ok, so i just saw a player pop up on my battle tab, level 186 with 6 quantum devestators. So i was wondering when you guys feel you should upgrade your guns. I feel i upgraded my weapons later than everyone else, i just usually had more than everyone else so i was able to keep up with the damage difference, so im not sure what a good level range would be. The main point of this thread is to save players from the 'Laughable' combat rep.

I think it mostly depends on NPCs, and other research. If it seems like structures and energy are going to take too long right now, go with weapons. If it takes you more than 4 hits to kill a Charger, also upgrade your weapons. I think those are the only times to worry about it, but I recently got bumped down to Laughable, so perhaps this advice isn't the best...

well this kinda says it all
level 181
Player Kills 15
Deaths from Players 256

i have light null rays its just expensive to buy them and find the deck space for them(made some wrong choices at the beginning of game)

i think it very much depends on your play style tbh.
i was (un?)fortunate enough to start playing just before the badges came in. i quickly realised that it would be to my advantage to go for the dominion cannon while i was low level. i did this and got all 4 before rank 85...with a great boost to my reputation (i am a big wuss btw lol) this rep boost seems to mean people give me the body swerve in battle tab.
i have 2 hvy disruptors, 2 exotic pulsers (prejoran mish) and the 4 doms...i dont feel underpowered tbh, though i see guys my level with much higher weapons tech.
if you like advancing via the mission page them guns aren't too high on the agenda. if you like pvp or npc hunting then you cant have enough firepower imho.

I'm level 177 and am running with 6 Light Anti-Proton cannons plus other smaller modules. Now that I'm doing more NPC hunting, I'm definitely going to add the last two guns quickly - the extra firepower helps kill them a lot faster.

Im rank 177 with:
3 light anti-proton cannons
3 levithian rift emmiters
4 vortul blast phasers
psionic amplifier
4 dominion cannons
2 lauzli mind controllers
combat analyzer
and a prototype mech

I was told to jump from Heavy to Heavy.

Really guys? Im behind in tech and I got light anti-protons at 126. I think you guys need to research you weapons tiers a little.

The only thing I have neglected is cloaking cos I dont hack much, infact I dont do much pvp at all. On my BT right now I have 2 anti protons, 1 light anti proton, 4 with heaver singers, 1 with singers, 1 with light singers and 1 with shearers. Ranks 96 to 137

if i really wanted to upgrade my guns it would only take 87 days max to finish all tiers thats doing no other research

I usually just balance out my research, and based on that, I research from heavy weapons to the next set of heavy weapons

Im rank 167 with:
Heavy antiproton cannons x8
Vortul blast phaser x4
Ion Pulse Ballistae
Dominion Cannon x2
Exotic Pulser x3
and some tier rewards

Edit: I actually plan to upgrade my weapons after I research +10 planetary structures

I'm rank 301 with
Light Null Ray x8,
Radiant Surge Cannon - Mark IV x2,
Korteth Twin-Blaster x4,
Leviathan Rift-Emitter x4,
Psionic Amplifier,
Lazuli Mind Controller x3,
Dominion Cannon x3,
Prototype Mech XV,
Drone Cluster,
Combat Analyzer
--at war time add--
Ion Pulse Ballistae x4
Exotic Pulser x3
by rank 350 i will upgrade to heavy null rays

I upgrade Light to Light, since the first weapon upgrade of a new tier gives better planet structures. I do the same for pretty much any planet structure-dependent research, like shields and cloaks.

WHAT?? are u a CCer? cause i remember when u killed me and you were like 20 levels lower than me!

I have below average weaponry, but have quite a few kills, and i prefer to research structures, scanners and energy. If i were to research weapons, i would do it just for the sake of more planet invasion chance, im not getting heavy proton cannons till rank 200...

So many people overestimate the use of high tech weaponry, its not that usefull, i see it mainly as a waste of research, and so many noobs research weapons first thing... look at the link and itll explain

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com ... zC%2FEE%3D

Rank 151
2x light singularity luanchers
1x psionic amplifier
2x leviathan rift emitters
1x lazuli mind controller
2x crimson autophaser
2x vortul blast phaser
4x dominion cannons

Battles 18976 (Grand Master)
Player Kills 1204
Deaths from Players 199





No point upgrading your guns if you dont use them.

When doing pvp, its not about how much attack you have... you must alot have alot of defence, alot hull and alot energy and alot of artifacts.

If you have too little attack, it will take you too much energy to disable a person
if you have too little defence, it will take too much hulll to disable a person, as well as minimal xp gain
if you have too little hull, it will take you long to disable a person, and you risk getting blown up by mines and retaliation
if you have too little energy, it will take you too much time to farm players, and all you can do is idle when you have no energy
if you have too little artifacts, It will mean your missing out on the little advantages you get from artifact boosts

ok, just as a heads up to everyone, its FAR more usefull to have 8 cannons of a lower tier, than 7 or 6 cannons of a higher tier. i can easily take people who had 6 heavy antiprotons easily when i had 8 heavy singularity launchers. NEVER sacrifice an extra gun for the decks to upgrade to a higher tier, because its not worth it. and if you have 7 cannons it may be in your favor to go to a lower tier and get 8 cannons. do the math really quick and make sure, but in almost every situation its better to have more cannons, than better cannons.

True and weapons get ridiculously expensive as you go up.

A single heavy anti proton costs
- 357,000,000 CR, 71 Kurenite

times that by 8 for 8 cannons
2,856,000,000 CR, 568 kurenite + 143,200,000 CR upkeep per day
And you get 2000+ attack

A single Heavy singularity luancher costs
- 93,000,000 CR, 93 Dysillon

times that by 8 for 8 cannons
744,000,000 CR, 744 Dysillion + 3,720,000 CR upkeep per day
And you get 1656+ attack

You paying an extra 2,112,000,000 + an 140 million CR a day just for extra 344 attack.
You pay 46x the upkeep which means you have to install 368x heavy singularity luanchers to have your upkeep equivalent to 8x heavy proton cannons

Are you rich? i hope people take this advice seriously

hmmm i'm lvl 146 and i only have 1 dominion cannon installed. :/ i think thats heaps of firepower tho.

You are right and people need to heed your advice. I would also suggest skipping at least every other tier of weapons, that will mean you will see a bigger difference in attack power, often worth the cost difference.

However, at some point, you are going to want to max them out. Right now, I am slowly upgrading from Null Ray to Heavy Chaotic. It takes me about 2 weeks to get the money/minerals to buy one of them. I am carefully making sure upkeep does not outpace my income.

Yeah, the biggest consideration is upkeep, at higher levels. I'll research null rays to get the better planet structure, but I probably won't install them on my ship for a while.

And like other posters said, I've focused more on energy and planet structures. The +10 structures are a huge help - I'd much rather have those than a couple more tiers of guns. Power in this game is maximizing the value of your time. Anything that adds more resources/energy per hour adds strength - guns are just a tool. They're important since they let you invade and such, but not as important as other things.

I honestly never had an issue with upkeep until I reached the Heavy Nulls (I can't remember when I got these, but it wasn't long after I reached rank 200). At that point it seemed that going any further was going to see a vastly diminished gain for what I would need to pay for the Thetacrons (which I only recently got, around rank 350). Fortunately before I got to this point, I took a chapter from the Nocifer book on ship development had had begun pumping rank points into Tactical Officers. You need less decks because you aren't adding weapon tiers, you don't increase upkeep, and your ship becomes a powerhouse in attacking, invading, and raiding. No matter what level of weapons you have equipped, your attack is going to peek if you don't invest in crew. Plus, you cannot realistically expect to have Theta's or Quasi-Chaotics installed if you don't have very good mineral production.

Tactical officers, ladies and gentlemen. Tactical officers.

I personally would encourage most players to shoot for the Heavy Nulls at least. Once you get into the 200 range you need to be thinking of it. They aren't really that expensive and they will help your ship reach that plateau to be on the same level as 90% of the mid level players. There is really no reason for a rank 300 player to not have at least Heavy Nulls equipped. Plus, if you don't have them equipped, your ship will appear vulnerable. Whether it actually is is another story, but that is how a lot of players look at it.

The Theta's are a personal choice. These do start getting costly, and for a minor increase in attack strength (440 I think). 440 may sound like a lot, but at that level you are talking about a 7-10% increase in attack for possibly 30-50% increase in upkeep.