39 replies to this topic

[Circles End]

Inspired by a post in the discussion regarding ER weapons, I was reinvigorated in my suspicion that the PPC's damage value is bugged. (Previously I suspected that it was just me who couldn't hit water when falling out of a boat.)

The specific post was a test of 4 PPCs against an AFK mech. The user checked for minimum range before firing and got a damage result of 20. According to all sane math the damage result should have been 40.

I have experienced similar "Wat?" moments regarding damage and the PPC. Are we lone rangers in this or have other people experienced this as well?

*edit* I can't spell for *****.

Edited by Circles End, 03 December 2012 - 02:02 AM.

[Elkarlo]

I "Hammered" my Cataphract using the WHM-6D Configuration with DHS as a low Cost Brawling config.

Personally i like the this Setup and it shows that i can very well handle it. With a high Hit ratio...

And very low Damage, 3 out of 4 shots on a running Jenner hits, and damage is shown, Manually Chained, every Shot darkened the Armor... and only Armor gone on Arm and mostly on torso side... that would be around 15-20 Damage... so yes.

As long as the PPC is underpowered i will stick to LRM boat then...

[Rifter]

Hit detection for PPC's has always been a issue. You will also notice sometimes when you shoot someone from the front it registers on the rear as a hit.

PPC's need some serious work.

[Errant Variable]

If I'm moving quickly or my target is, I see this problem. If there isn't much transversal movement PPCs are pain in an economy sized package, coming or going. Tested across CMD, HBK, AWS.

If you're in close brawling range and your hits don't seem to be registering, make sure you're using ERPPC. The standard PPC has a minimum range feature (?) that makes them close to useless under 90M or so.

[Circles End]

Errant Variable, on 03 December 2012 - 02:37 AM, said:

If you're in close brawling range and your hits don't seem to be registering, make sure you're using ERPPC. The standard PPC has a minimum range feature (?) that makes them close to useless under 90M or so.

*Ahem*

Circles End, on 03 December 2012 - 02:02 AM, said:

The specific post was a test of 4 PPCs against an AFK mech. The user checked for minimum range before firing and got a damage result of 20. According to all sane math the damage result should have been 40.

Bold text for emphasis.
I have made similar tests. And I have made similar checks before firing to ensure that this was not the issue. Unless of course the minimum range on PPC has magically changed to 100 metres.

[Lightfoot]

Using 2xERPPCs, target: a stationary Atlas who was shooting AC2s back. I fired 15 salvos into it's center torso (300 damage) and then it walked away.

[Circles End]

Just had a brainwave - My tests took place before the hit-indicator was added. The clusterfucked hitboxes could of course have mucked my test results.

[Apoc1138]

I use PPC's on one of my atlases quite alot with great effect.

if you've not run these tests recently then re-try them now and report back if it's still an issue

[Bishop Steiner]

Oh, it's still an issue.

PPC seems to be all, or next to nothing. One match I will one shot the heads of several mechs with either my K2 or AWS-8Q. The Next match I'll be standing stationary at 200 meters pounding as fast as they will cycle, and 10 CT/H volleys later, the light mech walks away with yellow armor. And while the hit indicators and HUD all show direct center line hits, the damage is splashed over the entire torso, head and arms.

Hypothesis: 1) PPC damage is dealt out during the entire duration of the "Beam" like lasers, so on moving targets, damage spreads. 2) The PPC blast has a rather large "footprint", compared to weapons like AC/20 and Gauss, so that if one is marginally off from perfect center the actual blast ends up spread between 2 or more locations.

Regardless, they need a slower cooldown time, hitscan speed and much more focused damage. The PPCs are great when they work, but they appear to be the most inconsistent weapons in the game. And with the DHS nerf, ERPPC are almost useless, as you spend way more time managing your heat than fighting.

[Circles End]

Bishop Steiner, on 03 December 2012 - 06:11 AM, said:

Oh, it's still an issue.

PPC seems to be all, or next to nothing. One match I will one shot the heads of several mechs with either my K2 or AWS-8Q. The Next match I'll be standing stationary at 200 meters pounding as fast as they will cycle, and 10 CT/H volleys later, the light mech walks away with yellow armor. And while the hit indicators and HUD all show direct center line hits, the damage is splashed over the entire torso, head and arms.

Hypothesis: 1) PPC damage is dealt out during the entire duration of the "Beam" like lasers, so on moving targets, damage spreads. 2) The PPC blast has a rather large "footprint", compared to weapons like AC/20 and Gauss, so that if one is marginally off from perfect center the actual blast ends up spread between 2 or more locations.

I experience similar symptoms with my 8Q but I haven't had the chance to experiment on an AFK mech. And teammates get cranky when you use them for damage tests.

Bishop Steiner, on 03 December 2012 - 06:11 AM, said:

Regardless, they need a slower cooldown time, hitscan speed and much more focused damage. The PPCs are great when they work, but they appear to be the most inconsistent weapons in the game. And with the DHS nerf, ERPPC are almost useless, as you spend way more time managing your heat than fighting.

I disagree with a deal of this, but that is material for a balance discussion thread. This is regarding if the PPC works as advertised.

[BoomDog]

OP: That was my post you're talking about.

More specifically, the match turned into a base rush. I didn't shoot a single thing until I got to the enemy base. There was an AFK mech about 150 to 200 meters away. I fired 4 shots into him then the timer ended. The after battle report said I did 20 damage.

I've tinkered with an ERPPC and haven't noticed this at all. What I'm starting to wonder is if the minimum range on the PPC is bugged.

[Circles End]

You think that someone somewhere accidentally added another zero behind the 8 on the minRange variable?

[Salamander Z]

I have had great success with normal PPC in the last couple of weeks. Occasionally I will question wonky damage, but I seem to do that will all of the weapons at some points.
I have destroyed heavy mechs with no center torso armor and just yellow internal damage with 2 PPC shots fired at 50 to 60m. I dont have any trouble dealing out full damage with PPC at 90+m most of the time.
So I dont think its the range that is messed up but I will say there are some strange things going on with the weapon and how it deals out its damage.

[Tesunie]

Lightfoot, on 03 December 2012 - 05:43 AM, said:

Using 2xERPPCs, target: a stationary Atlas who was shooting AC2s back. I fired 15 salvos into it's center torso (300 damage) and then it walked away.

I've had this happen as well. except with me I got ripped to threads by two AC2s all while firing my PPCs right back at him. I figured my four PPCs should out damage his two AC2s. I was apparently wrong. for the record all he had that I was in range for where his AC2s and he was the only one shooting at me that I could tell.

Circles End, on 03 December 2012 - 06:56 AM, said:

You think that someone somewhere accidentally added another zero behind the 8 on the minRange variable?

I'm starting to think so. Maybe instead . of being 80m it's really 800m somehow for that minimum range?

[De La Fresniere]

I'm sure someone's said this before (I don't wanna read the entire thread), but PPCs have huge hit issues.

Sometimes they'll hit the other side of the mech you fired on (as it, shoot it in the back and the front will take damage) and sometimes they'll just pass through.

Not that it doesn't do that with other weapons, but... PPCs seem to suffer from that more than others.

[NRP]

I've kind of noticed something similar with my PPC stalker. In some matches that thing is a beast (two alphas kill anything), but in others it feels like it does hardly any damage at all. Strange and frustrating.

[Tesunie]

NRP, on 10 January 2013 - 11:41 AM, said:

I've kind of noticed something similar with my PPC stalker. In some matches that thing is a beast (two alphas kill anything), but in others it feels like it does hardly any damage at all. Strange and frustrating.

I've got a thread going about this problem with a stalker here. An admin seemed to have taken notice..
http://mwomercs.com/...ge/page__st__20

And you about summed up my opinion of the PPCs stalker except I haven't had the real ' beast' moment yet.

Edited by Tesunie, 10 January 2013 - 11:54 AM.

[matG]

did this ever get resolved because i seen to be doing hardly any damage with erppc's at all?

[Forestal]

matG, on 18 March 2013 - 06:24 AM, said:

did this ever get resolved because i seen to be doing hardly any damage with erppc's at all?

Did you actually hit anything?

Check for your "cross-hairs" turning red, the "splash" from impact (yes, the PPC creates an explosive "splash" like ballistics), the ecm of your target being countered (a "slash" through the ecm icon)....

[Lil Cthulhu]

Hopefully this will get fixed when they implement the state rewind for ballistics since the PPC is classed as such in terms of hit detection.