GTW Avenger

The GTW-15 Avenger Cannon is a primary weapon which was used during the Great War. The main advantage of this weapon was that it was the only weapon that could inflict damage to Shivan shields during the onset of the Great War. Its predecessor, the ML-16 was ineffective against shields and had to be replaced. After the development of the Prometheus, the Avenger was no longer the preferred weapon of GTA pilots.

Weapons in Descent: FreeSpace

Primaries Secondaries Turrets Weapon Comparison Table, FS1

Weapons in FreeSpace 2

Primaries Secondaries Turrets Weapon Comparison Table, FS2

File:Avenger 320x240.jpg
The GTW-15 Avenger Cannon

Tech Room Data

A rapid-fire, computer-controlled radar and gun system - capable of firing at a rate of more than 4500 rounds per minute - used primarily for close-defense situations - uses closed-loop radar technology to locate, identify, and direct a stream of highly destructive 45mm projectiles to the target.

With the advent of shield technology, the GTW-15 is preferred over the ML-16 in any ship that can carry it. It's extra damage against hulls make it one of the best anti cruiser weapons. It has also proven very effective against Vasudan fighters. However, it's substandard anti-shield capabilities make it a poor choice for dogfighting Shivans, although far better than the ML-16.

Performance

Statistics

Range	1000 m
Rate of Fire	4 shots per second
Velocity	525 ms-1
Base Damage	20
Armor Damage	Full	20
Shield Damage	Good	13.6
Subsystem Damage	Poor	5.6

Notes

The heist of the prototype

Main article: Heist of the Avenger Prototype

Veteran Comments

Please read the Veteran Comments policy before editing this section.

The Avenger is a fine weapon due to the lower energy demand; it is sometimes even more ideal than the Prometheus. Why? Because therefore you don't have to divert so much power on your lasers and you are able to have more energy on shields and energy.

I always like coupling this with a GTW-32 Flail Rifle. I call it the "hook and flail" combo.

The Avenger's speed, and therefore its accuracy, is greater than that of the GTW Prometheus as well. If you don't have excellent aim or intend to engage at fair distances, the Avenger serves well.

A surprisingly good weapon. The Prometheus does have roughly 25% better damage against shields (8x4 shots vs 6x4 shots to remove a Basilisk's rear shield). However, the rate of fire, low energy use, and travel speed give this weapon some desirability over the Prometheus. The Avenger is extremely good against hull plating, and is a great partner for the Banshee... which will strip the shield in a couple of shots regardless. On its own, it may not be as great as the Prometheus, but the Avenger is a great choice when combined with a shield stripping weapon.

It's unclear why GTVA Command would see fit to replace this perfectly serviceable gun (expendibles; uses ammunition) with the considerably inferior Subach HL-7, especially with the fluff about the Subachs being expensive. The Avenger's higher damage ratings more than offset its slightly slower rate of fire when compared to the Subach. It is, in fact, still a good weapon to use in the FS2 timeline, at least until the Prometheus S makes it obsolete again.

This is hands-down the BEST gun in the game, even better than the Prometheus! Here's why. The damage per second on hulls is marginally lower than that of the Prometheus...the Prometheus does 86.67 per second, and the Avenger does 80 per second. Yet the surprise comes when you look at the shield damage per second. The Avenger does 54.4 and the Prometheus does 46.67! The Avenger is more damaging to shields than the Prometheus is damaging to hulls. Since shields can recharge and heal, shield damage should be given higher priority over hull damage. Also, many fighters, if not most, have more shield hitpoints than hull hit-points. Also consider that the Avenger has a higher projectile velocity, which means that you don't have to lead much to hit your targets and that the targets have less time to change direction to cause the shot to miss as well. The higher fire rate of the Avenger also makes it easier to hit targets than the Prometheus, since the gaps between shots are smaller and this factor makes it more difficult for targets to try to dodge the shots. It also has a longer range than the Prometheus. On top of that, the Avenger saves more gun power than the Prometheus! Needless to say, I always arm this gun in as many fighters as I can, and if I can't, I try to load this gun into every topmost primary weapon slot on each fighter that I can. I looked into this as a result of seeing some sort of text file on the internet explaining why the Avenger was a little bit better than the Prometheus, but I lost the link to it and I don't remember where it was. The numerical details here are taken from the FS1 weapon comparison tables link at the upper right hand portion of the page. Remember, this isn't the only time Volition posted inaccurate data regarding the weapon damage (in FS1, the "Damage" for the Avenger was "Medium" and the "Damage" for the Prometheus was "Very High" when you're in the weapon loadout selection area). They also did the same thing in FS2, where they said that the Prometheus-S had Shield Damage Level 4 and Hull Damage level 5 or 6 or something like that, when THIS version of the Prometheus--the Prometheus-S, had HIGHER shield damage than hull damage according to the FS2 weapon comparison tables located near the upper-right hand corner of this page.