Speakeasy Corporation: REST

Tactical Chart #001.0

This chart shows only the Total Damage delivered by each of the various Weapons available, over time. The Chart below meanwhile, shows Damage/sec. for these same weapons. Battery a flat-line, lasers growing gradually until they peak at 30s.

Note the Colossus Shield (at 18,000 defensive points) requires the Laser 5º well over a minute if by itself. Even Laser 6º requires almost three minutes of sustained fire before defeating a Colossus. When two are applied of course, that time is cut in half. So then, we know that two BB with L6º firing in tandem kill a Colossus in 93 seconds.

Note: Although not easy to accomplish, at peak the Dual Laser 5º does 500 dmg/sec. to each of the two target ships, simultaneously. Serious firepower... when you can get it.

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• Similar information is available for each weapon and each enemy (Cerberus) ship type through RS5, and I've noted the typical human Battleship at around 18K (shield + hull), approximately the same as a Colossus shield.
• Remember: (Duh #14) The time it takes to destroy the enemy is time you must be able to "afford" in terms of the reciprocal damage being absorbed by your Shield/Hull defense. This can have implications during complex maneuvers and forethought must be given as variables are known to become changed.

Likewise, each second you "lose" from your shield/hull means that much less time remaining for that Battleship to continue dealing damage to the enemy near-term (prior to shield re-charge / reset).

Lastly, take special note of Battery 8+. Beginning at tier 8, this weapon is the clear winner when targets are expected to be Sentinel, Guardian or Interceptor. By that same token, B8 favorably compares to Laser 6 all the way up to ~85 seconds. There is a lot to like about the Battery weapon, especially once you hit tech level 8.

A key advantage with Battery is the static damage level regardless of interrupted engagement, where a Laser in such cases must start over, all the way back at its lowest level of damage. A lot more could be said here of course, but study the chart and learn for yourself how to optimize your Weapons.

Tactical Chart: #002.0

This chart shows Weapon Damage for those generally available up to RS5 capability. As you can see, the Dual Laser is superior in overall (total) damage, but critically, that is only true when both Lasers are able to maintain two targets for the entire time span as shown below.

In practice, the Dual Laser and and Mass Battery are important tools when attacking a Sector with more than one Cerberus ship, especially one where you could end up engaging an Interceptor or a Colossus while one or more Sentinels destroy you with their Battery Class VI!.

Tactical Chart: #003.0

Notice at 27s Laser 4º surpasses > Battery 5º. Next, see that Laser 4º destroys a Guardian Hull (7000 Defense) at 35s, while Battery 5º needs +4sec. to do the same.
During those additional 4 seconds, the BB must soak up an extra 90d/s (360 total) from the Guardian, and take all other damage being inflicted on it by (any) other Cerberus ships it has currently engaged.

Key Message: The "threat" from Cerberus generally does not come from a Guardian or even three of them, rather it comes from the Sentinels firing on you while you try to destroy those larger Cerberus ships. Always try to destroy all nearby Sentinels before you become "locked on" to a larger Cerberus ship.

Below is a a chart which shows the same battle during the 60-90 second time span.

Tactical Chart: #004.0

This chart is almost identical to the one above (#3), except covering the time span of the next 30 seconds (60-90 seconds).

Tactical Chart: #005.0

This chart is to show how Cerberus weapons damage a typical Battleship Shield. Special notice to how quickly multiple Sentinels can destroy a Battleship altogether. Here, see important to destroy Cerberus Sentinels first!**.

This chart also depicts a small Cerberus Fleet consisting of 1 Guardian and 2 Cerberus. Notice the difference in amount of damage done between these two enemy ship types. In this scenario, the Battleship attacked the Guardian first, and is destroyed before it can even begin to attack the Sentinels.

Tactical Chart: #006.0

Here, notice the likely current technology class of your Battery weapons are generally superior to Lasers in terms of killing lower level Cerberus most quickly. Since the sooner you destroy the enemy the more hull & shield you preserve on your own ship, every point you save allows you to remain in the fight that much longer. It is especially critical to kill off Sentinels before the Guardian or Interceptor types often found in its immediate area.

*Exception: If the your current Class of Laser is the same or certainly if above* that of your Battery, the rule above largely erodes. In general you want a Battery at least two levels higher than a Laser to be competitive against it, and even three is reasonable to insist on.

While the same is roughly true for Dual Lasers, the fact that when engaging multiple Cerberus your battleship will be under heavy fire means multiple cannon weapons are often best of all. See Chart #3 above to learn more.

Tactical Chart: #007.0

This relatively new image shows just that critical period between 30 and 55 seconds and allows you to see in high granularity which weapons are able to destroy the respective Cerberus ships most quickly. You may want to study this one a few times until you have it memorized, at least up until RS5, at which point you'll know this and more one way or another!

*Click on any of these image to get a closer look =Zoom In=