Infantry Weapons[edit]
| Starting Weapons | |
|---|---|
| Dart Gun | Cheap and inexpensive. While it requires less time than the Jet Harpoon to fire, it is also less accurate. |
| Jet Harpoon | The standard starting weapon. Slightly slower than the dart gun, but is more accurate and does more damage. |
| Gas Cannon | Can be loaded with Armor Piercing, High Explosive or Phosphor rounds. If being used, try loading them with explosive ronds unless you want to avoid collateral damage. |
| Hydro-Jet Cannon | Underwater only. Can be loaded with Armor Piercing, High Explosive or Phosphor rounds. The weapon is less powerful and accurrate compared to the gas Cannon, but can shoot bursts. |
| Torpedo Launcher | Underwater only. |
| Thermal Tazer | Melee weapon that stuns aliens. Always hits. |
| Magna-Blast Grenade | A basic grenade, which must be primed before use. Priming the grenade starts a timer, but you can safely hold on to a grenade that you didn't yet throw. |
| Magna-Pack Explosive | A larger explosive, but bulky. Must be primed before use. Priming the explosive starts a timer, but you can safely hold on to a grenade that you didn't yet throw. |
| Particle Disturbance Grenade | A proximity mine that must be primed before use. When primed and places, it waits until it detects movement before detonating. Only a maximum of 20 may be primed at a given point of time. |
| Dye Grenade | Used to provide a smoke screen to conceal movements, but has a limited area of effect. |
| Gauss Weapons | |
| Gauss pistol | Compared to the Dart Gun, it is slightly less accurate, but does more damage. |
| Gauss rifle | Compared to the Jet Harpoon, it fires faster, is more accurate, and does more damage. It should replace the |
| Heavy Gauss | While it inflicts more damage than the Gauss Rifle, it is slower and less accurate. |
| Sonic Weapons | |
| Sonic pistol | More accurate and damaging than the Dart Gun and Gauss Pistol. The only disadvantage is requiring Zrbite to produce ammunition. Also, if this weapon is not collected and researched early in the game, you won't be able to retrieve it later. |
| Sonic-Blasta Rifle | More accurate then the Gauss Rifle, and about just as fast. It requires Zrbite to construct ammunition. |
| Sonic Cannon | Slower than the Sonic-Blasta Rifle, but more accurate and inflicts even more damage. It's shortfall is that it costs more Zrbite to construct ammunition compared to the Sonic-Blasta Rifle's ammo. |
| Sonic Pulser | The most powerful grenade available. This weapon is used by enemies early in the game, and can easily kill an unprepared squad. |
| Disruptor Pulse Launcher | The most powerful weapon in the game, but can only be used underwater. In addition to a large explosion, it's projectile can be guided via waypoints and can hit a target at any distance. |
| Melee Weapons | |
| Vibro Blade | Melee weapon. Provides a quick attack with damage, but is weak against armored targets. |
| Thermic Lance | Melee weapon. Slightly slower than the vibro blade, but is better against armored targets. |
| Heavy Thermic Lance | An upgraded version of the Thermal Tazer. Stuns enemies. |
When starting the game, sell your dart guns and their ammunition. Replace them with Gas Cannons and high-explosive ammunition, which are more effective in the early game. You will also want to sell the torpedo launcher once you get the replacement equipment.
Of the weapon sets, the sonic-based weapons are the most powerful. This permits you to skip Gauss research if you can properly equip your team.
Sub Armaments[edit]
| Weapon | Damage | Range | Accuracy | Reload | Shots | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craft Gas Cannon | 15 | 8 km | 25% | 3 seconds | 200 | $30000/unit. $1250/50 shells. |
| AJAX | 60 | 32 km | 70% | 17 seconds | 6 | $16000/unit. $3000/torpedo. |
| D.U.P. Head | 110 | 50km | 80% | 21 seconds | 3 | $17000/unit. $9000/torpedo. |
| Gauss Cannon | 90 | 20km | 35% | 4 seconds | 50 | $182000 and 300 engineer hours/unit. $200 and 5 engineer hours/shell |
| Sonic Oscillator | 150 | 55km | 50% | 5 seconds | 100 | $226000, 500 engineer hours and 15 Zrbite/unit. No ammo cost. |
| P.W.T. Cannon | 200 | 60km | 100% | 28 seconds | 2 | $242000 and 400 engineer hours/unit. $28000, 600 engineeer hours and 4 Zrbite/torpedo. |
While the gas cannon and AJAX torpedo work well for early engagements, they are rather weak weapons. To get the more advanced weapons, you will need to research the appropriate technology. For the Gauss cannon, you will need to research all the infantry gauss weapons and their ammunition. For the Sonic Oscillator, you will need to retrieve and research all three sonic weapons and their ammo as well. The P.W.T. Cannon is available once you research the Disruptor Pulse Launcher.
Note that the more powerful weapons are likely to destroy craft rather than crashing them. If you are interested in salvage, you should still keep the weaker weapons in reserve.
SWS[edit]
| Coelacanth/G. Cannon |
| Coelacanth/Aqua Jet |
| Coelacanth/Gauss |
| Displacer/Sonic |
| Displacer/P. W. T. |
The Submersible Weapon Systems are the equivalent of tanks found in the previous X-Com game. They are strong and resistant to shots, but are expensive and take the place of four aquanauts. It is a matter of personal preference on whether to deploy one, but it is still useful in the early game if you haven't yet obtained armor.