Extra Player Ships WingBlade
WingBlade is a new, second-generation Dai-X fighter. It can serve as an augmentative weapon for Dai-X (if you collect the blue special weapon powerup while flying Dai-X). It can also undertake missions on its own.
The ship is highly manoeuvrable and equipped with a wide assortment of advanced weapons for its size. It is suitable for experienced pilots as it is limited in how much damage it can withstand.
Performance 60
Shields 250
Armour 200
Weapons energy 1000
Missiles 500
Crew 1
ENS Natasha 'Rain' Kostitsyn (pilot)
Primary Weapons
The three selectable primary weapons can be cycled by pressing Select 1 (Shift, by default):
- 2 x Rapid-fire pulse guns
- WingBlade's pulse guns are similar to those found on the Dai-X and its constituent fighters. The guns are upgraded in chapters 2 and 3 to fire faster, more powerful shots.
- 4 x Spread-fire pulse guns
- The pulse guns can be set to fire in a 4-way fan-out configuration.
- Hydra guided micro-missiles
- WingBlade has internal storage capacity for 500 guided missiles. Missile capacity can be increased in chapters 2 and 3 to 1000 and 1500 missiles using under- and over-wing containers, mounted on external hard-points.
These missiles can be reloaded in units of 125 by collecting the Ammunition power-up.
WingBlade has two additional primary weapons that fire without needing to be selected:
- 2 x Rear-firing pulse guns
- WingBlade has dual rear-firing pulse guns that fire automatically when Fire 1 is pressed and a hazard is detected behind the ship.
- 2 x Wing-tip machineguns
- Two gimbal-mounted 40mm rotary cannons can be deployed from their housings in the wingtips. The guns track targets automatically and suppress or deter soft targets such as enemy missiles or fighters.
The machine guns fire whenever Fire 1 is held and ammunition is available.
The weapons can be reloaded by collecting the Ammunition power-up.
Secondary Weapons
The three secondary weapons can be cycled by pressing Select 2 (Ctrl, by default):
- Dispersion cannon
- The dispersion cannon fires energy spheres in a cycling spreadfire pattern.
The weapon is upgraded in chapter 2 to fire a linear spread of 3 shots in a clockwise cycle pattern at 45' intervals. In chapter 3, the weapon fires 5 continuous streams of shots at high velocities.
- 2 x Beam cannons
- 8 x Homing laser generators
The Skull
The Skull is a mysterious space sailer that helps X-Bomber out of tight spots.
The ship is highly manoeuvrable and well-defended with good weapons coverage from a range of point defence turrets and other gun emplacements.
However, the ship is fragile in comparison to X-Bomber and its ability to inflict heavy damage on large targets is limited.
The ship can be rotated through 360', allowing it to use its side guns to fire a broadside up the screen, for example.
Press the power transfer keys (S and W) to rotate the ship clockwise and anti-clockwise respectively in 45' increments.
With some practice, you can use the ship's rotation to track a target with your guns from anywhere on the screen.
In the game, The Skull has a further feature; it can transform into the more powerful Azuris space galleon.
Crew: 8, Commanding Officer: Captain Halley
Performance: 55
Shields: 250, Armour: 300
Weapons energy: 1875, Plasma missiles: 256
Side Weapons
Press Select 1 (Shift) to cycle the Side Weapons, which are fired by pressing Fire 1 (Z).
- 6 x Dual pulse guns
- The Skull has three dual weapon emplacements on each side that fire in a diverging pattern. The two guns in each of the six weapon emplacements fire in an alternating cycle, generating a witheringly high sustainable rate of fire.
This weapon is effective against crowds of larger targets and even bosses; especially if the target can be caught in the fire lane of more than one gun emplacement simultaneously.
- 8 x Point-defence guns
- The Skull has four point defence guns on each side. These guns automatically track up to four targets simultaneously.
This gives The Skull even greater point-defence firepower than X-Bomber. However, the solution cannot be used for extended periods because the system drains The Skull's smaller energy reserve much more quickly.
Forward Weapons
Press Select 2 (Ctrl) to cycle the forward weapons. These weapons fire in concert with the side weapons when you hold Fire 1 (Z).
- 2 x Pulse laser cannons
- The Skull has two high-calibre pulse guns that fire directly ahead of the ship in an alternating cycle.
These weapons are energy-efficient and create more damage than the side-mounted guns.
- 2 x Lightning cannons
Other Weapons
- 2 x Rear-firing lasers
- The two rear-firing lasers that work very similarly to those on X-Bomber. They activate automatically when a hazard is detected behind the ship.
- 8 x Homing laser launchers
- Press Fire 2 (X) to fire the homing laser launchers. The eight launchers fire simultaneously from a magazine of 256. The homing lasers are reloaded in increments of 64 by collecting the Ammunition power-up.
The Azuris
The Azuris is an upgraded mode of The Skull that can be accessed by holding Select 1 (Shift).
Azuris mode can be used for limited periods.
Azuris has considerably greater firepower and nearly twice as much armour.
However, the ship has no additional shielding and is the slowest player ship available.
Performance: 45
Shields: 250 Armour: 500,
Weapons energy: 3125, Homing lasers: 512
Side Weapons
- 12 x Pulse laser cannons
- The Azuris has six pulse lasers on each side that produce a total combined 1200 TW of firepower
They are very effective against a range of enemies including bosses.
- 2 x Beam cannons
- The beam cannons fire from the wings, ahead of the ship. They inflict damage quickly on enemies but consume energy steadily.
Forward Weapons:
2 x Pulse laser cannon
2 x Plasma fusion cannons
X-Bomber Prototype
The X-Bomber Prototype player ship gives X-Bomber as it appeared in the original TV show.
In the TV series, the ship was launched in 2999 only 90% finished. The game is set in 3002 when the ship is fully-finished and upgraded.
The prototype X-Bomber's shield and armour strength are slightly reduced compared to the normal version, as is its weapons power. It is nonetheless a very powerful ship
The functions of some of the weapons are altered in order to feature some alternate firing modes observed in the show to feature in the game.
Crew: Shiro Hagan, Barry Hercules, John Lee, PPA
Performance: 50
Shields: 500, Armour: 400
Weapons energy: 2000, X-Impulse: 1
Primary Weapons
- 2 x Pulse laser turrets
- Firing direction is changed by moving the ship while the fire button is released
Holding the fire button fixes the direction of fire and fires the weapon
Inflicts extensive damage with low power consumption
- 1 x Turret laser torpedo launcher
- Locks onto an enemy automatically
- 3 x Heavy point-defence turrets
- Lock onto three targets automatically
Fire high-velocity tracer
- 4 x Converging laser torpedo launchers
- The four emitter streams, fired from the wingtips converge a few hundred metres ahead of the ship, forming a single, highly destructive beam that creates an explosion on impact and sets the target on fire.
The weapon lacks the coverage of standard mode but inflicts greater concentrated damage on individual targets.
- 2 x High-energy main lasers - Pulse-fire mode
- Rather than firing a single, continuous beam, the emitters can fire individual compressed shots in rapid three-shot bursts.
These shots travel more slowly, allows you to lead a target while inflicting significant damage
- Special Weapon System interlink
- Most of X-Bomber's special weapons are compatible with the X-Bomber prototype
- 2 x Rear-firing lasers
Secondary Weapon
1 x X-Impulse system:
- Fires only when three X-Impulse power-ups have been collected
- Only sufficient energy for one X-Impulse blast can be stored.
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