LR Pulse Laser reduce *distributor draw* Experimental?

[Scoob]

Hey all,

I've a build that uses Fixed Long-range Pulse lasers and I'm looking for an experimental effect. My friend says he "uses the one that lowers distributor draw, allowing them to be fired for longer. However, looking through the Experimental Effects, I can see "Flow Control" which lowers Power Plant draw, but there's no mention of lower Distributor Draw.

Now, in theory if the ship runs cooler due to the lower Power Plant draw, it may well be able to fire for longer, as it runs cooler. I'm not sure this is actually the case though. In my own testing, quite some time back now, going "Flow Control" made zero difference to how long the weapon could fire for before the WEP capacitor was depleted.

I've other Engineering to do on this ship, but am currently at an Engineer (The Dweller) that can do the Experimental Effect for my G5 LR Fixed Pulse Lasers...and I'm not totally convinced the "Flow Control" Experimental actually lowers Distributor Draw as my friend says.

Note: I usually use Efficient for lasers, but am experimenting with a different build. It works really well currently, but being able to fire a little longer before the WEP distro is drained would be nice.

 

[BelExandor]

Flow control will make no difference in the TTD (time to drain) of the distributor. It will only affect the percentage of the available power plant's output used when the weapon is deployed.

 

[Scoob]

Flow control will make no difference in the TTD (time to drain) of the distributor. It will only affect the percentage of the available power plant's output used when the weapon is deployed.

Yeah, that's what I thought and what my own testing (again, some time back) showed. Do any of the Experimental Effects reduce Distributor Draw further? They certainly don't according to the descriptions, but my friend insists he "used the effect that allows him to fire for longer" ergo, effectively lowering the Distributor draw.

Now, I know some effects do more than they say. For example - and I'm not sure if this is still true, but it was - going Stripped-Down on Rails made them run slightly cooler. In testing, it was shown to allow for more shots to be fired (just one usually) in rapid succession before overheating. So, more shots on target before needing to cool off. I don't know if any of the Experimental for Pulse Lasers might have additional "Hidden" effects.

 

[Morbad]

There were legacy secondaries that could reduce distributor draw, but there is no such thing in the current system for LR pulse lasers as far as I am aware.

 

[BelExandor]

I can't say definitively as I have not personally tested every experimental. The ones that I have the most experience with (on pulse lasers) are thermal shock and phasing sequence. Neither of those have any "hidden" effects that reduce distributor draw. At least not to a degree that I could notice without truly controlled testing.

I almost always use rapid fire with thermal shock or phasing. Increased DPS due to the fire rate but amazingly, also a lower distro draw.

I did not know that about rail guns. Learn something new every day with this game.

 

[Scoob]

There were legacy secondaries that could reduce distributor draw, but there is no such thing in the current system for LR pulse lasers as far as I am aware.

Ah, yes. Super RNG fun times that was lol.

I can't say definitively as I have not personally tested every experimental. The ones that I have the most experience with (on pulse lasers) are thermal shock and phasing sequence. Neither of those have any "hidden" effects that reduce distributor draw. At least not to a degree that I could notice without truly controlled testing.

I almost always use rapid fire with thermal shock or phasing. Increased DPS due to the fire rate but amazingly, also a lower distro draw.

I did not know that about rail guns. Learn something new every day with this game.

Perhaps that's what he meant. I used Rapid Fire too. So, if we're getting more shots per-second, but the same power draw per-second, it is indeed win/win. However, he's saying he applied an effect which lets him fire for longer, which is a little different of course.

Yeah, can't recall if I read it somewhere first, or was just playing around. I know I was fitting Rails to small ships - Sidewinder with twin rails is dead fun - so staying light was likely my first objective. However, discovering the Rails appeared to be generating less heat per-shot was a nice bonus. Edit: to be clear, I've not verified that this is still true, I went nuts of Rails a couple of years back at least.

 

[biohazard15]

I almost always use rapid fire with thermal shock or phasing. Increased DPS due to the fire rate but amazingly, also a lower distro draw.

The thing with distributor draw is that it's per shot, not per second (except beams). RF lowers DD, but it also increases firing rate - which leads to overall increase in DD.