Guns of Icarus Online Damage Types, Guns and Loadouts Guide by Torigoma
This guide is based off information gathered from in-game as well a just asking questions of the Devs. If these is any Incorrect information, feel free to state so.
Welcome, in this guide we will be going over Damage Types, Gun Layout, Gun types, and Ammo choice. Gunners will learn what guns do what type of Damage, where to aim for, and what Ammo to use for each gun, while Captains will learn about the different Gun layouts to use on what Ships, as well as what to go after with your current setup.
First off, lets start with Damage.
Currently in GoIO, there are 4 “Main” Damage types, and 2 “Special” types. Each of the main damage types is Strong against one of the 4 main part of the ship, Balloon, Hull, Armor, Modules (Guns and Engines), and weak against another. Lets take a look;
+ = More damage
– = Less damage
~ = No modification
1): Piercing: This damage type is used by Piercing type weapons, such as the Mercury Field Gun, or the Gatling gun. Piercing Damage is very effecting against Armor, but deals less damage to the Hull. Piercing Weapons are used to strip away the targets armor so that you can damage the actual Hull.
—Hull = –
—Balloon = ~
—Armor = +
—Modules = ~
2): Explosive: Used by Explosive type weapons such as the Flax cannon and the Rocket Carousal, Explosive Damage is most effective against the Target’s Hull, but deals less damage against the Balloon. Explosive damage is used to finish off a already weakened target.
—Hull = +
—Balloon = –
—Armor = ~
—Modules = ~
3): Shatter: This damage type is used by Weapons like the Mercury Field Gun and the Rocket Launcher. Shatter Damage is most effective against Modules such as other Weapons or the Ship Engines, but does not do a lot of damage to the Armor. It is used to cripple a ship by destroying the engines and leaving then unable to move, or taking out their Weapons, and leaving them unable to attack.
—Hull = ~
—Balloon = ~
—Armor = –
—Modules = +
4): Flechette: Last of the main damage types is Flechette, used by such weapons as the Carronade and the Harpoon. Flechette damage is most effective against the targets Balloon, although not very effective against Modules. Flechette is used to take down the targets Balloon, causing them to crash into the ground.
—Hull = ~
—Balloon = +
—Armor = ~
—Modules = –
The Next two Damage types are the “Special” damage types, that work is slightly different ways than the Main types.
5): Fire: Flame based attacks, Fire damage is used by things like the Flamethrower and the Beacon gun, ans well as Incendiary rounds. Alone with Shatter damage, Fire damage is your main “Disabling” damage. Fire damage works by stacking a DoT (Damage over Time) effect of Ship parts hit, up to 16. For each stack on that part, Fire damage deals an increasing amount of damage every second. While Fire damage itself is very low, it works by not only crippling a ship (Guns on fire can not be shot, and engines become less powerful), but also by dealing damage to a large number of parts at once, putting stress on the Engineer. Fire damage deals more Damage to Modules, but less to the Balloon (needs confirmation).
—Hull = ~
—Balloon = +
—Armor = – –
—Modules = –
6):Collision: You wont find it on the Site, but if you’ve played more than 1 game, you know Collision damage is quite a big part of Play. Collision damage is how it sounds, damage occurring from contact with either environmental objects (including dust clouds), or enemy Ships. For the purpose of the guide, we will focus on only the sub-type dealing with Ship-to-Ship Collisions. Collisions damage is a simply concept to grasp; the faster a object is traveling, that more damage is done to both Ships on contact. Contrary to what some may think, many times Ramming is a viable method of attack, as long as you are able to survive the impact yourself. It is possible that Mass may also play a role in calculating Collision damage, but this needs to be confirmed.
—Hull = ~
—Balloon = + +
—Armor = –
—Modules = –
Now lets look at the different Guns.
—1):Artemis Light Rocket Launcher
A versatile Weapon, the Rocket Launcher deals high Explosive and shatter damage, although it’s reload speed, low clip size and long flight time, limits it’s DPS, making it best suited as a Secondary Guns. Gunners using this gun should focus on taking out modules near the Hull, such as a Gallon’s main Guns. Gunners should avoid small modules, or those far from the hull, such as a Pyramidion’s front guns, or a Goldfish’s Engines.
———Damage types: Direct: 80 Explosive, AoE: Shatter 50
———Recommended Ammo: Greased Rounds or Charged Rounds, both greatly increasing DPS output.
———Effective Ships: Works well as a Secondary gun on Ships such as a Gallon, Junker or Spire. Not recommended for Ships with limited Gun slots.
—2):Echidna Light Flak Gun
A popular Choice, the Light Flak Gun has one of the highest DPS outputs of all the Light Gun class. If you can hit anything that is. Like the Rocket Launcher, the Light Flak Gun is very effective as a Support gun, either laying down fire for slower guns, or taking out weakened ships. However it’s slow, heavy shells need the hands of a experienced Gunner to guide them correctly. Gunners should focus their fire on the Hulls of the enemy Ships, while avoiding the Balloons as much as possible.
———Damage types: Direct: 96 Explosive, AoE: 30 Explosive
———Recommended Ammo: Greased and Burst rounds are best, allowing the gunner to make every shot count. For those having a hard time hitting anything, Lesmok Rounds may help.
———Effective Ships: Again, Effective as Secondary or Support Weapons on ships like the Gallon or Spire. For a experienced team, may also work as a Main weapon on a Pyramidion. Avoid ships with limited space.
—3):Whirlwind Light Gatling Gun
A Fast, effective weapon for striping the armor from a target ship. While each bullet’s damage is relatively low, the Gatling guns fast rate of fire and fast reload make it effective cover fire. Even a few seconds of sustained fire can strip most ships of their armor. However, the spread of the bullets increases significantly as distance increases, meaning it sees it’s most effective use by close range fighters like the Spire, or the Hit and Run tactics of the Squid. While the Gatling gun does have competitive Shatter damage as well, the spread of the bullets make is less effective than most other Shatter weapons. Gunners should focus their fire on the Hull of the Ship, and only when in close range, as not to waste ammo. While the Tool tips says it’s effective range is 700m, Gunners should focus more on 300-400m range.
———Damage types: Direct: 10 Piercing, AoE: 9 Shatter
———Recommended Ammo: Charged rounds are effective for increase damage output, while the rate of fire makes Incendiary rounds effective as well.
———Effective Ships: Close fighters such as Spires, or Hit and Runners like Squids will find the most use out of the Gatling Gun.
—4):Dragon Tongue Light Flamethrower
One of the most popular weapons, and currently 1 of only 2 weapons able to deal Fire damage without Incendiary rounds. Flamethrower is a support weapon designed to cripple a Ship and leave it open for attack. The Flamethrower does not do direct damage, rather it relies on Fire damage, stacking up to 16 times on all hit Ship parts. The Flamethrower should never be relied on as a main source of attack, rather it needs to be complemented with another weapon, destroying the weakened Ship. Gunners will find that the Flamethrower is simple to use, simply point at a ship in range and cover it with Fire, making sure to spread the fire over any Ship Part in reach. Guns take first priority for lighting on fire, with engines coming in Second.
———Damage types: Direct: 3 Fire, AoE: 0 Fire
———Recommended Ammo: Both Greased rounds and Heatsink work great, as they drastically increase clip size, and as do not apply their damage debuffs, as the Flamethrower does not deal much direct damage.
———Effective Ships: Close range ships suck as a Pyramidion, or ships that get flanked easily will find much use for a Flamethrower. Squids or Goldfish using Hit and Run tactics will find the Flamethrower effective for crippling a ship to gain some distance.
—5):Barking Dog Light Carronade
A Short range, (somewhat) Rapid-fire Shotgun like Weapon, Specializing in Balloon destruction. While not very effective at distances greater 100-150m, the Light Carronade is one of the most potent close range weapons in the game, easily able to cripple most ships in a single clip. The Light Carronade fires 12 (need confirmation) projectiles per shot, each dealing 12 Flechette per projectile, allowing it to easily pop a Balloon at close range. This allows the Captain to stay an altitude outside of the target ships guns, while the Gun pounds away at them with Support guns, or even Carronade, causing them to simply crash. Gunners should focus on the Balloon of the target, and only when at very close range (100-150m), and don’t let up till the ship is destroyed, even when the Balloon appears already popped (in case they repair it).
———Damage types: Direct: 12 Flechette, AoE: 8 Shatter
———Recommended Ammo: Greased rounds.
———Effective Ships: Most effective when using two on the front of a Pyramidion, forcing the target to chose either to Crash, Run, or have their Armor/Hull Chipped away at by stray Carronade shots. However this puts the Pyramidion in very close, making them susceptible to counter attacks or the targets Allies. Captains are recommended to attack hard and fast, then retreat, or if it looks like you will not bring them down fast enough.
—6):Javelin Light Harpoon gun
A niche weapon with few effective applications, but good at what it does. As the name suggests, the Harpoon gun fires a tethered Harpoon at the target, effectively attaching the two ships. When tethered together, the attacking ship with follow the Harpooned Ship on the side that it attached too (I.E, a Junker with a Harpoon gun on the left, will follow the Ship on it’s left side). This makes the Harpoon Gun effective for keeping guns, such as the Light Carronade or Flamethrower lined up for continued fire. However, this line can be broken if the Harpooned ship gains enough distance. The heavy, slow harpoon is also very hard to hit anything with. With 100 Shatter damage, Gunners should focus on hitting Enemy guns or engines, then switch to another gun once harpooned, or the Balloon on for ships like the Junker.
———Damage types: Direct: 70 Flechette, AoE: 100 Shatter
———Recommended Ammo: Lesmok Rounds, you’ll be lucky to hit anything without it.
———Effective Ships: Really a A niche weapon, but should never be used on a ship with a single Side or forward facing weapon, light the Goldfish or Squid, or as the front facing weapon of a Junker.
—7):Beacon Flare Gun
Another niche weapon, and the Second weapon to use Fire damage, this weapon does a very small amount of damage per projectile, with a small chance to start a fire, but is primarily used for lighting up clouds. When fired into a cloud, it will begin to emit a green light which will silhouette ships trying to hide there. While it’s uses are limited, Ships on certain maps where cloud cover is thick, such as the Fjords, may find this weapon a Godsend. Gunners should focus on simply spamming cloud where enemy ships are thought to be.
———Damage types: Direct: 10 Fire, AoE: 5 Explosive
———Recommended Ammo: Heatsink or Greased rounds will increase your clip size and allow you to cover more cloud.
———Effective Ships: Only recommended on ships with the space to spare, and only on maps where is might be useful.
—8):Mercury Field Gun
With the largest range in the game, one of the fastest shell travel speeds (with little drop), and the highest Shatter damage of any gun, the Mercury Field Gun can be quite deadly in the right hands. The Sniper of GoIO, the Mercury Field Gun is able to hit targets well out of range of any other weapon, as well as having one of the highest Piercing and Shatter damages, making it effective for disabling Ships at a distance, or stripping away their armor before you are in range of their guns. Mercury Field Gun shot speed however his quite low, with almost a 2 second delay between shots, and a 4 second reload. As well as this, it’s slow turn speed make is ineffective at very close range. At very long ranges, Gunners should focus on taking out targets Armor. at Mid to Long range, focus on targets Guns and Engines first, then strip the disabled ship of it’s Armor.
———Damage types: Direct: 100 Piercing, AoE: 250 Shatter
———Recommended Ammo: Greased rounds work great for increasing shot speed, and Charged rounds work well as a damage booster at mid range. At very long distances (you can to scope in to even see the ship), Lesmok rounds are recommended for more accurate shots, or Lochnagar rounds for massive damage if you are confident about your Aim.
—8):Scylla Double Barrel Mortar
A rapid-fire, low arching, Slow projectile weapon, arguably one of the hardest in the game to use. The Double Barrel Mortar fires several slow, heavy, shells in rapid succession, dealing a moderate amount of damage if they hit. The large black cloud each impact produces makes this weapon popular among more experienced crews, especially as an anti Carronade tactic, as it can easily block line of sight and distract enemy gunners. Gunners should focus on the Hull and Guns.
———Damage types: Direct: 60 Explosive, AoE: 20 Explosive
———Recommended Ammo: Lesmok work well to help increase accuracy. Burst Rounds help increase damage.
———Effective Ships: Really a niche weapon, in the scene that it takes an experienced gunner with use one, and as with all these types, should not be used on a single side/forward facing gun such as a Squid or Goldfish.
—10):Banshee Light Rocket Carousel
Similar to the Scylla Double Barrel Mortar, this Light Rocket Carousel fires several explosive shells in rapid succession, but with little arch, and less damage. As with the Double Barrel Mortar, this weapon is most commonly used to hinder the enemies sight, however with it’s larger, more accurate spread, and competitive Shatter damage, it can also be used effectively as a Mid-range disabling weapon, more so when coupled with Burst rounds. Gunners should try and cover the entire ship, damaging as many Ship parts as possible, and blocking Gunners line of sight.
———Damage types: Direct: 20 Explosive, AoE: 25 Shatter
———Recommended Ammo: Burst Rounds or Charged rounds.
———Effective Ships: Hit and Run ships like the Squid might find it effective as a back weapon, disabling the guns of any pursuing Ship. Junkers and Gallons may also find some use in it, using it to disable enemy Flankers.
—11):Typhoon Heavy Flak Cannon
The first of the Medium Guns, the Heavy Flak Cannon is one of the most heavy damage dealers in the Game. The Heavy Flak Cannon fires 2 large, mid-speed, low arching shells per clip, each dealing a total of 300 Explosive Damage. However, the Heavy Flak Cannon suffers from a moderate reload time, and a slow turning rate, relying more of the Ship’s own turning than it’s own. Gunners what to focus on the enemy Ship’s Hull, pounding away at them till they are no more.
———Damage types: Direct: 220 Explosive, AoE: 80 Explosive
———Recommended Ammo: Burst rounds are effective for increasing damage, as well as Charged rounds. Lesmok rounds may be effective at a distance.
———Effective Ships: The Typhoon Heavy Flak Cannon will feel right at home on a Goldfish, Gallon, or Spire.
—12):Manticore Heavy Hwacha
The big brother of the Banshee Light Rocket Carousel, the Manticore has many of the same uses as the smaller version, acting as both a Crippler and a deterrent. Each clip fires a volley of 20 missiles at high speeds over short distances, causing low damage individually but totally a massive 1400 damage if they all hit. However, because of the large spread, even at short distances this is very difficult to do. The Manticore also has the second longest reload of any gun in the game, at 14 seconds; double the next highest, the Scylla Double Barrel Mortar (7 seconds), and second only to the Flare Gun (20 seconds).
———Damage types: Direct: 25 Explosive, AoE: 45 Shatter
———Recommended Ammo: Lesmok or Charged rounds, make every shot count.
———Effective Ships: Because of it’s low accuracy and slow reload, the Manticore is only suited for the Gallon, where it can be complemented by another Big Gun.. Spires and Goldfish should stick with either the Heavy Flak or Heavy Carronade.
—13):Hellhound Heavy Twin Carronade
A large double-barreled shotgun type weapon, this gun fires a devastating scatter burst of red-hot scrap metal shards. The shards travel only for a relatively short distance, but quite a bit farther than the Light Carronade. The same Concepts of the Light Carronade applies to this larger one.
———Damage types: Direct: 22 Flechette, AoE: 11 Shatter
———Recommended Ammo: Charged rounds
———Effective Ships: Might work will with a Goldfish, but will take a good pilot to make effective on a Spire. will see it’s best use on a Gallon when complemented with a Heavy Flax Cannon.
Guns of Icarus Online New Player’s Guide
Guns of Icarus Online Strategy Guide
Guns of Icarus Online Battle Stations Guide
Guns of Icarus Online Captaining Tips
Guns of Icarus Online Ship Loadout Builds Guide
Guns of Icarus Online Item and Skills Complete Guide
Guns of Icarus Online Starter’s Guide
Guns of Icarus Online Absolute Basics Guide
Guns of Icarus Online Damage Types, Guns and Loadouts Guide
Guns of Icarus Online Captaining Guide
Guns of Icarus Online Engineering Guide
Guns of Icarus Online Detailed Beginner’s Guide
Guns of Icarus Online Engineering Basic Guide