G'day Mechspecs. So I've been running my Nova lately and I became curious about the mechanics of lasers in relation to the crit rate applied with targeting computers. More specifically, I wanted to know how much damage I can expect to deal on average with firing 4 Mlas on an exposed component with a TC. However, the more I thought about it the more I realized that I knew very little about the mechanics of lasers and their critical hits. Here's what I know. Lasers deal their damage over several ticks during the duration of the beam. Critical chance is applied on a per tick basis. Here's what I don't know. I don't know how many ticks clan lasers have, whether it's one every tenth of a second like with IS lasers or ten ticks over 1.35 seconds. I don't know the default crit rate for lasers. I don't know if the extra crit damage is dealt to internal structure in addition to the components therein (ammo and such). So basically, what I am asking is if I have a TC1 and 4 Mlas firing on an exposed component (Pretend my aim doesn't suck) what's the average damage I can expect? Whats the likelihood of blowing up some ammo? It really wouldn't shock me if there was a comprehensive breakdown in the benefactors bar, if so, let me know and I'll shut up. Also I'd like to hear your experience, do you equip a TC with your laser boats? Do you do it for the range boost and zoom? Do you find that internals explode more often than usual?
well a single clan mlas takes 22 shots to core an Atlas in testing grounds with or without a targeting computer. It would appear that it does not transfer any extra damage to the internal structure. One could test with finer granularity by using a small laser and repeating the test. I think the real question is if TC1 is better than quad mg for critting given the same mass. That is very relevant to Nova builds.
I like your thinking, I will have to do a test. I might try it with a TC7 to make any potential difference stand out more. I have done the test. 38 with no TC and a TC6. Also I rarely put machine guns on a Nova, I try not to get close enough to use them.
Targeting computers won't add extra damage so I don't understand the point of testing how many shots it will take to core X mech. Have you/can you test module destruction? How many modules get destroyed on an exposed component with and without a TC before the module its self is removed. Admittedly it will be harder to test as you can't see heatsinks and ammo in the targeting window. The alternative would be to drop in a private 2 man game and conduct labs.
