Not sure wich weapon this is

[ExChairman (OP)]

Got all nine warships killed in 2 minutes, by a weapon i cant determine... I presume it is a laser or  railgun but not sure, it loses damage over range, that means laser I think... But here is an extract from my event list...

16th February 1933 06:31:56,Gliese 687,24 damage caused to shields. Shield Strength now 0.

When it hits my armor, it gets 5 deducted for my level five armour...

My ships didnt even get a chans of firing back before all were killed....

[Falcon]

Ramming perhaps?

[Gyrfalcon]

If it was point-blank on your ships, that was ramming. I don't think anything else (unless it's bugged) will cause 687 damage in one go.

[Falcon]

One of my ships actually survived a ramming attempt. Had a nice BIG hole in it's armor afterward though.

[alex_brunius]

If it was point-blank on your ships, that was ramming. I don't think anything else (unless it's bugged) will cause 687 damage in one go.

Isn't 687 the system, and 24 the actual damage there?

[ExChairman (OP)]

No ramming , forgot one important  part . The damage  was  done  by a energy weapon  or a kinetic weapon ....

[Nathan_]

Gliese 687 is infact the star system name there, 24 damage was done to your ship. a wide variety of weapons could cause that, but it was probably a laser. also the way armor works is that it forms discrete blocks that absorb individual points of damage, it isn't a straight reduction, so more than 5 could be absorbed, or far less for subsequent hits.

[Sloshmonger]

Here's a nice flowchart for determining what is killing you:

1) Does your anti-missile sensor pick it up?
1a) Yes:   Does the missile size stay constant?
1a1) Yes -  It's a missile of size x. Send in the cannon fodder.
1a2) No - It's a plasma torpedo.  Prepare the rescue fleet.
1b) No: Does it hit your shields and/or armor?
1b1) No - It's a meson cannon.  Do nothing, since nothing will stop it.
1b2) Yes: Does it affect your shield and electronics exclusively?
1b2a) Yes - It's a High Power Microwave.  Prepare the popcorn.
1b2b) No: Does the  shape of damage it does to your armor look like a funnel?
1b2b1) Yes - It's a laser.  Attach it to a shark, send it back.
1b2b2) No: Does it fire multiple times per turn?
1b2b2a) No - It's a particle beam.  Send it to CERN.
1b2b2b) Yes: Does it tickle?
1b2b2b1) No - It's a railgun.  Laugh, then kill it.
1b2b2b2) Yes - It's a Gauss cannon.  Nuke it from orbit.

In all other cases, it's another ship trying to occupy the same space-time coordinates as yours.

Alternatively, you can go to the Diplomacy (CTRL-F5) screen, look up the enemy class and if it's a beam weapon it'll tell you what type of weapon it is and the observed range.  Too bad the same doesn't happen for missiles.

Edit: Forgot the Plasma Carronade, but I'm out of ideas on where that goes, so I'll just refer to the spoilered portion.

[Mel Vixen]

Plasma Caronade equals to: Keep your distance and get sunscreen. The thing is the space-equivalent of a flamethrower but the damage goes down faster then with any other weapon. The higher Echelons are also very energy-intensive which means that you can have minutes between shots.

[Arwyn]

If its close range, slow rate of fire, and energy, it sounds like a cannonade. They pack a hell of a punch in close, but range attrition is steep. Lasers are possible, but they would have to be large ones for that kind of damage.

So, the questions would be, how far into the game are you, and how close was the range?

[ExChairman (OP)]

After going throe "tons" of data I have found that the enemy weapons did not lose any damage over the range, that were at most some 200000 km (not 2 million) apart, they did 24 points of damage at any range, each destroyer sized ship seems to have 6 of these "lasers" A carronade would lose damage after 200000km wouldn't?

[Conscript Gary]

Constant damage over range sounds like a particle beam

[Mel Vixen]

Hmmm the strength is a bit odd. The normal strengths are 25 and 36 damage. A plasma torpedo does 24 and 32.

[ExChairman (OP)]

I now got it confirmed that they are using large lasers, 6 of them on 7000 ton destroyer...

Stranger than that is that I cant "see" the enemy.... I got the following ship, built to kill this "bugs"... But my sensors cant see them...

Have I made an error in design??

Carolus Rex class Super Dreadnaught    102,950 tons     1364 Crew     26243.75 BP      TCS 2059  TH 4200  EM 0
5828 km/s     Armour 30-195     Shields 0-0     Sensors 140/140/0/0     Damage Control Rating 51     PPV 206.55
Maint Life 1.39 Years     MSP 8126    AFR 1662%    IFR 23.1%    1YR 4566    5YR 68494    Max Repair 864 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 30 months    Spare Berths 0   
Flag Bridge    Troop Capacity: 1 Battalion   

500 EP Magnetic Fusion Drive (24)    Power 500    Fuel Use 40%    Signature 175    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 21,050,000 Litres    Range 92.0 billion km   (182 days at full power)

Twin 30cm C5 Far Ultraviolet Laser Turret (5x2)    Range 384,000km     TS: 40000 km/s     Power 48-10     RM 5    ROF 25        24 24 24 24 24 20 17 15 13 12
Pompom 08 (5x8)    Range 1000 km     TS: 20000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Fire Control S16 192-20000 H50 (5)    Max Range: 384,000 km   TS: 20000 km/s     97 95 92 90 87 84 82 79 77 74
Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (10)     Total Power Output 50    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR224-R100 (1)     GPS 16000     Range 224.0m km    Resolution 100
Active Search Sensor MR4-R1 (1)     GPS 32     Range 4.5m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH10-140 (1)     Sensitivity 140     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  140m km
EM Detection Sensor EM10-140 (1)     Sensitivity 140     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  140m km

ECCM-1 (5)         ECM 20

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

[Falcon]

Have you turned on your sensors?