.3 - A beginner's guide to the common weaponry.
« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2013, 11:56:03 am »
Incendiary is a good choice for flamethrowers too.

I had Chrinus do the math, ignition chance difference between Greased and Incendiary is very low, so I thought greased was overall a better choice unless godess luck decides to smile upon you a lot more than usually, greased allows a faster take down of the balloon as well as giving you a larger clip to work with.

Offline Echoez

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Re: Gunnery for dummies v1.3 - A beginner's guide to the common weaponry.
« Reply #12 on: July 10, 2013, 12:01:40 pm »
The Scylla is an indirect fire weapon with a high arc.  To negatively say it has a large downward drop is to completely miss the point of the weapon.  Greased is definitely the primary ammunition choice for the Scylla for me.

It gives it an advantage if you are firing from bellow, other than that I don't see how I miss the point of the gun. Indirect fire or not, it doesn't change the fact that the massive arc makes shooting targets that are at longer ranges harder than most other guns, it's a warning, not a downside, I am here to explain what the gun does and it isn't wrong that it is mostly restricted to close range, in a medium range battle, unless your gunner is godlike, you will lose to the accuracy of a Heavy clip light flak, especially now that its projectiles do not lose any speed from Heavy clip usage.

Usage of the actual indirect fire capabilities (firing over other objects to hit your target) are pretty rare and only advanced users of this gun will make use of them.

All in all, this is a beginner's guide, the title says so, I'm not gonna state everything nor am I the guy to teach everyone the Metagame of this game, I'm just giving them something to start with. Everything else they will figure out themselves as they play anyway.

This is also a guide for your crew, if you are a pilot, I assume you know how to play the game and how your guns work else why the hell are you piloting?
« Last Edit: July 10, 2013, 12:04:15 pm by EchoLG »

Offline Pickle

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Re: Gunnery for dummies v1.3 - A beginner's guide to the common weaponry.
« Reply #13 on: July 10, 2013, 12:06:16 pm »
Usage of the actual indirect fire capabilities (firing over other objects to hit your target) are pretty rare and only advanced users of this gun will make use of them.

Not that uncommon on Refinery, Scrap Duel or Dunes.. even Anglean/Firnfield has opportunities.  But you're right, this isn't beginner level Gunnery or Piloting.

Offline Gambrill

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Re: Gunnery for dummies v1.3 - A beginner's guide to the common weaponry.
« Reply #14 on: July 10, 2013, 03:16:51 pm »
Just a little note from me, bu you didn't put burst in the suggested for the mortar. That kinda shocked me tbh, i refuse to use anything but in mine, i find the AOE to be very beneficial on a high ammo clip splodey gun. What tare your reasons behind this?