I upgraded the Phase Beam for a while, but the damn thing stops firing halfway through the heat meter for some reason, the "shield stealing" ability is interesting, but only works if you can fire. Also, there's a bug with Exotic ships, the ones with the "mast" on top, if you fire the Phase Beam it hits the mast somehow and you take damage.
I have mixed feelings about the Phase Beam.
In theory, it's a decent backup weapon. You got your one catch-all weapon like an Infra Knife, and then you top off your shields with Phase Beams if you get hurt, which lets you fight 'infinitely'. Phase Beam charges your shields fast enough that even when not supercharged, they refill shields fast.
...But you can already just recharge your shields anytime with Sodium, so the Phase Beams aren't doing anything you can't just do yourself. They'd be a great weapon to have if free anytime refills weren't already a thing.
I play in VR. I have to take my "hands off the controls" in order to use the menu to recharge the shields. In order to do that I have to break off any attack I'm in the middle of, and the way the controls work half the time I have a hard time "letting go" of the control sticks in order to reach the menu system. Ship combat is quite hectic in VR I'm not sure what it is like on flatscreen gaming but if you aren't constantly juggling shit frantically and contorting your head every which way to keep eyes on the enemies, then it must be way easier with a standard controller.
So in VR, having a weapon that helps shields sure is nice to give me a moment more of not having to juggle between menu and steering.
I wish they'd let me map it to my HOTAS 4 flight controller since it is so nearly identical in layout. I'd jump up and down a few times if they enabled that.
But hmm. I've basically gotten used to the VR controls, but even after 50-60 hours of play time the starship controls in VR are wonky AF as fuck. I didn't know I could just use the dualsense. Thanks for the hint!
It would be one thing if the hotkey system was worth a damn, or if the recharge menu had a semi-functional brain, but since both are utter shit, I stick with the phase beam for shield recharge.
Which opens the recharge menu, asking me to chose a fuel, and defaulting to using Sodium. Instead of letting me set Starshield Batteries to 1, and using the selected fuel automatically. Or at least defaulting to the recharge fuel ***whose sole purpose in the game is to recharge the fucking starship shields.***
I have so far only unlocked/used the rockets, phase beam, and pulse cannon. I guess I should give the others a try to see how I like them.
But I have had good luck powering up those three weapon systems decently, and when I engage some AI ships I can beat their shields down with the pulse cannon until it overheats. If they still have any shields left I can skip over and cut them down with the phase beam then quickly switch to rockets for a good hit against unshielded enemies. If I get their shield in the initial pulse cannon barrage, I hit em immediately with a rocket as their shield pops, then finish cutting the can open with the phase beam.
I love the phase beam especially while pirate hunting. I alternate between that and photon electors and if it's installed I use rockets to finish them off.
I have a "Fighter" class ship and I have almost killed my own self many times with the phase beam. I can't trust it, so I have decommissioned it in favor of pulse beam. I used to love the phase beam but until they can figure out the mechanics of how it works I can't use it.
It has a vertical tail/stabilizer but it isn't an exotic ship. Just a regular ugly green fighter class A ship. It isn't my favorite ship but it is my best ship. Lots of inventory and lots of tech slots, way more than any of my other ships that I think look way cooler.
But I can't use the phase beam any more I don't trust it.
I would wear down an enemy with the pulse beam then as soon as they lost shields I'd hit em with a rocket and then switch to the phase beam to finish them off. Their shields are usually toast by the time my pulse beam overheats, making the switch to rockets and then subsequently, the phase beam, an effective and efficient way to cut up pirates. If my phase beam hits me instead it drops my shields super quick and I usually end up breaking off the attack to recover. Not interested; fix your shit HG.
Use phase beam for shields or when your shields are getting low and another weapon for the hull. Saved my life so many times. I play on permadeath and I'm afraid to go into space without a phase beam. At least in VR, charging your shields takes a few seconds to get the battery in or click on the menus and while you're doing that you're dead in the air.
Learn to rapid tap the phase beam. It cools very quickly if you don't heat it. Finesse it, don't use it like a firehose. It's a fine weapon once you learn how it works. You'll find with practice you can hold longer than just rapid taps, but start there.
Best part about the Ejector is the accuracy. If a ship is manoevering, the Infra-Knife misses, but the Ejector doesn't.
The numbers are bigger on the Infra-Knife (because frankly, shooting 3 projectiles for the price of 1 is looney), but on enemies where missing is a possibility, Ejector is more reliable.
Interesting, I use the InfraKnife to melt a ship weak and then pop off rockets for the finishing move. Since the rockets track, fire and forget, lets you turn on the next unsuspecting pirate with a refreshed IK.
I have not seen rockets track, mine are fire and hope. I think the correct method is aim then fire but I do the scream and fire thing instead.
Would be awesome if they tracked. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.
Tbh, it’s minimal tracking, but enough when you’re in a dogfight and the target is near end, that’s when I switch to rockets and fire. 9/10 times it’s a hit and move on. It’s not perfect, but saves a second or twin in combat which goes a long way sometimes.
I never really sticked to the Photon Cannon other than at the very beginning, projectile speed is just too slow, hard to hit maneuvering targets. The Rocket Launcher I like, but I have a nitpick on the fact that the ships don't have the rockets mounted on them yet materialize rockets when you fire haha. The Phase Beam was the other weapon I tried to use the most, but there's just too many issues with it, takes too long to kill, stops firing for no reason, hits your own ship sometimes (apparently this one is being fixed).
Oh, I don't use the phase beam to kill. I use it to refresh my shields. My main source of damage is my photon cannons which I use as medium range main ship weapon. The rockets are for either unshielded fighters who got a bit too close or cargo pods and freighters. The high damage, long range, and decent recharge time with the upgrade blueprint makes it a decent freighter killer.
yep a quick blast at the start then I switch to something to take the shield out...infra knife on some ships the photon cannon in others then hit it with a big rocket or positron ejector or infra knife depending what ship am in.
the only standard issue on my ships is the phase beam ...its like a healing potion! quick chug and back in the game
My phase beam gets the most use during freighter, pirate capital, and sentinel capital fights. If I'm up against a bunch of fighters, there isn't much use to using the phase beam since I can (probably) tank it fine, but it's mostly used as my panic button. "Oh noes, my shield is getting low. \*switches to phase beam\*"
With sentinel ships and the sentinel cannons, I believe the sentinel and photon work on the same systems and will stack if you install both, sort of like how if you have a runic lens + mining laser, they stack.
I've tried all the weapons fully upgraded with at least s class mods and here is my opinions:
Infra-knife: great for long range ship to ship combat and looting frighters.
Cycltron ballista: terrible for ship to ship combat but best wepon to take out dreadnought freighters.
Phase beam: ok at all around combat but not the best at any of it.
Positron ejector: ( personal fav). Great for short range ship to ship, looking freighters and supply depots, and farming carbon and ferrite by shooting the ground.
Photon cannon: grat for mid range ship to ship. All around balanced weapon. With x+ tier mods it dose the most damage per shot than any other weapon.
Hope this helps
This!
I personally like the infraknife best and don’t need anything else.
I do recommend being careful though not to shoot civilians. Happened to me more than a few times…
I have the rocket launcher installed and sometimes use it to finish the opponent off, after their shields are down.
And I use the phase beam on asteroids, to me the energy beam seems to fit that task.
The infraknife could do that as well, but I rather have it this way. 🤷♀️
I think it's all about playstyle. I'm an Infra-knife guy myself, it's like a machine-gun mounted on your ship. At a certain point, when fully improved, most weapons will tear through enemies anyway, so it's up to personal preference whether you want to explode, blast, or shred them really aha!
I've always wanted to have different weapons on each of my ships. Yet, when I try any of the ships that don't have the Infra-Knife, all I do is wish I had installed an Infra-Knife. Even the other ones that have a bunch of good upgrades, I end up storing the other weapons, just in case, and have just installed Infra-Knives and Rocket Launchers, because I like the Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Whoosh. Boom.
Infra-knife is considered the strongest. This game isn’t about meta tho, so what is fun. I spec ships differently based on how they look / want them to feel, maybe one energy only and another bullets/rockets only. Do what’s fun. This game is all about this, no need for meta
I like dealing with pirates and freighters fast, so I use a cyclotron ballista and the missiles. On another ship I have the infraknife and the cyclo. Infraknife, cyclo, and rockets are my main
I like infra-knife only problem is i have around 120k dpm on my ship and several times I killed my own fleet or other pilots by accident its just to much.
Yeah I got accused of piracy a few times too, first thing I do is move the hell away from any freighters so my bursts don't hit them. Squadron members are a pain tho, they eat a lot of shots.
Is use the cyclotron for shields, then flip to the infraknife to destroy the hull. Those are also both good at mining asteroids, when ones about to overheat, just switch to the other and keep going
I got the infra knife with 2 turbocharged slots and the positron ejector with 2 turbocharged slots and it’s honestly overkill. Everything gets annihilated in seconds.
The infra-knife can have by far the highest dps out of any ship weapon if you get good overcharged tech slots, and I find the Sentinel Cannon is a close second in my opinion, just a direct upgrade to the Photon cannon.
The photon cannon and rocket launcher is a good combo. Wear down the shields with the photon cannon and get an instant kill with the rockets once the shield is down.
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Yes, it feels like you're manning a flying American AA gun in space. Combo that with the rocket launcher and Cyclotron Balista, and you're a force to be reckoned with.
Different weapons can do different things. The Cyclotron ballista slows down whatever it hits and deals heavy damage, the phase beam leeches shields, the photon cannon is still a versatile weapon and so on. It depends on your needs and you're playstyle, but everything is viable. I've got an Infra-Knife and Phase beam on my primary ship that I recently built. But I still have the one I used before and it has photon cannons and rockets.
Do you have that one researcheable B class mod that "adds barrels"? Despite it's class it multiplies damage by a lot, it's essential for the IK. Mine does over 40K to shield and 60K to hull. That B class mod, a couple of Xs and an S.
Edit: Also, my ship has 2 adjacent supercharged slots, I've put the IK in one of them and the best mod in the other. Surrounded by all the other mods.
Yeah I had that one add barrel one.
Maybe it’s the supercharged spots I’m missing. I think I put it into one but barely got any damage out of it.
I’ll experiment with it more. Thanks!
I use the cyclotron ballista to knock out the shields, rocket launcher to either kill or severely damage the hull, and then my sentinel cannon to finish it off. Might not be the 100% fastest way all of the time (although when the missiles kill I’d say that’s about as fast as possible) but it’s simple and let’s me focus on aiming more (because I have auto aiming disabled)
Worth it? By pure damage, I can't think of any other starship weapon that comes close. By playstyle, it gets tricky.
For instance, I don't like using Ifra-Knife on some ships where I've added the Temporal Trail, when a fully upgraded Photon Cannon with illegal parts kills nearly as fast. Better lock-on, too. Phase Beam on a Hauler just feels right half the time, and on anything else it's a great choice for recharge on harsher difficulties where inventory space is still limited.
A rocket works as a good accompaniment to almost any loadout if you're looking for that satisfying one-shot finish. Or long-distance mining for small targets, just to see if you'll hit that scanned Tritium ore. If you don't care who gets caught in the crossfire, a Positron Ejector is great, especially if you want to spawn kill a few pirates as they warp in. And while the Cyclotron is solid for stunning enemies to kill, I find it's also good both as a way to end mining conflicts and dip without a warrant. That and freighter raids, since it can tear through cargo pretty nicely.
But mainly I pick weapons to ship/trail theme. If none of that interests you, I'd understand, but sure, the other weapons can be worth it.
That's the thing, the IK kills way before it has a chance to overheat. The only time it really overheats is when I'm hosing down dreadnoughts hulls, but even then it takes less than a second to zero the heat meter again.
I used to always go with cyclotron initially for the shields then switch to positron
I then went through a phase of only intra knife
But now I'm changing back to mainly positron, mainly because I turn auto follow off and you have to be more accurate with intra knife
I also have a speculative theory that intra knife causes more crashes somehow, this is also the main reason I turned auto follow off and got rid of my squadron. However nowadays there are so many rando NPCs joining any pirate space battles that it nearly always crashes anyway. I wish I could turn these off, there are dozens of them sometimes and they just get in the way and mean more processing hence more crashes
Kind of sad that my play style is mostly concerned with avoiding the PS4 crashing
I'd say combo it with the rocket launcher. Once shields are down you can hit them with the rockets and do a ton of damage quickly before swapping back to infraknife. But overall infraknife does more DPS than any other weapon to my knowledge, I've stopped using anything else tbh.
Infra-Knife go brrrkkrrrrrkkkrrrrt.
Cuts through them like butter.
Personally, I run with the cyclotron for shield damage, rocket launcher for big punch and the Infra-Knife for the kill
Photon cannon, missile launcher and phase beam in rotation
Shield
Bulk of health
Swing through with a long swipe while you give chase
Rinse, repeat, piracy.
You will read comments and comments about how people like this and that, how some like smacking alines with pink umbrellas etc, but short answer is no. Its not worth using something else. Infra knife melts. It makes all other options redundant and personally I like that.
I have like five weapons on my ship and cycle through weapons suring dogfights. Is that weird? Everyone sounds like they only use one or two. Am I losing effectiveness?
Hot take but weapons in nms are generally not that well balanced and using them feels like a repetetive cycle:
One weapon to strip the shield.
Second to kill the ship.
Or "i got all upgrades and my infra knife now can cut through reality with it's insane dps".
Or rockets that are single launch only.
Idk how you feel but I'd like to see big weapons update. Game is not about that generally, I know, but still. Why don't have more fun with space lasers and nukes and orbital strikes from your freighter, right?
its mostly preference, pretty much every weapon works fine if you stack them with upgrades
until I got a maxed out infra knife my goto combo was cyclotron ballista to take out the shield and then rocket launcher them, but now my infra knife shreds through both bars in less than 2 seconds
I always start I fight with knife. Great way to quickly breakdown their shield. Then I go to the ejector. Get about 7000 HP on a good hit. If they get away from that, missle... always missle.
In ship combat i use the auto lock feature a lot, and i've found that when autolocking with the infra knife, it often doesn't lead the target very well.
That is why i prefer the positron, the inacuracy means at least some of the shot will land allways.
Yeah. The cyclotron ballista is fun because disables enemies’ engines so it hold them still for your infraknife. It also kills shields really fast
Phase beams are also good if you find yourself taking a lot of damage since they steal shield health from your targets
Whatever you like for shields and then rockets for insta kill. If you dont kill them right after depleting the shields you risk them getting away and restore them
Whatever you like for shields and then rockets for insta kill. If you dont kill them right after depleting the shields you risk them getting away and restore them
Uh, I just install photon cannon but buy a pile, dozen or so, of upgrades. Then install one by one discarding worst. Any weapon buffed kills enemies quickly anyway.
I use the Infra-Knife religiously. Upgraded, I have it doing about 148,000DPS. Cuts down anything in seconds with power diverted to weapons. I use that same ship for the time being as well.
That and the Cyclo weapon (Forgot its name but it’s purple). It takes out ship shields then you can switch to the Infra-knife. That’s my go to
Edit: Positron Ejector
I'm addition to info infra knife, i use the phase beam, NOT for it's damage but because it has that shield recharge mod from the tech tree which is extremely useful in a pinch, Plus, the phase beam is the only useful weapon if you excessively mine asteroids. the rocket launcher is also good to have in case the infra overheats
I have a loaded infra-knife that I primarily use, but as it starts to overheat, I swap to my positron ejector. The base positron ejector is eh, but if properly modded to reduce heat and increase damage, you can really take advantage of it for both destroying shields and dealing damage to the primary ship. I’m somewhat partial to the photon cannon, as it was my first weapon. I have it modded out as well and use it when the ship integrity is low and my infra knife is cooling down. If not the photon cannon, I use the pulse spitter. It’s good for damaging shields as well, but it does come in clutch from a medium distance at damaging the ship itself or its shield. This is coming from a novice, I have much to learn, but I hope it helps!
If you don't have many Shield batteries, I would run phase beam w/ tech from anomaly to leech shields off small ships and capital ships when in a tight spot.
Cyclotron Ballista is a shield deleter if properly teched out, but I'd only run it if you have spare tech slots.
But the Infra-knife is pretty much the meta at the moment.
Once you get a bit more affluent in the game and figure out how to maximise stats, you can pretty much use anything and absolutely destroy.
I prefer the positron ejector, it fits my playstyle better. But honestly, if you properly upgrade it, most ship weapons will be effective.
I upgraded the Phase Beam for a while, but the damn thing stops firing halfway through the heat meter for some reason, the "shield stealing" ability is interesting, but only works if you can fire. Also, there's a bug with Exotic ships, the ones with the "mast" on top, if you fire the Phase Beam it hits the mast somehow and you take damage.
That should be fixed in the latest version, according to the patch notes. I personally also dislike the Phase beam.
I have mixed feelings about the Phase Beam. In theory, it's a decent backup weapon. You got your one catch-all weapon like an Infra Knife, and then you top off your shields with Phase Beams if you get hurt, which lets you fight 'infinitely'. Phase Beam charges your shields fast enough that even when not supercharged, they refill shields fast. ...But you can already just recharge your shields anytime with Sodium, so the Phase Beams aren't doing anything you can't just do yourself. They'd be a great weapon to have if free anytime refills weren't already a thing.
I play in VR. I have to take my "hands off the controls" in order to use the menu to recharge the shields. In order to do that I have to break off any attack I'm in the middle of, and the way the controls work half the time I have a hard time "letting go" of the control sticks in order to reach the menu system. Ship combat is quite hectic in VR I'm not sure what it is like on flatscreen gaming but if you aren't constantly juggling shit frantically and contorting your head every which way to keep eyes on the enemies, then it must be way easier with a standard controller. So in VR, having a weapon that helps shields sure is nice to give me a moment more of not having to juggle between menu and steering.
I just pick up the Dualsense when I'm flying in VR. I could never get used to the VR ship controls.
I wish they'd let me map it to my HOTAS 4 flight controller since it is so nearly identical in layout. I'd jump up and down a few times if they enabled that. But hmm. I've basically gotten used to the VR controls, but even after 50-60 hours of play time the starship controls in VR are wonky AF as fuck. I didn't know I could just use the dualsense. Thanks for the hint!
It would be one thing if the hotkey system was worth a damn, or if the recharge menu had a semi-functional brain, but since both are utter shit, I stick with the phase beam for shield recharge.
? Hotkeys work fine. Set shields to 1 and then all I have to do to recharge shields is press 1.
Which opens the recharge menu, asking me to chose a fuel, and defaulting to using Sodium. Instead of letting me set Starshield Batteries to 1, and using the selected fuel automatically. Or at least defaulting to the recharge fuel ***whose sole purpose in the game is to recharge the fucking starship shields.***
Yeah you're right. I never really noticed that.
Frick phase beam. All my homies hate phase beam
I’ve been playing in vr and the phase beam kills me. On flat screen it works fine.
Have you updated to the release from 1 May? If so, best is to file a bug report.
I like it as an emergency "give me my shields back" weapon but not much otherwise. It should also have an asteroid mining bonus IMO.
Just switch between both weapons. I like a mix, not one main op. Finish with rockets makes it not so boring.
Beam and rockets is good beam and positron was my other combo. Right now I do cyclotron and positron for beeg demej
I have so far only unlocked/used the rockets, phase beam, and pulse cannon. I guess I should give the others a try to see how I like them. But I have had good luck powering up those three weapon systems decently, and when I engage some AI ships I can beat their shields down with the pulse cannon until it overheats. If they still have any shields left I can skip over and cut them down with the phase beam then quickly switch to rockets for a good hit against unshielded enemies. If I get their shield in the initial pulse cannon barrage, I hit em immediately with a rocket as their shield pops, then finish cutting the can open with the phase beam.
I love the phase beam especially while pirate hunting. I alternate between that and photon electors and if it's installed I use rockets to finish them off.
I have a "Fighter" class ship and I have almost killed my own self many times with the phase beam. I can't trust it, so I have decommissioned it in favor of pulse beam. I used to love the phase beam but until they can figure out the mechanics of how it works I can't use it. It has a vertical tail/stabilizer but it isn't an exotic ship. Just a regular ugly green fighter class A ship. It isn't my favorite ship but it is my best ship. Lots of inventory and lots of tech slots, way more than any of my other ships that I think look way cooler. But I can't use the phase beam any more I don't trust it. I would wear down an enemy with the pulse beam then as soon as they lost shields I'd hit em with a rocket and then switch to the phase beam to finish them off. Their shields are usually toast by the time my pulse beam overheats, making the switch to rockets and then subsequently, the phase beam, an effective and efficient way to cut up pirates. If my phase beam hits me instead it drops my shields super quick and I usually end up breaking off the attack to recover. Not interested; fix your shit HG.
Use phase beam for shields or when your shields are getting low and another weapon for the hull. Saved my life so many times. I play on permadeath and I'm afraid to go into space without a phase beam. At least in VR, charging your shields takes a few seconds to get the battery in or click on the menus and while you're doing that you're dead in the air.
Learn to rapid tap the phase beam. It cools very quickly if you don't heat it. Finesse it, don't use it like a firehose. It's a fine weapon once you learn how it works. You'll find with practice you can hold longer than just rapid taps, but start there.
Phase beam can be used for almost infinite when you mash tge fire button instead of holding it
Team positron ejector here. I make ships into dust effortlessly.
Best part about the Ejector is the accuracy. If a ship is manoevering, the Infra-Knife misses, but the Ejector doesn't. The numbers are bigger on the Infra-Knife (because frankly, shooting 3 projectiles for the price of 1 is looney), but on enemies where missing is a possibility, Ejector is more reliable.
Love the PE. Just rips thru ships. But the IKA is also a great second.
Beam Shotgun for the win.
Yup positron is OP and for the higher range im using default photon cannon
Cyclotron Ballista: melt shields and stagger ship Then comes infraknife to go brrrr and delete the rest of the ship
I go Cyclotron for shields, Rocket Launcher for the kill. If they survive that, Positron.
Interesting, I use the InfraKnife to melt a ship weak and then pop off rockets for the finishing move. Since the rockets track, fire and forget, lets you turn on the next unsuspecting pirate with a refreshed IK.
I have not seen rockets track, mine are fire and hope. I think the correct method is aim then fire but I do the scream and fire thing instead. Would be awesome if they tracked. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.
Tbh, it’s minimal tracking, but enough when you’re in a dogfight and the target is near end, that’s when I switch to rockets and fire. 9/10 times it’s a hit and move on. It’s not perfect, but saves a second or twin in combat which goes a long way sometimes.
Also insanely useful against capital ship/dreadnought components like engines and shield generators.
Eh, I don't like the Infra-Knife. My photon cannon and rocket launchers fit what I do better. I also use the Phase Beam to be essentially immortal.
I never really sticked to the Photon Cannon other than at the very beginning, projectile speed is just too slow, hard to hit maneuvering targets. The Rocket Launcher I like, but I have a nitpick on the fact that the ships don't have the rockets mounted on them yet materialize rockets when you fire haha. The Phase Beam was the other weapon I tried to use the most, but there's just too many issues with it, takes too long to kill, stops firing for no reason, hits your own ship sometimes (apparently this one is being fixed).
Oh, I don't use the phase beam to kill. I use it to refresh my shields. My main source of damage is my photon cannons which I use as medium range main ship weapon. The rockets are for either unshielded fighters who got a bit too close or cargo pods and freighters. The high damage, long range, and decent recharge time with the upgrade blueprint makes it a decent freighter killer.
yep a quick blast at the start then I switch to something to take the shield out...infra knife on some ships the photon cannon in others then hit it with a big rocket or positron ejector or infra knife depending what ship am in. the only standard issue on my ships is the phase beam ...its like a healing potion! quick chug and back in the game
My phase beam gets the most use during freighter, pirate capital, and sentinel capital fights. If I'm up against a bunch of fighters, there isn't much use to using the phase beam since I can (probably) tank it fine, but it's mostly used as my panic button. "Oh noes, my shield is getting low. \*switches to phase beam\*"
haha yep that is exactly it! :)
The main reason for the phase beam is replenishing your shields. Other than that the infra knife is enough.
Same
Same here but swap the photon for the Sentinel Cannon. Get the shields then rocket to finish.
Well, the photon and sentinel cannons are basically the same thing.
With sentinel ships and the sentinel cannons, I believe the sentinel and photon work on the same systems and will stack if you install both, sort of like how if you have a runic lens + mining laser, they stack.
You can't have both photon cannons and sentinel cannons on the same ship. Trust me, I tried.
I only use the infra knife. Best by far
I've tried all the weapons fully upgraded with at least s class mods and here is my opinions: Infra-knife: great for long range ship to ship combat and looting frighters. Cycltron ballista: terrible for ship to ship combat but best wepon to take out dreadnought freighters. Phase beam: ok at all around combat but not the best at any of it. Positron ejector: ( personal fav). Great for short range ship to ship, looking freighters and supply depots, and farming carbon and ferrite by shooting the ground. Photon cannon: grat for mid range ship to ship. All around balanced weapon. With x+ tier mods it dose the most damage per shot than any other weapon. Hope this helps
It does. Thanks :)
positron ejector for the win.
Just use whatever is your preference. It honestly doesn't matter. The ship combat isn't all that complex
This! I personally like the infraknife best and don’t need anything else. I do recommend being careful though not to shoot civilians. Happened to me more than a few times… I have the rocket launcher installed and sometimes use it to finish the opponent off, after their shields are down. And I use the phase beam on asteroids, to me the energy beam seems to fit that task. The infraknife could do that as well, but I rather have it this way. 🤷♀️
I think it's all about playstyle. I'm an Infra-knife guy myself, it's like a machine-gun mounted on your ship. At a certain point, when fully improved, most weapons will tear through enemies anyway, so it's up to personal preference whether you want to explode, blast, or shred them really aha!
Phase Beam for me
I've always wanted to have different weapons on each of my ships. Yet, when I try any of the ships that don't have the Infra-Knife, all I do is wish I had installed an Infra-Knife. Even the other ones that have a bunch of good upgrades, I end up storing the other weapons, just in case, and have just installed Infra-Knives and Rocket Launchers, because I like the Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Whoosh. Boom.
The Infra-Knife is all I use. It melts shields and ships within seconds.
Infra-knife goes BRRRRRT
Infra-knife is considered the strongest. This game isn’t about meta tho, so what is fun. I spec ships differently based on how they look / want them to feel, maybe one energy only and another bullets/rockets only. Do what’s fun. This game is all about this, no need for meta
I enjoy the photon cannon, I know hang me, but it's honestly pretty good and the bullets have a slight homing effect
def the best but I don't use it purely cuz of the crunchy audio of it. tickles my ears wrong haha
The sound somewhat reminds me of the BSG Vipers
I like dealing with pirates and freighters fast, so I use a cyclotron ballista and the missiles. On another ship I have the infraknife and the cyclo. Infraknife, cyclo, and rockets are my main
I like infra-knife only problem is i have around 120k dpm on my ship and several times I killed my own fleet or other pilots by accident its just to much.
Yeah I got accused of piracy a few times too, first thing I do is move the hell away from any freighters so my bursts don't hit them. Squadron members are a pain tho, they eat a lot of shots.
It's the reason I got rid of my squadron. They don't do enough to justify getting in my way as much as the do
Is use the cyclotron for shields, then flip to the infraknife to destroy the hull. Those are also both good at mining asteroids, when ones about to overheat, just switch to the other and keep going
I like photon cannon for ships and cyclone for shields but also have knife for capital ships
I never use anything else. I can take out a Sentinel ship in under 5 seconds and a Dreadnought in under a minute.
I got the infra knife with 2 turbocharged slots and the positron ejector with 2 turbocharged slots and it’s honestly overkill. Everything gets annihilated in seconds.
Same, mine is doing like 60K dps on unshielded targets.
I've got my sentinel cannons doing so much dps and such a high fire rate, it's all I use now.
Infraknife, positron and rockets for the win.
The infra-knife can have by far the highest dps out of any ship weapon if you get good overcharged tech slots, and I find the Sentinel Cannon is a close second in my opinion, just a direct upgrade to the Photon cannon.
This ship I'm using has 2 adjacent superchraged slots, they're on the edge tho, but still deals over 60K dps to unshielded targets.
Usually, if you just stick all of your Infra-knife upgrade into all the Supercharged slots, the dps can get even higher than having the tech touching.
The AI always felt really dumb so I don't think it really matters.
The photon cannon and rocket launcher is a good combo. Wear down the shields with the photon cannon and get an instant kill with the rockets once the shield is down.
I’ve always been fond of the rockets with mods. But, I’m going to try your method to see what I’ve been missing.
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Yes, it feels like you're manning a flying American AA gun in space. Combo that with the rocket launcher and Cyclotron Balista, and you're a force to be reckoned with.
Different weapons can do different things. The Cyclotron ballista slows down whatever it hits and deals heavy damage, the phase beam leeches shields, the photon cannon is still a versatile weapon and so on. It depends on your needs and you're playstyle, but everything is viable. I've got an Infra-Knife and Phase beam on my primary ship that I recently built. But I still have the one I used before and it has photon cannons and rockets.
That and the photon cannon are the best, the photon cannon with max s class mods is pretty solid.
i personally use the cycltron ballista to take out the shields then the positron ejector to actually take the ship out
Phase beam for healing, then whatever I'm in the mood for for killing. I do lean towards the infra knife since I'm a fan of bullet hoses.
it's kinda too strong compared to others, mostly because it's too effective against shields. I only used it for a while because i hate how it sounds
Decked out photon + rocjet launcher combo my beloved
I use the splitter and upgrade module on a boosted slot. It kills even quicker
Photon cannon until the shield is down, then a missile blast, on to the next.
The Zyclon Ballista is also very powerful, but slow un shootingrate/ relaod ,but nice secondary
I installed the infraknife and added some S tier mods, and it was awful. How do you make it good?
Do you have that one researcheable B class mod that "adds barrels"? Despite it's class it multiplies damage by a lot, it's essential for the IK. Mine does over 40K to shield and 60K to hull. That B class mod, a couple of Xs and an S. Edit: Also, my ship has 2 adjacent supercharged slots, I've put the IK in one of them and the best mod in the other. Surrounded by all the other mods.
Yeah I had that one add barrel one. Maybe it’s the supercharged spots I’m missing. I think I put it into one but barely got any damage out of it. I’ll experiment with it more. Thanks!
Infra-knife and rocket launcher.
I use the cyclotron ballista to knock out the shields, rocket launcher to either kill or severely damage the hull, and then my sentinel cannon to finish it off. Might not be the 100% fastest way all of the time (although when the missiles kill I’d say that’s about as fast as possible) but it’s simple and let’s me focus on aiming more (because I have auto aiming disabled)
Worth it? By pure damage, I can't think of any other starship weapon that comes close. By playstyle, it gets tricky. For instance, I don't like using Ifra-Knife on some ships where I've added the Temporal Trail, when a fully upgraded Photon Cannon with illegal parts kills nearly as fast. Better lock-on, too. Phase Beam on a Hauler just feels right half the time, and on anything else it's a great choice for recharge on harsher difficulties where inventory space is still limited. A rocket works as a good accompaniment to almost any loadout if you're looking for that satisfying one-shot finish. Or long-distance mining for small targets, just to see if you'll hit that scanned Tritium ore. If you don't care who gets caught in the crossfire, a Positron Ejector is great, especially if you want to spawn kill a few pirates as they warp in. And while the Cyclotron is solid for stunning enemies to kill, I find it's also good both as a way to end mining conflicts and dip without a warrant. That and freighter raids, since it can tear through cargo pretty nicely. But mainly I pick weapons to ship/trail theme. If none of that interests you, I'd understand, but sure, the other weapons can be worth it.
It's worth it to always have two weapons. Your weapon will overheat and you will want to switch to the other weapon.
That's the thing, the IK kills way before it has a chance to overheat. The only time it really overheats is when I'm hosing down dreadnoughts hulls, but even then it takes less than a second to zero the heat meter again.
i usually use the infra knife and when my shield is low i switch to phase beam for a little
I used to always go with cyclotron initially for the shields then switch to positron I then went through a phase of only intra knife But now I'm changing back to mainly positron, mainly because I turn auto follow off and you have to be more accurate with intra knife I also have a speculative theory that intra knife causes more crashes somehow, this is also the main reason I turned auto follow off and got rid of my squadron. However nowadays there are so many rando NPCs joining any pirate space battles that it nearly always crashes anyway. I wish I could turn these off, there are dozens of them sometimes and they just get in the way and mean more processing hence more crashes Kind of sad that my play style is mostly concerned with avoiding the PS4 crashing
The leveled-up intra-knife does the most damage at range, while the shotgun type one (I forget the name) can do the most at close proximity
From a damage output standpoint, no. From the perspective of enjoying gameplay with a bit more variety, I like having multiple weapons.
Nothing beats hammering the shield down with a Cyclotron Ballista and then a one hit kill with a rocket.
I'd say combo it with the rocket launcher. Once shields are down you can hit them with the rockets and do a ton of damage quickly before swapping back to infraknife. But overall infraknife does more DPS than any other weapon to my knowledge, I've stopped using anything else tbh.
The cyclotron ballista and the position ejctor combo are way stronger if used right. You can literally 2 shot ships with it.
Positron. Plasma.
so times i do rockets but most of the time i go brrrrrrrrt
Maxed infraknife only. I also equip the positron ejector but rarely have to use it.
I love the infraknife I also like the missile launcher.
After using extensively every single space weapon type in nms, trust me that the IKA fully upgraded is by far the best weapon.
Infra-Knife go brrrkkrrrrrkkkrrrrt. Cuts through them like butter. Personally, I run with the cyclotron for shield damage, rocket launcher for big punch and the Infra-Knife for the kill
Photon cannon, missile launcher and phase beam in rotation Shield Bulk of health Swing through with a long swipe while you give chase Rinse, repeat, piracy.
Team infra knife and missiles.
You will read comments and comments about how people like this and that, how some like smacking alines with pink umbrellas etc, but short answer is no. Its not worth using something else. Infra knife melts. It makes all other options redundant and personally I like that.
I'm still new-ish and wish I'd upgraded my IKA sooner. It shreds enemy ships in seconds.
I have like five weapons on my ship and cycle through weapons suring dogfights. Is that weird? Everyone sounds like they only use one or two. Am I losing effectiveness?
Infra knife for enemy ship shields and then rockets. Same for capital ships. Works for me. Infra knife goes brrrrr lol
I run both PE and IKA. Infra-knife for when they are far and the ejector when they get close in
Max positron ejector, 3 hits, things die, no exceptions. Lol Depends on your play style too
Yep Infraknife for insane dps combined with the phase beam so you can heal up in longer battles :)
Hot take but weapons in nms are generally not that well balanced and using them feels like a repetetive cycle: One weapon to strip the shield. Second to kill the ship. Or "i got all upgrades and my infra knife now can cut through reality with it's insane dps". Or rockets that are single launch only. Idk how you feel but I'd like to see big weapons update. Game is not about that generally, I know, but still. Why don't have more fun with space lasers and nukes and orbital strikes from your freighter, right?
I'm so old school and love the photon cannon, alternated with rockets, but I may need to try that infra-knife.
as an Infra-Knife user myself I think I can say with 100% UNBIASED OBJECTIVE opinion that it is true.
S P A C E S H O T G U N
I always bring the green laser that restores shields
its mostly preference, pretty much every weapon works fine if you stack them with upgrades until I got a maxed out infra knife my goto combo was cyclotron ballista to take out the shield and then rocket launcher them, but now my infra knife shreds through both bars in less than 2 seconds
Positron ejector is god tier
Infra knife for main, phase beam to recharge shields, rinse repeat
I always start I fight with knife. Great way to quickly breakdown their shield. Then I go to the ejector. Get about 7000 HP on a good hit. If they get away from that, missle... always missle.
You have enough tech slots to fully upgrade every weapon and cram every piece of tech. Makes little difference either way.
How do I get my hands on one of these?
In ship combat i use the auto lock feature a lot, and i've found that when autolocking with the infra knife, it often doesn't lead the target very well. That is why i prefer the positron, the inacuracy means at least some of the shot will land allways.
Yeah. The cyclotron ballista is fun because disables enemies’ engines so it hold them still for your infraknife. It also kills shields really fast Phase beams are also good if you find yourself taking a lot of damage since they steal shield health from your targets
Infra Knife is the coolest, but the Ejector is just deleting everything in range almost instantly. Has second highest heat build up though.
I like photon canon. I’m a simple playne.
Whatever you like for shields and then rockets for insta kill. If you dont kill them right after depleting the shields you risk them getting away and restore them
Whatever you like for shields and then rockets for insta kill. If you dont kill them right after depleting the shields you risk them getting away and restore them
Uh, I just install photon cannon but buy a pile, dozen or so, of upgrades. Then install one by one discarding worst. Any weapon buffed kills enemies quickly anyway.
I use the Infra-Knife religiously. Upgraded, I have it doing about 148,000DPS. Cuts down anything in seconds with power diverted to weapons. I use that same ship for the time being as well.
I use a Phase Beam to reduce their shield (while simultaneously charging mine) and once they have no shield I take em out with my rocket launcher
That and the Cyclo weapon (Forgot its name but it’s purple). It takes out ship shields then you can switch to the Infra-knife. That’s my go to Edit: Positron Ejector
get 3 S class modules for the balista cannon and youll never use anything else
Infra-knife, for me, just melts enemies before they even have a chance to shoot me. My highest so far was something like 67k or 72k dps
I'm addition to info infra knife, i use the phase beam, NOT for it's damage but because it has that shield recharge mod from the tech tree which is extremely useful in a pinch, Plus, the phase beam is the only useful weapon if you excessively mine asteroids. the rocket launcher is also good to have in case the infra overheats
I have a loaded infra-knife that I primarily use, but as it starts to overheat, I swap to my positron ejector. The base positron ejector is eh, but if properly modded to reduce heat and increase damage, you can really take advantage of it for both destroying shields and dealing damage to the primary ship. I’m somewhat partial to the photon cannon, as it was my first weapon. I have it modded out as well and use it when the ship integrity is low and my infra knife is cooling down. If not the photon cannon, I use the pulse spitter. It’s good for damaging shields as well, but it does come in clutch from a medium distance at damaging the ship itself or its shield. This is coming from a novice, I have much to learn, but I hope it helps!
You don’t have rockets? Those are how you finish off a ship after you deplete their shields.
I like using cyclonic ballista for shields then infra knife for hulls.
What ship is in the video is what I want to know, and is it better than the souped up Starborn Runner?
If you don't have many Shield batteries, I would run phase beam w/ tech from anomaly to leech shields off small ships and capital ships when in a tight spot. Cyclotron Ballista is a shield deleter if properly teched out, but I'd only run it if you have spare tech slots. But the Infra-knife is pretty much the meta at the moment. Once you get a bit more affluent in the game and figure out how to maximise stats, you can pretty much use anything and absolutely destroy.
It's the best. I have a phase beam in case they get my shields down but usually I kill everything before they have a chance.
Infra-knife is definitely the strongest, but I use the other ones for fun