ACTA: How Multi-Hit and Burnout work together?

[AlphaStrike]

As I understand it, each hit - i.e. successful Attack Die - from a Multi-Hit weapon counts as two hits.

If a weapon with that trait also has Burnout, does that mean each successful Attack Die counts as two hits and therefore knocks out two shields if they are in place?

Or

Does the weapon knock out one shield at a time, and then once it's striking an unshielded ship inflict two hits per successful Attack Die?

If its the former, Multi-Hit weapons seem very powerful indeed.

Thanks.

 

[Stormrider]

If a weapon with that trait also has Burnout, does that mean each successful Attack Die counts as two hits and therefore knocks out two shields if they are in place?

Correct

If its the former, Multi-Hit weapons seem very powerful indeed.

It's not 'too bad' if you consider that shields are just hit points that recover over time (either at the end of the turn or end of that weapon system's firing depending on burnout). There was an argument one the forums before about this, but more from the perspective that multi-hit burnout weapons like blasters make em pulse guns, designed to take down shields, pointless.

 

[AlphaStrike]

Wow.

That means your big Multi-Hit 3 or more guns pound through shields in absolutely no time!

I've only played a couple of games so far - I used hawkwood against a friend's Decados fleet. I knew that Decados were supposed to be heavy-hitters, but that means they really kick some ass.

Generally speaking, have their been any balancing issues - or is it just a case of learning to play to each house's strengths?

 

[Stormrider]

Personally I think that Decados are unbalanced, but that's only my view and largely based on one ship, the Mantis.

There are several more fleets coming out soon though and while I don't think that will balance what is already there, I think it's worth waiting to see what they do to the game before making changes.

Beyond that, it is a case of learning the house's weaknesses and playing to your strengths, but that does become tricky when your opponent knows what he will be facing (oh.. Al Malik? I better take only hull 6 ships )

However, don't think of shields as something to save you, they are only there to soak up 'some' damage.

 

[Greg Smith]

An alternative to multi-hit is the precise lasers. Certainly they don't take down shields as quickly, but those extra crits can certainly make a difference.

al-malik can also be good, since they bypass shields. But their innacurate rockets mean they can struggle against bigger ships.

 

[AlphaStrike]

Interesting. I've played a few games with Hawkwood ships - most of which seem to be armed with Accurate, Precise weapons. Nice, once shields are down - it's just that it takes a while to get to that state!

Certainly, large amounts of 'ganging-up' seem to be required. Otherwise you'll just tickle your opponent's shields each round.

 

[Greg Smith]

Certainly, large amounts of 'ganging-up' seem to be required. Otherwise you'll just tickle your opponent's shields each round.

That is absolutely the case. The game does not work 1-on-1.
With Hawkwood and al-Malik, you can crit-fish with your missiles on other ships though.

 

[starbreaker]

Hawkwood's smaller hulls have significant problems penetrating shields even in groups. Having part of their firepower tied up in Slow weapons and part in lasers lets them do nickel-and-dime damage easily, but getting a lot of raw damage through is much harder than it is with pure blasters (Hazat) or Al Malik (all Slow, so shields mean nada). OTOH, you've got unmatched accuracy with everything either Accurate or Guided, and explorers in the fleet for granting those lasers scout rerolls to boot.