Using weapons of mass destruction

Weapons of mass destruction

There are two of this kind of controversial weapon available to commanders; the energy bomb and the Q bomb. They are both simple and devastating, as well as expensive. They are also likely to get you in trouble with the authorities if used in inappropriate ways, or cause 'collateral damage' (such as destroying a police Viper along with the pirates you really meant to kill).

Weapons of mass destruction tend to only be used defensively.

Using Q bombs

A Q bomb's effect is relatively slow moving, and expands from the point of detonation in a sphere. It catches any other ship or object within this sphere, causing it to explode in the same manner - creating its own sphere of destruction. Eventually, the effect fades and that region of space is safe to enter once more.

Since the effect is relatively slow moving, to best use a Q-bomb, encourage your enemies to group, and try and release the bomb as close to the group of enemies as possible. With luck, the Q-bomb's effect will have caught the enemy ship before they have time to turn and run. With very little practise, it is possible for a lone wolf with a Q-bomb to take out a vast number of enemy ships.

The Q-bomb is most effective when detonated in an asteroid field. The asteroids will contribute to the Q-bomb's effect, and detonated in a dense enough asteroid field, will result in the effects going beyond scanner range and lasting up to a minute.

Be sure not to get caught in your own Q-bomb. It is best to drop the bomb then use witch space fuel injectors to leave the area. Areas affected by a Q-bomb are depicted on your IFF scanner - be sure to remain clear of these areas. Since the bomb makes no effort to station-keep in space, do not launch when using the witch injectors - this will cause the Q-bomb to detonate whilst travelling at high speed!

Using energy bombs

(This is now an .oxp, downloadable through the in-game Expansions Manager. It used to be part of the Vanilla game). The energy bomb is the galaxy's simplest weapon to use. Just press the launch key, and instantly everything in scanner range is hit with a blast of energy. It will destroy most ships and asteroids. It is incredibly indiscriminate - unlike the Q-bomb where ships further away will see the detonation and be able to get clear of the area, the energy bomb wallops anything within range instantly. Never detonate an energy bomb with friendly ships or the Police in range because you will damage or destroy their ships, too. It is very easy to cause collateral damage.

The energy bomb is best reserved for emergency use.

Other Weapons of Mass Destruction

• See Category:Missiles & Bombs for a full list of what is available

Other advice pages

• How do I ... dock / succeed in trading / win a fight / configure my controller/joystick etc