the theory of thrusters
- Thread starter hoppingdeth
- Start date
Good call! Thanks mate!
The difference in speed is marginal. With a 5A I was doing 220 at top speed. With my 5Ds I think I'm just under 200 (not sure). 20 m/s isn't going to make or break my getting anywhere. Also, the Cobra isn't (merely) "reasonably speedy" it's one of the fastest ships in the game.
I tried working on this too and found similar implications as the study that Midian linked. It seems that each ship has a unique speed range that the pips correspond to and that thrust to mass ratios can be accounted for, but I have yet to see either fully accounted for. I built a formula that handled the Asp pretty well (+/- 5 to 10 m/s from actual), but it flopped horribly for all other ship types. I would love to see this solved and potentially offered up to the builder folks at ED Shipyard and the new one, Coriolis.
Depends what you're doing. I just downgraded to 4C thrusters in the Vulture for RES bounty farming. Works well enough and allows me to have an A0 Shield Booster, KWS and A rated sensors. Good enough for me. 
Tested several thrusters a few updates ago but I don't think things have changed much, on an Eagle each thruster grade adds approximately 3 - 4% extra speed and 3-4% better agility.
TBH apart from the obvious small increases in max speed for each grade the agility improvements are hard to discern going from D to A (around 10% better) is just about noticeable and on a Vulture I think the difference may even be less than this.
TBH apart from the obvious small increases in max speed for each grade the agility improvements are hard to discern going from D to A (around 10% better) is just about noticeable and on a Vulture I think the difference may even be less than this.
Theories about 1/2 optimal mass sound good, but...
Thought about using 5C thrusters instead of 5A on vulture, they have 700T optimal mass, so i need to have less than 350T to fit those rule.
Testing ended fast enough, with 5A top speed with 4 pips to engines without boost is 244, with 5C - 231. That was enough to prove that there is difference, replaced back to 5A immediately.
Vulture is all about agility, and with low base speed it need every bit of speed it can get.
Also... underclassed D-grade thrusters are for traders and explorers, using them on combat ship where every bit of speed/maneuverability matters is just strange...
Thought about using 5C thrusters instead of 5A on vulture, they have 700T optimal mass, so i need to have less than 350T to fit those rule.
Testing ended fast enough, with 5A top speed with 4 pips to engines without boost is 244, with 5C - 231. That was enough to prove that there is difference, replaced back to 5A immediately.
Vulture is all about agility, and with low base speed it need every bit of speed it can get.
Also... underclassed D-grade thrusters are for traders and explorers, using them on combat ship where every bit of speed/maneuverability matters is just strange...
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5A Thrusters, don't know the cruise speed, but I boost to 390.
Edit: also, having no pips in engines barely impacts max speed when compared to 4 pips in engines.
edit2: any vulture pilot that is below 100% power use when weapons are deployed and all is active is doing it wrong xD.
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You can't get peak performance out of a ship without the best thrusters it can mount and keeping mass at or below half optimal for those thrusters.
Personally, I wouldn't dream of flying a Vulture into combat against other CMDRs without 5A thrusters.
394 boost on my combat Vulture.
Half optimal gives you the best speed possible...for that class and rating of thruster. You still need the best thrusters you can mount for best possible thruster performance.
Personally, I wouldn't dream of flying a Vulture into combat against other CMDRs without 5A thrusters.
394 boost on my combat Vulture.
Half optimal gives you the best speed possible...for that class and rating of thruster. You still need the best thrusters you can mount for best possible thruster performance.
What is "thruster performance"? Honest question. If maneuverability and better speeds come from a higher thrust to mass ratio, up to the cap of 2x thrust, then what other performance can improve? Acceleration? I have not seen anything that better grade modules could account for that doesn't have a higher thrust to mass ratio already.
Forward, reverse, vertical, and lateral speed. Peak boost speed. These will be higher with a 5A thruster even if you are at half the optimal mass of a 5C thruster.
A sub-350 ton Vulture is ~10% faster in every movement axis with a 5A thruster compared to a 5C, yet removing more weight does nothing to make it faster with either (adding weight will reduce speed with the 5C, but not 5A).
Just picked up a Vulture (Mostly A / 5B thruster) flew it a bit last night and today. It may not have the highest boost but it refills Engine so quickly and the distribution pockets are so deep you can keep boost pretty consistent. That's where I think the higher grade thrusters would make the difference too.
What I do know is that the Vulture with 5Bs stops on a dime which makes it a king at throwing it in reverse in combat. This can be particularly effective when you're already at an advantage due to maneuverability, blind spots and size. Do improved thrusters compare to a lower class when nearing objects in SC and do the higher class thrusters affect Interdictions or is that limited to FSD size/class?
What I do know is that the Vulture with 5Bs stops on a dime which makes it a king at throwing it in reverse in combat. This can be particularly effective when you're already at an advantage due to maneuverability, blind spots and size. Do improved thrusters compare to a lower class when nearing objects in SC and do the higher class thrusters affect Interdictions or is that limited to FSD size/class?
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I don't think anything affects this.
If anything it would be the FSD. Thrusters are only used in normal space.
I know that's the official line, but ill tell you what. I've been doing a lot of exploring in my Orca and its turn rate with D thrusters under FSD is pretty poor. But in 1.3 beta i fitted out for combat with A thrusters, and its manouverability under FSD was waaaay better. Either something has changed with the Orca in 1.3 (which i'm not aware of, and i do like to look for Orca related info in patch notes) or else it does make a difference... or, just possible, i'm imagining things.
with 5A thrusters and 4 pips i get 240ish and boosting 380ish
im not quite sure but the numbers should be right at +- 5
It has been tested that rank (not sure about class though) does not affect the amount of energy, from the ENG capacitor, required to boost. If you feel a difference, it's either placebo or you may have upgraded your power distributor with now a recharge rate faster than before.
Short story on my thought about rank A thrusters:
if you need highest boost speed, go for it; otherwise, rank D is fine.
Long story:
It was also tested (on a Vulture) that, in the middle of the blue zone, a 5A vs 5D gives only 0.5s improvement for a 360 turn. While it allows to fly faster within the blue zone, you actually end up with less sharp turn since the blue zone is now higher...
I personally would not invest credits and energy use to increase maneuverability by such a small amount.
However, boost speed is another story and, if you plan on escaping or outrunning your opponents, then a gain of 50m/s is worth every pennies.
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Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. I had this very question after spending some time on Coriolis last night. I noticed that the top speed and boost do not change no matter what size thruster you put into a vulture, so I wondered whether it was a bug or if it didn't matter.
Now considering whether to stick with a 5E at 99.68% power, or to go crazy and get a 5B for the double optimal weight benefits.
http://coriolis.io/outfit/vulture/04A5D4C3C5A4E3C141404000l-4e5d010068
Now considering whether to stick with a 5E at 99.68% power, or to go crazy and get a 5B for the double optimal weight benefits.
http://coriolis.io/outfit/vulture/04A5D4C3C5A4E3C141404000l-4e5d010068