What is wrong with those Pulsed Beam Emitters (PBE's)?!

Cucumber King · Post by **Cucumber King** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 09:13

I have bought myself some Alpha Pulsed Beam Emitters and tried them out, but I don't see the point buying them because their so damn weak and expensive! And yeah, you have to go as close as 1 km to be able to shoot your enemy down! ( or that's at least what the blinking dot says... )

Am I wrong?! Are they good for missile defense ( In that case I don't need them because of my Mamba )?!

I need help...

Cucumber King · Post by **Cucumber King** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 10:25

?!

Davinaldo · Post by **Davinaldo** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 10:27

I agree

I've found them pretty useless as well!

DrunkenPirate · Post by **DrunkenPirate** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 10:29

PBE's need a boost yea.

Jobi · Post by **Jobi** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 10:36

i thought there were meant for missle defence? maybe wrong

illum_inati · Post by **illum_inati** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 10:50

Jobi wrote:i thought there were meant for missle defence? maybe wrong

That is basically the only thing I can see them useful for. That does of course work with any other weapon too, thus taking away any logical reason to equip them.

They would be good if there were M5 fighters that could mount turrets because the precision, range and damage would be well balanced then I think.

Targ · Post by **Targ** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 11:19

BPEs are a weapon without a purpose, something of an enigma.

They're accurate enough to be anti-fighter weapons for capital ships, but their range is so low that they're useless for this. Shots fired from side turrets can't even clear the bow, and even at optimum firing angle fighters can easily hit you while staying out of range.

They're pretty effective against shields, but very weak against hull. Might as well just use ions if you're trying to tear down shields, or HEPTs if you're trying to kill. Both have much better range anyway.

They're not anything special as anti-missile weapons, either. In particular, their range is less than the blast radius of a firestorm torpedo, rendering them physically incapable of protecting you from torps.

The only thing noteworthy about them is their mediocrity. They must have been designed by committe.

syrath · Post by **syrath** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 11:25

I love PBEs I did a khaak invasion in a barracuda armed only with 4 Beta PBEs and took it in my stride. They are perfect anti fighter on an M3, whether Id like to use them on a slower moving/turning craft is another thing entirely.

I prefer to have a mix of hepts and pbes, hepts for slower moving targets and pbes for faster smaller ships. PBEs are great for capping as well.

Syrath

gray1107 · Post by **gray1107** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 11:29

I can think of one thing they have going for them, they have a near instant time to target which means that the AI can actually hit with them!

Most of the fighters in my carrier use A/BPBEs and together they murder other AIs simply because they can hit stuff.

|karus · Post by **|karus** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 11:32

They are pretty effective against m5's, especially khaak m5's. Their shots fly fast enough to hit anything you aim them at, as long as they're in range of course

They are like mass drivers for shields, just even more accurate. (and don't use ammo).

Deleted User · Post by **Deleted User** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 11:38

|karus wrote:...shots fly fast enough to hit anything you aim them at

well then they do have a use. Insta-hit weapon is the positive, the negative would be the range, then the negative would be the cost and then the negative would be the damage and then the....

sorry, I'm feeling quite negative today!

|karus · Post by **|karus** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 11:53

Hehe

I kinda like the PBE's, makes dealing with lots of M5's much easier. I don't like them enough to get me out of my nova raider though

PBrghtwll · Post by **PBrghtwll** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 11:54

I have two alpha PBEs on my captured Yaki Raijin ship. I tend not to use them when fighting M3 - although they are very good when fighting fast M5's and M4's. For some reason you dont have to fire within the sight marker - they will hit a ship by firing at it as you see it - even though physics would indicate that by the time it reaches this point the ship is gone. Strange but useful when up against small fast ships

The_Reaper` · Post by **The_Reaper`** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 11:57

Targ wrote:They're pretty effective against shields, but very weak against hull

Capping maybe?

holo_doctor · Post by **holo_doctor** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 12:59

they need to be fitted on the smaller craft they are not ready heavy fighter/Capital ship material weapon. I gree they need a range increase to be affective missile dfeace against the firestorm.

THey sread light fighters though I mean look at what you do in the 2nd mission with your PBE turrent themm pirate ships get toasted. Larger M3s though are a problem.

PBE needs some rebalanceing to make it good at something cuse at the moment its good at nothing. Typical Argon weapon

|karus · Post by **|karus** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 13:01

PBrghtwll wrote: For some reason you dont have to fire within the sight marker - they will hit a ship by firing at it as you see it - even though physics would indicate that by the time it reaches this point the ship is gone. Strange but useful when up against small fast ships

This is because the PBE bullets (or whatever) go so fast that they reach their target almost instantly.

Mister44 · Post by **Mister44** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 13:11

I like the PBEs. True they don't have much range but they're hitscan weapons so its hard to miss with them. I have 4 APBEs equipped on one of my mambas and M4 & M5 fighters get destroyed by them easily. Like said, don't do squat for hull damage so they aren't any good vs hulls of M3 and up but they will strip the shields easily so I can follow up with a couple AHEPTS if i'm trying to blow them up, or a couple BPACS if I want to try and make them eject. PBE don't seem to scare pilots enough to make them eject. I can't think of any cases where i've gotten a pilot to eject using them, gotta switch to something else. Also, PBE seem to use very little energy which is even further enhanced by their hitscan nature. ID's use more energy I think, plus they have a tendency to latch on to nearby friendly ships or stations which can be a downside when you're using them for stripping shields.

In the end I think it just comes down to personal preference and playing style.

Cucumber King · Post by **Cucumber King** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 13:19

They're good against small fighters but too expensive for what they give you.

I mean, small fighters are no threat at all and you just take 10 seconds longer with HEPT's than with them and who picks on small fighters anyway???

I like to kill M3's and Transporters ( although you can kill transporters with everything, they'll even be cappable with sticks and stones ) with HEPT's and I don't like my stupid PBE because it eats too much energy.

I only bought it because at first, I thought it would be something like a lasertower weapon or kyon emitter... wrong!

In the end their a big dissapointment. ( for me! )

I'd rather buy a HEPT than a PBE for sure...

And I want a Pericles, from the stats it's BETTER than my mamba!

Weird thing!

|karus · Post by **|karus** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 13:35

Cucumber King wrote: I mean, small fighters are no threat at all and you just take 10 seconds longer with HEPT's than with them and who picks on small fighters anyway???

Actually, khaak M5's are quite deadly in 1.3 IMO.
In big swarms (20+) with their instahit kyons, I don't have a chance with my nova raider. I wish it could take PBE's just because of this.

Cucumber King · Post by **Cucumber King** » Wed, 28. Dec 05, 13:52

I beat these swarms with my mamba so easily although it has only got 2 HEPT's on it ( I now removed the PBE )! There's not much difference to the original version with patch 1.3, with the kha'aks it's still very easy! Just fly towards the thing shoot and some will get smoked already when you come, then reduce your speed to about 0 and keep shooting before they even have a chance to hit you! Works always...

M5's were never a thread and never will be ( except somebody has some evil idea )!

Kha'ak's M5 are so bad!!!

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What is wrong with those Pulsed Beam Emitters (PBE's)?!

Are the PBE's useful?

What is wrong with those Pulsed Beam Emitters (PBE's)?!