INTRODUCTION

Missiles are rockets with warheads on them. You select them by cycling through your weapons. Now just pull the trigger and the missile will fire. Unfortuneately, there is no second trigger available for missiles.

Missiles are bought in packets of generally 5 or 10 missiles. Devastators are sold one-at-a-time. You can buy or fit them at any weapons shop. Specialty shops carry the more exotic missiles.

You can fit twenty missiles per weapons bay. You cannot fit the same kind of missile in two different bays, so you're pretty much limited to 20 of a particular missile at a time. But, you can have as many different missiles as you have weapons bays. Check my Moths Page to see how many bays each Moth has available.

Different missiles do different things as described in the tables below. Missiles, as a rule, have a greater range than cannons and are a great way to start a dogfight. You've probably already had a Police L-2000 fire a Swarm at you and immediately follow up with his cannons. Hurts, doesn't it?

My missile picks are presented in the box at the bottom of this page.

	SPRAT

DESCRIPTION : The Sprat is a mainstay missile in Misplaced Optimism. It does medium damage to shields and hull and several can be fired very quickly. Their biggest disadvantage is that they can be readily evaded by the use of countermeasures (flares or chaff) or erratic flying. Their homing ability isn't very strong. More on the plus side is the Sprat's speed. They are fast moving and can't be outflown if fired within reasonable ranges. I don't use Sprats early in the game. Rather, I horde them. You'll find a few pilots carrying Sprats. I kill them and then keep the Sprats in my hangar. Later in the game, Sprats become very scarce and you can sell them at any weapons shop for a small fortune. I generally prefer to use them. I like using the Sprat as an opening weapon. I can get off three and have my opponent in a tizzy before switching to a more powerful missile or cannon. I like using three Sprats, Plasma Kannon, and Laser Turret to take out someone fast.

	SWARM

DESCRIPTION : I love the sound of a Swarm missile. It sounds like a torpedo from an old WW 2 movie. The Swarm launches and breaks into four separate warheads to increase you odds of a hit regardless of your enemy's attempts to evade. This is the biggest strength of the Swarm. You almost always get some kind of hit. If you get a full hit, serious shield damage or hull damage occurs. You still get moderate damage if only one or two warheads hit. It's pretty hard to miss with a Swarm. Swarms give the enemy time for an initial evasion which can limit their impact. Get pretty close. Just outside of cannon range is good. Follow up a Swarm quickly with cannons. This will disorient your opponent and increase the odds of a full Swarm hit.

	FIREBURST

DESCRIPTION : The FireBurst is a sort of Mega bomb. You fire it at your enemy and it explodes sending several "mini-bombs" at your opponent's shields and engine. It is the only weapon that specifically damages a Moth's engine. Another big advantage of the FireBurst is that it temporarily "freezes" you opponent making it an easier target for cannons. To use a FireBurst get really close to your opponent. His shields will have to be low before you get the engine-damaging effects. A single, well-fired FireBurst at an enemy with 50% shields will slow him to a crawl. Another will destroy him. I don't use these much, but I hate getting hit by them. They can really slow you down. They are useful in disabling a Moth because they can take out the engines. Unfortunately, it's too easy to destroy the Moth you're trying to disable. Being a disabling weapon, you can use it against Enforcers to stop them cold. Follow up by disabling their weapons and just leave them there. They can't fly to get repairs and, because they're not dead, another Enforcer isn't sent after you. DISABLING -- To disable an Enforcer (or any other Moth) make a note of how strong their hull is. Strong-hulled ships like Police L-2000s and Death's Heads can take a full FireBurst after their shields have been stripped. This will almost always disable their engines. Lighter ships, like Neo-Tigers, must be fired upon when they still have just over 10% shields left. Otherwise, they will be destroyed.

	UNDERKILL

DESCRIPTION : An Underkill attacks your enemy's shields and CPU. It has about the same effect as a super Plasma Kannon blast, but at much more cost. Underkills are over a thousand bucks a pop. There are a lot of better deals out there. I've been using these a lot more lately since Nar Sluke clued me in to their fast firing and travel rate. They fire quicker than a plasma kannon and do tremendous shield damage.

	POWER LEECH

DESCRIPTION : Power Leeches are a of a lot of fun. They drain your enemy's power reserves on impact. This sends them running to a Light Well almost immediately. Another one will stop your foe dead in his tracks. Great for Enforcers or online opponents or any other particularly cagey opponent. They travel slowly, but are excellent at tracking their target. They always hit. Power Leeches aren't very effective while your enemy still has shields. I try not to fire one until my enemy's shields have been whittled down to below 20% or so. Try to get just within cannon range before firing a Power Leech. The closer the better.

	GROUNDBASE

DESCRIPTION : GroundBase are my absolutely favorite missile. They are the best weapon I've found to open a dogfight with either an aggressive pilot or an unsuspecting one. The GroundBase, when fired, anchors itself to the ground directly beneath the enemy Moth. It then generates a heavy gravitational field that drags your enemy to the surface. This "fall" really damages shields as well as temporarily immobilizing your opponent. It sounds pretty simple: your enemy is sucked to the ground. In practice, the GroundBase performs four important dogfighting tasks all at once: It immediately pulls you out of your enemy's line of fire. From the instant he starts to dip he can't point toward you to fire and he moves away from you (downward) very fast. The GroundBase does substantial damage to your enemy. If he's high enough, a GroundBase will strip his shields and begin general system and structure damage. And, isn't that what a weapon is really all about? It immobilizes your enemy. This sets him up for an immediate follow-up with cannons or another missile. I rarely have to fire another GroundBase (unless I'm just being cruel). A GroundBase disorients the enemy pilot. He loses track of you and even where he is. If he escapes, it will take him a few seconds to regain his bearings to either escape or attack. This is time you will use to continue your attack. NOTE: Nar Sluke has discoverd that if you use GroundBase, the attack won't register as an attack and you won't be hounded by factions. Around 3 GroundBase will take out most Moths. A GroundBase has a pretty long range. Use them about half a second before you're within cannon range. Don't miss the great opportunity to follow-up your attack. I like getting low and behind my enemy (in case he flees) and hitting him with the Plasma Kannon until his shields are stripped. Then I switch to Laser to finish him off. To really kill a very dangerous enemy quickly, try the GroundBase/Devastator combo. The GroundBase is fired first due to its long range. As soon as your target is immobilized, follow up with a Devastator. There is no defense to this combo once the GroundBase starts sucking your enemy down. Remember that the higher your enemy is flying, the more damage a GroundBase does. The benefit at lower altitudes is limited more to immobilizing your opponent for a quick follow-up.

	DEVASTATOR

DESCRIPTION : The Devastator does just what its name implies: It completely destroys any Moth on impact. The Devastator's only disadvanges are its short range and slow flight. It is possible to outfly a Devastator fired at the edge of its range. Devastators are also susceptible to countermeasurses and being shot down. That's right, you can shoot missiles down in HardWar. You just can't target them. I noticed this when I was nose to nose with an enemy (NayJay) who was about to Devastate me. I'd given him a beating and was hoping to kill him or disable his weapons before he could get the missile off. He fired the missile at close range, but it didn't hit me. Later experiments led me to believe I'd shot the missile down by accident. I wouldn't really count on this as a routine tactic. The key to using Devastators is in getting as close as possible to your target. You should be well within cannon range and preferrably right on top of your opponent. Don't worry, the blast won't hurt you. By being close, you give your enemy less time to counter with flares or chaff.

As stated above, my all-time favorite missile is the GroundBase. Given its abilities and long range I prefer it even over the Devastator if cost weren't an issue. In Misplaced Optimism, however, cost is always an issue. So is Moth compatibility. The Silver-Y just can't be fitted with certain types of missiles. Early in the game, I prefer Swarms if I use a missile at all. They're relatively inexpensive and pack much more power per shot than a Sprat. The big disadvantage I find with Sprats is that I have to use three or more per dogfight. That gets pretty expensive after a while. I'll open a dogfight with a Swarm and follow-up with Plasma Kannon until my enemy's shields are stripped. If he's particularly agile or tough, I'll fire another Swarm to soften him up for a finish with lasers.

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