Talk:Jet Harpoon
If this weapon fires standard harpoons, how come the damage is so high? Harpoons can't do that kind of damage. So I think the harpoons are probably explosive-tipped, evidenced by the burn marks they leave on the ground.--amitakartok 07:31, 11 November 2008 (CST)
- This what you're looking for? Regardless, keep in mind the harpoons are probably a foot or two long, moving at a respectable speed. It'd be like being hit by a steel arrow, and arrows, contrary to most fantasy movies, have stopping power similar to most firearms. Although I agree that a fragmenting harpoon warhead probably would help quite a bit. Arrow Quivershaft 09:32, 11 November 2008 (CST)
Firepower Analysis + Comparison
Just some notes that I will move to Weapon Analysis later.
- vs Rifle - slightly higher Auto firepower (less than +10%). Marginally weaker point blank Auto. 20% weaker in Snap fire. Identical in Aimed fire. The main defect is having half the ammo capacity!
- vs Gas Cannon - GC-AP has the same firepower in Snap, as the Harpoon has in Auto. And the GC fires for twice as long. You do the math.
- vs Hydrojet Cannon - HjC-AP has 25% more firepower in Auto. HjC has slightly greater Snap firepower, 25% more point-blank Snap firepower, and the same Aimed firepower. All with 40% more ammunition. A no brainer.
- vs Dart Gun - twice the firepower in Snap and Aimed. Auto is 3x the best mode of the Dart Gun. And there's no ammo advantage to the Dart Gun. So the best you can say about the Dart Gun is "even more useless than the Jet Harpoon".
NB - Firepower defined as: Average damage on-target per unit of time (%TU). The rates above are for unarmoured targets. The heavier weapons are even more favoured vs armoured targets.
Spike 17:22, 18 December 2008 (CST)
I've always had a low opinion of the Dart Gun despite being a big fan and promoter of the (previously underestimated) pistols in UFO and TFTD - but to see its inefficiency in numbers... Oy. I think the only benefit that it'll probably still be a good reaction training weapon on account of being a bit faster than the gauss pistol for its basic firing modes. But gosh, the difference between the stats on the dart gun and UFO's basic pistol are quite remarkable! - NKF 22:52, 18 December 2008 (CST)
- Based on my math, the maximum damage the Dart Gun can do is 32 points. Aquatoid soldier has 30HP and 2 points of armor in the back. (All other aliens, as I recall, have more HP or more armor, usually both.) This means that unlike the Pistol, which had a noticable chance of dropping Floaters in a single shot, the Dart Gun only has the potential to one-hit kill a Aquatoid soldier...if you shoot it in the back and hit for maximum damage. The rest of the time, 2 or more shots are needed. Also, the ammo clip for the Dart Gun is 12 shots, not ten(the TFTD UFOpaedia is rife with errors), so it does have 2 more shots than the Jet Harpoon. Not that this saves it. Arrow Quivershaft 17:57, 19 December 2008 (CST)