I have had a few thoughts on how a tractor beam could function in Elite Dangerous. I'll try to keep this nice and simple.
A tractor beam could function as a turreted utility mount. They would be bound to your fire groups and will lock on to your targetted material or commodity. When pressing the fire button, the material/commodity would be pulled towards either the utility mount or your cargo hold and be captured.
There are a few things to address with this idea, and balancing would be important, but I think it could work. As it is a utility mount, the location of the tractor beam would be important - you might want to take two, or choose wisely where you place them.
Like shield boosters, they would come E-A rated, differing in power draw, distributor draw (systems) and target range, perhaps.
Tractor beams would differ from collector limpets in that, unlike collector limpets where you can scoop many objects at once with multiple limpets, tractor beams can only target one at a time. They are also significantly heavier in power and distributor draw.
However, tractor beams would help pirates for example, and help with hostage rescue missions. It would also provide a new way to interact with in game objects, and make it easier for some ships to take on board cargo without wasting valuable internal modules on collector limpets. Collector limpets would still be the preferred option for mining and when peacefully scooping large numbers of materials.
Like with collector limpets, I think a speed restriction would still need to be in place to scoop objects safely using a tractor beam. It may be necessary to make the objects stronger or invincible while being pulled by the beam.
Would be good to hear what others think. This could be an interesting piece of thargoid/guardian technology, and a great addition to a multipurpose/exploration/pirate/mission board ships.
CMDR Tarka Dal
A tractor beam could function as a turreted utility mount. They would be bound to your fire groups and will lock on to your targetted material or commodity. When pressing the fire button, the material/commodity would be pulled towards either the utility mount or your cargo hold and be captured.
There are a few things to address with this idea, and balancing would be important, but I think it could work. As it is a utility mount, the location of the tractor beam would be important - you might want to take two, or choose wisely where you place them.
Like shield boosters, they would come E-A rated, differing in power draw, distributor draw (systems) and target range, perhaps.
Tractor beams would differ from collector limpets in that, unlike collector limpets where you can scoop many objects at once with multiple limpets, tractor beams can only target one at a time. They are also significantly heavier in power and distributor draw.
However, tractor beams would help pirates for example, and help with hostage rescue missions. It would also provide a new way to interact with in game objects, and make it easier for some ships to take on board cargo without wasting valuable internal modules on collector limpets. Collector limpets would still be the preferred option for mining and when peacefully scooping large numbers of materials.
Like with collector limpets, I think a speed restriction would still need to be in place to scoop objects safely using a tractor beam. It may be necessary to make the objects stronger or invincible while being pulled by the beam.
Would be good to hear what others think. This could be an interesting piece of thargoid/guardian technology, and a great addition to a multipurpose/exploration/pirate/mission board ships.
CMDR Tarka Dal
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