Pilot Archive
Thread: proton 3 torpedo
can someone give me a firm answer on the ability of this missle, just comparing it to the IR2, id do it myself but ill be busy for a while, and im sure someone here would love to help me out 
IR launchers are heavier, magazines usually carry fewer shots because of the extra guidance. IRs are also generally more expensive.
In PvE, missiles are IMHO, wasteful.. a few extra blaster shots will do the same damage. Doubly wasteful of IRs due to their extra cost.
In PvP, (I'm not going into the debate about if they should be used or not) both do significant damage, though with adjusted shields it's possible to soak the damage of one. I prefer the IRs because of the fast lock time. I don' use them often so 6-7 shots is more than enough.
I tend to change out my missiles depending on the mission/target, though I keep enough mass available to allow the IR launcher.
Hope this sheds some light.
CNevyn wrote:
IR launchers are heavier, magazines usually carry fewer shots because of the extra guidance. IRs are also generally more expensive.
IR2 and Proton 3 launchers are the exact same mass. Well, crafted with the same resources with the same experimentation applied they are. IRs are more expensive because they have the same resource requirements as a Proton IV or Space Bomb II.
The damage for both is around the 6k mark. But as previous posters have said, you get less IR's than MK III Protons. The norm is 6 IR's to 14-15 MK III protons.
The big difference is in PVP with the time it takes to lock. With IR's you are talking a split second, MK III's you need to hold them for over a second. They are easier to shake off too, but having 14-15 in a pack, you have more room for error. I use them against the vette, and save my IR's for PVP. But as I said, damage wise, they are pretty similar, its mainly the time it takes to lock that determines their use.
Personally I use Mark IV Proton missiles for PVP.
Properly experimented, their lock times will come very, very close to that of an ImageRec, but their delivered damage is roughly 4 times more. My Mark IV Protons come in packs of 10 and they do roughly 8K + in damage.
One missile is enough to take out a ship's subsystem in PvP with 10 tries to get one up his poopchute.
