Strategies for Pop-roids

[Payne]

After having recently been blown up by a pop-roid, I began to wonder whether the damage from the explosive-type of pop-roid can be mitigated / reduced.  Does anyone know what type of damage they do when they go boom?  I assume it's explosive.  If so, does explosive resistance help reduce the damage?

 

Also, will an explosive pop-roid always insta-kill you, or will a higher shield cap help as well?

 

Thanks.

[Terrell [BT]]

The damage from pop-rocks is absolute damage (deflects don't have an effect).  I do think it is a little less if you're mining from a little further away, but not certain on that.

[Iacobus]

Based upon my experience, higher shield caps definitely make a difference.  In a typical L7 through 9 pop rock "explosion" my L7 scle shield loses about 80% of its cap.  When I ran an L6 scale shield, the roid would kill me.  :mad:

 

I do not know if deflects make a difference.  I have never experimented with and without explo deflects.

 

Good mining!

[stevinium]

Shields do matter, but it is your luck that matters most.

I've had my shields taken out from anywhere between 0 and 100% and into hull.

This is with level 8 shield 51009 capacity.

Enviromental Shield seems to help but not sure.

I try to stay as far away as I can but sometimes I just go for it, and other times I didn't know it was going to pop

as is the case with hulks.

Sometimes the npc takes as much damage too from the explosion.

Other times they are just duds and do nothing. I hate those. I want a mob to pop out to play with lol.

[Daath]

The only thing I have found that consistently helps with pop-rock damage is distance.  Prospect them from 2.49 and you will take 1/2 as much damage as you would if are less than 1.0 away.  Max (L8) shields on a JE is required to survive these, anything lower and it will get into your hull at least...

 

This is one area where the PS has a significant advantage over TS/JE, with L9 shields an L9 pop rock is nothing. 

[Payne]

So as an example, at what shield level are you generally comfortable popping lv9 roids?  I can definitively say that lv6 shields are too soft, even from max distance.  A lv9 exploding roid will take out my shields and hull fully (1 hull upgrade below max).  Do lv7 shields generally cover it (again from max prospecting distance) or do you have to wait for lv8?

[Iacobus]

I am currently using an L7 shield with a shield cap buff to about 24k cap total.  I can pop the L9 roids from max distance and will survive.  Does it sometimes get into hull?  As Daath said, I believe it does on occasion.  But as others have said in the thread, there does seem to be some variability in how much damage I take.  Not sure why.

 

I never found a big effect from environment shield either.

[Daath]

I think the damage calculation is not fixed, but rather a bracket fed through a random factor.  I have had L9 roids that hit me into my hull with max shield+Tac Adv 9 at max distance.. other times it barely hits me...

[Payne]

Just to contribute my own info to my question, just got 1-shot by a lv9 roid with lv7 shields.

[Syberfly]

I also believe that it is through a random factor. I love them, I hunt for them in JE, you see a lvl 9 Hydro with 14 Grail Water and you can here it calling you to Pop it open. Sometimes you get popped and others you may get your Warp knocked out for 2 min. I like the Unknowen of what the Pop roids/crystals/Hyrdo's bring to minning. Oh and as for the deflects the only thing that I found that helps a little is PSI from JD. I don't know why....my 2 cents.

[drew67]

I always use deflects, they seem to work

[Desashette]

 **hide behind the PW ** ;O)