Poltergeist Missiles

[RandomBandit]

So...I started another character (Terran -> Pirate).

I have been using a Saber and ample amounts of Poltergeist missiles. Is it just me or do they speed up significantly when they get near a target?

I will often fire a few off, when closing, and their slow, lazy, drifting works well for drawing fire but when a ship gets near them they seem to do a little boost right at said ship.
I have also used them to great effect when firing them at the moment I pass the ship I am strafing. I put a few rounds into an enemy fighter and let loose a Poltergeist cluster as we pass and he does not survive. This holds true for M4s and M5s too. From the outside view, even if fired after passing, they still seem to go into 'strike' mode and fly directly at the enemy at an enhanced speed...

Well, enough rambling...anyone else notice this? Is it happening as I assume or is it a scalar illusion?

[Xenon_Slayer]

I expect they are going the same speed, but when they are heading to the target, they are traveling in spirals, not straight, so that extra distance may make them seem slower.

[Gazz]

That's the way movement works in X3. Try flying your ship on a course like that. You constantly bleed off speed by having accelerated into the "wrong" direction.

[Super_Bob]

the second part about the firing at close range is sort of a shot gun effect that i think most if not all of the cluster missiles work like this, basically when they get into 'critical range' they head directly for the target, as you are within that range they launch and head straight for it as there is no chance of fanning out first, its a good way of getting lots of damage on target with cheap missiles (ie wasps i think it is are very good for this).

[Sp@c3Ch!mp]

Yeah wasps really are good and cheap missiles.
I always carry around 40 wasps in my puny m5 and µI can take down pirate M5's with ease. M4's are also doable but need more missiles to do the job.