Side effects of weapon special effects: complete table

EDIT 25 January 2018: BETA 3.0 CHANGES INCOMING

All please note that the side-effects of weapon specials are likely to be altered by ED 3.0.

From today's Patch Notes for Beta 3.0 (v1):

Modifications to existing specials

  • Autoloader rate increased 25%
  • Force Shell no longer scatters
  • Plasma Slug damage penalty reduced from 20% to 10%
  • Radiant Canister no longer reduces ammo capacity (was 25% penalty)
  • Shiftlock Canister no longer reduces damage (was 20% Penalty)
  • Thermal Conduit no longer includes a base damage penalty, but the damage bonuses from the firing ship's heat have been reduced to offset this
  • Thermal Vent effectiveness doubled, and no longer increases weapon's baseline heat (was 25% penalty)
  • Thermal Shock damage penalty reduced from 20% to 10%
I'll get around to updating the table below once we know the final position.

========================================================

Dear All,

I have compiled the following table from data gathered in Beta 2.2.03, version 2, on 13 December 2016. So far as I am aware it is accurate for Live 2.2.03.

SPECIALWEAPONSDPSTHERMAL
LOAD
OTHER
Auto LoaderCannon, Multi---
Concordant SequenceBeam, Burst, Pulse-+50%-
Corrosive ShellFrag, Multi---20% ammo
Dazzle ShellFrag, Plasma---
Dispersal FieldCannon, Plasma---
Drag MunitionsFrag, Missile
(Seekers only)
---
Emissive MunitionsMine, Missile,
Multi, Pulse
-+100%-
Feedback CascadeRail-20%--20% breach damage
Force ShellCannon--Shot speed -16.7%
Jitter +1.0
High Yield ShellCannon-10%-(RoF -10%)
Incendiary RoundsFrag, Multi-5%+200%(RoF -5%)
Inertial ImpactBurst+50%-Jitter +3.0
Ion DisruptionMine---
Mass Lock MunitionsTorpedo---
Overload MunitionsMine, Missile---
Penetrator MunitionsMissile (Dumbfire only)
Torpedo
---
Penetrator PayloadTorpedo---
Phasing SequenceBurst, Plasma, Pulse-10%--
Plasma SlugPlasma, Rail-20%--
Radiant CanisterMine---25% ammo
Regeneration SequenceBeam-10%--
Reverberating CascadeMine, Torpedo---
Scramble SpectrumBurst, Pulse-7.5%-(RoF -7.5%)
Screening ShellFrag---50% reload time
Shift-Lock CanisterMine-20%--
Smart RoundsCannon, Multi---
Super PenetratorRail--+50% reload time
Target Lock BreakerPlasma---
Thermal CascadeCannon, Missiles---
Thermal ConduitBeam, Plasma-20%--
Thermal ShockBeam, Burst,
Multi, Pulse
-20%--
Thermal VentBeam-+25%-
SPECIALWEAPONSDPSTHERMAL
LOAD
OTHER


Note that for some weapons, where DPS is reduced I have also noted that Rate of Fire ('RoF') is reduced, in brackets. In these instances the DPS reduction is the consequence of the RoF reduction - the two are not cumulative.

I always welcome comments and corrections when I put up data, but perhaps most particularly so here - it's easy to miss a side effect of a special, which are often neither flagged by the description nor obvious. So please do let me know if you spot something.

I hope that this is of use and see you in the black!

o7


TRUESILVER


P.S.

If you like data tables, by all means also check out these threads:

Official FDev Damage Stats for Every Weapon

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/246086-Official-FDev-Damage-Stats-for-Every-Weapon

Max Speed, Boost, Pitch, Roll & Yaw for Every Ship in Game

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...aw-for-Every-Ship-in-Game-Official-FDev-Stats

(N.B. Both the above require updating for 2.2.03. For the weapons, this will all be done in the next few days. For the manoeuvrability, the only change will be to the Viper III.)
 
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Good work compiling this, most of this information isn't particularly clear from the in-game descriptions (sometimes the in-game descriptions don't even mention the side effects).

One little request though, would it be possible to get an extra column for "visual effect"? I know most of the weapon mods change colours and add extra visuals to the shots, and some players might find it nice to know.
 
good job

I though the thermal shock side effect was reduced to 10% recently...but i have wrong.

I don't understand why there are here in first place.

Why plasma slug has side effect, and target lock breaker don't ?...
 
One little request though, would it be possible to get an extra column for "visual effect"? I know most of the weapon mods change colours and add extra visuals to the shots, and some players might find it nice to know.

Ha ha - yes, a visual effect column would be fun. Apart from knowing what you will get from your own point of view, it can be quite useful to know in PvP, particularly in wings (e.g. spotting healing, or when the attack is not directed at you).

I'm afraid it will now have to wait for another Beta, though ... although one point that occurs to me is that when Frontier introduced the weapon colours DLC, people pointed out that it would prevent Cmdrs being able to spot other's effects as easily.

Does anyone know what happened about that? Iirc there is an option to turn off weapon colours but do they turn off your own as well?
 
So Thermal Conduit and Inci rounds reduce your DPS? Still Thermal Conduit? Why? It says increased damage in the description :|
 
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So Thermal Conduit and Inci rounds reduce your DPS? Still Thermal Conduit? Why? It says increased damage in the description :|

Hi Crimson,

Yes, incendiary is exactly as per the Mark Allen discussion and Patch Notes for the first 2.2 release. It remains now as it was nerfed then.

Concerning Thermal Conduit, I suppose the question is at what temperature the increased damage kicks in? I mean, if the -20% applies at 0% temperature and it increases from there, at normal temperatures, DPS would be normal...?
 
Hi Crimson,

Yes, incendiary is exactly as per the Mark Allen discussion and Patch Notes for the first 2.2 release. It remains now as it was nerfed then.

Concerning Thermal Conduit, I suppose the question is at what temperature the increased damage kicks in? I mean, if the -20% applies at 0% temperature and it increases from there, at normal temperatures, DPS would be normal...?

According to AA it STARTS at 75% heat to no longer decrease but increase the damage, which is rather high.
 
According to AA it STARTS at 75% heat to no longer decrease but increase the damage, which is rather high.

Ah, OK, in that case it must be at -20% up to at least 50% heat, I'm guessing.

I'm meaning to get back on AA Discord again to say hello to my old buddies and do some winged combat, so hope 2cya there!
 
Any hard info on what the percentages involved are for incendiary rounds? I'm trying to dig on my own but am coming up empty....
 
just made a g4 double frag with screening shell . Nasty stuff this extra reload speed.

Also if you want to put in the list this is super effective to be used as a "" point defence ""
 
Thanks all for the kind words!

Any hard info on what the percentages involved are for incendiary rounds? I'm trying to dig on my own but am coming up empty....

You can find it in Mark Allen's post history back at the original 2.2 Beta.

Iirc incendiary converts the multi/frag round from 100% kinetic to 95% thermal. The 'missing' 5% is lost.

Basically in their first incarnation they went from 100% kinetic to 100% thermal plus 20% kinetic, making a total of 120% and being rather OP.

Their main utility in their nerfed 95% thermal incarnation is as a PvE shield stripper. In serious PvP they are pretty much a straight downgrade as most apex PvP builds have higher thermal than kinetic shield resistances.

How long does the Dispersal Field effect last? And is it like the chaff effect?

In Beta 2.2.03 I tested with my long term Beta partner, Cmdr Nes Torb (to whom, thanks as ever).

We noted a 5 second chaff effect, followed by a 5 second impervious cooldown, in a continuous binary cycle.

In other words, if you are able to shoot your enemy continuously with your dispersal weapon, you will achieve 50% protection, rather like single chaff, but with a 5-5 second cycle rather than a 10-10 second cycle. (Though the advantage, via synth, of effectively infinite ammo.)

Truesilver's Top Tip: it's worth noting that dispersal and chaff function very differently in or against wings. Chaff protects one ship against all. Dispersal protects all ships against one. If you are flying alone, dispersal will not protect you against a gank. Conversely, if you outnumber the enemy, just one dispersal weapon can protect the whole wing.
 
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You can find it in Mark Allen's post history back at the original 2.2 Beta.

Iirc incendiary converts the multi/frag round from 100% kinetic to 95% thermal. The 'missing' 5% is lost.

Basically in their first incarnation they went from 100% kinetic to 100% thermal plus 20% kinetic, making a total of 120% and being rather OP.

Their main utility in their nerfed 95% thermal incarnation is as a PvE shield stripper. In serious PvP they are pretty much a straight downgrade as most apex PvP builds have higher thermal than kinetic shield resistances.

Thanks very much for this! I could've sworn I saw the info before somewhere, but not only did you remind me, you also saved me the trouble of sifting through Mark's posts. Shame that nobody's bothered to throw it on a wiki or somesuch yet....

Guess I'll just go for the Autoloader special effect for my 'Vette design, then. (I've got lasers to benefit from the "Emissive" effect, and Corrosive's benefit seems superfluous for a pair of huge MCs - would prefer to not lose ammo capacity, too.)
 
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Thanks for doing this.

Scramble Spectrum's DPS loss is due to RoF:
GKYav9.jpg
 
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