Editing VB-Missiles (section)

===Damage Profile===

[[File:Damage gradients.JPG|1000px|Damage templates for different weapon types.]]

Missiles create triangular holes in armor (also note the article on [[Armor]]). For example, a strength-4 warhead will apply the first three damage points to the first armor level before the fourth damages the second level (see diagram on the right). The most efficient warhead damage sizes for armor piercing are therefore square numbers: 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, etc., because that's the minimum amount you need to penetrate armor level 1,2,3,4,5 etc. Note the difference between strength-9 and strength-10 warheads in the diagram: the 9th point of damage will penetrate the deepest, the 10th point however will just scratch the first armor layer again.

Only damage that gets through armor will damage internal ship components (see [[Internal Damage]]). A strength-25 warhead will penetrate four levels of undamaged armor and cause one point of internal damage. If the target has only three levels of armor, the same warhead causes four points of internal damage.

Finally, [[Shock Damage]] to internal ship components can result from severe explosions, even if they don't penetrate the armor. The larger the explosion, the greater the chance of causing shock damage.

Armor damage is permanent until repaired in a shipyard. Multiple weapon hits, even if non-penetrating, will slowly erode a ship's armor. Hit location (i.e. the armor column being hit) is randomly determined, though, so a large ship can potentially take a large number of non-penetrating hits before any damage gets through.

For example, a 10,000-ton destroyer with only three armor layers will have 3 layers x 42 columns = 126 armor boxes. A 24,000-ton cruiser with six layers would have 6 x 72 = 432 armor boxes. Slowly grinding the armor away with small missiles requires a lot of hits, but large swarms of small missiles are harder to defend against. Large missiles with large warheads might require only a few hits on a target, but a good enemy [[Point defense]] might shoot them all down before they can do any damage. You have to experiment yourself and see what works best for you.