GTW Prometheus R

Weapons in Descent: FreeSpace

Primaries Secondaries Turrets Weapon Comparison Table, FS1

Weapons in FreeSpace 2

Primaries Secondaries Turrets Weapon Comparison Table, FS2

The GTW-5a Prometheus (retrofit) Cannon is a primary weapon developed by the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance. The Prometheus R is a retrofitted version of the Great War-era GTW Prometheus.

In the aftermath of the Great War, the newly-formed GTVA developed a minor variant of the original Prometheus, known as the GTW Prometheus S. The Prometheus S's power-generation module required, among other essential components, argon, which was obtained in large quantities from Earth and, by extension, Sol. Thus, when the Delta Serpentis-Sol jump node collapsed from the destruction of the SD Lucifer, the GTVA was unable to gather sufficient argon to continue production of the Prometheus S and was forced to temporarily remove it from service. As a workaround, the original Prometheus design was modified to incorporate certain elements of the GTW Banshee, which resulted in the creation of this weapon. Due to the imperfect technology used, the Prometheus R lacks several properties seen on both the original Prometheus as well as the Prometheus S, but still has relatively high power requirements as well as a slow fire rate. A more permanent solution was found after the GTVA began deploying gas miners, which allowed the production of the Prometheus S to continue.

Tech Room Data

The GTW-5a Prometheus (retrofit) Cannon

The GTW-5a Prometheus R is a modified version of the original Prometheus weapon. With the link to Earth severed, the GTVA had been unable to obtain sufficient quantities of argon (a required element in the Prometheus's power-generation module) to continue to manufacture the standard Prometheus. GTVA engineers modified the original design to incorporate some of the advanced electromagnetic mechanisms of the Banshee. The technology has not been perfected, however, and the Prometheus R suffers from a long recharge cycle and high energy requirements.

Performance

Name	Prometheus R
Range	900 m
Rate of fire	2.222 s-1
Velocity	450 ms-1
Damage	18
Armor damage	19.8
Shield damage	14.4
Subsystem damage	6.3

Additional properties

• Weapon is a primary cannon (Primary weapon)

Compatibility

The following table refers to weapons compatibility in singleplayer, and does not reflect the compatibility of dogfight variants in multiplayer. A ✓ mark indicates that a ship can mount the weapon, whereas an ✗ mark indicates that it cannot.

Terran Compatibility		Vasudan Compatibility
Ship Class	Compatible	Ship Class	Compatible
GTF Ulysses	✓	GVF Thoth	✓
GTF Loki	✓	GVF Serapis	✓
GTF Hercules	✓	GVF Horus	✓
GTF Hercules Mark II	✓	GVF Seth	✓
GTF Myrmidon	✓	GVF Tauret	✓
GTF Perseus	✓	GVF Ptah	✓
GTF Pegasus	✓	GVB Osiris	✓
GTF Erinyes	✓	GVB Bakha	✓
GTF Ares	✓	GVB Sekhmet	✓
SF Mara (Terrans)	✗
GTB Zeus	✓
GTB Medusa	✓
GTB Artemis (Inc. D.H.)	✓
GTB Ursa	✓
GTB Boanerges	✓

Veteran Comments

Please read the Veteran Comments policy before editing this section.

Best used in conjunction with another weapon that does high shield damage, such as the GTW Circe.

Overall the Prometheus R is a difficult weapon to recommend. It has a lethargic rate of fire, and consumes a lot more power than other basic weapons like the GTW Subach HL-7. The Subach seems to make up for its lower damage with greater rate of fire and better energy efficiency. Even the Prometheus R's high compatibility isn't an advantage, since the S variant also has compatibility with most ships.

The bottom line: the Prom-R is a piece of crap firing little green bolts. The Subach outstrips it in all categories save single-hit anti-hull power, thanks to a better refire rate.

This gun is statistically inferior to every other Allied weapon in FreeSpace 2, in virtually all categories, causing some to theorize that this weapon is meant to be used by enemy forces, often citing the fact that the Shivan laser weapons have very close damage values to this gun.

Be sure to check that you never have this loaded on any craft that you can change. A lot of early missions will throw this in one of the two banks, along with a Subach.