Difference between revisions of "Projectile ammunition"

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(Updating for post-Dominion and to cover artillery. WIP.)
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[[Category:Guides]]
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{{Work in Progress}}
 
== Ammunition Types ==
 
== Ammunition Types ==
 
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== Rules of the Autocannons ==
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After the Dominion expansion, projectile ammo is divided into three tiers -- three short-ranged, high-damage types, two medium range, medium damage, high-tracking types, and three long range, low damage types. Within each tier the only differences are in the damage type, so EMP, phased plasma and fusion all do identical ''amounts'' of raw (before enemy resists are applied) damage.
  
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==== Pretend your optimal range doesn't exist ====
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Faction versions of these ammunition types are available, and offer a nice increase in damage for a price. If you can afford it it's good to carry and use one or two loads of faction ammo in PvP; for PvE faction ammo is usually not cost-effective.
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The only reasons why you should be taking autocannons into their optimal range is when fighting missile ships or if you've landed on top of a sniping battleship. All other times, fight in your falloff.
 
  
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==== Always use your most damaging ammo ====
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== Ammo and Autocannons ==
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Besides Barrage (which gives a bonus so isn't really relevant), all projectile ammo range modifiers apply to your optimal range, not falloff. As we have tiny optimal ranges and huge falloffs, this means we can run about with EMP and not have to worry about losing the range as it stays virtually the same. Barrage does the same damage as EMP and gives a 50% range boost to falloff. It's wonderful, and you should use it.
 
  
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==== If your ship has a falloff bonus, it's designed to fit autocannons. ====
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* Your optimal range doesn't exist (or might as well not exist)
 +
ACs have terrible optimal ranges and long falloff (read more about optimal and falloff [[Gunnery_Guide#Range|here]]). The only reasons why you should be taking autocannons into their optimal range is when fighting missile ships or if you've landed on top of a sniping battleship. All other times, fight in your falloff.
  
 +
* If your ship has a falloff bonus, it's designed to fit autocannons
 
Because optimal range bonuses on autocannons are as useful as explosive damage bonuses for lasers.
 
Because optimal range bonuses on autocannons are as useful as explosive damage bonuses for lasers.
  
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==== Barrage is your friend ====
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* T1 ammo range bonuses are irrelevant!
 +
All T1 projectile ammo range modifiers apply to your optimal range, not falloff. As ACs have tiny optimal ranges and huge falloff, you can always load EMP, phased plasma or fusion -- your range would barely increase if you load one of the other ammo types.
  
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It gives you a 50% boost to falloff and does oodles of explosive damage. The only thing it's a bit useless against are Invul-Field Shield tanks and T2 amarr ships, where EM or Thermal damage are far better.
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(There are some very minor exceptions to this rule. For example if you're trying to hit a close-orbiting Jaguar with medium ACs Titanium Sabot not only gives you a tracking bonus, but also hits the Jaguar's weakest resist, kinetic.)
  
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==== Hail can actually be useful ====
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* Don't ignore the low and middle-tier autocannons
 +
125mm, 150mm, Dual 180mm, 220mm, Dual 425mm and Dual 650mm autocannons have stupidly low fitting requirements and allow you to either fit massive plates, loads of nos, twin reps, MWDs and cap boosters without gimping your setup. Using the next tier above means 4-5% more damage, a slightly reduced ammo consumption, and more falloff.
  
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When fighting missile ships or stationary targets, load in some Hail ammo and you will tear them to shreds. Be warned that it does have a speed penalty, which is why you can't fly around with it loaded all the time. It's best used in conjunction with a passive shield tank or a dura-armour tank to offset the cap recharge penalty.
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* Fit top-tier autocannons for PvE
 +
They use a lot less ammo, which is very important when shooting rats with autocannons as they have the highest rate of fire of all turrets
  
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==== Learn to love the low and middle-tier autocannons ====
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=== T2 AC Ammo ===
  
−
125mm, 150mm, Dual 180mm, 220mm, Dual 425mm and Dual 650mm autocannons have stupidly low fitting requirements and allow you to either fit massive plates, loads of nos, twin reps, mwds and cap boosters without gimping your setup. This is because they all have identical falloff ranges, so the only thing you gain from using the next tier above is 4-5% more damage and a slightly reduced ammo consumption.
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There are two types of T2 AC ammo, Barrage and Hail. Barrage is ridiculously useful, and Hail is pretty useless. Note that only T2 autocannons can load T2 ammunition.
  
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==== Fit Top-Tier autocannons when NPCing ====
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==== Barrage ====
  
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The use a lot less ammo, which is very important when npcing with autocannons as they have the highest rate of fire out of all the guns.
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Barrage comes with a 50% boost to falloff and a 25% penalty to tracking. It does a mixture of explosive and kinetic damage, a little more explosive than kinetic. This is the quintessential kiting/skirmishing ammo type, which lets you fit autocannons and fight at the edge of warp disruptor range.
  
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== There are only 3-3.5 different ammos you ever need to carry ==
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The only things it's a bit useless against are I-field shield tanks and T2 Amarr ships, who have very high explosive resists and are weaker to EM or thermal damage.
  
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In order of priority:
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==== Hail ====
  
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=== T1 Guns ===
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Hail does a lot of damage, on paper. Unfortunately it also cuts your tracking speed by 50%, cuts your falloff by 50% and slows down your capacitor recharge rate. (It also cuts your optimal by 50%, but you didn't want that optimal anyway, right?)
  
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# EMP for general use & shield tankers
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When fighting large, stationary targets, Hail may actually be useful. Generally, however, Hail's penalties mean that other ammunition will actually do more real, applied damage even if Hail offers the best on-paper damage.
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# Fusion for armour tankers
 
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# Phased plasma for Amarr T2 resists
 
  
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=== T2 Guns ===
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=== Ammo selection ===
  
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# Barrage for general use
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So, what ammo should you actually pack? You don't need to carry a load of every type.
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# EMP for shield tankers
 
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# Phased Plasma for T2 Amarr resistances
 
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# Hail, if you're feeling lucky
 
  
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For Npc's (ratting)
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==== PvP: T1 ACs ====
  
 +
# Phased Plasma for general use (thermal is a decent all-round damage type)
 +
# Fusion to hit armour tanks
 +
# EMP to hit shield tanks
  
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Most people assume that since, for example Serpentis ships lowest resist is to kinetic damage Titanium Sabot is the best ammo to kill them. This is incorrect. The higher damage of Phased Plasma makes up for the slightly worse resists.
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==== PvP: T2 ACs ====
  
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The resists on smaller ships such as cruisers and frigates are low across the board. Some dont exceed 30 in any type. For these the higher damage ammo such as EMP and Phased plasma are even better. The most effective ammo against Angel friagtes for example is EMP.
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# Barrage for general use, unless you plan to fight at close range
 +
# Fusion to hit armour tanks
 +
# EMP to hit shield tanks
 +
# Phased Plasma to hit T2 Amarr ships or for general use at close range
  
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EMP also does significantly higher damage against stucture so you might notice EMP killing some of the weaker Angel BS faster than Fusion.
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==== PvE ====
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The rule of thumb for PvE is to hit the weakest resists of the rat type you're fighting, as detailed [[NPC_Damage_Types#A_brief_Summary_of_NPC_Damage_Types|here]].
  
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The ammo you should use per rat type:
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However, remember the tiering by damage. Some assume that since, for example, Guristas' lowest resist is to kinetic damage, titanium sabot is the best ammo to kill them. Actually, the higher damage of phased plasma makes up for the slightly worse resists.
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Best / 2nd best
 
  
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Angel
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{| border="1"
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Fusion / EMP
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! Rats !! Best !! Second-Best
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|-
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Blood Raiders
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||Angel Cartel || Fusion || Titanium Sabot
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EMP / Phased
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|-
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||Blood Raiders || EMP || Phased Plasma
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|-
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||Guristas || Phased Plasma || Titanium Sabot
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|-
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||Serpentis || Phased Plasma || Titanium Sabot
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|-
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||Sansha || EMP || Phased Plasma
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|-
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||Mercenaries || Phased Plasma || Titanium Sabot
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|-
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||Mordu's Legion || Phased Plasma || Titanium Sabot
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|-
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||Rogue Drones || EMP || Phased Plasma
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|-
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||Amarr Empire || EMP || Phased Plasma
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|-
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||Caldari State || Phased Plasma || Titanium Sabot
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|-
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||Gallente Federation || Phased Plasma || Titanium Sabot
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|-
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||Minmatar Republic || Fusion || Titanium Sabot
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|}
  
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Guristas
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== Ammo and Artillery ==
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Phased / Titanium
 
  
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Serpentis
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=== T2 Artillery Ammo ===
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Phased / Titanium
 
  
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Sansha
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==== Tremor ====
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EMP / Phased
 
  
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Generally EMP or Phased Plasma are the best to rat with, since ACs fire LOTS of ammo you are going to want to use the cheapest one if possilble.
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==== Quake ====
  
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You'd think EMP is the most expensive, thats not always true. When you consider the materials required to produce the various ammos you get odd prices.
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=== Ammo Selection ===
  
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Small Ammo
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==== PvP: T1 Arty ====
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Phased is the most expensive, Fusion costs about 10% less and EMP is the cheapest being around 30% cheaper than Phased.
 
  
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Medium
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==== PvP: T2 Arty ====
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Phased again is the most costly, EMP is half as much and Fusion is 1/3 the cost.
 
  
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Large
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==== PvE ====
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EMP is the most expensive, Phased is 10% cheaper and Fusion is 60% cheaper.
 

Revision as of 10:33, 21 July 2010

Template:Work in Progress

Ammunition Types

Name Range Mod. Tracking Mod. Damage Types Damage
EMP -50% 0% EM (75%)/exp (16%)/kin High
Fusion -50% 0% EXP (83%)/kin High
Phased Plasma -50% 0% THERM (83%)/kin High
Titanium Sabot 0% 20% KIN (75%)/exp Moderate
Depleted Uranium 0% 20% exp (38%)/therm (38%)/kin Moderate
Proton 60% 5% em (60%)/kin Low
Nuclear 60% 5% EXP (80%)/kin Low
Carbonized Lead 60% 5% KIN (80%)/exp Low

After the Dominion expansion, projectile ammo is divided into three tiers -- three short-ranged, high-damage types, two medium range, medium damage, high-tracking types, and three long range, low damage types. Within each tier the only differences are in the damage type, so EMP, phased plasma and fusion all do identical amounts of raw (before enemy resists are applied) damage.

Faction versions of these ammunition types are available, and offer a nice increase in damage for a price. If you can afford it it's good to carry and use one or two loads of faction ammo in PvP; for PvE faction ammo is usually not cost-effective.

Ammo and Autocannons

  • Your optimal range doesn't exist (or might as well not exist)

ACs have terrible optimal ranges and long falloff (read more about optimal and falloff here). The only reasons why you should be taking autocannons into their optimal range is when fighting missile ships or if you've landed on top of a sniping battleship. All other times, fight in your falloff.

  • If your ship has a falloff bonus, it's designed to fit autocannons

Because optimal range bonuses on autocannons are as useful as explosive damage bonuses for lasers.

  • T1 ammo range bonuses are irrelevant!

All T1 projectile ammo range modifiers apply to your optimal range, not falloff. As ACs have tiny optimal ranges and huge falloff, you can always load EMP, phased plasma or fusion -- your range would barely increase if you load one of the other ammo types.

(There are some very minor exceptions to this rule. For example if you're trying to hit a close-orbiting Jaguar with medium ACs Titanium Sabot not only gives you a tracking bonus, but also hits the Jaguar's weakest resist, kinetic.)

  • Don't ignore the low and middle-tier autocannons

125mm, 150mm, Dual 180mm, 220mm, Dual 425mm and Dual 650mm autocannons have stupidly low fitting requirements and allow you to either fit massive plates, loads of nos, twin reps, MWDs and cap boosters without gimping your setup. Using the next tier above means 4-5% more damage, a slightly reduced ammo consumption, and more falloff.

  • Fit top-tier autocannons for PvE

They use a lot less ammo, which is very important when shooting rats with autocannons as they have the highest rate of fire of all turrets

T2 AC Ammo

There are two types of T2 AC ammo, Barrage and Hail. Barrage is ridiculously useful, and Hail is pretty useless. Note that only T2 autocannons can load T2 ammunition.

Barrage

Barrage comes with a 50% boost to falloff and a 25% penalty to tracking. It does a mixture of explosive and kinetic damage, a little more explosive than kinetic. This is the quintessential kiting/skirmishing ammo type, which lets you fit autocannons and fight at the edge of warp disruptor range.

The only things it's a bit useless against are I-field shield tanks and T2 Amarr ships, who have very high explosive resists and are weaker to EM or thermal damage.

Hail

Hail does a lot of damage, on paper. Unfortunately it also cuts your tracking speed by 50%, cuts your falloff by 50% and slows down your capacitor recharge rate. (It also cuts your optimal by 50%, but you didn't want that optimal anyway, right?)

When fighting large, stationary targets, Hail may actually be useful. Generally, however, Hail's penalties mean that other ammunition will actually do more real, applied damage even if Hail offers the best on-paper damage.

Ammo selection

So, what ammo should you actually pack? You don't need to carry a load of every type.

PvP: T1 ACs

  1. Phased Plasma for general use (thermal is a decent all-round damage type)
  2. Fusion to hit armour tanks
  3. EMP to hit shield tanks

PvP: T2 ACs

  1. Barrage for general use, unless you plan to fight at close range
  2. Fusion to hit armour tanks
  3. EMP to hit shield tanks
  4. Phased Plasma to hit T2 Amarr ships or for general use at close range

PvE

The rule of thumb for PvE is to hit the weakest resists of the rat type you're fighting, as detailed here.

However, remember the tiering by damage. Some assume that since, for example, Guristas' lowest resist is to kinetic damage, titanium sabot is the best ammo to kill them. Actually, the higher damage of phased plasma makes up for the slightly worse resists.

Rats Best Second-Best
Angel Cartel Fusion Titanium Sabot
Blood Raiders EMP Phased Plasma
Guristas Phased Plasma Titanium Sabot
Serpentis Phased Plasma Titanium Sabot
Sansha EMP Phased Plasma
Mercenaries Phased Plasma Titanium Sabot
Mordu's Legion Phased Plasma Titanium Sabot
Rogue Drones EMP Phased Plasma
Amarr Empire EMP Phased Plasma
Caldari State Phased Plasma Titanium Sabot
Gallente Federation Phased Plasma Titanium Sabot
Minmatar Republic Fusion Titanium Sabot

Ammo and Artillery

T2 Artillery Ammo

Tremor

Quake

Ammo Selection

PvP: T1 Arty

PvP: T2 Arty

PvE

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