Mass Drivers

[nrich61]

so ive done alot of reading on the forums and havent heard these mentioned anywhere.


the whole, go right through shields thing seems pretty sexy to me.

so could i deck a centaur out with em and it be very effective?


what are the pros and cons of the Mass driver?
seems like a pretty darn powerfull gun.

[Bunny]

Pro - Rapid fire through shield and they don't use energy
Con - short range and they use ammo

A split mamba with MDs is a fun ship

[pjknibbs]

There are a couple of other cons:

a) Low damage. Even with eight of them all firing at once it'll take you a while to destroy big ships.

b) Absolutely no chance of a capture, because you have to knock out a ship's shields to make its pilot bail.

[nrich61]

how short range are we talking?

would they be effective equipped and/or used on capital ships?

[DDM_Reaper20]

how short range are we talking?

roughly 1km, not all that short. Especially since the accuracy is high.

would they be effective equipped and/or used on capital ships?

I'd not use them on anything bigger than an M6. M2 or M1 will have a hard time hitting anything with them, since enemy ships will turn away before they get within range (collision avoidance).

That's my experience, anyway.

[Tenlar Scarflame]

they're excellent weapons to fit on your wingmen. They have a MUCH better chance of hitting than HEPT's or whatnot (the AI can actually shoot them accurately) and they maim the target by slowing it down, thus making it even easier to hit. If you have a self-sustaining ammunition factory at your back, the expense of ammo is not an issue.

PBE's are also good wingman-equipped weapons.

[xalien]

The range can only look short if you try to use them against big ships. Against fighters it's perfectly adequate. I hardly ever use HEPT's or PAC's at 1+ km range, most often it's ~600 m so 1 km for very accurate MD's looks plenty enough to me.

[texyuk]

Another Pro :
Good for Missile defence.


Texy

[nrich61]

thanks for the replies, i bought an M6 (i think it was) but i was thinking of outfitting it almost completely with MD's

they pretty quick firing? so need Tons of ammo?

[Mazer]

yes and yes

[Andaius]

Also note that one box equals IIRC 100 rounds so don't go buying a cargo bay full. With 12 guns(If you have a Centaur) you will go threw plenty though.

[TheSandman]

i made that mistake... i had no idea how much ammo was in a crate... so i filled my hold full of it, a few weeks of play i still havent even dented the surface of my ammo supply... thinkin of sellin some

[jlehtone]

they're excellent weapons to fit on your wingmen.

I had those. And my personal ship got hull hamage.

IMO Con: noisy

[Andaius]

To you have a TL or Manual trader Ts? Throw it in there and just call them in when your running low.

[Chemical-mix]

I'm still using the Buster i got free, and i have it equipped with 4 Mass Drivers. They are brilliant in X2, as there are many more spaces for them on the ship.

I know i'm never gonna cap anything with them, but at least i can destroy ships pretty quickly. Fair point about the ammo tho...

[KipperTheFish]

They are great for capping if used with other weaps.
Shoot up the bad guy with MD's till his hull is at about 85%. A very accurate method.
Then switch to an energy weapon and bash away at his shields. Something low powered like a APAC should do.
If the guy bails you've got a bigger chance of some equipment being left.

[Hg|Merc]

I like the mass drivers, i find them a very fun weapon to use, but the amunition front is a major drawback, even if your quite a good shot, your going to go through alot of ammunition, so much so, that i have a resupply TS which will jump to a sector, buy all the ammunition about (near the 2nd set of split territories, sorry been awhile since i've played) buy all the ammo, jump to me and resupply when need be, i normally carry enough ammunition to take care of the majority of threat (at least 1 xenon P patrol with escorts and pirates) before resupply.


As for capturing with mass drivers, im pretty sure i've done it a few times, i havnt really used energy weapons sincei put them on my persoanl nova and have capped afew ships (albeit with enough hull and speed for it to take hours to getanywhere, but you can capture them.

[Nanook]

...
As for capturing with mass drivers, im pretty sure i've done it a few times, i havnt really used energy weapons sincei put them on my persoanl nova and have capped afew ships (albeit with enough hull and speed for it to take hours to getanywhere, but you can capture them.

You cannot capture ships without dropping the shields. Therefore, MD's by themselves cannot be used for capping. They can only be used in conjunction with weapons that knock down a ship's shields.

[thetack]

i have 4 md 4 ahept layout on my nova and find it great against m1 or m2 as you have waked a fair portion of hull before the hepts have knocked down the sheilds then its a fast kill with both riping the hull. the main advantage of mds is that with all energy wepons layout you run out of power to quick, so the added punch of md can help when you take on too meny ships .
i must admit i have my own ammo pad and a resupply fleet of a centure and twin nova escorts for a demeter sf but theres a hell of alot floating in space free to pick up.

[Cardboard Tube]

If you build your own MD factory, there's no problem. Personally, I always put an MD in any missile defence turrets, because they use no energy so you know that they'll always fire.