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Best PD?

Posted: Fri May 04, 2018 6:38 am
by fonzosh
So, Ive been experimenting a bit with PD (not crunching numbers, more like trial and error) and according to me the primary beams are (as should be) the best PD, But then I experimented a bit with fully developed turbo lasers and to me the addons on the lasers actually makes them better. So, which is it? Which is the best PD? According to me Ion is totally ruled out since is actually the worst weapon in the game, but it seems primary is overwhelmed by the rapid shot of Turbo. What do the number crunchers out there say?

Re: Best PD?

Posted: Tue May 08, 2018 7:21 am
by fonzosh
No one?

Re: Best PD?

Posted: Tue May 08, 2018 3:19 pm
by harpy eagle
Well let's see. Defense primaries have an average damage of 10, while defense turbolasers have an average damage of 4.

When you add rapid fire though, defense turbolasers still do only 8 damage, so in terms of raw damage output the defense primaries are better.

Fightercraft typically have 20 or 30 health, so raw damage is probably more important than the number of attacks. Same for torpedoes which have 20 health. But 10 vs 8 isn't a huge difference.

Missiles only have 6 health though, so one hit from a defense primary or two hits from a defense turbolaser are the same.

All in all they're pretty much equivalent against trackers, the differences are very slight.

As a secondary weapon against larger ships, I'd say turbolasers are better. The AP mod you get from X-ray lasers is very good. Unlike shield piercing, armor piercing is 100% without any counters, and while the AI likes to use shields, you still have to get through the armor once shields are down, and all ships have armor.

Re: Best PD?

Posted: Tue May 08, 2018 4:43 pm
by fonzosh
Does missiles have the same hp as torpedos? If that is the case Id say the primaries are better, but if missiles have lower, the more shots of the turbo lasers would actually allow you to kill more missiles.

Re: Best PD?

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 11:32 pm
by pmbell
After some combinatoric probability calculations my results show that turbolasers can destroy a missile (only 6 health) in an average of 1.92 shots.
So yes, strictly for destroying missiles turbolasers will be 4.2% more efficient. In all other circumstances primaries are better.
:D