Salvage beam combos quantified

[Malacodor]

I made a series of tests with the various salvage beam combinations to find out how the new mechanics works and which combo is the best. It would be great if someone could verify these numbers ot present their own.


Test set-up
I tested the behaviour of single beam systems using long lines of blocks with alternating colors to make counting easier. These blocks were attached to a space station to make sure they are grid-aligned. Before the firing of each salvage beam the test ship was aligned with 'C' as well. I activated the beams with a short click to make sure only one burst is fired.

All combinations had a 1:1 ratio.

For the missile combo's multiple beams I created a 50 x 50 x 100 block cube and used build mode to count blocks. I also made a short test with a single beam combo to find out whether mining grid-aligned or not makes a difference, which apparently isn't the case.


General results

• A burst from a single salvage beam block is just enough to mine one block, but the burst is slightly longer than necessary, so a small part of the duration seems to be wasted. However, each consecutive block is mined a little bit faster until the remaining time is sufficient to mine a second block in one burst. There seems to be a carry over mechanics to avoid waste.
• There seems to be a hard cap of how many blocks can be mined by a single beam depending on the specific combo. Significantly lowering the graphics quality hadn't any influence on this.
• The correlation between salvage system blocks and mined blocks seems to be pretty linear. I didn't find any jumps or sweet spots aside from the hard caps.

Salvage beam only

Basic data
Burst duration: 3.3 s
Cooldown: 5 s
Range: 12% of sector size
Energy usage per salvage block: 40 e/s

Limit
The limit is reached with 92 system blocks which can mine 101 blocks per burst. 200 system blocks still mine just 101 blocks per burst.

Data for 92 system blocks
Mined blocks per second: 30.6
Mined blocks per second including cooldown: 20.2
Mined blocks per system block and second: 0.33
Mined blocks per system block and second including cooldown: 0.22
Energy usage per mined block: 120.24 e

Due to changes in version 0.1845 the following is outdated!

Salvage beam / cannon

Basic data
Burst duration: 2.5 s
Cooldown: 2.5 s
Range: 240 m
Energy usage per salvage block: 40 e/s
Energy usage per cannon block: 40 e/s

Limit
The limit is reached with 2 x 21 system blocks which can mine 22 blocks per burst. 2 x 200 system blocks still mine just 22 blocks per burst.

Data for 2x21 system blocks
Mined blocks per second: 8.8
Mined blocks per second including cooldown: 8.8
Mined blocks per system block and second: 0.21
Energy usage per mined block: 190.91 e


Salvage beam / pulse

Basic data
Burst duration: 15 s
Cooldown: 30 s
Range: 240 m
Energy usage per salvage block: 40 e/s
Energy usage per pulse block: 440 e/s

Limit
The limit is reached with 2 x 8 system blocks which can mine 100 blocks per burst. 2 x 100 system blocks still mine just 100 blocks per burst.

Data for 2x8 system blocks
Mined blocks per second: 6.67
Mined blocks per second including cooldown: 3.33
Mined blocks per system block and second: 0.21
Energy usage per mined block: 576 e


Salvage beam / damage beam

Basic data
Burst duration: 7.5 s
Cooldown: 5 s
Range: 720 m
Energy usage per salvage block: 40 e/s
Energy usage per cannon block: 200 e/s

Limit
The limit is reached with 2 x 29 system blocks which can mine 63 blocks per burst. 2 x 100 system blocks still mine just 63 blocks per burst.

Data for 2x29 system blocks
Mined blocks per second: 8.4
Mined blocks per second including cooldown: 8.4
Mined blocks per system block and second: 0.14
Energy usage per mined block: 829.57 e


Salvage beam / missile

Basic data
Burst duration: 2.5 s
Cooldown: 5 s
Range: 240 m
Energy usage per salvage block: 40 e/s
Energy usage per cannon block: 840 e/s

Limit
The limit is reached with 2 x 100 system blocks which can mine 235 blocks per burst. 2 x 200 system blocks still mine just 235 blocks per burst.

Data for 2x100 system blocks
Mined blocks per second: 94
Mined blocks per second including cooldown: 47
Mined blocks per system block and second: 0.24
Energy usage per mined block: 936.17 e


Conclusion

• The best option for starters is salvage beam only due to salvage beam blocks being way cheaper than weapon blocks - and computers even more so. Also, the energy consumption is very low compared to combined systems.
• If you find the waiting times between two bursts as annoying as I do, then the cannon combo is the way to go. It works basically like two alternating salvage only beams. You need twice as many system blocks, but twice as many blocks are mined in the same time. The energy consumption is higher, but still relatively low.
• The salvage beam combo doesn't have downtimes as well, but is less efficient and requires very high amounts of energy. The only advantage is the increased range, which isn't very useful since asteroids can't flee.
• With bigger arrays pulse slaves become interesting - if all blocks in range can be mined within a single burst the cooldown becomes meaningless. Also, 2 x 8 system blocks are already enough to reach the cap. However, 2 x 21 salvage/cannon blocks are more efficient and use less energy.
• For doomsday harvesters missiles are a good choice. The hard cap seems to work per beam, so with ten beams more blocks can be mined. This combo requires the most energy, but also has the highest efficiency, given that at least nine beams actually hit blocks.

 

[FunnyBunny14]

We may need to inquire about that hard cap, but for the rest this is all very useful. Thanks!