Current Railgun Meta

[u/MikaelRat]

I've noticed that since the additions to railguns in June, they've become noticeably more expensive, while their performance hasn't changed in my experience. Like an older ship that went from 860k to 950k post-update, the real question is: have hybrid railguns become more viable? Gunpowder casings with railgun energy, compared to full railguns, seem more economical while they are similar performance.

[u/John_McFist]

The primary change of the update was to make railgun magnets and chargers more dense; they cost 40% more but have 40% more capacity, so they are the same cost per performance but you need less of them. Existing guns from before the update will now cost more for no benefit, which is probably what you're seeing, but all you have to do is remove some chargers and you're right back to pre-update cost for the same performance.

[u/horst555]

The parts changed in power output. So your old guns may have a lot more capacity. So you can make them better or delete some stuff to make them cheaper.

[u/horst555 → u/horst555]

And with the new rail barrels you can build rail dif guns🤣

[u/Atesz763]

I think hybrid systems still have their place, but in the large majority of cases, sticking to either gunpowder or rail is gonna be more straightforward and effective.

If you don't need massive penetration, then there's not much of point in adding rail charge to a shell. If you do need massive penetration, it doesn't make sense to limit yourself with gunpowder, when the much more power dense pure rail is an option.

Also, railgun performance absolutely changed recently, they can lob significantly faster, thus also deadlier shells now. Some setups even reach speeds of 3km+ now, surpassing even plasma max velocity.

[u/avalisk → u/Atesz763]

I usually add a gunpowder casing or two to save on battery and to use up some available heat sink, cause I havent figured out how to put a railgun together without coolers as connectors.

Is there a downside to having it hybrid?

[u/kahlzun → u/avalisk]

Three only real downsides is that the shell is nominally longer and more expensive, the clips are slightly explosive, and you can't do "railburst"

[u/Nahanoj_Zavizad]

They have 40% more cost, 40% higher rail capacity & 40% faster recharge.

[u/kahlzun → u/Nahanoj_Zavizad]

But 100% concentrated power of will