Sana Rayya
WASTELAND JUNK REMOVAL
The Ascendancy
268
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Posted - 2013.10.24 19:27:00 -
[2] - Quote
I did some testing of my own today and have discovered that despite the fact that most advanced/proto nanohives have 72 clusters per hive, they are not created equal!
As mentioned by CCP SocksFour, a full grenade restock consumes 24 clusters, or 8 clusters per grenade; throwing 9 grenades exhausts the hive. So in my tests I threw 8 grenades while standing on a nanohive to deplete it to 8 clusters, and went from there to determine how much ammo it would replenish for my AR.
My findings were mixed. For hives that had a 15% resupply rate or under, each resupply cycle consumed one cluster. So with a K-2 Nanohive, I got 8 cycles of 45 rds each, or 360 rounds total (I was careful about backing off to avoid a partial resupply).
However, with a K-17D or Militia Nanohive, I only received 184 rounds (8 cycles of 23 rds each).
For hives with a resupply rate of over 15%, each cycle consumes two clusters. With the prototype ammo hives (30% resupply rate), I got 4 complete cycles of 90 rds each (360 rds). Interestingly, if I allowed a partial restock to top off an additional 30 rds, (6.66 clusters used) I could still get one full cycle of 90 rds with the last 1.33 clusters, or 390 rds total. Playing around with this I found that I would not pop the hive with the last cluster so long as my top off amount was under 57 rounds. Therefore the max amount of ammo I could get from 30% hives with 8 clusters remaining was 416 rds.
Most importantly, regarding X-3 Quantum Hives, each cycle still consumed two clusters despite only resupplying 63 rds each. Therefore although this hive has a faster resupply rate, it actually dispenses less total ammunition than the K-2 (252 rds vs. 360 rds). I haven't yet found the sweet spot at which a partial resupply doesn't consume the last cluster, but I know it is somwhere above 41 rds.
One other thing of note - if you are fully topped off on ammo and are shooting while standing on a hive, each partial resupply cycle (typically giving you 20-30 rds depending on ROF) consumes one cluster. Therefore it's not a good idea to sit on hives and shoot your weapon; you'll deplete them a lot faster while gaining less ammunition. Instead you should wait till you're on your last magazine or two then resupply your ammo at a hive.
With regard to the ammo capacity skill, I haven't confirmed this yet but I assume that since the resupply numbers are based on your total ammo capacity, you'll get more ammo per hive with a higher skill level in ammo capacity. I don't think this affects the way clusters work.
TL;DR:
The K-2 Nanohive will replenish as much ammunition as a prototype nanohive if you're using full resupplies; there is some slight advantage to the proto with extra rounds from partial resupplies.
The X-3 Quantum Nanohive only restocks 70% of the ammo that a K-2 will restock, assuming you resupply fully.
A partial resupply consume clusters, so don't shoot while you're on top of a nanohive or you will deplete it prematurely. |
Sana Rayya
WASTELAND JUNK REMOVAL
391
|
Posted - 2013.11.17 11:26:00 -
[3] - Quote
I was playing on an alt and discovered another interesting fact about nanohive restocking. I was curious why my standard 36-cluster hives seemed to pop so quickly while using militia locus grenades, and it turns out that each grenade restock consumes 12 clusters, not the typical 8. This leads me to believe that a total restock for grenades/remotes/proxies takes 24 clusters, with the amount of clusters per each resupply dependent on the amount of the item you can actually carry.
I have not tested this since I don't have demolitions past Lvl 2, but I theorize that the prototype proximities/remotes with 4 units carried would require 6 clusters to fully restock.
Bottom line - if you can use regular locus grenades instead of militia/BPOs, then do so, as not only do you carry more of them, but they are more efficient when restocking from nanohives. The same goes for proto proxies/REs that allow you to carry more than 3 at a time, but their inherent fitting/ISK cost do not justify using them in my mind. |