Space RPG 3 — Weapons

Spacecraft customization is a big part of the SRPG-3 experience. Selecting the most effective weapons for specific fights/enemies is critical if one is to travel among the stars. Weapon systems can be bought in the Commerce areas of most spaceports, and installed in the Refit Ship areas, should the spaceport be capable of such installations. Note that not all spacecraft have the option to be refitted; some ship designs are either too complex or too dangerous to refit using modern AER technology. Purchased weapon systems will take up space in a ship's cargo hold until they are refitted to the ship. This will free the cargo space it previously occupied, but deduct an equal amount from the ship's weapon mass.

Weapon systems come in five different 'size types': tiny, small, medium, large, and torpedo. Typically, the larger the size type, the stronger the weapon. Tiny-large sizes are reserved for gun-type weapon batteries. These weapons generate their own ammunition, and never require reloading or additional purchases to operate. Most are mounted on swivel turrets, allowing for variable arcs of fire depending on the ship's design.

Torpedoes have a size type of their own. Their launch units fire same type torpedoes which can be purchased individually at various spaceports depending on availability. Torpedoes and their corresponding launch systems have the additional distinction of utilizing targeting guidance systems for improved accuracy. Because of this, most torpedo launch units are mounted in a 'fixed' position on warships. Fully guided torpedoes are more difficult to dodge/escape, though usually at the cost of payload strength. Stockpiles of torpedoes take up a ship's cargo space and, unlike gunnery, are depleted upon firing. Therefore, they must be restocked at spaceport commercial bays when reserves are exhausted. The amount of torpedoes available to fire is indicated in a small box graphic in the top right corner of the space navigation screen.

Because shields and hulls of ships are very different structures on a molecular level, weapons likewise do different degrees of damage to each depending on a range of factors. Determining overall weapon strength can be tricky and must take both types of damage as well as firing rate into consideration. Some of the strongest weapon systems are of alien design and therefore exceedingly rare. They cannot be found in Commerce areas of human-occupied systems, but rather in remote alien spaceports and/or among the wreckage of destroyed alien vessels.

* CIWS systems cannot be manually fired; instead they fire automatically, releasing chaff at inbound enemy torpedoes in an attempt to detonate them prematurely. Thus, CWIS systems are defensive, rather than offensive, additions to spacecraft.

** Perimeter defense (PD) units cannot be manually fired; instead they fire automatically, intercepting inbound enemy torpedoes with an ultra-high frequency precision laser in an attempt to detonate them prematurely. Like CWIS, PD units are defensive in nature, but are refitted to a ship's weapon slots.

*** This weapon disregards shields. It strikes hulls directly, damaging subsystems on impact.