FSD: mass vs optimum mass

[AlexAndTheDJ]

I'm new to engineering and I currently jump 41ly in my aspX - just rolled a FSD which would lower its mass by8%(shown as blue) but optimised mass would go down 8%.(shown as red)

Which is more important for longer jump range? Don't want to apply this if it will reduce my jump range. Its a little confusing.

 

[Vin Cross]

I believe what it means is that the mass of the module itself will be reduced, but your optimized mass (of the entire ship) will be lower, resulting in higher fuel consumption. I think the range difference might be negligible, but the lighter module should result in a slightly more maneuverable ship.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[SheepDip82]

I thought red things were bad, blue things were good? (on default HUD).

For a FSD upgrade, you want optimised mass to be in the blue. A bit like this. If your optimised mass is red, that means it's a worse roll(?)

 

[StiTch]

Every module that relies on mass in some form has an optimised mass, which is supposedly the mass it performs best at. Technically speaking it's normally the mass that provides the "reference" result.

As an example, thrusters have an optimum mass. If your ship reaches the optimum mass of them thrusters, you will get the "reference" ship speed you see under the ship stats when you look it up- so 180 m/s for a conda etc.

By changing the optimum mass, you're technically saying the FSD can do the same range when you're at a higher mass. What this translates to in easy talk is that your FSD can do better range at whatever mass you're at, because it's designed to work with higher masses.

Optimised mass rules the roost. Pure and simple. Mass changes to your FSD range won't touch your jump range or agility much. Your optimised mass will.

 

[Thetele]

For the fsd range the optimised mass is the most important stat. If it get lower you will lose range. Only roll increase fsd range blueprints as that is only one that increase optimised mass stat and is only way to increase your fsd range.

The mass decrease in fsd will never give you more than the loss on optimised mass stat. The ideal roll would be fsd range increase blueprint with as much increase in optimised mass stat as you can get and as less mass increase as possible.

 

[AlexAndTheDJ]

Every module that relies on mass in some form has an optimised mass, which is supposedly the mass it performs best at. Technically speaking it's normally the mass that provides the "reference" result.

As an example, thrusters have an optimum mass. If your ship reaches the optimum mass of them thrusters, you will get the "reference" ship speed you see under the ship stats when you look it up- so 180 m/s for a conda etc.

By changing the optimum mass, you're technically saying the FSD can do the same range when you're at a higher mass. What this translates to in easy talk is that your FSD can do better range at whatever mass you're at, because it's designed to work with higher masses.

Optimised mass rules the roost. Pure and simple. Mass changes to your FSD range won't touch your jump range or agility much. Your optimised mass will.

So largely ignore module mass and focus more on optimised mass for further jump range?

 

[StiTch]

So largely ignore module mass and focus more on optimised mass for further jump range?

Yup

A % change to mass isn't going to do much harm. On an asp, an 8% change is 1.6T, and makes about a 0.1 LY jump difference.

% changes to optimum mass roughly correlate to direct jump range change. So losing 8% optimised mass on a 41LY Asp is about a 3.28 LY drop.

 

[CMDR WRONGTURN]

I thought red things were bad, blue things were good? (on default HUD).

For a FSD upgrade, you want optimised mass to be in the blue. A bit like this. If your optimised mass is red, that means it's a worse roll(?)

Man thank you for that info. it helps alot. I just don't see why they can't simplify these things by a screen that says this is your range now---and this is your range if you apply the upgrade. Everyone is NOT a rocket scientist.. Also, I am TOTALY lost on knowing if I got a good roll on a engine upgrade. . I love this game but they could "dumb it down" for us simple folks. lol

 

[AlexAndTheDJ]

Thanks, CMDRS. Much obliged.

 

[Kimosabe_X]

And always keep in mind, if you already have an upgrade applied to your module, the differences shown are in comparison to the already updated module and not to the stock one.
Another slightly irritating side effect is "max. fuel per jump" - at least for me in the beginning... - the more fuel the FSD can use per jump the farer you're able to jump...

 

[SheepDip82]

Man thank you for that info. it helps alot. I just don't see why they can't simplify these things by a screen that says this is your range now---and this is your range if you apply the upgrade. Everyone is NOT a rocket scientist.. Also, I am TOTALY lost on knowing if I got a good roll on a engine upgrade. . I love this game but they could "dumb it down" for us simple folks. lol

Yeah there was already a thread about that, a straightforward "impact of upgrade" would go a long way to making it more approachable. When I went from G3 to G4 FSD, it got worse and I really had no idea what I was doing - my fault, I'm sure...