Newcomer / Intro Trying to understand thrusters. pricing and class

Saiper · Apr 30, 2015

Hi.

I'm in the process of kitting out a vulture. I was looking through the various options for thrusters with a view to doing a bit of power saving, when I noticed the following - A4 thrusters are 1.6mil, whereas C5 thrusters are just under 600k. i was lead to understand that class 5 is better than 4, so why the price difference? Which of the two would be considered the best? Sorry if this sounds like a rather silly question.

Thanks
Saiper.

Naz Nara · Apr 30, 2015

The Vulture really doesn't have any mass to speak of. I'm no expert, but I feel that E5 thrusters are the way to go. They're better than A4 and a lot cheaper. Anything better in Class 5 is just wasted credits unless you want to opt for D5 to gain jump distance. You really need to conserve power for other modules.

HipToss · Apr 30, 2015

You can purchase them and test them individually. Selling them back, you take no loss. Best way to test them out IMO.

Feldspar · Apr 30, 2015

C5 thrusters are better and cheaper than A4 thrusters, when outfitting a Vulture you wouldn't look at the A4. However, outfit a Cobra and you can't fit class 5 thrusters.

A class modules are the best you can get for that size, for that you pay a premium (typically 3 times the price of B class modules). Typically, you don't want to look at undersized components unless you are looking at weight savings.

Sapient6 · Apr 30, 2015

Rather than thinking of class 5 as being "better" than class 4, think of class 5 as being Bigger than class 4. So those C5 thrusters are for a bigger ship than the A4, but they aren't top-end quality in their class. It makes sense for A4 to be more expensive than C5 if you consider that when outfitting a ship that only takes up to class 4 thrusters, A4 thrusters are the best available.

Saiper · Apr 30, 2015

Thanks for the info. Makes sense now. I've settled for some D5 thrusters, which when tested against the others available, seem to offer a good combo of speed, maneuverability and power saving benefits that have allowed me to increase my FSD range.

Cheers
Saiper

cmdr lowest · Apr 30, 2015

Sapient6 said:
Rather than thinking of class 5 as being "better" than class 4, think of class 5 as being Bigger than class 4. So those C5 thrusters are for a bigger ship than the A4, but they aren't top-end quality in their class. It makes sense for A4 to be more expensive than C5 if you consider that when outfitting a ship that only takes up to class 4 thrusters, A4 thrusters are the best available.

this is dead right.

the class of the component relates to the size. so it's like removing the engine from a land rover discovery and replacing with the engine from a Ford Ka. It might be the very best Ford Ka engine on the market but it isn't going to drive a land rover as that is a much bigger, heavier vehicle.

Same goes for all internal modules/compartments. Higher class cargo = more space : larger class of fuel scoop = scooping LOADS more fuel, quicker etc.

Naz Nara · Apr 30, 2015

Relating to the comment above, I put an A4 fuel scoop in my Vulture. It reloads so fast, so awesome!

the100thmonkey · May 1, 2015

Rather than skimp on the thrusters, pop in C class sensors. The loss in range is less important, in my opinion, than the loss in speed. When you're RES farming you need to use your eyeballs a lot anyway, as the exchanges of fire that often alert you to the presence of a big snake in the site would be outside the range of even A grade sensors. Covering the distance to the furball is quicker with A5 thrusters.

If you're outfitting for PvP, speed is even more important.

And outfitting the Vulture for jump range is like outfitting a T6 for combat. Sure, you can do it, but why would you want to?

Sapient6 · May 1, 2015

Saiper said:
Thanks for the info. Makes sense now. I've settled for some D5 thrusters, which when tested against the others available, seem to offer a good combo of speed, maneuverability and power saving benefits that have allowed me to increase my FSD range.

Cheers
Saiper

If you haven't already, look into module priorities. Using then you should be able to fit a better FSD because that module doesn't need to be powered when your weapons are deployed.