Difference between revisions of "POS Defense"

Revision as of 23:14, 2 January 2009

Text by Gienah Corvus

Introduction

Player Owned Starbases are one of two types of stations that can be operated in space by corporations and alliances. Starbases are an important and sometimes critical asset for many alliances, as they are used to construct advanced capital ships, store ships and supplies deep in space, conduct advanced blueprint research, and mine and combine moon metals necessary in the production of T2 ships and items. They are also used to gain and hold sovereignty in unregulated space, and can serve as well-fortified defensive combat stations and rally points. This article will discuss Player Owned Starbases, and how individual pilots can assist in defense by manually operating starbase weapons.

Player Owned Starbase Overview

Control Tower The term Player Owned Starbase, often referred to as a Player Owned Structure, or POS, describes a collection of one or more items anchored together in space. Every POS consists of a Control Tower (Tower) and usually has several other structures. Control towers come in three different sizes for each race, and have faction upgraded versions available. Towers must be anchored near moons and brought online, and require constant fuel to remain online. Once online, a tower creates a large shield. Pilots can not target through the shield, so a pilot inside is safe from direct attack, but also cannot target opponents outside the shield.

Properly fueled towers (fuel type required is determined by the racial affiliation of the tower) create Powergrid and CPU. Similar to ship fittings, this grid and CPU is used to supply various additional structures anchored and brought online near the tower. Larger towers produce significantly more grid and CPU than smaller towers, but have increased fuel consumption as well.

Weapon Systems The number and type of weapon and Electronic Warfare (EW) batteries that can be supplied by the tower will vary depending on other structures (mobile labs, hangar arrays, etc.) requiring tower resources, and the size of the tower. A large tower with only weapon and EW batteries (sometimes referred to as a "Deathstar") can supply a significant number of them with resources.

Starbase weapon batteries are anchorable versions of the weapons used by battleships and dreadnoughts, and have the same advantages and disadvantages of their ship counterparts. The battery versions generally receive significant bonuses to range and damage. The batteries are anchored and placed online outside the shield, allowing them to target (and be targeted by) hostile ships. Many batteries receive additional bonuses when used with a control tower of the corresponding racial type. However, due to the size of these batteries, they are generally very slow to lock targets, suffer a slow rate of fire, and in the case of turret batteries, have extremely slow tracking speeds. Weapon batteries are available in the types associated with their race. Turret batteries (hybrid, laser, and projectile) and missile batteries.

Weapon and Electronic Warfare Batteries

Sensor Resolution A significant concern with POS defense is the amount of time required acquiring target lock with various sized weapon and EW batteries. The list below illustrates the scan resolution for various batteries.

• Small weapon batteries / 250mm
• Medium weapon batteries / 75mm
• ECM batteries / 50mm
• Large weapon batteries / 35mm
• Warp disrupter battery / 30mm
• Warp scrambler battery / 30mm
• Stasis webifier battery / 30mm
• Sensor dampining battery / 10mm

Tracking Speeds Another concern is the slow tracking speed of the various turret batteries.

rad/sec (unmodified by charge type)

• Railgun Battery
  • Small 0.01104
  • Med 0.004106667
  • Large 0.00154

• Blaster Battery
  • Small 0.06
  • Med 0.0487125
  • Large 0.009278571

• Beam Laser Battery
  • Small 0.01056
  • Med 0.004367201
  • Large 0.001633333

• Pulse Laser Battery
  • Small 0.024761905
  • Med 0.020377358
  • Large 0.003802817

• Artillery Battery
  • Small 0.00704
  • Med 0.002566845
  • Large 0.0012

• AutoCannon Battery
  • Small 0.040228571
  • Med 0.03456
  • Large 0.006171429