Magnetic fuse

[Immortal]

How does the magnetic fuse work? As far as I remember all I should have to do is select an appropriate depth (just under the keel) and remember to select magnetic instead of impact in the torpedo screen.
That said, I have tried launching 2 of these so far (Pi2 impact fuse usually gets the job done), the second one i watched float by not even 1 meter below the enemy ship but nothing happened. Did I miss something? Super bad luck? Or are these fuses currently bugged?

[Dewgle]

You didn't say which torpedo flaw setting you're using; Basic, Semi-Realistic or Realistic?

Depending on the setting you chose when you started your career, your torpedo will either have a flat dud chance or it will use a more complex set of parameters to determine if it explodes the instant it reaches arming distance, explodes before it reaches the target or fails to detect the target at all and just doesn't explode, like it did in your case it seems.

I talk about it more in this thread here but TLDR, you probably just had a dud.

Also just wanted to point out that many new players think they have to put magnetic torpedoes underneath ships in order for them to work. No, this is not the case.

The magnetic pistols work by detecting the magnetic field of ferrous materials (iron). Ships hulls are made of iron, therefore coming into close contact with any part of a ship's hull will set them off. As shown int his illustration here below
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2808264004

This is what makes the magnetic pistols far superior to impact pistols because they are immune to impact angle failures. But their sensitivity make magnetic fields makes them prone to early detonations, especially the earlier variants of pistols.

[Immortal]

I play with semi-realistic setting. I know magnetic should work at shallower depths aswell, but whats the point of a magnetic fuse if I dont detonate it under the keel? The upgraded impact fuses are doing a good job of hitting the side (even with shallow angles just above keel).

Guess I will run some more magnetic tests

[Dewgle]

Originally posted by Immortal:

I play with semi-realistic setting. I know magnetic should work at shallower depths aswell, but whats the point of a magnetic fuse if I dont detonate it under the keel?

Quick 'fire from the hip' shots when you don't have time to identify a ship or get its draught information from the recognition manual. Or during storms or heavy sea states when the high waves could could throw off the depth of your target, or the depth of your torpedo causing the torpedo to swim too far under the depth of your target resulting in the detonator not getting triggered (yes i've seen this happen). Rough sea states can throw off the intended depth.

[Along_22b2]

mine is working with realistic flaw, took out all 4 destroyer in a small convoy, 2 was the annoying Black Swan

[RimmerA]

I usually set the depth to the keel depth or 0.5m under. At 1m or more under the keel they seem to get less reliable.

[diji]

On the topic of torpedoes: apart from the dud chance is there any appreciable difference between T1 and T2 when using realistic flaws?

[diji]

I was mostly wondering if there's a difference between one being steam and the other being electric

[Dewgle]

Originally posted by diji:

On the topic of torpedoes: apart from the dud chance is there any appreciable difference between T1 and T2 when using realistic flaws?

The primary difference between the G7a-T1 and G7e-T2, apart from their dud chance of 20% and 30% respectively when playing on basic and realistic (flat dud chance is not used on semi-realistic), is that one uses compressed gas and decaline for propulsion and the other is electric with batteries and a motor.

The G7a-T1 has a variable speed selector allowing it to travel up to 44 knots although historically this was limited to 40 knots to protect the 4-piston engine from damage. The G7e-T2 is only capable of up to 30 knots and historically needed to be kept warm in order for the batteries inside it to perform at their best.

The T1 produces exhaust gasses which creates a foam trail in its wake. I've been told by the devs that this foam trail is in fact visible to the enemy and can be used to narrow their search after a torpedo attack like a trail of bread crumbs leading them back to the submarine that fired it. Because of this, historically T1s were only used at night T2s on the other hand, because they're electric do not produce any exhaust gasses and leave no foam trail in their wake aside from the standard cavitation but that's minimal.

So when playing on the realistic torpedo setting, you still have to worry about the 30% dud chance on your T2 torpedoes but they won't leave a foam trail. However it's worth noting that on semi-realistic and realistic it really comes down to the skills of your engineer to reduce dud chance and the variant of pistol you're using.

Pi1 pistols are garbage and have a very low impact angle tolerance for the impact detonator and the magnetic detonator on them is prone to early detonation either as soon as it arms or before it reaches the target.

Pi1.1 pistols overcompensate by reducing the sensitivity of the magnetic pistol so that they're likely to not detonate at all even when coming into contact with the target, the impact angle is slightly improved.

Pi2 and Pi3 see vast improvements to the impact angle tolerance and magnetic detonator sensitivity, greatly reducing the chance of early detonation while also maintaining enough sensitivity to properly detect the hull of a ship.

Pi4 pistol has no impact detonator, only magnetic and is only equipped on G7e-T5 acoustic-homing torpedoes.

[diji]

Interesting, I didn't realise that about the trail. I have been preferring the T1s due to the lower chance of being a dud but I do tend to prefer night attacks anyway just because I feel like it's easier for me to get away so I suppose the trail hasn't been biting me too badly. Right now I've just received the improved Pi1 and since the start of the game I've avoided using the magnetic if at all possible because of worries about the premature detonation. If magnetic in this improved version has the extra chance of not detonating even upon contact, is it better to keep preferring the impact setting, since that would be like an extra dud chance on top of the existing dud mechanic?

I'll admit I don't really understand the angle stuff. Is it relative to the hull of the ship, and closer to 0 means it's hitting more squarely like the top left torpedo in the image posted previously?

[Dewgle]

Johnny2000 explains it pretty well, but here also are some animated clips to show you what horizontal and vertical impact angle failures look like. You can see an red/yellow/green overlay pop up which tells you whether or not the torpedo's angle is good. That overlay is based on the parameters of the Pi1 pistol.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2854380870
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2883309875

The front of the torpedo has 'whiskers' on it that when depressed, act like the trigger on a gun. But in order to function these whiskers need to make physical contact with the hull of a ship. If the angle of impact is too oblique? Then the torpedo's body will make contact with the hull before the whiskers do, resulting in a dud.

[diji]

Thanks, these explanations and the illustrations are really helpful!

[RimmerA]

Originally posted by diji:

Right now I've just received the improved Pi1 and since the start of the game I've avoided using the magnetic if at all possible because of worries about the premature detonation. If magnetic in this improved version has the extra chance of not detonating even upon contact, is it better to keep preferring the impact setting, since that would be like an extra dud chance on top of the existing dud mechanic?

The magnetic detonators are garbage on both versions of the Pi1. You're better off using the impact fuse until you get Pi2 pistols. The main improvement with the Pi1* is that the impact detonator will work at a greater angle so you have a bit more leeway with the angle of your shot.

[Immortal]

Thanks very much for your answers guys. McDewgle you should consider writing up a small tutorial once the game releases, the quality of your posts is outstanding!

[DECAFBAD]

Pi4 pistols! Not really magnetic, rather inductive. Like a metal detector. It has an active circuit with an oscillator, unlike the magnetic detonators. It also can't be countered by degaussing the hull.