How long does it takes to transit a star's gravity well

from Sins Forums

If the entry and exit directions are close enough that you can jump out directly from the point you entered, does it take any longer than a normal planet?

If, however, the entry and exit are on opposite sides so that you have to transit most of the way across, it seems to take forever.  2 jumps through a star seems to always take longer than 3 without.  Is there any rule of thumb for this?

Related Q: Some planets say "-33% gravity well size" but when looked at with the grid on they look exactly the same as all others of the same general size class (planet, asteroid, etc).  What, if anything, is actually different?

strategy
3,311 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Well, I'm just going to say the obvious here:  yes, the further you have to travel in order to get in position for your next jump, the longer your travel time will be.  In fact, because you move so fast when phase jumping, most of your travel time is actually moving across gravity wells.  The bigger the gravity well, the further you must travel.  So yes, travelling across a star is about the worst-case scenario for travel time.

 

The -33% gravity well size does indeed make the well smaller (not the planet itself, just the well), but it isn't that noticable.  Most people say that you can safely ignore this.

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

And there is another rule where since it is a star its gravitational pull is great. When going around and away from a star your ships do in fact move much slower than usual. But when coming towards the star your ships are faster. Hope this helps.

 

Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

Ignoring the above post, yes, it does take longer to transit accross a stars grav-well than that of a planet.  This is mostly because the star and its grav well are considerably larger, but as n00binator said, your ships slow down when traveling away from a star (for me, they seem to slow down all the time :( pesky things!) and speed up when approaching it.  On the plus side however, that star does restore the antimatter of your ships much faster than usual, so take advantage of that long journey to let your AM recharge.  Especially nasty if you have carrier cruisers in your fleet.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

Since the other posters covered the basics:

Yeah, stars can really slow you down, but don't forget to use it to your advantage.  If you see an enemy fleet in a star's well, jump a few ships in to distract them.  The ship AI should automatically make the fleet follow you, which will take forever next to a star.  You can use the opportunity to get the jump on them either there (because the fleet is now spread out) or on another planet (since you can pull them around the star and it'll take a while to get back).

...So yeah, that mini-strategy's a little limited in scope, butI think it's still viable.

 

Quoting CrazyElectron, reply 4
Ignoring the above post
End of CrazyElectron's quote

Said post has been reported.  It's a new userID and his only post, so it's probably a bot.  I seem to remember seeing a very similar post before, though.

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

I've observed that the AI will follow a scout at one of their own planets but not at a star.  So I guess I need to keep an LF or two around for this function.