Missile mechanics: Difference between revisions

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Every missile has a <span style="color:#ccffee">''Base Damage''</span> – which is listed as "explosive damage", "kinetic damage", or so on in the Attributes tab of the missile's Get Info window.[[File:SampleMissile.png|thumb|Heavy Missile Attributes|alt=Get Info window showing heavy missile attributes]] This amount may be augmented somewhat by certain skills and/or equipment, and when the term "Base Damage" is used here, it means the listed damage of the missile plus any augmented damage … in other words, the damage you expect the missile to do if it scores a direct hit.

While a missile can apply up to 100% of the Base Damage to a ship in some situations, damage is often reduced by two factors:

While a missile can apply up to 100% of the Base Damage to a ship in some situations, damage is often reduced by two factors: if the targeted ship is moving faster than the missile's '''explosion velocity''', and if the ship's signature radius is smaller than the missile's '''explosion radius'''.

*~~If the target ship is moving faster than the~~ ''~~explosion~~ velocity'' of the missile. Think of this as ~~a fast ship~~ being able to somewhat outrun the explosion.

*'''Explosion velocity''', in the simplest terms, determines how fast a ship needs to be moving to escape some of the damage the missile inflicts. Think of this as being able to somewhat outrun the shockwave generated by an explosion. The farther away a ship is from a warhead when it detonates, the less powerful the resulting shockwave will be when it hits the ship. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s3-c2gpbEs This video] is a good example of the principle in action; the explosion is clearly massive enough to kill anyone standing nearby, but the people filming were far enough away that, when it finally reached them, the force behind it had dissipated enough that they only got buffeted by the wind.

*If the ~~signature radius~~ of the ~~target ship~~ is ~~smaller than~~ ''~~explosion~~ radius'' of the ~~missile~~. ~~Think~~ of ~~this~~ as a small ~~ship flying through a~~ large ~~explosion~~ and ~~only being hit by~~ a ~~part~~ of it.

*'''Explosion radius''' is best described as how small a ship needs to be to only be hit by a part of the explosion it's flying through. A good analogy would be to fragmentation grenades, which cause injury not by the size of the explosion they make, but by filling the air with hundreds of metal fragments moving with the speed of bullets. Something like a human being is going to be hit by many of these fragments and suffer horrible injury as a result, but a sparrow is small enough that it might not be hit by anything large enough to cause it serious injury, and a bee is so small that the chances of it being hurt at all are slim to none.

In practice damage is usually reduced by the combination of these two factors.

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 Every missile has a <span style="color:#ccffee">''Base Damage''</span> – which is listed as "explosive damage", "kinetic damage", or so on in the Attributes tab of the missile's Get Info window.[[File:SampleMissile.png|thumb|Heavy Missile Attributes|alt=Get Info window showing heavy missile attributes]] This amount may be augmented somewhat by certain skills and/or equipment, and when the term "Base Damage" is used here, it means the listed damage of the missile plus any augmented damage … in other words, the damage you expect the missile to do if it scores a direct hit.
-While a missile can apply up to 100% of the Base Damage to a ship in some situations, damage is often reduced by two factors:
+While a missile can apply up to 100% of the Base Damage to a ship in some situations, damage is often reduced by two factors: if the targeted ship is moving faster than the missile's '''explosion velocity''', and if the ship's signature radius is smaller than the missile's '''explosion radius'''.
-*If the target ship is moving faster than the ''explosion velocity'' of the missile. Think of this as a fast ship being able to somewhat outrun the explosion.
+*'''Explosion velocity''', in the simplest terms, determines how fast a ship needs to be moving to escape some of the damage the missile inflicts. Think of this as being able to somewhat outrun the shockwave generated by an explosion. The farther away a ship is from a warhead when it detonates, the less powerful the resulting shockwave will be when it hits the ship. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s3-c2gpbEs This video] is a good example of the principle in action; the explosion is clearly massive enough to kill anyone standing nearby, but the people filming were far enough away that, when it finally reached them, the force behind it had dissipated enough that they only got buffeted by the wind.
-*If the signature radius of the target ship is smaller than ''explosion radius'' of the missile. Think of this as a small ship flying through a large explosion and only being hit by a part of it.
+*'''Explosion radius''' is best described as how small a ship needs to be to only be hit by a part of the explosion it's flying through. A good analogy would be to fragmentation grenades, which cause injury not by the size of the explosion they make, but by filling the air with hundreds of metal fragments moving with the speed of bullets. Something like a human being is going to be hit by many of these fragments and suffer horrible injury as a result, but a sparrow is small enough that it might not be hit by anything large enough to cause it serious injury, and a bee is so small that the chances of it being hurt at all are slim to none.
 In practice damage is usually reduced by the combination of these two factors.