Mass Drivers - are they worth the cost?

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Phreddy
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Mass Drivers - are they worth the cost?

Post by Phreddy » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 03:41

I've seen some threads where people swear by them. My problem is cost. The guns themselves arent too bad. Its the ammo cost. Everywhere I look, each ammo costs over 500 credits. I'm not the most accurate shooter in the world and I tend to keep the guns blazing in the heat of battle. At that price for ammo, I can see myself spending several hundred thousand credits in a large battle just in ammo cost alone. With just 3 million credits in the bank, I'll go broke after a few fights. Is there another secret? Is it possible to find ammo cheaper? How do people afford the ammo?

Thanks

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Sandalpocalypse
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Post by Sandalpocalypse » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 03:42

The cost is definitely a factor with mass drivers.

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pkd
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Post by pkd » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 03:59

I think they were a much more potent weapon before 1.3. Now they are more like a pea shooter.

I use them against small fast craft. They are good for Kha'ack scouts and the like.
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General Dave
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Post by General Dave » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 04:00

Me personally, I have a factory making it for me.....

You should be able to do it with 3,000,000

1MD ammo fact(split), 1 M chelt fab, 1 M Rastar Refinery, 1 M Ore mine....

And 1 big energy gathering ship.......

Maybe less looking at it.... My factory is a loop with no products being brought (5MCrystal Fab and a XL SPP) so the cost to me was 100,000,000 startup, and nothing after that...

piccie of the complex with 3MD ammo facts (all to the bottom left) and two thunderbolt missile fabs (top right by the SPP and Chelt farms)

Md Plant (Ammo Nation)
If the universe doesn't provide what you need, provide it yourself...

:)
Last edited by General Dave on Fri, 30. Dec 05, 04:06, edited 1 time in total.
:)

Scarecrow
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Post by Scarecrow » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 04:01

I believe there are 200 rounds in a crate of ammo.

My back turret has a tendancy to keep the trigger down a lot as well. The ammo lasts quite awhile.

LordWildWill
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Post by LordWildWill » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 04:01

Well each ammo "clip" can be fired for around 15 seconds continuse fire the reason why so mean pep swear by them is because when you are in a major fight you can just keep firing untill you run out of ammo so 100 units of ammo can keep you firing for a good 5-10 minutes then if you runn out of ammo switch to your lasers

IE you have say a nova (i prefer the Pirate nova raider) you equip it with 4 MD's (as weapon setting 1) and 4 HEPT's (on Key 2) go pick a fight run out of ammo press 2 you still have full laser energy

But im one of the few whom dose not us MD's as a main weapon i use it as my turret set on missle defence with 5 Units of ammo its high speed keeps ALL missles of my back :)
so i use HEPT's as my main weapon and 2 Md's as emergency weapons

hope that help's :D

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Shokai
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Post by Shokai » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 04:09

Yep, each unit of ammo is 200 shots. I used to have one in my rear turret and just 10packs lasted a LONG time. I four in my front guns once on one of my ships, forget which one. Bought 100packs and when I got rid of that ship I still had like 46 after a good deal of fighting.



Shokai
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General Dave
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Post by General Dave » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 04:13

I've recently been experimenting with Carrier fighters, and if you have the resources, 12+ Nova Raiders with MD's all round (9 per ship) and 200 ish MD ammo per ship will make mincemeat out of everything lower than an M2......

Just watch the freindly fire though..... One dink from your wingmates MD will cost 1,000,000 upwards to fix on a Titan or similar ship type, thats the kind of cost I want to cut down on...... :shock:
.
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:)
:)

LordWildWill
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Post by LordWildWill » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 04:16

THATS 1 draw back i forgot!!!!!!! :)

Arbalest
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Post by Arbalest » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 04:33

Ammo cost doesn't matter so much, if you have a UT trader fleet or factories bringing in enough income in the mid to later stages of the game. You might want to avoid MD's until the ammo cost is an acceptable cost of doing business in the X universe. As noted, you can also build your own ammo factory, although I'm not at that stage yet.

I do like MD's. I have 4 on my Mamba Raider, along with 4 AHEPTs, and I usually fire all eight guns at once... unless I'm trying to capture a ship, and then I go down to one AHEPT. It's a good weapon to combine with lasers like that, so you don't have to waste time cooling off for a laser bank recharge. That's not a winning tactic in a ship with shields as low as the Mamba Raider. Quick kills are what keep me alive. Eight MD's would be even better, but then I'd have to carry too much ammo, with less room for EC's for jumping, scooping up loot, etc.

In fact, ammo resupply is starting to be an issue with the 1.3 patch. It's not the cost... I can afford it... but there are so *many* enemy ships around now, that I'm having to resupply more often. That's getting to be a hassle. I might actually have to go to all AHEPTs or something, but I hate to give up the MD's. This will get better when I can get a TL as a poor man's carrier, or a real M1 where I can stock ammo and use it as a home base. But I'm not at that stage yet either.

MD's are probably not a great weapon if you want to maximize your chances for capturing ships in good condition, due to the hull damage. I still manage to cap with it, now and then, but it's more luck than skill. A couple nights ago I got a nice Pirate Nova Raider with 80% hull intact, just by backing off the trigger at exactly the right moment (and that was with all 4 MD's and 4 AHEPTs firing). That's not how it usually goes though. Usually, it goes "Boom!"

Abanon
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Post by Abanon » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 05:18

I always use them on turrets on the Argon Centeur, they are very accurate and make superb attack all or missile defence weapons, you will find however that if you are capping the hull damage will be greater than if you dont use them

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abaddon
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Post by abaddon » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 09:15

Abanon wrote:I always use them on turrets on the Argon Centeur, they are very accurate and make superb attack all or missile defence weapons, you will find however that if you are capping the hull damage will be greater than if you dont use them
Not necessarily - I've had reasonable success with my old X2 method of capture - surgically knock off just enough of their hull using mass drivers (in X2 it was down to 87%, but I'm just aiming for a bit above 80% in X3 as it's not so easy to get the exact value), and then open up on them with as many Ions as you can - try to bring their shields down so fast they get that 'brown pants feeling' and bail.

Works pretty well in a nova with 2 mass drivers and 6 Ions in the front slots. 2 MD's on group 1, the 6 ions on group 2.

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Post by BigVern » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 09:30

I swore by them in X2, you just have to be aware that you can't hold down the trigger - though at least unlike lasers they can't run short of energy at that critical moment. Haven't got far enough into X3 to afford them yet but I'll certainly be looking to add one to my craft when I do go hunting!

Besides, the name brings back memories of Wing Commander 1 and that llovely "thunk, thunk" as you used to fire the mass drivers on the Scimitar!
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kurush
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Post by kurush » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 09:39

I switched from MDs back to AHEPT/BPACs on my Mamba after realizing that you can take out an M1/M2 (not khaak) using AHEPTS with enough patience and caution. For small ships energy weapons work as good as MDs. I still have one on my Mamba on the back turret though (the only thing it can equip, sadly). It does not really change anything as I can outrun most of the missiles and it does not want to shot missiles anyway.

boran_blok
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Post by boran_blok » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 10:57

a good tactic I use with my buster (2 BPAC's 2 MD's) is to use the BPAC's untill I run out of energy and then instead of backing off and letting it recharge I switch to the MD's untill my energy is back up. only for the bigger targets tho. (TL's and to a lesser extent M3's)

or when you want a really fast kill (nova's mainly)

Ebany
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Post by Ebany » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 11:23

Luv em!

Have one on the back of my Mamba Raider for missles and m5's. Work even better now with v1.3 as those little m5's are even more tricky. Just face ur ass at the missle or Harrier, fly strait, wait for the boom. Clean out the garbage b4 you cap the m3's.

:)
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Post by KipperTheFish » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 13:27

If you are not bothered about capping a ship and are just going for the quick kill, try a Centaur with 11 MD's fitted (8 up front and 3 turrets).
I've called the ship "The Shreader" as it chews up every fighter i come across. It's also a cheaper option for taking out bases as a missle attack will cost you big time.
I've got a self supply complex down in Dark Waters churning them out with ammo and 125 shields. Makes enough ammo to make me shed loads of cash in sales too.
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Post by Thrappy » Fri, 30. Dec 05, 13:35

MD's on my titan damage small fast ships enough to slow them down so that my slower heavier laser can target them.

Would never leave an equipment dock without them. Put about a 1000 case of ammo in the hold 3weeks ago. DOne about 4 XI missions and dealt with a khaak invasion fleet and heaps of pirates. still got about 800 cases still in the hold.

MD's are SWEET :P
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