Specific Numbers - Lots of Math! (Destiny)

by Kahzgul, Saturday, February 07, 2015, 23:43 (3359 days ago) @ Kahzgul

It took me so long to do all this math that my previous post was time-locked. Here's the math!

I just logged on to post this info. You are correct sir.

Of note:

UFA fires for 5 seconds before needing to reload.

My Shadow Price, with Field Scout, fires for EIGHT seconds before needing a reload (and it has Outlaw). The uptime on the gun is like 98%. God damn that thing's a beast. It also has reactive reload, and does 24 damage per shot while that's active (10% bonus?).

edit: So the math is:

Sahara type = 165 DPS= 15 RPS x 11 damage per shot.
Shingen type = 160 DPS= 10 RPS x 16 damage per shot
Cydonia type = 165 DPS= 7.5 RPS x 22 damage per shot.

Extrapolating with fencepost theory (first rounds hit at the same time):

Over 1 second of firing (of note: Enemies will have between 180 and 220 health, depending on how much armor they have spec'd into; also, these numbers assume a 2 second reload for all weapon types):
Sahara: 176 damage (initial round + 15 rounds)
Shingen: 176 damage (initial round + 10 rounds)
Cydonia: 176 damage (initial round + 7 rounds)

2 seconds:
Sahara: 344 damage (initial round + 30 rounds)
Shingen: 336 damage (initial round + 20 rounds)
Cydonia: 352 damage (initial round + 15 rounds)

3 seconds:
Sahara: 506 damage (initial round + 45 rounds)
Shingen: 496 damage (initial round + 30 rounds)
Cydonia: 506 damage (initial round + 22 rounds)

4 seconds:
Sahara: 671 damage (initial round + 60 rounds)
Shingen: 656 damage (initial round + 40 rounds)
Cydonia: 550 damage (initial round + 24 rounds; reloading) - this is enough to kill 2-3 enemies per mag, depending on their armor.

5 seconds:
Sahara: 792 damage (initial round + 71 rounds; reloading) - this is enough to kill 3-4 enemies per mag, depending on their armor.
Shingen: 672 damage (initial round + 41 rounds; reloading) - this is enough to kill 3 enemies per mag, depending on their armor.
Cydonia: 550 damage (initial round + 24 rounds; reloading)

6 seconds:
Sahara: 792 damage (initial round + 71 rounds; reloading)
Shingen: 672 damage (initial round + 41 rounds; reloading)
Cydonia: 662 damage (initial round + 29 rounds)

7 seconds:
Sahara: 902 damage (initial round + 81 rounds)
Shingen: 816 damage (initial round + 50 rounds)
Cydonia: 814 damage (initial round + 36 rounds)

8 seconds:
Sahara: 1067 damage (initial round + 96 rounds)
Shingen: 976 damage (initial round + 60 rounds)
Cydonia: 990 damage (initial round + 44 rounds)

9 seconds:
Sahara: 1232 damage (initial round + 111 rounds)
Shingen: 976 damage (initial round + 70 rounds)
Cydonia: 1100 damage (initial round + 49 rounds; reloading)

10 seconds:
Sahara: 1397 damage (initial round + 126 rounds)
Shingen: 1296 damage (initial round + 80 rounds)
Cydonia: 1100 damage (initial round + 60 rounds; reloading)

--

Note that field scout *dramatically* increased overall sustained DPS (The Cydonia is capable of 5-6 kills, depending on enemy armor, in a single mag with field scout active, for example).

--

Time to kill per gun, single target:
Sahara: 180 health minimum - 11 damage initial = 169 health. 169/11 = 15.4 (must round up) = 16 additional rounds = 1.07 seconds TTK
Shingen: 180 health minimum - 16 damage initial = 164 health. 164/16 = 10.25 (must round up) = 11 additional rounds = 1.1 seconds TTK
Cydonia: 180 health minimum - 22 damage initial = 158 health. 158/22 = 7.2 (must round up) = 8 additional rounds = 1.07 seconds TTK

Sahara: 200 health average - 11 damage initial = 189 health. 189/11 = 17.2 (must round up) = 18 additional rounds = 1.2 seconds TTK
Shingen: 200 health average - 16 damage initial = 184 health. 184/16 = 11.5 (must round up) = 12 additional rounds = 1.2 seconds TTK
Cydonia: 200 health average - 22 damage initial = 178 health. 178/22 = 8.09 (must round up) = 9 additional rounds = 1.2 seconds TTK

Sahara: 220 health maximum - 11 damage initial = 209 health. 209/11 = 19 (must round up) = 19 additional rounds = 1.27 seconds TTK
Shingen: 220 health maximum - 16 damage initial = 204 health. 204/16 = 12.75 (must round up) = 13 additional rounds = 1.3 seconds TTK
Cydonia: 220 health maximum - 22 damage initial = 198 health. 198/22 = 9 (must round up) = 9 additional rounds = 1.2 seconds TTK

--

The math breaks down thusly:
For a single target, all weapons have identical time to kill for enemies of average health.
At minimum health, the Sahara and Cydonia class weapons are slightly faster TTK than Shingen types.
At maximum health, the Cydonia class is slightly faster than the Sahara, which is slightly faster than the Shingen.

until the initial reload, the Cydonia class delivers slightly more DPS than the Sahara class due to the front-loading of slower firing weapons (22 damage, pause, 22 damage, pause vs. 11 damage, 11 damage, 11 damage, 11 damage - every other round that lands puts the cydonia ahead or even to the sahara, which gives it a slight edge).

After the initial reload, the Sahara delivers the highest sustained DPS.
The Shingen always delivers the lowest DPS in all situations.

--

Accuracy is not accounted for in these numbers. It is known that putting shots on target is easier with slower firing weapons, but how much easier is not an trivial task to quantify, as it depends greatly on player skill. Missing even 1 round with a Sahara class weapon would make it a slower TTK than the other two, assuming those still had perfect aim (1.33 seconds TTK for the Sahara with 1 round missed).

- Also: In my testing of Shingen and Cydonia type weapons, at no time did I notice a damage reduction due to range. I did not have a Sahara type handy to check, but this observation surprised me quite a bit.

--

For me, my big takeaway here is that the weapons are all much closer in DPS than I thought. That being said, the Cydonia type is superior due to the fact that it's TTK is identical for enemies of 200 to 220 health, is the superior TTK at 220 health, and it provides a more reliable kill time (for twitch muscle memory) as a result. It is also the most accurate of the AR types due to the less frequent and less powerful recoil.

While I plotted out the sustained DPS numbers, you are extremely unlikely to encounter scenarios in PvP that require sustained DPS of a nature that would benefit from this information. In general, I'd say TTK numbers are the most important, with kills per magazine being second most important (always reload after 3 kills, regardless of weapon, unless you have field scout, to guarantee you have enough ammo for the next kill - realistically, I reload after almost every kill unless another target immediately presents itself).

From my personal experience, the Sahara type weapons simply aren't accurate enough to trust these numbers. It takes me a full clip at point blank range to kill someone, meaning i'm missing 75% of my shots (or more). With Shingen and Cydonia type weapons, my accuracy is dramatically improved.

And as a result: We know from these numbers that if a Sahara and a Cydonia meet in a dark alley, the Cydonia will always win. We also know that, factoring in accuracy, the Shingen is quite likely to beat the Sahara as well, but - again - the Cydonia will always beat them both. However, we also know that in a sustained firefight, the Sahara will win out, but a gun with increased reload speed would beat one without increased reload, regardless of type.

I hope you found this as interesting as I did!