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Newcomer / Intro Silent Running
- Thread starter L M P
- Start date
Heat sinks
Some ships are more prone to internal heat generation than others
Some ships are more prone to internal heat generation than others
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No. Silent running means that your ship closes all heat vents to minimize its heat signature.
You can mitigate the heat buildup by switching off unnecessary modules (less power draw=less heat) but the heat will always keep creeping up in SR.
The only thing you can do to get rid of heat is to either fire a heatsink, or switch the SR off and let the ship cool down naturally.
edit. ninja'd
You can mitigate the heat buildup by switching off unnecessary modules (less power draw=less heat) but the heat will always keep creeping up in SR.
The only thing you can do to get rid of heat is to either fire a heatsink, or switch the SR off and let the ship cool down naturally.
edit. ninja'd
Usually your ship is constantly radiating more heat than it generates. This radiated heat is used by other ships to see and target you. When you go "silent running" you intentionally close your radiators and other ship can no longer see you because you are no longer radiating heat. But unfortunately the heat has nowhere else to go so it gradually builds up.
A temporary exception to that are heat sinks which suck up large quantities of heat without revealing your position but the benefit is strictly temporary and after the heat sink is spend, heat will again start to accumulate.
A temporary exception to that are heat sinks which suck up large quantities of heat without revealing your position but the benefit is strictly temporary and after the heat sink is spend, heat will again start to accumulate.
Thanks for the answers guys.
I became a criminal temporarily so I could get a laser engineer. I was using it a lot after dropping out on approach to stations and it got a little nerve-racking at times. I don't know why I didn't think to try launching a heat sink, it's such a no-brainer. Hopefully brain will be working a little better now.
Which modules should I turn off for the maximum effect?
I became a criminal temporarily so I could get a laser engineer. I was using it a lot after dropping out on approach to stations and it got a little nerve-racking at times. I don't know why I didn't think to try launching a heat sink, it's such a no-brainer. Hopefully brain will be working a little better now.
Which modules should I turn off for the maximum effect?
Is there a list or an in-game indication of what a ship is like in regsrds to heat build up/resistance?
Kind of. Every ship "idles" on different temperature. That is a good indication of its heat dissipation capability, though there are exceptions in ships which idle quite low but overheat really easily, like T7, for example.
Naturally there are other factors - combat ships have generally better cooling than haulers, every module (and especially powerplant) shifts this number up or down. I'm not even sure it would be sensible to make a real table.
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If you are trying to dodge scans forget silent running and just pop a heat sink if you see the message that a scan is in progress, if you are slow docking you may want to consider popping a second. I use it all the time, it even works in combat against players and npc's; deploying the heatsink drops your heat to zero reducing the range any ship can lock on to you to around 150 meters, in effect breaking any target locks forcing them to acquire and lock on again.
Don't use silent running, NPCs ignore it once you have been spotted. Also bounty hunters completely ignore it and are always locked on. NPCs can also fire tracking weaponary (including gimbals and missiles) at you when you use silent running.
Turrets always ignore silent running.
In PvP, emissive munitions maximizes your heat signature and you are visible and be able to be locked onto at all ranges despite you may be silent running.
You are always visible below 350m range .. this scales up with better sensors up to 800m (roughly).
TL;DR: Silent running has little to no use while having a 1000% heat generation penalty.
It's a self destruct button at best (excluding PvP, where it sometimes has a use, but rarely).
Turrets always ignore silent running.
In PvP, emissive munitions maximizes your heat signature and you are visible and be able to be locked onto at all ranges despite you may be silent running.
You are always visible below 350m range .. this scales up with better sensors up to 800m (roughly).
TL;DR: Silent running has little to no use while having a 1000% heat generation penalty.
It's a self destruct button at best (excluding PvP, where it sometimes has a use, but rarely).
Primarily those with the highest power consumption...
The downside of this is that these are, usually, theh thrusters, which you really shouldn't switch off, and the shields, which get automatically switched off.
The whole model behind SR is a bit more involved, taking in the power consumption of your modules, the heat generation of those modules and the heat efficiency of your power plant. Engineering can change all these parameters. And there's the capability of your ship to get rid of that heat, which is supposedly a fixed number (no engineers for that yet) for each ship type. If you want to build a cool ship, keep all this in mind - for most, if not all, modules are engineering paths which reduce the power consumption and/or increase the heat efficiency, and vice versa.
In effect, you can build (for example) a Krait that overheats when firing a railgun, or one that freezes over when sitting on the ground.
The best ships for cool running are the diamondbacks, hence the popularity of the DBX for smuggling.
You need thrusters (but you can reduce their emissions by staying below 100m/s and using Flight Assist Off), you need sensors to request docking, and you need life-support to keep breathing (though some hardcore pilots rely on emergency oxygen for that). It's also a good idea to keep at least one heatsink launcher powered. You can switch everything else off, especially shields (my DBX doesn't carry them), and the frameshift drive after you've dropped out of supercruise.
If you get a "scan detected" message, try engaging silent running then, and firing a heatsink. That tends to break the scan. Once your temperature has dropped, you can disengage silent running again to reduce the rate of heat buildup.
You need thrusters (but you can reduce their emissions by staying below 100m/s and using Flight Assist Off), you need sensors to request docking, and you need life-support to keep breathing (though some hardcore pilots rely on emergency oxygen for that). It's also a good idea to keep at least one heatsink launcher powered. You can switch everything else off, especially shields (my DBX doesn't carry them), and the frameshift drive after you've dropped out of supercruise.
If you get a "scan detected" message, try engaging silent running then, and firing a heatsink. That tends to break the scan. Once your temperature has dropped, you can disengage silent running again to reduce the rate of heat buildup.
I'd just like to add to this.
Ship scanner has "minimal resolution distance" which is, if I remember correctly, about 300 meters. That means that the scanner is able to identify and target a ship within that range even if said ship uses silent running.
That means that if you're using SR to sneak into the stations, even better than SR itself works learning to read the scanner properly (you can very easily learn to estimate a position, direction and distance of any ship on the scanner) and actively avoid cops. When you screw up and a cops starts to scan you then, like Nadreck said, pop a heat sink and engage SR. That, if you are farther from the cop than their minimal resolution distance, will break contact and interrupt the scan.
Speed and situational awareness are smuggler's best friends. SR is fun but won't save you if you're flying wrong.
You are quite right.
I've got a Krait that is setup to run about as cold as it's possible to go with decent weapons. It doesn't use shields. It normally runs at about 12% heat. I've been using it for smuggling, assassinations and salvage. Since it can, I'm using silent running whenever I'm around NPCs - more for roleplaying and some testing. NPCs pretty much ignore the silent running during combat. Mission generated NPCs will drop in and attack instantly. Pirates still try and scan - though they need to get real close to do it.
Certainly is. My Krait, mentioned above, runs as low as 12%. But my DBS runs at 10% with shields - it even has ice on the windows.
My first experience with silent running.
Fairly new to the game i had just upgraded from the Cobra Mk3 to the Vulture. I toggled around with internal slots somewhat not having a clue what i was doing. Feeling satisfied i launched from the station and as i left the port i must have accidentally turned on silent running not knowing it was a thing. I watched as i started to overheat immediately assuming i had messed up some sort of internal modules that were somehow incompatible. I tried to U-turn back to the port to change the modules but exploded in my brand new Vulture.
That was the first time i ever used the vulture... I just sat and stared at the screen as the rebuy cost at the time cleaned me out. And in the panic of the dashboard smoking i never even noticed the silent running words in red.
I resorted to googling 'why did my ship explode?'
Lesson learned.
Fairly new to the game i had just upgraded from the Cobra Mk3 to the Vulture. I toggled around with internal slots somewhat not having a clue what i was doing. Feeling satisfied i launched from the station and as i left the port i must have accidentally turned on silent running not knowing it was a thing. I watched as i started to overheat immediately assuming i had messed up some sort of internal modules that were somehow incompatible. I tried to U-turn back to the port to change the modules but exploded in my brand new Vulture.
That was the first time i ever used the vulture... I just sat and stared at the screen as the rebuy cost at the time cleaned me out. And in the panic of the dashboard smoking i never even noticed the silent running words in red.
I resorted to googling 'why did my ship explode?'
Lesson learned.
Classic. [big grin]
or just unbind eject cargo as I see no use for it.