Smokepop pack

Smokepop pack

An activated defensive smokescreen. It will release a thick cloud of smoke when activated, providing line-of-sight cover and preventing turrets from locking on. 3x-use.

Base Stats

Type

Gear – Utility

Market Value

166 

Mass

3 kg

HP

100

Apparel

Coverage

Waist

Layer

Belt

Creation

Work To Make

1,200 ticks (20 secs)

The smokepop pack is a reusable defensive device that releases a cloud of smoke on command. It can be activated 3 times before needing to be reloaded for 10 chemfuel. Unlike the jump pack, which uses 20 chemfuel per charge restored, reloading smokepop packs always costs 10 chemfuel even if there are charges left. Because of this, it is more efficient to spend all charges before reloading.

The smoke reduces hit chance by 70% for any projectile that paths through smoke. Shooters will still be affected by smoke even when neither them nor the targets are standing in it, if there is smoke in between. The smoke also prevents turrets from locking onto targets. It dissipates after around 30 seconds.

It does not affect melee hit or dodge chances.

Analysis

It is a useful item for melee-based tactics, with the smoke giving melee colonists the chance to move in, though you will want to equip most of your colonists with the shield belt instead, which gives more solid protection on top of the smoke. However, if your attack force is mostly or completely comprised of brawlers or trained animals, a smokescreen deployed in the middle of a fight can protect your pawns from numerous enemy gunners better. Shield belts can significantly reduce or eliminate damage from few incompetent shooters, but they become useless if quickly destroyed by concentrated fire or EMP explosions. A smokescreen covering the whole crowd can potentially prevent more damage by making a lot of enemy shots miss and allowing your shields to recharge, especially if outnumbered by somewhat skilled shooters with high-damage weapons. A good offensive tactic - combat-trained animals will take the first hits and force some gunners into melee, a pawn will rush in with them and cover the area with smoke followed by shielded allies, and everyone can enjoy combined ranged protection of smoke and shields. This tactic can be very effective against tight groups of enemies with few or no brawlers of their own and can devastate sieges, but it is only relevant if you rely heavily on melee fighters, as covering enemies with smoke also greatly reduces effectiveness of your own gunners. For obvious reasons, smokescreens are useless when defending against all-melee raids or manhunter packs and should be swapped for shields to protect against potential friendly fire. You can also use the enemy's own packs to your advantage.

Smokepop packs can be used to neutralize turrets by placing a smokescreen in line of sight or directly on top of a turret, allowing other pawns to safely destroy it, hit it with EMP weapons, or handle other threats.

Ranged colonists don't synergize well with smoke while attacking, as it reduces their accuracy as well. It should not be used offensively when many other friendly gunners are nearby; rather, it should be used to cover ranged colonists so they can move out of a position under relative safety.

Quality Table

On explosion, the smokepop pack covers an area with smoke. The radius depends on the quality of the pack.

Quality	Awful	Poor	Normal	Good	Excellent	Masterwork	Legendary
Explosion radius (tiles)	4.1	4.5	4.9	5.3	5.7	6.4	7.4

Note that a larger explosion radius is not necessarily better, as smoke affects both sides of the battle.

Version History

• 1.2 - renamed to the smokepop pack from smokepop belt, now has 3 charges and can be triggered manually instead of automatically triggering when hit by a projectile.

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Utility

Utility

Firefoam pop pack • Orbital bombardment targeter • Orbital power beam targeter • Psychic shock lance • Psychic insanity lance • Shield belt • Smokepop pack • Tornado generator • Low-shield pack • Jump pack • Orbital mech cluster targeter • Bandwidth pack • Control pack • Tox pack • Biomutation lance • Biomutation pulser • Deadlife pack • Disruptor flare pack • Shard animal pulser • Shard insanity lance • Shard shock lance • Turret pack