Firefoam shell
Firefoam shell
A pressurized shell filled with fire-retardant foam. Can be fired from mortars or installed as a trap. Explodes when damaged.
Base Stats
- Type
- Crafted Resources – Mortar shell
- Market Value
- 55
- Stack Limit
- 25
- Mass
- 1.25 kg
- HP
- 60
- Deterioration Rate
- 1.5
- Flammability
- 100%
- Path Cost
- 15
Ranged Combat
- Damage
- 0 dmg (Extinguish)
- Velocity
- 41 (m/s)
- Blast Radius
- 5
Creation
- Crafted At
- Required Research
- Firefoam
- Skill Required
- Crafting 4
- Work To Make
- 800 ticks (13.33 secs)
- Resources to make
25
- defName
- Shell_Firefoam
- thingCategories
- MortarShells"MortarShells" is not in the list (Armor, Art, Artifact, BasicClothing, Clothing, ExoticMisc, ImplantEmpireCommon, ImplantEmpireRoyal, MortarShell, PsychicApparel, ...) of allowed values for the "TradeTags" property.
- tradeTags
- MortarShells
The firefoam shell is a type of mortar shell that upon exploding, spreads firefoam in a 5-tile radius, extinguishing all fires and preventing new ones.
Acquisition
Firefoam shells are made using 25 steel at a machining table and requires Firefoam to be researched. Requires a Crafting skill of at least 4. The steel cost is increased to 35 if the Classic Mortars difficulty option is enabled.
It can also be purchased from traders.
Summary
When fired from a mortar, firefoam shells spreads firefoam in a 5 tile radius, extinguishing all fires and preventing new ones.
When damaged beyond 70% of its health, it will explode after between 30 ticks (0.5 secs) and 60 ticks (1 sec), spread firefoam in a radius around itself. The radius depends on the quantity in the stack, with a single shell covering a 9.9 tile radius, and expanding this radius proportional to the square root of the stack size times 0.4 up to a maximum radius of 13 tiles at a full stack of 25.
Analysis
It is supposedly used for firefighting, due to the fire-extinguishing properties of the residual firefoam. It requires manual targeting to use, as colonists manning mortars don't automatically aim at fires.
However, it is somewhat cost-ineffective, as its tiny 5-tile radius isn't enough to cover large-scale fires, and it lacks the precision to be able to be dropped onto small fires accurately. Firing these shells to extinguish fires will quickly eat through your supply of steel. It cannot extinguish fires inside your colony properly as the mortar's blind spot prohibits it from hitting fires close to it.
It does allow colonists incapable of firefighting such as Pyromaniacs to help with firefighting efforts, however, which can be handy if you need more hands on deck in controlling an out-of-control wildfire.
The radius from an exploding firefoam shell is significantly larger than that of a fired firefoam shell. Depending on the purpose, placing a single shell and causing it to explode may be more efficient than firing it from a mortar. Indeed, as they will be set off by fire, it may be an effective alternative to firefoam poppers in some circumstances, trading a larger coverage radius for requiring outright damage to automatically set off.
Version history
- 1.3.3066 - Steel requirement decreased from 35 -> 25 unless Classic Mortar difficulty option enabled.