So, what should I use the Null Void Beam for?

[Secret Master]

I rolled the Unbidden this time, and I decided to try out the Null Void Beam just to see how it works. It's not that great, to be honest. The nerf to hull and armor damage is powerful enough that despite the better performance against shields, it seems that overall, kinetics are still the way to go against the Unbidden.

But I'm wondering what I should even use the Null Void Beam for? Is there a combination of repeatables or special resource edicts that make it useful in some situations? Or is it like a bigger version of the energy siphon with no real use?

 

[AlanC9]

It strikes me as being fairly useful in the early game.

 

[LordNarvi]

I fill a Titan's L slots with them. Does a reasonable amount of damage, but not enough for me to refit my battleships with them. Hits above its weight on the Titan though.

 

[DreadLindwyrm]

I rolled the Unbidden this time, and I decided to try out the Null Void Beam just to see how it works. It's not that great, to be honest. The nerf to hull and armor damage is powerful enough that despite the better performance against shields, it seems that overall, kinetics are still the way to go against the Unbidden.

But I'm wondering what I should even use the Null Void Beam for? Is there a combination of repeatables or special resource edicts that make it useful in some situations? Or is it like a bigger version of the energy siphon with no real use?

I was thinking a mixed fleet, with some null beams to break shields and then some really good armour and hull breaker weapons - or maybe two fleets, one with bull beams and a plus range admiral, and the other high rate of fire hull and armour damage?

 

[tobias.mb]

Well, Null Void Beam alone is a terrible idea. But combined with plasma, neutron or lances it is a really useful weapon.

Only looking at shield dmg, the Null Void is comparable with lvl 5 kinetics, but you can potentially get it way earlier. Energy req. puts it on the level of lvl 2 laser / kinetics, so you should compare it with that; And at that point the Null Void is extremely strong!
The Null Void also has really good range (artillery range on L slot); this makes it way better in combination with other energy weapons than kinetics. After all you should want your anti-shield weapons to have the biggest range.

If you have (for example) Destroyers with 1M Null Void 4S Plasma (or 1M +2S Plasma), that will likely dominate in the early game.

Of course, it's not really all that useful anymore in the late game, especially after getting artillery for long distance anti-shield. But it's an early game weapon after all.
Only potential niche would be, if you want to focus only on energy weapon repeatables and ignore kinetic weapon repeatables entirely. And, honestly, that doesn't even sound so bad. I usually end up with way more (like 5-10 levels) energy weapon repeatables, simply because there are more eng. tech repeatables!

 

[Secret Master]

If you have (for example) Destroyers with 1M Null Void 4S Plasma (or 1M +2S Plasma), that will likely dominate in the early game.

I hadn't considered that kind of pairing earlier in the game. Interesting.

Only potential niche would be, if you want to focus only on energy weapon repeatables and ignore kinetic weapon repeatables entirely. And, honestly, that doesn't even sound so bad. I usually end up with way more (like 5-10 levels) energy weapon repeatables, simply because there are more eng. tech repeatables!

See, I was kind of thinking along these lines. But in the past, if I go full-bore energy weapons, I'm either running some kind of anti-hull armor build against the Scourge (tachyon lances, neutron launchers) or running an arc emitter/void cloud lightning build and just ignoring shields completely. Maybe it's time to go back and look at mixing up energy weapon types again.

 

[Bouchart]

Don't use it for anything. If shields are a problem, go with disruptor beams and missiles and bypass them entirely. Or fight in a pulsar system.

 

[Gyrvendal]

You can litteraly get them ten years into the game. At that point, they are absolutely insane. Even a single one in an S slot will decimate all enemy shields super fast. Once you unlock high level kinetic weapons their usefulness runs out IMO.
They have great synergy with plasma, and they allow you to skip kinetic weapons research for a long time if you get them early. They can also help take out some leviathans way earlier than I usually do.

Be careful with them, they have a high rate of fire and low damage, meaning they tend to trigger a lot of retreats from the enemy, reducing their permanent casualties.

 

[Althizor]

I've always been lucky to get it very early game, where it completely outclasses any kinetic weapon you can get for a long while. Having it on a single slot pretty much turns off shields early game.