Author Topic: Why can't beam weapons fire at longer ranges?  (Read 4820 times)

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Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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Why can't beam weapons fire at longer ranges?
« on: May 30, 2020, 04:39:27 AM »
A variation of this question comes up regularly, so I thought it was worth adding this to the FAQ.

First, the restriction is NOT because I don't want to track beam weapons like missiles. It is to avoid beam weapons becoming too powerful.

At the moment, if someone has longer ranged beams than an opponent, that opponent still has the option to build faster ships and close the range while taking fire. If beam ranges were substantially increased, that option disappears because it would take much longer to close the range and the faster ships would be destroyed before they can enter their own range.

In effect, whoever had the longer range beam weapon would win and the energy-range game choices would narrow to achieving that objective.

In summary, beam weapons have their current ranges to maintain a good range of combat options.