Difference between revisions of "Doomsday rocket launcher"

Revision as of 10:40, 6 October 2022

The doomsday rocket launcher is a single-use, single-shot rocket launcher that has significantly larger blast radius than the Triple rocket launcher.

It's worth noting that this launcher is never automatically aimed by colonists - they have to be ordered to fire by the player. Along with the triple rocket launcher, this is one of the most damaging weapons in RimWorld.

Acquisition

Doomsday rocket launchers cannot be crafted, and must be either acquired through trade, as a quest reward, found in ancient shrines, or looted from Raiders, specifically from Heavy Mercenaries in Outlander and Pirate raids. In the last case, care must be taken to kill or down the raider before they can fire the single use weapon.

Raider Kind	Chance	Average Quality	Health
Heavy mercenary	?%	-	70-230%

Summary

The doomsday rocket launcher is a single-use consumable, unlike most weapons. Once fired once, the launcher disappears completely. It cannot be reloaded, nor can any resources be salvaged from it. When fired, the cooldown time of the weapon is still observed. It is similar to a triple rocket launcher in this respect.

When fired, the doomsday rocket launcher fires a single explosion in a 7.8 tile radius explosion, dealing 50 bomb damage. Afterwards, 3 smaller explosions deal 10 flame damage, potentially igniting targets, and covering the ground in chemfuel puddles which also then ignite. These secondary explosions can exceed the displayed blast radius of the rocket so care must be taken when firing. There are some unconfirmed reports that the secondary explosions can also detonate behind walls.

If it is damaged in item form, i.e. not held by a pawn, by Flame damage, it may explode^{[Detail needed]}. The launcher will spark and emit a hissing sound shortly before exploding some time later. The explosion deals 50 Bomb damage in a 7.8 tile radius around itself.

Analysis

The doomsday rocket launcher is a single use, but extraordinarily effective solution against humanoid raids of all kinds. It combines significant damage, large area of effect, incendiaries, and long range. This allows it to quickly devastate, if not outright end, human raids that show up. As they are very difficult to acquire in bulk, rocket launchers are best as emergency weapons.

Doomsday rocket launchers have a range that dwarfs most other weapons; being tied with the triple rocket launcher and only surpassed by the sniper rifle. Therefore, they are perhaps the ultimate solution to dispatch of dangerous sieges and late-game tribal raids. Raiders that "prepare" can be handled with multiple mortars, or in the case of tribals, even just a sniper rifle.

Mechanoids are immune to both flame damage and to being ignited. This significantly reduces the effectiveness of Doomsdays. As centipedes (and to a lesser extent, termites) have such high health scales, doomsday rocket launchers aren't the raid-ending threat like they are against humanoids, but they still deal decent damage.

Compared to triple rocket launchers

Doomsday rocket launchers fire a single shot with a very large radius. The secondary flame explosions make it much more effective at disabling organic raiders, or killing weak mechanoids like lancers.

Triple rocket launchers fire 3 shots of bomb damage, with a smaller radius per shot. If shots overlap, they deal more damage. While humans will feasibly die to one shot from either weapon, the extra damage is useful against bulky mechanoids.

There also exists opportunity cost - you may only have triple or doomsday rocket launchers available, so don't be picky about either one. You may want to "save" doomsday launchers against devastating raids, but this may not be possible.

Fighting against

As expected, doomsday rocket launchers in the hands of raiders are incredibly dangerous, and should be made priority targets. either by focus firing on them, or by getting them to waste their single shot on an inconsequential or difficult to hit target.

Psychic shock lances and psychic insanity lances have a comparable range (1 tile shorter) and fire much faster (0.5s warmup vs 4.5s warmup). Psycasts Template:IconRoyalty can also berserk the pawn in question.

Wealth management

Doomsday rockets are very effective form of wealth management. Wealth controls raid strength. Items are almost always bought at a market loss, so 1000 is a fair decrease in market value. And, you get a strong last ditch weapon against a tough raid - using the rocket will completely expend the wealth. Therefore, converting some excess wealth into rocket launchers is a good idea.

Doomdropping strategy

Combining a doomsday-armed pawn with a transport pod allows the player to rapidly position an effective counter to most raids anywhere on the map, even on larger map sizes. The pawn need not carry the doomsday day-to-day, and instead a shelf or stockpile an be placed next to the transport pods to allow a pawn to quickly switch from their current weapon to the doomsday before launching.

Pawns are exposed both before firing, and after firing if the launcher fails to break the raid. High quality armour is recommended, but high move speed is more useful. Go-juice is very useful, boosting speed and prevents pain downing your pawn.

If the Royalty DLC is active, there are more options to ease escape. Jump packs or locust armor make reposition faster, the Invisibility psycast renders the pawn immune to counter-fire before launching, and the Skip psycast can move a pawn.

Gallery

Doomsday Rocket Launcher being used against a large siege. Do note that a couple of pirates also have Doomsday Rocket Launchers equipped. Note that this image is old and displays 5 secondary explosions instead of 3.

Version history

0.8.657 - Added
? - number of secondary explosions reduced to 3 from 5.

Original sprite of the Doomsday and Triple rocket launchers

Weapons

Melee | Neolithic: Breach axe • Club • Ikwa • Knife (Jade) • Spear

Medieval: Gladius • Longsword • Mace • Axe • Warhammer

Ultra: Eltex staff • Monosword (Persona) • Plasmasword (Persona) • Zeushammer (Persona)

Improvised: Beer • Elephant tusk • Thrumbo horn • Wood

Ranged | Neolithic: Greatbow • Pila • Recurve bow • Short bow • Flamebow

Industrial: Assault rifle • Autopistol • Bolt-action rifle • Chain shotgun • Heavy SMG • Launcher (EMP, Incendiary, Smoke, Toxbomb ) • LMG • Machine pistol • Minigun • Pump shotgun • Revolver • Sniper rifle

Spacer: Charge lance • Charge rifle

Consumables: Doomsday rocket launcher • Triple rocket launcher

Throwables: EMP grenades • Frag grenades • Molotov cocktails • Tox grenades

Mechanoid: Heavy charge blaster • Inferno cannon • Needle gun • Thump cannon • Beam graser • Charge blaster turret • Hellsphere cannon • Mini-flameblaster • Mini-shotgun • Slugthrower • Spiner • Toxic needle gun

Structures: Autocannon • Mini-turret gun • Mortar (Weapon) • Uranium slug cannon • Auto-mortar • Inferno cannon (Turret) • Light charge blaster • Mini-slugger • Tactical turret gun

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 ==Summary==
-The Doomsday Rocket Launcher is the big brother of the [[triple rocket launcher]], instead of firing three smaller rockets, it instead fires a single rocket that produces a devastating explosion that results in a 7.8 tile radius explosion doing 50 [[Damage Type#Bomb|bomb damage]] as well as 3 smaller 5-tile radius incendiary explosions doing 10 [[Damage Type#Flame|flame damage]], potentially igniting targets, and covering the ground in [[Filth|chemfuel puddles]] which also then ignite. These secondary explosions can exceed the displayed blast radius of the rocket so care must be taken when firing. There are some unconfirmed reports that the secondary explosions can also detonate behind walls.
+The doomsday rocket launcher is a single-use consumable, unlike most weapons. Once fired once, the launcher disappears completely. It cannot be reloaded, nor can any resources be salvaged from it. When fired, the cooldown time of the weapon is still observed. It is similar to a [[triple rocket launcher]] in this respect.
-Once it has been fired once, the launcher disappears completely. It cannot be reloaded, nor can any resources be salvaged from it. Note however, that the cooldown time of the weapon is still observed.
+When fired, the doomsday rocket launcher fires a single explosion in a 7.8 tile radius explosion, dealing 50 [[Damage Type#Bomb|bomb damage]]. Afterwards, 3 smaller explosions deal 10 [[Damage Type#Flame|flame damage]], potentially igniting targets, and covering the ground in [[Filth|chemfuel puddles]] which also then ignite. These secondary explosions can exceed the displayed blast radius of the rocket so care must be taken when firing. There are some unconfirmed reports that the secondary explosions can also detonate behind walls.
 If it is damaged in item form, i.e. not held by a pawn, by [[Damage Type#Flame|Flame damage]], it may explode<sup>[Detail needed]</sup>. The launcher will spark and emit a hissing sound shortly before exploding some time later. The explosion deals 50 Bomb damage in a 7.8 tile radius around itself.
 ==Analysis==
-The doomsday rocket launcher is an extraordinarily effective weapon against human raids of all kinds, combining significant damage. large area of effect, incendiaries, and long range. This allows it to quickly devastate, if not outright end, human raids that show up. Similarly, doomsday rocket launchers in the hands of raiders are incredibly dangerous and should be made priority targets, either by focus firing on them, or by getting them to waste their single shot on an inconsequential or difficult to hit target.
+The doomsday rocket launcher is a single use, but extraordinarily effective solution against humanoid raids of all kinds. It combines significant damage, large area of effect, incendiaries, and long range. This allows it to quickly devastate, if not outright end, human raids that show up. As they are very difficult to acquire in bulk, rocket launchers are best as emergency weapons.
-Doomsday rocket launchers have a range that dwarfs most other weapons; being tied with the triple-rocket launcher and only surpassed by the [[sniper rifle]]. Therefore, Doomsday Rocket Launchers could be the ultimate solution to dispatch of dangerous sieges and late-game tribal raids - along with multiple mortars arguably being just as effective for the former (if you don't mind the steel cost and don't want to risk your colonists), and even the latter if the tribals 'prepare' before attacking.
+Doomsday rocket launchers have a range that dwarfs most other weapons; being tied with the triple rocket launcher and only surpassed by the [[sniper rifle]]. Therefore, they are perhaps the ultimate solution to dispatch of dangerous sieges and late-game tribal raids. Raiders that "prepare" can be handled with multiple [[mortar]]s, or in the case of tribals, even just a [[sniper rifle]].
-Given the right conditions, doomsday rocket launchers can be the cause of '''massive''' wildfires that obliterate anything that stands in its way - until precipitation rains down upon it, ending its sheer reign. These two traits combined make the Doomsday Rocket Launcher an ''extremely'' dangerous, as it will happily wipe out anybody unlucky enough to be caught in the blast radius: either by the explosion itself, or the blaze that will consume them moments later. This means that they are priority threats when used by enemies (or careless allies) and also a single-use but highly effective solution to most threats.
+[[Mechanoids]] are immune to both [[Damage Type#Flame|flame damage]] and to being ignited. This significantly reduces the effectiveness of Doomsdays. As [[centipede]]s (and to a lesser extent, [[termite]]s) have such high health scales, doomsday rocket launchers aren't the raid-ending threat like they are against humanoids, but they still deal decent damage.
-===Mechanoids===
+==Compared to triple rocket launchers==
-[[Mechanoids]] are immune to both [[Damage Type#Flame|flame damage]] and to being ignited. This significantly reduces the effectiveness of Doomsdays against them, and combined with the high health scale of [[centipede]]s, and to a lesser extent, [[termite]]s, means that while a doomsday might do respectable damage, it is far from the raid-ending weapon it is against humans and places the now-unarmed user of the launcher at significant risk. In this regard, the [[triple rocket launcher]] can actually be superior, as its three rockets can overlap in explosive radius can hit targets multiple times.
+Doomsday rocket launchers fire a single shot with a very large radius. The secondary flame explosions make it much more effective at disabling organic raiders, or killing weak mechanoids like [[lancer]]s.
-Thus, the choice between the two launchers against mechanoids depends on three factors:
+Triple rocket launchers fire 3 shots of bomb damage, with a smaller radius per shot. If shots overlap, they deal more damage. While humans will feasibly die to one shot from either weapon, the extra damage is useful against bulky mechanoids.
-# Whether the raid is predominantly populated with weaker mechanoids that the doomsday could feasibly kill, such as [[lancer]]s.
-# Whether the larger AoE of the doomsday would be a significant benefit
+There also exists opportunity cost - you may only have triple or doomsday rocket launchers available, so don't be picky about either one. You may want to "save" doomsday launchers against devastating raids, but this may not be possible.
-# Whether there is a significant opportunity cost for using the doomsday against a mech raid, as opposed to retaining it for its much more effective use against human raids.
+===Fighting against===
+As expected, doomsday rocket launchers in the hands of raiders are incredibly dangerous, and should be made priority targets. either by focus firing on them, or by getting them to waste their single shot on an inconsequential or difficult to hit target.
+[[Psychic shock lance]]s and [[psychic insanity lance]]s have a comparable range (1 tile shorter) and fire much faster (0.5s warmup vs 4.5s warmup). [[Psycast]]s{{IconRoyalty}} can also [[berserk]] the pawn in question.
 ===Wealth management===
-Doomsday rockets are very effective form of [[wealth management]]. Wealth controls [[Raider#Raid_strength|raid strength]] so expending {{icon Small|silver||1000}} is a fair decrease in that factor. Meanwhile, they're strong last ditch weapons able to save a colony in an emergency. Thus converting some excess wealth into doomsdays is a good idea - when you receive a raid you're incapable of facing you can resort to the doomsdays to both end the threat and consume some of the wealth that caused the raid.
+Doomsday rockets are very effective form of [[wealth management]]. Wealth controls [[Raider#Raid_strength|raid strength]]. Items are almost always bought at a market loss, so {{icon Small|silver||1000}} is a fair decrease in market value. ''And'', you get a strong last ditch weapon against a tough raid - using the rocket will completely expend the wealth. Therefore, converting some excess wealth into rocket launchers is a good idea.
 ===Doomdropping strategy===
 Combining a doomsday-armed pawn with a [[transport pod]] allows the player to rapidly position an effective counter to most raids anywhere on the map, even on larger map sizes. The pawn need not carry the doomsday day-to-day, and instead a [[shelf]] or stockpile an be placed next to the transport pods to allow a pawn to quickly switch from their current weapon to the doomsday before launching.
-Care should be taken however, as the pawn can be exposed both before firing, and after firing if the launcher fails to break the raid, either by return fire or from melee enemies closing and trapping the pawn. For this reason, high quality armor is recommended but encumbering armor like [[plate armor|plate]] or [[cataphract armor]]{{RoyaltyIcon}} should only be used when the pawn has a high enough [[move speed]] to outrun enemies regardless. [[Go-juice]], with its [[pain]] reduction to prevent getting downed and speed enhancement to prevent getting caught, is also a recommended contingency. If the [[Royalty DLC]] is in use, the use of [[jump pack]]s or [[locust armor]] to quickly escape is recommended, as is the use of [[psycasts]] to cast Invisibility to render the pawn immune to counter-fire before launching and/or the use of Skip to escape afterwards. If Invisibility is used, the caster need not even be the launched pawn, as they can cast it on the more expendable drop-soldier immediately before launch
+Pawns are exposed both before firing, and after firing if the launcher fails to break the raid. High quality armour is recommended, but high [[move speed]] is more useful. [[Go-juice]] is very useful, boosting speed and prevents [[pain]] downing your pawn.
+If the [[Royalty DLC]]{{RoyaltyIcon}} is active, there are more options to ease escape. [[Jump pack]]s{{RoyaltyIcon}} or [[locust armor]]{{RoyaltyIcon}} make reposition faster, the Invisibility [[psycast]] renders the pawn immune to counter-fire before launching, and the Skip psycast can move a pawn.
 ==Gallery==