Flak (Weapons)

Flak weapons fire waste debris in a shotgun-like blast. Each flak projectile temporarily removes a shield layer. Once all shields are down, flak can hit rooms and deal system, hull, and crew damage.

Flak weapons use area targeting, making them less accurate at hitting the targeted room (especially a small room). Like any projectile weapon, they can also miss. Flak can be shot down by defense drones (Mark I and II).

Flak weapons are best compared to burst lasers. They fill a similar role, as general-purpose shield-breakers that can also damage systems and hull. They are worse damage-dealers than lasers, mainly due to the accuracy penalty, but also because they never cause fires or breaches.

Unlike lasers, all the shots arrive at once, which can be helpful when taking down shields for other weapons. Flak travels more slowly than lasers.

Understanding flak accuracy

When used against shields, flak weapons have exactly the same accuracy as (say) a laser weapon. Each flak projectile has a chance to miss, depending on the enemy's evasion.

Flak has an additional chance to miss the targeted room. When targeting flak, a red circle appears, centred on the enemy room. The flak projectiles can land anywhere inside this circle. Once the weapon fires, you can see a "preview" of where each flak projectile is going to land. This could be in the targeted room, or in a nearby room. Or it could be outside any rooms, in which case the shot will automatically miss (regardless of enemy evasion).

In other words, flak has two "chances to miss" the targeted room. One chance is based on enemy evasion. The other chance is based on the inherent inaccuracy of the weapon.

As an additional complication, flak weapons fire extra "fake" projectiles for visual effect. This "fake flak" cannot take down shields or damage enemies. Despite being harmless, fake flak can be evaded, so you may see more "MISS" notices than expected. Fake flak can distract defence drones.

List of flak weapons

(Advanced Edition)

Adv. Flak Gun

Adv. Flak Gun

"Fires a blast of debris across a random area doing up to 3 damage. Good at taking down shields but hard to aim."

• Costs 60 (cannot be bought or found)
• Fires 3 shots simultaneously, shots deal 1 damage.
• Requires 1 power and takes 8 seconds to cool down.
• Has a smaller target area than Flak Gun II and Flak Gun I as well.
• Only available on The Shrike
• Enemies never use this weapon.
• Widely regarded as the best weapon in the game (3 shots for 1 power)

Flak Gun I

Flak Gun I

"Fires a blast of debris across a random area doing up to 3 damage. Good at taking down shields but hard to aim."

• Costs 65
• Fires 3 shots simultaneously, shots deal 1 damage.
• Requires 2 power and takes 10 seconds to cool down.
• Widely regarded as one of the best weapons in the game (3 shots for 2 power)

Flak Gun II

Flak Gun II

"Fires a blast of debris across a random area doing up to 7 damage. Good at taking down shields but hard to aim."

• ​Costs 80
• Fires 7 shots simultaneously, shots deal 1 damage.
• Requires 3 power and takes 21 seconds to cool down.
• The targeting area is much larger than the Flak 1