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Welcome, Pilot!
This guide will help you understand Star Citizen’s ship weapon types, how they work, and when to use them so you can fly smarter and hit harder.

Disclaimer:
This guide is based on the current live patch and community testing. Star Citizen is in active development, so weapon stats, mechanics, and metas can change with future updates. Always check patch notes for the latest changes

There are three main categories of ship weapon damage types in Star Citizen:

1. Kinetic (Ballistic) – Uses physical ammo. Can penetrate shields and damage the hull.
2. Energy (Laser) – Uses ship power. Strong against shields but does no hull damage until shields are down.
3. Distortion – Disrupts ship systems and components. It disables rather than destroys.

Note: We’ll cover missiles and torpedoes in a separate guide.

Cannons: #

Cannons come in energy, ballistic, and distortion variants — the term ‘cannon’ describes how it fires, not what kind of damage it does.

Cannons deliver high single-shot (alpha) damage but have a slow rate of fire.

They’re ideal for engaging large, slow-moving ships with lots of health, where it’s easier to hit your target and each shot delivers significant damage.

Cannons can also be highly effective on large ships, since larger hardpoints allow for even more powerful cannon variants. This means you need fewer hits to deal serious damage — but hitting small, fast-moving targets becomes much harder due to slower tracking and projectile speed.

Repeaters and Gatlings: #

Repeaters and Gatlings are both high-rate-of-fire weapons, meaning they fire rapidly but deal lower damage per individual shot compared to cannons.

• Repeaters can come in laser, ballistic, or distortion variants. They’re ideal for landing lots of hits quickly, which is great against fast, agile ships where consistent hits matter more than raw power.
• Gatlings are usually ballistic and fire at an even higher rate than repeaters. They chew through ammo but can overwhelm targets with sustained fire, especially in close-quarters dogfights.

Within these weapon types you have three types of projectiles; laser, ballistic and distortion.

Laser:  #

Laser weapons use energy from your ship’s capacitor to fire energy-based projectiles. They do not consume ammo, so they’re reliable in extended fights as long as you manage power.

Instead of reloading, laser weapons use a magazine system that draws from the capacitor and automatically recharges when not firing.
The number of shots and recharge speed depend on:

• Your ship’s capacitor system (based on ship design and power components)
• The amount of power you assign to weapons using the new pip system, which lets you allocate more or less power to weapons.

Laser weapons are strong against shields, but they cannot damage the hull/armor until the shields are fully down.

They generate a moderate electromagnetic (EM) signature while active, which can make your ship easier to detect on sensors.

• 🔇 Tip: For stealthy approaches, keep your laser weapons powered down until you’re ready to engage — this helps reduce your EM profile before the first strike.
• ⚠️ Note: Laser weapons only draw power while active. If powered down, they don’t drain capacitor energy

Ballistic:  #

Ballistic weapons fire physical projectiles that can penetrate shields and deal direct hull damage, even while shields are still active. However, shield layers do apply damage reduction, and most ship hulls and components have built-in resistance to ballistic damage — typically between 25% and 60%, simulating armor.

Ballistics use an ammo pool that must be reloaded when empty, and they also have an overheat mechanic. Firing for too long will cause the weapon to overheat and temporarily shut down until it cools.

They require very little power, giving them a lower EM signature compared to lasers or distortion weapons. However, their infrared (IR) signature increases as they heat up during sustained fire.

Distortion: #

• Distortion weapons function similarly to lasers in terms of power usage — they draw from your ship’s capacitor and use a recharging magazine system instead of ammo.
• They are not effective against shields or hull. Instead, distortion weapons are designed to disable ship components, making them ideal for non-lethal takedowns, piracy, or boarding actions.

Each ship component has two important stats:

• Distortion Shutdown Threshold – How much distortion damage it takes to disable it.
• Reboot Time – How long it takes for that component to restart once shut down.

Typical reboot times:

• Shields, coolers, radar, life support: 1–10 seconds
• Power plant: ~5 minutes — during this time, the ship loses all power and is considered soft-dead

💥 EMPs act as a burst of distortion damage that can instantly disable nearby ships if they’re within range.
🔵 If you see a glowing blue EMP bubble forming — get out of range fast before your systems shut down!

Projectile speed is an important stat that determines how fast your shots travel toward the target. It varies between individual weapons and is not directly tied to the weapon type (like cannon or repeater) or damage type (like laser or ballistic).

Weapons with higher projectile speeds require less lead time when aiming and make it easier to hit moving targets, especially at longer ranges. Slower projectiles, on the other hand, demand more precise timing and prediction.

Suggested loadouts #

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⚠️ Weapon Sync & Pips

It’s important to equip weapons that have the same or very similar projectile speed. If your weapon speeds differ too much, your targeting system will display multiple aim pips — one for each weapon group — making it harder to land consistent hits.
This often results in missed shots and reduced overall damage output, especially in fast-paced combat.

🔄 For hybrid loadouts — like combining laser with distortion weapons to disable systems — it’s best to assign them to separate fire groups.
If you fire both at the same time, you risk accidentally destroying the ship with damage weapons before the distortion can shut it down.
To avoid this, use your damage weapons first to bring down the shields, then switch to distortion to disable the ship safely without killing it.

🛩️ Light Fighters & Single-Seat Craft #

For fast-paced dogfights, laser repeaters with high projectile velocity are the go-to choice. Their rapid fire and faster shots make it easier to consistently hit agile targets, which is crucial when a few well-placed hits can turn the tide of the fight.

Ballistic weapons are currently less effective in this role, as they typically don’t do enough damage per shot to justify their limited ammo and slower projectile speeds — especially in fights where every second and every hit counts.

As of patch 4.1, the CF-series laser repeaters are considered meta for light fighters:

• Bulldog, Badger, Panther, Rhino, and Gallenson

Additionally, NDB repeaters (which must be salvaged in-game) are also highly effective but less accessible.

These weapons make a reliable default loadout for most light ships and are a strong starting point for PvP or fast PvE engagements.

✴️ Medium Fighters #

For general-purpose loadouts, CF-series and NDB laser repeaters still offer reliable damage, high fire rate, and good projectile speed — making them easy to use in most combat situations.

However, many pilots now favor Attrition or Salvaged Ardor laser repeaters over the CF-series, especially in PvE or when engaging medium to large ships. These repeaters have a slower projectile speed, but deliver 3-4 times the alpha damage of CF-series repeaters, allowing skilled pilots to shred tougher targets quickly.

Traditional laser cannons like the Omnisky series remain a solid option for those who prefer higher velocity shots, though their alpha is generally lower than Attrition or Ardor setups.

Ballistic weapons are still viable for PvE or specific burst-damage scenarios, but their limited ammo and lower sustained damage compared to lasers keep them from being practical for days when you’re chaining bounty missions.

🛡️ Heavy Fighters #

CF-series and NDB laser repeaters remain the meta choice for heavy fighters due to their reliability, high fire rate, and versatility.

However, heavy fighters are primarily built to engage large ships, so they can benefit even more from laser cannons, which offer high alpha damage. While cannons are strong against large targets, they make it harder to deal with smaller, fast-moving ships. In these situations, fast-firing repeaters can help close the gap.

One standout option is the Attrition repeater line — their damage ramps up the longer you fire, making them especially effective against large or stationary targets where sustained fire is possible.🎯 Turrets & Ship Role Loadouts

Turret loadouts #

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🚚 Medium & Large Cargo Ships (Occasional Combat) #

• When flying solo, it’s best to equip ballistics in turrets so the pilot has full capacitor available for maneuvering and shields.
• Cannons or repeaters are also viable — it comes down to preference and whether you expect long engagements.
• Attrition repeaters and Omnisky cannons are strong PvE picks.
• M7A cannons offer massive alpha damage but suffer from low fire rate and slow projectile speed.

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⚔️ Medium & Large Combat Ships #

• Equipping at least one turret with distortion weapons can help disable key systems, especially in support roles.
• For everything else, follow the same turret logic:
  • Use repeaters for sustained fire (especially with a gunner).
  • Use ballistics with caution — they run out of ammo quickly, and large ships often need endurance in extended fights, making lasers more reliable.

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🛠️ Industrial Ships #

• On ships like the Prospector or Vulture, some players remove weapons entirely since you’re unlikely to win fights.
• However, there’s no downside to keeping them equipped — even weak guns can deter opportunistic attackers or scare off rookies.
  • Distortion repeaters or small ballistics can offer basic deterrence without much power drain.
• For large industrial ships like the Reclaimer, built-in point defense (PD) turrets and heavier turret coverage provide basic self-defense, especially against fighters or torpedoes.
  • These turrets benefit most from repeaters or distortion weapons to harass or disable attackers long enough for support to arrive.

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🏁 Racing Ships #

If you’re using the racer as a light fighter hybrid, refer to the light fighter loadout advice above.

For dedicated racing, remove weapons, missiles, and shields to save weight and maximize speed.

🎯 Final Tip:
Arena Commander is a great place to test ships and weapons without risking your assets in the Persistent Universe. You can use REC (Rental Equipment Credits) to rent ships and weapons, allowing you to try out different loadouts, practice combat, and find what works best before committing to a purchase in-game.

In Star Citizen, Rental Equipment Credits (REC) are earned by playing Arena Commander or Star Marine.

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