Gauss Cannons

The Gauss Cannon is a short-ranged rapid-fire weapon well suited to point defense. It can be mounted in turrets and does not require power from a power plant. Gauss Cannon shots inflict one point of damage each over their entire range. At higher technology levels the Gauss Cannon can fire several shots every 5-second time increment. All shots must be aimed at the same target, but a missile salvo counts as a single "target", so a single Gauss Cannon can destroy several missiles at once.

Note that a missile salvo refers to the missiles fired by a single fire control system at one time; if several enemy ships fire simultaneous missile salvos, a Gauss Cannon can only fire at one ship's salvo at a time. If the cannon kills an entire salvo with only some of its shots, the rest of its shots in that time increment are wasted.

Components

Gauss Cannon Rate of Fire

Rate of fire is a technology found under Missiles / Kinetic Energy Weapons. Each level of the technology allows the Gauss Cannon to fire an additional shot in each 5-second time increment. Higher rates of fire cost more and require more raw materials, but they don't affect the size of the cannon or the crew required.

Level	Rate of Fire	Cost	Materials Required
1	1 shot every 5 seconds	x1	x1
2	2 shots every 5 seconds	x2	x2
3	3 shots every 5 seconds	x3	x3
4	4 shots every 5 seconds	x4	x4
5	5 shots every 5 seconds	x5	x5
6	6 shots every 5 seconds	x6	x6

Gauss Cannon Velocity

Velocity is a technology found under Missiles / Kinetic Energy Weapons. Each level of technology increases the range of the Gauss Cannon by 10,000 km. Higher velocities don't affect size, cost, or crew required for the weapon, so apart from the time to research the technology, velocity has no disadvantages.

On the other hand, Gauss Cannon ranges are so short (and missiles are so fast) that a cannon will rarely get more than a single, point-blank volley at an incoming missile salvo unless the missiles are of vastly inferior technology. For example, a Level 6 (60,000 km range) Gauss Cannon may have time to fire multiple volleys at a primitive, slow missile, but such a cannon is a late-game technology. Equivalent-tech missiles are usually fast enough to move from beyond the Gauss Cannon's range to impact in a single 5-second time increment. The Gauss Cannon will still get a final, point-blank shot at the volley, but range is irrelevant for this.

Level	Range
1	10,000 km
2	20,000 km
3	30,000 km
4	40,000 km
5	50,000 km
6	60,000 km

Gauss Cannon Size vs Accuracy

Size vs. accuracy is not based on any technology; all options are available from the beginning. A standard-size Gauss Cannon takes 6 HS and requires 24 crew. The size, cost, and crew requirement of the cannon can be reduced at the expense of accuracy. Note that the cost and materials are also affected by rate of fire; see the above chart for multipliers.

Size	Accuracy	HTK	Crew	Cost	Materials Required
6 HS	100%	2	24	12	12x Vendarite
5 HS	85%	2	20	10	10x Vendarite
4 HS	67%	2	16	8	8x Vendarite
3 HS	50%	1	12	6	6x Vendarite
2 HS	33%	1	8	4	4x Vendarite
1.5 HS	25%	1	6	3	3x Vendarite
1 HS	17%	1	4	2	2x Vendarite
0.75 HS	12.5%	0	3	1.5	1.5x Vendarite
0.6 HS	10%	0	2	1.2	1.2x Vendarite
0.5 HS	8%	0	2	1	1x Vendarite