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Author Topic: Hybrid Mounts Should Buff Energy Weapons  (Read 1188 times)

Megas

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Re: Hybrid Mounts Should Buff Energy Weapons
« Reply #15 on: March 18, 2023, 06:02:58 AM »

Energy weapons I may put in small mount:  Ion Cannon, Burst PD Laser, AMB.  Ion Cannon is EMP damage.  Burst PD Laser does not need IPDAI to track reliably and has enough stopping power to stop a missile or two quickly enough.  AMB is for Afflictor, who recently had two universals downgraded to hybrid.

In Medium Mount:  Ion Pulser/Beam for EMP or Heavy Blaster for DPS.  Heavy Blaster for ships with only a single mount for assault, like Heron (which has a universal, but same idea).  Next release, with Pulse Laser getting better efficiency, I may consider that instead of Heavy Blaster.  Currently, Pulse Laser is not efficient enough.

In Heavy Mount:  HIL, Tachyon Lance, or Plasma Cannon.  Plasma cannon has the highest DPS, passes though missiles and fighters, efficiency is not too bad for a heavy weapon, accuracy is better than heavy ballistics not named Gauss, and good enough against armor.  I would consider beams for anti-armor if the ship has plenty of kinetics in other mounts.  Also, targets with high hard flux cannot fully block tachyon lance strikes with a shield.

In practice, small and mediums are usually filled with a ballistic weapon, often kinetic, with Afflictor being the obvious exception (AMBs).  Large mounts, at least on Prometheus II, I used Tachyon Lances to compliment the kinetics.  In previous pre-0.8 releases with stronger skills, I used Heavy Blaster on Heron and Mule with universal mount, but I doubt that works well today.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2023, 06:10:29 AM by Megas »
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smithney

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Re: Hybrid Mounts Should Buff Energy Weapons
« Reply #16 on: March 19, 2023, 01:51:54 AM »

In practice, small and mediums are usually filled with a ballistic weapon, often kinetic, with Afflictor being the obvious exception (AMBs).  Large mounts, at least on Prometheus II, I used Tachyon Lances to compliment the kinetics.  In previous pre-0.8 releases with stronger skills, I used Heavy Blaster on Heron and Mule with universal mount, but I doubt that works well today.
I really like this rundown, but I think it needs to be contrasted with the ship-oriented PoV. I think it comes down to the fact that in ships with large Hybrids, Energy has options that complement Ballistics well. In medium slots, Energies are outclassed by Ballistics except in cases where Heavy Blaster substitutes for the whole Ballistic package (which doesn't happen in ships with medium Hybrids). Neither effective (DPS) nor supportive (EMP) energies provide enough value to be considered besides the Ballistics. I think the situation in small Hybrids comes down mainly to the fact that Ballistics usually fare better as PD than Energies, otherwise it's similar to the situation with the mediums.
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