Talk:Seismic Torpedo/@comment-454133-20160922220922

Seismic Torpedo Pros:

* Fired as an action

* As it's an action, works great for low-PS ships (which can act before the swarm has time to disperse)

* Does not allow rolling defense or modifying dice (unless emperor watches over your fleet)

* Attacks each ship separately -- missing one doesn't rescue the others

* Does not require a target lock

* Can roll crits

* Gets rid of an obstacle, even if you fail to damage any ships. Great for clearing a path.

* Costs 2 to equip

Seismic Torpedo Cons:

* Foes must cluster around an obstacle for you

* Each foe has a 50% chance to escape damage

* Cannot modify attack dice (e.g. with lock or focus token) to increase hit chance, unless emperor.

Assault Missile Pros:

 * Don't need foe to cluster around an obstacle -- just target a central ship in the swarm

 ​ * One hit deals normal attack damage to the main target (with 4 dice)

<p style="font-weight:normal;">* On hit, swarm doesn't get a roll -- they each take 1 damage, period.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Assault Missile Cons:

<p style="font-weight:normal;">* Requires acquiring & spending a target lock

<p style="font-weight:normal;">* Fired as an attack

<p style="font-weight:normal;">* Range 2-3 is harder for a low-PS ship to pull off if it doesn't already have a lock

<p style="font-weight:normal;">* If initial attack roll misses, entire swarm escapes harm

<p style="font-weight:normal;">* Costs 5 to equip

<p style="font-weight:normal;">

<p style="font-weight:normal;">I'd say assault missile still has value for its guaranteed damage to the whole swarm if you hit. In fact, some ships can equip and use both in the same round (assuming you already have a lock prepared), possibly doing 2 damage to some ships   (or 3 with Direct Hit). But Seismic Torpedo is a really cool addition on its own.