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| “ | The AP Driver (Armor Piercing) is a VSec Projectile weapon designed to break through defensive lines. Each shot can punch through many ships. | ” |
| — In-Game Description |
| AP Driver | I | II | III | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blueprint Fragments | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
| Blueprint Tier | VSec Tier II | VSec Tier III | VSec Tier IV | ||
| Mass | 288t | 461t | 738t | ||
| DPS | 15 | 20 | 26 | ||
| DPV | 60 | 80 | 104 | ||
| Range | 2,000-4,750 m | ||||
| Projectile Speed | 2,000 m/s | ||||
| Piercing | 6 | ||||
| Firing Cycle | C: 0.0 / F: 0.0 / R: 4.0 / N: 1 | ||||
| Sound Effects | |||||
| Unlocking | |||||
| Arms Lab Required | |||||
| Build | |||||
| Time | 1h 41m | 3h 22m 10s | 10h 6m 20s | ||
| Helium-3 | 1,413,213 | 3,019,369 | 9,838,985 | ||
| Antimatter | 249,390 | 754,842 | 3,279,661 | ||
General
The Armor Piercing driver or AP driver for short is a ship projectile weapon and its blueprints are found by defeating level 27-45 VSec fleets. It serves as the ship counterpart of the AP Driver Turret.
It fires blue/white projectile shells that puncture through multiple targets. It can damage many ships if they are all lined up behind each other in the trajectory of the projectile.
They are rather uncommon weapons to be seen in use. Low and mid level players occasionally are seen using them in combat.
Strategy and Setup
Advantages:
AP drivers are usually equipped because of their unique capability to penetrate through multiple targets, multiplying the amount of damage per shot. Players can take advantage of this attribute and target weakened ships that take cover behind other ships and destroy them.
It has relatively long range, making them suitable for many ships. Although, it has a minimum range cut off, it is still viable in mid range combat.
Like all projectile weapons, they can be enhanced with phased projectiles, increasing the amount of damage that ignore shields.
AP drivers have a high default projectile speed and do not require high level Iridium magnets.
Disadvantages:
AP drivers lack proximity detonation and have a small hit box. They are significantly less likely to hit their target compared to the Gladius driver. They miss often when fired at fast moving targets.
AP drivers have a minimum range cut off, they do cannot attack targets at close or point blank ranges.
AP drivers possess less firepower than many projectile weapons, it can be difficult to take advantage of the weapons piercing effect in battle. Not being able to do so can have a detrimental effect in combat, as your fleet will be seriously lacking firepower in battle.
VSEC Usage
VSec Zeal battleships and Lance destroyers are seen equipped using the AP drivers. Zeal battleships in level 50 and above equipped with AP drivers inflict absolutely massive damage. The firepower on those battleships are beyond what players are able to equip onto their ships.
Trivia
- The AP Driver has a slightly faster cooldown between shots compared to other projectile weapons.
- The AP Driver fires projectiles that travel at the same speed as the projectiles fired from the Gladius Driver
- Despite puncturing through a ship's hull, they do not inflict any more extra damage to the targets hull.
- AP Drivers were at some point popular weapons in use, equipped on cruisers for mid range skirmishes not long before the introduction of the crafting system.
Video
Gallery
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