These are the same novels that feature the cereal toothbrush ninja? What a ludicrous plot BandAid. They can circumvent the goddamn safeties by literally cutting power to the drive which shuts down the field. In what universe could engineers invent whole new drive cores like the tantalus but not know how to build one without safeties?
And as for cost, shuttles are FTL capable and cost 4 million credits. The Normandy 1s core alone cost 120 billion, the cost of a heavy cruiser according to the admiral in ME1.
And if the reapers don't want you using them, why don't the reapers use them themselves for hyper long range fighting?
This info was from in-game codex and Cerberus News, both which have better quality than that cereal killer thing (won't call it even a book).
(Other ME novels are better... but not by much.)
Tantalus drive core is just a normal mass effect drive core, with added benefit of being capable of creating usable gravity wells outside the ship. At least, that's what assume (it is noted as being twice the normal size for Normandy-sized ship). EDIT perhaps the "outside"-gravity well was an innovation, specific for that model, but it doesn't mean they can circumvent FTL-safeties, if they're fundamental part of construction. Just playing devil's advocate though, it doesn't make sense to me...
It is noted repeatedly in various places that the mass effect tech is usable, but not really understood. It is
black box tech, as designed by the Reapers.
Justfication for the Council and other species not understanding it are shoddy though...
Expenses: as i said, it doesn't make any sense. One could assume manufacturing capabilities are too small to produce enough FTL missiles.. but again, that causes other issues.
As for the Reapers not doing that... no idea. VS planets it is simple, they harvest, they don't destroy (usually, insignificant populations are decimated but they have cheaper means for that).
The Reapers could have limited manufacturing and resources... but after each cycle, they could use resources captured from the harvested species.
*shrug*
I reckon BioWare writers didn't think of these, or they thought no one would wonder.
Regardless, it ain't really relevant to the games themselves.
Lasers ought to be relatively short range because of blooming. But even without the above cheats, missiles ought to be highly effective with things like atomic shaped charges.
Lasers don't suffer from blooming in space. Blooming is purely in-atmosphere phenomenon, IIRC.
Do you mean diffraction?
In practice, laser range is limited to some few hundred thousand kilometers... but withing one lightsecond.... Kinetic cannons like in Mass Effect have much, much shorter effective range against moving targets.
Missiles do have very long effective range but they're suspectible to point defense. And if you can have missiles, you can have disposable coolant, so heat won't be an issue. Well. Perhaps more than with missiles but still.
I'll note that there is no rational reason for not using missiles in Mass Effect universe, for they have space fighters. Space-fucking-fighters!
By the way, do you have any idea how long is maximum effective range of a nuclear shaped charge, a Casaba-howitzer (because i don't, and neither does the Atomic Rocket site)? Wondering whether they're truly useful as stand-off warheads. Might be simpler to use bomb-pumped x-ray lasers, or just have better rocket for more acceleration.
EDIT lol, feels silly talking about Mass Effect, FTL missiles and lasers... we need a proper realistic space combat thread.
Your space military ranks thread is good (subbed) but no one but me seems to be remembring it. And i can't think of anything to add to it anymore :/
