SE4 weapon index

[Urendi Maleldil]

I was hoping someone would have a formula that could boil down weapon stats to a single number. I'm trying to make all the weapons in SE4 Advanced useful, so I need to be able to compare them all on the same level.

The formula I mentioned before seems to be working, but it's not perfect. (And since I'm no math whiz, I'm not even sure its accurate.)

[Urendi Maleldil]

I don't know how to express this mathematically, but maybe a Weapon Index (WI) number of 1 could equal a weapon with these characteristics:

10kT space
10kT structure
10 Normal damage at range 1
1 max range
.1 decay
10% to-hit bonus
1 reload rate
10 supply usage
10 each cost min, rad, and org

Using this hypothetical weapon as a base and some mathematical formula to boil it down to one number, you could then use it to rate the effectiveness of all other direct fire weapons.

[Glyn]

I have an excel work sheet that has all the weapons, components, ship type data. It come in handy. I downloaded it from somewhere, but I can's seem to find where. It's name is SE4G.XLS


Unless you have a great to-hit advantage, for me it comes down to cost per point of damage. shield depleter and ripper beams.

( damage at range:0 / rof ) / total cost.


Also, Design your ships to be built in 3, 6, or 9 turns by your shipyards. That way you get the maximum build efficacy when you use emergency build.

[Slick]

That would be my spreadsheet. Glad to see someone found it useful. Distribute freely.

[Suicide Junkie]

Glyn;
As it has been mentioned, weapon cost is not a very big part of the total ship cost.
Engines and all of the one-off components like ECM/Sensors/bridge are a huge chunk of change, particularily on small ships in stock.

And also, if your weapons are cheap but large and weak, you'll need to sacrifice shields/armor/engines in order to get the same firepower.
Or build more ships, and pay a hefty fine in the build cost of your bridge/lifesupport/crewquarters/engines/sensors/etc
Be careful not to misplace the dollars while you pinch your pennies!

[marhawkman]

Unless you research better lifesupport/crewquarters/engines/sensors/etc.

I usually make ships with at least one solar panel and either use Organic missiles or a beam weapon. Electric discharge is nice. Especially powerful is the small version as a ground weapon.

EDIT: Sorry I was thinking of SE5.....

[Suicide Junkie]

That costs research, and still does not change the fact that having more ships costs you more resources for non-combat and one-per-ship components.

[Glyn]

SJ – The Ripper beam is smaller, cheaper and does more damage than the APB XII. It draw back is a range of 3, but by the time you have these weapons it best to fight at short range and you usually have the larger ships. Also, the Ripper beam is better balanced between the minerals and rads cost. For me, weapon load run about 30-35% of the total ship cost.

Now if your fighting organic or crystal the more expensive special weapons are needed.

[Fyron]

damage / size / rate

is the main formula for comparisons. You can't really factor range into it mathematically, because the effects of different ranges are very complex. They vary based on ship speeds, your to hit bonuses, the enemy's defense bonuses, etc. The same applies to factors like raw to hit bonus of the weapon. A weapon with a 10% bonus to hit isn't really 10% more powerful; in cases where you have higher hit rates, 10% bonus is very small. In cases where you have low hit rates, 10% can make a difference. Supply usage is a nice balancing factor (have heavy supply usage, strong weapons for system defense, and lighter weapons for long range tactics), but it doesn't factor into damage ratios mathematically. Same with cost; its a factor in economics, certainly, but weapons usually aren't the vast majority of the cost of ships. You can't really factor such things into one single formula.

This is why SJ's weapon stats program uses a bunch of different formulas to generate a wide array of stats; different formulas are useful for comparing relative strengths different situations. There is no single formula to rule them all. Balancing weapons is a complex affair that requires much play testing. Math can get you a good baseline, but it won't do everything for you.