Hi. I’m Needo from Mechanic Miner and in this guide I’ll show you how to build weapons and how to utilize them with your vehicle. This guide will include basic weapon setups you can do early in the game, as well as more advanced setups which requires resources you get later in the game. This is the first part of a two-parter guide, and in the next part I'll be showing you even more advanced weapon setups along how to customize your own weapons.

For this guide I’m going to use the vehicle I made in the first guide: How to build a basic Vehicle. If you’re completely new to the game you should watch that guide first (Link to guide or link to video guide).

Alright, let's get started. First weapon we’re going to try is the Ballista. The Ballista requires Wood and Zink to build, so it can be made very early in the game. Create the Ballista and some planks. Before placing the Ballista I’ll make a spot for it using the planks. Then I’ll place the Ballista on top of the podium I just made.



I can now mount the ballista pressing E, which allows me to aim and shoot using the mouse. Notice that the vertical bar in the center of the Ballista tells you the amount of ammunition left in the Ballista. If it runs low, you can refill it using wood.

Although the Ballista works fine like this, you will have to swap between the Ballista and the lever in order to shoot and drive the vehicle. To make it easier I’m going to connect the Ballista to the lever. Do this by using cable to connect the Ballista to the cable system that is already made beneath it. Create 20 cables using bakelite, then drag the cable from the lever to the already placed cables.



Now I can mount the lever, and control my vehicle like usual while using my mouse to shoot the Ballista. It’s possible to add another Ballista to the cable system, this will allow you to shoot two arrows at the same time. In fact it’s possible to add any amount of ballistas to the setup as long as there is room for it - like this:

Now I’m going to build a Railgun, which requires Iron and a different setup to work. Before starting I'll just remove all the Ballistas and start over with the ordinary vehicle i started with.



First I’m going to create a good spot for my Railgun. I want my Railgun to be higher up so it can reach longer, so first I’m going to build a little tower using planks.



Once the spot is ready I will create a Railgun and place it. Note that it’s possible to rotate items using "Z". In this case the rotation of my railgun matters, since it can only shoot in a 180 degree angle. For now I’ll place my Railgun like this, so its facing outwards the front of my vehicle, allowing me to shoot enemies in front of me.



The railgun requires 3 things to work:

• A cable connection
  
• Steam
  
• Ammunition.

We’ll start with the cable connection. Connect the Railgun to your current cable setup using new cables. If the dot on the Railgun turns green - your Railgun is connected.



Now you’ll have to provide the Railgun with steam. Luckily the vehicle already have a Boiler that is providing steam to the engine, so we’ll just attach the Railgun to this Boiler as well. We’ll need to use Pipes for that. Drag the pipes from the boiler to the Railgun like this. If the dot on the Railgun and Boiler turns green - it’s connected.



The only thing missing now is the ammunition. Railguns use Rocks for ammunition, provide the railgun with 10 Rocks, and mount the Lever. You are now able to shoot your Railgun - but remember it will drain steam from your Boiler doing so.

As the last modification for this build. I’m going to add another Railgun to the setup that will allow me to shoot enemies on the other side of the vehicle. I’ll start by making a good spot for my second Railgun.



Once this is done I’ll create the Railgun and place it on the opposite side. Then I’ll connect the pipes and cables as well. Notice that it is possible to cross pipes and belts, but it’s not possible to have them run parallel on the same block. Add some stone to the new Railgun. Mount your vehicle and try it out!



Feel free to modify your weapon setup as you like. There is really no limit on how many Railguns or ballistas you can insert in your setup. You can also mix your setup with both Ballistas and Railguns for maximum efficiency.



That was it for now. In the next part I am going to get into even more advanced weapon setups, but until then: Good luck designing and building some crazy deadly steam-powered machines! We would love to see your inventions, so be sure to share them on our forum.

Greetings
Needo