Guns of Icarus Online

Guns of Icarus Online

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Letus's Tardy Teaching for Trigger-Tugging Typhon MK.II Trajectile
By Zu'ul, the Only
A quick rundown of the Typhon Heavy Flak Cannon
   
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Preface
Preface
Welcome! You're either here because you're bored, want to learn a bit about the Typhon, or went "That's a lot of 'T' alliteration. If you are here for the second choice, or all of the above, that is what this guide is for!

Do note, however, that this guide uses what seems to be the Typhon MK. I, model, which is now the case. When this guide was being written, the MK. II was the original Typhon Heavy Flak, then it got nerfed...and then it came back as the MK. II. I do hope to be able to update images and integrate the MK. I to this guide as well, since both do the same DPS, have same projectile speed, but behave differently due to clip size, rate-of-fire, and arming time damage.
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Introduction
I am Letus. Most likely you didn't pronounce that name right, but we're not here for Latin lessons now are we? You may have seen the Typhon Heavy Flak Cannon in a ship's load out selection, may have seen it used decently in battle, but do you know how to really use it? Well the obvious answer is "I shoot it at enemies right?" That is correct...but there is slightly more to this gun than meets the eye! This gun is one of the hardest to use, but packs the biggest wallop in the game! Imagine being a friendly Pyramidion about to hug a Spire, when all of a sudden your hull armor is down and shortly after that, your love to hug explodes into a shower of debris and depression--this is an actual scenario--you were just rejected by a Typhon Flak Cannon.

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So, what is the Typhon Heavy Flak? Well, this is the big brother of the Light Flak. His job is to kill ships, and he is rather effective at it. Just like it's cousin, the Lumberjack, this gun has an arming time, meaning certain shots will be needed to go certain distances. The range of this gun is comparable, with a vanilla range at 1,680 meters, meaning that even at a far range...he will Liam Nielson you with a direct damage of 150 explosive, and the armed AoE of 180 explosive, and since this weapon is explosive, it has a chance to add a 1 stack of fire to whatever it hits!
To put into account of damage:
Direct Explosive: 150
Damage to Balloon: 37.5
Damage to Hull: 210
Damage to Hull Armour: 45
Damage to Components (Guns and Engines): 45

AoE Explosive: 180
Damage to Balloon: 45
Damage to Hull: 252
Damage to Hull Armour: 54
Damage to Components (Guns and Engines): 54

Perspective of Ship's Permahull (Hull)
Junker: 500
Pyramidion: 550
Galleon: 1400
Goldfish: 1100
Squid: 950
Spire: 950
Mobula: 700

Remember, this gun has two shots, so an unaffected regular round can do a total of 924 damage to the perma hull! The problem is also relevant: this gun needs all the help it can get to do that massive damage. Pairing it with a gun that can deal piercing damage--such as the Mercury and Hades--to take out that hull to do its job.

Keep in mind that the arming time for this gun is 1.25 seconds, or 300 meters with a regular shot. This gun is not meant for a close range, but can still be a versatile killer! Do not expect to become a master just after reading this guide, real practice will be needed, and this gun, just like the Lumberjack, requires patience.
Using the Gun-Gunner
The three classes should be appearing to use this gun in cases--granted this gun can also be used by an engineer in many scenarios and ship builds. The Pilot is a key player, of course, as they need to position the ship, and then keep her steady so the gunner has an easier time to land shots; however, the gunner gets the scores and needs to know when to shoot, where to shoot, and when to use a slower shot.

This gun does explosive damage, meaning it is most effective at destroying the permahull, and a dead permahull is a dead ship. How do we know when the permahull is down? The hit markers will be red!
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The gunner must know when to anticipate red hit markers, though, as getting a shot to land on an enemy hull RIGHT when it is exposed is the shot you want to make, with the correct shot, you can kill most ships with one direct hit with the best of timing. Keep in mind of what rounds to use for what ranges!

Lesmok
This shot will get you the longest range of the gun, however, its clip size is reduced by half. It comes down to utility when using this shot as it will do regular damage. If you are in a very long range battle, it will be enough, giving you a high max range.
Arming Distance: 390 meters
Max Range: 2184 Meters
Clip Size: 1
Direct Damage: 150 Explosive
Permahull Direct Damage: 210
AoE Damage: 180 Explosive
Permahull AoE Damage: 252
Total Armed Damage: 330 Explosive
Total Armed Permahull Damage: 462
Total Clip Damage: 330 Explosive
Total Clip Damage Permahull: 462
Ships Destroyed in One Shot: None

Regular
This shot is indeed viable. It will give you both shots this gun has to offer, dealing twice the damage per clip than Lesmok. Though, most likely, you will be using another round, just keep in mind that this one is still applicable to be used to give a total of 4 rounds for your gun's usage! It has the fastest firing rate of all the shots that go this distance.
Arming Distance: 300
Max Range: 1680
Direct Damage: 150 Explosive
Permahull Direct Damage: 210
AoE Damage: 180 Explosive
Permahull AoE Damage: 252
Total Armed Damage: 330 Explosive
Total Armed Permahull Damage: 462
Total Clip Damage: 660 Explosive
Total Clip Damage to Permahull: 924
Ships Destroyed in One Shot: None
Ships Destroyed in Two Shots: Pyramidion, Junker, Mobula

Burst
Burst rounds increase AoE size. There are concepts that can make this an effective round for firing: Letting the wider AoE set more smaller fires to components that are near each other, or hitting a balloon in the right spot--say a Pyramidion or the bottom of a Junker, and having the AoE damage the hull. However, the rate of fire is slower.
Clip Size: 2
Arming Distance: 300
Max Range: 1680
Direct Damage: 150 Explosive
Permahull Direct Damage: 210
AoE Damage: 180 Explosive
Permahull AoE Damage: 252
Total Armed Damage: 330 Explosive
Total Armed Permahull Damage: 462
Total Clip Damage: 660 Explosive
Total Clip Damage to Permahull: 924
Ships Destroyed in One Shot: None
Ships Destroyed in Two Shots: Pyramidion, Junker, Mobula

Heavy Clip
This round is exactly the same as the regular shot in all sense. Does nothing special, but MIGHT put all that explosive AoE into one spot, really hard to tell right now.
Clip Size: 2
Arming Distance: 300
Max Range: 1680
Direct Damage: 150 Explosive
Permahull Direct Damage: 210
AoE Damage: 180 Explosive
Permahull AoE Damage: 252
Total Armed Damage: 330 Explosive
Total Armed Permahull Damage: 462
Total Clip Damage: 660 Explosive
Total Clip Damage to Permahull: 924
Ships Destroyed in One Shot: None
Ships Destroyed in Two Shots: Pyramidion, Junker, Mobula

Charged Rounds
This shot has the same distance and same arming time as both regular and burst. Not only that, but it deals an additional 30% Damage, which is enough to get the job done. Even if the first shot misses, you keep your clip size, so you can hit the with the next, no waiting! The downside? The Rate of Fire. Even if your shots hit while not armed, the total 543 damage is enough to scare the enemy!
Clip Size: 2
Arming Distance: 300
Max Range: 1680
Direct Damage: 195 Explosive
Permahull Direct Damage: 273
AoE Damage: 234 Explosive
Permahull AoE Damage: 327.6
Total Armed Damage: 429 Explosive
Total Armed Permahull Damage: 735
Total Clip Damage: 858 Explosive
Total Clip Damage to Permahull: 1470
Ships Destroyed in One Armed Shot: Junker, Pyramidion, Mobula
Ships Destroyed in Two Armed Shots:Squid, Goldfish, Spire, Galleon (EVERYTHING IS DEAD!)

Lochnagar
This shot...is pure evil, as soon to be shown with the numbers. The trade off? It has the slowest rotation, requiring some skill to pull off as your gun is now moving slower than a Galleon in a Tar Cloud. This shot, however, has the shortest arming distance, and does 125% Damage! With the clip size the same of Lesmok, and the speed and range of regular shots, using this at extreme ranges is not my recommendation, but is awesome to watch land.
Clip Size: 1
Arming Distance: 120
Max Range: 1680
Direct Damage: 337.5 Explosive
Permahull Direct Damage: 472.5
AoE Damage: 405 Explosive
Permahull AoE Damage: 567
Total Armed Damage: 742.5 Explosive
Total Armed Permahull Damage: 1039.5
Total Clip Damage: 742.5 Explosive
Total Clip Damage to Permahull: 1039.5
Ships Destroyed in One Armed Shot: Pyramidion, Junker, Squid, Spire, Mobula

Medium Range:
Regular, Burst, Charged, and Heavy Clip: These shots are still effective for this combat. 300 meters distance is a pretty long way once you learn it! They'll even do decent permahull damage when ships are within that distance.

Greased Rounds
These rounds will increase your rate of fire, dealing decent close range killing power at a rapid pace. The downside is that they are 20% weaker, and make your gun's rotation speed slightly more lethargic.
Clip Size: 2
Arming Distance: 240
Max Range: 1344
Direct Damage: 120 Explosive
Permahull Direct Damage: 168
AoE Damage: 144 Explosive
Permahull AoE Damage: 201.6
Total Armed Damage: 264 Explosive
Total Armed Permahull Damage: 369.6
Total Clip Damage: 528 Explosive
Total Clip Damage to Permahull: 739.2
Ships Destroyed in One Armed Shot: None
Ships Destroyed in Two Armed Shots: Pyramidion, Junker, Mobula

Heatsink
It is known that this clip will help your gun not spontaneously combust, but this clip does more than just that--it adds an extra shot, and gives the gun a quick turning rate! The downside would be the -17% in damage.
Clip Size: 3
Arming Distance: 240
Max Range: 1344
Direct Damage: 124.5 Explosive
Permahull Direct Damage: 174.3
AoE Damage: 149.4 Explosive
Permahull AoE Damage: 209.16
Total Armed Damage: 318.9 Explosive
Total Armed Permahull Damage: 383.46
Total Clip Damage: 956.7 Explosive
Total Clip Damage to Permahull: 1150.38
Ships Destroyed in One Armed Shot: None
Ships Destroyed in Two Armed Shots: Pyramidion, Junker, Squid, Goldfish, Spire, Mobula
Ships Destroyed in Three Armed Shots: Squid, Spire, Goldfish

Lochnagar: 120 meters is enough time for mid-range combat.
Using the Gun-Gunner Continued
Close Range

Well, Regular, Burst, Charged, and Heavy are beyond duds here, there are still a few ideas to think about.

Heatsink and Greased: They may be within 240, which is still relatively close.

Incendiary
This round has the slowest speed in the game. This round also has the slowest rate of fire. Even with both in account, the Lochnagar round will surpass this round in damage; however, this round is great to use if you are not fully confident as it still has the regular damage. The extra fire chance is pretty fun though!
Clip Size: 2
Arming Distance: 210
Max Range: 1176
Direct Damage: 150 Explosive
Permahull Direct Damage: 210
AoE Damage: 180 Explosive
Permahull AoE Damage: 252
Total Armed Damage: 330 Explosive
Total Armed Permahull Damage: 462
Total Clip Damage: 660 Explosive
Total Clip Damage to Permahull: 924
Ships Destroyed in One Shot: None
Ships Destroyed in Two Shots: Pyramidion, Junker, Mobula

Lochnagar: With the arming distance of 120 meters, this is the best last ditch shot to use. The biggest drawback to this round is your one shot per 5 seconds, so better make it count!

Tip: You can "pre-load" Lochnagar by loading another round into it. This gives you the standard aiming speed of the gun, allowing you to aim your Lochnagar before it loads! Just keep in mind that this puts you at a 5-second disadvantage.

Stamina
Stamina for this gun is as useful as it is with the other guns. Notably in keeping your gun in arc. The changes are:
Reload: 3.75 seconds
Yaw (Left-Right) Rotation Speed: 26 degrees/second
Yaw Angles: 36º Left / 36º Right
Pitch (Up - Down) Rotation Speed: 39 degrees/second
Pitch Angles: 42º Up / 56º Down
Using the Gun -- Pilot
This gun is a projectile meaning that everything you do is transferred into the shot. The Pilot is just as important for aiming the gun as the Gunner doesn't want to fight the ship's movements as well. Communication between the two between ship speed and turning, to up and down movements need to be established, since this gun has two shots, and the Gunner wants to make them count. The worst thing a Pilot can do with this gun is floundering around and moving erratically.

The best way to pilot a ship with the Typhon is to be on ships that have it, and then to shoot it yourself. This will get you a feel of the gun's behavior and to learn a bit more of its arming distance.

The most important job for the Pilot is to pay attention to position the ship into effective range.

Tools to keep in Mind

Kerosene: Positioning is needed for this gun. When it comes down to lining up to helping your ally, or just to get away from enemies, Kerosene is a decent and easy tool to use to do both. Another added bonus is the +300% Angular Drag, which can be used to brake your Phoenix Claw Turn, and keep Minotaurs from fully spinning you around.

Moonshine: It is Kerosine on Steroids. It needs to be used responsibly as it will eat your engines. The 1000% Angular Drag puts on a hard brake to turning, and even Minotaur Bouncing.

Phoenix Claw: Needed to keep guns in arc. If you're having trouble stopping your turns with this tool, use Kerosine to bring your hard turn to a stop.

Chute Vent / Hydrogen: Just in case you're one of those Up-Down evaders.

The Ships:

There are three ships that can use this gun: Galleon, Goldfish, and Spire. Each have their advantages and disadvantages.
Galleon

Advantage: Heavy Firepower + Most Health (1400)
Disadvantage: Maneuverability ranges from a beached whale to a floating platform.
We all have seen this ship in action. It has the ability to have a very strong long range port with the ability to use its starboard as a short range fighter. The huge disadvantage is the maneuvering. You will have to put your ship into a position to keep the broadsides firing quite a bit.

Combinations:
Note. I make these names on the top of my head. Nobody but me probably calls them these names

The Old-Fashioned Gentleman

2 Typhon, 4 Typhon, 5 Mercury Field Cannon / Hades

This is an old callback to times gone by...back when we used to run this build with 2 gunners to get 4 lesmok and 4 charged and a heatsink close range side going....all at once. Fortunately, those times are gone. This doesn't mean it is an obsolete build, even with an engineer, you can get two Lesmok rounds in the air at the same time, which is enough to destroy all ships but the Galleon if they both hit the permahull. The Mercury Field cannon can be used to disable guns and take out hull, where as the Hades just keeps hull out of the way.

The Modern Maiden:

2 Lumberjack; 4 Typhon Flak; 5 Hades / Merc

The most recognized build that uses this gun. We give the gunner the Lumberjack and the Engineer the Typhon. The Hades + Lumberjack combo is enough to keep hull down for that Typhon to do its job very well. If you want more shots, you can have the gunner jump between both of the heavy guns...but they'll have be fast and great at aiming well. Since the Typhon Flak just needs charged shots or Lochnagar for dual range, the Engineer will be fine.

The Bouncing Behemoth

2 Minotaur; 4 Typhon Flak; 5 Hades / Merc

We give the Gunner the Minotaur as heavy clip is needed, and again, all the heavy flak needs is Charged or Lochnagar/Lesmok for dual range. The Minotaur helps the Hades or Merc strip hull with its piercing damage, but the huge disadvantage would be that it constantly spins ships, making a hard time for the Flak Guy to predict and hit.

Goldfish

Advantages: Most Maneuverable
Cons: No gun synergy

There used to be a time when these were everywhere and highly useful....Flakfish now tend to be a newbie's mistake. This does not mean it is not viable, but this ship is highly, HIGHLY situational. It relies more on synergy on allies than its own guns and will just "steal" the kills. It does have the ability to get in and get out, however.

Combinations

The Crazy Captain

1 Typhon Flak; 2 Whirlwind Gatling Gun; 3 Whirlwind Gatling Gun

The Gatling Gun is the only decent piercing weapon for a Flakfish as it has the widest arc. This build is heavily situational and engine intensive, but the good news is that you will only need Engineers! If one engineer has the buffkit and Lochnagar round, and pre-buffs the three guns, while a second engineer loads Greased Rounds into the Gatling guns. The plan would be simple. Fly in, have gunner finish the gat buff to strip armour, then use his stamina to get onto the Loch Flak while the Pilot turns just in time to fire it. If done perfectly...well...there will be numbers in the Engineering Section.

Spire

Advantages: Has the best armour stripping synergy
Disadvantages: Everyone is going to be shooting at you

This ship is by far my favourite Flak ship. You can have both a long range to close range build on this ship, and with the right ammo types, you can keep the Flak easily in Loch range just to fully annihilate enemies.

Combinations:

The Sniper

1 Typhon Heavy Flak; 2 Hades; 3 Hades; 4 Mine Launcher
or
1 Typhon Heavy Flak; 2 Mercury; 3 Artemis; 4 Mine Launcher

I put two variations together with this one as they do the same thing: kill. However, if you use both Hades in both slots, you can have two engineers firing Lesmok to have a long-mid range ship, or Greased to have a mid-short range ship, which is more than can be said about the Mercury build. Just remember, you'll have to aim the ship slightly to the right to get all three guns going. As with the Merc + Artemis build...use burst rounds in both guns. Merc can take out hull and components, Artemis can take out components and deal explosive damage. The mine is there for those that rush at you.

Ka-Boom
1 Typhon Heavy Flak; 2 Whirlwind Gatling Gun; 3 Whirlwind Gatling Gun; 4 Mine Launcher.

This is indeed a close-range ship. Because of that, you really only just need engineers. The one manning the gun should have a buffkit and lochnagar--I'd say Spanner, Mallet, and Buffkit. The turning engines and balloon should be buffed while the bottom gat and Flak should be pre-buffed. The two other gunners can either use Lesmok for the Gatling Guns to take out hull from a further distance, or Greased for up close chaos, more once that one Gatling Gun by the Flak is buffed, leaving the flak gunner to time and fire that one awful shot.
Using the Gun -- Engineer
The engineer's main task would be to keep this gun up better than the gunner, and if they can, help the gunner know if his shots were high, low, or wide. Bad things happen, we all know that. However, there is one special item that can make this gun absolutely the most terrifying thing in the skies: The Dynabuff Industries Kit.
What exactly does this do? It will add another 20% damage to the gun...drastically changing the numbers.

If we are to assume that the shot lands on permahull, here are the numbers for the new calculated Damage:

Regular, Burst, Heavy, Lesmok, and Incendiary: 554 damage
Ships killed with one shot: Junker, Pyramidion, Mobula
Ships killed with two shots: Squid, Spire, Goldfish

Charged Rounds: 882
Ships Killed with One Shot: Junker, Pyramidion, Mobula, Squid, Spire
Ships Killed with Two Shots: Goldfish, Galleon

Heatsink: 460.152
Ships Killed with One Shot: None
Ships Killed with Two Shots: Junker, Pyramidion, Mobula
Ships Killed with Three Shots: Squid, Spire, Goldfish
Even a Galleon will be left with 20 permahull.

Greased: 443.52
Ships killed with one Shot: None
Ships Killed with Two Shots: Junker, Pyramidion, Mobula

Lochnagar: 1247.4
Ships Killed with One Shot: Junker, Pyramidion, Mobula, Squid, Spire, Goldfish
Keep in mind that an unarmed Lochnagar shot will do 472.5 damage!
Galleon has 152.6 permahull left!
Targetting
This gun, in my opinion, has the worst iron sights ever. They really don't help with long range scoping, and I have found it easier to hit guns without the zoom....

At long range, say 1km, targeting with Lesmok would be right around the floating reticle. Normal speed rounds would be a few degrees below that, almost parallel with the top of the gun's barrel. -20% speeds, such as greased and heatsink, would be right in the middle, where as incendiary would be just above that.

I have here a crude pictures with keys to at least TRY to help explain
Key:

1,000 meters

500 Meters

300 Meters

Once you get within 300 meters, the gun is your basic point and click with the right ammo.


An unarmed hit would make a soft thump sound while an armed hit sounds like a big pop.
4 Comments
Zu'ul, the Only  [author] 29 Apr, 2017 @ 5:37pm 
Publishing again because of the MK. II
Zu'ul, the Only  [author] 21 Mar, 2016 @ 11:38pm 
Setting to friends only 'cause I'm gonna have to re-write this completely now...
Zu'ul, the Only  [author] 12 Feb, 2016 @ 10:22pm 
I do want to keep updating this to flesh it out and look slightly better, unfortunately, real life has gotten in the way in which different distractions are needed to dissolve different forms of stress (I.E. other games)

I am sorry, but I am not one to just abandon, so I shall come back.
Zu'ul, the Only  [author] 4 Dec, 2015 @ 7:34pm 
This is currently in the works....I'm just posting it now. Been wanting to make this guide since the Lumberjack one, but suddenly...the Practice Mode Changed...so videos are going to be a slow...slow process.