What types of weapons can you get?

[Wicked Clown Luv]

Can you have a ship loaded with cannons?

What else is on offer?

[Gay Raccoon]

OK, first off, there are three different slots where weapons can be placed. Whenever you're considering buying a new gun, pay attention to what slot it's intended to be equipped to--Deck, Forward, or Aft--and don't buy a gun for slots your ship doesn't have.

The Deck cannon is the one every ship has. There are only four of them, and they all work exactly the same way; the only difference is how much damage they do. The Caminus Yards Hellthrasher is the strongest of them, doing a base of 18 damage to both zee-beasts and enemy ships before Iron bonuses, and is a worthy investment for any player at 1500E because it's best-in-slot and every single ship can use it.

Ships designed specifically for combat (the Corvette, the Frigate, and the Dreadnought) also have a Forward slot. Forward guns are stronger than Deck guns, and have a slightly longer reach but a considerably narrower arc where they can be fired. The primary strength of Forward guns, besides their high power, is that you can charge and fire *two* guns at a time against an enemy you're facing instead of just one.

Forward guns can be divided into three categories: flensing weapons, which do more damage to zee-monsters than to ships; torpedo weapons, which aren't worth it (they do more damage to ships than to zee-beasts and have a powerful staggering effect, but every shot consumes Torpedo Components which cost 5E each); and a single standard cannon, the Majesty.

Unlike Deck weapons, the best Forward weapon cannot be purchased (note: the best Forward weapon is *not* that thing the Tittering Artificer in the Iron Republic wants to make). Some people would recommend dropping 1500E on the strongest purchaseable flensing weapon until you get the slot's best weapon, but unless you have money to waste, I recommend buying the single standard cannon for the slot: the Majesty, which is only 400E and will serve you just fine until you get the best weapon for the slot.

The Aft slot is a special case. The Merchant Cruiser, the Frigate, and the Dreadnought all have Aft slots, and the Aft slot can take either special rear-firing cannons *or* special utility items. Aft cannons are all purchaseable, and are quite strong and have high stagger, making them good for keeping an enemy you're fleeing from firing upon you, but they take 6s to charge instead of 4s, and you can't charge a firing solution for Aft cannons while charging solutions for your Deck and Forward guns and vice-versa. The special Aft utilities include things like special cargo bays that can protect your cargo from certain (generally rare) mishaps or make concealing contraband from the Revenue Men *slightly* easier, as well as one special attachment that increases your fuel efficiency at the cost of a big Hearts reduction.

But in my opinion the best thing for the Aft slot isn't a weapon at all, but a utility called the Caminus Yards Avid Suppressor, which is only 800E and lets you freely abuse Full Power (that's the F key) with no risk of starting an engine fire. It's ideal for offsetting the slow speed of the Merchant Cruiser, which will drive you bloody insane otherwise.

tl;dr: Yes. The Deck slot is for *all* ships, and you should buy a Caminus Yards Hellthrasher for it when you can afford the 1500E price tag. The Forward slot is for heavy-duty combat, and a ship with a Forward slot can be considered a combat ship. Forward guns have a firing area that overlaps with Deck guns, allowing you to charge and utilise both guns at once. If you have a Forward slot, stick a 400E Majesty in it until you find the special weapon that's best in slot. The Aft slot, also found only on certain ships, can also take cannons, but Aft guns aren't especially suited to straight combat (they take too long to charge and can't be charged at the same time as Deck or Forward guns) and you're better off using the Caminus Yards Avid Suppressor instead.

[Skinny Pete]

İlk olarak Allison tarafından gönderildi:

Some people would recommend dropping 1500E on the strongest purchaseable flensing weapon until you get the slot's best weapon, but unless you have money to waste, I recommend buying the single standard cannon for the slot: the Majesty, which is only 400E and will serve you just fine until you get the best weapon for the slot.

I would recommend getting that 1500 Echoes item, but then, I would also recommend having money to waste. Considering you can sell back that weapon, the Caminus Yards Heart-Ender, for 750 Echoes, it isn't as much of a waste as it might seem.

It also does flensing attacks, making it almost as good for zee-beast hunting as the Memento Moori itself.

However, I'd also add never buy anything with your last money, and as soon as you can, always hold back a few thousand echoes against hard times. Running out of money is running out of fuel and food and that is tragic.

[the-truthseeker]

As noted, if running a subsequent game where you start with many echoes, get that Heart-Ender 1500 Echo weapon to start, no question. If not, the lesser weapons will work fine, and you may choose to get the more expensive Heart-Ender weapon if you wish until your quest weapon is ready. (The Memento Mori is always the best, hands down.)

Aft weapons are easier to handle with creatures since you run faster moving forward and get a better Stagger (but offset with the higher recharge time.) If there is any question about swapping other equipable items with guns or vice versa, you may only swap items while docked at a port.

My thanks to Allison for a great summary! (And of course, all the responders who added details as well!)

[DaetherX]

No. You can't have a ship loaded with canons from what I've seen.
The starting ship has a single slot for a specific canon type (Deck) that can defeat one tiny enemy ship and a smaller giant crab, and that's about it. Then you have spend a ton of your money repairing your ship.

Note before I go further: My griping is not warning you away from the game!
I totally recomend the game if you enjoy reading a very well written, original, and interesting story as you sail, discover new places, and things to do. I'm just trying to say combat is not the focus from what I've seen.
Everything else in the world is very scary and will wreck you so it's not just worth it.

Continuing: Don't expect to get into combat, fight, win and get anything good from it.
Your ship gets damaged even if you "win" which requires repairs, and the spoils left after "winning" are nowhere near good enough to justify doing anything other than trying to avoid monsters/ships or hitting the Full Speed button to get the heck away ASAP possibly damaging your ship a little so you can get back home.

The other ships you can buy, only a few have more than the one type of weapon, are super super out of your league expensive. All the other ships either seem worse than the starting ship in most ways especially in combat (I'd assume these are supposed to "merchant/trade" ships but even that doesn't make total sense to me looking at the stats since they have less or equal Hold space), or they cost almost more money than all my captains have seen combined (14k echos) for what is, judging from the stats, a snail paced ultra-heavy ship which will drive you insane trying to get from place to place so you can kill stuff if you run into something.

But maybe I'm wrong. I have yet to have anything other than the starter ship except two captains I decided to sell the starter ship for the horrible one that gives you money back so I could afford to retire. (my first captain I retired to be able to say my first captain didn't die, and one other retired like 5 minutes after beginning her when I realized I messed up something royally and thought it'd be better to write a will and keep my house for the next captain instead of dying)

Others who know more about the game might disagree with my statements... I haven't ♥♥♥♥♥♥ to the point where I know how to abuse the quests for tons of echos (money) yet and I don't have any of the special items that cause captains to start with 2x the stats you normally do. But from a perspective of having played through 5 captains over the course of 18 hours what I said seems true to me.

[Gay Raccoon]

İlk olarak DaetherX tarafından gönderildi:

No. You can't have a ship loaded with canons from what I've seen.
The starting ship has a single slot for a specific canon type (Deck) that can defeat one tiny enemy ship and a smaller giant crab, and that's about it. Then you have spend a ton of your money repairing your ship.

Continuing: Don't expect to get into combat, fight, win and get anything good from it.
Your ship gets damaged even if you "win" which requires repairs, and the spoils left after "winning" are nowhere near good enough to justify doing anything other than trying to avoid monsters/ships or hitting the Full Speed button to get the heck away ASAP possibly damaging your ship a little so you can get back home.

Stronger Deck guns can actually take out a few more enemies than those if you know what you're doing and you have one of the stronger Deck guns. In my current file, I have the starter ship and starter engine, but the Caminus Yards Hellthrasher gun in my Deck slot, and I can also take out enemies like Jillyfleurs, Western Angler Crabs, Pirate Frigates, the Crack versions of the pirate boats, Bound-Sharks, and similar enemies in the 150 HP or less range. Granted, improving your Iron, Mirrors, and Veils helps a lot, too.

İlk olarak DaetherX tarafından gönderildi:

The other ships you can buy, only a few have more than the one type of weapon, are super super out of your league expensive. All the other ships either seem worse than the starting ship in most ways especially in combat (I'd assume these are supposed to "merchant/trade" ships but even that doesn't make total sense to me looking at the stats since they have less or equal Hold space), or they cost almost more money than all my captains have seen combined (14k echos) for what is, judging from the stats, a snail paced ultra-heavy ship which will drive you insane trying to get from place to place so you can kill stuff if you run into something.

Yeah, the Cutter and Steam Launch don't really have much of a purpose (there's one thing the Cutter can do much more easily than any other ship, but it's extremely specific and beyond the scope of this discussion). The real merchant/trade ship is the 8k Merchant Cruiser, mind, with 120 cargo space; the 14k ship you're talking about is a fair bit lighter than the ultra-heavy ships. You're right that these ships will move at a snail's pace if you try to run them on the starter engine, but if you're using an engine powerful enough, it's not true that these ships are intended to be disgustingly slow. In particular, if you want cheap options for improving the speed of these ships, I highly recommend the 800E Caminus Yards Avid Suppressor, which will allow you to use Full Power freely. WE ARE CLAY (300E) and Maybe's Daughter (30E or free) will also get you a little extra speed. I still wouldn't use the starter engine for any boat heavier than the starter boat, but the Boadicea (or Serpentine, if you can get it!) is cost-effective at 1000E. It's enough for a Corvette by itself, but you could run a Frigate or even a Merchant Cruiser on them *if* you combine them with with the Avid Suppressor and ideally WE ARE CLAY and Maybe's Daughter.

İlk olarak DaetherX tarafından gönderildi:

But maybe I'm wrong. I have yet to have anything other than the starter ship except two captains I decided to sell the starter ship for the horrible one that gives you money back so I could afford to retire. (my first captain I retired to be able to say my first captain didn't die, and one other retired like 5 minutes after beginning her when I realized I messed up something royally and thought it'd be better to write a will and keep my house for the next captain instead of dying)

Therein lies the problem. The best way to play earlier captains is to *explore* rather than trying to *win* per se. Risk death to discover new opportunities, and when you find those opportunities, *write them down* so that future captains can benefit from them.

Your experience actually describes the experience of my first captain. I tried to actually survive and win, but it didn't go well. I couldn't even keep in Fuel and Supplies. With my second captain, I chose to go right ahead and wager my life to explore further, and my horizons expanded dramatically. She actually did quite well, and her descendants, even better.

İlk olarak DaetherX tarafından gönderildi:

Others who know more about the game might disagree with my statements... I haven't ♥♥♥♥♥♥ to the point where I know how to abuse the quests for tons of echos (money) yet and I don't have any of the special items that cause captains to start with 2x the stats you normally do. But from a perspective of having played through 5 captains over the course of 18 hours what I said seems true to me.

You'll get there--especially if you're willing to wager the life of your current captain to find opportunities that future captains (or, possibly, even your current one) will benefit greatly from.

Risking death to find new opportunities will waste a lot less time then trying to very slowly expand your horizons when you're at the point where you're having trouble even keeping your head above water.

[DaetherX]

All my captains so far have taken the previous ones chart. I've now charted roughly 75% of the map except the furthest south-east (mostly the south is unexplored). Really helps with quests on successive captains. I've never had enough echos uninvested in my ship parts to make losing the chart worth it IMO.

I had the We Are Clay, the 1k echos for 1500 power engine, with the +5% fuel efficiency guy (I passed on maybes daughter that time) on the starter ship on my most successfull captain that just died. It was nice... *funeral dirge plays* His poor kid didn't get to become a Scion.
Thanks for the tips about the weapons and everything.

[Gay Raccoon]

İlk olarak DaetherX tarafından gönderildi:

All my captains so far have taken the previous ones chart. I've now charted roughly 75% of the map except the furthest south-east (mostly the south is unexplored). Really helps with quests on successive captains. I've never had enough echos uninvested in my ship parts to make losing the chart worth it IMO.

I had the We Are Clay, the 1k echos for 1500 power engine, with the +5% fuel efficiency guy (I passed on maybes daughter that time) on the starter ship on my most successfull captain that just died. It was nice... *funeral dirge plays* His poor kid didn't get to become a Scion.
Thanks for the tips about the weapons and everything.

Oof. Sorry about that. :(

I will admit I'm not a big fan of the Correspondent legacy. The problem with it is that you don't get Fragments for finding terrain features that are already on your inherited chart. Then again, for you, it may be serving its purpose.

[Wlerin]

İlk olarak Allison tarafından gönderildi:

...the Caminus Yards Avid Suppressor instead.

I think I say this every time the suppressor comes up, but you want to either spam full power with a relatively weak engine, or stack efficiency on a large engine. Full Power ignores efficiency, which makes using it on a certain 5000 power, 50% efficiency engine highly unwise. In that case it would be better I think to install either an aft gun or whatever that +10% efficiency piece is called.

[Gay Raccoon]

İlk olarak wlerin tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Allison tarafından gönderildi:

...the Caminus Yards Avid Suppressor instead.

I think I say this every time the suppressor comes up, but you want to either spam full power with a relatively weak engine, or stack efficiency on a large engine. Full Power ignores efficiency, which makes using it on a certain 5000 power, 50% efficiency engine highly unwise. In that case it would be better I think to install either an aft gun or whatever that +10% efficiency piece is called.

Fair point. (Though I still tend to keep it on because it's +3 Veils and no penalties, I already have the bloody thing, and it means I have no risk of engine fires if I have to hit the gas pedal in a fight/escape attempt or I'm just stupidly impatient. Granted, the Milebreaker is still probably worth -10 Hearts and *maybe* worth the 2000E price tag.)

[the-truthseeker]

if a close choice between multiple weapons, when in doubt, go with the stat-boosting bonus items. Those checks in post combat are sometimes useful.

[DaetherX]

The OP's question got me to wondering: Do any of the other ships have more than one slot per type? Like do any have 2 Deck slots for instance, or do they all just have 1 slot per type listed? (2 Aft slots could be really useful for hidden cargo plus something else)

[Gay Raccoon]

İlk olarak DaetherX tarafından gönderildi:

The OP's question got me to wondering: Do any of the other ships have more than one slot per type? Like do any have 2 Deck slots for instance, or do they all just have 1 slot per type listed? (2 Aft slots could be really useful for hidden cargo plus something else)

None of the ships have duplicate slots of any kind, though that's an interesting idea.

[the-truthseeker]

İlk olarak DaetherX tarafından gönderildi:

The OP's question got me to wondering: Do any of the other ships have more than one slot per type? Like do any have 2 Deck slots for instance, or do they all just have 1 slot per type listed? (2 Aft slots could be really useful for hidden cargo plus something else)

Without mods, no, only one Deck/Forward/Aft slot, if available on that ship in the first place.