Topic: OP Bug: PLaDs are hitting ESGs

[FireSoul]

I need someone to confirm... but on SS2, the PLaDs are hitting my ESGs and are reducing the damage they can do significantly. (unmeasured as of yet.)

[TarMinyatur]

Confirmed in 2.5.4.12 and 2.036. This is a show-stopper. Each Plas-D eliminates one ESG of each radius it encounters! A L-BCH with ESGs active at radius 0, 1, 2, and 3 will lose all of them to an errant Plas-D. If It has 4 ESGs at the same radius then it only loses one.

Additional Plas-D weirdness: Plas-D are the only torps that can be degraded by Heavy Weapon fire. Theoretically only phasers can weaken plasma. I shot a Plas-D out of the sky with 4 Overloaded Dizzys. Using the 4:1 reduction that works out to 40:10, which eliminates the Plas-D.  I've not yet tried other DF Heavies or seeking weapons.

[FireSoul]

Quote:
Confirmed in 2.5.4.12 and 2.036. This is a show-stopper. Each Plas-D eliminates one ESG of each radius it encounters! A L-BCH with ESGs active at radius 0, 1, 2, and 3 will lose all of them to an errant Plas-D. If It has 4 ESGs at the same radius then it only loses one.

Additional Plas-D weirdness: Plas-D are the only torps that can be degraded by Heavy Weapon fire. Theoretically only phasers can weaken plasma. I shot a Plas-D out of the sky with 4 Overloaded Dizzys. Using the 4:1 reduction that works out to 40:10, which eliminates the Plas-D.  I've not yet tried other DF Heavies or seeking weapons.

Obvious solution: only phasers may damage the PLasmaDs. Of course, that means a patch.

[TarMinyatur]

A while back, a patch removed Plas-D from the list of objects that will trigger automated PD fire. The idea being that it is a waste for ships to automatically fire phasers at Plas-D which are intercepting their missiles. They can still fire manually if they think it is worthwhile. This change is likely where this odd behavior was introduced though I haven't tested earlier versions. As a beta tester, I neglected to test the Plas-D/ESG interaction since I assumed the ESG would ignore plasma torps of any type. Oops. Never assume anything.

I was just able to fire Plasma at Plas-D too. It seems that Plas-D is a viable target for every weapon except Plas-D. It would be painfully funny to see a Plas-D cascade occur.

EDIT: I played with 2.013pr. It has a more severe problem. A Plas-D will drop any ESG field that it encounters. This version is prior to the change in point defense vs. Plas-D, so my earlier guess is incorrect. I wouldn't be surprised to see 2.0055 act similarly. I'm sure some Lyrans will be glad to know why their ESGs suddenly disappeared, which had been erroneously attributed to lag.  

[FireSoul]

I need someone to confirm... but on SS2, the PLaDs are hitting my ESGs and are reducing the damage they can do significantly. (unmeasured as of yet.)

[TarMinyatur]

Confirmed in 2.5.4.12 and 2.036. This is a show-stopper. Each Plas-D eliminates one ESG of each radius it encounters! A L-BCH with ESGs active at radius 0, 1, 2, and 3 will lose all of them to an errant Plas-D. If It has 4 ESGs at the same radius then it only loses one.

Additional Plas-D weirdness: Plas-D are the only torps that can be degraded by Heavy Weapon fire. Theoretically only phasers can weaken plasma. I shot a Plas-D out of the sky with 4 Overloaded Dizzys. Using the 4:1 reduction that works out to 40:10, which eliminates the Plas-D.  I've not yet tried other DF Heavies or seeking weapons.

[FireSoul]

Quote:
Confirmed in 2.5.4.12 and 2.036. This is a show-stopper. Each Plas-D eliminates one ESG of each radius it encounters! A L-BCH with ESGs active at radius 0, 1, 2, and 3 will lose all of them to an errant Plas-D. If It has 4 ESGs at the same radius then it only loses one.

Additional Plas-D weirdness: Plas-D are the only torps that can be degraded by Heavy Weapon fire. Theoretically only phasers can weaken plasma. I shot a Plas-D out of the sky with 4 Overloaded Dizzys. Using the 4:1 reduction that works out to 40:10, which eliminates the Plas-D.  I've not yet tried other DF Heavies or seeking weapons.

Obvious solution: only phasers may damage the PLasmaDs. Of course, that means a patch.

[TarMinyatur]

A while back, a patch removed Plas-D from the list of objects that will trigger automated PD fire. The idea being that it is a waste for ships to automatically fire phasers at Plas-D which are intercepting their missiles. They can still fire manually if they think it is worthwhile. This change is likely where this odd behavior was introduced though I haven't tested earlier versions. As a beta tester, I neglected to test the Plas-D/ESG interaction since I assumed the ESG would ignore plasma torps of any type. Oops. Never assume anything.

I was just able to fire Plasma at Plas-D too. It seems that Plas-D is a viable target for every weapon except Plas-D. It would be painfully funny to see a Plas-D cascade occur.

EDIT: I played with 2.013pr. It has a more severe problem. A Plas-D will drop any ESG field that it encounters. This version is prior to the change in point defense vs. Plas-D, so my earlier guess is incorrect. I wouldn't be surprised to see 2.0055 act similarly. I'm sure some Lyrans will be glad to know why their ESGs suddenly disappeared, which had been erroneously attributed to lag.