Is the Plasma Accelerator the be-all-end-all weapon?
- Thread starter Branithar
- Start date
You can engineer them to almost 1800m/s projectile speed. Makes hitting much easier.
Also, they ignore resistances since their damage is absolute rather than thermal or kinetic.
Also, they ignore resistances since their damage is absolute rather than thermal or kinetic.
On a scale of 1 to "oh dear my ship's gone supernova"; How likely is fitting my FDL with 5 PAs likely to end the universe?
I'm sure I can hit at least one target with 5... Lol
I'm sure I can hit at least one target with 5... Lol
I'd be more concerned with distributor drain than actual heat...
Oh yeah... Forgot about that. Lol
I did it to a Federal Gunship.
PA’s are great weapons, but they’re not for everyone. They’re only effective if they hit.
I saw a vid of a FDL with 5 PAs, I assume all efficient, but it can be done. He was able to shoot rather regularly.
I’ve read they deliver absolute damage but I’m not really sure what that means. What is absolute damage? It has equal damage to both hull and shields?
What about Rails Guns? Are they a viable alternative to Plasma Accelerators?
Absolute damage ignores resistance. Its not total absolute, but up to 60% I think.
Absolute damage means the damage is equivalent to amount of health removed from health of hull or shield. Hull and shields have resistance stats for heath, kinetic and explosive damage, (is there one for corrosive on some guardian module?) Laser is heat weapon so when it hit hull or shield the amount of heat resistance is removed from the damage that laser do against hull or shield. So simple if hull has 50% resistance against heat, laser weapon with 20 damage does 10 damage to hull i.e hull lose 10 health but if Plasma accelerator had same damage of 20 and hit same hull it does 20 damage and hull lose 20 health. So while base damage is same in this example laser does 50% less damage because resistance that plasma ignores. These are not real values but hopefully give you an idea how different damage types and resistances works.
Rail guns don't deal absolute damage, but that doesn't make them nonviable option compared to Pa, Rails are hit scan weapons, with high penetration value and high damage so they can deal a lot of damage to specific modules, usually target is to snipe power plant.
I have a Python with 5 x efficient PA's heat isn't much of an issue due to their low rate of fire and an armoured power plant with thermal spread, they're great against Asp size ships and above but smaller fighters aren't easy to hit, I use this build mainly for HighCZ.
http://www.edshipyard.com/new/#/L=C...34wPcasPcgy000AA008c016y016y023u022K02UI00nE0
http://www.edshipyard.com/new/#/L=C...34wPcasPcgy000AA008c016y016y023u022K02UI00nE0
TheMegaTurnip
Banned
If you can shoot, they certainly are.
I have a pair of APA on my Vulture and don't open fire unless I'm within 500 metres of the target. The Vulture is so good at sticking to a target it's like flying your own turret.
I can get five pairs of shots in before I hit the overheating alarm and at that range it's not often any of them miss.
Shields tend to buckle quickly enough under that kind of attack.
I can get five pairs of shots in before I hit the overheating alarm and at that range it's not often any of them miss.
Shields tend to buckle quickly enough under that kind of attack.
Absolute damage is an untyped damage that isn't subject to thermic/kinetic/explosive damage resistances. PAs do 60% absolute, 20% kinetic, and 20% thermic damage...meaning the bulk of those shield and hull resists are nullified, which dramatically increases their effective damage.
Railguns have excellent damage for their WEP draw, are hit scan, and the long range mod (which removes damage fall off) has few downsides as well as a -40% thermal load reduction.
However, they are ~70% thermic and ~30% kinetic, so many setups are very resistant to their damage.
IMO there is no such thing as a be-all-and-end-all weapon, they all have trade-offs of one sort or another.
Plasmas (especially Guardian Plasma Chargers) can be very effective weapons but they are not the ultimate go to weapons. Their primary advantage (other than alpha damage) is the fact that the hull and shield resistance of the target is on the most part irrelevant. This single point is probably what makes them especially popular in some circles.
With practice you can learn how to use them effectively, the key point is learning when to fire them since a missed shot with a standard human Plasma can cost you time. Guardian Plasmas are more forgiving but still require practice to maximise their effectiveness.
Only PAs I’ve really enjoyed have been the pair of Huge ones on my Corvette. Not yet unlocked an engineer for them but they hit VERY hard and, due to placement, are pretty easy to hit anything Asp and up.
I’ve been underwhelmed by every other use of PAs I’ve tried: even Large don’t seem to do much damage and I’ve not been happy with the placement for them on my FDL, Python or Krait.
I have enjoyed Rails on my FDL. Tried 4 (fun!) and 2 with a linked pair of fixed “tracer” beams (useful for learning) but have settled on 2 Rails, 2 gimballed beam lasers (for wily stuff!) and an overcharged MC slung underneath. Seems MUCH more effective than any setup involving a PA.
I’ve been underwhelmed by every other use of PAs I’ve tried: even Large don’t seem to do much damage and I’ve not been happy with the placement for them on my FDL, Python or Krait.
I have enjoyed Rails on my FDL. Tried 4 (fun!) and 2 with a linked pair of fixed “tracer” beams (useful for learning) but have settled on 2 Rails, 2 gimballed beam lasers (for wily stuff!) and an overcharged MC slung underneath. Seems MUCH more effective than any setup involving a PA.
I use 2 large PAs on my chieftain they deal a hefty amount of damage to hull and shields. I suck at using plasmas on any other ship though. I line up my shots with plasmas, ships wiggle too much to constantly use them imo
