This problem seems to be worse when you have the same type of mine fitted. It happens with all mines but to demonstrate it I had x3 Bio-Molecular mines with x3 radius mods as I wanted to test the difference with +1km extra explosion radius v the drop in raw damage per hit against a Quantum mine. The problem I ran into is when parked at 7.25km away I was far enough away so the NPC’s would not gain aggro and attack me and near enough that my mines would track and hit the NPC’s. (I have double tracking range trait with x3 mine doff mine launcher recharge and 20% mine recharge from Ordnance)
What happens is the mines start traveling to the NPC’s but the nearest mines to the NPC disappear before they hit. With auto fire this leaves a chain reaction of mines dropping, moving and disappearing and after 5+ minuets of constant firing getting zero hits. I can drop 100 mines and not one single one will hit the NPC’s as they disappear before they move half the distance needed.
You don’t need enemy’s to test this. Just park in an area that allows mines and set auto fire. After a short while each new volley will cause an older volley to despawrn.
If you mix mine types you seem to get away with more mines in space before the despawn bug hits. But it does mean you cannot focus on having just one type of mine.
What’s really bad about this is fitting more mine weapons lowers your damage output. In the above situation 2 mine launchers will do more damage than 3 launchers. Four or five launchers will do almost zero damage due to the chain reaction of mine disappearing.
If needed I can make a video showing constant mines being dropped and with 100% of mines disappearing without hitting.
EDIT: Video added:
https://youtu.be/DT-FbsTPU2M
Comments
Does location the mine is fitted into (aft or fore weapons slots) make a difference?
Is this a problem with mines only? Or is torpedoes doing the same thing?
Luckily for me, I only carry one mine in my BoP...having a fun time with watching Nakura Web Mines.
Let me show this to Frtoaster....see if he remembers something about this happening before.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
It is a Mine only problem as there is a limit of how many mines you can have in space. It’s not a problem with single launchers but once you have 3 launchers without recharge boosts or 2 fast launchers with boosts you hit the limit and older mines disappear before hitting the target as new mines are dropped.
The limit seems to be separate for different mines types. So by mixing launchers you can have more mines in space before hitting the limit. With Quantums you can fit 5 different types of Quantums which combined with a faster base movement speeds means its not to bad. But swap to 3 photons of the same type like x3 Bio-Molecular mines and I couldn’t hit anything in 5 mins.
I will get a video uploaded but it might not be tonight.
As you have the time...it is just curiosity for me.
But who knows what happens if maybe a Dev sees it.....
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
Sorry, no, I've never heard of this one before.
Just to be clear, you're saying that a hidden cap on the number of mines is causing your mines to despawn, as the new mines to override the old mines. If you don't launch enough mines to reach the cap, then the mines correctly hit the NPCs, correct? I assume you are using attack patterns to reach the cap. You may want to specify which ones, in case a dev reads this.
so you are some kind of forced to use different types or some special launchers
might this be the issue?
ingame: @Felisean
I have not fully worked out how it works. Modulating Competition mine, Thoron Infused, Crafted PEN Quantum are all quantum but all appear to have there own cap so I end up with around 5 or 6 waves of mines which combined with the faster mine travel speed is useable. While 3 plasma of the same type or 3 photon of the same type seems to share the same cap so I end up with 4 waves of mines which combined with the slower travel speed makes the mines unusable as they often cannot hit the target within aprox 4 seconds before they disappear.
The problem is with just 3 launchers I am putting out a mine wave approx every second so every 4 to 6 seconds I am causing mines to disappear. It also means using 4 or 5 rear launchers causes us to do less damage due to the consent stream of disappearing mines. I will try and post a video tonight.
Its a major bug but I never noticed it before as Quantum although suffering from the bug are useable. It was only when I used the Quantum build but tried different mine types that I ran into this problem.
https://youtu.be/DT-FbsTPU2M
While my ship looks cloaked it’s not a real cloak. Hidden payload is part of the mine set that gives a stealth bonus based on speed. Slower speed means higher stealth. In the video I am running approximately 5000 stealth which is why the NPC is not moving towards me.
I didn't see much point testing at 9km as its clearly not working at 7km. This does make me wonder how you are meant to use 4 or 5 mine launchers on the Vorgon Ytijara Dreadnought Cruiser. Even with the speed boost at range mines disappear to fast to use.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
you should try it with 3 different minelaunchers, that should work way better, because its the if i saw it correctly 3 minefields from the same type at the same time as a max
ingame: @Felisean
Its a shame Bio-Molecular mines do not work as those are the only mines which can have radius mod for the larger explosion radius. Even if they did get fixed, I am not sure 1km extra explosion radius makes up for 4k less damage per hit.