Talk:Nova/@comment-58.173.183.157-20180218082255/@comment-97.119.142.65-20180530192351

You can build a Nova to have 18 particles. I use such a build for sortie mobile defense regularly, since the +duration you'd need to crank it to 18 particles also makes molecular prime cover a huge amount of space. Particles rarely fly off - range is 34% and most enemies die well before they can cause a particle to fly away. After I lose a few through attrition, I detonate with Neutron Star and recast. I think it's possible to build past 18 particles, but the reduction on damage from having particles in orbit is capped at 90%, so there's no point in doing so.