Question Regarding FSD Integrity, Malfunctions, and Neutron Star Jumping

Daniel Cloudsifter

Daniel Cloudsifter
I can't find a definitive answer anywhere, so I figured I'd create a post and ask.

Since Neutron Star jumping causes FSD damage, and FSDs - like all modules - can malfunction once below 80%, I have to ask:
  1. Can your frameshift drive malfunction due to damage taken from Neutron star scooping once the FSD integrity is below 80%?
  2. Can said malfuncion cause you to drop to normal space? Or does it merely cause a failure to jump when prompted and let you stay in supercruise?
I've never had an FSD get below 80% and then take more damage while in supercruise, so I'd really like to know if this will drop you into normal space. Until I hear otherwise, I will assume this is the case, and be vigilant in keeping my FSD above 80% with Neutron star jumping. Otherwise, a malfunction could cause me to exit supercruise while in the cone and... well, that rarely ends well.

Thanks to anyone who has had first had experience with this. If it turns out that the FSD damage won't cause me to fall out of supercruise, I can cut down on the FSD repair frequency during long exploration journeys... like DW2, which I just got back from last week.
 

marx

marx
I did some testing on this last year, see here:

So I hopped over to Jackson's Lighthouse to do some ‼Science‼. Here's what I found:

  • Only your FSD is damaged by the jet in supercruise, and it degrades continuously while you're inside.
  • The module's displayed health doesn't get updated frequently, so its actual health is probably lower than you think.
  • Malfunctions start at 79%, and (anecdotal "evidence" warning!) seem to get more frequent the lower the module health gets.
  • You only drop down from supercruise when the FSD reaches 0% module health and gets disabled. No random drop-outs before that. At least, it took me around 25-30 minutes (didn't time it, just looking at the logs) to go from 100% to 0%, and I only dropped when the FSD failed.
  • If you do drop down into the catastrophic environment of the cone, NPCs can spawn and follow you in there. Sadly, I couldn't check if they get damaged as well, because my sensors fried before I could get a full reading.
  • Even a 2A AFM will repair your FSD faster than the jet damages it. (Tested on an Imperial Courier, so six internal slots.)

So basically, as long as you don't hit the neutron star's exclusion zone, you should be mostly safe, unless you're really not paying attention.


Also, as noted by others later in that thread, if your power plant's integrity is under 80%, then random brown-outs might happen, dropping your power output to 40%. In that case, you'll want to make sure your thrusters and FSD are still powered, otherwise you could be unlucky enough to get dropped into the cone.
 
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Daniel Cloudsifter

Daniel Cloudsifter
marx said:
I did some testing on this last year, see here:

So I hopped over to Jackson's Lighthouse to do some ‼Science‼. Here's what I found:

  • Only your FSD is damaged by the jet in supercruise, and it degrades continuously while you're inside.
  • The module's displayed health doesn't get updated frequently, so its actual health is probably lower than you think.
  • Malfunctions start at 79%, and (anecdotal "evidence" warning!) seem to get more frequent the lower the module health gets.
  • You only drop down from supercruise when the FSD reaches 0% module health and gets disabled. No random drop-outs before that. At least, it took me around 25-30 minutes (didn't time it, just looking at the logs) to go from 100% to 0%, and I only dropped when the FSD failed.
  • If you do drop down into the catastrophic environment of the cone, NPCs can spawn and follow you in there. Sadly, I couldn't check if they get damaged as well, because my sensors fried before I could get a full reading.
  • Even a 2A AFM will repair your FSD faster than the jet damages it. (Tested on an Imperial Courier, so six internal slots.)
So basically, as long as you don't hit the neutron star's exclusion zone, you should be mostly safe, unless you're really not paying attention.
Click to expand...

Good to know! Wish I had asked before the long journey back from Beagle point (did 44000 ly of that in a four day/Neutron Superhighway marathon).

Follow up question: how were you repairing an FSD that was still taking damage?! Repairing it should take it offline, which I thought shifted you out of supercruise.
 

marx

marx
Daniel Cloudsifter said:
Follow up question: how were you repairing an FSD that was still taking damage?! Repairing it should take it offline, which I thought shifted you out of supercruise.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah, looking back on it, this was ambiguous. I meant repairing it in the "catastrophic environment" after dropping down into the cone, not while in supercruise.
 

Daniel Cloudsifter

Daniel Cloudsifter
marx said:
Oh yeah, looking back on it, this was ambiguous. I meant repairing it in the "catastrophic environment" after dropping down into the cone, not while in supercruise.
Click to expand...
Have you actually escaped the catastrophic enviroment? From the videos I'd seen, I thought it was a near guaranteed death sentence. Only variable was how long it took to kill you.
 

marx

marx
Daniel Cloudsifter said:
Have you actually escaped the catastrophic enviroment? From the videos I'd seen, I thought it was a near guaranteed death sentence. Only variable was how long it took to kill you.
Click to expand...
Sure, once in a Courier, and IIRC another time in a Clipper. But then, I also died in a Courier to a cone later on. It's difficult, but should be doable. I would like to hear some other opinions on this though.
 

777Driver

777Driver
marx said:
I did some testing on this last year, see here:

So I hopped over to Jackson's Lighthouse to do some ‼Science‼. Here's what I found:

  • Only your FSD is damaged by the jet in supercruise, and it degrades continuously while you're inside.
  • The module's displayed health doesn't get updated frequently, so its actual health is probably lower than you think.
  • Malfunctions start at 79%, and (anecdotal "evidence" warning!) seem to get more frequent the lower the module health gets.
  • You only drop down from supercruise when the FSD reaches 0% module health and gets disabled. No random drop-outs before that. At least, it took me around 25-30 minutes (didn't time it, just looking at the logs) to go from 100% to 0%, and I only dropped when the FSD failed.
  • If you do drop down into the catastrophic environment of the cone, NPCs can spawn and follow you in there. Sadly, I couldn't check if they get damaged as well, because my sensors fried before I could get a full reading.
  • Even a 2A AFM will repair your FSD faster than the jet damages it. (Tested on an Imperial Courier, so six internal slots.)
So basically, as long as you don't hit the neutron star's exclusion zone, you should be mostly safe, unless you're really not paying attention.


Also, as noted by others later in that thread, if your power plant's integrity is under 80%, then random brown-outs might happen, dropping your power output to 40%. In that case, you'll want to make sure your thrusters and FSD are still powered, otherwise you could be unlucky enough to get dropped into the cone.
Click to expand...

Great summary, the only thing incorrect is the chance of a dropout at 0% This can happen at any point between 80% and 1%, the chance of a dropout increases as the percentage gets lower, obviously zero is a guaranteed failure.
 

Vedmo

Vedmo
I've done hundreds of jumps under 80% and have never been knocked out of super cruise due to an FSD malfunction, just had it prevent charging.

I think the lowest I've had it was in the 30% range, and I've never lost more than 1% from a neutron scoop in any ship. FSD integrity works as a counter for neutron jumps. If I'm at 82% I can be sure I've done 18 neutron jumps.

I don't even bother with an AFMU for sub 20-25k trips anymore, as I won't be doing 100 neutrons in that distance.
 

marx

marx
777Driver said:
Great summary, the only thing incorrect is the chance of a dropout at 0% This can happen at any point between 80% and 0%, the chance of a dropout increases as the percentage gets lower.
Click to expand...
Do you have a video of this? I've heard it too, but haven't experienced this myself when I tested it. Of course, I could just have been extremely lucky to survive until the guaranteed drop at 0%.
 

777Driver

777Driver
Vedmo said:
I've done hundreds of jumps under 80% and have never been knocked out of super cruise due to an FSD malfunction, just had it prevent charging.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind my testing is from a few years back, on a few occasions I have experienced drop outs whilst on trade runs in a damaged ship. The devs may have tweaked it, personally I don't risk it when out in deep space.

I'll use one of my fighters to damage the FSD on my T9 down to 40%, test it for a few days.
 

777Driver

777Driver
marx said:
Do you have a video of this? I've heard it too, but haven't experienced this myself when I tested it. Of course, I could just have been extremely lucky to survive until the guaranteed drop at 0%.
Click to expand...


Unfortunately not, I might have a screenshot of the HUD message that comes up when it fails in SC. You basically emergency drop, spinning out, groaning, module damage.

Also have a lengthy thread about one incident a while back. Flying a T7 back to the bubble from Barnards loop, no engineering etc, standard jump range, trying to get home with a severely damaged FSD. Not fun.
 

Vedmo

Vedmo
777Driver said:
Keep in mind my testing is from a few years back, on a few occasions I have experienced drop outs whilst on trade runs in a damaged ship. The devs may have tweaked it, personally I don't risk it when out in deep space.

I'll use one of my fighters to damage the FSD on my T9 down to 40%, test it for a few days.
Click to expand...
I hadn't seen your post when I submitted mine. I didn't mean to sound as if my experience is authoritative.

if you've had drop outs from it that's enough for me to agree it's best practice to just stay 80% or higher.
 

marx

marx
Was your power plant under 80%? I'm asking because as noted by others in the thread linked earlier, under 80% you can get random brown-outs, when your power output drops to 40%. If that's not enough to power your thrusters and FSD, you'd drop down because of that.
 

Daniel Cloudsifter

Daniel Cloudsifter
Vedmo said:
I hadn't seen your post when I submitted mine. I didn't mean to sound as if my experience is authoritative.

if you've had drop outs from it that's enough for me to agree it's best practice to just stay 80% or higher.
Click to expand...

Hmm. It would be nice if we could get an authoritative statement from the Devs on FSD malfunctions and the various thresholds. Honestly, that kind of information should be in the manual... which sadly hasn't been updated since the 2.4 release.
 

777Driver

777Driver
marx said:
Was your power plant under 80%? I'm asking because as noted by others in the thread linked earlier, under 80% you can get random brown-outs, when your power output drops to 40%. If that's not enough to power your thrusters and FSD, you'd drop down because of that.
Click to expand...

Correct, however you get a visual HUD alert for all types of failures, the FSD alert is different to a Power Plant failure.

Good point though, had never thought about a damaged power plant being a risk in SC, another reason to make sure priorities are setup correctly.

@Daniel, would be great if we had a centralised database for this kinda thing. The devs (not community managers) used to be a lot more active on the forums, many discussions with Micheal Brooks etc on various subjects,some great insights into what's going on under the hood. Just have to search with keywords.
 
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Vasious

Vasious
This is a screen of the FSD failure

134045
 
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