WARNING! This will be a bit long. Sorry, but it seems like a lot of people don't even know this is a thing you can do.
Most people view the black holes in this game as mere wormhole travel. They are not wrong, but they forget what it actually is: a strongly attracting gravitational body.
Larger ships, (especially now) are difficult to deploy rapidly to far-flung portions of a galaxy and beyond without a network of jump-gates, due to their mass and therefore, top speed. In particular, gate-building operations are viewed as terribly tedious, because you have to take a large, but generally slow ship a long way out into deep space to a specified location, hauling everything you need. Battleships and the like are even worse, because of the necessity of heavy armor.
I realize that this will be changing a bit with targeted gate destinations, but there will always be times where this piloting technique will be enormously useful to have in your repertoire.
Would it surprise you to learn that I know nothing of building jump-gates, even after a lot of playtime, because I've never needed to use them? I've never built or used a single one.
Instead, I use gravitational-assisted slingshot maneuvers using the nearest black hole to achieve galactic cruising speeds that sometimes exceed 1000 m/s, particularly if I use another black hole for further acceleration. In this way, I can send a large ship to another galaxy in the same time it would take many ships to reach the edge of the one I started out of, in part because I often don't stop using FTL while at those cruising speeds.
Long-jump FTL or multi-charge FTL is almost a necessity for this with the new jump distance limitations, so fair warning. This works better for larger ships, (and is more exhilarating) but small ships can do it too.
For practice, go to a nearby system that neighbors a black hole on the opposite side from the desired direction of travel and charge your jump drive.
Now, plot a course to a destination on the outer rim of the galaxy you're in that runs directly through the black hole. Simply fly toward your nav marker. As expected, once you enter the black hole system, you will be accelerated considerably in your current direction of travel. As you draw near to the black hole, but before you are pulled through, trigger your jump drives.
You will jump to the next system in line with your destination, but without losing any speed. Use slow turning of the bow coupled with side-thrust to make course adjustments or even slowly turn all the way around in a wide arc, depending on the ship's thrust capabilities. You will have to be careful not to lose too much speed in doing this by turning too sharply, but you'll get the feel for it if you watch you're speed gauge as you maneuver.
As I said, you can keep charging and using your FTL drives as you go if you're in a big hurry and safety is less of a concern for you. Otherwise it's best to keep it charged in case you need to jump past a star you may get too close to.
Depending on the ship, it can be like stopping a freight-train though, so familiarize yourself with what stopping distance your particular ship will need.
For instance, in testing my Uktena Industrial Carrier for towing capacity, I rigged a tow-bar and docked a J-Tech Fusion Class Battlecruiser to it. Then did a black hole slingshot. I needed a whole system or so to slow down, but I got where I wanted to go at over 600 m/s, rather than 63.
It's a maneuver that I feel pilots should know how to execute and one that ship-builders should keep in mind when building anything that might be expected to go long distances, or relies heavily on FTL to get around because of slow top speeds. It's a great deal of why I like to keep relatively high thrust/mass ratios on most of my long-range and larger ship builds, whenever possible. Because I'll be maneuvering at Ludicrous Speed and I'll want to be able to steer. lol
I hope that I have given you some food for thought. Also maybe something new and fun to try, if you haven't considered it.
Most people view the black holes in this game as mere wormhole travel. They are not wrong, but they forget what it actually is: a strongly attracting gravitational body.
Larger ships, (especially now) are difficult to deploy rapidly to far-flung portions of a galaxy and beyond without a network of jump-gates, due to their mass and therefore, top speed. In particular, gate-building operations are viewed as terribly tedious, because you have to take a large, but generally slow ship a long way out into deep space to a specified location, hauling everything you need. Battleships and the like are even worse, because of the necessity of heavy armor.
I realize that this will be changing a bit with targeted gate destinations, but there will always be times where this piloting technique will be enormously useful to have in your repertoire.
Would it surprise you to learn that I know nothing of building jump-gates, even after a lot of playtime, because I've never needed to use them? I've never built or used a single one.
Instead, I use gravitational-assisted slingshot maneuvers using the nearest black hole to achieve galactic cruising speeds that sometimes exceed 1000 m/s, particularly if I use another black hole for further acceleration. In this way, I can send a large ship to another galaxy in the same time it would take many ships to reach the edge of the one I started out of, in part because I often don't stop using FTL while at those cruising speeds.
Long-jump FTL or multi-charge FTL is almost a necessity for this with the new jump distance limitations, so fair warning. This works better for larger ships, (and is more exhilarating) but small ships can do it too.
For practice, go to a nearby system that neighbors a black hole on the opposite side from the desired direction of travel and charge your jump drive.
Now, plot a course to a destination on the outer rim of the galaxy you're in that runs directly through the black hole. Simply fly toward your nav marker. As expected, once you enter the black hole system, you will be accelerated considerably in your current direction of travel. As you draw near to the black hole, but before you are pulled through, trigger your jump drives.
You will jump to the next system in line with your destination, but without losing any speed. Use slow turning of the bow coupled with side-thrust to make course adjustments or even slowly turn all the way around in a wide arc, depending on the ship's thrust capabilities. You will have to be careful not to lose too much speed in doing this by turning too sharply, but you'll get the feel for it if you watch you're speed gauge as you maneuver.
As I said, you can keep charging and using your FTL drives as you go if you're in a big hurry and safety is less of a concern for you. Otherwise it's best to keep it charged in case you need to jump past a star you may get too close to.
Depending on the ship, it can be like stopping a freight-train though, so familiarize yourself with what stopping distance your particular ship will need.
For instance, in testing my Uktena Industrial Carrier for towing capacity, I rigged a tow-bar and docked a J-Tech Fusion Class Battlecruiser to it. Then did a black hole slingshot. I needed a whole system or so to slow down, but I got where I wanted to go at over 600 m/s, rather than 63.
It's a maneuver that I feel pilots should know how to execute and one that ship-builders should keep in mind when building anything that might be expected to go long distances, or relies heavily on FTL to get around because of slow top speeds. It's a great deal of why I like to keep relatively high thrust/mass ratios on most of my long-range and larger ship builds, whenever possible. Because I'll be maneuvering at Ludicrous Speed and I'll want to be able to steer. lol
I hope that I have given you some food for thought. Also maybe something new and fun to try, if you haven't considered it.
