Sonic Pistol vs. Gauss Rifle - Revision history

Magic9mushroom: /* Advanced Analysis */

2020-02-04T04:17:30Z

Advanced Analysis

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:17, 4 February 2020
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	The way to calculate mean kills in a turn is to simply run through every possible permutation of hit/miss probabilities and kill chances for a given number of shots and tally up all the possible kills with their probabilities. This is complicated in the case of the Gauss Rifle by the fact that we cannot re-target between shots in an auto burst; if we kill an Aquatoid with the first shot, for instance, the other two will almost certainly be wasted on empty space. Because the probability of this happening depends on accuracy (a missed shot won't get a kill), the results will therefore depend somewhat on the Firing Accuracy stat of the shooter (point-blank range corresponding effectively to infinite Firing Accuracy).		The way to calculate mean kills in a turn is to simply run through every possible permutation of hit/miss probabilities and kill chances for a given number of shots and tally up all the possible kills with their probabilities. This is complicated in the case of the Gauss Rifle by the fact that we cannot re-target between shots in an auto burst; if we kill an Aquatoid with the first shot, for instance, the other two will almost certainly be wasted on empty space. Because the probability of this happening depends on accuracy (a missed shot won't get a kill), the results will therefore depend somewhat on the Firing Accuracy stat of the shooter (point-blank range corresponding effectively to infinite Firing Accuracy).

	I will not give the full calculations here, as while simple they are rather tedious. Instead, I will simply give the mean kills obtained in one turn of shooting against Aquatoid Soldiers and against Gill Man Soldiers (in the cases of Lobster Men and Tasoths, overkill is less relevant, so the obvious superiority of the Sonic Pistol against these races stands basically unaltered), for 50, 70 and 100 Firing Accuracy stat as well as point-blank range. Armour values are the same as used above.		I will not give the full calculations here, as while simple they are rather tedious. Instead, I will simply give the mean kills obtained in one turn and in two turns of shooting against Aquatoid Soldiers and against Gill Man Soldiers (in the cases of Lobster Men and Tasoths, overkill is less relevant, so the obvious superiority of the Sonic Pistol against these races stands basically unaltered), for 50, 70 and 100 Firing Accuracy stat as well as point-blank range. Armour values are the same as used above.

	===vs. Aquatoids===		===vs. Aquatoids===

Magic9mushroom: /* vs. Gill Men */

2020-02-04T03:52:40Z

vs. Gill Men

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:52, 4 February 2020
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	{\| class="wikitable"		{\| class="wikitable"
	! !!50 FA!!70 FA!!100 FA!!Point-blank		!1 turn!!50 FA!!70 FA!!100 FA!!Point-blank
	\|-		\|-
	!Gauss Rifle		!Gauss Rifle
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	{\| class="wikitable"		{\| class="wikitable"
	! !!50 FA!!70 FA!!100 FA!!Point-blank		!2 turns!!50 FA!!70 FA!!100 FA!!Point-blank
	\|-		\|-
	!Gauss Rifle		!Gauss Rifle

Magic9mushroom: /* vs. Aquatoids */ adding two-turn numbers, although the difference is miniscule

2020-02-04T02:59:52Z

vs. Aquatoids: adding two-turn numbers, although the difference is miniscule

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:59, 4 February 2020
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	{\| class="wikitable"		{\| class="wikitable"
	! !!50 FA!!70 FA!!100 FA!!Point-blank		!1 turn!!50 FA!!70 FA!!100 FA!!Point-blank
	\|-		\|-
	!Gauss Rifle		!Gauss Rifle
Line 99:		Line 99:
	\|}		\|}

	<nowiki>*</nowiki> These numbers are for Snap fire; at high accuracies, using the Gauss Rifle's Auto mode against Aquatoids is counterproductive since a single shot will likely kill anyway. The numbers for Auto fire are 1.713 for 100 FA and exactly 2 for point-blank.		{\| class="wikitable"
			!2 turns!!50 FA!!70 FA!!100 FA!!Point-blank
			\|-
			!Gauss Rifle
			\|2.231\|\|2.816\|\|3.715\|\|5.717
			\|-
			!Sonic Pistol
			\|1.95\|\|2.73\|\|3.9\|\|6
			\|}

			<nowiki>*</nowiki> These numbers are for Snap fire; at high accuracies, using the Gauss Rifle's Auto mode against Aquatoids is counterproductive since a single shot will likely kill anyway. The numbers for Auto fire are 1.713 (one turn) and 3.427 (two turns) for 100 FA and exactly 2 (one turn) and 4 (two turns) for point-blank.

	===vs. Gill Men===		===vs. Gill Men===

Magic9mushroom: /* vs. Gill Men */ adding two-turn numbers

2020-02-03T13:56:41Z

vs. Gill Men: adding two-turn numbers

@@ Line 111: / Line 111: @@
 !Sonic Pistol
 |0.793||1.115||1.601||2.478
 |}

Magic9mushroom: /* Verdict */ signing off

2020-01-26T08:34:39Z

Verdict: signing off

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:34, 26 January 2020
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	==Verdict==		==Verdict==
	The Sonic Pistol is better against Lobster Men, Tasoths, and (more narrowly) Gill Men, and due to the immense disparity against the first two is the better to take on an unknown-race mission (e.g. [[Ship Rescue Mission]], or simple lack of a [[Transmission Resolver]]). However, the Gauss Rifle is ''generally'' better against Aquatoids as long as you have some other means of disposing of any terror units.		The Sonic Pistol is better against Lobster Men, Tasoths, and (more narrowly) Gill Men, and due to the immense disparity against the first two is the better to take on an unknown-race mission (e.g. [[Ship Rescue Mission]], or simple lack of a [[Transmission Resolver]]). However, the Gauss Rifle is ''generally'' better against Aquatoids as long as you have some other means of disposing of any terror units.

			[[User:Magic9mushroom\|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom\|talk]]) 09:34, 26 January 2020 (CET)

	==See Also==		==See Also==

Magic9mushroom: /* Advanced Analysis */

2020-01-26T08:34:02Z

Advanced Analysis

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:34, 26 January 2020
Line 100:		Line 100:

	<nowiki>*</nowiki> These numbers are for Snap fire; at high accuracies, using the Gauss Rifle's Auto mode against Aquatoids is counterproductive since a single shot will likely kill anyway. The numbers for Auto fire are 1.713 for 100 FA and exactly 2 for point-blank.		<nowiki>*</nowiki> These numbers are for Snap fire; at high accuracies, using the Gauss Rifle's Auto mode against Aquatoids is counterproductive since a single shot will likely kill anyway. The numbers for Auto fire are 1.713 for 100 FA and exactly 2 for point-blank.

			===vs. Gill Men===

			{\| class="wikitable"
			! !!50 FA!!70 FA!!100 FA!!Point-blank
			\|-
			!Gauss Rifle
			\|0.761\|\|1.034\|\|1.383\|\|2
			\|-
			!Sonic Pistol
			\|0.793\|\|1.115\|\|1.601\|\|2.478
			\|}

			===Addendum===
			Note that while the Sonic Pistol is roughly equal to the Gauss Rifle at killing Aquatoids (when summed over the full range of Firing Accuracy stats), the Gauss Rifle is probably the better choice here, for two reasons:
			*Gauss Rifles and their ammunition are cheaper, and while this is a minor concern it can be a tiebreaker;
			*Aquatoids use M.C. attacks. The Gauss Rifle cannot penetrate Ion and Magnetic Ion Armours, while the Sonic Pistol can; this makes the Gauss Rifle quite a bit safer to use on large Aquatoid missions if you haven't done an M.C. screen.

			The second factor technically also applies to Tasoths, but as the Gauss Rifle is quite ineffective against Tasoths on Superhuman difficulty (as seen above) you are probably screwed either way if you have to fight substantial numbers of Tasoths without having done an M.C. screen. On Beginner difficulty, however, there is a decent argument for using Gauss Rifles in that situation.

	==Verdict==		==Verdict==

Magic9mushroom: /* Advanced Analysis */ not done, but this is a start

2020-01-26T04:48:59Z

Advanced Analysis: not done, but this is a start

@@ Line 81: / Line 81: @@
 ==Advanced Analysis==
-[To be added]
+The above analysis is still not entirely accurate, however, because we don't really care about how much damage we do to aliens so much as how many we kill. Dealing 44 damage to a Gill Man is not very much better than dealing 14, and dealing 200+ is no better than dealing 46.
 ==Verdict==

Magic9mushroom: /* Intermediate Analysis */

2020-01-21T05:13:30Z

Intermediate Analysis

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 ==Intermediate Analysis==
-[To be added]
+The previous analysis ignored damage modifiers and armour effects. The full formula for damage is:
 ==Advanced Analysis==

Magic9mushroom: I now have the maths tools to go a level deeper than I originally did, and a bit more play experience as well. Expect some improvements.

2020-01-20T04:58:40Z

I now have the maths tools to go a level deeper than I originally did, and a bit more play experience as well. Expect some improvements.

@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 Sonic Pistol: 3 shots/turn @ 80 damage each and 65% accuracy = 156 on-target damage per turn before soldier accuracy
 ==Advanced Analysis==
+[To be added]
 ==Verdict==
+The Sonic Pistol is better against Lobster Men, Tasoths, and (more narrowly) Gill Men, and due to the immense disparity against the first two is the better to take on an unknown-race mission (e.g. [[Ship Rescue Mission]], or simple lack of a [[Transmission Resolver]]). However, the Gauss Rifle is ''generally'' better against Aquatoids as long as you have some other means of disposing of any terror units.
 ==See Also==

Hobbes: categorizing

2013-07-23T03:20:01Z

categorizing

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:20, 23 July 2013
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	[[Weapon Analysis]]		[[Weapon Analysis]]

			[[Category:TFTD]]