Your capacitor is like your ship's stamina. When you activate the modules (such as weapons and propulsion) on your ship, it reduces your capacitor level. If your capacitor runs out, you can no longer use modules, and can only travel at sub-warp speed until your capacitor has recharged enough to activate your modules again.
If your capacitor runs out of power in the midst of a fierce battle, you are in trouble. It can be difficult to strike a balance between having powerful weapons and defenses and not overloading your capacitor. This guide will tell you how to reduce the amount of capacitor power that your modules use, how to increase your capacitor's capacity, and which modules you can use to improve capacitor performance.
Increase your capacity
The Energy Management skill increases your capacitor capacity in any ship that you pilot. This is an essential skill for improving your capacitor performance.
Capacitor Batteries are also available on the market. These modules increase capacitor capacity. These range from Micro to Large. The size of the battery that you can fit depends on your ship's powergrid and CPU.
To fit a capacitor battery, you generally need to have Science, Engineering, and Energy Grid Upgrades skills trained.
Reduce capacitor needs of modules
The Engineering category of skills includes quite a few skills that reduce the capacitor need of specific types of modules.
Here is a list of just a few of the skills that can reduce your capacitor needs:
- Controlled Bursts
- Shield Compensation
- Fuel Conservation
- Sensor Linking
- High Speed Maneuvering
- ...and more!
Improve capacitor recharge rate
Aside from increasing your maximum capacitor capacity and reducing the capacitor needs of modules, you can use modules that improve your capacitor's recharge rate. This means that your capacitor will refill itself more quickly, even if you deplete it.
The Energy Systems Operation skill improves your capacitor's recharge rate.
The following modules are just a few that improve capacitor recharge rate:
- Basic Capacitor Recharger
- Capacitor Flux Coil I
- Capacitor Power Relay I
- ...and more!
Peak recharge rate occurs if capacitor is at 75% or greater
The capacitor recharge rate is faster if your capacitor has not gone below 75%. Try to keep your capacitor from dipping below this number if you want to maximize your capacitor's recharge rate.