Sonic-Blasta Rifle
General Information
The sonic Blasta-Rifle is a very minor upgrade to the Sonic Pistol that provides a small accuracy and damage increase at the cost of speed, clip size, a two handed grip, and a longer barrel. The sonic Blasta-Rifle, like the Thermic Lance, is perhaps one of the least remarkable of its series.
Do not misunderstand, it is a powerful weapon that can do tremendous amounts of damage in the right hands. It outclasses any ballistic human weaponry by its sheer power alone. However, it doesn't particularly excel at anything, and also, being a sonic weapon, it lacks an auto fire mode.
In a twisted way of thinking, one could argue that this was the Blasta Rifle's strength. It builds on minor aspects of the gun above and below it in small ways.
So should you go for that extra shot from the pistol, go the middle ground and use the rifle, or lose a shot but gain brute force and inhuman accuracy? That's a tactical decision best left as a practical exercise.
Comparison to UFO Mirror: Plasma Rifle
Step up in power, step down in versatility. The one thing that made the Plasma Rifle most useful was its insane accuracy, which has been surpassed by other weapons in TFTD. While more powerful than the Plasma Rifle, Snapshot accuracy and time usage is down. Aimed Accuracy is up, while time remains the same. The ammo clip is moderate, but well complemented by the weapon's power.
Weapon Statistics
Sonic Blasta Rifle
- Size: 3 high x 1 wide
- Firing Accuracy:
- 75% Snapshot
- 110% Aimed
- Firing Cost:
- 40% Snapshot
- 60% Aimed
- Selling Cost: $126,500
- Build Cost: $88,000 plus:
- Technician Hrs: 820
- Workshop Space: 4
- Aqua Plastics: 1
- Zrbite: 0
Ammo Statistics
Sonic Blasta Rifle Clip
- Size: 1 high x 1 wide
- Damage: 95 Sonic
- Ammo Capacity: 15
- Selling Cost: $6,290
- Build Cost: $3,000 plus:
- Technician Hrs: 80
- Workshop Space: 4
- Aqua Plastics: 0
- Zrbite: 2
Sonic Pistol -v- Sonic Rifle Comparison
The comparison between Sonic Pistols and Sonic Rifles comes down to a matter of efficency. In a situation where Sonic Rifle clips are in abundance, using the Blasta Rifle as a mainstay weapon is an extremely effective choice even until the endgame, due to the fact that they posess just enough extra firepower over a pistol to bring down tougher aliens in a single round of fire from one soldier, and do so with an extremely high degree of accuracy. Pistols are effective, but not as effective, except when fired far more often, due to a slightly lowered damage and accuracy. Both are excessively strong against Aquatoids, but against Gillmen the Rifle's increased firepower gives it an edge in efficency. The advantage both have over the Sonic Cannon is increased rate of fire. You can rarely expect to get more than a single shot from a Cannon per turn, and on most targets that single shot is either overkill or not quite enough, and multiple shots from the weaker weapons acutally provide more firepower per turn.
In total firepower per turn, with minor movement, you can expect three snapshots from a Pistol, two from a Rifle, and one from a Cannon. In terms of accurate fire, the rifle provides slightly better accuracy while allowing for minor movement, and also offers an extremely accurate Aimed shot. The Blasta sits between the accuracy of the Sonic Cannon and the raw per-turn firepower of the Sonic Pistol. Depending on the accuracy of the soldier in question, either of the two extremes may be preferable, but the Rifle is a dependable and accurate, with enough shots per turn to account for a miss, and enough accuracy at a low TU cost to give the mobility needed to fire from cover.
Rarely does the supply of Blasta clips dry up in the conflict. However, should ammunition stores for the pistol and rifle become low enough that they must be engineered, and it is decided not to replace them with Sonic Cannons, it's a common choice to give up the Rifle and make Sonic Pistol ammo instead. A rifle clip costs 2 Zrbite to create, and yields 15 shots in a rifle, while a pistol clip costs 1 Zrbite and yields 20 shots. For the same amount of Zrbite, you choose between 15 and 40 shots, which makes the decision fairly clear as to which is the most cost effective. Even with the Pistol's lower accuracy and reduction in firepower requiring extra shots be taken, that is more than double the amount of shots of two weapons with nearly identical firepower.
See Also
