Mass Drivers.

[-Tornado-]

I have just bought my first Mass Drivers and I think they suck lol! I was using an Ion disruptor, which with any good lasers was ripping enemies to shreds. However the Mass Driver takes ages to kill in comparison and also the ammo is well expensive for how long it lasts. As I have only just started using these I may be wrong. The problem with the Ion Disruptor is hitting other ships as well as the enemy costing me licenses (Hence why I wanted Mass Drivers). I think I will probably look into Gamma radiation weopons next.

Thanks.

[Brianetta]

Mass driver.

Weaknesses:

• Low damage rate.
• High running cost.
• Ammunition can run out.
• Cannot be used for capturing when used alone - pirates don't think to bail when shields are full

Strengths:

• Damage is irreversible during a fight.
• Incredible projectile speed means turret tracking can nail even Mosquito missiles.
• Weapon never runs out of energy (or "overheats").

I use two of these on my Scorpion. It means I can indulge in a bit of evasive flying when confronted with a turret. With any other weapon, you have to get through the shields first.

Take a pirate ship as an example (my first ever X² kill (over a year ago), and made with MDs in a Scorpion). Taking on one of these with the alternative weapon choice (Alpha HEPTs) would have presented its own challenges. I'd have had to get through the shields to deal any permanent damage, and any evasive maneouvering in the face of return fire from the turret would have given those shields time to recharge, leaving me with as much work as before.

Using mass drivers, I was able to whittle away slowly at the hull. I had ample time to evade return fire, as the hull doesn't recharge. The mass driver was very easy to hit the target with, and eventually the pirate ship died. I had not even been hit, let alone sustained any damage. I was mainly fighting from 1-2km away.

[-Tornado-]

Thanks for the reply! I still think that the Ion Distruptor strips the shields and the good lasers do in the hull so fast there is no comparison to the Mass Driver for me. They dont cost after buying either and the Ion disruptor also can be used like a tractor beam to freeze Drones (worked for me anyway).

Thanks

[gillrichard]

Buy your own ammunition factory, put it in Argon Prime, it will make hoop loads of money and you can stockpile the stuff using a dolphin or two onboard an M1. Well that is what I do anyway.

None of my big ships have them on though

[JackScratch]

Mass Drivers are great in conjunction with the Ions when you are trying to capture ships. With the Mass drivers you can whittle away the enemy hull until it's down exactly where you want it (under 87%). Then Swap out the MDs for Ions and strip the enemy shields every time they fully recharge.

It's a great method since the ships you capture are mostly intact and there is no risk of accidently destroying them.

Obviously this trick only really works with the Nova, since it's the only ship that can equip both Ions and Mass Drivers. (which I'm assuming you are piloting)

[BDC]

Good against Khaak M5s I believe as they are fast and have next to no hull.

[-Tornado-]

Thanks for the replies. I suppose lowering the Hull damage slowely and accurately to capture ships could come in handy. Although for general fighting they seem to be very lacking. In reply to the factory, the money making side sounds very good lol but as I am not impressed at all with the firepower of the Mass Driver I probably wont use much of the ammo myself Hee Hee.

[-Tornado-]

Yes they would be good for those very quick ships, but so far I just switch off my Ion Distruptor and use two lasers, as there shields are tiny and I get them quite quickly.

Cheers.

[Brianetta]

"Lowering the hull level slowly and precisely for capturing"

If there's one thing that really kills the immersion, reminding you that you're only playing a game, its doing that.

[-Tornado-]

I agree I like to blast enemies away quickly not whittle. But I guess if you need the money or the ship, you have to do these things lol.

[JackScratch]

If there's one thing that really kills the immersion, reminding you that you're only playing a game, its doing that.

Nah I don't see it that way at all. I see it as reminding your opponent how meaningless their shields are should you choose to ignore them. It's an intimidation tactic.

What ruins the immersion to me are enemy pilots who still keep trying to 'fight' after you've successfully shorted out all their weapon systems with ions. Or the fact you actually need shield damage at all once you've proven you can go right to the hull to kill them. *shrug*

I'm not saying enemies should automatically surrender once they have no weapons remaining. I think fleeing when they have no chance of winning would make a certain amount of sense.

[gillrichard]

Yeh the total immersion sort of rings hollow when the poor pirate tells you he is going to make you spacedust before he receives 18 barrels of PPC from your Destroyer...they really should run away, quickly.

[Uncle B]

Is it not the case that Ions cause more ship extentions, shields and weapons to be destroyed?

If they aren't any more damaging than standard weapons that sounds like the way to go: mass driver + ions.

[JackScratch]

Ions are more likely to destroy systems, it's true (except that last shield on a ship). But surviving systems are randomly checked for loss when the pilots eject, and that 'random' roll is heavily weighted against you, regardless of the gun used.

So really all the reliable profit in capturing comes from selling the ship itself. So you really want to keep hull damage to a minimum to maximize profitssss. Anything you get beyond that is just a christmas present as far as I'm concerned.

[-Tornado-]

I'm not sure if the Ion Disruptor affects the equipment or not, but lasers take out hulls far far quicker than the Mass Driver. Once the shields are down of course. That is if you want to kill not capture.

[Kitch]

Mass Drivers are a very specific weapon. They can be used for all sorts of things from capturing to killing, but are really designed for slow fighters or M6's to take on and kill M5's and missiles.

MD's are great on Nova's - you can stick it in the turret for missile defence and never be hit again, then swap it when those annoying Khaak M5's are flying rings round you and show them the way!

MD's are also great on a Dragon, 2 MD's in each turret makes VERY short work of Khaak clusters whilst you concentrate on the M3.

MD's also work well on the Scorpion, as it can't do toe to toe fighting very well, but excells at hit and run whittling attacks - like Brianetta described above.

I can't wait to get hold of a Titan and put 18 MD's on it!!! should be a giggle.

[-Tornado-]

Yes for turrets they would be good, but I am looking at main weopons and for that I think they suck. I tried to take down the main clustor ship and it took a while to die. Using the Ion Dist and Laser combo kicks ass far quicker. I think I will buy the Nova and stick to Ion Disruptor and two Beta radiation lasers. Will swap to the Betas after dropping shields that is lol.