Limit to PDC targets?

[tbontob]

I know this topic has been discussed before, but I cannot find it and there doesn't seem to be anything in the newbie facts.

It has been said that multiplex tracking is not required for PDC's

I have the impression that PDC's will fire on as many targets as there are PDC's on the ship or WP.

Is this true?

For example if I build a ship with 50 PDC's, does it have the capacity of firing on and taking out 50 missiles.

[Phoenix-D]

Yes, it does- if the PDCs fire automatticlly when you are the missiles move. If you fire them manually, they take up multiplex as normal.

Phoenix-D

[Slick]

I think he is talking about a maximum number of targets per turn for PD. i.e. if you built a starbase with nothing but PD, could each PD cannon fire at a different target?

I haven't seen anything about a posted max, but I would assume that there is some limit. Pretty easy to test.

Slick.

[Fyron]

The limit is how many PDC you have.

[tbontob]

Thanx guys

I vaguely remember that the limit is the number of PDC's you have (as Fyron puts it). But I wasn't absolutely sure.

So, theoretically, there would be no limit.

[Slick]

I just tested it and can confirm that Fyron is right. I used a starbase with a MC, no multiplex tracking and 124 PD5's in 2 scenarios. The first against Capital Ship Missiles and the second against fighters (shouldn't have made any difference what the target was, but anyway...). In each case I used a maximum number of PD targets as 120 so I wouldn't destroy the starbase and made sure that the max targets all came in range at the same combat turn. The starbase was able to successfully kill 120 targets in a turn. This was in the combat simulator.

[edit: now that I think about it, maybe I didn't test this right. I used fighter stacks of 5 and 20, meaning that the number of targets were 25 and 5 respectively. I am not sure if missiles stack. I will test again with fighter stacks of 1.]

[edit2: ok, you can't make a fighter group of <5 so I made 120 carriers each carrying 1 fighter go up against the starbase. {after the access violation error which didn't crash the simulator}, the stabase was able to kill whatever came at it. I phrase it that way because it is extremely difficult to set up 124 separate targets in a single combat turn. Since the PDC's fire automatically at range 5, that limits the number of targets that can be in range in a given combat round. Without explicitly proving it, it is safe to say that PDC's will handle any number of targets up to the number of PDC's installed for all practical cases]

Slick.

[ April 27, 2003, 04:35: Message edited by: Slick ]

[QuarianRex]

Slick:

Missles do stack. whatever hits in a stack does cumulative damage, just like fighters. Iexperienced this first-hand in a game when my crystal armor got torn through like tissue paper by a hail of obsolete CSMs that, individually, shouldn't have been able to penetrate a single CA component.

[Slick]

Originally posted by QuarianRex:
Slick:

Missles do stack. whatever hits in a stack does cumulative damage, just like fighters. Iexperienced this first-hand in a game when my crystal armor got torn through like tissue paper by a hail of obsolete CSMs that, individually, shouldn't have been able to penetrate a single CA component.

Thanks, that was what I was worried about. I made fighter stacks of 1 to test. See below.

[edit: I think you are talking about a different effect. You are talking about damage accumulation per combat round, not missile stacking. Damage/round has had huge testing done and I think is best covered in the Dubious Strategy Guide. You can find a link to the guide in the Newbie FAQ. Look for the discussion of shields and the different armors.]

Slick.

[ April 26, 2003, 22:06: Message edited by: Slick ]

[QuarianRex]

Originally posted by Slick:
[edit: I think you are talking about a different effect. You are talking about damage accumulation per combat round, not missile stacking. Damage/round has had huge testing done and I think is best covered in the Dubious Strategy Guide. You can find a link to the guide in the Newbie FAQ. Look for the discussion of shields and the different armors.]

I was talking about both. I expected damage/round (as in each missile) but instead was rudely suprised by the fighter-esque cumulative damage.

Serves me right for being a smug bastard, sitting behind my shiny Crystal Armor. Yeah, the Dbious Guide is quite helpful, and in fact was the source of said smugness. When I found out how CA works I thought I was safe when I saw that an individual missile couldn't penetrate.

But thats what I like about this game. It still manages to suprise me every now abd again.

[tbontob]

That it does.

As soon as I think I have a handle on something, something comes up which surprises me.

Makes the game real interesting.