Point Defenseless: Difference between revisions

* While the Neuroi in ''[[Strike Witches]]'' had defense arsenals after the manner of [[Real Life]] aircraft (with [[Energy Weapons]], no less), they could seldom overcome the heroines' dodge-fu, and the stuff that did hit was harmless ([[Plot Armor|except when dramatically appropriate]]).

* Amaterasu's point defense system in ''[[Starship Operators]]'' seems to unable to hit the laser module. Though it might be that PDS can't turn fast enough, since the module is moving quite fast and sliding on the side of the ship, not moving towards it.

* The Phalanx CIWS in one of the Arleigh Burke class ships in [[Sentou Yousei Yukikaze]] could not take down the JAM fighter heading straight for it. Justified in that the JAM fighter was flying lower than the gun's maximum depression point. The second JAM fighter ''seems'' to have been brought down by another cruiser, but chances are it was Yukikaze's kill.

* During Ivanovic's invasion in ''[[Dance in the Vampire Bund]]'', the Phalanx CIWS guns on the island's perimeter are unable to stop incoming cruise missiles [[Justified Trope|because they were sabotaged]]. Subverted when the saboteur then turns them on Bund-controlled helicopter gunships.

** ''Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception'' includes "high-performance" AAA that is able to intercept your bombs and missiles in one mission (two, actually... [[Remixed Level|sort of]]). This is so significant for the series that the mission briefing and [[Mission Control]] specifically point out the aversion.

** In ''Joint Assault'' {{spoiler|Sulejmani's Varcolac}} has a rear-facing gatling that shoots missiles aimed at his six out of the air.

* Point defense guns in ''The [[Sigma Star Saga]]'' fire at a 45-degree angle that can't be altered.

* ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'' features point defense guns. Ballistics are optimized to shoot down down drones and mines, whereas Laser Point Defenses are best against torpedoes and missiles. High-tech Phasers are more effective and can kill multiple targets in one sweep, but are a late-game tech that is rarely available. ''Argos Naval Yard'' introduced Interceptor Missiles, which are even better at nailing drones, mines and torpedoes but cannot hit missiles. Take note, though, that the necessary research option is only randomly available and the [[Random Number God]] may not like you. Any weapon ''can'' be used for point defense in a pinch, even [[Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better|Mass Drivers]] and [[Wave Motion Gun|Heavy Combat Lasers]], but the faster turret tracking of dedicated PD weapons is preferred. Furthermore, ship design firing arcs affect the usefulness of PD - Tarka in particular are very bad at nailing munitions coming in from above or below the plane of combat.

* In ''[[Super Smash Bros Brawl]]'', The Subspace Gunship has enough auto-turrets to literally fill the sky with projectiles.... yet they can't hit the broad side of a barn door. The destruction of the Halberd was implied to be a deliberate action on part of the heroes; once the smaller ships are released, the Gunship's turrets are suddenly slightly less accurate than your average Imperial Stormtrooper. Even Olimar's ship (shown later as barely capable of keeping up with the other ships) has little trouble avoiding the enemy fire.

* In ''[[Infinite Space]]'', AA lasers avert this in that they can and do shred fighters, but they're just not as useful as having a fighter complement of your own since the game prevents you from moving if you're under attack from fighters. One instance where this is best averted is in your first fight with Oisin, where he shoots tracker mines that keep your ship from moving and just blow up your fighters, whereas using your AA lasers finishes the fight in a few seconds.

* In ''[[EVE Online]]'', larger ships tend to cart around larger weapons. Makes sense, yes? Larger weapon turrets unfortunately track more slowly than smaller ones. This results in battleships that can slug it out with another battleship, but can't manage to pick off the swarms of frigates that will attack because its anti-battleship cannons track too slowly. This can be fixed by having some ships in the fleet outfitted with smaller weapons specifically to deal with the smaller ships, functioning as roving point-defense ships. Often, however, the battleships will simply load up on multiple flights or [[Attack Drone|drones]] to deal with smaller annoyances.

** Even then, there's still the fact that big ships take longer to lock on to targets than small ships. The best defense is to have some smaller ships in your fleet. Any fleet commander worth his salt will ensure this.