It it possible to not be able to get off a high gravity world if your thrusters are setup wrong? If so, how can you tell what kind of thrusters you need? Is there some kind of thrust-to-weight thing you can calculate?
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Newcomer / Intro What's the deal with thrusters and escaping high gravity worlds?
- Thread starter Harrowdown
- Start date
![[VR] Orodruin](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/237/237188.jpg?1614840532){kind=avatar}
You can always get off. The vertical thrusters cheat.
While Orodruin is correct and you can always get off the planet, I think it's fair to also add that the fact that you can theoretically get off the ground doesn't mean you always will. 
With really large planets and really weak thrusters, there are tricks you have to perform to escape safely.
For example - while the ventral thrusters have always enough power to keep you from falling, when you are not level or you introduced a downward motion they don't always have enough power to stop your descent. That's why when approaching a high-g planet with weak thrusters it's recommended to NOT use thrusters in any direction and instead just hover and use slight pitch to kind of "glide" down slowly. And similarly when you're taking off it's best to do that in forward motion at a small upward angle and fly like that to at least several km of altitude, because the moment you point your nose up, you're going to fall back down and because you're in an ill-equipped ship, which probably means you don't have a stellar PD either, boost can't save you. If you fly high enough, you don't have to point at an escape vector but can engage supercruise at your current angle.
In any case, as a good rule of thumb for landing on high-g planets, you shouldn't have thrusters weaker than D-rated and no smaller that one class below recommended. That way you can be at least somewhat comfortable during planetary operations.
With really large planets and really weak thrusters, there are tricks you have to perform to escape safely.
For example - while the ventral thrusters have always enough power to keep you from falling, when you are not level or you introduced a downward motion they don't always have enough power to stop your descent. That's why when approaching a high-g planet with weak thrusters it's recommended to NOT use thrusters in any direction and instead just hover and use slight pitch to kind of "glide" down slowly. And similarly when you're taking off it's best to do that in forward motion at a small upward angle and fly like that to at least several km of altitude, because the moment you point your nose up, you're going to fall back down and because you're in an ill-equipped ship, which probably means you don't have a stellar PD either, boost can't save you. If you fly high enough, you don't have to point at an escape vector but can engage supercruise at your current angle.
In any case, as a good rule of thumb for landing on high-g planets, you shouldn't have thrusters weaker than D-rated and no smaller that one class below recommended. That way you can be at least somewhat comfortable during planetary operations.
Oh that is super useful to know, thank you!
The thing that lets the vertical (ventral) thrusters cheat is the Planetary Approach Suite which is fitted in a dedicated slot in your optional equipment and it is usually automatic.
When your ship is close to a planets surface those thrusters are operating automatically to counteract gravity, however that only happens with Flight Assist On switch that off and you will start to fall towards the planet switching it back on will slow and stop that fall but how long that takes will depend on gravity and your thrusters.
When your ship is close to a planets surface those thrusters are operating automatically to counteract gravity, however that only happens with Flight Assist On switch that off and you will start to fall towards the planet switching it back on will slow and stop that fall but how long that takes will depend on gravity and your thrusters.
Which is how I actually land on high-g surfaces. By "blipping" FA off and on I can gently sink onto the surface - of course if FA is kept off too long you can get a hard landing - so it all depends on the local gravity - using the vertical speed bars on your HUD is the trick.