DPS per Ton fun with the Disco Inferno - a Very Special Correction

Can you tell I couldn't decide which tired cliche to put in the title?   I decided to use them all.

There were some comments on the BV Facebook page suggesting the use of Siege Targeting and High Explosive Shells instead of, or in conjunction with Cluster Warheads.  The actual utility in-game of those different specials is dependent on which targets you are going after, but I thought I'd run the DPS per ton numbers on some different configurations.  

When I did that - I found an ERROR in my original DPS per ton calculations!  I didn't apply the weight penalties of the specials.  That does not change the results of my comparison of the 8 rockets with CW3 vs. 9 rockets with CW2, but the table as published in the article is incorrect.

The table below shows the correct DPS per ton values for the Cluster Warhead configurations, as well as values for Siege Targeting 3 and High Explosive Shells 3.  I also applied the splash bonus for the Hellstrike, which I didn't do in my original comparison.

(click to expand)

One number that needs some explanation is "Effective", which is like accuracy for splash weapons.  The formula for Effective is Splash / (3/8 * Spread).   I can't vouch for the ironclad accuracy of that formula - it predicts infinite damage as spread goes to zero, so it can't be right in all situations.  I also don't know if I trust it when it predicts a number above 100%.  But if splash is a general measure of the distance of the damage circle, and spread is the area of the circle where shots land, it makes an OK number for comparison.  The high numbers with splash bonus may also compensate for the fact that your target isn't always sitting still.

All those numbers tell me a few things:

• Siege Targeting is MORE effective than Cluster Warheads against buildings (and walls).   Of course this doesn't apply against ships.
• High Explosive Shells is (slightly) LESS effective than Cluster Warheads.  One possible exception - since you are doing more splash, you may hit more targets.  So if you are knocking down walls, you'll be hitting more walls at once if you have more splash.  The weirdly high Effectiveness number may take that into account though.
• If you want to devote 3 specials to offense... you can do a real lot of damage.  Even combining 2 of those specials will be very deadly.  I couldn't really decide which combo I liked best.  Hold a thud to my head, and I'd probably pick ST & CW for player bases, and HES & CW for raids/missions.

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I'm shooting for another update on Monday morning... I plan to publish a comparison of armor build times - there's a few tricks you can use to minimize your build time when you are mixing armors.