The Azimuth is the closest thing Barotrauma has to a high-speed sports car, provided that sports car was built by a committee of retired Coalition officers who valued "aesthetic silhouettes" over "not being eaten by a Hammerhead." It is a Tier 2 Scout submarine designed for crews who believe that armor plating is just a suggestion and that the best way to deal with a Thresher swarm is to be five kilometers away before they realize you were ever there. While its lack of a medical fabricator suggests the designers expected you to either never get hit or die instantly (saving on insurance premiums), its sheer velocity makes it an absolute joy for captains who have a "need for speed" and a "complete disregard for the structural integrity of the ballast."
1. The "Speedrunner" Maneuver:
Use your superior engine force to simply outrun anything larger than a crawler. If a creature can’t maintain a lock on your hull, it technically isn't a threat under the "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" maritime statute. Speed is your primary armor, so never sit still long enough for a Moloch to serve you with a summons for trespassing.2. The Silent Treatment:
The "Silent Run" mode is your best friend when navigating past sleeping Charybdis or aggressive mudraptors. Activating this toggle dims the lights and caps your engine output, which significantly reduces your acoustic signature to avoid detection. It’s also an excellent way to pretend the sub is "closed for business" when the crew starts asking about their hazard pay.3. Glass Bottom Liability:
The reinforced glass flooring in the ballast tanks allows you to spot Ballast Flora before it takes root in your pumps. However, this transparency is a double-edged sword, as it provides a front-row seat to the Horrors of the Deep watching you brush your teeth. Legally speaking, looking into the Abyss is fine, but the Abyss looking back constitutes a breach of privacy we aren't equipped to litigate.4. The "No Doctor" Diet:
Because this ship lacks a medical fabricator, every minor scrape should be treated as a potentially fatal workplace injury. You must stock up on Morphine and Saline at every outpost like a squirrel hoarding nuts for a nuclear winter. Failure to maintain a manual pharmacy is considered "gross negligence," though your estate will likely be too busy sinking to sue.5. Depth Charge Double-Dip:
The Azimuth is uniquely equipped with two depth charge tubes for maximum tactical flexibility. Drop a decoy to lure the swarm into a tight cluster, then follow up with a nuclear charge to effectively "evict" them from the coordinate plane. This one-two punch is the only way to ensure your legal opposition is vaporized before they can file a counter-claim.6. Drift Like a Pro:
The Azimuth has incredible horizontal momentum that can lead to embarrassing "parking accidents" if you aren't careful. Practice controlling your thrust and keeping safe the hull simultaneously to perform a high-speed drift around ice spires. Mastering this maneuver ensures you look cool while fleeing, which is the most important part of any captain’s job description.7. Mind the Blind Spots:
The top docking hatch and the rear engine assembly are notorious blind spots for your turret coverage. You should encourage your security officers to maintain a constant "Vigilance Rotation," or at least leave a loaded shotgun near the airlock. Any intruder entering through these zones is technically a "surprise guest," and guests are not covered by the ship’s life insurance policy.8. Battery Buffering:
Your engine draws massive amounts of power during high-speed transit, which can cause the junction boxes to scream in agony. Wire your battery array to supplement the reactor during these spikes to prevent a total brownout. A dark ship is a scary ship, and a scary ship leads to "unauthorized emotional outbursts" from the engineering crew.9. Cargo Tetris:
The cargo hold on the Azimuth is famously compact, necessitating a very organized approach to looting. If a crate doesn't fit in the designated racks, it is officially classified as "excess baggage" and should be left for the local fauna. We recommend filing a "Lost at Sea" report for any high-value items you accidentally eject during a panic.10. Camera Discipline:
Utilize the exterior cameras to scout ahead before committing the ship to a narrow cavern. It is much cheaper to replace a digital sensor than it is to replace the front half of the submarine after a head-on collision with a ruin. Think of the cameras as your "legal eyes," documenting why exactly the mission went sideways.11. Upgrade the Turrets:
The default coilguns are fine for minor pests, but you should upgrade to Pulse Lasers as soon as your budget allows. Having high-tier weaponry turns your "scout" submarine into a "rapid response strike craft," which sounds much better during a performance review. Just remember that more power means more "spicy air" coming from your junction boxes.12. Diving Team Coordination:
Because the Azimuth accelerates so quickly, your divers need to be tethered or very fast. Leaving a crewman behind in the Abyss is technically "abandonment of assets," which is a paperwork nightmare. Make sure everyone is inside the airlock before you floor the accelerator, or prepare to hire a very expensive lawyer.13. Stealth Is Wealth:
Use the directional sonar ping to scan for resources without alerting every monster in the sector. Blasting a full-circle active sonar is the maritime equivalent of firing a flare in a dark alleyway. If you get eaten while the sonar is on, the "Contributory Negligence" clause will prevent your family from collecting a payout.14. The Exit Strategy:
Always park the ship with the nose facing the most likely escape route. The Azimuth's strength is its ability to reach top speed in seconds, allowing you to leave your problems behind at 30 knots. If you have to reverse to escape, you’ve already failed the "Common Sense and Survival Act."15. The "Wait, Where's the Hull?" Rule:
Your hull is remarkably thin compared to Tier 2 and Tier 3 submarines, making it susceptible to "rapid unplanned disassembly." Avoid using the submarine as a battering ram, even if the target looks particularly soft. Any dents in the hull are officially recorded as "custom aerodynamic venting" to avoid insurance premium hikes.Azimuth Trivia:
Lore: The Azimuth is canonically marketed as a "luxury submarine" for retired Coalition high-ranking officers. This explains why it has beautiful lines and a sleek interior, but lacks a way to manufacture basic antibiotics, the designers assumed you’d be too rich to get sick.
Speed Demon: It holds the record for the highest base horizontal speed of any vanilla submarine in the game, capable of reaching over 34 km/h (and much more with performance upgrades).
The "Window" Mystery: Despite being a deep-sea submarine designed for crushing pressures, it features more aesthetic glass than a high-end greenhouse.
Class Struggle: It is one of the few ships that straddles the line between "Early Game" and "Mid-Game," often referred to by the community as the "Poor Man's Winterhalter" due to its similar scout-style layout.
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