Newcomer / Intro Powerplant Sniping

[ITZC0ATL]

Hi all,

Quick question on sniping - I've seen that targetting powerplant (or various other modules) is a good way to get an enemy ship down quicker than just blasting the hull, but every time I come up against a tougher ship and target the powerplant, I still seem to take out the hull before there is any real dent made in the powerplant.

Is there a particular trick to sniping powerplant? I usually use lasers (have tried pulse and beam) and have also tried multicannons. I've tried doing it in smaller ships like my Courier and larger like my Clipper, and tried doing it against larger or smaller ships - but always the hull pops first.

Am I missing something obvious?

HAL- 9000

 

[through the hole backwards]

If the hull pops first then you have achieved the desired effect , why worry about what has caused it ?

But , I have only found this method to be effective against very large ships , beams are fairly pointless for hull damage so I target PP with multi cannons and fire away , given my style ( tanked , stand and shoot , anaconda and mouse and keyboard) my targets are usually moving, therefore to be able to focus weapons on one specific area of a target is often impossible , so whilst locked on the opponents PP I am not often hitting it . On the few occasions I have been able to focus fire on the PP and retain fire on it , the opponents demise has been very rapid . So I guess if you can hit it and keep hitting it, it is a far swifter method than hull only.

 

[Winterwalker]

I'm no expert here but I do believe different weapons provide different levels of penetration into modules, rail guns are effective for instance though you do have to be a good shot, and hit the module hitbox directly. Turret/gimbals might also help there (by being less penetrative but more accurate).

There's a thread here might give you some more info;
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...oy-sub-systems-without-killing-the-whole-ship

 

[goemon]

generally speaking the position from where you target a powerplant, and where it is placed in the enemies ship plays a large role in this. easy to check with a t9. if you are sitting above it, facing down 90 degree, its powerplant will pop much earlier than its hull. if you are trying to shoot the powerplant from front or behind, your lasers/bullets have ~50 meters of ship to damage before hitting the powerplant.

there are ships with "exposed" powerplants - the python for exampel, and other with powerplants very hard to hit at all.

 

[goemon]

I'm no expert here but I do believe different weapons provide different levels of penetration into modules, rail guns are effective for instance though you do have to be a good shot, and hit the module hitbox directly. Turret/gimbals might also help there (by being less penetrative but more accurate).

There's a thread here might give you some more info;
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...oy-sub-systems-without-killing-the-whole-ship

pulses, bursts, and cannons excell in shooting out powerplants - and gimbals help with it, at least if you are like me (not really great with fixed weapons, and even worse with railguns ---). on the other hand a beam pops a ship faster after shooting out powerplants for producing much more hits per seconds (something around 1 every 200 ms), and therefor more "rolls" per second for a critical failure - the explosion. on my DBS, which has only a good chance to bring down large ships in reasonable time by killing powerplants, i use a medium beam and 2 small cannons for this (and a MC mainly for other targets and corrosive special effect)

 

[ITZC0ATL]

If the hull pops first then you have achieved the desired effect , why worry about what has caused it ?

To toy with my food before I eat it?

Ok, so good points about checking for physical placement on the ships and about it being mainly for larger ships. I've been thinking about throwing a seeker missile rack onto one of my ships to try this out, are missiles useful for damaging modules?

 

[StiTch]

Ah, the early stages in learning to module subtarget. So proud, much learning, wow

Pick up the iCourier, fit with one gimballed lazor of your choosing and two gimballed cannons. Pick a target such as conda, subtarget PP or whatever makes sense, use vertical thrusting to keep you roughly above and pointing towards the foe. Get in close range to do so, pop chaff and escape when they get fire on you.

Bigger ships are easier to practise on. It's worth noting the real discrepancies between weapons start to matter here - it's been mentioned there are penetration values etc. in play. When I started out I spend days looking up the differences between MCs/cannons over the forum, read at least six billion posts from idiots saying "well cannons have a slower fire rate so take that into account and basically use whatever you want", then tried them out and in 10 minutes had gauged their use.

MCs=hull shredders. Cannons=subsystem annihilators (and a little more in PvP if used correctly). Just make sure you're in close enough so the target movement doesn't move the subsystem out the way of the shot in time and keep on yer toes.

- - - Updated - - -

If the hull pops first then you have achieved the desired effect , why worry about what has caused it ?

For the same reason you fought like an idiot your first few fights compared to now...not for effect, but to get better.

Subsystem targeting is invaluable once developed. A core combat skill in all forms.

 

[CMDR Mr. Boombastic]

Generally speaking thermal weapons (like lasers) are more effective against shields and kinetic weapons (like multicannons) are more effective against hull/modules once the shields are down.

To hit the powerplant you need to be facing the opponent at the correct angle for a direct hit, e.g. the Anaconda's powerplant is on the underside, so if you are firing on the Anaconda from above you will not hit the powerplant.

Fixed railguns are an exception as they are both a thermal and kinetic weapon and can penetrate the hull and damage modules even if you hit your opponent from the opposite side from where the powerplant is fitted.

EDIT: Ninja'd by goemon.

 

[StiTch]

To hit the powerplant you need to be facing the opponent at the correct angle for a direct hit, e.g. the Anaconda's powerplant is on the underside, so if you are firing on the Anaconda from above you will not hit the powerplant.

Can confirm this is false information.

Based on the weapon being used and the ship being attacked, the weapon can "penetrate" further into each ship if it passes the penetration test. I will hammer 'conda PPs/distributors from above or below using cannons with zero sweat.

The angle you are at is very relevant for efficient sniping, but with high penetration weapons you should be able to hit more or less anything from either side given a direct shot. It's worth noting rails have an unlimited penetration and will damage any module in its path, and with the "super penetrator" effect will damage all modules in the shot's path simultaneously.

Source: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...ussion-with-Mark-Allen-on-damage-and-defenses

Spoiler

5) If the shot has penetrated and not hit an external module we need to know how far it went into the guts of the ship. Each ship defines a standard penetration depth (usually 75% of its height), which is then modified up and down by weapons. Aside from the ever-powerful railgun which will go all the way through any ship currently in-game (but still can't hit a second ship!).
In the current live build (1.3.07) there's a bug where this penetration distance is much larger than intended, which has been fixed internally for 1.4.

 

[through the hole backwards]

Ah, the early stages in learning to module subtarget. So proud, much learning, wow

Pick up the iCourier, fit with one gimballed lazor of your choosing and two gimballed cannons. Pick a target such as conda, subtarget PP or whatever makes sense, use vertical thrusting to keep you roughly above and pointing towards the foe. Get in close range to do so, pop chaff and escape when they get fire on you.

Bigger ships are easier to practise on. It's worth noting the real discrepancies between weapons start to matter here - it's been mentioned there are penetration values etc. in play. When I started out I spend days looking up the differences between MCs/cannons over the forum, read at least six billion posts from idiots saying "well cannons have a slower fire rate so take that into account and basically use whatever you want", then tried them out and in 10 minutes had gauged their use.

MCs=hull shredders. Cannons=subsystem annihilators (and a little more in PvP if used correctly). Just make sure you're in close enough so the target movement doesn't move the subsystem out the way of the shot in time and keep on yer toes.

- - - Updated - - -



For the same reason you fought like an idiot your first few fights compared to now...not for effect, but to get better.

Subsystem targeting is invaluable once developed. A core combat skill in all forms.

Never fought like an idiot although I have fought many

 

[CMDR Mr. Boombastic]

Based on the weapon being used and the ship being attacked, the weapon can "penetrate" further into each ship if it passes the penetration test. I will hammer 'conda PPs/distributors from above or below using cannons with zero sweat.

Thats why I started the post with 'generally speaking', and did add the railgun exception but didn't go through every weapon.

 

[d8veh]

It's very difficult to kill the power plants now with anything less than a Vulture. I used to be able to take out Anacondas with a Sidewinder, but not anymore. A Viper also used to be pretty handy at sniping the PP on Gunships, Dropships, Pythons and Anacondas, but it hardly ever happens now.

Basically, you have to shoot the ship at right-angles. Use your vertical thrusters to hold yourself in that position as long as you can. All the big ships have mastered the backwards slide. While they're pointing at you, you can't get a shot at the PP. The best you can do is try and get on their flank, which makes them fly past you, thus exposing their PP. I made this Video about using the Vulture in the Haz RES. I show examples of how to get the PP. I think that there's a few other useful tips in there, but if you can't be bothered to watch the whole thing, look at 7:45, 14:00, 18.00, 28:30, 36:30, 41:20.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch85vZBsDKw

 

[JetsonRING]

Hi all,

Quick question on sniping - I've seen that targetting powerplant (or various other modules) is a good way to get an enemy ship down quicker than just blasting the hull, but every time I come up against a tougher ship and target the powerplant, I still seem to take out the hull before there is any real dent made in the powerplant.

Is there a particular trick to sniping powerplant? I usually use lasers (have tried pulse and beam) and have also tried multicannons. I've tried doing it in smaller ships like my Courier and larger like my Clipper, and tried doing it against larger or smaller ships - but always the hull pops first.

Am I missing something obvious?

HAL- 9000

All you are setting in the sub-contacts panel is the point-of-aim of your weapons, your weapons still have to chew through a shield and the hull between your weapons and the power-plant. The reason targeting the power-plant sub-contact helps kill ships quicker is all your shots are targeted on a single point on the hull (over the power-plant) instead of spread out all over the shields/hull as they are when only your opponent's ship is selected as the target. Also, if you disable your opponent's power-plant their ship becomes helpless and unable to maneuver, basically rolling onto their back and waiting for the knife.

 

[ITZC0ATL]

Thanks for all the replies, folks!

I also have a question about finding where to practise - I find in a regular RES (LOW to HIGH) there are simply too much NPC police helping out to have proper fun, but I find HAZRES just a bit too tough currently. Where are the best places to hone combat skills and have a proper 1v1 encounter with NPC ships other than Elite Condas?

 

[d8veh]

You should be OK with a Vulture in a haz RES. Make sure you have at least two module reinforcements.If you watch my video that I indicated above, you can see how to do it. Everything is explained about how to survive. You don't really need any skill. You just need the knowhow. There's a previous video on how to fit it out.

 

[newman1702]

This is the beautiful thing about the Corvette; double huge PA shots straight into the pp, and watch an Anaconda die with 80% hull left

 

[Rob_the_Sparky]

Haz Res are not hard if you do not carry cargo, have bounty on you and are careful with your target choice (and are not hostile with any faction). In this case only the ship you target will attack you so you can scan through all targets available until you find one you feel OK to attack (ensuring you check rank as well as ship size and whether or not they are in a wing). You can then pick your target and have fun.
.
Attack a wing or let stray shots hit other ships and I can get messy but with a little time you will find them no problem.

 

[Achilles7]

Just to throw this into the mix - module sniping with gimbals shouldn't exist...it's too easy! Well, for more experienced players, anyway! Perhaps at combat rank 'Master', this feature should be disabled...Oh, I'd better put this...IMHO!

Top tip - Save ammo on your m/cs when farming NPCs by ramming them to get their shields down, then destroying the power plant in a few seconds!

With fixed weapons, sniping is a lot harder; the only ship I can take down easily by targeting modules with fixed m/cs, is the Conda!..but then again, I'm not that good!