| “ | The Gladius Driver is an experimental VEGA ship Projectile weapon that includes a proximity-triggered detonation. | ” |
| — In-Game Description |
| Gladius Driver | I | II | III | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blueprint Fragments | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||||
| Blueprint Tier | Tier II | Tier III | Tier V | ||||||
| Mass | 320t | 513t | 820t | ||||||
| DPS | 18 | 25 | 32 | ||||||
| AoE Radius | 280m | ||||||||
| Range | 2,250-4,750 m | ||||||||
| Projectile Speed | 2,000 m/s | ||||||||
| Sound Effects | |||||||||
| Unlocking | |||||||||
| Arms Lab Required | Arms Lab VII | Arms Lab VIII | Arms Lab X | ||||||
| Other Requirements | Gauss Driver III | Mass Driver II | |||||||
| Build | |||||||||
| Time | 17m 30s | 1h 13m 30s | 3h 45m 30s | ||||||
| Helium-3 | 288,990 | 1,437,064 | 4,412,835 | ||||||
| Antimatter | 32,110 | 359,266 | 1,470,945 | ||||||
| Repair | 0s | 0s | 0s | ||||||
General
The Gladius driver is a ship projectile weapon. It is a blueprint weapon found in level 20-27 rebel cargo fleets or level 27-45 level VEGA cargo fleets. As the in-game description says, it possesses the ability to detonate for 100% of its damage value if it is close enough to a target.
They are more fleet combat oriented projectile driver. They fire a white/blue slug at their target with a unique shape. Upon reaching its hull, like the base variant the Gladius Driver Turret, it will detonate with a small AoE. This makes it almost impossible to dodge with Iridium Arrays V.
Strategy and Setup
Advantages:
Gladius drivers in comparison to Mass drivers have better mass to DPS ratio, possess higher projectile speed and proximity detonation. They are more difficult to dodge and low level variants delivers an excellent amount of damage at mid level damage.
Gladius drivers have a proximity detonation, they can strike high speed targets more easily and potentially damage two ships if they are close enough. The proximity detonation makes them more accurate at long ranges.
Gladius drivers are the first such drivers with higher projectile speed than the default 1,000 m/s common on older projectile drivers. At twice the speed in combination with proximity detonation, Gladius drivers are unlikely to miss their targets and do not require high level Iridium magnets like other drivers may need.
Their high range, accuracy especially makes them more so ideal on battleships particularly when attacking VEGA fleets and other battleships.
Disadvantages:
Gladius drivers like all projectile weapons have a minimum range, they are not suitable at all in close range combat and cannot fire at targets that are at point blank.
Gladius drivers while are great weapons at low and mid levels, greatly lack in firepower at high level engagements at long range combat. Many high level players prefer to choose energy weapons with similar long range capabilities but more firepower and no minimum range disadvantages.
It is also worth noting that Gladius drivers are not ideal against squadrons. Due to the proximity detonation, they will detonate the instant they launch if the ship they launch from is being attacked by a squadron. This can make it very difficult to unleash fire upon the carrier responsible, and can render entire fleets harmless at worst case scenario. Avoid using it against carriers if you can help it.
Setup:
Gladius drivers are quite efficient with their mass to damage ratio, they are ideal to use on low level and mid level ships such as Exodus cruisers and Venom battleships.
Also for low levels they can fit a fleet of instant repaired Rancor battleships outfitted with 4 Gladius I Driver making them capable to destroy VSec Fleets up to 37 with the right formation.
Trivia
- Despite the in-game description and the graphics, the "proximity detonator" really means that the Gladius driver has a significantly larger hit box, making it much easier to land hits than weapons with small hit boxes, like the Mass driver and Wave Driver. See more here.
- Gladius drivers used to be extremely popular in combination with Phased projectiles, this was before crafting system was introduced and battleships became the Meta.
- There is an upgraded version of the Gladius Driver, which is the Boosted Gladius Driver.
Gallery
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