charging capital weapons

Lord0bsidian · Post by **Lord0bsidian** » Wed, 15. Feb 12, 09:50

so with ppc and ibl, how does the charging work? is it a linear relationship between charge time and damage/energy consumption or is one way more efficient than the other?

Gazz · Post by **Gazz** » Wed, 15. Feb 12, 11:56

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=229894

Bill Huntington · Post by **Bill Huntington** » Wed, 15. Feb 12, 18:12

LordObsidian, you overcharge your shot by holding down the fire button until the weapon just fires. Overcharging might take longer than a regular shot, and it could be less efficient overall. But the individual overcharged shot is a lot stronger.

That can be very important. One overcharged PPC broadside can one shot a Q, or render a J or K so weak that they can't do much.

For capping the big ships, I use a Sirokos with a Tyr to lower the shields. I fire two overcharged blasts at the target (another Tyr), and the target is still blue, which is ideal for capping. Four regular shots might produce more damage, but it would also turn the target red.

Rapier · Post by **Rapier** » Wed, 15. Feb 12, 19:37

Overcharging also effectively increases range as you can start charging when out of range and release when just in range.

em3e3 · Post by **em3e3** » Thu, 16. Feb 12, 00:32

Gazz started a fine thread, but for some reason my graph isn't in it:

[ external image ]

Three important notes:
1. Alpha-charging will always do more single-shot damage than non-charged (think of it like a bottle of nitrous on a car, quick burst of speed)
2. Only the PSP and PPC benefit from continuous alpha-charging ( but you probably don't need to, since most targets will be destroyed from the first shot)
3. Only main guns or a turret controlled directly by the player can be alpha-charged
4. The guns will not track your target while alpha-charging, so you might need to turn off full auto-aim when using alpha-charging.

Morkonan · Post by **Morkonan** » Thu, 16. Feb 12, 01:17

Just a note: You can only over-charge shots with a joystick. It can't be done with a mouse.

Though, if anyone knows a workaround for this, I'd love to know it!

Jumee · Post by **Jumee** » Thu, 16. Feb 12, 01:42

you can over-charge with a mouse just keep the button pressed

A5PECT · Post by **A5PECT** » Thu, 16. Feb 12, 02:28

Jumee wrote:you can over-charge with a mouse just keep the button pressed

[ external image ]

Morkonan · Post by **Morkonan** » Thu, 16. Feb 12, 02:37

I could have sworn it had said in some documentation somewhere that you couldn't do it with a mouse. Oh well, who cares? I'll be sure to try this out as soon as possible.

Thanks!