Weapon Absorption is a gameplay mechanic introduced in Wipeout Pure. This is a fundamental piloting technique which allows pilots to restore their ships' shield energy after dropping weapons.
Introduction[]
Before Pure, pilots could only recover their ships by getting through the pitlane. This process, in itself, was very tedious, especially with some tracks featuring a pitlane that was very difficult to enter. In addition, pilots had only one chance for each lap to enter the pitlane, making an elimination a much more likely occurence.
Because of this, Pure introduced a new shield energy recovery technique that in turn eliminated the necessity of the pitlanes. While in possession of a weapon, the Absorb function can be used to discard the weapon and convert it into energy, which will then be stored in the ship's shielding system. During the absorption, electrical energy can be seen surging around the ship as the shield is being recovered.
With this new ability, pilots have a better chance of survival in races as they are provided with a more active means of shield energy recovery, which will come in handy in the most violent of races, where critical energy shield levels are commonplace. As a result, keeping the ship in one piece all the time becomes much easier than before.
Utility in Other Race Modes[]
In Eliminator, starting from Wipeout Pulse, absorbing a weapon does not restore shield energy, but instead activates a temporary Shield for a short amount of time. In Wipeout 2048's Combat mode, absorbing a weapon has the same functionality as in other race modes, but this only applies to Single-Player Combat.
In Zone Battle, pilots are required to first build up energy from speed pads to enable the Absorb function. While the ship's shield energy is being recovered when the Absorb function is triggered, the ship will also be shielded for a few seconds, allowing it to pass through Zone Barriers unharmed.
Energy Values[]
Each weapon and item has a varied amount of shield energy value when absorbed. More often than not, the more powerful or useful ones tend to have higher values. Below is the list of shield energy values for each weapon in Wipeout HD in ascending order.
| Weapon | Value |
|---|---|
| Leech Beam | 10 |
| Autopilot | 20 |
| Cannon | 20* |
| Mines | 20 |
| Rockets | 20 |
| Bomb | 25 |
| Shield | 25 |
| Turbo | 25 |
| Missile | 30 |
| Plasma | 40 |
| Quake | 40 |
*At full clip
Trivia[]
- Canonically, the ability to absorb weapons for the purpose of restoring shield energy was first seen in the AGRC. It was unknown as to why this ability has since been banned by race regulations until its reintroduction in the FX300 League.
- In Pure, whilst shielded, absorbing a weapon will cause the electrical energy to glow around the Shield's force field.
- There are two Prototype ships in Wipeout 2048 with a unique take on the Absorpion mechanic.
- The AG Systems Prototype tends to absorb more energy than all other ships in the game to make up for its weak shielding.
- The Auricom Prototype trades away the ability to absorb weapons for an automatic shield regeneration system that allows it to restore its own shield energy overtime.