Can someone give a breakdown of how limpets work?

[Anachronda]

I have heard, read, and seen stuff about different kinds of limpets, but I have not been able to divine the mechanics. I used to think limpets were mines, but apparently they are some kind of specialized drones. Some of the stuff I seem to have found and some of my questions about them follow:

There are several types, several kinds of mining limpets, fuel limpets, and attack limpets. I am not sure what all kinds there are.
Limpets apparently take up a ton of cargo each, and different controllers allow a different number of limpets of a given type. They are replenished at stations that reload weapons. Different classes apparently "last longer" than others.

I read in one story a reference to fuel limpets actually damaging the ship you are refueling, but no explanation was given and I may have misunderstood what they said.

So, my question in addition to a breakdown of the different kinds of limpets and their purpose, and the thing about fuel limpets damaging people, is how are limpets expended? Do they die or something? Do they not come back when you fire them off? I guess it would make sense for the kind of mining limpets that gather stuff to not come back so they can fill up the spot they were in in your cargo hold, but I dunno. What kinds of limpets exist, what are they for, and how do they work?

 

[andyraptor]

.....



......... they stick to rocks on the foreshore


.... ?

 

[Bacalao]

There is one kind of limpet, just a limpet. The properties of a limpet are totally decided by the controller: how long it lasts, it's range, what it does, everything. If you have 4 different controllers, they will all use the same limpets, but the limpets will do whatever the controller tells it to do and nothing else.
-
Some die after use (fuel transfer), others die after a certian period of time (collector), and others die after you exceed the maximum or time (prospector), they all die if you get too far away (also decided by the controller) and when you go to supercruise. I haven't ever seen a ship get damaged by a limpet, probably a rare bug.

 

[drholliday]

There are 4 kind of limpets defined by the controllers and they are essentially drones programmed for that purpose.

- Prospectors can be fired at asteroids to analyze them for mining. Asteroids that have been analyzed before mining have a higher yield.
- Collectors can collect asteroid pieces or containers instead of scooping them.
- Hatch breakers can be used to hack the cargo hatch of a ship so it drops cargo.
- Fuel transfer drones haul fuel from you to the target.

They are all single use with the exception of the collectors. Collectors can operate in single use mode (with a target) in which they are faster or in autonomous mode and then they last until destroyed, out of range or their lifetime has expired. But they cannot be recovered.

 

[andyraptor]

There are 4 kind of limpets defined by the controllers and they are essentially drones programmed for that purpose.

- Prospectors can be fired at asteroids to analyze them for mining. Asteroids that have been analyzed before mining have a higher yield.
- Collectors can collect asteroid pieces or containers instead of scooping them.
- Hatch breakers can be used to hack the cargo hatch of a ship so it drops cargo.
- Fuel transfer drones haul fuel from you to the target.

They are all single use with the exception of the collectors. Collectors can operate in single use mode (with a target) in which they are faster or in autonomous mode and then they last until destroyed or out of range. But they cannot be recovered.

u mean ONE limpet

FOUR different limpet controllers.....

oR


a shellfish that sticks to rocks on the foreshore

 

[insanephoton]

The thing is there is only one type of limpet. It's a small automated craft that you buy from 'restock' and sits in your cargo bay. What you have is different limpet controller modules. The limpet is then programmed by whatever control module launches it. You have Collectors that will gather up any cargo or mineral fragments, Prospectors that you fire into an asteroid to find out what minerals it contains, Fuel transfer which will carry 1 ton of fuel to whatever ship you launch them at as long as they are in range and finally Hatch breakers that are useful for pirates and will cause the cargo bay door of a target vessel to malfunction and spill out cargo but the target has to be unshielded.

 

[GJ51]

.....



......... they stick to rocks on the foreshore


.... ?

Mine too

 

[Bacalao]

There are 4 kind of limpets defined by the controllers and they are essentially drones programmed for that purpose.

- Prospectors can be fired at asteroids to analyze them for mining. Asteroids that have been analyzed before mining have a higher yield.
- Collectors can collect asteroid pieces or containers instead of scooping them.
- Hatch breakers can be used to hack the cargo hatch of a ship so it drops cargo.
- Fuel transfer drones haul fuel from you to the target.

They are all single use with the exception of the collectors. Collectors can operate in single use mode (with a target) in which they are faster or in autonomous mode and then they last until destroyed, out of range or their lifetime has expired. But they cannot be recovered.

To expand on the properties based on the controller class/rating
-
- Prospectors can be fired at asteroids to analyze them for mining. Asteroids that have been analyzed before mining have a higher yield.
-The higher the class, the more you can have active at one time, the higher the rating the longer they live and the farther they can be from your ship before expiring. The oldest active limpet will be destroyed when you deploy a limpet beyond the controller maximum capacity.
- Collectors can collect asteroid pieces or containers instead of scooping them.
-Like prospectors, higher class = more active limpets, higher rating = longer life and larger distance possible. Once deployed there is no way to destroy them except by turning off the controller or ramming them or targetting something for them to pick up.
- Hatch breakers can be used to hack the cargo hatch of a ship so it drops cargo.
-Only work on ships with no shields, incur a small bounty if used on a clean ship. Higher class = more active limpets. Higher rating = shorter time to break the hatch, greater amount of cargo spilled, larger range. Rating also determines how many you can have active, but higher rating does not mean more. For instance, a 5B allows you to have more active than a 5A, but the 5A break the hatch faster and have a longer range.
- Fuel transfer drones haul fuel from you to the target.
-Higher class = more limpets. Higher rating = longer range. 1 ton of fuel transferred per limpet.
-
You can go to Coriolis.io and look at their individual properties.

 

[Cliffson]

Limpets will give you a breakdown with the way they "work".

(DrHolliday and Bacalao beat me to the explaining so you get a pun instead )

 

[CMDR Byr Goefin]

Limpets will give you a breakdown with the way they "work".

(DrHolliday and Bacalao beat me to the explaining so you get a pun instead )

Magnets!

 

[GJ51]

u mean ONE limpet

FOUR different limpet controllers.....

oR


a shellfish that sticks to rocks on the foreshore

Two lobsters go to church one day.

After the service, the pastor approaches them and says, "I'm sorry, but your kind are just not welcome here."

Very disappointed, the lobsters talk about various unfair forms of discrimination inappropriate for a pastor and insist that he explain his reasons for judging them so unfairly.

"Well," says the pastor, "I noticed that when the collection plate was passed you made no donation. I normally overlook this sort of thing, but in this case, I gave it a lot of thought and prayer, and came to the conclusion that you are just two shellfish."

 

[andyraptor]

Two lobsters go to church one day.

After the service, the pastor approaches them and says, "I'm sorry, but your kind are just not welcome here."

Very disappointed, the lobsters talk about various unfair forms of discrimination inappropriate for a pastor and insist that he explain his reasons for judging them so unfairly.

"Well," says the pastor, "I noticed that when the collection plate was passed you made no donation. I normally overlook this sort of thing, but in this case, I gave it a lot of thought and prayer, and came to the conclusion that you are just two shellfish."

Gotta be a +1


thanks.... needed a cheer up moment

 

[Anachronda]

Thank you for your swift and informative replies. A few additional questions come to mind:

If you have more than one kind of controller, how does that work (i.e. firing a limpet how do you tell it what you want it to do)?

Each controller lets you control a certain number of limpets - well then - does that mean that is the maximum number of limpets you can carry is governed by that or that is the number of limpets you can send out at a time?

I'm not sure I have targetted an asteroid before.. is that something you can do only when using a prospector limpet?

 

[drholliday]

If you have more than one kind of controller, how does that work (i.e. firing a limpet how do you tell it what you want it to do)?

The controllers have hardpoints. So they work somewhat like weapons.

Each controller lets you control a certain number of limpets - well then - does that mean that is the maximum number of limpets you can carry is governed by that or that is the number of limpets you can send out at a time?

The latter. Until used drones are just cargo.

I'm not sure I have targetted an asteroid before.. is that something you can do only when using a prospector limpet?

You just shoot it at the rock.

 

[Anachronda]

Sorry, one more question. Is it true that fuel limpets damage the person you are refueling? and if so by how much?

 

[Valethar]

I used to think limpets were mines, but apparently they are some kind of specialized drones

Pretty much this. Someone had a brain fart in a design meeting and used the wrong terminology, and despite having it pointed out in testing, they stuck with it anyway.

If you just substitute 'drone' any time you see 'limpet' mentioned, it makes much more sense.