Optimal mass vs optimal multiplier?

[JimMaddog]

Just upgrading my Courier with enhanced thrusters from farseer and G5 dirty drives from Palin.

I've had two near perfect roles on the G5 DD tune one maximising optimal mass and one maximising optimal multiplier.

So which is actually critical to turn rate and top speed?

I went for max optimal multiplier.

 

[Ca$hback]

Optimal mass gives you maneuverability (within the mass limits). Optimal multiplier gives you speed. Optimal multiplier will enhance your optimal mass as well somewhat. As far as I can tell, anyway.

 

[mung0]

Optimal multiplier is the one that bumps up your top speed & manauverability. Optimal mass is more around e.g. the difference between running full & empty. There's more to it than that, but optimal multiplier is the important stat in the equation by a country mile.

- - - Updated - - -

ED shipyard got a buff can put in modded stats now. You just type in what stats you got on a module and at the bottom of the page it'll show you the new performance.

http://www.edshipyard.com

 

[CMDR Delta Lima]

Is there a site somewhere that explains what all the different stats mean?

 

[Roasted1982]

Optimal mass is the mass at which you get the optimal multiplier and half of the mass is where you get the maximal multiplier. On a ship like the vulture, which has a stupid high optimal mass it doesn't really matter. On a courier with enhanced thrusters it matters a lot since optimal mass is 90 tons and you want to be bellow that. For a thrusters the increase in performance bellow optimal increases quite drastically. So the answer is....it's a bit complicated. If you have a better multiplier but it puts you over optimal mass you're not getting the full optimal multiplier. If you have better optimal mass roll you might be bellow optimal and are getting a better multiplier than optimal. But this depends on how much lower. If it's only slightly lower it might be better. But if it's a lot lower than it might be quite a bit better.

Only thing you can really do is fit both thrusters and see. But if the mass of your ship changes the results will too and maybe the other thrusters will be better.

 

[Angus]

Optimal mass is the mass at which you get the optimal multiplier and half of the mass is where you get the maximal multiplier. On a ship like the vulture, which has a stupid high optimal mass it doesn't really matter. On a courier with enhanced thrusters it matters a lot since optimal mass is 90 tons and you want to be bellow that. For a thrusters the increase in performance bellow optimal increases quite drastically. So the answer is....it's a bit complicated. If you have a better multiplier but it puts you over optimal mass you're not getting the full optimal multiplier. If you have better optimal mass roll you might be bellow optimal and are getting a better multiplier than optimal. But this depends on how much lower. If it's only slightly lower it might be better. But if it's a lot lower than it might be quite a bit better.

Only thing you can really do is fit both thrusters and see. But if the mass of your ship changes the results will too and maybe the other thrusters will be better.

And I thought I was confused before!

 

[Miko]

And I thought I was confused before!

Optimal mass relates to that blue zone in your thrust. The lower your optimal mass, the slower you have to go to retain maximum manoeuvrability. When that is increased, you can keep your ship manoeuvring at optimal even at higher speeds. This can be seen effectively when you increase the pips to engines and that blue zone increases. This is why you're penalised when you take those pips out. Optimal multiplier more specifically increases the maximum speed your ship can achieve but overall it still effectively enhances the way the ship handles, too.

If you love a fast ship that can manoeuvre like butter even when you keep thrust at max, go try out the FAS... it's a psycho demon for movement.

 

[StiTch]

Jeez lol.

Optimal mass=the mass your thrusters can "handle". The higher your mass is in relation to your optimal mass, the more sluggish your ship will become. It's what stops you putting C4 thrusters on an iCutter - the optimal mass of the C4 thrusters is relatively low, the iCutter has a high mass, and so the C4 thrusters don't have the "optimal mass" to cope with the iCutter.

In an unengineered ship (well, realistically when you have no "optimal multiplier" stats on the thrusters), when your total mass equals your optimal mass your ship is said to be operating at the "standard" flight model. This is the point that your speed will equal the reference speed shown by FD's stats - so looking up a vulture on the wiki etc., the "speed rating" is 215 m/s. This is the speed you get when a vulture's total mass is equal to the thruster's optimal mass (worth noting this is nigh on impossible on an unengineered vulture). When your total mass = half your thrusters optimal mass, you have hit the most speed/agility you will get out of that ship without modding it.


Optimal multiplier is what it says on the tin. It's a speed/agility multiplier. Nothing really that in depth for it unless you want to start understanding every piece of the puzzle stat wise. Higher optimal multiplier roll=more zip.

Please note that typically optimal multiplier increases will trump whatever optimal mass decreases you get from a thruster mod, but on ships like the iCourier with PE thrusters where optimal mass is already really low, moving from a G3 to G5 DD mod can actually decrease the iCourier's speed/agility on even low mass builds, as the optimal mass becomes so low that the tiniest bit of mass will burden them more and more.

 

[Miko]

With Grade 5 Efficient Flushing Mechanism, you could increase the optimal mass of your toilet so that King Kong could stay round for dinner!

 

[DustyArne]

Wait, you "buy" enhanced thrusters?

Till what grade?

 

[goemon]

Wait, you "buy" enhanced thrusters?

Till what grade?

well, grade is fixed, but they come in class 2 and class 3.

@OP with normal thrusters a higher optimal multiplier will nearby always beat optimum mass. the maximum you can loose is ~4,5% speed and turn-time for max -16% optimal mass.

with enhanced performance thrusters this looks very different, though: http://imgur.com/0SfMTVc

there a 16% maximum loss on optimal mass can cost you more speed and manouverability than you gain.

 

[BoNeMacHiNe]

I’m not an expert on engineer settings, only when it is obvious... then everyone is an expert... but I use EDSY for gauging the effect of the various engineering options. For those not aware of this awesome app, you select your ship model and input all the equipment you have, and you can see the results as to damage per secon of your weaponse, power output, jump distance, etc...; you can even select the engineering mods and special effects. Thus you can see the eng effects by deleting this effect or changing them to a higher level eng mod. Type in your search EDSY or see here. https://edsy.org/

You can also balance the penalties of one mod by compensating with another mod on a different dependent system. The initial penalties are negligible, but they add up as you “engineer up” your ship.

 

[CMDR Cknarf]

Holy necro, cmdrs.

Anyway, for anyone reading this, put G5 Dirty Drives with the Drag Drives experimental on everything.

The only exception would be Dirty Drives + Drive distributors on some ships with Enhanced performance thrusters. Drag Drives is faster on a totally stripped ship with EPTs, but when you start adding guns and defenses, Drive Distributors is sometimes a better choice.