Torpedoes, defense in general

[Dark Messiah]

I know this has been done to death, I know. But until now I have not progressed in game enough to see it myself. I was stuck near a two wrecks, one with a Reaper hanging around and one with the two Warpers. This turned out to be the most annoying and frustrating thing ever in this game. Nothing I have worked to help me fend them off, torpedoes only made the Reaper swirl around for a few secs and then he was back in action, and they did not seem to do anything against the Warpers. And the freaking gas torpedoes, what is the point? What do they do that is more than a vortex torpedo? Annoy the Reapers slightly more?!

I get it, for whatever reason they did not want weapons in the game, fine. But come on at least give me something to somehow fend off the enemies. I also love how there are no weapons in game, but there is a gas torpedo that is supposed to do what exactly other than damage the target? And the tales I hear from people claiming you can kill anything with the knife or the Prawn drills...The more I play this game, the more I realize nothing about this makes sense. Either have a weapon, or have a reliable way of dealing with enemies. This is now more annoying then fun to be around these enemy types.

[Dark Messiah]

Originally posted by SH4:

Why not use prawn?

Alright, I am not really looking to kill the reaper really, since the game is I assume made with not killing thing in mind. I just want to know of a good way I can clear an area I need to be for like a minute or two so I can gather what I need and get out. I am not talking about going on an killing spree, just want the tools in the game to function so I can do what I need to do.

I just want the torpedos to do this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Fi_h_4vLc

I fired at a few creatures, big and small like sand sharks, but it did not behave like how it did in the video for some reason.

[CrazyGoblin]

That's for few reasons... First of all, that's a very old video, from a much earlier build. Things worked differently then, including the strength/efficacy of the vortex torpedoes.

Second, the way he was firing them lended itself to Physics Weirdness(tm), and he basically just got lucky. Had it been in open waters (as in, without the Cyclops and the coral pillar around), it wouldn't have had the same effect. The reason for this is because the implosion tried to draw in the gasopods in range, but while the gasopods were trying to "orbit" around the suction point they collided with a solid object and ended up sliding off of it with the orbit velocity. Basically, a hamfisted gravity sling.

Gas torpedoes deal damage, and several predators react to actual damage by running away. The vortex torpedoes deal no damage, they only cause the pulling effect. And since the devs felt that the interactions like the ones in that video were really quite odd to see, they've significantly toned down the reach and power of the implosion effect.

That said, torpedoes are still rather ineffective for the most part (much better now than they used to be, in that they're cheaper to build and smaller to store). With some polyaniline from deep shrooms, you can make the Seamoth perimeter defense module, which lets you charge up a lethal electrical blast using only the Seamoth's energy reserves. Two fully-charged blasts from that thing will kill bonesharks, and in a wide area.


And yes, the "no lethal weapons" philosophy is sound in theory, horribly implemented in practice. Also, while it is ludicrously powerful for no real reason, the stasis rifle doesn't do anything to warpers. Because.

[Jhonny G]

@OP Have you tried one of those decoy torpedoes? Sounds like it could be really useful in the scenario you describe.

Haven't tried 'em myself though, so I don't know if they're actually any good.

[CrazyGoblin]

They're pretty terrible for something like this. Yes, they draw (almost) all aggro from the surrounding area, but they'll only survive maybe 1 hit from a reaper before being destroyed, at which point they go back to targeting whatever it was they were trying to kill earlier, and you're just out the materials you used to make the thing.

It can be useful to cause some disarray if you're getting swarmed in the Cyclops and are actively moving out of the area, but for something like this? Nah, not that great. ...unless you somehow manage to position the Cyclops in such a way that it launches the decoy into an inaccessible area, at which point it becomes hilarious for the entire duration of the decoy's natural lifespan (which I don't remember offhand).

[Jhonny G]

Okai.. wow.. That's extremly disappointing to hear considering how expensive it is to make. If it can't even be used in a scenario like OP describes to lure monster away for at least a solid minute or two, then it seems completly useless and a waste of resources.

[SH4]

Originally posted by Dark Messiah:

Originally posted by SH4:

Why not use prawn?

Alright, I am not really looking to kill the reaper really, since the game is I assume made with not killing thing in mind. I just want to know of a good way I can clear an area I need to be for like a minute or two so I can gather what I need and get out. I am not talking about going on an killing spree, just want the tools in the game to function so I can do what I need to do.

I just want the torpedos to do this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Fi_h_4vLc

I fired at a few creatures, big and small like sand sharks, but it did not behave like how it did in the video for some reason.

Have u tried repulsion cannon yet? Ur pretty much untouchable when u fire it on their faces .... I mean U knock them away so hard they glitch through environment... Though warper are just gonna teleport back after a minute.

Torpedoes are kinda meh this time.

[Dark Messiah]

Originally posted by Dogmatius:

Okai.. wow.. That's extremly disappointing to hear considering how expensive it is to make. If it can't even be used in a scenario like OP describes to lure monster away for at least a solid minute or two, then it seems completly useless and a waste of resources.

This is exactly my problem with this game right now, non of the tools the game gives you really work, so all I see it people coming up with weird and made up solutions to "kill" the reapers for example.

[Dark Messiah]

Originally posted by SH4:

Have u tried repulsion cannon yet? Ur pretty much untouchable when u fire it on their faces .... I mean U knock them away so hard they glitch through environment... Though warper are just gonna teleport back after a minute.

Torpedoes are kinda meh this time.

Not yet, I will give them a try today and see if they are of any help.

[Dala]

Originally posted by Dark Messiah:

Originally posted by Dogmatius:

Okai.. wow.. That's extremly disappointing to hear considering how expensive it is to make. If it can't even be used in a scenario like OP describes to lure monster away for at least a solid minute or two, then it seems completly useless and a waste of resources.

This is exactly my problem with this game right now, non of the tools the game gives you really work, so all I see it people coming up with weird and made up solutions to "kill" the reapers for example.

That's the beauty of it, get creative, get crazy with your solutions.

[Tewa]

OP, you are absolutely correct, torpedoes are nearly worthless.

You are also correct that since the entire game is designed around "don't hurt them! just run away!" that they should make it so things like Warpers cannot hump shipwrecks or other critical objectives.

However, the game is what it is. As to specific solutions, I would strongly suggest you go somewhere else. Based on the Warper/Reaper combo you're either in the Dunes or the Mountains. Those zones are best avoided entirely; personally I never go to those wrecks.

Tech fragments are in multiple locations. You should be able to find the Drill Arm fragments in the wreck located in the Blood Kelp Trench or the eastern Grand Reef. For the Thermal Plant, try the Grand Reef and Sparse Reef wrecks.

[Jhonny G]

Slightly off-topic speculation about the creature decoy..

But I think it would fit the game much better if it worked in a similar way as the gas torpedo. So instead of being a mechanical decoy that is almost instantly destroyed it should explode and release a big cloud of 'bait' in the water that would attract predators for a few minutes before dispersing.

Could see alot more use for that compared to what CrazyGoblin just described..

[Tewa]

Warpers will also get distracted by infected wildlife and run off to kill it. So you could, in theory, build an alien containment and load it up with Stalkers and Sand Sharks, then put in an infected fish to make them all sick. Load up on them all and release them into the wild and the Warpers will fight them. Then you could scan the tech fragments in the meantime.

Although considering the time it would take to set that up (including all the egg hunting), it would probably take less time to just start a new game from scratch and avoid doing things to antagonize the Warpers. :(

Warpers start off the game non-hostile. They only become aggressive when you do certain things to antagonize them.

[Fire Miser]

The biggest most obvious solution to warding off super predators to me for a "dont kill the precious eco system" game. Tranquilizers. Mix a bunch of different reef plants and rabbit ray to make them go sleepy sheepy (or atleast a passive stupor) for a whopping minute for the trouble.

But no. Devs needed the physics toys, and I guess passive aggressiveness to the players for wanting weapons like a torpedo in the first place.

[Tewa]

I don't mind the "no weapons" stance. In fact I applaud them for it.

What I do mind is them later adding cyborg hunter/kiiller machines with super powers to the game, thus making the "no weapons" only apply to the player.

[Dark Messiah]

Originally posted by Tewa:

Warpers start off the game non-hostile. They only become aggressive when you do certain things to antagonize them.

At least according to the wiki, they attack if the infection level is above 0.3 so no, I don`t think this works. As far as I can tell I steered clear of every warper I found until now that I had to go in and scan a wreck.

Originally posted by Tewa:

I don't mind the "no weapons" stance. In fact I applaud them for it.

What I do mind is them later adding cyborg hunter/kiiller machines with super powers to the game, thus making the "no weapons" only apply to the player.

Well, I don`t mind also. As long the game gives me ways to adhere to its rules I am not complaining. As you have mentioned, what I do mind is the sheer amount of creatures out to get me, without me having a reliable way to defend myself. I mean I happily made the torpedo called vortex for god sakes, thinking it should at least help me to get rid of threats at least temporarily but no, I found that they are pretty much useless and a waste of resources/time.