All about Ammunition

Ever wonder what you should actually be doing with all those ammunition rounds you carry around?
This guide will tell you what they are good for, where to use them, and where NOT to use them.

Up to date as of May 2020

Introduction

Most guides on the subject talk about each gun and discuss viable ammunition types for it. This guide will take a different approach. It will go through each ammunition type, discuss its functions, and consider the guns it is commonly used in, so that you can make a more informed decision yourself.
It will not go into great detail about the exact numbers. It is just meant to provide you with a bit more than the in-game description.

More detailed (although not always up-to-date) information can be found in the wiki: http://gunsoficarusonline.wikia.com/wiki/Guns_of_Icarus_Online_Wikia

Also, this guide goes into lots of detail, however it is no longer up to date:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=257009903

Without further ado, let us get started!

Example

Stats:

Differences compared to using normal rounds
Legend:
+++ very postitive attribute
++ positive attribute
+ slightly positive attribute
~ situational attribute (usually because it affects arming distance)
- slightly negative attribute
- - negative attribute
- - - very negative attribute

Function:

Description of what the ammunition actually does and what that means for how you should use it.

Guns it is commonly seen on:

Experienced players will often use this ammo type on these guns.

Guns it should NOT be used on:

Experienced players will criticize you for using this ammo type on these guns. Generally it is clearly suboptimal, and often worse than using normal rounds. Note, this is not meant to be an exhaustive list of unsuitable guns, but rather those that occur most frequently.

Normal Rounds

Stats:

default

Function:

Normal rounds function as the standard base ammunition for all guns. Every class always carries normal rounds. Normal rounds are used when you do not have specialty ammunition for the current gun at the current engagement range.

Guns it is commonly seen on:

Guns manned by engineers - normal rounds are often used by engineers who have brought lesmok rounds for longer range engagements but find themselves at a shorter range, or who have brought greased or burst rounds for a short range engagement, but find themselves slightly too far away.
Furthermore, normal rounds should be used whenever you find yourself shooting a gun that you don't have the correct specialty ammo for.

Guns it should NOT be used on:

None - normal rounds are an acceptable (although not optimal) choice on every gun. If you do not have a good ammunition type for the gun you are shooting, it better to use normal rounds than to use something unsuitable.

Burst Rounds

Stats:

+50% AoE radius (+++)
-20% direct damage (- -)
+10% AoE damage (+)
-25% arming time* (+++)
-25% range (- - -)

Function:

Burst rounds are used to increase the area of effect (the area in which the secondary damage is dealt) and to increase the amount of secondary damage. It is most useful on guns that already have large area of effect in order to allow near misses to deal damage or to hit multiple components with one projectile. It does not increase the AoE radius on guns that have no AoE.
A recent patch has added an arming time reduction, but also a maximum range reduction. This means it is useful for short range on guns with arming time.

Guns it is commonly seen on:

Manticore Heavy Hwacha – the larger AoE increases the number of components hit by each rocket. The range penalty is ignorable since the Hwacha's effective range is much lower than it's actual range anyway.
Artemis Light Rocket Launcher – Allows near misses to still disable components or a single shot to damage multiple components.
Roaring Tiger Heavy Detonator (Mk. I & II & s) – greatly increases blast radius.
Lumberjack Heavy Mortar – at short range, to ensure arming.
Hades Light Cannon – at short range, to ensure arming.
Phobos Mine Launcher – for short range arming; be careful as the high explosion radius might hit your own ship!

Guns it should NOT be used on:

Raycast weapons (ie. bullet or shotgun shooting weapons), such as the Whirlwind Light Gatling Gun, Barking Dog Light Carronade, Hellhound Heavy Twin Carronade, Minotaur Heavy Cannon, Aten Lens Array (Mk. I & II & s) – these guns will NOT receive an increased AoE, because the individual shots have an AoE of zero!

Any guns when at long range – Burst Rounds give -25% range. That speaks for itself.

*Arming time

Certain guns have an arming time/distance. It will say so in their description. The projectile needs to be in the air for a given amount of time before the projectile "activates" and is able to deal its secondary damage. Reduced arming time allows these guns to deal their full damage at a closer range.

Greased Rounds

Stats:

-15% rotation speed (-)
+20% clip size (++)
+60% rate of fire (+++)
-20% projectile speed (- - / ~)
-20% damage (- - -)

Function:

Greased rounds are used to quickly empty your clip and maximize damage per second, but only at short range. It is most effective on guns with a large clip size since it lets you dump that clip very quickly. The increased clip size is canceled out by the decreased damage. The decreased projectile speed reduces the maximum range (bad) and also reduces the arming distance* (good).

Guns it is commonly seen on:

Whirlwind Light Gatling Gun – at short range, it gives a very high damage per second.
Scylla Double-Barreled Mortar – at short range, it allows you to get many shots into the exposed enemy hull before the armor is rebuilt.
Banshee Light Rocket Carousel – lets you quickly shoot the entire clip of rockets. Not accurate at long range.
Hades Light Cannon – for short range, since it reduces the arming distance* and provides good damage per second.
Lumberjack Heavy Mortar – for short range, since it reduces the arming distance* and provides good damage per second.
Typhon Heavy Flak Cannon Mk. I – provides good damage output at shorter ranges.
Minotaur Heavy Cannon – one additional shot, and allows you to quickly fire repeatedly at a decent rate.
Roaring Tiger Heavy Detonator Mk. I – lets you launch all the projectiles in quick succession so that they can be detonated in close proximity to each other.
Kalakuta Gas Mortar Mk. II – high damage output.
Guns with a charging mechanic, where time holding the trigger increases damage, such as the Februus Weaponised Coil (Mk. I & II), Immortal Gaze Heavy Accelerator (Mk. I & II) – causes the damage to charge up faster, but to a lower maximum damage.

Guns it should NOT be used on:

Javelin Light Harpoon Gun – provides no benefit because the clip size is 1 and RoF only affects shots after the first one.
Manticore Heavy Hwacha – the rate of fire is already high enough. The reload is so long that damage per second (including reload) is not helped by a higher rate of fire.
Most guns when at long range – reduced projectile speed make greased unsuitable in guns when they are being used towards the maximum of their effective range.

*Arming distance

Certain guns have an arming time/distance. It will say so in their description. The projectile needs to be in the air for a given amount of time before the projectile "activates" and is able to deal its secondary damage. Ammunition that reduces the projectile speed therefore reduces the distance until the projectile becomes armed.

Lesmok Rounds

Stats:

-30% rotation speed (-)
-30% clip size (- - -)
+70% projectile speed (+++ / ~)

Function:

Lesmok rounds are the long range ammunition on many guns because the increased projectile speed increases the range and also makes it easier to hit at range. Not so useful for increasing range on guns with high jitter.

Guns it is commonly seen on:

Dragon Tongue Light Flamethrower – increases the maximum range.
Hades Light Cannon – for long range; increases maximum range and makes it easier to hit.
Lumberjack Heavy Mortar – for long range; increases maximum range and makes it easier to hit.
Typhon Heavy Flak Cannon Mk. I – for long range; increases maximum range and makes it easier to hit. Comes at the cost of one shot less.
Javelin Light Harpoon Gun – makes it easier to hit. Since the clip size is already 1, it is not reduced.
Februus Weaponised Coil Mk. I – increases max range. Since the clip size is already 1, it is not reduced.
Phobos Mine Launcher – increased range. Clip size remains at 1.
Whirlwind Light Gatling Gun – for long range. However, due to the jitter, the Gatling does not perform very well at maximum range. Also suffers due to the reduced clip size.
Scylla Double-Barreled Mortar – for long range and to make it easier to hit. The reduced clip size means that you need to make every shot count.
Aten Lens Array Mk. s – increases maximum range, and delays damage falloff.

Guns it should NOT be used on:

Guns with a high jitter, such as the Manticore Heavy Hwacha, Banshee Light Rocket Carousel, Barking Dog Light Carronade, Hellhound Heavy Twin Carronade – at maximum range the projectile spread of these guns is so great that the majority of the projectiles will miss. You should use heavy clip to concentrate fire in these guns.

Guns with a clip size of 2, such as the Beacon Flare Gun, Mercury Field Gun, Hellhound Heavy Twin Carronade, Typhon Heavy Flak Cannon Mk. II, Kalakuta Gas Mortar Mk. I, Seraph Tempest Missile Launcher Mk. I – all of these guns will have their clip reduced to 1, which amounts to a -%50. In some situations, lesmok rounds may be useful for the increased range, but in general the clip size penalty is too great to warrant using lesmok on these guns.

Most guns when at short range – if you are at a range where you can hit your target reliably using normal rounds, then you are better off not using lesmok, since you will not have the clip size penalty. Also, on guns with an arming distance, lesmok will increase distance before the projectile deals secondary damage, making lesmok a poor choice against enemies that are close by, since these guns will lose an important part of their damage.

Heavy Clip

Stats:

-90% recoil jitter (+++)
-20% rate of fire (- - -)

Function:

Greatly reduces jitter; in other words, increases pinpoint accuracy of your gun. Useful on guns with significant jitter, but provides no benefit on guns without jitter.

Guns it is commonly seen on:

Manticore Heavy Hwacha – allows for long range disabling of the enemy ship or specific guns on the enemy ship by reducing the rocket spread. At short range burst rounds are normally used.
Banshee Light Rocket Carousel – grants decent accuracy at long range
Barking Dog Light Carronade – narrows the buckshot cone of fire, allowing more shots to hit the balloon. Also allows you to snipe enemy guns using shatter damage.
Hellhound Heavy Twin Carronade – narrows the buckshot cone of fire, allowing more shots to hit the balloon.
Beacon Flare Gun – allows you to accurately hit enemy guns and instantly overheat them.
Minotaur Heavy Cannon – reduced jitter makes it easier to hit at range.
Nemesis Heavy Carronade – reduces jitter so that the gun can actually hit a target at long range.

Guns it should NOT be used on:

Guns with no jitter, such as the Javelin Light Harpoon Gun, Artemis Light Rocket Launcher, Mercury Field Gun, Hades Light Cannon, Typhon Heavy Flak Cannon, Lumberjack Heavy Mortar, Immortal Gaze Heavy Accelerator (Mk. I & II) – heavy clip is straight downgrade from normal rounds on these guns.

Charged Rounds

Stats:

-20% recoil jitter (+)
-20% clip size (- -)
+20% projectile speed (+)
-25% rate of fire (- - -)
+30% damage (+++)

Function:

Used to increase damage on guns with a low clip size (1 or 2). On guns with a larger clip, the increased damage is balanced by the reduced clip size and rate of fire. Also, the slightly increased projectile speed and reduced jitter mean that charged can be used for longer ranges that fall between normal and lesmok range.

Guns it is commonly seen on:

Mercury Field Gun – increased damage without reduced clip size. Faster projectile speed makes it slightly easier to land hits.
Hellhound Heavy Twin Carronade – increased damage without reduced clip size. Also increases range and accuracy.
Barking Dog Light Carronade – for slightly increased range and accuracy.
Typhon Heavy Flak Cannon Mk. II – increased damage without reduced clip size. Faster projectile speed makes it slightly easier to land hits.
Lumberjack Heavy Mortar – allows you to two-shot a balloon.
Februus Weaponised Coil Mk. I – increased damage and range. Do note that it increases charging time though.
Kalakuta Gas Mortar Mk. I – increased damage without reduced clip size.
Phobos Mine Launcher – increased damage and range. A direct upgrade from normal rounds.
Javelin Light Harpoon Gun – increased damage and range. A direct upgrade from normal rounds.
Whirlwind Light Gatling Gun – used to increase range while maintaining a decent damage output. After applying all the modifiers, charged has a similar damage output to normal rounds, but offers a longer range.
Nemesis Heavy Carronade – increases damage so that you are able to one-shot heavy guns on a direct hit. Reduces the clip size.

Guns it should NOT be used on:

Guns with magazine size of 3 will suffer a noticeable (15%) reduction in damage per magazine, compared to Normal Rounds. This only includes the Seraph Tempest Missile Launcher Mk. s.
Guns with a magazine size of 4 or 8 will have slightly (2.25%) reduced total magazine damage with Charged Rounds. This affects a variety of guns; however, the effect is small enough that it doesn't matter, especially when you consider the other bonuses that Charged Rounds offer.

Incindiary Rounds

Stats:

-15% rate of fire (- -)
-30% projectile speed (- - - / ~)
+25% ignition chance (+++)
+1 fire per 100 damage dealt to a component (+)

Function:

The two main functions are to set fires and to reduce the arming distance*. If your goal is to set fires, you will be most successful on guns that fire many projectiles (either a large clip size, or buckshot). The fires come at the cost of making it harder to hit, especially at range, and of reduced damage per second (due to reduced rate of fire). One other thing to note is that the fire particle effect makes it hard to see what you are shooting on some guns.

Guns it is commonly seen on:

Barking Dog Light Carronade – each buckshot projectile gets a 25% fire starting chance, allowing you to set quite a few fires.
Hellhound Heavy Twin Carronade – each buckshot projectile gets a 25% fire starting chance, allowing you to set quite a few fires.
Phobos Mine Launcher – lets you fire close-range mines by reducing the arming distance*. The extra fire chance is a bonus.
Kalakuta Gas Mortar Mk. I - sets lots of fires. Reduces minimum arming distance*.
Aten Lens Array (Mk. I & s) - sets many fires due to the massive clip size; at the cost of reduced damage and range.
Seraph Tempest Missile Launcher Mk. s – each submunition gets a fire chance. Reduced max range.
Whirlwind Light Gatling Gun – sets a lot of fires, meaning it can be used to pressure the the balloon or mess with armor repair cycles.

Guns it should NOT be used on:

Most guns when at long range – significantly reduced projectile speed reduces the maximum range and makes it harder to hit with projectiles that drop.
When the enemy is actively useing chemspray – if the opposing ship has all their vital components chemsprayed, you will not set anything on fire, and would be better off using other rounds.

*Arming distance

Certain guns have an arming time/distance. It will say so in their description. The projectile needs to be in the air for a given amount of time before the projectile "activates" and is able to deal its secondary damage. Ammunition that reduces the projectile speed therefore reduces the distance until the projectile becomes armed.

Heatsink Clip

Stats:

-100% chance of fire stacks on gun while clip is loaded (+++)
+50% rotation speed (+)
20 extinguish power (+++)

Function:

Heatsink will prevent a gun from catching fire while it is loaded (but not during reload). Upon reload, all fire stacks are extinguished. So if you are a gunner and there is no engineer in sight, you can extinguish your gun using heatsink. However, if your gun is overheated (8 stacks of fire), you will not be able to mount it in order to load heatsink, so plan ahead!
The rotation speed is a nice extra.

Guns it is commonly seen on:

When facing fire weapons such as Flamethrowers and Flares, or Incendiary Rounds – Heatsink will prevent an unwanted overheat from kicking you off your gun.

Guns it should NOT be used on:

None - With the recent update, Heatsink is now better than normal rounds in every case! (although other ammo will still usually be preferable unless facing a lot of fire)

Extended Magazine

Stats:

+50% clip size (+++)
-10% rate of fire (- -)
-15% damage (- -)

Function:

Extended Magazine provides the largest clip size increase of any ammo at the cost of reduced damage per second in most guns. It is useful specifically on guns with a clip size of 1 or 2, because it provides an extra shot. It is also potentially useful on a variety of other guns to increase the clip size, especially if the gun has a long reload time.

Guns it is commonly seen on:

Beacon Flare Gun – gives you a third flare.
Mercury Field Gun – increases clip size to 3. Each shot still deals enough damage to disable heavy guns.
Manticore Heavy Hwacha – increases clip size to 30. Rate of fire is still high. Good for maximizing explosive damage (ie. after armor break); to maximize shatter damage, choose Burst Rounds instead.
Minotaur Heavy Cannon – the additional shots allow you to keep pushing the enemy around for quite a while before reloading.
Seraph Tempest Missile Launcher (Mk. I & s) – lets you fire additional shot(s) before reloading.
Echidna Light Flak Cannon – maximizes the total damage per clip rather than damage per second.
Typhon Heavy Flak Cannon – maximizes the total damage per clip rather than damage per second.

Guns it should NOT be used on:

It's not a bad choice on most guns, but if you want to deal a lot of damage quickly, other rounds are better.

Lochnagar Shot

Stats:

-80% rotation speed (- - -)
-60% recoil jitter (+++)
-60% clip size (- - -)
-50% AoE (- - -)
+125% damage (+++)
-60% arming time* (+++)
doubles chance of your own gun catching on fire (-)
deals 3 damage to your own gun per shot (- - -)
deals proportional damage to your own gun per shot (capped at 250 damage per shot) (- - -)

Function:

Lochnagar is a very situational ammunition type. Its main benefits are reduced arming time* (without reduced projectile speed and therefore range), reduced jitter, and massively increased damage per shot. However, the decreased clip size and AoE mean that you need to make every shot count. The reduced rotation speed and self gun damage make it hard to aim. Note that the self gun damage will destroy all guns (except 2 clip heavy guns) if you shoot the whole clip without repairing in between. Your gun is also twice as likely to gain fire stacks from fire-starting weapons and incendiary rounds.
Basically, lochnagar is a high risk, high reward ammo type that is very situational.

Guns it is commonly seen on:

Whirlwind Light Gatling Gun – high damage per second. Make sure to repair mid clip.
Hellhound Heavy Twin Carronade – one shot to destroy a balloon.
Lumberjack Heavy Mortar – to allow arming at very short range. One shot to destroy a balloon (if armed).
Phobos Mine Launcher – very short range, ultra high damage mine. Destroys mine launcher upon use.
Typhon Heavy Flak Cannon Mk. II – short arming, ultra high damage shot. Can one-shot weaker ships if their armor is already down.

Guns it should NOT be used on:

Any gun – unless you know what you are doing.

Light guns with a clip of 1 or 2 such as the Beacon Flare Gun, Javelin Light Harpoon Gun, Mercury Field Gun, Februus Weaponized Coil Mk. I, Kalakuta Gas Mortar Mk. I, Seraph Tempest Missile Launcher Mk I. All of these guns will have one shot and the gun will be instantly destroyed. Except for the Phobos Mine Launcher, it is simply not worth having to rebuild the gun between every shot.

Guns with a very large clip size, and which rely on setting many fires such as the Dragon Tongue Light Flamethrower, Aten Lens Array (Mk I & II & s) – the 3 self damage per shot adds up quickly and will destroy these guns before you even realize what is happening. Your damage output and fire stack output would be better served with other rounds.

Guns that rely on AoE to damage multiple components, such as the Manticore Heavy Hwacha, Artemis Light Rocket Launcher – Lochnagar has -50% AoE, so is not suitable for dealing secondary shatter damage to components on near misses.

*Arming time

Certain guns have an arming time/distance. It will say so in their description. The projectile needs to be in the air for a given amount of time before the projectile "activates" and is able to deal its secondary damage. Reduced arming time allows these guns to deal their full damage at a closer range.

>>>>>Too Long; Didn't Read<<<<<

TLDR

Normal Rounds – when you don't have anything better for the current situation
Burst Rounds – only at close range, if your gun fires rockets, mines, gas clouds (anything with a large AoE), not bullets or buckshot
Greased Rounds – to maximize damage per second at close range, on guns with a larger clip size
Lesmok – if you need long range and your gun does not have too much spread (jitter)
Heavy – to concentrate fire if your gun has high spread (jitter)
Charged – for high damage if your gun has a clip size of 2 or less, or to slightly increase range on anything
Incendiary – when you want to set fires, and are at close range
Heatsink – when facing fire weapons to prevent guns from overheating
Extended Magazine – to increase damage per clip by giving you more shots before needing to reload
Lochnagar – high damage, difficult to use properly, damages your gun with each shot

When in doubt, using Charged Rounds or Heatsink Clip is probably fine.

Summary of Core Stats

What to AVOID doing

Don't do any of these things:

>Putting Burst Rounds in the Gatling because Burst has a cool icon -> the Gatling has an AoE of ZERO; +50% of zero is still zero. Also -25% range!!!
(Same for the Hellhound and Barking Dog Carronades, and the Aten and Minotaur).

>Using Lochnagar Shot just because it looks cool -> Lochnagar will make it very hard to aim and will BREAK YOUR OWN GUN

>Using Incendiary Rounds because it looks cool and you think fires are effective -> On anything other than carronades and very high clip guns, Incendiary is not worth bringing for it's fire-starting abilities. You are sacrificing damage output in return for a few measly fires.

>Using Heavy Clip for no particular reason (especially on guns with no jitter) -> Heavy clip has a specific purpose - to reduce jitter. If you don't need a jitter reduction then you are taking a rate of fire penalty without any benefit.

>Using Greased Rounds, Incendiary Rounds or Heatsink Clip at long range -> Not only is the maximum range reduced, but the reduced projectile speed makes it quite a bit harder to hit stuff.

>Not using Normal Rounds when you don't have the right ammo for your gun -> Normal rounds are a valid ammo type, and are certainly betting than putting your Burst Rounds into the Gatling.

>Using Greased Rounds or Lesmok Rounds in the Hwacha -> Neither is a helpful choice, since the Hwacha barely benefits from increased rate of fire and becomes ineffective long before it's true maximum range.

>Firing a lot of your clip and then just leaving the gun mostly empty without reloading as you get off the gun -> the next person to use the gun will be very unhappy.

HELP! What should I bring???

Hopefully this guide has been able to give the general information you need, in order to make informed decisions about which rounds are useful in which situations.
However, sometimes you might just want a recommendation without having to think about it. What do you do if your pilot has no recommendation and you do not know what to bring?

Your first point of order should always be to ask your pilot or crew. If you receive a recommended loadout, accept it. If you don't, then try to find out (or work out) which part of the ship you will be stationed on, and which gun(s) you are most likely to be shooting. If you are an engineer who will be mostly repairing, there is still a chance you may have to shoot at some point, so which gun is it most likely to be? Are you likely to be shooting targets that are well within the range of your gun, or towards the maximum that your gun can reach? Use this knowledge to decide.

If you still don't know, I've made a list of each gun and the single best/most common ammunition to use if you are an engineer and can only bring one thing.

(Remember: the best ammo is something that depends on many factors. These recommendations are only meant as a fallback if you are at loss for what to pick and get no guidance from your crew or pilot)

Light Guns

• Artemis Light Rocket Launcher - Burst Rounds - greater AoE (switch to Normal Rounds at long range)
  
• Aten Lens Array Mk. s - Lesmok Rounds - longer range before damage falloff begins
  
• Banshee Light Rocket Carousel - Greased Rounds - fast clip dump
  
• Barking Dog Light Carronade - Heavy Clip - concentrated buckshot
  
• Beacon Flare Gun - Heavy Clip - accurately overheat enemy guns
  
• Dragon Tongue Light Flamethrower - Lesmok Rounds - longer range
  
• Echidna Light Flak Cannon - Greased Rounds - super fast clip dump, and closer arming
  
• Hades Light Cannon - Lesmok Rounds - easier to hit with (switch to Normal Rounds at close range)
  
• Javelin Light Harpoon Gun - Lesmok Rounds - much easier to hit with
  
• Mercury Field Gun - Charged Rounds - more damage
  
• Phobos Mine Launcher - Lesmok Rounds - longer range (switch to Normal Rounds at close range)
  
• Seraph Tempest Missile Launcher Mk. s - Greased Rounds - one extra shot and improved rate of fire
  
• Scylla Double-Barreled Mortar - Lesmok Rounds - easier to hit with
  
• Whirlwind Light Gatling Gun - Charged Rounds - slightly longer range and slightly reduced jitter

Light Guns (PvE-only)

• Aten Lens Array (Mk. I) - Incindiary Rounds - sets many fires
  
• Aten Lens Array Mk. II - Heavy Clip - concentrate the cone of fire
  
• Februus Weaponized Coil (Mk. I) - Lesmok Rounds - longer range, improved arc jump distance
  
• Februus Weaponized Coil Mk. II - Lesmok Rounds - longer range, improved arc jump distance
  
• Kalakuta Gas Mortar (Mk. I) - Incendiary Rounds - sets many fires over time
  
• Kalakuta Gas Mortar Mk. II - Greased Rounds - high rate of fire
  
• Seraph Tempest Missiles (Mk. I) - Burst Rounds - greater AoE
  
• Seraph Tempest Missiles Mk. II - Charged Rounds - more damage

Heavy Guns

• Hellhound Heavy Twin Carronade - Heavy Clip - concentrated buckshot
  
• Lumberjack Heavy Mortar - Lesmok Rounds - easier to hit with (switch to Normal Rounds at close range)
  
• Manticore Heavy Hwacha - Burst Rounds - greater AoE
  
• Minotaur Heavy Cannon - Heavy Clip - longer effective range
  
• Nemesis Heavy Carronade - Charged Rounds - allows you to one-shot heavy guns
  
• Typhon Heavy Flak Cannon Mk. I - Lesmok Rounds - easier to hit with (switch to Normal Rounds at close range)
  
• Typhon Heavy Flak Cannon Mk. II - Charged Rounds - more damage
  
• Roaring Tiger Heavy Detonator Mk. s - Charged Rounds - more damage

Heavy Guns (PvE-only)

• Immortal Gaze Heavy Accelerator (Mk. I) - Greased Rounds - faster charging time
  
• Immortal Gaze Heavy Accelerator Mk. II - Greased Rounds - faster charging time
  
• Roaring Tiger Heavy Detonator (Mk. I) - Burst Rounds - massive explosion radius
  
• Roaring Tiger Heavy Detonator Mk. II - Burst Rounds - massive explosion radius

(These recommendations are subject to change)

Also, look at this guide:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1902086086

Fancy Flowchart

I mostly made this to be amusing, but it's not a bad starting point for ammo choices:
Make sure to open up the fullsized image so you can actually read it!

Conclusion

Thanks for reading!

This is a work-in-progress and suggestions for improvement are welcome

Take a look at this: https://statsoficarus.xyz/ to calculate damage without needing to trawl through spreadsheets.


If you want to get into the nitty gritty numbers, I can recommend Inkjet's spreadsheet[docs.google.com]. It may not be up-to-date with everything, but among the community-maintained spreadsheets, it's among the most comprehensive.

Just for reference, here are a few other community-maintained sheets to check out:
(most are probably not up to date)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TIS9Mz5z58M-vZYoFLOF4xQhAyjJVSn4Paj2o53v70A/edit#gid=251728038

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ayhPVRJ8M6SMOmaMYBMafVbtHh478bk_SuoIFRzFWQg/edit#gid=1082759107

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1T0UaDEP3dnU1B5G41vtEydua0URZ5pZbRksH6LGzeco/edit#gid=392538007

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16S3dTb3GLfKlNUGLgkNbJhF_gYXb4CMb2kQWkxaZ3zM/edit#gid=2043016147

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-GOiChe2WlZvGfr2TeNJ1a-L2lp9PqAXWt9Z-T57VoU/edit#gid=0

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OLaKduHVja12BUzSNLBqE4tK0HdDY5MxHurAsNOyqyw/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iewEJYgW-LYP-nDZufUu-1Ggznp_ArdkboTgxJjA0iY/edit#gid=0

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nPabmgJ__QkY7r_DkpW2K7XsHSB01sytnxTiS5oh9lg/edit#gid=1085533629


Final tip: you don't have to be a gunner class to be shooting! In fact many builds rely on engineers shooting, or do better with a "gungineer" (an engineer dedicated to shooting - often with a buff hammer to buff their own gun) rather than a gunner!

[Freezeburner20]

So, how do you actually use the guns?

[amYGDala]

What is needed for gunners and engies is a quick look up table to show, given the guns on your ship, what is the best ammo to use in the guns available against which part of an enemy ship. This can be done in the tables in my spreadsheets, but it is certainly not quick.

[amYGDala]

Updated sheets for large number of GOIO parameters uploaded to:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gZVWgmwfKaYWqb9luQOfPfcw6inhsvR2-KqXc5ibwDE/edit?usp=sharing
Info should be current as of 1/1/2019
Includes Aten damage caluculator based on time and distance.
Please advise of problems.
Thx

[Zetnus]

Just replace 45% by 50% in your calculations. Minelauncher and harpoon have been granted a RoF now which is documented.

[amYGDala]

Zetnus, do you know what the new formula is for calculating effect of Extended Clip?

[Zetnus]

Extended Magazine now gives +50%. No change on most guns. Major effect on those with one shot (they can get two).

[Zetnus]

Looks good overall. Didn't check all the numbers and calculations, but those that I saw seemed right.

You don't consider stuff like the Aten damage ramp up over time. But that's a bit tricky to include. Something else that could be interesting is to calculate the average fires per clip or per second with incindiary. Just as an idea.

[amYGDala]

New spreadsheet comparing ships, weapons, and ammo with most recent changes. Will add more pages of analysis as time allows. Please advise of problems, suggestions, etc.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TYfhpJXVBaRaEh8gS3ZPiRC8iO915M6mBgviV66j1CQ/edit#gid=1732140261
Yosairian

[Zetnus]

Greased jitter penalty was removed in the most recent patch. Updating to reflect that.

[Zetnus]

@Curious Fox - check the section titled "HELP! What should I bring???"