GTW UD-8 Kayser

The GTW UD-8 Kayser is an advanced primary weapon that is now in its late OpEval period. It has high marks for both shield and armor penetration, beyond even the formidable GTW Prometheus S. Its shots move fast, reach a decent range, and pack a heck of a punch. That's the good news. The bad news is that, as expected for a prototype weapon, its compatibility with existing fighters and bombers is poor. Few craft can mount this cannon. The weapon's energy requirements are also very high. Still, when you see one of these on the battlefield, you should immediately be very cautious. It's a powerful device, given only to veteran and elite squadrons. Special Operations Command, especially, seems to have priority selection.

Weapons in Descent: FreeSpace

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Weapons in FreeSpace 2

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The GTW UD-8 Kayser

Tech Room Data

The GTW UD-8 Kayser is the result of an intensive study of Shivan weapon technology. The Kayser emits focused waves of subatomic particles that bombard its target. Impact causes the wave function of the particles to collapse and emit extremely intense, zero-point energy microbursts. Standard policy dictates that weapons of this magnitude be mounted only on bombers, but it has become common practice for field technicians to mount them on fighters.

Performance

Statistics - UD-8 Kayser

Range	975 m
Rate of Fire	4 shots per second
Velocity	650 ms-1
Base Damage	28
Armor Damage	Full	28
Shield Damage	Very Good	25.2
Subsystem Damage	Poor	9.8

Statistics - UD-D Kayser

Range	975 m
Rate of Fire	3.33 shots per second
Velocity	650 ms-1
Base Damage	16.8
Armor Damage	Full	16.8
Shield Damage	Full	16.8
Subsystem Damage	Average	9.8

Notes

Veteran Comments

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If there is a gun that you want to have when dogfighting, this is that gun. Combining rapid fire with high damage, a well-aimed volley of Kayser fire can convert most fighters to small amounts of debris with little difficulty. The downside is high energy requirements, which somewhat reduces the advantage of the rapid firing rate. Make no mistake: if somebody comes at you spraying Kayser pulses, he's not going to do it for long, but you could well be dead before he stops.

Go all out when you're 90% sure of hitting your target. Otherwise fire in short bursts. With this, you have to make every shot count.

When I first got to use the Kayser, I stopped using other primary weapons when I had the chance. This gun delivers such a punch that it can actually deplete weak shields and still have enough power to damage the hull. In fact, for some of the fighters with little hull plating, even a direct hit from four Kayser projectiles can knock their shields from full to null. The downside of the Kayser is that it uses up a lot of energy, even more than the Prometheus. This is something that should be taken into account unless you're flying a SOC-retrofitted SF Mara.

The Kayser is a good anti-fighter and anti-bomber primary. However, it devours too much energy to be of much use against freighters and cruisers. In such cases, it is advisable to take some Trebuchets or forget the Kayser and take a Maxim or dual Prometheus S cannons. Like most high-consumption anti-bomber cannons, sacrifice some speed for a higher primary recharge rate. With Kaysers, you may run out of energy real fast and at the worst time. Most typically, you will use the Kayser in the main campaign with a GTF Erinyes, the eight guns of which will eat all your primary energy in a few seconds. This might be discouraging, but on a 4-gun Perseus, Kaysers serve well, both as anti-fighter and anti-bomber.

The Kayser is an excellent dogfight weapon if you have a quick, moderately-armored ship. You'll need the extra speed and padding so you can divert some energy to your primaries. As said before, fire in short bursts unless you're sure you'll hit your target (such as against something that's not moving). If you need your speed and all the shielding you can, you should go with something else, such as dual Prom-S.

It's also worth noting that the GTF Loki has a decent recharge rate and can support a pair of Kaysers decently well so long as you have at least some power to weapons, although the battery will drain fast otherwise. My other favorite trick is to pair this off with a GTW Maxim - use short bursts of the Maxim to disable a capital-class target's subsystems from long range, and use your Kaysers to shred enemy fighters. You'll pack enough firepower to make your otherwise overlooked scout craft into a formidable combatant thanks to its high speed!