A few very specific ship fitting questions:

[n13L5]

I couldn't figure this out from the information in-game, nor could I find anything with google or forum search in this regard:

1) If my ship only uses 89% of available power, is there ANY benefit at all to upgrading either the Power Plant or the Power Distributor?

a) So far, I'm assuming, that your shield won't recharge any faster, if there's already more power available than all ship systems combined can use.
b) I'm also assuming, that my thrusters won't recharge any faster from an upgrade if there's already more power available than all ship systems combined can use.
c) But I could obviously be wrong on both a and b, the possibility of which I hope you'll help me to confirm or exclude...

2) Is there any game mechanic besides total power available, that might limit flow of power to the various sub systems?


3) Will a better Power Distributor make your pips more effective, even if you already have an 11% oversupply of power?


4) With greater oversupply of power, will it become less or not necessary to put pips into thrusters for maximum thrust etc?

.

I might not be asking these questions and just automatically upgrade everything to A rated fittings, it if wasn't for the D rated fittings having the lowest mass, allowing for a better jump range. Hence I only want to upgrade things that offer an actual benefit.

 

[Monk]

1. Power plant..yes you won't over heat as much...power distributor, yes b/c your sys, eng and wep will recharge faster (endless boosting FTW).
a. Shields drain the power in wep. Good shields will recharge faster but only with power available in wep...no upgrade will get broken shields back to charging faster though
b. Upgrade thrusters for better turning and lateral and vertical acceleration. The better distributor will give you more boosting though
2. You can prioritize modules...my cargo hatch and FSD shut down when I pull the guns out b/c there isn't enough power to run them all at once
3. Not really...i'm seeing the same max speed and whatnot however the charge rates are better...for example, with my A class distributor on my Cobra...I can nearly have constant boosting with only two pips

 

[Raf von Thorn]

As far as i know:

1) If your ship uses 89% power, it means that all your systems are powered and you got 11% in the reserve. If you would reach 100% or more, one of your systems would just shut down.
a) an b) Your shield will be recharging as fast, as much power it will receive. If your shields is "damaged", it will consume the "pip" power to recharge itself. If the "pip" is empty, it will not recharge, same goes for the afterburner and energy weapons.
2) You can set up your systems priorities in the right pop up screen. The ones with the lower priority will shut down, if theres not enough power.
3) Yes.

You get it wrong. You must understand, that every time you fire your weapon, engage an afterburner or recharge your shield, you are using the 11% of the power that you power plant generates. Ideally you want to have as much power as there is in the known universe. There is never enough power .

 

[Jack Booted Thug]

A better power distributor will allow more power to be stored in the capacitors. The bars will look the same but they will actually be holding more power.

 

[darkcyd]

Nobody really honestly knows how it works. Its more expensive than the one on your current ship so you should assume that its better. Asking how much is beyond the scope of your feeble understanding. Move along, you are asking for something within reason.

I've bitched about this too. The obfuscated clustermess of upgrades and weapons which have obscured masked benefits behind a bubble bar is just .

In the future it would be awesome if they had a power diagram of your ship and show you what the changes will do...If not...numbers would be good....or F it....lets just keep on using the current system.

 

[CMDR Sheehy]

Yes. Some equipment is lighter and/or harder to destroy, for example, if targeted directly. Lighter means a greater jump range and other mobility advantages, harder to destroy means you last longer in a fight... even if it means you have power to spare.

Select compare to see what benefits there are. Blue figures indicate an advantage, red ones a disadvantage.

 

[n13L5]

Yes. Some equipment is lighter and/or harder to destroy, for example, if targeted directly. Lighter means a greater jump range and other mobility advantages, harder to destroy means you last longer in a fight... even if it means you have power to spare.

Select compare to see what benefits there are. Blue figures indicate an advantage, red ones a disadvantage.

Yeah, I use compare, but subtleties of what that blue, *better* stat is actually good for aren't always obvious.

B equipment is heavier than C and A... does that mean B is more sturdy? The game only shows lower weight as a benefit in blue.

D equipment is the lightest of all - great jump range - does that mean its the least sturdy?

 

[n13L5]

1. Power plant..yes you won't over heat as much...power distributor, yes b/c your sys, eng and wep will recharge faster (endless boosting FTW).
a. Shields drain the power in wep. Good shields will recharge faster but only with power available in wep...no upgrade will get broken shields back to charging faster though
b. Upgrade thrusters for better turning and lateral and vertical acceleration. The better distributor will give you more boosting though
2. You can prioritize modules...my cargo hatch and FSD shut down when I pull the guns out b/c there isn't enough power to run them all at once
3. Not really...i'm seeing the same max speed and whatnot however the charge rates are better...for example, with my A class distributor on my Cobra...I can nearly have constant boosting with only two pips

Thank you much for the answers, everyone!


I've purposely fitted my Lakon Type 6 with all D equipment and an A FSD, so as to gain the greatest possible jump range. Maneuverability is slightly better, but its still a slog

The reason for my questions was to optimize my fitting for running in case of interdictions, while wanting to give up the smallest possible amount of jump range.

Considering to upgrade the Power Distributor to A and maybe thrusters.

Normally, I don't need shields much, cause when I run, I continuously roll and simultaneously strafe left right at irregular intervals.

This seems to work well, except if someone has gimbaled weapons... To deal with that last issue, I suppose I could either go for better shields or for better thrusters to simply get out of range quickly.

 

[CMDR Sheehy]

Classes and numbers... hmm. A is better than D. The higher the number the better 'quality' it is. So no, B1 is not better than A1, though I can't say how a B2 might be better than a A1, you would have to compare.

Weight affects jump range, so if you want to jump farther, use the lightest. If you want overall quality and longevity, use Class A...

It is a bit like picking tyres for your car. Buying summer tyres in December in Germany is probably suicide. In the south, Britain, where it rarely drops below 4, what's the point... Same thing with Equipment.

 

[Ttaskmaster]

Which way does Priority go, now?
1 is top and 5 is lower, or have they reversed it again?

 

[Monk]

This seems to work well, except if someone has gimbaled weapons... To deal with that last issue, I suppose I could either go for better shields or for better thrusters to simply get out of range quickly.

Chaff launcher works well here. If I'm being pursued by a Viper I expect I'm going to take some shots at my shields...once that starts getting critically low I bust out the chaff which gives me time to recharge...by the time that is all done it is smooth sailing to the next system.

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4) With greater oversupply of power, will it become less or not necessary to put pips into thrusters for maximum thrust etc?

No...max thrust is completely dependent on number of pips to engines. With all the upgrades and extra power I've had and not had my max speed with four pips has remained the same.

 

[n13L5]

Chaff launcher works well here. If I'm being pursued by a Viper I expect I'm going to take some shots at my shields...once that starts getting critically low I bust out the chaff which gives me time to recharge...by the time that is all done it is smooth sailing to the next system.

Thanks Monk!
Gonna go see if an A shield adds more or less weight than a chaff launcher
Then again an A shield might suddenly require an A Power Plant for the ship and it'll be back to chaff launcher anyway...

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Which way does Priority go, now?
1 is top and 5 is lower, or have they reversed it again?

still 1 is top, as far as I can tell. I'm just having trouble adjusting anything further down than 3... it'll just cycle 1-2-3-1- etc can't get to either 4 or 5 at all.

 

[Monk]

still 1 is top, as far as I can tell. I'm just having trouble adjusting anything further down than 3... it'll just cycle 1-2-3-1- etc can't get to either 4 or 5 at all.

The other numbers become available as you use all higher priorities...for example, 3 won't be an option until at least one module is set to 2. 4 is available when there is at least a module on 3 and so on...

I typically never have to use anything lower than 2. I have cargo rack and FSD on 2...when my lasers come out, drawing more power, those get disabled.

I haven't found much need beyond that...however just thinking now, I could put some emergency escape stuff on 3. That way, if all my weapons get taken out and my canopy blows (turns off Life Support) then my ship will automatically start providing power to FSD and any other modules for escape. Though, I really see this scenario as an extreme to justify using priority 3...maybe others have ideas for it