Smoke launcher

The smoke launcher fires smoke bombs that explode on impact, covering a small area with smoke equal to a 5x5 square without corners, regardless of item quality.

Acquisition

Smoke launchers can be crafted with smithing skill 4 at a machining table after researching gunsmithing with 75 steel, 4 components and 30,000 ticks (8.33 mins) of work. Smoke launchers can also be purchased from outlander and orbital combat suppliers or outlander settlements.

Analysis

Smoke launchers are useful when disarming turrets since the smoke can totally prevent them from locking on. Since the smoke blocks line-of-sight, you don't need to directly blanket the turret with smoke - as long as there is smoke between you and the turret, the turret will not lock on. Continuosly firing smoke at a turret can keep it blinded indefinitely - allowing others to safely destroy it or handle other threats.

Smoke launchers do no damage to pawns or structures with their projectiles, even on direct hits, meaning that colonists are required to fight using melee or to carry a spare weapon using caravan formation inventory and equip it when smoke is no longer needed. Alternatively, smoke launchers can be assigned to pawns with low combat skills that would be mostly useless in a fight otherwise. As with other launchers, pawns with the trigger-happy trait can fire it much faster with no downsides, and shooting skill has little to no effect on accuracy because of the forced miss radius.

Smoke is also useful in preparing for a melee rush. By reducing the accuracy of ranged weapons your melee fighters will find it safer to charge in.

Item quality does not affect anything other than melee damage, melee armor penetration and market value. Function-wise, smoke launchers of all qualities are identical except melee performance.