3.14 did what every good pie should do, it teases your senses for a while then hits you right where you live… (for those of us who eat, anyway).
The Tier 0 implementation of Capacitor gameplay, along with a few other key changes in this patch, has accomplished several the goals that the Vehicle Experience Team set out for it:
1) Slowed combat TTK
2) Brought combatants closer together
3) Created meaningful choices for the player, both tactical (in the moment) and strategic (before you start).
4) Leveled the playing field considerably between ships, with the result of skill and choices increasing in importance.
Those last couple of concepts will be explored a bit here, with some simple math. The goal is to provoke questions and exploration rather than provide a guide.
RESOURCES
Erkul did a wonderful thing in hosting their dev build, which fairly accurately shows the relationship between a ship’s capacitor value and how energy weapons consume that. The number shown here correspond to what I see in game.
https://www.erkul.games/
https://dev.erkul.games/live/calculator
BASICS
Let’s start with the Mighty Aurora MR, a ship that every TESTie either has now, has had, or should be saving for.
The attributes of the MR that apply to this topic are its capacitor regen value of 4500 units, and the 4 size 1 weapon hardpoints. No other components affect this as of yet.
The 2 stock CF-117’s: On the Erkul dev build, we can pull up the MR and see that the base fitting provides 81 shots for each weapon, with regen split evenly 33/33/33.
2 weapons x 28 alpha damage x 81 shots = 4536 damage possible before the cap is exhausted and needs to be recharged.
It will deliver that damage over ((60 seconds /720 rate of fire) x 81 shots available) = 6.75 seconds.
The ship will then recharge the weapons capacitor based on the selected Power Triangle setting. For 33/33/33 that will take about 4.5 seconds.
Before, if you wanted MOAR damage output, you’d simply add 2 more guns. So let’s do that in dev.erkul. Or in ‘verse, your call.
4 weapons x 28 alpha x 41 shots = 4592 damage possible, delivered in 3.4 seconds.
So what just happened?
The capacitor controls the potential output with energy weapons. The number of weapons it is feeding determine how fast it is drained, and thus Burst DPS. Notice that 4 guns deliver functionally the same amount of damage as 2, but in half the time.
Yes, this scales across the weapons. The vaunted, shiny and somewhat fragile Talon has 2 size 4 hardpoints and can mount a pair of CF-447 Rhino’s. This is the same weapon that makes the Hammerhead a fearsome death machine. BUT, the Talon has the same capacitor size as the MR..! So it finds itself in this position:
2 CF-447 x 80 alpha x 29 shots = 4640 damage possible, delivered in 3.6 seconds.
Let that sink in a moment. 2 size 1’s equal 1 size 4 (with energy weapons) and the basic MR does equivalent damage to a premium light fighter. Other considerations aside (like weapons size) this popped a circuit breaker in my brain.
LASER CANNONS
Laser Cannon were said to have better efficiency than repeaters. This is borne out by looking at a Behring M3A fit.
4 M3A x 85 alpha x 27 shots = 9180 damage possible, in 6.75 seconds.
In words, energy cannon do twice as much damage vs energy repeaters for the same capacitor charge. Not because of higher DPS, but because they drain the cap at half the rate, lasting longer.
This damage advantage is offset somewhat by the projectile speed being half that of the repeater, making it more difficult to use in some situations. Generalizing heavily, cannons are good against ships that are larger and slower than what you are flying. Repeaters work well against ships that are smaller and faster than yours.
You are probably thinking either “What about ballistics?” or “How the hell do I get more damage?!?!”
Glad you asked, because I’d hate to have wasted the last three days at work..
Sticking with our venerable MR for a moment, let’s change up 2 hardpoints:
2 Buzzsaw x 43 alpha x 200 shots = 17,200 damage possible, over ((60/700) x 200) = 17.1 seconds.
In the interest of keeping projectile velocities matched, add these in with the stock 2 CF-117s. In practice, this provides 1685 DPS on one point-of-aim until the Bulldogs run dry (in 6.75 seconds) and need to recharge. On paper (pixels?) this setup gives 3 bursts at this level before the Buzzsaws are done. Happiness is a powered-roller-fed weapon. Until it’s empty.
SCENARIO
For some ships, a mix of some kind is unavoidable and in some situations, there are distinct benefits. Let’s look at using the Avenger in 9Tails Lockdown as an example.
The ship has 2 size 3 weapon hardpoints + 1 size 4 hardpoint, and has a typical 4500 unit capacitor. How do we fit to deal with the chaos in this mission between PvE content and PvP players?
We want to be able to hit the PvP players hard when they engage. Ballistics work best for this, but obviously run dry quickly. Using just ballistics takes us away from the fight to reload far too often.
We also want to stay with the Terrapins as they move and be able to engage the many 9Tails ships that attack. Time-on-station becomes critical as the mission progress doesn’t wait for the player to reload/repair.
A potential fit:
1 Revenant x 69 alpha x 240 shots = 16560 possible damage over 16 seconds. Reserve for PvP/must destroy NAOW situations.
2 CF-337 x 28 alpha x 60 shots = 4560 damage in 4.5 seconds. Happily smoke 9Tails small ships.
OR more PvP focused:
1 CF-447 x 80 alpha x 57 shots = 4560 damage in 7.1 seconds. Still quite viable but obviously slower TTK. Long strings of hits are quite satisfying.
2 Shredder x 93 alpha x 135 shots = 25110 damage in 16.2 seconds. Positively wrecks fighters.
Adjusting the Regen Rates
The last consideration I’ll talk about right now is adjusting the regeneration priority. THIS should deeply influence your tactical choices, and probably your overall fit. No recommendations will be given beyond LEARN TO USE IT and how it affects your ship/playstyle second-by-second.
All the numbers in the discussion so far are from using the default 33/33/33 center position. Understand that changing this in any direction means one or two systems will recharge faster, at the expense of the other(s). It’s quite possible, even likely, for shields to be depleted using 100 weapon/0 shield /0 boost. There are keybinds available to quickly switch between 100% priorities, a potentially useful ability.
Back to our beloved, battered stock MR. Clicking the priority over to 67 weapon/17/17, the number of shots available climbs to 90. That’s not a huge improvement over 81, but our recharge time drops from 4.5 seconds to 2.5! That’s roughly how long it takes to get nose back on target after a jousting pass, meaning that in a fight you’d be full up when it’s time to shoot again.
Note that weapons do NOT shoot faster, but the extra shots mean the burst lasts a bit longer. So you potentially spend more time applying damage and less time waiting for your energy weapons to be ready.
tldr: No meta, because Yogi said so.
The Tier 0 implementation of Capacitor gameplay, along with a few other key changes in this patch, has accomplished several the goals that the Vehicle Experience Team set out for it:
1) Slowed combat TTK
2) Brought combatants closer together
3) Created meaningful choices for the player, both tactical (in the moment) and strategic (before you start).
4) Leveled the playing field considerably between ships, with the result of skill and choices increasing in importance.
Those last couple of concepts will be explored a bit here, with some simple math. The goal is to provoke questions and exploration rather than provide a guide.
RESOURCES
Erkul did a wonderful thing in hosting their dev build, which fairly accurately shows the relationship between a ship’s capacitor value and how energy weapons consume that. The number shown here correspond to what I see in game.
https://www.erkul.games/
https://dev.erkul.games/live/calculator
BASICS
Let’s start with the Mighty Aurora MR, a ship that every TESTie either has now, has had, or should be saving for.
The attributes of the MR that apply to this topic are its capacitor regen value of 4500 units, and the 4 size 1 weapon hardpoints. No other components affect this as of yet.
The 2 stock CF-117’s: On the Erkul dev build, we can pull up the MR and see that the base fitting provides 81 shots for each weapon, with regen split evenly 33/33/33.
2 weapons x 28 alpha damage x 81 shots = 4536 damage possible before the cap is exhausted and needs to be recharged.
It will deliver that damage over ((60 seconds /720 rate of fire) x 81 shots available) = 6.75 seconds.
The ship will then recharge the weapons capacitor based on the selected Power Triangle setting. For 33/33/33 that will take about 4.5 seconds.
Before, if you wanted MOAR damage output, you’d simply add 2 more guns. So let’s do that in dev.erkul. Or in ‘verse, your call.
4 weapons x 28 alpha x 41 shots = 4592 damage possible, delivered in 3.4 seconds.
So what just happened?
The capacitor controls the potential output with energy weapons. The number of weapons it is feeding determine how fast it is drained, and thus Burst DPS. Notice that 4 guns deliver functionally the same amount of damage as 2, but in half the time.
Yes, this scales across the weapons. The vaunted, shiny and somewhat fragile Talon has 2 size 4 hardpoints and can mount a pair of CF-447 Rhino’s. This is the same weapon that makes the Hammerhead a fearsome death machine. BUT, the Talon has the same capacitor size as the MR..! So it finds itself in this position:
2 CF-447 x 80 alpha x 29 shots = 4640 damage possible, delivered in 3.6 seconds.
Let that sink in a moment. 2 size 1’s equal 1 size 4 (with energy weapons) and the basic MR does equivalent damage to a premium light fighter. Other considerations aside (like weapons size) this popped a circuit breaker in my brain.
LASER CANNONS
Laser Cannon were said to have better efficiency than repeaters. This is borne out by looking at a Behring M3A fit.
4 M3A x 85 alpha x 27 shots = 9180 damage possible, in 6.75 seconds.
In words, energy cannon do twice as much damage vs energy repeaters for the same capacitor charge. Not because of higher DPS, but because they drain the cap at half the rate, lasting longer.
This damage advantage is offset somewhat by the projectile speed being half that of the repeater, making it more difficult to use in some situations. Generalizing heavily, cannons are good against ships that are larger and slower than what you are flying. Repeaters work well against ships that are smaller and faster than yours.
You are probably thinking either “What about ballistics?” or “How the hell do I get more damage?!?!”
Glad you asked, because I’d hate to have wasted the last three days at work..
Sticking with our venerable MR for a moment, let’s change up 2 hardpoints:
2 Buzzsaw x 43 alpha x 200 shots = 17,200 damage possible, over ((60/700) x 200) = 17.1 seconds.
In the interest of keeping projectile velocities matched, add these in with the stock 2 CF-117s. In practice, this provides 1685 DPS on one point-of-aim until the Bulldogs run dry (in 6.75 seconds) and need to recharge. On paper (pixels?) this setup gives 3 bursts at this level before the Buzzsaws are done. Happiness is a powered-roller-fed weapon. Until it’s empty.
SCENARIO
For some ships, a mix of some kind is unavoidable and in some situations, there are distinct benefits. Let’s look at using the Avenger in 9Tails Lockdown as an example.
The ship has 2 size 3 weapon hardpoints + 1 size 4 hardpoint, and has a typical 4500 unit capacitor. How do we fit to deal with the chaos in this mission between PvE content and PvP players?
We want to be able to hit the PvP players hard when they engage. Ballistics work best for this, but obviously run dry quickly. Using just ballistics takes us away from the fight to reload far too often.
We also want to stay with the Terrapins as they move and be able to engage the many 9Tails ships that attack. Time-on-station becomes critical as the mission progress doesn’t wait for the player to reload/repair.
A potential fit:
1 Revenant x 69 alpha x 240 shots = 16560 possible damage over 16 seconds. Reserve for PvP/must destroy NAOW situations.
2 CF-337 x 28 alpha x 60 shots = 4560 damage in 4.5 seconds. Happily smoke 9Tails small ships.
OR more PvP focused:
1 CF-447 x 80 alpha x 57 shots = 4560 damage in 7.1 seconds. Still quite viable but obviously slower TTK. Long strings of hits are quite satisfying.
2 Shredder x 93 alpha x 135 shots = 25110 damage in 16.2 seconds. Positively wrecks fighters.
Adjusting the Regen Rates
The last consideration I’ll talk about right now is adjusting the regeneration priority. THIS should deeply influence your tactical choices, and probably your overall fit. No recommendations will be given beyond LEARN TO USE IT and how it affects your ship/playstyle second-by-second.
All the numbers in the discussion so far are from using the default 33/33/33 center position. Understand that changing this in any direction means one or two systems will recharge faster, at the expense of the other(s). It’s quite possible, even likely, for shields to be depleted using 100 weapon/0 shield /0 boost. There are keybinds available to quickly switch between 100% priorities, a potentially useful ability.
Back to our beloved, battered stock MR. Clicking the priority over to 67 weapon/17/17, the number of shots available climbs to 90. That’s not a huge improvement over 81, but our recharge time drops from 4.5 seconds to 2.5! That’s roughly how long it takes to get nose back on target after a jousting pass, meaning that in a fight you’d be full up when it’s time to shoot again.
Note that weapons do NOT shoot faster, but the extra shots mean the burst lasts a bit longer. So you potentially spend more time applying damage and less time waiting for your energy weapons to be ready.
tldr: No meta, because Yogi said so.
