Starfield Ship Weapons: The Best Weapons for Hull Damage, Shield Damage, and EM Damage

Starfield Ship Weapons features a vast arsenal of devastating ship-based weapons to outfit your spacecraft with. Choosing the right weapons is critical to dominating space combat and rising to the top of the interstellar food chain. This guide will provide everything you need to know about Starfield’s ship weapons to crush your enemies.

The Lowdown on Starfield Ship Weapons Types

Starfield has 5 main categories of ship weapons:

Ballistics – Basic kinetic weapons like railguns and autocannons. Effective against hulls.

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Lasers – Directed energy weapons. Work well against shields.

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Particle Beams – Advanced energy weapons. Balanced damage against hulls and shields.

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Missiles – Long range explosive ordnance. High damage but slow reload.

EM Weapons – Disable enemy systems. Specialized tactical role.

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Each weapon type has strengths and weaknesses. Understanding these is key to crafting a well-rounded arsenal.

Ballistics excel at pounding through hulls once shields drop. Lasers are great for burning down shields quickly. Particle beams strike a balance between hull and shield damage. Missiles hit hard from afar but have slow reload times. EM weapons disable systems through electromagnetic pulses.

Combine different weapon types to exploit enemy vulnerabilities. Lasers burn down shields then ballistics shred the exposed hull. Or particle beams whittle down shields and hull simultaneously. Mix and match to find your perfect loadout.

Pay Attention to Stats – Especially DPS

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There are a few key stats to watch for when equipping weapons:

DPS – Raw damage per second. The higher the better.
Range – Effective engagement distance. Match to your combat style.
Power – Weapon energy draw. Balance with your reactor output.

DPS (damage per second) is a crucial stat. It represents the weapon’s damage output over time. When multiplying by the max number of equipable weapons, you get the total devastation your ship can unleash.

Always check a weapon’s max theoretical DPS – it gives you damage potential with ideal power management.

More Guns = More Fun

Here’s a hot ship weapons tip: equip the maximum number of identical weapons in each slot.

Many rapid-fire weapons use magazines with percentages of ammo consumed per shot. The ammo cost stays fixed no matter how many you equip.

For example, equipping 4 of a gun instead of 1 quadruples your damage output but doesn’t increase ammo consumption. You get way more bang for your buck.

Combine this with the fact weapon damage is unaffected by power levels, only recharge rate. This makes spamming huge weapon banks incredibly potent.

With just 1 pip of power, you can unleash maximal damage until ammunition runs dry. More guns equals faster enemy deletion. Don’t be afraid to stack weapons!

Particle Beams: Jack-of-All-Trades Offense

While all weapons have pros and cons, particle beams stand out as flexible, high-DPS offenders. They sport balanced hull and shield damage with excellent ammo efficiency.

Additionally, particle beam turrets gain bonuses from the Automated Weapons skill. This sweet double dip grants them phenomenal damage scaling.

For raw firepower, particle beams are hard to beat. Their versatile damage profile chews through shields and hulls with equal efficacy. Particle beams pair well with other weapons while excelling in their own right. They are amenable to almost any loadout.

Prioritize particle beams for powerful flexible offense. Their jack-of-all-trades properties handily demolish all opposition. You can’t go wrong surrounding yourself with particle death beams.

Advanced Tactics

Here are some advanced combat tactics using specialized weapon loadouts:

Shield Suppression – Max lasers to quickly annihilate shields. Follow up with ballistics to finish exposed hulls.
Hull Shredding – Obliterate hulls with mass drivers once shields drop. Use missiles or particle beams for shields.
Balanced Damage – Particle beams to systematically dismantle shields and hulls together.
Disable Systems – EM weapons to disable ships before destroying. Support with lasers.
Long Range Barrage – Missile salvos from a distance. Use railguns to finish crippled targets.

Mix and match weapons to find your favorite tactics. The right loadout can give you a decisive edge to conquer any enemy.

Final Thoughts

Mastering Starfield ship weapons is essential to dominating space combat. Pay attention to damage, range, equip counts, and other key stats. Stack identical rapid-fire guns to multiply your damage potential. Keep power management in mind. Particle beams are extremely well-rounded performers. And use advanced tactics like shield suppression, hull shredding, and balanced damage to gain an edge.

Follow these ship weapon tips and tricks to become an unstoppable force across the stars. You’ll be conquering the cosmos and reigning supreme over the final frontier in no time. Happy hunting!