Mark 1 Homing Torpedo

Introduced in 2187, this has been the standard long-ranged “kill” weapon of the Terran Star Navy for 20 years.  While incremental improvements have been made, such as the “Block C” sensor package upgrade, the basic systems have remained the same since the weapon was added to the TSN arsenal.

Homing Torpedoes are basic missile weapons, homing in on a single ship and dealing a reasonable amount of damage. They are plentiful at stations and the player ship can generally carry a large number of them. Homing torpedoes can also be converted to energy if needed, or built from energy. When built by stations, Homing torpedoes take 3 minutes to build, divided by the base's build factor. (They take no time if built by the player ship)

Homing Torpedoes

Type 4 LR Nuclear Torpedo

When the TSN began to encounter larger groups of enemy combatants, the decision to resurrect fusion weaponry was passed in the Terran Senate after heavy debates.  The weapon is capable of destroying multiple shielded vessels in a medium blast radius. 

Nuclear torpedoes work much like homing torpedoes, only they are much more destructive. When a nuclear torpedo detonates, it deals a substantial amount of damage to everything nearby. They are rare and take a long time to produce at stations, and the player ship can only carry a small number. Nuclear torpedoes take 10 minutes to build, divided by the base's build factor.

Nuclear Torpedoes 

Type 6 Mine

Deployable as a single unit in ‘deterrent mode’ or as a group in ‘area denial’ mode, the Type 6 mine has been an effective anti-shipping weapon since its introduction in 2182.  Used mostly to protect fixed space stations which are vulnerable to enemy action.

Unlike torpedoes, mines do not seek a target and are instead deployed out of the back of the player ship as it travels. Ships approaching mines will cause them to detonate and do damage to everything within a wide area. Mines are plentiful at stations and the player ship can usually carry a fair number. Mines take 4 minutes to build, divided by the base's build factor.

Mines are also found as terrain features on the map on more interesting sector layouts - they tend to be arranged in large grid-like clusters.

Mines

Type 9 EMP

The EMP torpedo fires and explodes like a nuke, causing a wide explosion that can hit multiple ships. However, instead of physical damage, a ship hit by an EMP blast will lose half of its maximum shield strength, AND its shield frequencies will be severely damaged, making beams much more effective against them. EMP torpedoes take 5 minutes to build, divided by the bases build factor.

Additional Note

An EMP fired at a ship that already has its shields equal to or below half strength will have no effect. Should either shield arc be over 50% strength; that arc will be reduced to 50%, however the other shield arc will remain the same.

Firing two EMP's at an enemy vessel does not reduce the shield strength to 0, neither will it reduce the shield strength to 25%. Only the first EMP will have any effect, reducing enemy shield strength to 50%. The second EMP will have no effect on shield strength.

EMP Torpedoes

Type 8 Plasma Shock

The Plasma Shock torpedo, commonly abbreviated "PShock", is similar to the Homing Torpedo, but carries a warhead that sets off a Phased Plasma pulse, creating a resonance in the hull that deals massive damage over time. The torpedo will deal only a single point of damage against shields, but if shields are already down, the PShock will continue to deal damage until the target is destroyed.

PShock torpedoes also are useful against monsters, even though the Phased Plasma warhead does not generate enough heat to damage organic matter. However, the concentration of energy waves in the monster's body will disrupt its neural pathways, stunning it and rendering it immobile.

Additional Note

PShock torpedoes were introduced in Artemis 2.2. They are not available in previous versions. As the new monster types were also introduced in 2.2, they may have been intended to provide the player with a non-lethal means to deal with monsters.

As of Artemis 2.3, PShock torpedoes are available at base stations, and Comms can order bases to produce them. They take 10 minutes to build, the same as Nukes. In 2.2, PShock torpedoes could not be built at bases.

PShock Torpedoes

Type 5 Bio Beacon

The Type 5 Beacon was introduced not long after the Type 6 Mine in 2182, but it was originally intended as a distress beacon. In 2237, after increasing encounters with new and dangerous xeno-organisms, TSN scientists began research into using EM wave signals to attract or repel these creatures. The Bio Beacon can be programmed to emit these signals, modifying the behavior of xeno-organisms and possibly using them to distract or block enemy ships in combat situations.

Similar to a mine, a Beacon is dropped from a ship, and broadcasts a signal that can attract or repel monsters. Once dropped, it can be picked up, and reprogrammed to be used again and again. Bio Beacons are particularly useful to Scouts, who can use them to attract monsters to an enemy ship.

Beacons

Mark 2 Probe

Probes have been standard issue for TSN Scout ships since the early days of Terran colonization. Starting in 2241, the TSN began making them available for warships of the line, in an attempt to improve their usefulness in non-combat situations. Built on a standard torpedo casing, the probe is packed with an advanced instrumentation package for long range scanning and detection.

Probes are designed to be launched from a ship, and will extend the sensor range in much the same way a base or an allied ship extends the sensor range of the player ship. Probes are intended to be used with limited Sensor Range settings, and have no real purpose if Sensor Range is set to Unlimited. Probes take only a minute to build, divided by the base's build factor.

Probes

Type 7 Bio Tracker (Tag)

While civilian ships have been tagging Space Whales and other xeno-organisms for centuries, the TSN developed the "Tag" in 2237, and began shipping them to the frontier in 2240. Modified from the Mark 1 Homing Torpedo, instead of exploding on impact with a target, it uses a gravitational grapple to affix a sensor instrumentation package to a ship's hull or xeno-organism's hide.

Like a Homing Torpedo, a Tag is launched at a targeted ship or monster and will home in on that target. When used against a monster, it will "tag" the monster, broadcasting data about the monster's condition to the Science station. Tags will remain attached to an individual monster, and Science may be able to detect that a monster has already been tagged, and carries data collected by an earlier investigation. Enemy ships can also be tagged, which will disable their Cloak and Teleport abilities.

Tags

Mark 3 Base Torpedo

Introduced in 2215, on the eve of the First Spiral Arm War, this improved Mark 1 Homing Torpedo was designed specifically for TSN Command Bases. Built around a much larger frame than the Mark 1, it was incapable of being loaded into TSN warship launch tubes.

The TSN Command Base is capable of launching this torpedo, which is a Homing Torpedo with a bigger warhead. The Command Base's fire rate is lower than that of a TSN warship, but it has an effectively infinite supply.

Skaraan VictoryCorp 'Crossfire' Drone

The TSN was introduced to the Torgoth drone in 2188, during the First Torgoth Incursion. It was not until later that we learned that the drone was not manufactured by the Torgoth. The distinctive "X" shaped silhouette of the oncoming drone is a familiar sight to many a TSN Weapons officer.

The Torgoth Drone (also used by the Skaraans) is a hefty guided missile weapon, homing in on the target ship and doing better damage than its TSN counterpart. Its cross shaped frame supports four powerful sublight engines, making it surprisingly fast for its bulk.