What do the round brackets mean on my unit's offense value in Alpha Centauri?
I'm about to build an Impact Skimship at one of my bases. Its values are listed as "(4)-2-4". Why is the offense value in round brackets?
Round brackets denote Heavy Artillery ability.
From AC Wiki:
| Name | Designation (with example) |
Cost | Prerequisite | Restrictions | Effect | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Artillery | Adds round brackets around offense number. (8)-?-2*2 |
Armor rating + chassis rating. | Polymorphic Software | Only allowed¹ for combat land units. | Allows the unit to engage in #artillery bombardment. Prevents the unit from attacking conventionally. | The unit still defends on its armor rating which is usually low. |
You may also be interested to check the linked page as it describes other abilities like "<4>"-alike defense rating, "2~"-alike attack rating, "2*2"-alike move rating, and more. If you are an avid player in SMAC/SMAX, the entire site is worth reading.
¹) the article says that this ability is "Only allowed for combat land units", which means it can only be added to land units. Naval combat units have the intrinsic ability to conduct bombardment and therefore their attack rating always indicates to show this ability, e.g. (4)-2-4 for Skimship.