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First off, its unclear whether the flush module will dump a % of your current heat, or of you total heat capacity. it doesn't particularly matter in the scenarios I will model below, as I approached them from an absolutely-best-case standpoint. always dumping as close to max heat as possible. % of current heat would make the flush more difficult to use to it's absolute maximum effect:
Assume 10 single heatsinks and we'll use the 20% flush. You have a heat capacity of 40h, and a dissipation rate of 1h/s. If it is based off of heat capacity you would dump 8h regardless of your temp, if it as based on heat level, flushing the instant you reached 40h would leave you at 32 (8h decrease), flushing at 20h would leave you at 16h (only a 4h decrease).
It is also unknown how flushing will scale with number of heatsinks. I've assumed linearly, as many on the forum have, though information in Paul's post doesn't necessarily support this, and could support it always being based off 10 heatsinks just as easily.
Scenario 1:
Jenner F, 4 medium lasers, 10 single heat sinks.
Heat Cap: 40h
Disp. Rate: 1h/s
Alpha heat: 16h
Discharge time: 1s
Recycle time: 4s
Important note, net heat gain from alpha is 15h as you dissipate 1h in the time the lasers take to fire. Lasers can be fired every 5s (discharge+recycle time)
I am not taking into account engine heat, nor an ambient temperature other than whatever the reference temperature is. Basically the the Jenner is sitting still at whatever the game thinks room temperature is. It only fires alpha strikes.
Starting at 0h our Jenner can Alpha 6 times in 60 seconds without overheating. It can fire the first 3 Alphas as fast as possible, then must pay attention to heat management after that, slowing to 16 seconds between pulls of the trigger. This is without using coolant flush.
If our Jenner uses the coolant flush after it's third alpha, it will be able to alpha again immediately. However, the first Jenner will get it's 4th shot off before the second gets it's 5th. The second Jenner will be able to do 7 alphas in the 60 second span with near 0 margin of error, firing its 7th at 59 seconds.
A third Jenner that has the 15%+20% flushes can accomplish the same thing as the second Jenner with the 35%. If they are based on current heat, not heat cap they can offer a slight advantage as the pilot can get closer to his heat cap before triggering the second. They likely offer a tactical advantage as they can be used at different times, and could be used to take advantage of an overheated or inattentive opponent, or could be dumped together for maximum effect.
(I forget if the f actually has 2 module slots or not..., my bad if it doesn't, change jenner f to jenner D and lets just say he didn't use his SRMs)
The first Jenner would be able to fire a 7th alpha right at 60 seconds exactly, but would overheat doing so. The first Jenner would be able to alpha 7 times in 60 seconds if it carried 12 heatsinks.
The main advantage of the flush module in this scenario is the 4th alpha right off the bat, allowing for a greater blitz attack. However, once it's gone, it's gone, it offers an advantage for 1 quick engagement.
I then ran a similar comparison for a 4 ppc stalker, with a 275 and 21 double heatsinks. again it offered 1 extra alpha over 60 seconds, and 1 more at the beginning of the battle. The non flushing stalker can fire 2 alphas, then wait to cool down for a third, then wait, etc. The flushing stalker can fire 3, especially if the flush works off heat cap. However, if it works of current heat, the second stalker would be better to fire twice, wait, fire a third time, flush, then fire a 4th time immediately.
A 4ppc stalker with the 20% module only would have the same performance in a 60 second window as the 35%, just having to wait 2 seconds longer for its 4th shot and delaying the remaining shots by the same.
The 6ppc stalker is inferior to the 4 in anything beyond a single alpha, the higher heat cap of the 4ppc is superior for flushing. The higher dissipation rate of the 4ppc allows it to do more damage in 3 s than the 6 can in 1 alpha. I couldn't make any realistic builds that worked well even with the flush for this scenario. The 6ppc shines in one shot damage, and the flush mechanic doesn't help it much there, it simply allows it to wait not as long for its second shot once, but doesn't make much a different over 60 seconds.
The above is based on absolutely ideal situations, mistakes in heat management, aim, or timing could easily negate any advantage the flush would give you. It is also unknown whether the flush would carry any downside with it, such as a decrease in heat capacity post flush, temporary loss of visibility from steam, or anything else the dev's could think up.
Finally, again assuming flush scales linearly and that it will be based off absolute heat capacity, here are the heat reduction figures for a 35% flush vs number and type of heat sinks. [] denotes the time it would take to dissipate the same amount of heat without flushing.
10 single: 14h [14s]
15 single: 15.75h [10.5s]
20 single: 17.5h [8.75s]
10 double (10 engine): 17.5h [8.75s]
15 double: 19.95h [7.39s]
20 double: 22.4h [6.59s]
As you can see more heatsinks don't get you a lot more. 10 singles vs 20 doubles barely gives the ability to fire 2 more medium lasers, probably one 1 factoring in engine heat, jumpjets, etc. Additionally with more heat sinks flushing becomes less desirable as your dissipation rate increases much much quickly than your heat capacity upon which flush value is (possibly) based. Anything that mounts double heat sinks already dissipates as much heat as a flush does in a little more than it takes for your weapons to cycle, some twisting to spread damage, and you to line up a good shot (at least in my experience).
If I had more time i would post my tables and graphs which more clearly illustrate the scenarios I modeled, maybe I will later.
TL;DR / Conclussion
Coolant flush will give you an advantage, but it isn't as big as I thought it would be going into this. In a single engagement, spamming alpha strikes as fast as you can it gives you an edge. That edge lasts only for that engagement, and once you start considering actual game play, pilot skill, and other variables that edge starts to diminish.
As most "cheese builds" are based around single strike damage, flushing won't enhance them much.
I've never had that one extra alphastrike i get over-riding shutdown before I die get me anything much, so I really don't think the 1 extra strike flushing allows will be overly game changing. Even in the case of the 4 ppc Stalker 160 damage in 18 seconds without flush vs 160 damage in 12 seconds with flush isn't a big practical difference, especially when you can only do it once.
That said, in the right situation, when the stars align, with the right build, and a good pilot, it may just allow you to ruin someone's day when you wouldn't have otherwise been able to. Most of the time I don't think it will make a big enough difference to swing battles.
TL;DR Redux
Double heat sinks, a couple extra heat sinks, water, heat management, aim, shoot placement, pilot skill, trigger discipline, etc are all greater than a 35% flush.
Flush will be a relatively bigger advantage for a lightly armed mech with 10 single heat sinks than a heavily armed mech with 20 double heat sinks.
I don't think the mechanic of flushes will be game breaking, or even all that game altering. They certainly do not seem like they will become required equipment from the numbers I worked out. Depending on cost I probably wouldn't carry them as I'm already adequate at heat management.
(if you aren't good at heat management you can get one more shot off before you overheat/blow up from hitting the override too many times, probably not a big deal)
Edited by cjmurphy87, 04 March 2013 - 08:47 PM.
