All 186 Weapons and Turrets Compared in X4: Foundations

In X4: Foundations, weapons and turrets are the guns, missile launchers and mining tools that arm your ships. Whether you're defending your traders from pirates or going after bigger prizes, they decide how well your ships hold their own. Some are aimed and fired by you, the pilot, while turrets track and shoot targets on their own once you set how they should behave. Others drill asteroids or pull in salvage, so they matter outside of fights too.

BOR S Phase Gun Mk1

BOR S Phase Gun Mk1 fires a Boron phase shot at medium range.

Weapon Kind

Phase Gun

Maker Faction

Queendom of Boron

Range

3 km

Sustained DPS

221

Burst DPS

229

Rate of Fire

1.12 shots/s

Projectile Speed

2,308 m/s

Price

98,168 Cr

DLC

Kingdom End

PAR S Mass Driver Mk1

PSPAR S Mass Driver Mk1

PAR S Mass Driver Mk1 fires accurate, heavy rounds over long distances, rewarding careful aim at larger targets; the heat cycle favors brief attacks over continuous fire.

Weapon Kind

Mass Driver

Maker Faction

Godrealm of the Paranid

Range

12 km

Sustained DPS

77

Burst DPS

191

Rate of Fire

1 shot every 4.3 s

Projectile Speed

10,000 m/s

Price

126,984 Cr

DLC

Base Game

PAR S Mass Driver Mk2

PSPAR S Mass Driver Mk2

PAR S Mass Driver Mk2 fires accurate, heavy rounds over long distances, rewarding careful aim at larger targets; the heat cycle favors brief attacks over continuous fire.

Weapon Kind

Mass Driver

Maker Faction

Godrealm of the Paranid

Range

12 km

Sustained DPS

99

Burst DPS

254

Rate of Fire

1 shot every 3.9 s

Projectile Speed

10,000 m/s

Price

409,457 Cr

DLC

Base Game

How weapons and turrets work in a fight

Shields take the first hits in any fight. They soak up damage until they run out, then recharge slowly if the ship goes a while without being hit. Some shields protect the whole hull, while others guard nearby systems on larger ships. Once the shields are gone, hits land on the hull, and when that runs out, the ship is destroyed.

Large and extra large ships work a little differently, since their individual surface parts can be targeted and disabled. Those parts may have their own shields, and a disabled part stays out of action until it's repaired. Most ships also have blind spots where they can't fire, which is exactly where enemies like to maneuver. A strong ship can win a duel, but superior numbers are another way to win battles.

Weapon types and sizes in X4

Weapons come in a few main types. Primary guns are the front-facing guns on small, medium and large ships, plus some battleships. Secondary launchers are front-facing missile launchers on small and medium ships, and large ships can also carry fixed main batteries that fire straight ahead.

Turrets are the weapons that track targets for the ship. Gun turrets fit medium, large and extra large ships, and missile turrets fit large and extra large ships. Sizes run from small to extra large, and bigger weapons generally hit harder.

How to aim and fire weapons in X4

When you're flying a ship yourself, you aim its primary guns. The "target target" assist is on by default, and it makes the guns fire at the spot where a moving target is heading. Turn that off, or aim by hand, and the guns fire at your cursor instead. Turrets on ships the game controls use the same leading trick.

Missile launchers work a little differently. Dumbfire missiles fire at your cursor, so they suit targets you can predict. Homing missiles, also called guided missiles, use a lock marker on your screen to try to lock onto your ship's current target. Press L to fire secondary launchers.

You can set up firegroups so you can switch between sets of weapons with a keypress. In Ship Information, open Weapon Configuration for the weapon you want to set. Each weapon has two sets of four boxes, labeled primary and secondary, and it can sit in all eight firegroups. Keys 1 to 4 switch primary firegroups, and keys 5 to 8 switch secondary ones.

Weapon heat and burst vs sustained DPS

Primary guns build heat every time they fire. Short bursts barely matter, but a long fight with several guns firing together can push them into overheating, which forces them to shut down for a while. The on-screen heat bar beside each weapon shows this, turning from short, to long and orange, to red once the weapon has shut down.

That's why each weapon lists two damage per second figures. DPS stands for damage per second. Burst DPS is what you get in short bursts, and it's the figure shown in the ship purchase and upgrade menus. Sustained DPS is the lower figure that applies once heat forces shutdowns during a long fight.

For quick strikes, go by the burst figure. For long fights, the sustained figure is the one to plan around.

How turret settings work

Each turret, or each pair of medium turrets, has its own rules of engagement, and you can change them at any time. Offline turrets take no action at all. Online turrets can be set to Attack Enemies, which hits any hostile target, Target Target, which only fires on your selected target if it's hostile, or Defend Ship, which returns fire on anything attacking your ship but ignores missiles.

Two other modes cover narrower jobs. Missile Defence makes a turret try to intercept incoming missiles only, leaving ships alone. Break Asteroids lets a turret mine solid material from asteroids. On a ship you're flying, the small icons at the top middle of the screen let you set each turret quickly.

Best weapons and turrets for each job

The best pick depends on what you're fighting, so it helps to think in jobs rather than rankings. Against fighters, pulse lasers are the classic choice. Many pilots remember them as their first weapon, and their accurate bursts stay cool through long fights against small, quick targets. Bolt repeaters and bolt turrets rake nearby fighters with heavier rounds that need more lead, and flak turrets burst near a target to catch whole groups.

Beam emitters and beam turrets are the pick for targets that keep dodging, since their hits land almost instantly. They trade some heavy damage for that accuracy. Against larger ships, plasma cannons and turrets fire slow, hard-hitting shots from long range, while mass drivers send accurate, heavy rounds over long distances. Torpedo launchers suit attacks on larger, slower targets, and main batteries are among the hardest hitters around.

When you need to strip shields or slow an enemy down, ion blasters and ion gatlings drain shields, arc weapons scramble a target's sensors so it struggles to lock on, and distortion weapons briefly disable and pin smaller ships in place. Burst rays focus on surface components, which makes them useful against ship modules. Tracking launchers and tracking turrets fire guided missiles that follow your selected target and reach a long way. Dumbfire launchers and turrets fire unguided missiles, so they work best against targets you can predict or that are close.

For gathering instead of fighting, mining drills and mining turrets break open asteroids so miners can collect what's inside. The Scrap Tractor pulls loose salvage and scrap toward a ship so it can be picked up.

How to get weapons and turrets in X4: Foundations

You can buy or build weapons and turrets through shipyards, wharfs and equipment docks, depending on the model and whether you have access to its blueprint. Many are built at a wharf or equipment dock from materials such as energy cells, and the same item can have more than one recipe depending on the build line.

Prices are listed in credits and vary widely, from cheap mining tools to costly capital-ship main batteries.

Some weapons belong to a single ship line. Astrid and Erlking weapons are fitted to those ships rather than sold as standard guns. Main batteries are built into the capital ships they belong to.

FAQ