In this Star Citizen Alpha 4.6 PTU testing video, the focus is on the changes made to the Idris-M’s real gun, specifically the Destroyer Mass Driver Cannon, a size 10 ballistic weapon. The update introduces significant adjustments to the weapon’s heat parameters, including doubling the cooling rate per second, adding a delay before cooling starts, and increasing the overheat fix time. Notably, the firing heat per shot has been increased from zero to 50, meaning the gun can now overheat. The firing mechanics have also changed, allowing the gun to fire before fully charged, and altering the overcharge timing and firing conditions.
Testing reveals that the ammo count remains at 1500 and is unaffected by weapon pips. The gun can fire single shots consuming one bullet or charged shots consuming multiple bullets depending on the charge level, with fully charged shots using six bullets. The cooling time after firing is quite long, with a 20-second cooldown for each shot and about 50 seconds to fully cool down after overheating. This cooldown duration limits the rate of fire, making sustained rapid fire impractical.
Combat tests against various NPC ships show that single shots, even without charging, are highly effective, often destroying smaller ships like Hornets, Argo Mos, Freelancers, and even a Hammerhead with one hit. The video also highlights a new system where NPC ships are considered “dead” when their IR (infrared) value drops to zero, even if the ship model hasn’t fully exploded, allowing mission objectives to be completed despite the ship still appearing intact visually.
The video further demonstrates the real gun’s effectiveness against larger ships like the Polaris. Charged shots can damage and destroy individual ship components such as engines, hangar doors, and power plants, although the long cooldown times mean it takes a considerable amount of time to fully disable or destroy a large ship. The increased cooling time from 10 to 20 seconds per shot slows down the Idris-M’s ability to quickly take down large targets, requiring strategic timing and patience.
Finally, the tester attempts to board the Polaris after disabling it but encounters difficulties, including a critical core explosion timer and environmental hazards like radiation pools that cause health loss. Despite efforts to repair the ship and salvage materials, the player character dies due to radiation exposure and calls for medical assistance, ending the test on a challenging note. This highlights ongoing environmental and gameplay challenges that players may face during boarding and salvage operations in Star Citizen.
