Torpedo ships

[luddite]

One interesting thing about torpedoes is that their base size is not so bad, it's the power requirement that really hurts.
For Anti-matter torps, that's 75 size, 300 power. Compare that to stinger missiles with 155 size, 30 power. Or fusion beams (20/75).

I don't fully understand the MOO calculations, but I think that means they scale really badly with engines. So... build a torpedo ship with just retro engines..? Probably not a good idea.

[MyName]

https://youtu.be/s7fPP77cBHk At the end of the video you can see the difference for Guardian (precap tohit fix on/off) Time 1:34:50

[luddite]

Bumping a very old thread

I saw Sulla's latest MOO game, where he had some trouble with a runaway Psilon AI. At the very end of the game, they came up with a ship design that was surprisingly effective: large, cloaked, and 3 plasma torpedoes. It completely solved the main problem that plasma torpedoes have, which is that you pretty much to be at point blank range to be effective. And the cloaking device synergizes well with the every-other-turn firing of torpedoes.

I decided to fire up MOO and try a game where I intentionally try to use torpedoes as much as possible. I realize it's a bit suboptimal, for all the reasons that people laid out it this thread. And also luck dependant on getting the right techs. Still, I wanted to give it a chance to see if I could make it work.

OK, I played it out until the endgame. anti-matter torps and hellfire torps were not effective, but plasma torpedoes were a game changer. Once I got plasma torps, the game became quite easy. Here's what the costs looked like: (this is with most techs researched, but none of the bonus miniaturization levels)



The plasma torpedoes cost about 50% more than mauler devices, but that seems well worth it for something that's guaranteed to do over 100 damage. fire it from the next square, and you're doing 135 damage. The mauler device probably only does about 50, which becomes 35 if it's hitting something with a class 15 shield. or *zero* if it's hitting a planet (cut in half) with a class XX shield. The plasma torp is almost like a death ray, with how well it goes through shields.

I could also get 3 tri-focus plasma or 5 zeon missiles for the same cost as 1 plasma torp, but it's the same problem, they just lose too much against shields. Seems like a fair trade.

So overall, I think I just really like the plasma torpedo, but none of the other torpedoes are worth it. Only downside is, there doesn't seem to be a way to move after firing. You can't just throw on a nuclear missile like you can with beam ships, since they fire from the same "missiles" category. maybe adding a cheap special would work, though.

[Anskiy]

Plasma torpedoes are quite powerful yeah. Only issue is that they come very late. Funny though how the highest damage on a researchable weapon is on a torpedo, not a beam or a missile.

[MyName]

Mauler device is potentially better thanks to Oracle (if patched), but Plasma Torpedo almost always hits regardless of computers (unless patched). Due to bugs, this is the most powerful weapon in MOO. The same goes for the Proton Torpedo. The remaining torpedoes are relatively useless. Against ships Stellar Converter is usually the best choice(especially with Oracle)
UPD: I almost never use these weapons because there is usually something much better

[rgp151]

The only time I've made much use of Torpedoes is against large fleets of Heavy Beam weapons before HEF. I've had to go up against stacks of ships using stuff like Heavy Ion Cannons or Heavy Neutron Blasters, etc., and then you can't get close enough to damage them without getting blown up yourself, unless you use Torpedoes with high maneuverability and just hit and run. Can make for long slow fights....

[rgp151]

One more way to use Torpedoes effectively is with Warp Dissipators, where you can freeze a ship stack in place and then just sit back and blast them from afar. I've never had to rely on Plasma Torpedoes. Pretty much the only time I've used Torpedoes is using Anti-Matter Torpedoes with these type of range issues, where an enemy has a large number of Heavy Beam ships that I can't just blast it out with, so there is a need to hit them from out of range.