Combat, what's the deal?

[Phoenix-D]

Look closely. The time of the beam depends on two things:

1. If it misses, it will stop firing.
2. If the target moves out of the arc, it will stop firing

The two front guns also probably have slightly different arcs, since they're on different points of the ship.

[Krsqk]

P-D is right about the time the beam Lasts. The staggered firing happens when you have more than one weapon in a weapon group and either 1) they have different reload/recharge times, or 2) only one weapon was able to reload/recharge due to a lack of energy. I personally set my front left weapon on 1 and my front right weapon on 2 (and both are still APB's, just like in SEIV ). I never really found a feasible design using the front heavy slots or any of the side slots. After all, the Terran Battlecruisers only have front weapons, and look how long they survive! */me wonders if that was the best example to pick* At least in the demo, I haven't found a ship which leaves room for more weaps after getting enough power (100kt) and defense (30-40kt shields and 20-30kt armor).

[Phoenix-D]

Um, what exactly do you need a 100kt reactor for? I think the ship I finished the demo in had about 50kt of power, twin CSMs and four APBs. Sure, I couldn't fire non-stop, but since they were on differing arcs that didn't matter..and I COULD fire non-stop with all the forward weapons.

[bor]

why 100kt power? In the demo I just haven't seen power as that big an issue, 50kt seems fine for a cruiser, and that's running 4 beams 2 heavies, and 2 point defence cannons.

In the components file at least, nothing other than weapons show any energy consumption.

[Phoenix-D]

Ooo. Check some of the other weapons before you roll eyes too much at those APBs.

Tachyon cannons are nasty, for one. Shield-skipping, weigh only 5kt more, and do the same damage as an APB- and use less power! I have one of those and one Incinerator Beam on my current ship.

[Krsqk]

I like to be able to fire non-stop into my enemies, destroy them, and still have a little energy left to start on the next one. I use the 2 APBs with 2 PDC, and unless I'm fighting a missile-heavy battlegroup, I don't have many problems. I'll have to check out the tachyon cannons, though--I'd prefer the extra 20 ls range and smaller size of the APBs, but shield-skipping is sure a pain when used against me. Torps are nice, but most enemies have PDCs at higher difficulties, and firing at extreme range is pretty much a waste due to enemy maneuvering (except when fighting starbases, when it's quite the opposite). I really only found torps useful against ships when firing at near-point-blank range from behind, when they could strip the shields fairly quickly. Thing is, the APBs are at least as good at that range.

As for the left and right arcs, I find the time used in turning to aim at my enemy is good for recharging energy; not to mention it's easier for me to track a single target at a time. I wouldn't mind a few rear-facing weapon arcs, though. *shrug* Difference in style, I guess.

[Krsqk]

[edit for styoopid double post ]

[ October 09, 2003, 03:09: Message edited by: Krsqk ]