Guide to Combat

This is a table of some common, or just robust, things. This is not a list of how much damage each item does, just the best items and short notes on how to use them best. If you feel something should be added, please go ahead and do so, if it's robust enough. This is in alphabetical order:

Offense

Melee Weapons

Icon	Item	Damage	Notes
	Broken Bottle	15 Brute	Has to be broken first, to break simply change intent to harm then smash it against someone; by aiming for the head you will also knock them down if they are not wearing protective head gear. Smashing it spills its contents over the target so you could use it as a chemist to knock out your opponent, by filling it with chloral, and then beat them to death with it. Another reason why traitor Chemist is so great. If the bottle's contents are flammable (booze bottles, for instance) you can follow up by setting your opponent on fire.
	Butcher's Knife	15 Brute	Somewhat hard to get. You have to hack the Dinnerware vending machine. Security will likely have their suspicions as the only reason to have this over the normal knife is its robusting power. Works as a ghetto circular saw in surgery.
	Circular Saw	15 Brute	One of the most robust things you can find. Sadly they are rather uncommon and departments like to hang onto theirs, and security likes to take them.
	Cult Blade	30 Brute	Those who aren't Cultist suffer from wielding this blade...MENTALLY. Aside from being very robust, it is really Cult exclusive. Expect a wave of batons when Security sees you holding this.
	Death Nettle	Damage depends on potency, up to 35(?) Brute	A red nettle that knocks people down with massive damage and contains polyacid. Requires gloves to wield, lasts for several hits (damage reduced with each hit) until they disintegrate (i.e. the evidence disappears.) Experienced Botanists can make these. At low potency they are mostly a joke but at high potency they are stronger than energy swords.
	Energy Sword	3 Brute Off 30 Brute On	Despite being very strong in melee combat, its activation is loud, very obvious to those around you, and not viable unless you are a traitor. However, it can sometimes deflect laser and stun shots back the way they came! Use a multitool on one to turn on RAINBOW MODE (permanently). TURN IT ON BEFORE YOU USE IT
	Double-bladed Energy Sword	3 Brute Off 34 Brute On	Has to be held with two hands while on. While not much stronger in terms of damage compared to the Energy Sword, when wielded it gives a guaranteed chance to deflect lasers and stun shots back to their shooter. Like the Energy sword, its activation is very loud. To create this, you must combine two Energy Swords together of any color (hold one in each hand and click the other sword) or receive it in a Syndicate Bundle. You cannot put two holodeck swords together. Use a multitool on one to turn on RAINBOW MODE (permanently). TURN IT ON BEFORE YOU USE IT
	Fire Extinguisher	10 Brute	Found across the station so they're aren't in short supply. Unlikely to be taken by security if they search you. They are also very useful if you get spaced, spray in opposite direction of where you want to go, and you'll fly away. With a limit of 50 units, that's 10 squirts using 5 per spray.
	Fire Axe	5 Onehand 24 Twohand	Most robust thing you can get from the Station. Has to be held with two hands to be used properly. Security will likely take it and it's a large object. Best to store this on your back. They are also rare, one is in Atmos and the other is in the Bridge, good luck breaking in before it gets taken.
	Hatchet	12 Brute	Botanists use these to chop wood, they also are good at chopping limbs. Easy to conceal, and if you're a Botanist, security probably won't care if you're carrying one. Throwing it at someone deals 15 damage. Bonus points for finishing off an escaping enemy this way, Navajo-style. Works as a ghetto circular saw in surgery.
	Kitchen Knife	10 Brute	Useful if you're the Chef, as Security are unlikely to give a single shit if they see you with it. There's still a better knife, but this one is easier to get to. Works as a ghetto scalpel in surgery.
	Null Rod	15 Brute	Similar to the Circular Saw, but there's only of them, and the Chaplain tends to keep it on him. It can destroy runes, and the Chaplain cannot be converted while holding it. Can be stored in the suit storage of any of the Chaplains outfits.
	Pickaxe	15 Brute	Again, very robust, but it's very big, yet your jumpsuit's belt can hold it. Miners will likely trade this for other things, such as a tool belt, or insulated gloves. Since it is seen mostly on miners, security will be quick to blame them when they find a bloody pickaxe next to what was the HoP.
	Scalpel	10 Brute	Despite being not as good at the saw, this is still quite robust. Best part is you can have it your pocket and if you have access to this (not counting autolathe produced scalpels) security wouldn't care, unless it's covered in blood, of course. But even then they might assume you're just a bad doctor.
	Glass Shard	5 Brute	Extremely easy to obtain, just break a glass/reinforced glass pane. Works also as a ghetto scalpel.
	Stun Baton	10 Brute	Very robust if you know how to use it properly. Only heads of staff and the security force can get these easily.
	Screwdriver	5 Brute	Its robustness doesn't come from the damage, but from its thin, pointed edge. Anyone not wearing glasses can have their eyes stabbed out causing them lose sight. Doesn't make them mute so they'll still scream, or might even fight back before you have a chance to blind them enough.
	Surgical Drill	15 Brute	Only found in Surgery. Unfortunately, debate is ongoing whether it can be used to stick cyborg limbs onto people or not. You can probably think of a few other uses for it, though.
	Toolbox	10 Brute	Rather common. Althought it deals a moderate amount of damage, it's a bulky item, so you'll have to hold it.

Ranged Weapons

Although often hard to get, these can put you at a huge advantage. Not just from being outside melee range, but also by shooting through windows and destroying walls. Guns rely on a stock of ammo, and those are hard to get, while energy guns use recharging units or just recharge by themselves.

Icon	Item	Ammo	Capacity	Damage & Effects	Notes
	Advanced Energy Gun	Energy	10 (recharges over time)	20 Burn/Stun target	Using advanced wizardry SCIENCE, a mini nuclear generator has been fitted into this gun to provide unlimited shots! Researched from R&D. Cannot be used in recharging units.
	Antique Laser Gun	Energy	10 (recharges over time)	20 Burn	The prized weapon of the Captain, and the target of many enemy forces. Similar to the laser gun except it's recharged all by itself. They just don't make guns like they used to.
	C20r SMG	12mm	20 Rounds	20 Brute + Knockdown	Can only be found in Nuke rounds, or with Summon guns. It knocks the target down, similar to the detective's revolver, except chances are if you go down, you're not getting back up.
	Combat Shotgun	12 Gauge Shells	8 Shells	60 Brute with slugs 10 Brute + Knockdown with beanbag Nothing with blank Stuns target with stun 5 Toxin with dart	The highest ammo capacity of any shotgun. Best of all, you can load shells in a sequence, for example - Beanbag, Slug, Beanbag, Slug etc., for more effective combat. Found in ballistic crates and from Summon guns.
	Desert Eagle	.50	7 Rounds	60 Brute	Comes in three tasteful variants. Normal, gold and camo gold. Used to be possessed by Nuclear Agents, but is now Summon guns exclusive. Hope for the gold gun.
	Double-Barrelled Shotgun	12 Gauge shells	2 Shells	60 Brute with slugs 10 Brute + Knockdown with beanbag Nothing with blank Stuns target with stun 5 Toxin with dart	Easiest shotgun to get, yet the rarest. Only one starts on the station and the Bartender likes to keep it in case of bar fights. A sawn-off shotgun will fit in your backpack.
	Energy Crossbow	Energy	6 Bolts (recharges by itself)	10 Toxin + stun	The syndicate's energy crossbow, small, silent and deadly. Cannot be used in recharging units. It's worth noting that the stun is shorter than the standard taser gun.
	Energy Gun	Energy	10 Lasers/Electrodes	20 Burn Stun	Perhaps the second best energy-based gun. Best thing is to taze once then either handcuff (for arresting) or spam the other 9 shots at them on kill mode (for murder). Found in the armory, from energy weapon crates and from Summon guns.
	Gyrojet Pistol	.75	8 Rounds	74 Brute from direct hit 24 from a tile away 3x3 gib range on dead people explosion (-1, 0, 2)	Delivers an explosion with every shot, plus you can afford to be less accurate with it, as the explosion hits 3x3, so it's great against groups. Sadly it is Summon guns exclusive.
	Ion Rifle	Energy	10 Ion Pulses	20 Brute to silicon mobs nothing to any others 3x3 EMP	Large and unwieldly, not really that great. Its greatest use is dicking around with the electrics around the station. Cyborgs are weak to it: flashing cyborgs totally immobilises them and it leaves you free to robust them to your heart's content. Found on the Nuclear Agent's shuttle.
	L6 SAW	.762	50 Rounds	60 Brute	Holds the most ammo of any gun, 50 shots dealing 60 brute damage each, two good shots on someone and they're down. Shame it's nuke ops and summon guns only.
	Laser Cannon	Energy	10 Lasers	40 Burn	Must be researched first. This is the Laser Gun's bigger brother, fear him, he will fuck you over.
	Laser Gun	Energy	10 Lasers	20 Burn	Found in the armory, weapons crates and from summon guns. No real reason to use it over the energy gun as it is lethal ONLY.
	Mateba	.357	7 Rounds	60 Brute	All in all the syndicate revolver, but for death squad officers. Also from Summon guns.
	Revolver	.357	7 Rounds	60 Brute	Available to all Syndicate agents, or from Summon guns. Security (or generally anyone) will be quick to scream 'TRAITOR!' if they see you with one.
	Revolver	.38	6 Rounds	10 Brute + Knockdown	Starts in the Detective's locker or from Summon guns. Knocks down targets, causing some minor damage. Can be modified to fire .357, but may break with the modification.
	Rapid Syringe Gun	Syringes	4 Syringes	Depends on contents of syringe	See the syringe gun, but take into account it holds four syringes. Can be made through researching them, and only costs metal to make. This gun gives you the power to fuck over four people at once!
	Retro Laser	Energy	10 Lasers	20 Burn	Found on the white ship, this old beast is like the laser gun; anyone with a space suit and a little know-how can reach it.
	Submachine Gun	9mm	18 Shells	25 Brute	An expensive gun to make, but one of the few actual guns used by Nanotrasen that aren't shotguns. Researched from R&D.
	Shotgun	12 Gauge shells	4 Shells	60 Brute with slugs 10 Brute + Knockdown with beanbag Nothing with blank Stuns target with stun 5 Toxin with dart	A rare shotgun, also somewhat worse than the double barrelled, as it needs pumping every time and only holds 2 extra shells.
	Stetchkin Pistol	10mm	8 rounds	25 Brute	The nuke op's weapon of choice, unless they spend telecrystals on something better.
	Syringe Gun	Syringes	1 Syringe	Depends on contents of syringe	In fact, this is very robust. Think of it as a ranged hypospray. Two are found in Medbay.
	Taser	Energy	5 Electrodes	Stun target	Found in security and in weapon crates. If you're trying to kill someone, stun, then beat the living daylights out of them. Also found from summon guns.
	Temperature Gun	Energy	5 Freeze Beams	Heats/Cools target dependant upon the setting.	Another researched gun, if you can make this (more importantly, open that damn lockbox), chances are you can construct something better (read:laser cannon).
	X-Ray Gun	Energy	20 Lasers	15 Burn + 30 Irradiate	This beams from this gun will pass through everything but a wall. While it does do less burn damage, the radiation it inflicts causes toxin damage and can make someone mutate. Great for shooting up crowded hallways.
	Projectile Gun	10mm	???	???	Now comes in flavors like GUN. Uses 10mm ammo, for some reason.
	Chem Sprayer	Chemicals	600 units	Depends on the chemical	A utility used to spray large amounts of reagents in a given area.
	Uzi	.45	???	???	A lightweight, fast firing gun, for when you want someone dead. Uses .45 rounds.
	Tommy Gun	9mm	???	???	A genuine Chicago Typewriter.
	Russian Revolver	.357	???	???	A Russian made revolver. Uses .357 ammo. It has a single slot in its chamber for a bullet. A gun to play Russian Roulette! You can spin the chamber to randomize the position of the bullet.
	Silenced Pistol	.45	???	???	A small, quiet, easily concealable gun. Uses .45 rounds."

Defense

To be good at combat, you must be able to survive an encounter with anything; Nuclear Operatives, Wizards, Assistants and such. While some may say that the best defense is a robust offense (which can be true in some cases), knowing how to protect yourself is a vital skill needed to be robust.

Stuns and Incapacitation

Having the ability to stun at a moment's notice will protect you from getting robusted quite often (as long as you don't get stunned first).

Three kinds of stuns

Humans can get stunned in three different ways. The most common one is 'Weaken'. It causes you to fall and makes you unable to do anything except talking. 'Stun' is all the same, except you don't fall down. Paralysis knocks you out completely, you can't even talk or hear what's happening.

You can also be sleeping, which is the same as paralysis, but caused and treated by different things.

Icon	Item	How to acquire	Type of stun	Notes
	Stun Baton	Security	Weaken	Not being security, and having this out, is likely to land you in the brig.
	Flash	Security, Heads, Bridge, Sec Checkpoint, Tech Storage	Weaken	Cyborgs are vulnerable to this method of stunning. Eye protection, such as sunglasses or welding helmets prevents you from being stunned this way.
	Taser	Security	Weaken	A ranged stun, which sets Sec apart from everyone else. Has five charges.
	Energy Gun	Captain, HoS, HoP, Armory	Weaken	Like a Taser, but with more charges, and the option to kill, if needed. HoS is the only person on station to start with one at round start.
	Disarm Intent	Have arms	Weaken	You have a chance to disarm (make someone drop their weapon) or push someone down when attacking with the disarm intent. Someone pushed down will also drop their weapon. Very brief.
	Chloral Hydrate	Chemistry	Sleep	Typically used with a syringe gun, Hypospray, or Smoke Grenade. This puts anyone to sleep for an extended period of time. Large doses can kill someone (30+ units).
	Flashbang	Security	Weaken	Very good for stunning a whole room. Not wearing ear protection will make you deaf for awhile.
	Laser Pointer	Lawyer, Librarian, Research Director	Weaken on cyborgs, blinds humans	Has a chance of blinding people and cyborgs, like a Flash; a fully upgraded laser pointer has a 100% chance.
	Knockout	Have arms	Weaken	When you hit someone in the head/mouth, there's a fairly low chance for them to be knocked out.
	Disabler	Through Disabler Crate from Cargo.	Stamina damage	A self defense weapon that exhausts targets, weakening them until they collapse. Non-lethal.
	Stun Revolver	Through research	Weaken	A high-tech revolver that fires stun cartridges. The stun cartridges can be recharged using a conventional energy weapon recharger. Taser with 8 charges.

Icon	Counter	How to acquire	Type of stun	Notes
	Hulk	Genetics or Virology	Any	Hulks don't get stunned and don't fall ever. Even space lube doesn't make them fall, though they do slip.
	Eye protection	Cargo and Engineering for welding helmets, Security for sunglasses.	Flashes	Doesn't do anything with the stun itself; rather, it protects you from flashing

Damage Prevention

A few items, when used, can completely block damage.

Icon	Item	How to acquire	Protection	Notes
	Riot Shield	Armory	Blocks melee and projectile attacks to the chest.	Note that attacks aimed at other parts of the body (commonly the head) may miss, and have a chance of hitting another part instead, usually your chest.
	Energy Combat Shield	Nuke ops	Blocks most melee and ranged projectiles	This will also block Tasers, making Nuclear Operatives very hard to kill, unless they're surrounded.
	Reactive Teleport Armor	Research Director's Office	Teleports you randomly if you're hit.	It could end badly if you get spaced due to this, but it'll still improve your odds of surviving.
	Energy Sword	Syndicate Uplinks	Blocks most projectiles	Needs to be turned on to work. You're still vulnerable to melee attacks with this.

Armor

Armor is a great passive way to keep you from getting hurt too badly in a fight. Some jobs will have difficulty acquiring armor. Some armor, like hardsuits, will slow you, as well.

Armor will reduce all damage of a certain type, on parts of your body that are protected by the armor. You will see "Your armor has protected your X." when your armor blocks damage. "Your armor absorbs the blow!" appears to also indicate full protection. The defense values are indicated by an armor's percent protection from different damage types, for example basic Armor has a melee protection rate of 50, as such it will always block 50% of all melee damage to the chest.

Armor only protects the region that it covers on your body. No armor protects your entire body.

Icon	Item	How to acquire	Protection	Defense values %	Notes
	Captain's Armor	Captain's Quarters	Offers moderate protection from most sources.	melee = 65 bullet = 50 laser = 50 energy = 25 bomb = 50 bio = 100 rad = 50	The Captain will usually wear this. It's also space-worthy, but it will slow you down. Wearing this while not the Captain is a good way to get robusted.
	Engineering Hardsuit	Engineering	Gives low protection from melee attacks and explosions.	melee = 10 bullet = 5 laser = 10 energy = 5 bomb = 10 bio = 100 rad = 75	See here for information on the different styles.
	Atmospherics Hardsuit	Atmospherics	Identical to normal RIG however it is one of the only items that grants complete protection from Fire at the cost of no Radiation protection.	melee = 10 bullet = 5 laser = 10 energy = 5 bomb = 10 bio = 100	See here for information on the different styles.
	Mining Hardsuit	Mining	Gives quite good protection from melee attacks and explosions.	melee = 40 bullet = 5 laser = 10 energy = 5 bomb = 50 bio = 100 rad = 50	See here for information on the different styles.
	CE Hardsuit	Chief Engineer	Gives good protection from melee attacks, near complete Radiation protection and complete protection against Fire.	melee = 40 bullet = 5 laser = 10 energy = 5 bomb = 50 bio = 100 rad = 90	See here for information on the different styles.
	Security Hardsuit	E.V.A.	Gives slightly increased protection against all damage sources.	melee = 30 bullet = 15 laser = 30 energy = 10 bomb = 10 bio = 100 rad = 50	See here for information on the different styles.
	Ablative Armor Vest	Armory	Gvives excellent protection against Laser and Energy attack's and can even deflect them.	melee = 10 bullet = 10 laser = 80 energy = 50	It will sometimes deflect energy projectiles, which includes Taser shots! It's also a traitor objective.
	Bulletproof Vest	Armory	Makes the wearer very resilient to bullets at the cost of any other damage.	melee = 10 bullet = 80 laser = 10 energy = 10	Rarely used, because lasers are the main weapon of choice for those who can get them.
	Body Armor	Captain, HoS, HoP, Security	Protects moderately against melee and lasers, which are common things to be harmed by.	melee = 50 bullet = 15 laser = 50 energy = 10 bomb = 25	Captain usually will usually wear his space armor instead. Also sometimes found on Ian.
	Riot Suit	Armory	This, combined with the riot shield, will make you be the nightmare of fire extinguisher -wielding assistants everywhere. Gives complete protection to the entire body.	melee = 80 bullet = 10 laser = 10 energy = 10	It's very resistant to melee attacks, BUT it's less protective against lasers than standard armor. Slows you down slightly
	Armored Coat	HoS	The most protective armor available on the station, and the HoS starts with it. Gives complete protection to most of the body.	melee = 65 bullet = 30 laser = 50 energy = 10 bomb = 25	Wear this as your rightful trophy if you manage to outrobust him.
	Bomb Suit	Toxins Lab, Armory	Protects you from bombs. Even if a bomb manages to kill you, your body will not be gibbed and you can be cloned.	melee = 40 laser = 20 energy = 10 bomb = 100	A suit designed for safety when handling explosives.