Focus Lance
Fires a piercing lance, which can be used as an alternative to Vorpal Lance.
Basically it's a free VL at the start and midpoint of every wave. However, it is actually quick to recharge unlike many Zens and can be abused to some extent.
The details of this skill are listed as follows:
| Level | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Ultimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damage | 39.6 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
| Charging Duration (s) | 0.75 | 0.65 | 0.55 | 0.45 | 0.35 | 0.35 |
| Charge Time Increase (s) | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Charge Time Recovery (s) | Average (4.5) | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
- Ultimate: Gives it Armor Piercing properties, which makes it deal normal damage to Armored invaders. The important implications are being able to one shot Armored Ravens, as well as instantly being able to pop off a turret on an Armored invader.
- Score: 6.09 / 10
- Useful Levels: 4 and above
- Priority Level: 1 / 8
- Illustration:
Comments
- Editor: The worst imitation of aura until the appear of Clover ATS.
- ☀🐕: The weirdest part of FL is its ult-upgrade. Why AP only when I don’t get any benefits from playing missions other than Armored? Hence, SB and HI damage type should also be added. In addition, I’ve always thought that FL is a bit generic since it’s just a single charge of VL. Unlike FL though, a 4 VL dump instantly vaporizes a screen full of enemies. It’d be cool to see a 65 damage FL for one-shotting herons.
Usage
A level 1 FL is pretty much useless due to how sluggish it is, requiring you to pre-charge so early it is simply ridiculous to estimate, especially when you are still dealing with some of the bullets left over from the last wave. As you upgrade FL, it becomes more responsive, and also more abusable.
Unfortunately, even at max or ult level, FL is still very underwhelming as a Zen. Given the speed of FL and taking into account the time you need to stay still to charge it, you can only hope and pray that the FL will hit as many Ravens and Sparrows as possible. Given their rapid movement, it is extremely unpredictable, in that they can quickly move away just as FL is being emitted from your ship.
The fact that FL needs to cool down is another factor that makes FL very difficult to wield properly. By the time FL has cooled down, while it may not be that long (it's about 5 seconds i would say), it is enough time for the field to be flooded with fast moving bullets such as boomerangs and darts. This means that it is very difficult to reposition yourself in a new spot where using FL might be viable. It's Aura counterpart, VL, allows multiple piercing lances to be fired at once, riding the field of invaders quickly enough so that less bullets would be stacked upon you, as well as not running into positioning problems later on to fire more lances.
Thus, FL may be simply seen as a one-time lance at the start of a wave. After that, FL is usually only used to pop turrets off invaders, and it is simply a bonus if it can hit Ravens and Sparrows. FL can generally be used about twice a wave from Act 4 onwards, discounting light waves where it is only once. For dense and/or heavy waves, it can even be used 3 times.
APEX 1: Expert Focus
- Game Description: Launches Focus Lance even faster and recovers it more quickly.
- Numeric Interpretation: The charge time decreases from 0.35s to 0.25s, the recovery time decreases from 4.5s to 3.5s.
- Score: 2.73 / 5
- Ships with the APEX: Banshee (Sigma), Stinger (Lambda)
Editor: Shooting faster and more accurately.
Lowering the firing interval of the lance is enough to allow you to use this skill more frequently. Typically, the usage frequency is once per wave, but with the APEX, you can even use it twice in one wave. As an additional output option, this maximizes its utility value. The key to using it well is to release your finger frequently enough. Even though the charging time is reduced, it cannot completely replace the instantly usable Vorpal Lance. There is still a certain interval between releasing your finger to charge and firing it. This issue can only be compensated for by each player's understanding of this skill.
APEX 2: Lance Wake
- Game Description: Destroys enemy bullets hit by Focus Lance.
- Numeric Interpretation: Lance will clear the bullets like Vorpal Lance.
- Score: 2.55 / 5
- Ships with the APEX: Reaper (Lambda)
Editor: Awake now? Get up and train your lance!
This apex makes the lance produced from charging FL clear bullets in its path, just like an ult VL.
Just as how useful you may find Vorpal Wake to be, especially in Full Offence ships, this apex makes ships without a defensive Aura much more survivable as riding a lance can save your life, particularly when completely cornered with no way out. Given that FL can be somewhat abused, you won't find yourself trapped so easily when you could charge FL again after quite a short time. However, unlike VL where you can stockpile lances, this is a one-time use for quite a period of time so be sure to plan a proper place to shoot it at to get out of ttight situations. It is best to pick a thin wall where you are comfortable to ride out of.
APEX 3: High Voltage
- Game Description: Interrupts enemy turrets with a short stun.
- Numeric Interpretation: Turrets accurately hit by Focus Lance will be stunned for 0.6s.
- Score: 0.91 / 5
- Ships with the APEX: Disaris (Sigma)
Editor: It's more effective to stun the entire invader with a single shot.
Its problem is quite obvious; only accurately hitting a specific turret with the lance can stun it. Just meeting this condition can bring about a lot of inconvenience. Firstly, focusing the lance itself requires charging. During the charging and firing process, the invader turret may have already moved positions, making it difficult for you to aim at the turret. Secondly, the damage of the lance itself is not low; it can basically pop the turret directly (unless it's a shielded invader). If I can pop the turret directly, why bother with the extra step of stunning it? Furthermore, the Disaris equipped with this zen also has the Bullet EMP as an aura, which already has the ability to stun/reset turrets on a large scale. Therefore, it's hard to understand how much substantial improvement this APEX bonus can bring. The only improvement might be the additional laser output provided by buying the APEX, but then again, if you've saved enough money to buy the Sigma APEX, why not save a bit more and directly buy the Omega?
APEX 4: FTL
- Game Description: Launches the experimental Faster Than Light lance projectile.
- Numeric Interpretation: Lance will immediately pierce all the invaders on the line.
- Score: 2.09 / 5
- Ships with the APEX: Warden (Sigma)
Editor: Firing instantly is equivalent to not hitting anything.
You can think of this lance as an instant damage piercing laser, causing damage to all invaders in a straight line at once. Although it sounds powerful, you may not have realized a certain problem. Whether it's the Vorpal Lance or the Focus Lance, they both follow the principle of pre-charging release because the lance needs to fly to hit the invaders. But the FTL is different, it skips the charging step and directly hits the invaders, and the implication is that you need to change your original gaming habits. If you still use the lance according to the principle of releasing it early, you are likely to miss the shot completely. Sometimes, this can be very fatal, and changing habits to adapt to a new skill takes time and practice, which is not friendly for players who have reached this point.