IDS system: when to cycle between 1 thru 5

Robotic223 · Post by **Robotic223** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 3:43 am

Hey guys! Not sure if this thread is out there yet but I am looking for a bit of advice. I have been training 4 pilots of the UAP and today one of them asked me about the IDS system and why you change it from 1 to 2 and so on.

For the life of me I don't have an answer and I'm sure it's probably in seejay's manual but it would be great if a get could explain it so it would make sense to a rookie.

Honestly, I have been flying for awhile and always kept it at X1. I would only use it when decending onto a planet and even then only ever went as high as x3, so I'm not sure what else you change it for.

From what I noticed it changes how fast your ship stablizes and it seems x5 takes much longer.

I know, I should know this by now, I am an accomplished pilots you know lol

Thank you all in advance for any information about how and when to use the IDS X1 thru x5.

Maelstrom

PaulB · Post by **PaulB** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 4:44 am

From post: 174148, Topic: tid=11708, author=Robotic223 wrote:Hey guys! Not sure if this thread is out there yet but I am looking for a bit of advice. I have been training 4 pilots of the UAP and today one of them asked me about the IDS system and why you change it from 1 to 2 and so on.

For the life of me I don't have an answer and I'm sure it's probably in seejay's manual but it would be great if a get could explain it so it would make sense to a rookie.

Honestly, I have been flying for awhile and always kept it at X1. I would only use it when decending onto a planet and even then only ever went as high as x3, so I'm not sure what else you change it for.

From what I noticed it changes how fast your ship stablizes and it seems x5 takes much longer.

I know, I should know this by now, I am an accomplished pilots you know lol

Thank you all in advance for any information about how and when to use the IDS X1 thru x5.

Maelstrom

Mostly I fly a Mammoth or a Starmaster and I have them maxed out for Shields. Wings, and 1000 Fuel tank and 5 cargo bays. That leave room only for a #5 Engine which at IDS 1 is slow.
So the only alternative is to increase IDS scale - therefore I generally alawys set IDS to 3 - however, if I'm jumping into a Hostile system in particular I may set IDS to 5 so that when I switch to Inertial and press 0 to set Max Speed then when I jump I will arrive at max speed and get get away from the Hostiles and missiles (aka Fauston & Thurban) without getting hit and into a conflict with virtually unbeatable odds.
Max speed of enemy missiles is around 1800mps.

That's the reason. Speed without having to afterburn and waste fuel to get it

[Edited on 11-8-2014 by PaulB]

[Edited on 11-8-2014 by PaulB]

Rubber Chicken · Post by **Rubber Chicken** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 4:54 am

IDSx5 at 100% throttle is 100% of your ship's engine's capacity - while employing auto-stabilization - once thrust (by engine class)-to-mass (by frame) has been calculated.

IDSx1 at 100% throttle is 20% of the engine's capacity.

If you set your IDS to x5 and use the keyboard numbers to set speed, then #2 = IDSx1 at 100%, #4 = IDSx2 at 100%, #6 = IDSx3 at 100%, #8 = IDSx4 at 100%, #0 = IDSx5 at 100%. I use this method and bind my joystick throttle tab for energy management. I also fly (when in IDS mode) most comfortably at #4 (IDSx2 at 100%) setting.

The stability thrusters are affected by the velocity of the ship, not the engine settings. The faster you go and the more drastically you turn, the longer it will take to change direction/stabilize.

On a side note, IDS stability thrusters are an independent system from the inertial strafing thruster system. You can 'help' the IDS work faster by using strafing thruster to 'push' the ship towards centered stability.

I cannot say for certain whether or not the IDS stabilizers are in the ship's wings, but I am fairly certain the inertial thruster system is. Increased classes of wings will give better response when you aid the IDS stability system in centering your drift.

I'll take great wings and an average engine over great engine and average wings any day, but that's my opinion. After all, greater engine classes do have their perks too.

I hope this info is useful to you.

[Edited on 11-8-2014 by Rubber Chicken]

[Edited on 11-8-2014 by Rubber Chicken]

Nigel_Strange · Post by **Nigel_Strange** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 8:49 am

You set IDS to X5 to go faster. It is useful when jumping through hostile territory, as your speed does not drop below your designated cruise speed after each jump, so you are harder to hit. If I'm blasting through Thuban, you know, on my way somewhere, I prefer not to slow down to chat with the natives.

When you go into planetary atmospheres, you will most likely want to go as fast as possible without burning. In a Starmaster, X1 is too slow. I think it's around 500 or so, and top speed (without burning) is around 1400, so I tend to set IDS to X3 and adjust the throttle down so that I'm just under the limit. If you see a red glow, you are going too fast and will deplete your shields.

Sinbad · Post by **Sinbad** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 1:50 pm

I like to think of the IDS multiplier as my gears.

So for fine manoeuvring like getting into dock, or mining, solar panel cleaning etc, I use the lowest "gear" IDS x1. For faster cruising, or exiting from jump in hostile systems (as mentioned in the posts above), I switch to highest gear x5. As Nigel_Strange said, when I'm journeying across a planetary surface I tend to use gear x3 so I can go at maximum speed without sustaining damage.

Robotic223 · Post by **Robotic223** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 2:25 pm

Thank you everybody who responded!

So essentially it is like having 5 set cruising speeds and which one you use is more of a personal choice.

All the information here has been very helpful!

Post by **Marvin** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 8:06 pm

I set mine depending on which engine is installed. The objective is to have it set so that I can cruise planetside at max speed without burning up.

Rubber Chicken · Post by **Rubber Chicken** » Sun Nov 09, 2014 5:06 am

...Oh I forgot to mention... IDS settings also give finer control of the throttle - if you use an analog throttle and not the keyboard settings. ie: 20% throttle at IDSx5 = 100% throttle at IDSx1 but, 20% throttle at IDSx1 = 20% throttle at IDSx1.

Make sense?

Post by **DaveK** » Sun Nov 09, 2014 10:02 pm

Like Marvin and Nigel it's great for capping speed when in an atmosphere. I also use it for capping speed in combat so I don't end up jousting and having to kill 3000 to start to head back to the battle! It's also useful inside asteroid caves. I use IDSx1 when getting close to asteroids for mining or lurking!

The other big use is to save some build points on your ship by fitting a lower class engine. Just decide the max speed you would like - then divide by five and find the engine that gives you that speed. For example, say I want a max speed of 3000. 3000/5 = 600 so if I fit an engine with a max speed of 600, I'll actually be able to reach 3000 with IDSx5! You can then spend the spare capacity on something else you covet