OK! What modules (Power, Distributor) affect boost performance?

[NeilF]

OK, assuming you have A grade thrusters, how does your Power and Distributor modules affect boost?

I assume at the very least, a better Distributor will speed up ENG charging and allow you to boost more often? But what about your Power module? Surely that's the same premise too?

note: I'm right in saying Power and Distributor modules have no affect on standard top speed (ignoring very minor affects due to mass)?

 

[Zebaoth]

You're right about the distributor, it only affects boost frequency.
Power module doesn't add anything other than weight, as long as you have enough power simply fit the most lightweight power plant that provides the needed power.
Just consider that if the power plant takes any damage its output will go down.

You can easily squeeze 464m/s out of the cobra mkIII this way.

 

[NeilF]

You're right about the distributor, it only affects boost frequency.
Power module doesn't add anything other than weight, as long as you have enough power simply fit the most lightweight power plant that provides the needed power.
Just consider that if the power plant takes any damage its output will go down.

You can easily squeeze 464m/s out of the cobra mkIII this way.

Perfect... That makes sense... So the distributor feeds a rate of power to ENG, and a bigger Power Unit would not change that rate over a smaller one...

So for speed, best [A] Thrusters, best [A] Distributor, lightest Power Module you can...

 

[Gédéon_Lecanard]

You're right about the distributor, it only affects boost frequency.
Power module doesn't add anything other than weight, as long as you have enough power simply fit the most lightweight power plant that provides the needed power.
Just consider that if the power plant takes any damage its output will go down.

You can easily squeeze 464m/s out of the cobra mkIII this way.

According to coriolis.io, this is not correct.

-power distributor has a weight, and while an A grade will allow faster recharge, general speed and boost speed will be affected (not by much, though).
-power plant has a weight too indeed, but it appears that A grade will beef up general speed and boost speed, more than a D grade for instance.

Maybe the site is wrong. I usually trust it.

edit: after messing around with it, the numbers appear to be stuck. So guess I was wrong. Sorry!

 

[ZenZak]

Remember you also get more speed boosting with less fuel in your tank,its not a huge amount but it makes me feel faster and more agile in combat-)

 

[NeilF]

According to coriolis.io, this is not correct.

-power distributor has a weight, and while an A grade will allow faster recharge, general speed and boost speed will be affected (not by much, though).
-power plant has a weight too indeed, but it appears that A grade will beef up general speed and boost speed, more than a D grade for instance.

Maybe the site is wrong. I usually trust it.

edit: after messing around with it, the numbers appear to be stuck. So guess I was wrong. Sorry!

Yes, my understanding is a better Distributor will allow you to boost more often... But its higher weight will reduce your top standard/boosted speed... But IMHO it would make sense to be able to boost twice as often, rather than be able to go (just) 3m/s faster for example

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Remember you also get more speed boosting with less fuel in your tank,its not a huge amount but it makes me feel faster and more agile in combat-)

God we need a "vent fuel" button Ideally with an emergent side effect like, it ignites brightly behind you in standard flight

 

[Shintai]

Distributor=Recharge speed and capacitor amount.
Power Plant=Power amount and heat reduction.

So for a power plant, unless you lack power grid, a better one only improves heat removal. While the distributor in your case means more capacitor storage to boost from and faster recharge.

Besides that it means nothing.

 

[Derath]

chain boost will average you out at significantly higher top speed than say running a D distributor if you can't chain boost, other than that as everyone says if you want highest top-speed you need to lose mass wherever you can.

Some ships notice this more than others, a heavy python only goes about 320~ you can squeeze 353 out of a light one.

 

[Ashkanie]

From what I know so far...

Boost speed is affected by
- total weight, including fuel and cargo
- thruster class and rating

Normal speed is affected by
- total weight, including fuel and cargo
- thruster class and rating
- how many pips are put to ENG (at least Coriolis says this doesn't affect boost speed and it seems to be correct)

ENG capacitor recharge rate is affected by
- how many pips are put to ENG

The amount of boosts the ENG capacitor can hold (or how much a single boost will drain from the ENG bar) is affected by
- thruster class and rating
- power distributor class and rating
If your power distributor is too small, boosting would drain more than the whole ENG capacitor, so you can't boost at all.

 

[goemon]

From what I know so far...

Boost speed is affected by
- total weight, including fuel and cargo
- thruster class and rating

Normal speed is affected by
- total weight, including fuel and cargo
- thruster class and rating
- how many pips are put to ENG (at least Coriolis says this doesn't affect boost speed and it seems to be correct)

ENG capacitor recharge rate is affected by
- how many pips are put to ENG

The amount of boosts the ENG capacitor can hold (or how much a single boost will drain from the ENG bar) is affected by
- thruster class and rating
- power distributor class and rating
If your power distributor is too small, boosting would drain more than the whole ENG capacitor, so you can't boost at all.

i think you covered it all. from a racer perspective, you might get a higher overall (chain-boost)-speed, by running d-class thrusters and an a-class distributor, so you can boost more often. depends on ship.

 

[shadragon]

I used to try and match the weight of my ship with thrusters in order to get the best maneuverability, but as a result my straight line speed (when running away) suffered. Now, I just get A rated thrusters as fast as possible, live with the minor hit to turn rate and take the additional speed bonus to get out of dodge when needed.

 

[Derath]

I used to try and match the weight of my ship with thrusters in order to get the best maneuverability, but as a result my straight line speed (when running away) suffered. Now, I just get A rated thrusters as fast as possible, live with the minor hit to turn rate and take the additional speed bonus to get out of dodge when needed.

A rated thrusters lower your turn rate? You sure? I've been doing upgrading wrong if thats true lol

 

[NeilF]

A rated thrusters lower your turn rate? You sure? I've been doing upgrading wrong if thats true lol

There is some nugget of logic to that surely. As you go down to lower thrusters, your blue zone is at a lower speed, so therefore your faster turn rate is at a slower speed, so a smaller turning circle

 

[Derath]

There is some nugget of logic to that surely. As you go down to lower thrusters, your blue zone is at a lower speed, so therefore your faster turn rate is at a slower speed, so a smaller turning circle

That certainly makes sense on paper but isn't it the difference between a small circle turned slowly vs a slightly larger circle turned more quickly?

 

[Tacyon]

I've often wondered about the validity of higher rated (and classed) thrusters where the "optimum hull weight" exceeds the fitted hull weight by a fair percentage. With a trade off of added module weight would the benefits justify the sometimes 2x - 4x the cost.

 

[NeilF]

That certainly makes sense on paper but isn't it the difference between a small circle turned slowly vs a slightly larger circle turned more quickly?

True... And I doubt it makes much difference, but imagine with projectile weapons, would you rather be in the inside of the turn, outside of the turn?

I've never understood why the higher rated thrusters don't give a bigger blue area...

 

[goemon]

I've often wondered about the validity of higher rated (and classed) thrusters where the "optimum hull weight" exceeds the fitted hull weight by a fair percentage. With a trade off of added module weight would the benefits justify the sometimes 2x - 4x the cost.

this is the canonical thread on thruster performance and percentage of optimal mass: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=164931

tl;dr: in combat, having >75% optimal mass can make all the difference - in other activities not so much!

 

[Derath]

True... And I doubt it makes much difference, but imagine with projectile weapons, would you rather be in the inside of the turn, outside of the turn?

I've never understood why the higher rated thrusters don't give a bigger blue area...

I make heavy use of vertical thrusters mid turn so I probably prefer the larger turn tbh, maybe thats why I don't notice the difference when I run D rated modules

 

[fruitbat]

I make heavy use of vertical thrusters mid turn so I probably prefer the larger turn tbh, maybe thats why I don't notice the difference when I run D rated modules

With respect to turn rates, irl with planes you get your fastest sustained turn at corner speed, and this will not be as tight as you can turn.

I've always assumed, though not checked that middle of the blue zone gives you corner speed in ed, with any given loadout.