Engineers What railgun mod to use?

[Aaronjw]

I've been wanting to give a pure railgun build a go for a bit of fun, and I think I'm gonna go with a DBS as I've read it has the best heat management of a ship its size, and is also quite nimble.

Obviously I want four Plasma Slug railguns as the total ammo capacity for rails is frankly ludicrously low (seriously, railgun ammo is just chunks of metal being thrown at other ships REALLY REALLY FAST. There's no reason for the expense and the low ammo capacity, especially considering the much higher capacity of PA ammunition). But I'm not sure which mod to go with to maximize damage, especially to offset the damage lost with the plasma slug effect.

My first thought would be short range blaster, since long shots are tough to make with rails anyway. But I've seen the argument that in fact, the shorter range means that damage drop-off occurs sooner, actually leading to generally lower damage than without short range blaster. Following from that, I've read that Long Range Weapon will be the better choice for damage, as it makes the falloff happen much later. Does anyone know for sure what the deal is here?

Alternatively, perhaps Sturdy Mount might be the best way to go? Will the armor piercing effect be worth the much increased mass?

Any thoughts on the subject would be much appreciated.

 

[Lupin]

Have 2 Imperial Hammer Rail Gun on Python with Super Penetrator and longer range.
"Super Penetrator
Experimental munitions that are capable of penetrating and damaging all modules along its trajectory, at the cost of increased reload times."

Great fun special when NPC turn tail and run. Results of Super Penetrator at work on NPC easy to see.

 

[Zeeman]

Have 2 Imperial Hammer Rail Gun on Python with Super Penetrator and longer range.
"Super Penetrator
Experimental munitions that are capable of penetrating and damaging all modules along its trajectory, at the cost of increased reload times."

Great fun special when NPC turn tail and run. Results of Super Penetrator at work on NPC easy to see.

Sounds like something one would find in a toy store...

Z...

 

[StiTch]

It's inevitably gonna be lightweight on a DBS bud. Too many drawbacks on other mods for the rails.

 

[Lowe1978]

On my Courier I run a single lightweight feedback cascade rail to help stop SCB spamming.

 

[Aaronjw]

I'll probably stick with Plasma Slug, rather than feedback cascade or super penetrator (giggity); the low ammo capacity just really won't do it for me I don't think. Although, if I kept my materials for high velocity rounds synthesis stocked up, that might could be managed...

It's inevitably gonna be lightweight on a DBS bud. Too many drawbacks on other mods for the rails.

Are long range and short range are both that bad?

 

[UnhappyDev]

I'll probably stick with Plasma Slug, rather than feedback cascade or super penetrator (giggity); the low ammo capacity just really won't do it for me I don't think. Although, if I kept my materials for high velocity rounds synthesis stocked up, that might could be managed...

You might want to hold off until after the patch; I think railgun ammo is getting an increase?

I've used plasma slug on railguns and was quite underwhelmed - that 20% damage reduction really does suck.

 

[Aaronjw]

You might want to hold off until after the patch; I think railgun ammo is getting an increase?

I've used plasma slug on railguns and was quite underwhelmed - that 20% damage reduction really does suck.

That's a good point. I went and read through the beta patch notes, and it looks like short range blaster is getting a buff as well: bigger damage increase, as well as removing the damage falloff (well, leaving it the same as a stock railgun, anyway). So that might be the way to go.

I actually already have a couple of medium rails with short range blaster and plasma slug that I used to use on my Python, but I've switched to PAs there which I prefer. I figure I'll throw those two on the DBS when I get around to building it, at least to start off with. I'm considering maybe using the two small hardpoints for small rails with high capacity magazine and feedback cascade. I will probably wait till after the patch to do much in the way of modding though.

Anyway, all that has to wait for a bit; I'm trying to rank up Sirius Corp to get in with Qwent, and I've already collected 24 modular terminals so I can be ready. Which, since there's no engineer commodity storage yet, means that I'm terrified of dying and losing all those terminals, so I'm hiding behind my Python's G5 shield generator and four G5 shield boosters until I can be rid of them!

 

[ConfusedRaccoon]

Might be a bit late now, but from my understanding, Plasma slug on a small ship is a bit risky as 30 shots will cost you ~ 1 tonne of fuel. Having 2 or 4 rails with plasma slug would eat through your fuel surprisingly quickly. Plus the, what is it, 20%? damage reduction is pure dingle berry. I'd stick with super penetrator if you're going for maximum damage, and if you can deal with the huge heat increase, short range. That will also aid you as a bigger target = easier shots. Feedback cascade has some nice utility but now that it doesn't insta-gib the shield it's a bit meh. Also if you're still planning on using a DBS, go lightweight. The lighter the better with that ship. Also consider clean drives + efficient power plant for even more chilly goodness and prolonged rail gun PEWPEW without cooking.

 

[Elyssaen]

My first thought would be short range blaster, since long shots are tough to make with rails anyway. But I've seen the argument that in fact, the shorter range means that damage drop-off occurs sooner, actually leading to generally lower damage than without short range blaster. Following from that, I've read that Long Range Weapon will be the better choice for damage, as it makes the falloff happen much later. Does anyone know for sure what the deal is here?

Alternatively, perhaps Sturdy Mount might be the best way to go? Will the armor piercing effect be worth the much increased mass?

I'm going to take a confident tone, as if I'm wrong that will attract corrections most strongly.

This is not true. The damage fall-off doesn't change with short Range Blaster. Your maximum range will drop from 3.0 km to 1.5 km at best, but the fall-off will remain 1 km.

I think what you've heard about Short Range Blaster was probably true in the past, but now it's the case that Short Range and Focused (on weapons that have it) don't modify the fall-off range at all, while Long Range increases the fall-off all the way up to the maximum range.

All that said, I think Short Range might be viable for a weapon that doesn't have Overcharged. The problem it has vs. Overcharged is it has the same maximum damage increase (worse average, though) and two major disadvantages: range and thermal load. Overcharged mostly just suffers distributor draw problems, as the clip reduction doesn't affect many weapons and isn't too bad anyway.

Just note that worse thermal load on a railgun could be a problem. Doesn't look like you'd want to do it on a heavy railgun build, but I'd be interested to see how you get on with a Diamondback Scout. Otherwise, Sturdy is a very decent modification as long as you don't mind mass. I wouldn't bother with Long Range on railguns, only on lasers. And if you don't want any serious disadvantages (except even more horror against PvP missile users) and just want a 'base' mod for a special effect, go for Lightweight.

Edit: Oh, this was a dash of necromancy from the above user. It's possible the OP was correct at the time. (Also possible he still is, I could be wrong.) But since I've only gleaned this point about Short Range from Coriolis, not heard it anywhere on the forum, it's probably still worth saying.

 

[Heater]

FDL setup currently running 2 of each feedback cascade / super penetrator and the longrange PA (Shot speed)

 

[CptXabaras]

Have two of them with long range and superpenetrator

 

[GODofDUTY83]

I use 2 ImpHammers with high mag super penetrator. 12 rounds away in something like 2.5 seconds. Its crazy.

 

[Frenotx]

I prefer long range plasma slug rails. I enjoy not needing to really worry about ammo, and find that, at least when it comes to sniping modules, long range shots are easier than short range ones. Additionally, it gets rid of the super punishing damage falloff that rails have.

Sounds like something one would find in a toy store...

Z...

With a name like, "super penetrator", maybe an ADULT toy store.

 

[CMDR MERANGO]

Sturdy mount give heat meta advantages. Go see. CMIV

 

[Aute]

I'm going to take a confident tone, as if I'm wrong that will attract corrections most strongly.

This is not true. The damage fall-off doesn't change with short Range Blaster. Your maximum range will drop from 3.0 km to 1.5 km at best, but the fall-off will remain 1 km.

I think what you've heard about Short Range Blaster was probably true in the past, but now it's the case that Short Range and Focused (on weapons that have it) don't modify the fall-off range at all, while Long Range increases the fall-off all the way up to the maximum range.

All that said, I think Short Range might be viable for a weapon that doesn't have Overcharged. The problem it has vs. Overcharged is it has the same maximum damage increase (worse average, though) and two major disadvantages: range and thermal load. Overcharged mostly just suffers distributor draw problems, as the clip reduction doesn't affect many weapons and isn't too bad anyway.

Just note that worse thermal load on a railgun could be a problem. Doesn't look like you'd want to do it on a heavy railgun build, but I'd be interested to see how you get on with a Diamondback Scout. Otherwise, Sturdy is a very decent modification as long as you don't mind mass. I wouldn't bother with Long Range on railguns, only on lasers. And if you don't want any serious disadvantages (except even more horror against PvP missile users) and just want a 'base' mod for a special effect, go for Lightweight.

Edit: Oh, this was a dash of necromancy from the above user. It's possible the OP was correct at the time. (Also possible he still is, I could be wrong.) But since I've only gleaned this point about Short Range from Coriolis, not heard it anywhere on the forum, it's probably still worth saying.

Yes it used to change falloff damage, thats why they were worthless, but not anymore

If you go short range blaster, you just have to get good secondary roll to reduce heat, especially with imperial railguns or you going to toast yourself quickly

 

[Hooplah]

I love the long range weapon on my Python with increased damage. Unmodified damage falloff starts at 1000M. Now it's 5300M. Lots of fun taking out shields before an NPC can even get within firing range. Overall positive results with only power and mass taking a hit. I didn't like the short range or plasma slugs with decreased damage plus the huge amount of rolls to get additional features. Add in some engineered multi-cannons for completing the kill. Still I'm a trader so don't need as much ammo as required for dedicated combat in a CZ.

 

[BostromNZ]

Sturdy mount is perfectly matched for rails - less heat and more armour piercing.

Super penetrator with one feeedback cascade.

You can synthesize ammo plus you shouldn't really be using a rail build for extended PvE sessions like CZs or RESs. They're more suited to assassin and PvP builds.