what is the piercing effect for?

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    Ok so I was testing weapons for a new ship and thought. Mhm there is pierciung and punch through, what is the difference? Ok two cannon-cannon arrays build, one with piercing one with punch through. From the weapons tap, both have exactly the same stats.

    That is with one difference. The piercing effect got a -1.0 shield modifier. And it does exactly that no damage to shield what so ever.

    Punch through got a -0.5 armor efficiency modifier.

    Both got 100% support, so for one it seems slightly bad for the piercing effect. Should it not have a -0.5 shield modifier too?

    But now comes the real suppriece.



    That is hardened hull and both weapons have exactly the same penetration. Should the punch through not have like only half as much?
     
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    I've been asking this question for a while but I got not specific answer.

    Another difference you missed was that punch-through prolongs the lifetime of a projectile. Meaning that if you use it with cannon it'll keep going through a ship if theres enough damage left. Pierce is limited to whatever it hits, even if the projectile goes all the way through.
     
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    I've been asking this question for a while but I got not specific answer.

    Another difference you missed was that punch-through prolongs the lifetime of a projectile. Meaning that if you use it with cannon it'll keep going through a ship if theres enough damage left. Pierce is limited to whatever it hits, even if the projectile goes all the way through.
    What? What do you mean with "Pierce is limited to whatever it hits, even if the projectile goes all the way through", both weapons make exactly the same damage pattern on the target.
     

    Criss

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    I though piercing did more damage to hull than it did to shields. It seemed to actually fully destroy the blocks I shot instead of leave them damaged. So maybe while it doesn't spread its damage out anymore, it actually will remove the ones it damages?
     
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    even then I can only point to the picture I provided. Two arrays one with piercing one with punch through and both do the same damage pattern.
     
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    What? What do you mean with "Pierce is limited to whatever it hits, even if the projectile goes all the way through", both weapons make exactly the same damage pattern on the target.
    Pierce will only affect one entity. Punch through can theoretically hit multiple targets.
     

    Criss

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    Idk I did battle testing in some bombers. Same number of systems and they very much looked different. I can show you if you care. I filmed it.
     
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    mhm that is curious. I got the one above, well I will try again tomorrow.

    Ahh and Comr4de you mean it can hit another ship behind the original target. Now that would make sense.
     

    DrTarDIS

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    piercing does X% damage to EVERY block for 5-6 block past the impact point
    piercing subtracts the damage used and carries through

    a 3000 damage cannon round with piercing will do 3000 damage to the first block, and 3000*(X supported) damage to the 5-6 blocks behind it.
    a 3000 damage cannon round with punch will do 3000 damage in total, 425 to the first HH(leaving 2575 in the projectile), 425 to the second HH(leaving 2150 damage in the projectile), 100hp to the light behind that HH(leaving 2050 damage in the projectile), etc...

    Lesson: if you have a ~200 damage projectile with 50% piercing, it will destroy 5-6 regular hull.
    Lesson: if you have a 200 damage projectile with 50% punch through, it will destroy 1.5 regular hull.

    Missiles though, THOSE have a "special" way of dealing with either effect...
     

    Criss

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    piercing does X% damage to EVERY block for 5-6 block past the impact point
    piercing subtracts the damage used and carries through

    a 3000 damage cannon round with piercing will do 3000 damage to the first block, and 3000*(X supported) damage to the 5-6 blocks behind it.
    a 3000 damage cannon round with punch will do 3000 damage in total, 425 to the first HH(leaving 2575 in the projectile), 425 to the second HH(leaving 2150 damage in the projectile), 100hp to the light behind that HH(leaving 2050 damage in the projectile), etc...

    Lesson: if you have a ~200 damage projectile with 50% piercing, it will destroy 5-6 regular hull.
    Lesson: if you have a 200 damage projectile with 50% punch through, it will destroy 1.5 regular hull.

    Missiles though, THOSE have a "special" way of dealing with either effect...
    I believe piercing or punch through was changed to just do more damage to hull instead of shields, as an opposite of ion. I think it was piercing. Can't remember.
     
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    i wish i could have brown lights for my lasers and cannons so i can have a spaceship that shoots chocolate at people
     
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    NeonSturm

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    i wish i could have brown lights for my lasers and cannons so i can have a spaceship that shoots chocolate at people
    I want something when I get pissed off :) Oh wait, we already have yellow/green :)
     
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    You should repeat your tests for different kinds of blocks, as well as "normal" combinations (hull with systems behind). The point is that hardened hull has a strong armor value, whereas other blocks don't. You therefore should be able to observe a different pattern there.
     
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    also, on the subject of piercing effect, its specifically designed for putting unwanted earrings on your enemie's ships... u should all know this -____________________-
     
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    Punchthrough is like watching a trainwreck, it does damage to the block it hits, all excess damage is applied to the next block in the line- etc etc etc. Piercing is supposed to do 50% damage to the first blocks, 25% to the second, 12.5% to the third- etc etc etc. It was made to penetrate "Modded heavy armors". One of the devs explained this inside a post some time back.
     

    Criss

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    When they added the jump drives they stated that it they changed the mechanics entirely. Its not meant to go through multiple blocks, its meant to do damage more to hull than shields. I do not know if its actually bypassing shields or not but that would make the most sense. That being said they never released any information during that update and they also rebalanced almost all of the effects
     
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    Ok I have tried again. With one layer hh and then 80 normal hull



    one is oiercing one is punch through and just like with only hh, there is no difference. So I will use Punch through, that one does normal damage to shields.
     

    CyberTao

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    Punch does normal damage to shields? When did they change that o -o
    Is there even any balancing factors anymore?
     
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    From the stats, punch has an armor modifier of -0,5. I would take from that, that it does half damage to armor. But I have found, that that seems not to be the case, just look at both pictures I posted. Both show no obvious difference in penetration, neither in normal or hardened hull.