i think that somewhere in the forums (and don't get me wrong for this) i saw that "nothing" (ship i mean) can mass lock an anaconda except perhaps 2 or 3 anacondas together.So since anaconda has a mass of around 400t then T9 which is 1000t should be able to mass lock an anaconda and nothing (i mean no ship) should be able to mass lock the T9 because of a bigger mass.So why does a python which is 350t can mass lock a T9 3 times its mass?
Mass Lock
- Thread starter psefergr
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For a start it's not actually mass locking (check the ship's mass lock light). The only thing that can mass lock is a station or capital ship. It's actually FSD disruption by a mass factor.. That leaves the whole mechanic around FSD disruption up for debate, we fly pretend ships with no real detailed description of the core workings behind most functions. Some things we definitely have to accept for what it is.
Despite its name mass lock (mass inhibition to be exact) is not determined by the mass of a ship but by its mass lock factor (MLF). MLF is set by the devs to a value they think is appropriate for a ship's role in the game. You can find the MLF for each ship at www.edshipyard.com and similar sites. The MLF of a T-9 is 16 and the MLF of a Python is 17 so apparently the devs want a Python to "mass lock" a T-9.
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So the way the mass-lock mechanics work is pretty unintuitive, its just for balance purposes.
For low-waking, it works exactly as you would think. The heavier the ship, the more it mass locks you. The amount you get slowed down by depends on the ship's MLF.
Every ship has a MLF (mass-lock factor) that you can look up. For high-waking, you can only be mass-locked by a ship with a higher MLF than you.
The anaconda's MLF of 23 is the highest it goes, so it can't be mass-locked while high-waking. If the conda tries to low-wake, it can be mass-locked by t-9s, gunships, and anacondas. The cutter and corvette will both be able to mass lock the conda.
For most of the ships the MLF is not relevant because it is possible to boost out of range of the mass lock. I.E. my cobra has a MLF of 8, but its faster than FDLs with a MLf of 12. The FAS has a MLF of 14, and can keep up with the FDL, so the FAS can prevent an FDL from high-waking.
For low-waking, it works exactly as you would think. The heavier the ship, the more it mass locks you. The amount you get slowed down by depends on the ship's MLF.
Every ship has a MLF (mass-lock factor) that you can look up. For high-waking, you can only be mass-locked by a ship with a higher MLF than you.
The anaconda's MLF of 23 is the highest it goes, so it can't be mass-locked while high-waking. If the conda tries to low-wake, it can be mass-locked by t-9s, gunships, and anacondas. The cutter and corvette will both be able to mass lock the conda.
For most of the ships the MLF is not relevant because it is possible to boost out of range of the mass lock. I.E. my cobra has a MLF of 8, but its faster than FDLs with a MLf of 12. The FAS has a MLF of 14, and can keep up with the FDL, so the FAS can prevent an FDL from high-waking.
did I miss an update and masslock affects high waking now?
Either way my thoughts are that mass lock should be based around mass, not a factor the dev's randomly decided for gameplay purposese.
the more mass you have the more you affect everyone around you, while I would expect a single anaconda to masslock a Type9 some, I would also expect a wing of many small ships to be able to do the same thing because the effect should be cumulative. In fact it would make for a great tactic, have a couple of type 9s in a pirate wing and you have a massive paperweight that for all intents stops your target from getting away unless the high-wake (unless the mechanic on that changed)
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A hyperspace jump (high-waking) is NOT affected by other ships. Only space stations, outposts, asteroid rings, etc cause a mass lock. In that case the indicator in the lower-right corner of the HUD is lit and a audio signal is played. No matter how many ships are in your vicinity you can always make a hyperspace jump in 20 seconds after selecting a target system (15 sec charge + 5 sec countdown).
The real reason is to aid gameplay.
The biggest, most expensive ship in the (Live) game can only be masslocked by others of the same ship. The biggest trader can be masslocked by the second-tier ship. The second biggest trader can be masslocked by most of the Medium-sized ships.
However, I asked a FD rep about this (might've been Sandro, I don't recall) and he claimed the masslocking is to do with a typical build mass, rather than the actual hull mass.
Which is, of course, nonsense, as it effectively means the game allows mass from weapons, internal components and so on to qualify for mass-locking, but not cargo.
The biggest, most expensive ship in the (Live) game can only be masslocked by others of the same ship. The biggest trader can be masslocked by the second-tier ship. The second biggest trader can be masslocked by most of the Medium-sized ships.
However, I asked a FD rep about this (might've been Sandro, I don't recall) and he claimed the masslocking is to do with a typical build mass, rather than the actual hull mass.
Which is, of course, nonsense, as it effectively means the game allows mass from weapons, internal components and so on to qualify for mass-locking, but not cargo.