Quad impulse seems kind of crummy

[Quadsword]

I upgraded the impulse with quad lasers as soon as I could, since quad lasers were my main go to weapon in Descent 1 and 2. But in this game, they seem kind of crappy.

Because quad impulse shoots slower than regular, it seems like pretty much anything can effortlessly dodge them unless you get right in their face. Wish I could refund those super upgrade points and put them into the cyclone instead.

On a more positive note, though, this game's equivalent to the fusion cannon, the thunderbolt, seems pretty awesome. I like how it can be upgraded to make the shots home in slightly and it doesn't shake your view while charging so you can actually fire the bloody thing accurately.

[Miasmic]

You take that back :p

[Michelangelo]

Agree the Impulse needs a speed/damage buff also the hit provided to enemies is kind of weak.

[-Largo-]

In my playthrough on Insane I found the Impulse to be pretty underwhelming. At the start it felt really weak because the projectiles do not enough damage compared to how hard it is to hit enemies with them. It became somewhat decent with the faster projectiles upgrade since your shots won't be constantly dodged, but still nowhere near top-tier weapons such as the Crusher, Driller, Thunderbolt or Lancer.

[worldorder2000]

After using all weapons i also like Cyclone and Lancer a lot but even upgraded then arent as powerfull as an upgraded thunderbolt my first choice or a upgraded Crusher my second choice. Others look beter but dont have the same power and punch
I see no use for the other weapons to underpowered.

[Blood TrueBlood]

I agree, Impulse isn't completely terrible, but highly underwhelming compared to the super lasers in D2, where they were top tier weapons.

Slow projectiles and middling dps, the only thing it has going for it is the energy efficiency, but even that is ruined by how difficult it is to hit things past close range.

The Thunderbolt, on the other hand, is top tier for sure. Thunderbolt/Crusher/Driller were my primary weapon loadout for the campaign, with the Cyclone X4 as a Thunderbolt stand-in until Titan Collider.

[Soot Leopard]

I like the rapid fire upgrade for impulse but my go to weapons for taking things out quickly on my first playthrough (including new game plus) were cyclone and flak, and sometimes reflex.

[Deja Vu]

It's good if your shot placement is good, but the projectile speed really does limit it to short/medium range. The quads make a good alternative to Cyclone because they have a good spread, and it lets you skip the ramp-up effect. Even so, it REALLY needs a 15-20% baseline speed increase.

[Blood TrueBlood]

Bots will actively dodge at longer ranges, so leading targets isn't always enough. With something like the upgraded Thunderbolt which has both a _huge_ hitbox and faster projectile speed this isn't a problem because very few enemies have the speed to evade, but with quad impulses it's super annoying to miss even when you lead targets properly.

The RF projectile speed needs to be the baseline IMO, and RF should offer a bonus on top of that.

[worldorder2000]

The thing is in basic mode the weapons are quite good the cyclone for example is mean MF It kills anything at Level 9 and thats without upgrading!

The standard lasers are also very good. But the problem starts with upgrading then some weapons seems weaker, slower or less usefull then others.
For example i like the driller but fully upgraded it isnt as powerfull as the crushers with that one i kill most enemys with one shot at close range.

The upgrraded TB is nice but i would prefer to use the upgraded cyclone but the TB is better when upgrraded. Seems a bit of balancing couldnt hurt.

[Miasmic]

I suggest going into Challenge Mode to get a good feel for the differences between ++ upgrades.