Beam weapons (crew screen)

The beam weapons crew screen targets and fires the ship's beam weapons.

This screen is designed for crews of more than 6 officers, or for officers using more than one screen at a time.

• For crews of 5-6 officers, see the Weapons crew screen, whichi combines the functions of the beam weapons and missile weapons crew screens into a single crew screen.
• For crews of 3-4 officers, see the Tactical crew screen, which combines functions of Helms and Weapons into a single crew screen.
• For single-person crews, see the Single pilot crew screen, which combines some functions of Helms, Weapons, and Relay.

For more details on specific types of weapons, see Weapon types.

Targeting

To fire beam weapons, the Beam Weapons officer should typically lock onto a target. This is done by tapping/clicking the desired target.

Note: A ship can target beams and missile weapons separately. See Missile weapons (crew screen) for details about missile targeting.

If the Weapons crew screen is active and is used to lock onto a target, it automatically sets both target types simultaneously. If your ship has both a Weapons crew screen and the split beam and missile weapons' crew screens, your targeting selections might come into conflict.

Beam weapons

Beam weapons are precision energy weapons that can fire at any target within their arc. Beams have limited range, generate significant heat, and consume significant amounts of energy. However, they fire instantly, automatically hit their targets, aren't limited by storage capacity, and allow you to surgically damage or disable a target's systems.

Beam weapon firing rates are influenced by the Beam Weapons system's effectiveness.

Some beams are also turreted, which means the beam itself has a narrow arc but can physically rotate within its wider arc to reach the selected beam target. Turret rotation speed can be reduced by beam system effectiveness, which can dramatically reduce their effectiveness.

Effective Weapons officers work closely with their Helms officer to put evasive targets in their beams' firing arcs and keep them there, with their Science officer to maximize their beams' offensive output by modulating their beams to a vulnerable frequency, and with their Engineering officer to ensure that beams don't deplete their ship's resources.

Autofire beams

When beam Autofire is enabled, your beams automatically fire at any selected beam target once that target is within any beam arc.

When Autofire is disabled, your beams won't fire under any circumstances.

Disable Autofire as a safety measure around unknown or unscanned targets, or when you don't want to unintentionally perform aggressive actions toward a target.

Beam information

Beam weapons are energy weapons automatically fired at a selected target within the weapon's arc and range, which might be part of a turreted system that takes time to rotate toward a target. Beam weapons are perfectly and surgically accurate, even capable of damaging specific systems on a target, but are relatively weak compared to missile and mine weapons. They can also be calibrated to better penetrate an enemy's shields by applying shield frequency data from the Science officer.

• Frequency: Set the beam weapons' frequency to best match what the target's shields are weakest against, so that your beams are most effective. The Science crew screens can fully scan a target, and Science can either directly report how its shields react to certain beam frequencies or link that data to a Target analysis crew screen.
• Target: The specific system for beam weapons to damage. The Science crew screen can fully scan a target to see its system status, and Science can either directly report the target's systems statuses or link that data to a Target analysis crew screen. Select Hull to destroy a target ship.

Ship information

The Beam Weapons crew screen provides its officer with only the most relevant details about their ship:

Energy

The ship's current energy, which is consumed by weapon functions and shields.

Effective Weapons officers watch their energy status and communicate with their Engineering officer to ensure that their weapon usage is sustainable and won't burn through the ship's power reserves.

Shields

Front and rear shield charge. 100% is the maximum value, and 0% is fully depleted.

Effective Weapons officers communicate their shield status with the Helms officer to ensure their strongest shields are facing the most dangerous enemies, and with their Engineering officer to ensure that depleted shields' systems are prioritized for repair and recharging.