Refined Weaponry [3.5]

The aim of this mod is to rebalance the weapon types in the game so that they all have a role to play even in the late game, while still largely retaining the overall feel of the unmodded game. This is done primarily by modifying the damage modifiers rather than dramatic changes to the damage values. The mod also aims to have a high degree of compatibility with other mods.

The mod should work in all languages officially supported by Stellaris.

Here’s a list of the new damage modifiers on the various weapons, with notes on any other changes and ‘strategy notes’. A more compact change list can be found here.

Lasers: -50% vs shields & +50% vs hull, L slot variant tracking increased from 5 to 10
Railguns: -50% vs armor & +50% vs hull, L slot variant tracking increased from 5 to 10

Lasers and railguns are the basic weapons. They work well as an even mix or in combination with missiles/torpedoes or advanced big guns. In the late game they retain some usefulness by being strong vs hull.

Plasma: -75% vs shields & +100% vs armor & +50% vs hull (unchanged), tracking increased to match lasers
Autocannons: +50% vs shields & -75% vs armor & +25% vs hull, (unchanged) added P slot variant (doesn’t actually work like PD, just uses the slot; not used by AI & auto-design)

Autocannons and plasma are largely unchanged. You’ll generally want to combine them with another type of weapon (torpedoes/missiles work well) to get the most out of them due to their extreme weakness vs armor/shields. Autocannons can now also go into P slots to make them more interesting to strike-craft using players.

Missiles: +100% vs shields & armor, doubled damage and cooldown, range increased from 100 to 150
Torpedoes: 100% shield penetration & +50% vs armor (unchanged), range increased from 80 to 100
Swarmers: no damage modifiers, range increased from 100 to 150, max damage increased by about 40% (total damage about 27% higher), added M slot variant

Missiles are intended to be combined with energy weapons, while torpedoes are meant to be combined with kinetics. In both cases the idea is to have the guided weapon deal with the type of defense your direct fire weapons struggle with. They can also make a good minor addition to a design that primarily uses direct fire weapons.

Swarmers are mostly meant to be used in combination with regular missiles as a distraction for enemy PD. Being "PD proof" they are allowed to be put into M slots, which also enables missile using empires to use them in destroyer and battleship designs without additional mods. It also enables you to put one in the stern of a cruiser. They’re damage neutral so that they can be combined with any weapon type (except penetrators) and be okay.

Disruptors: range & tracking adjusted to match lasers, added L slot variant.
Cloud Lightning: range increased to 80
Arc Emitters: range reduced to 120, added T slot variant (double damage, 200 range)

Disruptors are still best used alone and with the addition of the large variants it’s now much more viable to go for pure penetration builds.

Kinetic Artillery: +50% vs shields & -25% vs armor, range increased from 120 to 125
Particle Launchers: -25% vs shields & +50% vs armor, range reduced from 130 to 100
XL Cannons: +50% vs shields & -25% vs armor, added T slot variant (double damage, 250 range)
Particle Lances: -25% vs shields & +50% vs armor, range reduced to 120, added T slot variant (double damage, 200 range)

Heavy kinetics (kinetic artillery and XL cannons) are best used in combination with energy weapons, but also make a half-decent combo with railguns as they’re still better at dealing with shields and armor.

Lances and particle launchers work best in combination with heavy kinetics. They have a lower range than their kinetic counterparts so they should fire second. You want to avoid using them in combination with smaller kinetic weapons, guided weapons, or strike craft. The combo with lasers and plasma isn’t the best, but still works decently well.

Perdition Beam: -25% vs shield & +50% vs armor, stats reduced to make it a weaker Particle Lance, reduced alloy cost & removed crystal cost, added X slot variant, auto-upgrades to Particle Lance
Ion Cannon: no changes to weapon properties, but no longer grouped together with Perdition Beam in the ship designer and has new icon

Perdition Beam is meant to be replaced by titanic variants of the X weapons, which allows for more variety in Titan design. It remains in the game so you’ll have something to put into T slots on your Titans even if you haven’t researched any X weapons yet. The X slot variant is meant to serve the same purpose on Juggernaut designs.

Strike Craft: no changes

I handled strike craft in a separate mod: Starfighters!

This is a gameplay altering mod and as such it will prevent you from getting achievements.

The mod replaces five files:
1) …/Stellaris/common/component_templates/00_weapons_energy.txt
2) …/Stellaris/common/component_templates/00_weapons_extra_large.txt
3) …/Stellaris/common/component_templates/00_weapons_missiles.txt
4) …/Stellaris/common/component_templates/00_weapons_projectile.txt
5) …/Stellaris/common/component_templates/weapon_components.csv
6) …/Stellaris/common/component_templates/weapon_components.ods

It will be incompatible with any mod that also edits these same files, but should be compatible with all the mods that don’t.

Likely incompatible with mods that add new weapons and certainly incompatible with mods that change existing ones. Should be compatible with mods that add new strike craft though.

Compatible with various AI mods and mods that add new ship sections or ship types, but might not be compatible with mods that add new turret types.

The mod should work in all languages officially supported by Stellaris.

I would be grateful if you could rate the mod with either thumbs up or thumbs down. If you rate it with a thumbs up and you really enjoy it, please consider also marking it as a favorite. If you like this mod you might also like one of my other mods.

I also created a Discord server[discord.gg]