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SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited March 2010 in The Academy
Alrighty, went from cruiser to heavy cruiser, among this, i doubled hte amount of phasers i have.

Now, in battle, i dont usually see a drain unless i flank and fire all 4 arrays at once, which sometimes takes my power from 125 in weapons down to about 80.

How do i stop this? Do i need a bigger impulse engine to produce more power or something? Are there any officer abilities that can combat this too?
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  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    count23 wrote: »
    Alrighty, went from cruiser to heavy cruiser, among this, i doubled hte amount of phasers i have.

    Now, in battle, i dont usually see a drain unless i flank and fire all 4 arrays at once, which sometimes takes my power from 125 in weapons down to about 80.

    How do i stop this? Do i need a bigger impulse engine to produce more power or something? Are there any officer abilities that can combat this too?

    Console - Engineering - EPS Flow Regulator is the one type I've heard of; it boosts how fast power is poured into systems.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    IS there some sort of power consumption over generation stats i can look at on my ship? So i can see how much i drain and how muhc i fire?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    count23 wrote: »
    IS there some sort of power consumption over generation stats i can look at on my ship? So i can see how much i drain and how muhc i fire?

    Not unless you count the Mk I Human Eyeball during combat.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    the bar chart mode (3) of your ship's 4 power levels gives you an idea.
    1-2 EPS are a must for beam users
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Stefx73 wrote: »
    1-2 EPS are a must for beam users

    That is basically what you need. I strongly suggest you find yourself one or two of those. I enjoy using lots of beams too, and that solved my problem.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Heh, i picked up a Mark V, with a 1.8 eps setting from some loot shortly after i posted this thread, it really does help. Pity that the full impulse -> system restore takes longer then it does to kick into full impulse, causes problems for drained systems if you impulse into combat. But other then that, thanks to this new EPS regulator, the lowest my 4 beam arrays emit is 98 or so. It makes Beam overload a lot more useful too.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    EDIT: double post, stupid forums.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    count23 wrote: »
    Heh, i picked up a Mark V, with a 1.8 eps setting from some loot shortly after i posted this thread, it really does help. Pity that the full impulse -> system restore takes longer then it does to kick into full impulse, causes problems for drained systems if you impulse into combat. But other then that, thanks to this new EPS regulator, the lowest my 4 beam arrays emit is 98 or so. It makes Beam overload a lot more useful too.

    There is a Mk VI mission reward (I think one of Adm. T'nae's missions) that gives an EPS with 2.5 that is really nice aboard my Escort. As far as recovering from Full Impulse, I've found that after cancelling it, it take s aecond or two, but once the power levels start to change, it only takes 2-3 seconds to get back to normal power levels with it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    count23 wrote: »
    How do i stop this? Do i need a bigger impulse engine to produce more power or something? Are there any officer abilities that can combat this too?
    My current understanding is that you can't. It's a deliberate balance mechanic that's designed to moderate the effectiveness of multiple energy weapons being fired at once.

    What it means is that while more energy weapons = more damage, it's not a linear return. For example, an 8 beam array broadside will do more damage than a 7 beam array broadside, but it won't do 8 times the damage of a single beam array.

    You can mitigate the effects of energy weapon power drain to a certain extent with abilities and items that increase power transfer rate, as they help ensure that your weapon power regenerates quickly between shots. However, as I understand the system, the power drain of a weapon is fixed while it's firing. So if a weapon has a power drain of 10, it will reduce your current weapon power by 10 while it's firing, regardless of what your power transfer rate is. Only when it stops firing and goes into its recharge phase can that 10 power be regenerated.

    As such, you can't completely stop power drain effects.

    Nagorak has done some excellent work in this thread testing weapon power drain and comparing the efficiency of various weapon loadouts.
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