High-Powered Microwave
This article contains information relevant to both the C# and VB6 versions of Aurora. Where differences exist, they are noted in the appropriate sections.
Description
[edit]High Power Microwaves (HPM) are an energy weapon specialized in electronic warfare. They only deal damage to shields and electronic components. They have a maximum range of
Base Range * Range Modifier
Their rate of fire is
Power Requirement / Capacitor Recharge Rate * 5s
While the theoretical maximum range far exceeds 1.5m km, no Beam Fire Control is able to handle ranges beyond this limit. Higher ranges offer minimal advantage for HPMs - the only benefit above 1.5m km is reducing the to-hit penalties from range.
HPM cannot be mounted in turrets.
Usage
[edit]HPM are a specialty weapon that's exceptionally well-suited for putting the enemy out of combat. It can only target electronic components (sensors, fire controls, jammers...) and is easily stopped by shields, but completely ignores enemy armor.
Since there's only a small handful of components that HPMs can target, having only 1 damage is an issue only for getting through shields, making it a good idea to pair HPMs with more directly damaging weapons. After depleting shields with help of other weapons, the HPMs are free to defang your opponent, making them unable to fire back and leaving them at mercy of your warships.
Microwaves can also play well with boarding strategies, disabling enemy guns without incurring the risk of destroying the enemy ship outright.
Damage Profile
[edit]HPM do not have a damage profile like most other weapons do. Instead, they bypass armor, dealing damage directly to electronic systems. They are completely blocked by shields, however - each hit will do 3 damage to the shields of a shielded target, but have no other effect.
The following component types are electronic components, and can be damaged by HPMs:
- All types of Jammer.
- Beam Fire Controls and Missile Fire Controls.
- Active Sensors, EM Sensors, and Thermal Sensors.
- Gravitational Survey Sensors and Geological Survey Sensors.
To see which components on a specific ship design can be affected by HPMs, look at the Class Design window, Components tab, and look at the E-DAC % column (far right) in the component breakdown table. This gives the percentage chance of each component being hit by a successful HPM attack, similarly to how the DAC % column shows the damage chance for hits from normal weapons.
If an electronic component is hit by HPM fire, then the only thing that can protect it is its Electronic Hardening level. The chance of destroying the component ranges from 100% with hardening level 0, down to 10% with hardening level 8.
Components
[edit]High Power Microwave Focal Size
[edit]Like Mesons, microwaves only deal 1 point of damage per shot regardless of focal size, so a larger focal size only increases range, size and power requirement.
| Focal Size | 10cm | 12cm | 15cm | 20cm | 25cm | 30cm | 35cm | 40cm | 50cm | 60cm | 70cm | 80cm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Size (HS) | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 25 |
| Power requirement | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 24 | 32 | 40 | 64 | 96 | 128 | 168 |
| Base Range (kkm) | 15 (C#) / 10 (VB6) | 20 | 30 | 50 | 80 | 120 | 160 | 200 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 840 |
| RP cost | 1,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 15,000 | 30,000 | 60,000 | 125,000 | 250,000 | 500,000 | 1,000,000 | 2,000,000 |
High Power Microwave Focusing
[edit]| Range Modifier | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RP cost | 1,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 15,000 | 30,000 | 60,000 | 125,000 | 250,000 | 500,000 | 1,000,000 | 2,000,000 |
Capacitor Recharge Rate
[edit]| Recharge Rate | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RP cost | 1,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 15,000 | 30,000 | 60,000 | 125,000 | 250,000 | 500,000 | 1,000,000 | 2,000,000 |
List of Components
[edit]Engines and Power Plants: Engine • Fuel Storage • Jump Engine • Power Plants
Beam Weaponry: Beam Fire Control • Lasers • Particle Beams • Mesons • High-Powered Microwave • Plasma Carronade • Railguns • Gauss Cannons
Missile Weaponry: Missile Fire Control • Missile Launchers • Magazines
Defensive Systems: Armor • Shields • CIWS • Sensor Jammer • Fire Control Jammer • Missile Jammer • Decoy Launcher • Cloaking Device
Maintenance and Repairs: Engineering Spaces • Maintenance Storage Bay • Damage Control • Maintenance module
Carriers and Fighters: Hangar deck • Fighter Pod Bay
Sensors: Active Sensor • EM Sensor • Thermal Sensor • Geological Survey Sensors • Gravitational Survey Sensors • ELINT Modules
Command and Control: Bridge • Flag Bridge • Auxiliary Control • Science Department • Main Engineering • Combat Information Centre • Primary Flight Control
Transportation: Cargo Hold • Troop Transport Bay • Cryogenic Transport • Passenger Accommodation
Logistics: Cargo Shuttle Bay • Refuelling System • Ordnance Transfer System • Tractor Beam
Production: Orbital Mining Module • Sorium Harvester • Terraforming Module • Jump Point Stabilisation Module • Salvage Module