STerPulse
| The following information has not been confirmed by Volition and is therefore not canon for the FreeSpace universe. |
|---|
The Morgan Technologies Type 2 Riptide Pulse Cannon, also known as the STerPulse, is a light warship pulse cannon used by the GTVA in the FreeSpace 2 mod Blue Planet. The Riptide is a pulse cannon developed by Morgan Technologies after an investment into Sahr Corporation's weapons research. It has an effective range of two kilometres, a refire rate of approximately one-thirds of a second and moderate hull and shield damage. The Riptide is also very new, and as a result has yet to be fully integrated into the GTVA's combat tactics and warship design.
Contents
Description
Blue Planet Tech Room Description
Firing packets of laser-excited plasma down a magnetic steering column, the Morgan Technologies Riptide uses the concatenated magnetic bottle technique developed by the Sahr Corporation. The biggest stride forward in warship armament since the implementation of beam cannons, light pulse weapons allow long-range interception of warheads and disruption of bomber formations. Modern corvettes and cruisers mount multiple pulse weapons, but GTVA tactical and design doctrine has yet to fully integrate them.
Performance
Statistics
| Range | 2000 m | |
| Rate of Fire | 2.85 shots per second | |
| Velocity | 1200 ms-1 | |
| Base Damage | 45 | |
| Armor Damage | 1.0x | 45 |
| Shield Damage | 1.0x | 45 |
| Subsystem Damage | 0.3x | 13.5 |
Notes
- Weapon cannot be mounted on small ships (Big Ship)
- Weapon projectile generates particles (Particle Spew)
- Weapon fires into a firing cone instead of direct firing line thus causing light inaccuracy. (FOF)
Veteran Comments
Not the monster that is the TerPulse, but still rather formidable on its own. Aside from a few 'updated' Deimos corvettes, only the new generation of GTA warships mount these weapons. Vaguely similar to flak in terms of effectiveness against craft, the STerPulse really shines over flak guns with its extended range, decent ability to take down incoming warheads (something flak sucks at, due to its exploding qualities), and modest/supplementary anti-ship weapon. Still, the STerPulse a minor threat to ships above cruiser class, which is perhaps its biggest difference from the TerPulse, which has a sustained DPS roughly equivalent to an MBlue.
It has a built-in inaccuracy, but not too much of one, so you can't linger inside of its range for long. Beyond that, take out their turrets or saturate their fields of fire with warhead spam so they aren't all targeting you.
Due to its built-in inaccuracy, this weapon is not quite as effective at rapidly shooting down warheads as its stat page might make it seem. While this inaccuracy lessens the closer the warhead gets to the ship, when there's a salvo of warheads closing in on the ship, not being able to reliably shoot each warhead down immediately greatly increases the likelihood of one or more warheads getting through. Thankfully, the Terran Turret 2s and anti-fighter beams do a pretty good job at picking up the slack, and some of the newer GTA ships have a Point Defense Terran Pulse, which is specifically designed to rapidly shoot down incoming warheads.