People are often confused as to whether or not guardian hull reinforcements are worth using.
The answer is, it varies. But you can calculate the point at which they become worth it relatively easily.
Take the class 5. It gives 488 hull and 5% caustic resistance. By comparison, the class 5 human, fully engineered, gives 738. That's a difference of exactly 250 hull. So, in order to provide more than the human version, the TOTAL hull of the ship in question must be such that 5% is more than 250.
This is convenient, because the way resistance stacking diminishes means that each additional 5% of resistance provides the exact same amount of effective health. I tested this in Coriolis; if you put the hull of a ship at exactly 4512(5000-488 from the GHRP), a human HRP provides 5250 total hull, while the c5 guardian HRP provides 5263.
In other words, the math checks out, with some small amount of error. I'll get to that briefly, but it shouldn't significantly disturb the calculations. Using this, we can fairly simply calculate the hull value required for each particular GHRP to be worth using.
To translate; If your absolute hull value is at the bolded value, then you can use the GHRP and gain more value than by using an engineered human HRP. Note that these values are slightly inaccurate, because resistances don't quite work like this. 5000 hull with 5% resistance doesn't exactly equal 5250 effective hull, it equals 5,263.16. The precise value of the balance point would be more like 4988. But these are close enough for ballpark estimates.
An important aspect to consider, however, is whether or not repair limpets are to be used. These effectively add directly to the total absolute health pool, and since these are multiplied just like any other health, you can essentially consider them part of your original health pool. So, for example, if you had 2700 health but planned to use a single class 5 repair limpet worth 310 repairs, you would still be better off using the class 3 GHRP than the class 3 HHRP. Likewise, if you had 4050 health but planned to repair using a single class 7 repair limpet worth 450 health, you would be better off using a class 5 GHRP than a class 5 HHRP.
A few final notes:
1. This is ignoring swarm missile damage, which seem to ignore caustic resistance.
2. These modules DO take power, so that's something to keep in mind when building your ship.
3. The BEST stats can be achieved by using ALL guardian hull reinforcements, so long as the total absolute hull value goes over the listed amounts.
4. If that's not possible, you should always swap out the smallest possible hull reinforcements first. Given the above values, there are very few ships that won't benefit from the C1 and C2 modules at least.
Final Note - Meta Alloy Hull Reinforcements
The same exact calculations can be applied to Meta Alloy Hull Reinforcements, but given their much worse stats, the numbers don't play out anywhere near as conveniently.
For contrast, the C1 Meta Alloy Hull Reinforcement requires a hull value of 3633 to be worth swapping out, which can be compared to the C3 Guardian Hull Reinforcement.
And the C5 Meta Alloy HRP requires an absurd 12900 absolute hull before it becomes efficient. Even a t10 with pure hull reinforcements cannot reach this number, so there is no possible scenario in which the C5 MAHRP is ever worth using.
Something to take note of, fdev?
The answer is, it varies. But you can calculate the point at which they become worth it relatively easily.
Take the class 5. It gives 488 hull and 5% caustic resistance. By comparison, the class 5 human, fully engineered, gives 738. That's a difference of exactly 250 hull. So, in order to provide more than the human version, the TOTAL hull of the ship in question must be such that 5% is more than 250.
This is convenient, because the way resistance stacking diminishes means that each additional 5% of resistance provides the exact same amount of effective health. I tested this in Coriolis; if you put the hull of a ship at exactly 4512(5000-488 from the GHRP), a human HRP provides 5250 total hull, while the c5 guardian HRP provides 5263.
In other words, the math checks out, with some small amount of error. I'll get to that briefly, but it shouldn't significantly disturb the calculations. Using this, we can fairly simply calculate the hull value required for each particular GHRP to be worth using.
| Class | Difference | Balance Point | Required Absolute Hull Value(IE, Balance point minus GHRP hull bonus) |
| C5 | 250 | 5000 hull | 4500 hull |
| C4 | 211 | 4220 hull | 3800 hull |
| C3 | 167 | 3340 hull | 3000 hull |
| C2 | 121 | 2420 hull | 2150 hull |
| C1 | 70 | 1400 hull | 1250 hull |
To translate; If your absolute hull value is at the bolded value, then you can use the GHRP and gain more value than by using an engineered human HRP. Note that these values are slightly inaccurate, because resistances don't quite work like this. 5000 hull with 5% resistance doesn't exactly equal 5250 effective hull, it equals 5,263.16. The precise value of the balance point would be more like 4988. But these are close enough for ballpark estimates.
An important aspect to consider, however, is whether or not repair limpets are to be used. These effectively add directly to the total absolute health pool, and since these are multiplied just like any other health, you can essentially consider them part of your original health pool. So, for example, if you had 2700 health but planned to use a single class 5 repair limpet worth 310 repairs, you would still be better off using the class 3 GHRP than the class 3 HHRP. Likewise, if you had 4050 health but planned to repair using a single class 7 repair limpet worth 450 health, you would be better off using a class 5 GHRP than a class 5 HHRP.
A few final notes:
1. This is ignoring swarm missile damage, which seem to ignore caustic resistance.
2. These modules DO take power, so that's something to keep in mind when building your ship.
3. The BEST stats can be achieved by using ALL guardian hull reinforcements, so long as the total absolute hull value goes over the listed amounts.
4. If that's not possible, you should always swap out the smallest possible hull reinforcements first. Given the above values, there are very few ships that won't benefit from the C1 and C2 modules at least.
Final Note - Meta Alloy Hull Reinforcements
The same exact calculations can be applied to Meta Alloy Hull Reinforcements, but given their much worse stats, the numbers don't play out anywhere near as conveniently.
For contrast, the C1 Meta Alloy Hull Reinforcement requires a hull value of 3633 to be worth swapping out, which can be compared to the C3 Guardian Hull Reinforcement.
And the C5 Meta Alloy HRP requires an absurd 12900 absolute hull before it becomes efficient. Even a t10 with pure hull reinforcements cannot reach this number, so there is no possible scenario in which the C5 MAHRP is ever worth using.
Something to take note of, fdev?
Last edited:
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