PDs how do they work

[monk124us]

Im wondering how do PDs work? What do they defend against and what stats to look for. It makes since vs fighters but what about torpedoes and missiles?

[BTAxis]

They work against missiles and torpedos (and boarding pods) too, some PDs are more effective against fighters than tracking weapons, and vice versa. Look for the tracking and damage stats against these targets. Many weapons have these stats, but PD weapons are much better at them than normal weapons.

[zgrssd]

They work against Missiles and Torpedoes. Basically anything marked "seeking". I think the one exception are the Missile PD,

Also against Fighters, Bombers, Torpedoes, Assault Pods and even Planetary Assault Pods (fired upon by the Planetary Defense Units).

However, the ships are smart enough to use them against other targets if there is no fighters or missile weapons left in the combat.

[baldamundo]

In addition to the above, I think the field generator PD actually works against ALL weapon types - even direct fire and beam weapons

[Emperor0Akim]

yes we need anti anti-missile missiles

[BTAxis]

Those are called interceptor missiles.

[zgrssd]

Those are called interceptor missiles.

No, Interceptors are the Anti-Missiles.

We need Anti-Interceptor-Missiles. Or Anti-Anti-Missile-Missiles.

[firemad]

I don't need PD if my ship can evade them add more thrusters lol

I found it in game that evasion can be good... not always but I mean it's working

[Scott2933]

Im wondering how do PDs work? What do they defend against and what stats to look for. It makes since vs fighters but what about torpedoes and missiles?

I just posted a video on PDs this morning by coincidence. Be sure to read the comments below where people added some great points that I didn't discuss.

[BTAxis]

No, Interceptors are the Anti-Missiles.

We need Anti-Interceptor-Missiles. Or Anti-Anti-Missile-Missiles.

Oh, gotcha. I misread his comment.

[zgrssd]

In addition to the above, I think the field generator PD actually works against ALL weapon types - even direct fire and beam weapons

I checked and you are right!

Most PD only has intercept ratings for Fighters and Seeking weapons.
Thise includes all the Area weapons.

Point Deflectors also have stats against Direct Fire and Full Lenght Beam weapons - meaning it can stop those!
The downside is that they can not be used to directly attack ships.

And i have been wondering why those were a thing, that explains it.

[Almora]

Those are called interceptor missiles.

No, Interceptors are the Anti-Missiles.

We need Anti-Interceptor-Missiles. Or Anti-Anti-Missile-Missiles.

Point defense defense

[baldamundo]

In addition to the above, I think the field generator PD actually works against ALL weapon types - even direct fire and beam weapons

I checked and you are right!

Most PD only has intercept ratings for Fighters and Seeking weapons.
Thise includes all the Area weapons.

Point Deflectors also have stats against Direct Fire and Full Lenght Beam weapons - meaning it can stop those!
The downside is that they can not be used to directly attack ships.

And i have been wondering why those were a thing, that explains it.

The other downside is they tend to be much shorter ranged than other kinds of PD

[monk124us]

Thank you for the explanations, i was curious since I'm getting destroyed on my play through against an AI with torpedo heavy fleets and my PDs didn't seem to have any effect, at least it didn't seem to, they are using Epson and i was using the accurate PDs, now i have the Bismarck PDs.

What would be the best type of PDs to use?

[zgrssd]

Thank you for the explanations, i was curious since I'm getting destroyed on my play through against an AI with torpedo heavy fleets and my PDs didn't seem to have any effect, at least it didn't seem to, they are using Epson and i was using the accurate PDs, now i have the Bismarck PDs.

What would be the best type of PDs to use?

Uusually I pick PD based on what weapons I am running. Which is usually informed by any racial weapons.
Most important is usually that you pick the formation type "tight" or "very tight", so the PD of some ships can cover the others. And of course picking slots where the can actually fire in a lot of ranges.

Epsilon Torpedoes fire few shots. So something with high range, low rate of fire like missiles can work. Missiles you can always put in the worst slots, as their fire angle is basically always 360°