Is Defence Pattern Matrix 4 still great?

[Takeshi, made in Mom]

Greetings,

I have read some guides and posts that advise installing many Defence Pattern Matrix 4.
It gives nice defensive dice, but Pilot Assist Module 4 and Sensor Array 5 seem nice too.

2 of DPM: 6 Pilot, 8 Electronics, +12% Defence, etc. 250 Mass, $300k, Javat exclusive.
PAM+SA: 7 Pilot, 6 Electronics, 4 Navigation, +8% Accuracy, etc. 175 Mass, $210k.

DPM seems to have lost a +1 init bonus recently and a huge loss for noob me.
(Maybe stacking 10 of DPM gives +60% defense and can be great.)

Is DPM still great?
If yes, I have to be nice to Javat on the next run.

[happybjorn]

It's fine, and certainly useful for getting your defense up.

You don't need to be Javat to get the upgrade, anyone can get the component so long as they aren't hated (and can find a Javat zone that meets the upgrade requirements, which are fairly low, so should be easy to do).

[Takeshi, made in Mom]

Thank you!

[MasterShake]

You want to start switching from defensive to offensive once you see through combat log that you are overkill for defensive rolls.
Until then, while your crew has still lot to grow, 4-5 DPM is a very good investment that will save you from being hit first turn before you have a chance to compensate with talents. Also electronics + pilot is the king and DPM has nice distribution.

[Gilmoy]

The +12% Defense bonus eventually overwhelms the puny +/- 1 dice difference.
A typical 2nd ship can have 50s+150 Defend = 50.0 +15% from 3 DPM 3 = 65.0 "mid-60s".
A 3rd ship can have 70s+240 Defend = 76.0 +30% from 5 DPM 4 = 98.8 "high-90s".

Breaking that down, each +5% for the 2nd ship adds the equivalent of (50s+150) / 20,
or (2.5s + 7.5), which is roughly the same as +6.25 strong dice.
So 1 DPM3 is worth whatever raw dice it states, plus a bonus of +6.25 Pilot-equivalent,
just from the +5% of all of the rest of your dice.
That's far better than the tiny +/- 1 dice difference between DPMs and Pilot Assist et al.

DPMs on a 3rd ship get relatively more bonus, because the dice pools are so much bigger.
Each 1 DPM4 gives 5% of (70s + 240) = (3.5s + 12) = +9.5 strong dice.
That bonus is already bigger than 1 entire PAM+SA combo.
So 1 DPM4 is like 3 components in 1. Nothing beats it for density of value.

[Takeshi, made in Mom]

Wow, thank you, senior captains!
My third ship is far from optimal but has 73s (Agi 10 + EL 63) + 100 (PL 39 + Com 61), so +5% Def from DPM3 would be worth 6.15s: much bigger than expected!

I have to swap Pilot/Navi 1s with DPM3s and will recruit command skill crews (now I have 14 empty beds!).
Anyway, my aim for the first run is my experience and unlocks, so it is OK to be eaten by Xeno.
The knowledge from this topic will greatly help my second run.

P.S.
I misunderstood that I needed to buy a DPM4 with a Military Rank 10 or so.
I just need not to be hated and find a well-developed starport (which is NOT rare as happybjorn told).

P.P.S.
Sorry for my misunderstanding and poor English

[happybjorn]

Actually I said it's not hard to find a Javat zone that can install the component. One of Javat's faction bonuses is for Starport rating.

It might require a little looking around, but I've never had to try hard for it. Gamma-Javat should be able to do it regardless of map (Farfallen Rim).

[Crim]

I can't think of PAM being useful...
I can understand focusing on the offense modules, but PAM ain't it...

SA can be alright if you just need to shave off some weight