Newcomer / Intro Mass Lock Factor - how does it work?

[Zak Gordon]

I've been trying to work out how this works, and not seen any clear answers so was wondering if other Cmdrs maybe know how this works?

So each ship has a MLF number, the lower the number the harder it is for that ship to 'mass lock' another ship with a larger number. Usually a smaller ship will have a lower MLF (but not always?).

Each ship has a Hull Weight (in tons) and that is probably the most obvious factor that determines MLF, but not always.

So what else is involved and does anyone know, for example the maths used behind the MLF aspect and how that works practically in the game etc? I see a number of ships with MLF that don't quite make sense (Imperial Clipper @400 tons with MLF 12 vs the Anaconda @400 tons with MLF 23 etc).

I'm trying to work out the 'best' ships to escape an attack from, and working out how MLF works is something i'm a bit unsure about as it is presented in the ships we have.

 

[GroG79]

Locking the MLF to ship mass would make sense. This is not he case however. It was placed in Fdev order

(hurrr.. Fix Anaconda mass Plz)

 

[Ashnak]

Coriolis (e.g.) has the MLF for every ship. For your question - the best ships to run from an Interdiction are:

• Cutter. Only another Cutter can masslock a Cutter.
• Viper/iEagle/iCourier. Can't masslock you if they can't keep up. Caveat: don't need to masslock you if they can oneshot you with a LR rail.

 

[Zak Gordon]

Locking the MLF to ship mass would make sense. This is not he case however. It was placed in Fdev order

(hurrr.. Fix Anaconda mass Plz)

Were we given reasons for the 'Fdev order' at any point? Like maybe there was a gameplay (play-testing result) reason for those odd few that don't make sense at first glance?

 

[Zak Gordon]

Coriolis (e.g.) has the MLF for every ship. For your question - the best ships to run from an Interdiction are:

• Cutter. Only another Cutter can masslock a Cutter.
• Viper/iEagle/iCourier. Can't masslock you if they can't keep up. Caveat: don't need to masslock you if they can oneshot you with a LR rail.

Do internals make any difference in the MLF factor (and yep i use Coriolis for ship info)? Or is it really just a pure Fdev arbitrary number? Speed i can see is helpful, and i suppose one reason the classic flight response is 'FA off>Boost away!'.

 

[Ashnak]

Not quite arbitrary, as there is a correlation with the ship's hull mass, but yes, pretty much. And no, loadout and/or load doesn't make a difference, the number is static for every ship type.

 

[Zak Gordon]

Ok, thanks for the info. Shame about the static attribute (not taking into account loadout/cargo etc). I guess it simplifies my choices when looking for a perfect 'Brave Sir Robin Ran Away!' type ship

 

[Rock Hunter]

Coriolis (e.g.) has the MLF for every ship. For your question - the best ships to run from an Interdiction are:

• Cutter. Only another Cutter can masslock a Cutter.
• Viper/iEagle/iCourier. Can't masslock you if they can't keep up. Caveat: don't need to masslock you if they can oneshot you with a LR rail.

I’d add the Hauler, Adder and even the old Cobra MkIII to that list if you’ve upgraded to G5 dirty drives, without a doubt if you’ve dropped in Enhanced Thrusters for the Adder/Hauler. Everyone knows about the Viper/Courier griefer baiting builds but it seems the Adder/Hauler still surprises many when it boosts away with ease, it’s not the easy target some think - just don’t get hit

Moving slightly off topic from mass-lock specifically, I’ve always been surprised at how few Cmdrs can be bothered trying to chase me down in my Cobra (630 m/s boost.) I suppose having a mix of manoeuvrability, good boost and a respectable distributor just makes it too much work for many. There are numerous factors that can be taken into account when building a ship, one of which is how to make it too much effort to bother with in Open, or if in Solo/Private, just a boost and a joystick wiggle to get away from mass lock and a potential rebuy.