[Iranon]

This might be a really silly question... but exactly what is the penalty when firing from both banks at once?

I used to think that rate of fire was simply halved; the discrepancy in energy consumption has me confused though. Using identical weapons, continuous fire from both banks burned more energy than continuous fire from one bank. The difference is quite small, I only noticed it because at the weapon energy setting I used firing from both wasn't sustainable while I slowly regain energy firing from one bank.

[Stormkeeper]

Slower rate of fire. Of course, since two weapons are drawing from one power source, you will burn your energy reserves that much faster. Look at it like this:

Weapon: Energy cost = 35
Ship Regeneration: 40

So you regain 5 per second. On the other hand;

Weapon: Energy cost = 35 X 2 = 70
Ship Regeneration: 40

So that's why you'll deplete your energy reserves. So I recommend lining up your shots instead of spamming.

[Wanderer]

The linkage penalty is...

Code: [Select]

next_fire_delay *= 1.0f + (num_primary_banks - 1) * 0.5f;
So if ship has two primary banks and they are fired in the linked mode you get 1.5 multiplier to the fire wait times (1 + ((2-1) * 0.5)).. If you have three the fire wait times are effectively doubled. If you are modding its possible to remove that penalty though via ai_profiles.tbl.

[Iranon]

Thank you very much, this was exactly what I was looking for and not at all what I expected. This will definitely cause me to rethink my weapon selection.

[Galemp]

While we're on the subject (I suppose I could test but it's easier to ask) does a weapon bank with fewer gunpoints use less weapon energy than a bank with more gunpoints? If effect, if I have two banks of Prometheus on my Herc Mk I, is there any reason not to use the quad guns?

[Stormkeeper]

Not to my knowledge. I've tried, and it doesn't seem to have any effect. My four gun bank fires just as fast as the two gun bank.

[colecampbell666]

While we're on the subject (I suppose I could test but it's easier to ask) does a weapon bank with fewer gunpoints use less weapon energy than a bank with more gunpoints? If effect, if I have two banks of Prometheus on my Herc Mk I, is there any reason not to use the quad guns?

It fires at the same speed, and uses double the energy.

[Iranon]

Rate of fire is the same, but energy use seems constant per gun fired. On Medium level, a a Tauret with no energy directed to weapons can fire off 41 shots from double Kaysers, 20 from quad Kaysers.




2+2 guns provide as much firepower as one 3-gun bank. This makes linked fire a valid choice if you don't need the flexibility of varied guns, but inferior to having all guns in a single bank.

4+2 arrangements favour varied loadouts. Firing all (identical) guns will result in the same firepower and energy usage as only using the 4-gun-bank. 4 anti-fighter guns and 2 Maxims seem the obvious combination.

4+4 guns seems wasted potential when split. An Erinyes can't support 4 Maxims well while 8 of a kind works well for any dogfighting weapon
With Subachs, you have firepower not much below quad Kaysers at a fraction of the energy demand.
With Prometheus S you have a snipers' dream - blowing up brombers going head to head has never been so easy.
With Kaysers, you have the close-range firepower to kill any fighter-sized target in seconds without using Tempests.

[Socio]

So what's the final word? Worth it to double up or not?

[Stormkeeper]

Yea. Worth it. Double up, and remember to pace your shots, not spam.

Whoops, missed something:

[Iranon]

If you don't need the utility of a second slot, yes.

Incidentally, I made a mistake in my above post - firing from both (equal) banks results in 1/3 more firepower (*2 from twice the number of guns, divided by 1.5 for the linked fire penalty). Nowhere near as good as a 4-gun-bank but still better than letting the spares go to waste.

[MT]

4+4 guns seems wasted potential when split. An Erinyes can't support 4 Maxims well while 8 of a kind works well for any dogfighting weapon
With Subachs, you have firepower not much below quad Kaysers at a fraction of the energy demand.
With Prometheus S you have a snipers' dream - blowing up brombers going head to head has never been so easy.
With Kaysers, you have the close-range firepower to kill any fighter-sized target in seconds without using Tempests.

Interesting. I play medium (can't get further than the first few missions in hard) and use quite a bit of Erinyes when it is available. I usually go with 1 PromS, 1 Maxim +Tempest config. 8 PromS is almost unsupportable (4 at the nominal firing rate is already a large drain), and the Maxim can be quite useful in the final mission to help the Lemnos.

[Stormkeeper]

I generally use 8 Kaysers on the Erinyes. Its led to my habit of spacing my shots rather than spamming.

[eliex]

Only with the mekhu or the ml-16 does one spam . . .

[Mars]

I tend to use the quad banks on a six bank fighter, for full spamming potential.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

I love to use dual Kaysers on an Erinyes, Mara or Ares. It forces me to learn how to shoot more accurately.

Strangely enough, firing both the Maxim and Kayser together appears to drain your energy banks quite quickly, perhaps even more so than dual Kaysers.

Spamming used to be quite fun, especially on a Vasudan fighter with the Mekhu HL-7, but it's only useful when shooting down warheads. After I learned about the Mekhu's range advantage over most other primary weapons, I use it in place of the Maxim.

[Bob-san]

I spam when using Prometheus S. The idea is that you can set the second bank to start firing in the middle of the typical recharge of the first bank. That means you can fire much faster than single-bank. So long as you don't stop firing for any reason, you can keep shooting at increased speed. I am a spammer--I use a joystick, and the one I had was hard to aim very accurately.

[nvsblmnc]

A Maxim/Kayser loadout on the Erinyes is a true terror on the battlefield, but requires extensive energy management.

If you pick your shots, this loadout when combined with a Dogfight/LR Missile combo gives you the ability to reach out and touch anything within an extensive radius while still being able to bring down even the heavies of fighters and bombers once you get in range.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

When I first started using the Prometheus S, I felt that something wasn't right. At first, I thought it was travelling too slowly, which didn't make sense. My guess now is that the bolts are small.