Missile mechanics: Difference between revisions

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*'''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.

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

{{Note box|In the simplest terms: big, slow ships can take up to 100% of missile damage. Small, fast ships often take less damage. It is '''NOT''' the speed of the missile that matters; but the speed and size of the explosion.}}

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== Increasing missile damage ==

Skills and ship equipment can have a direct impact on missile damage. ~~A number of~~ implants do the same. In addition, modules such as Target Painters and Webifiers can affect the target's signature radius and speed, thus making missile damage more effective.

Skills and ship equipment can have a direct impact on missile damage. Many implants do the same. In addition, modules such as Target Painters and Webifiers can affect the target's signature radius and speed, thus making missile damage more effective.

=== Skills ===

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{{Example | Example 1:

The Heavy Missile has a MVF of 0.648.

The Heavy Missile has an MVF of 0.648.

The Drake has 140 m/s speed and a signature radius of 295 m.

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{{Example | Example 2:

The Heavy Missile has a MVF of 0.648.

The Heavy Missile has an MVF of 0.648.

The Drake fits a 10MN meta afterburner, increasing top speed to 273m/s; signature size is unchanged.

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{{Example | Example 3:

The Heavy Missile has a MVF of 0.648.

The Heavy Missile has an MVF of 0.648.

The Drake fits a 50MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive, increasing top speed to 675m/s and signature radius to 1622.5m.

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{{Example | Example 4:

The Heavy Missile has a MVF of 0.648 and explosion radius E of 140m.

The Heavy Missile has an MVF of 0.648 and explosion radius E of 140m.

Griffin frigate has signature radius S of about 42m

Since signature radius of Griffin is smaller than missile's explosion radius, we are limited by the second term in the missile damage formula - S/E, which is 0.3. That means that at the best we ~~are able to~~ do only 30% of Heavy Missile's damage when firing at Griffin, even when Griffin is not moving at all. Also, we can notice that in this case, Griffin's speed will take effect much later than at required speed. While required speed is 27.216m/s (42 * 0.648), at this speed third term in the missile damage formula is 1, however, it still does not have any effect because second term is 0.30. We will need to solve different (and more complicated) equation to get the speed of Griffin which will lower damage further below those 30%. After calculation we see that speed of the Griffin needs to be at least 141.89m/s to have further effect on reducing damage, which is more than 5 times more than required speed of 27.216m/s.

Since signature radius of Griffin is smaller than missile's explosion radius, we are limited by the second term in the missile damage formula - S/E, which is 0.3. That means that at the best we can do only 30% of Heavy Missile's damage when firing at Griffin, even when Griffin is not moving at all. Also, we can notice that in this case, Griffin's speed will take effect much later than at required speed. While required speed is 27.216m/s (42 * 0.648), at this speed third term in the missile damage formula is 1, however, it still does not have any effect because second term is 0.30. We will need to solve different (and more complicated) equation to get the speed of Griffin which will lower damage further below those 30%. After calculation we see that speed of the Griffin needs to be at least 141.89m/s to have further effect on reducing damage, which is more than 5 times more than required speed of 27.216m/s.

}}

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Although the terms "range" and "distance" are often used interchangeably, technically, the range answers the question of whether the missile can reach its target: is it "in" or "out" of range? If the target is stationary, then the maximum distance will be the missile's range. Normally, however, the target is moving, and the range depends on this motion.

If the target is moving directly away from the missile, then it will take the missile longer to reach the target than it would a stationary one. ~~In fact, if~~ the target is moving fast enough, the missile may not be able to reach it at all - in this case, the target would be considered "out of range." Note that the target does not have to be moving faster than the missile ... just fast enough to stay ahead of the missile until it runs out of fuel.

If the target is moving directly away from the missile, then it will take the missile longer to reach the target than it would a stationary one. If the target is moving fast enough, the missile may not be able to reach it at all - in this case, the target would be considered "out of range." Note that the target does not have to be moving faster than the missile ... just fast enough to stay ahead of the missile until it runs out of fuel.

If the target is moving directly at the missile, then the missile will reach it much faster than it would reach a stationary target. In this case, the target may be "in range" even when it seems too far away to hit.

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 *'''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.
+In practice, damage is usually reduced by the combination of these two factors.
 {{Note box|In the simplest terms: big, slow ships can take up to 100% of missile damage. Small, fast ships often take less damage. It is '''NOT''' the speed of the missile that matters; but the speed and size of the explosion.}}
@@ Line 81: / Line 81: @@
 == Increasing missile damage ==
-Skills and ship equipment can have a direct impact on missile damage. A number of implants do the same. In addition, modules such as Target Painters and Webifiers can affect the target's signature radius and speed, thus making missile damage more effective.
+Skills and ship equipment can have a direct impact on missile damage. Many implants do the same. In addition, modules such as Target Painters and Webifiers can affect the target's signature radius and speed, thus making missile damage more effective.
 === Skills ===
@@ Line 391: / Line 391: @@
 {{Example |  Example 1:
-The Heavy Missile has a MVF of 0.648.
+The Heavy Missile has an MVF of 0.648.
 The Drake has 140 m/s speed and a signature radius of 295 m.
@@ Line 399: / Line 399: @@
 {{Example | Example 2:
-The Heavy Missile has a MVF of 0.648.
+The Heavy Missile has an MVF of 0.648.
 The Drake fits a 10MN meta afterburner, increasing top speed to 273m/s; signature size is unchanged.
@@ Line 406: / Line 406: @@
 {{Example |  Example 3:
-The Heavy Missile has a MVF of 0.648.
+The Heavy Missile has an MVF of 0.648.
 The Drake fits a 50MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive, increasing top speed to 675m/s and signature radius to 1622.5m.
@@ Line 414: / Line 414: @@
 {{Example |  Example 4:
-The Heavy Missile has a MVF of 0.648 and explosion radius E of 140m.
+The Heavy Missile has an MVF of 0.648 and explosion radius E of 140m.
 Griffin frigate has signature radius S of about 42m
-Since signature radius of Griffin is smaller than missile's explosion radius, we are limited by the second term in the missile damage formula - S/E, which is 0.3. That means that at the best we are able to do only 30% of Heavy Missile's damage when firing at Griffin, even when Griffin is not moving at all. Also, we can notice that in this case, Griffin's speed will take effect much later than at required speed. While required speed is 27.216m/s (42 * 0.648), at this speed third term in the missile damage formula is 1, however, it still does not have any effect because second term is 0.30. We will need to solve different (and more complicated) equation to get the speed of Griffin which will lower damage further below those 30%. After calculation we see that speed of the Griffin needs to be at least 141.89m/s to have further effect on reducing damage, which is more than 5 times more than required speed of 27.216m/s.
+Since signature radius of Griffin is smaller than missile's explosion radius, we are limited by the second term in the missile damage formula - S/E, which is 0.3. That means that at the best we can do only 30% of Heavy Missile's damage when firing at Griffin, even when Griffin is not moving at all. Also, we can notice that in this case, Griffin's speed will take effect much later than at required speed. While required speed is 27.216m/s (42 * 0.648), at this speed third term in the missile damage formula is 1, however, it still does not have any effect because second term is 0.30. We will need to solve different (and more complicated) equation to get the speed of Griffin which will lower damage further below those 30%. After calculation we see that speed of the Griffin needs to be at least 141.89m/s to have further effect on reducing damage, which is more than 5 times more than required speed of 27.216m/s.
 }}
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 Although the terms "range" and "distance" are often used interchangeably, technically, the range answers the question of whether the missile can reach its target: is it "in" or "out" of range? If the target is stationary, then the maximum distance will be the missile's range. Normally, however, the target is moving, and the range depends on this motion.
-If the target is moving directly away from the missile, then it will take the missile longer to reach the target than it would a stationary one. In fact, if the target is moving fast enough, the missile may not be able to reach it at all - in this case, the target would be considered "out of range." Note that the target does not have to be moving faster than the missile ... just fast enough to stay ahead of the missile until it runs out of fuel.
+If the target is moving directly away from the missile, then it will take the missile longer to reach the target than it would a stationary one. If the target is moving fast enough, the missile may not be able to reach it at all - in this case, the target would be considered "out of range." Note that the target does not have to be moving faster than the missile ... just fast enough to stay ahead of the missile until it runs out of fuel.
 If the target is moving directly at the missile, then the missile will reach it much faster than it would reach a stationary target. In this case, the target may be "in range" even when it seems too far away to hit.