Do thrusters make a difference in supercruise?

[CMDR Kantos Kan]

Just wondering. I thought that when you're in supercruise, pretty much all ships handle the same. Well, I've been flying a Python for a long time, all A-spec'd and a few weeks ago, got an Anaconda. In supercruise, the Anaconda really feels more sluggish. What is the cause of this? The mass of the ship? The thrusters? I have D thrusters on the Anaconda but A thrusters on the Python. Is it why the Anaconda is so much more sluggish? It's very apparent when I try to yaw or pitch, specially after a hyperspace jump, near a star. With the Python, I can pretty much steer it wherever I need to go and there is no problem. With the Anaconda, I sometimes need to watch the star because a few times, I was too closed and got out of supercruise.

So, what is it that makes the Anaconda more sluggish than the Python in supercruise?

 

[CMDR Byr Goefin]

Nope. From testing it, all ships accelerate the same in SC.

There is definitely a difference in turn ratios, which is why we have the blue best turn range indicator on the right of the speedo.

 

[Hadron-Higgs-Boson]

presumably the thrusters are the main effector on turning in all flight modes plus some gimbaling of the main engines too?

 

[CMDR Kantos Kan]

Nope. From testing it, all ships accelerate the same in SC.

There is definitely a difference in turn ratios, which is why we have the blue best turn range indicator on the right of the speedo.

And I guess that pitching is faster than yawing? Because I can usually pitch faster than I can yaw.

EDIT: Still, even if you keep the throttle in the middle of the blue best turn range indicator, the Anaconda is more sluggish than the Python. That's what I'm wondering.

 

[Bartizan]

And I guess that pitching is faster than yawing? Because I can usually pitch faster than I can yaw.

EDIT: Still, even if you keep the throttle in the middle of the blue best turn range indicator, the Anaconda is more sluggish than the Python. That's what I'm wondering.

Pitch is faster than Yaw, roll faster than both (no idea why that is in the vacuum of space by the way). Conda less maneuverable than Python....check (mass).

 

[CMDR Kantos Kan]

Pitch is faster than Yaw, roll faster than both (no idea why that is in the vacuum of space by the way). Conda less maneuverable than Python....check (mass).

So, mass is the deciding factor? I'm asking because having currently the D thrusters on the Anaconda, I was wondering if fitting the A class would make any change. Yes, in normal cruise, they would probably help with steering that big beast but I've been using the D since I had the Anaconda, probably a month ago, playing every day for a few hours and I did manage well with them. I'm not too excited at adding a few hundreds tons of mass for the better thrusters as this will impact my jump range. I've been spoiled by the nice jump range I have right now (25Ly unladen, however, with full weapons and shields). Not looking to reduce it too much, hence my original post.

 

[ocflyer]

Each time I upgraded a ship from D to A thrusters, the supercruise pitch rate improved. With D thrusters, the T9 and Anaconda were terribly slow at turning away from a star upon hyperspace exit. With A thrusters, it is more manageable - still slow but no longer life threatening.

 

[IronGremlin]

Pitch is faster than Yaw, roll faster than both (no idea why that is in the vacuum of space by the way). Conda less maneuverable than Python....check (mass).

The "one size fits all" commander chair has a really bad mounting design, so ship engineers had to limit the power of the yaw thrusters to make sure the chair doesn't unscrew itself midfight.

 

[Kubicide]

Acceleration and deceleration both get better with the higher rated modules. You'll notice it mostly when loaded with cargo and trying to brake for a station to drop out of SC. But it also seems as though one hits a point quickly where you just cannot build up speed any faster regardless of the module rating - unless you're an NPC. NPC ships seem to have AAA+ unobtanium thrusters that can do everything much better!

 

[Bartizan]

The "one size fits all" commander chair has a really bad mounting design, so ship engineers had to limit the power of the yaw thrusters to make sure the chair doesn't unscrew itself midfight.

Points!!!

 

[Elpapo]

Each ships got thier fixed turn rates at SC... Better or worse thusters aint makes a diffrence at all. My Anaconda turns without any noticable diffrence at SC, whatever I put A7 or D5 Thursters on her... Its apply to all ships. But higher mass can affect speed but not by much.

 

[CMDR Kantos Kan]

Well, thank you guys. However, I'm still not sure if I should fork the credits to get the A7 thrusters. Kubicide says that having A grade thrusters make the T-9 and Anaconda more maneuverable and Elpapo says it doesn't make any difference. I would tend to believe it doesn't make much difference since we're in supercruise but if I knew, I wouldn't have asked. Hmmmm... Anybody else? The 7A thrusters are a bit costly but they add quite a bit of weight, from 32t to 80t. Would reduce my jump range a bit compared to the 7D.

 

[Roybe]

Well, thank you guys. However, I'm still not sure if I should fork the credits to get the A7 thrusters. Kubicide says that having A grade thrusters make the T-9 and Anaconda more maneuverable and Elpapo says it doesn't make any difference. I would tend to believe it doesn't make much difference since we're in supercruise but if I knew, I wouldn't have asked. Hmmmm... Anybody else? The 7A thrusters are a bit costly but they add quite a bit of weight, from 32t to 80t. Would reduce my jump range a bit compared to the 7D.

Here's some numbers for the T9-

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=107645

 

[Deleted member 38366]

Each time I upgraded a ship from D to A thrusters, the supercruise pitch rate improved. With D thrusters, the T9 and Anaconda were terribly slow at turning away from a star upon hyperspace exit. With A thrusters, it is more manageable - still slow but no longer life threatening.

This exactly.

Things that don't change with Thrusters in SuperCruise : acceleration, deceleration, maximum attainable speed
Things that change with Thrusters in SuperCruise : pitch, roll and yaw rate

I remember having severe issues going against Player Interdictions while in a Type-6 (which is a fairly good evader due to its lateral maneuverability).
Checking the SubSystems in Outfitting, I realized I was still running D-Grade Thrusters.
After swapping them against A-Grades, I successfully evaded 7 or 8 Player Interdictions as I was able keep the Escape vector better under control. One evasion took well over a Minute - but I still won.

Just keep in mind the ship-specific maneuverability also carries into SuperCruise. Thus, a Cobra even with A-Grade thrusters will still have poor lateral maneuverability and a Type-9 is overall still a huge, slow brick compared to it.

 

[Kubicide]

This exactly.

Things that don't change with Thrusters in SuperCruise : acceleration, deceleration

.

Please retest this theory. I can assure you that thruster ratings absolutely affect the ability to slow down / brake / accelerate in SC. Try a ship such as a Python or Asp loaded with cargo. Install a D rated module then replace with A rated module. Big difference.

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Well, thank you guys. However, I'm still not sure if I should fork the credits to get the A7 thrusters. Kubicide says that having A grade thrusters make the T-9 and Anaconda more maneuverable and Elpapo says it doesn't make any difference. I would tend to believe it doesn't make much difference since we're in supercruise but if I knew, I wouldn't have asked. Hmmmm... Anybody else? The 7A thrusters are a bit costly but they add quite a bit of weight, from 32t to 80t. Would reduce my jump range a bit compared to the 7D.

Just to be clear the statement I made was with acceleration and decelerating in SC. Maneuverability is something different which I didn't really test or observe.

 

[CMDR Kantos Kan]

Here's some numbers for the T9-

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=107645

Nice, thank you, but that seems to apply only to normal cruise, not supercruise. What I'm trying to find is whether having 7A thrusters over the 7D thrusters will make any difference when I pitch or yaw coming out of an hyperspace jump, you know what I mean! Right now, I have to be careful, when my Anaconda gets out of the hyperspace jump pointing at the bottom of the star when my next target is at the top. I can tell that my Python is able to pitch much quicker than the Anaconda. What I wanted to know is whether it's the ship mass that makes such a big difference or if the thruster grades make the difference. The Python has the 6A thrusters while the Anaconda has the 7D thrusters.

- - - Updated - - -

Please retest this theory. I can assure you that thruster ratings absolutely affect the ability to slow down / brake / accelerate in SC. Try a ship such as a Python or Asp loaded with cargo. Install a D rated module then replace with A rated module. Big difference.

- - - Updated - - -



Just to be clear the statement I made was with acceleration and decelerating in SC. Maneuverability is something different which I didn't really test or observe.

Ah, OK, thanks for the clarification. I'm not too concerned by acceleration or deceleration at the moment, more interested in how I can safely avoid that big star when coming out of an hyperspace jump!

 

[CMDR Heisenberg B. Damned]

Super-cruise is an Alcubierre drive (as I understand it), it's not using any form of propellant but instead using mass difference to move that section of space in the direction of the mass difference. So no thrusters make no difference, the ship doesn't move but the bubble of space it's in moves. The fuel gets used because it take a lot of power to run the drive but it's not used for/as thrust/propellant.

 

[GJ51]

- Updated - - -

Ah, OK, thanks for the clarification. I'm not too concerned by acceleration or deceleration at the moment, more interested in how I can safely avoid that big star when coming out of an hyperspace jump!

Set the throttle to zero while the jump count down is in progress. You can then pitch, yaw, roll as much as you want before accelerating and have all the time you need to avoid damage at the next system.

 

[ASC]

EDIT: Still, even if you keep the throttle in the middle of the blue best turn range indicator, the Anaconda is more sluggish than the Python. That's what I'm wondering.

It's not quite relevant to the thrusters question, but ships will turn fastest at 50% throttle. In SC, this is at the bottom of the blue range, not in the middle (which is 75%.)

I find it helpful to have a key binding.

 

[cmdr sandman]

Worth setting up a key binding for 0% throttle that you can tap as you enter a system, after exiting out of hyperspace. Then gradually speed up as you turn away from the star.

As far as the original question goes, I thought FSD was what mattered in supercruise?
http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Supercruise