I'm just a newbie to this game, but i feel that there's a great potential in this game, especially when it opens its player base to the Android market and ios market. But I feel that there's much more room for improvement about the weapon of choice in VO.

Therefore, I would like to propose a whole new branch of weapon choice: Physical based ballistic weapons.

In this game, I feel like there's to much similarity between two rival faction, Secro and Itani, despite they were branched from the same tree. I feel like there could be something to separate them both, to show how different the culture and style of two faction.

In my opinion, weapon variety is the way to go.

Itani can continue on their energy based weapon, while Secro, can switch to a more violent, hard hitting ballistic weapon, to reinforce their faction's own war-like nature.

In order to balance the ballistic weapon and energy based weapon, here are some pros and cons about ballistic weapon:

Pros:
Energy independent (Almost no energy is required to fire a bullet)
High velocity, unlimited range ( Damage fall-off should be considered though in order to balance this type of weapon)
Cheap, yet effective ( In a world where resources is sacred, ballistic weapon is relatively cheap and efficient in terms of supplying a large standing army. History itself has proven this theory)
High rate of fire ( Energy based weapon have to be recharged, ballistic weapon needs to be reloaded only)
Good against light armored targets ( Bullets or shells can easily shred off light armored targets)

Cons:
Ammo ( Similar to missiles, it needs to be refilled. In a battle, if you have run out off ammo, you're pretty much screwed)
Low damage against heavy armored targets, or shielded targets ( It can penetrate light armor, but useless against shield or multi layered Armour targets)
Heavy and bulky ( Increase overall mass of the spacecraft, hindering its maneuverability)

Below are some basic ideas on the stats about ballistic weapons:

*Machine gun Mk I/II/III/IV (Small weapon)
Damage: 100/150/200/250
Velocity: 250 m/s
Energy: 2.5/blast
Delay: 0.05s
Mass: 250/450/650/850 kg
Grid: 4
Targeting: No
Level: -/1/-/-/-, 1/2/-/-/-, 2/3/-/-/-, 3/4/-/-/-
Ammo capacity: 1500/3000/3000/4500

*Bolter Mk I/II/III/IV ( Machine gun that fires explosive rounds) (Small weapon)
Damage: 350/550/750/850
Velocity: 300 m/s
Energy: 4/blast
Delay: 0.1s
Mass: 350/550/750/1000 kg
Grid: 4
Targeting: No
Level: 1/2/-/-/-, 3/3/-/-/-, 4/5/-/-/-, 6/6/-/-/-
Ammo capacity: 1000/1250/1500/2000

*Autocannon I/II/III/IV (Large weapon)
Damage: 1500/2000/2500/3000
Velocity: 350 m/s
Energy: 7.5 /blast
Delay: 0.2s
Mass: 1000/1250/1500/1750 kg
Grid: 4
Targeting: No
Level: -/-/2/-/-, 3/-/4/-/-, 4/-/6/-/-, 5/-/7/-/-
Ammo capacity: 500/750/1000/1250

*Siege cannon I/II/III/IV (Not auto. One click per shot) (Can be used as secro Capital ship weapon) (Large weapon)
Damage: 4000/6500/8500/11000
Velocity: 250/300/300/350 ms
Energy: 10/ blast
Delay: 2s
Mass: 2000/ 2500/ 3000/ 3500 kg
Grid: 4
Targeting: No
Level: 2/-/3/-/-, 4/-/5/-/-, 5/-/7/-/-, 6/-/8/-/-
Ammo capacity: 50/100/200/250

*Flak cannon I/II/III/IV ( Cannon with large AOE effect, detonates while reached certain range ) (Can be used as Secro Capital ship weapon) (Large weapon)
Damage: 1500/1750/2000/2250
Velocity: 300 ms
Energy: 15/blast
Delay: 0.2s
Mass: 2500/3500/4500/5500
Grid: 4
Targeting: Little
Level: 2/-/3/-/-, 4/-/5/-/-, 5/-/7/-/-, 6/-/8/-/-
Ammo capacity: 100/200/300/300

*Hawkeye patterned slug launcher MkI/II/III/IV ( Basically a sniper weapon, less effective than rail cannon, but ideal for long range take down, low energy cost, and faster reload) (Small Weapon)
Damage: 1000/1200/1300/1500
Velocity: 375 m/s
Energy: 10/ blast
Delay: 1s
Mass: 1200/1300/1400/1500 kg
Grid: 4
Targeting: No
Level: 3/4/-/-/-, 4/5/-/-/-, 5/6/-/-/-, 6/5/-/-/-
Ammo capacity: 100/150/200/250

*Experimental S.M.A.R.T. targeting system ( A machine gun with auto tracking bullets, tends to hit the closet target) (Small weapon)
Damage: 75/150/225/300
Velocity: 200 ms
Energy: 7.5 /blast
Delay: 0.1s
Mass: 300/450/600/750
Grid: 5
Targeting: Very good
Level:1/2/-/-/-, 2/3/-/-/-, 3/4/-/-/-, 5/5/-/-/-
Ammo capacity: 1000/1250/1500/2000

Any other special variety of ballistic weapon can be named after the following:
Secro patterned-, Primed-, Training-, Rocket propelled-,...

There is special rules while using ballistic weapon against shielded target:
Deals 50% less shield damage
AOE ballistic weapon can deal small amount of hull damage against shielded target

Sorry for the long post guys, but I hope you could give some reflections on the above suggestions since I'm just 3 days into this game. Please leave a comment below or even correct some of the unbalanced stats on my suggestions. Thank you

(Sry for the bad language, English isn't my first language :P)

No way. Serco are way more technologically advanced in weapons technology than the Itani. The itani focus on shield and overall technological advancement whereas the Serco for generations have defined themselves by advanced weapons tech.

It fits the storyline that the Serco should have advanced weapons, not basic less advanced ones.

I do agree with the premise of the op. Like the nation specific ships, I think there should be nation specific weapons. I've always throught of Guass as a Serco weapon for instance and positrons as Itani as an example.

Interesting suggestions for weapons, but I think some are already reflected in game, others should be trident / turret weapons. I'd like to see more variety rather than just new varients of existing weapons.

I'm just 3 days into this game.

I want to ask, how familiar are you with the rest of the existing VO weapons? Have you tried them all in various situations? To make a suggestion without knowing what you're talking about screams to the world "hey look here, I am an idiot!!!"

No, I'm not insulting you. I know you mean well. Just try to research and learn VO through and through before jumping into shit like this.

Well, in that case, the ballistic weapon then can be incorporated in U.I.T. or pirates and outlaws since they have mixed culture and diverse tech over that area.

Even though, in a lore stance, which Secro favors mechanical technology, I think ballistic weaponry is still proven to be a useful piece of tech since it's cheap yet effective while supplying a large standing army in terms of military logistics. Energy weapon in Secro can be found, in top classes, yet ballistics weapons should be also developed en masses for fighter planes which would be too expensive to fit each plane with energy based weapon. Also in early years of Secro, weapon tech haven't changed much from its beginning state, as creativity and innovation are discourage in Secro culture.

Please correct me if I'm wrong seems I've been trying to understand the backstory of this vast Universe.

Still, I think ballistics can accurately reflected the nature of Secro itself despite they have advance weapon tech :(

Also, in reply to joylessjoker, I'm a... well, an avid modder in other games like Fallout, Sin of a solar empire, etc. This game just brought up so much of my creativity, so I can't stop myself from giving all this suggestions. Still, thank you for ur attention, and I'm not even mad at what you said because you did what a loyal gamer should do, so I'll make sure that I'll look even deeper into the lore and content. Again, Thanks a lot :)

I saw cave paintings on an asteroid depicting that, long ago, Gatling Cannons used to have limited ammo like this.

+1 to the Siege cannon if we re-name it Sieger-Cannon and make it Sieger-exclusive ;)

Anyway, I like the spirit of this. I am all for new weapons and a black market to sell them on and make them hard-to-get for everyone.

Your suggested weapons definitely need some work over. Some of them are really overpowered in comparison to existing weapons. For further weapon suggestions, I suggest you go look on the VO wiki. It has most weapons listed with all their stats. Compare those and as soon as you find something that could fit in with the style, feel free to post here.

+1 to the Siege cannon if we re-name it Sieger-Cannon and make it Sieger-exclusive ;)

Spoken like a true textbook narcissist. Please refrain from pointing attention at yourself so brazenly in the future.

rednexela, here's a good resource for looking up weapons:

http://vo-wiki.com

Also, try to spell "serco" correctly. R comes before C.

Thank you for the support, in fact i have been researching for different weapons stats and I'll make sure to update ASAP.

If this came true, maybe they'll make a Sieger-patterned Siege Cannon With over billion damage ;)

Sorry to sound jaded and discouraging, but nope, the devs most likely won't take your ideas into consideration.

There have been a gazillion new weapon ideas over the past decade and very, very few of them saw implementation. In the 10+ years of VO's existence, not much has actually changed. Keep in mind that the Guild Software is a three-man show. THREE MAN SHOW. For a good reason, they are scared to death of straying from their established plans and making big changes. They can't afford to waste time and money on risky endeavors.

If you want to increase your chances of getting your suggestion implemented, look for "low hanging fruit," something that devs can change or make quickly and effortlessly. Instead of making a whole series of new weapons, make one new weapon based off existing weapons. Look into the gatling cannon line, for example.

Again sorry for sounding so jaded, but that's simply how things work around here. Any other vet here can confirm the truthfulness of this.

If this came true, maybe they'll make a Sieger-patterned Siege Cannon With over billion damage ;)

This one, right?

It takes advantage of the 2x self-splash principle to achieve unprecedented levels of damage.