Blast Mortar
Type	Main Gun
Available From	HOP MIN DUK TRI QUE
Fitted To	Small ships
Role	Anti-Medium, Anti-capital
Required License	Military License (+10)

In-game Description

The Blast Mortar launches a tightly packed ball of high explosives, carefully separated from a layer of crushed and superheated asteroid matter. This swirling bubble of doom detonates on impact, or upon reaching its maximum effective range. Its decent blast radius, added to the already high damage per projectile, make it an excellent choice for taking out the engines, turrets and shield generators of capital ships. It is often favourably compared to the Plasma Cannon, a household standard in the post-realignment Jump Gate network, because it has the higher projectile speed of the two. This offers desperate pilots the ability to engage smaller targets when necessary. However, it is no flak cannon and, if given the choice, it is usually advisable to use this weapon against ships of at least medium size, which cannot evade its fire.

Before the Holy Order of the Pontifex was even officially proclaimed, its constituents began experimenting with equipment that would make efficient use of the limited resources available at the time. This resulted in weapons such as the Blast Mortar: surprisingly simple to produce, at least from the perspective of the superior Paranid intellect, yet at the same time brutally effective. Though they were initially ordered to build stronger beams for their visual effect, the priest engineers put their faith in what they most believed in: local maxima in the parameter space. Like a paradise yet untouched by mortal interference, the Blast Mortar works in perfect equilibrium as long as its careful calibration isn't disturbed. Bafflingly resistant to attempts at reverse engineering and improvement by foreign powers' militaries, the mechanism tends to suffer drastic loss of efficiency if one dares to adjust its properties, even in the most miniscule way.

The Mk2 variant is the exception to this rule, being a creation by the very same priest engineers that designed the original. It is an upgrade as straightforward as it gets, simply offering significantly enhanced destructive power and slightly improved heat dissipation.

Tactical Overview

The Blast Mortar is the Plasma Cannon's big brother. It is better in every way to a large degree, offering twice the damage output for a similar cost. It is easily one of, if not the most powerful gun available to fighters.
And only fighters. There is no variant for medium size. 

Decent projectile speed for a weapon of this type, very high damage, and comparatively good heat efficiency make this the prime choice for fighters if their job is to destroy capital ships.

The damage is split 50/50 between direct hit damage and explosive damage. The explosive part can allow for a good chunk of extra damage against shields, as the damage can be multiplied if the explosion hits multiple objects sharing the same shield.

The only real downside is the reduced range compared to the Plasma Cannon.
And the limited availability.

If you ever need a gun to take on capital ships, take the Blast Mortar. It will serve you very well.

Specifications

Construction Cost

Universal Build Method