Hatch Breaking Now Works With Shields Up?

[Johnny Cyclops]

I've been interdicted twice now since 2.4 by NPC pirates, and while my shields are still up I've seen a screen warning about limpets and the next thing I know my cargo hatch is broken and I'm spilling out cargo for the pirates.

There seems to be no defence against this. Yes, I can shoot the pirates (which is what I am doing!) but they seem to be able to plunder my cargo hold. I thought while my shields remained up (even if damaged) my cargo is secure.

I thought hatch breakers only worked on unshielded cargo hatches. Is this now changed in 2.4?

 

[DukeIronHand]

Haven't Hatchbreakers always worked through shields?
And PD's reportedly take care of pesky limpets IIRC.

 

[Gunnet]

Hatch breakers were changed to ignore shields in a previous major update. 2.2 I think?

NPCs using hatch breakers is new to me though. Don't think I've ever encountered it, even in 2.4.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

Haven't Hatchbreakers always worked through shields?
And PD's reportedly take care of pesky limpets IIRC.

Not always... But have for a fair few months now.

Hatch breakers were changed to ignore shields in a previous major update. 2.2 I think?

NPCs using hatch breakers is new to me though. Don't think I've ever encountered it, even in 2.4.

I get NPC's using them all time.

 

[Kaltern]

And I always thought this mechanic was absolutely pointless, and nonsensical. Pirates should EARN the right to crack open my cargo hold, not just send a few limpets over and just hang around while they do their job. Ridiculous change IMO.

 

[Red Anders]

Hatch breakers were changed to ignore shields in a previous major update. 2.2 I think?

NPCs using hatch breakers is new to me though. Don't think I've ever encountered it, even in 2.4.

If I recall correctly they stopped them for a while but they used to spam them for fun in res sites ages ago, used to drive me insane.

 

[CMDR Corlas]

I always feel the need to cover the cargo hatch on my transport ships with a couple of point defense turrets because of this. Although NPCs have only ever tried to hatch break my combat ships. >_<

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Why our hatches don't have a nice, old fashioned mechanical locking system, like used in a bank vault, to prevent them from opening when unpowered is something of a mystery to me. Design flaw if you ask me.

 

[Humannoyed]

Yarp. A few days ago during a landing procedure it happened to me also. Inside a station. Got fines for littering [big grin] - seriously.
Got interdicted halfway to station - submitted, boosted away, carried on my SC to station, dropped out of SC for landing, bad guy NPC showed up out of the blue also, I thought "I don't care, I'm inside in a few seconds" and proceeded with my landing. Was almost inside when I got the cargo thingie-malfunction announcements, followed up by messages from the bad guy npc ("thanks for the cargo") and the station security about littering.

Pretty funny.

 

[Bortas]

And I always thought this mechanic was absolutely pointless, and nonsensical. Pirates should EARN the right to crack open my cargo hold, not just send a few limpets over and just hang around while they do their job. Ridiculous change IMO.

You obviously never played as a pirate. Submitting and high waking takes 20 seconds (5 secs cooldown, 15 seconds charging). Stripping another players shields, and applying hatch breakers in this time window is virtually impossible.

So the options were to either drastically increase the fsd cooldown or to make hatch breakers able to penetrate shields.

 

[IMaelstrom]

Yes. Hatchbreakers ignore shields. They have for some time. I practice pirating goods from players and it works well.
That's cool npc can do it now. Although I'm not sure I care for the competition.
Defense turrets do the trick. The bigger HB you got the more limpets get sent at once. So you'll need more DTs than you'll want to carry.
So. Being a pirate myself. I suggest not caring any turrets at all.

 

[Nugstar]

They sure do... https://youtu.be/NN8gC0muvZw

 

[Vardaugas]

The very first low temperature diamond I ever got was stolen from me by an npc pirate with a hatch breaker. I was so mad.

Working as intended, I guess.

 

[FrogsFriend]

A well positioned Point Defence or an ECM will put a stop to their shenanigans.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

All my cargo carrying ships have a pair of PDs umnear the cargo hatch to prevent hatch breakers.

It's working as intended, and we have the tools to deal with it.

I'm glad the pirates will try and take my cargo, rather than just try and blow up my ship and cargo along with it. Lol

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

 

[Johnny Cyclops]

The reason I raise it is I've only noticed it now in 2.4. I typically have Point Defence on most/all ships, to deal with missiles. I never realised PD also dealt with Hatch Breaker limpets. I need to log in the game and see if I've got a PD on the current AspX config.

I've seen my hatch taken out rarely when my shields are down, but not when they are still up. Does this feature now work for PvNPC and PvP piracy - i.e. can break the hatch without needing to take shields down first?

EDIT - I checked, and do have a PD unit on the AspX. So not sure how the limpets got past that and the shields. For those saying place the PD near the hatch... just exactly how do I know where that is? I've never really thought about it. I assume it's near the front, under the cockpit, for when scooping up cargo canisters. It's not underneath, as that's typically where the SRV access hatch is.

 

[sidereal6]

You obviously never played as a pirate. Submitting and high waking takes 20 seconds (5 secs cooldown, 15 seconds charging). Stripping another players shields, and applying hatch breakers in this time window is virtually impossible.

So the options were to either drastically increase the fsd cooldown or to make hatch breakers able to penetrate shields.

Something needs to change, but I can't figure out what. If they make cooldown times any longer, then even fewer people will play in open, because they'll be killed by griefers even more often. But if they makes weapons less powerful, combat (against NPCs) wont be any fun.

 

[Vlad Tepes]

EDIT - I checked, and do have a PD unit on the AspX. So not sure how the limpets got past that and the shields. For those saying place the PD near the hatch... just exactly how do I know where that is? I've never really thought about it. I assume it's near the front, under the cockpit, for when scooping up cargo canisters. It's not underneath, as that's typically where the SRV access hatch is.

When in outfitting you clearly see where you equip your PD.

Although the Aspx does not have utilities placed for hatch protection like cargo ships have.
If I understand you have the PD directed near the front, try one of the utilities on the back they can shoot behind you and that's where the pirate should be.
The last thing you have to do is pay attention when the game warns you an hatch breaker is on it's way, and orient the ship while escaping to help the PD have a good shot.

 

[Johnny Cyclops]

When in outfitting you clearly see where you equip your PD.

Although the Aspx does not have utilities placed for hatch protection like cargo ships have.
If I understand you have the PD directed near the front, try one of the utilities on the back they can shoot behind you and that's where the pirate should be.
The last thing you have to do is pay attention when the game warns you an hatch breaker is on it's way, and orient the ship while escaping to help the PD have a good shot.

Many thanks. When adding Utilities like PD, Chaff, etc. I never even bothered to think placement might affect performance. I thought they were just generic use, and the placement points in outfitting was only for visual purposes. It's a bit like I've never seen the cargo scoop that must exist right under the feet of the CMDR cockpit on all ships