Does the Anti-Bio Beam pierce shields?

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Xraal
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2012 4:18 pm

Does the Anti-Bio Beam pierce shields?

Postby Xraal » Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:35 pm

Does the Anti-Bio Beam pierce shields?

Or does it not count as damage for purposes of shield piercing? - It deals 4 points of damage vs. people, nothing else is listed.
BigD145
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 4:13 pm

Re: Does the Anti-Bio Beam pierce shields?

Postby BigD145 » Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:46 pm

It's still damage as far as a shield is concerned. It will do 1 to a super shield and not get through a 1 shield at all.
bigbangnet
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2012 1:24 pm

Re: Does the Anti-Bio Beam pierce shields?

Postby bigbangnet » Wed Sep 19, 2012 4:06 am

I tested it over 2 sectors so lots of fights and I didn't find that weapon very effective. i would rather use ion type or missile type weapons since those can really help and hurt the other ship. I mean, it would take me more than 2 hits with the bio weapon to kill some enemies. Over that time I could of destroyed at least 2 systems so this could be the difference between death and life.

Am I the only one with this :?:
Spazticus
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2012 3:01 am

Re: Does the Anti-Bio Beam pierce shields?

Postby Spazticus » Wed Sep 19, 2012 4:30 am

It's best used with ion weapons (preferably two of them, to constantly lockdown both shields and weapons.) Then you can use the beam while the shields are down, and kill the crew at a less hectic pace. Given that you get more scrap for capturing a ship, as well as potentially more equipment (Which can lead to extra scrap from sales, or more damage potential) it's a good idea to take advantage of it as early as possible.
GoldenShadowGS
Posts: 122
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 6:38 am

Re: Does the Anti-Bio Beam pierce shields?

Postby GoldenShadowGS » Wed Sep 19, 2012 4:37 am

1 damage to a crew = 15 HP. So 4 damage anti-bio beam does 60 damage to a crewman. I haven't tried to see if shields reduce it, but it should reduce it by 15 HP per shield.
Spazticus
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2012 3:01 am

Re: Does the Anti-Bio Beam pierce shields?

Postby Spazticus » Wed Sep 19, 2012 4:43 am

The Anti-Bio Beam can't penetrate normal shields, but it does reduce the HP of a Zoltan shield. That's why it's always best to manually target it, for the moment the shields are down.
Createx
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 6:55 pm

Re: Does the Anti-Bio Beam pierce shields?

Postby Createx » Wed Sep 19, 2012 10:29 am

I've found it to be a pretty useless weapon. You need two passes to kill enemy crew, that means their shields need to be down twice. Then, you are firing a beam with no system damage instead of something to take out their shields or weapons. Boarding them is better :P
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Spazticus
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2012 3:01 am

Re: Does the Anti-Bio Beam pierce shields?

Postby Spazticus » Wed Sep 19, 2012 10:37 am

If you have a skilled crew suited for boarding tactics, I concur. Of course, if you have a sufficient ion arsenal, and you can lockdown their shields and weapons, there's a reasonable opportunity to kill them off without risking your crew. Besides, unless the enemy ship is fleeing from the beginning of a battle, ion weapons alone will never cause them to flee.
DarkenDragon
Posts: 42
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 1:58 pm

Re: Does the Anti-Bio Beam pierce shields?

Postby DarkenDragon » Wed Sep 19, 2012 12:24 pm

wow I cant believe this thread, so many people doesnt seem to understand what the anti-bio beam is for.

this weapon is meant to kill the crew, not destroy the ship. of course its gonna take longer cuz its a harder task to do. and because of that, the game will reward you with a bigger prize at the end of it. think about it, if you destroy the ship, majority of the stuff you'll gather is gonna be partially destroyed, if you kill off all the crew, everything is still in tack for you to scavenge.

and of course anti-bio beam does not pierce shields, it does no hull damage. to determine if any beam can pierce, just look at your hull damage compared to the amount of shields they have. if yours is greater than theirs, then it pierces simple as that, it says so in the note after all
Dralax
Posts: 31
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:32 pm

Re: Does the Anti-Bio Beam pierce shields?

Postby Dralax » Wed Sep 19, 2012 12:47 pm

It's really surprising how many people find this weapon useless. It's amazingly powerful. When using Slug cruiser A (which gets Anti-Bio beam as a starting weapon) you can beat 95% of opponents by wiping out their crew, massively improving the rewards you get. You don't need teleporter nor ion weapons (although they are useful). All you need is:
a) Anti-bio beam
b) enough lasers/ion to knock down shields in a single volley
c) sensors 2 or (preferably) slug crew member
later sectors:
d) rocket/bomb/more lasers to be able to reliably destroy medbay
e) defense drone to deal with missiles