Weapon Types (UFO2000)

General purpose weapons

General purpose weapons usually fall into 3 categories: pistols, rifles and heavy rifles. Their accuracy can vary from low/medium to high and they make up most of a squad's equipment because of their versatility and their ability to be used at all ranges.

- In general pistols are less expensive than rifles and can be fired more during a turn but their accuracy is worse than rifles. - Rifles possess auto fire capability but their power is lower than heavy rifles. - Plasma is the best non-explosive weapon in the game. Unfortunately it is also the most expensive and the ammo load can be limited (although it might not be necessary to bring extra clips if you manage to conserve its ammo). - Laser is cheaper and has unlimited shots. But it is less powerful and has worse accuracy than plasma weapons.

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Area weapons

Area weapons are any firing weapon which discharges a High Explosive/Incendiary/Smoke round. They include cannons, grenade and rocket launchers.

Area weapons should be used for 3 purposes:

1. soften up an enemy's armor (by close-by hits)
2. destroy its cover (to allow for the general purpose weapons to hit without being stopped)
3. create smoke to cover the movement of your units.

It can be difficult to kill an armored enemy by simply using area weapons, depending on the weapons' accuracy and the target's armor.

• Rocket Launcher is very powerful but the rockets are very expensive. And a Large Rocket will usually NOT ensure a kill if the target has undamaged power or fly armor.
• Auto Cannon vs. Heavy Cannon. 1) AC has auto ability, poor accuracy and lower power but it costs less. 2) HC has no auto ability and is more expensive but has better accuracy and power.
• AC is good for firing blindly into an area, without mattering if it scores a direct hit or not. It is also good for close range fighting (a 3 shot auto burst of AP shells will kill a power suit) but unless you equip your assault guys with it you won't need any AP shells. 4) HC fires fewer shots than AC on a turn (due to lack of auto fire) but you will be able to direct better your fire. Also, 3 direct hits will kill a power suit.

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Hand to Hand (HTH) Weapons

These weapons are generally low on damage and are restricted to your soldier being adjacent to their target. There are several advantages to using them when you find yourself close to a target, however.

• Speed: Unlike most ranged weapons, HTH weapons have a very low TU requirement to activate, sometimes as low as 10% TU cost. This makes these weapons extremely time efficient when you would be using TU's to dispatch a nearby target anyway.
• Stealth: Unlike ranged weapon fire, no explosion or projectile burst will be seen or heard by the enemy when you preform a HTH attack.
• Ammo: Unlimited
• Accuracy: 100%

Note that the speed and stealth of HTH weapons makes them excellent for cutting through walls and other obstacles on the battlescape while not alerting the enemy of your position.

Note also that HTH weapons generally have very low point cost and weight.