[JTL] Crafted Or Re'd Guide

[eqsanctum 1,636]

I got a wild hair the other night. I've always been Pro crafted boosters as I have always felt they are better than RE'ed. For the most part I know the arguments for and against crafted and the arguments for and against RE'ed. Too boil the arguments down, it goes like this, Crafted boosters are faster while RE'ed boosters burn longer. I know this is really simplifying the arguments but i'd be willing to bet most will agree with that over-simplification of the booster arguments.

Ok, so I set out to prove, beyone any doubt, crafted boosters can and are better than RE'ed. The tough thing I've found is how to really rate a booster. Do you simply look at the burn time and speed? Do you look at the recharge rate and acceleration? How about Mass and RED? All the numbers together add (or subtract) from a boosters viability.

I took a shot at creating a Booster Rating system. It isn't perfect but I think it gets pretty close. Check it out here: http://home.comcast.net/~davidw510/Booster_Rating.xls (don't mind the rest of that site, just a college project)

I've tried to calculate a number based on the boosters stats. Lower RED gives a higher rating where Higher Mass lowers the rating. Higher speed raises the rating but lower acceleration lowers the rating. Higher energy raises the rating but lower recharge lowers the rating. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Ok, so on to the main point. Can a Crafted booster be as good as a RE'ed L4, or L8 (2 most popular RE jobs). I think I have build L1, L3, L5, and L7 boosters that easily compete, and beat any RE'ed booster.

Lets see if we can agree on a really nice L4 and L8 booster.

L4 (I found this listed in a ship on swgct) L8 (I found this listed in a ship on swgct)

RED 436.5 467.8

Mass 3055.4 18640.7

Energy 2039.4 2515.6

Recharge 51 62.9

Consumption 132 153.2

Acceleration 37.4 46.1

Speed 25.7 33.5

Now, I think we can agree those are 2 very nice RE'ed boosters. If you say "I have better", prove it, show me a screen shot. If you say "I have a 20 second burn L? booster", prove it, show me a screen shot. I doubt they exist as even the best L4 parts submitted to SpaceTribe and SWGCT only made a 17.1 second burn.

Any way, these 2 boosters have the following stats:

L4 L8

Distance (Speed * Duration) 397 550

Burn time (seconds) 15.5 16.4

Recharge time (seconds) 40 40

Rating (based on my scale from above) 148.7 159.4

*I calculate the distance the boosters will travel by multiplying the burn time with the speed. I know that does not relate to an actual distance but gives a valid number that can be related to how other boosters match up. for instance the 2 RE boosters above. The L8 will out distance the L4 by a fair margin.

Ok, so these are 2 really nice boosters. Both burn for a long time and will push the users ship a long distance.

Now, to show you the boosters I built in the last 2 days. I believe these are as good, or better, than both those RE'ed. What do you think?

My L1 My L3 My L5 My L7

RED 563.7 592.4 619.4 648.1

Mass 1054.2 2636.7 6657.4 15015.8

Energy 1081.8 1157.6 1308.4 1439.2

Recharge 22.3 25.2 26.1 28.7

Consumption 71.8 79 87.3 95.6

Acceleration 28.5 33.5 39.1 46.6

Speed 27.7 29.3 32.5 36.1

These boosters have the following stats:

Distance (Speed * Duration) 417 429 487 543

Burn time (seconds) 15.1 14.7 15.0 15.1

Recharge time (seconds) 48.5 45.9 50.1 50.1

Rating (based on my scale from above) 142.0 145.8 153.9 155.9

The only down side I can see to these crafted boosters is the slightly higher RED and Recharge time. I think I have proven that a crafted booster, if built well, can still have more speed than a RE'ed booster and burn only slightly less time but have less mass.