Poltergeist Missile
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Overview[edit]
The Poltergeist is a Terran light/medium swarm missile designed for use by and against fighters. With speed and power, it is quite effective at what it does. It is a poor choice against scout craft which can easily outrun it (though if it hits one it will easily destroy or nearly destroy an M5), and does acceptable damage to M3s. It is optimally used against M4 class craft, against which it strikes a good balance of firepower, homing, and speed. It lacks the firepower to be effective in other roles, however.
Its ability to seek new targets if its intended one is destroyed makes it useful when launched into groups of enemy craft. The Poltergeist is essentially the Terran equivalent of the Wasp Missile, with slightly higher damage, but worse speed and the fact that it has the shortest range out of any missile.
Encyclopedia Entry[edit]
Poltergeist, a missile that can be used by most USC ships, fires in swarms and acquires targets automatically.
Commentary[edit]
A single Poltergeist swarm will knock out a scout and most interceptors, and two will usually destroy anything short of a heavy fighter. However, the Poltergeist cannot effectively pursue scout craft because they generally have much too high speeds to prevent them from being targeted. Since each munition only takes up 2 cargo units, it is not a huge drain on a ship's luggage capacity. The weapon is, however, quite difficult to source. Because of its terribly short range, the Poltergeist must be launched at relatively close quarters (around 5 km or lower) to be used effectively in combat lest the warheads run out of fuel and become wasted. The missile has target re-acquiring ability, which is useful for intercepting missile spam.
