The video thoroughly tests how missiles and torpedoes impact ship armor and components in Star Citizen Alpha 4.5 PTU, demonstrating that while missiles can disable critical systems and cause fires, size nine torpedoes are capable of devastating large ships by bypassing shields and armor to inflict catastrophic damage. It also highlights new mechanics like heat-induced fires and redundant shields, showing the importance of managing damage and repairs during combat, with a suspenseful ending hinting at a follow-up.
In this video, the creator conducts an in-depth test of how missiles and torpedoes perform against ship armor and components in Star Citizen Alpha 4.5 PTU, focusing on the engineering patch. Due to frequent changes in blisk weapon stats causing unstable time-to-kill (TTK) values, the creator decides to focus on missiles and torpedoes whose stats have remained consistent. The first test involves firing size three missiles from a Firebird at the Super Hornet Mark 1, demonstrating that these missiles can effectively disable critical components such as the power plant, jump drive, and quantum drive, often resulting in rapid ship destruction. The creator also notes a new heat mechanic that causes fires upon missile impact, adding a new layer of damage over time.
Next, the Firebird’s size three missiles are tested against a Clipper, showing that a single missile can ignite multiple fires throughout the ship, including the cockpit and lower decks, eventually leading to catastrophic damage and explosion. The creator highlights the importance of managing fires by venting atmosphere through opening doors, and remarks on the immersive fire effects. Moving on, tests with the Zeus ship reveal a new redundant shield system where only half of the size two shields are active at a time. Missiles targeting shield generators can disable some shields, but others may come online, and fires caused by missile hits continue to pose a threat to ship integrity.
The video then shifts focus to the Hammerhead and Anvil Asgard, where size three missiles are shown to penetrate shields and chip away at armor and hull health, though armor absorbs much of the damage and protects internal components. However, size nine torpedoes prove far more devastating, capable of one-shotting large ships like the Hammerhead and Perseus even with active shields. The creator demonstrates effective subtargeting of critical components such as power plants and quantum drives with torpedoes, which can bypass armor and shields to cause immediate failures and fires.
Finally, the creator tests size five and size nine torpedoes against the Polaris, revealing that torpedoes can significantly damage armor and internal components even under full shield conditions. Targeted hits on the power plant and quantum drive cause critical system failures and fires, pushing the ship into a reactor critical state. Attempts to repair the power plant manually while the timer counts down are shown, but partial repairs do not immediately avert the critical state, suggesting a health threshold must be met. The video concludes with the countdown nearing zero, leaving the outcome unresolved and teasing a follow-up video.
