Elite Dangerous: Weapon test against shields
DPS
The DPS (Damage per Second) was calculated from the total Shield Value multiplied by the Shield damage %, then divided by the time used to fire in each test. For Non-Thermic weapons like Cannon, we recorded the ammo count for shield damage and then recorded how long it took to fire a whole round + reload. We believe including the reloading time will be more accurate to determine the DPS of the non-Thermic weapons.
The EPS (Energy per Second) of Thermic weapons was calculated from the energy used in WEP Capacitor and the time fired.
As always, the test result is not 100% accurate due to rounding of the % values and other factors. But it should be pretty close. Of course, the numbers may change in future updates.
How to use
These numbers have all kinds of potential usages. Besides of helping you choose weapons, with the actual Shield values of damage per second, you can now estimate how long you will need to damage enemy shields. For example, a Vulture with 2xC3G Pulse Laser and 5A Power Distributor, against another Vulture with 5A Shield and 0 Shield Boosters, how long does it need to take down the shield? From EDShipyard we can get Vulture 5A Shield value is 548.74 MJ. From the DPS chart we get 1xC3G Pulse DPS is 18.28 MJ/s, and 2 of them will be 36.56 MJ/s.
548.73 MJ / (18.28 MJ/s * 2) = 15 s
It will take about 15 second to take down a 5A vulture shield with 2xC3G Pulse, assuming the receiver has 0 PIP SYS. You can refer to my previous thread of SYS PIP Shield Damage Resistance for calculating more than 1 PIP SYS situations.
Now can Vulture fire 2xC3G Pulse for 15 seconds non-stop with 4 PIP WEP? You can use this formula:
[Fire Time] = [WEP Capacity] / ( [EPS] – [Capacitor Recharge Rate] )
We know the vulture 5A Power Distributor provides 41 MJ WEP capacitor with 4.3 MJ/s recharge rate. From the EPS chart we know EPS of 1xC3G Pulse is 2.98 MJ/s and 2x will be 5.96 MJ/s.
41 MJ / (2 * 2.98 MJ/s – 4.3 MJ/s) = 24.7 s
With 4 PIP WEP, a vulture 5A Power Distributor can handle 2 C3 Pulse for 24.7 seconds of continuous fire. With my previous thread of All Shield Cell Banks Tested in Actual Shield Values, you will also be able to estimate the effect of SCB when used in combats.
Notes
- We have verified with different size ships and different shield/weapon combinations, and confirmed that smaller weapons or hardpoints will NOT have penalty against any ship’s shields. The class of weapons will affect the Hull damage, but not Shields. The number in the charts here can be universally applied.
- As previously tested by other commanders, most weapons had same damage between 0-500m, and reduced damage with distance 500m-3km, finally become out-of-range after 3km. We tested our most of weapons at 500m except for Fragment Cannons, which was closer at 150m to ensure 100% hit.
- We did not test Mine Launchers, but we did test Torpedo Pylon and Mining Lasers. Torpedos had very similar shield damage to missiles (basically useless against shields). Mine lasers can indeed damage shield and hull, but their range is very short (a few hundred meters).
- Missile weapons could use some love from FD – They already been countered badly by point defense, and now they don’t have any effective shield damage at all, which doesn't make sense – you will think an explosion of a missile could carry more damage than a few shots of multi-cannon!
CMDR StarLightBreaker (Testing with CMDR Pale Night)
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