Particle Beams

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

Particle Beams is an energy weapon, that, unlike Lasers and Plasma Carronades, does not have damage drop-off across the entire range band. As a drawback, it has shorter range than lasers and higher power demand.

Their rate of fire is

 Power Requirement / Capacitor Recharge Rate * 5s

Particle beams cannot be mounted in turrets.

Usage

Particle Beams are a mid-range anti-ship weapon, and start to suffer when taken outside of that niche. At close ranges, lasers, railguns and carronades will deal much more damage over time, and at long range, lasers and (past a certain point) mesons can handily outrange the particle warship. Within their niche, however, they're second to none, and lack of damage drop-off allows them to deal serious damage in mid-range combat while only receiving minimal damage themselves.

Lances take the one thing they're good at and take it to extreme: against unshielded or poorly shielded targets a single lance volley can cripple or destroy enemy ships with very little problem owing to their supreme armor penetration, but if it doesn't work or the target has strong shielding, the lance warships will be sitting ducks, waiting ages for their weapons to reload for a second salvo.

Particle Beams are terrible PD weapons: with only one shot, inability to be turreted and long reloads, they're ill-suited for anti-missile fighting.

Damage Profile

Particle beams use the gradient 2 damage profile, making them identical in profile to railguns and middle of the road in terms of penetration.

Particle Lances meanwhile deal damage in a straight line, penetrating a layer of armor with each point of damage. This makes them very difficult (but not impossible) to stop with just armor. Shields are massively more effective against them - an improved damage profile does nothing against shields.

Components

Particle Beam Strength

Particle Beam Strength

Particle Beam Strength	2	3	4	6	9	12	16	20	25	36	50
Size (HS)	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Power Requirement	5	7	10	15	22	30	40	48	64	90	125
RP cost	2,000	4,000	8,000	15,000	30,000	60,000	125,000	250,000	500,000	1,000,000	2,000,000

Particle Beam Range

Particle Beam Range

Beam range (kkm)	60	100	150	200	240	320	400	500	640	800	1,000	1,200
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

Capacitor Recharge Rate

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

Particle Lance

Particle Lance is a special beam modification that takes 30,000 RP to research and requires to have Particle Beam Strength 6 and Particle Beam Range 200,000 km to be researched beforehand. This modification affects the Particle Beam in following ways:

• 2x Damage
• 2x Size
• 2x HTK
• 2x Crew
• 2.5x Power Requirement
• 3x Cost
• 2x Development Cost

The armor penetration also changes from a gradient-2 to a straight line, making the lance the best anti-armor weapon in the game.

List of Components

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