32 replies to this topic

[Tynam]

Royalewithcheese, on 22 February 2013 - 07:02 PM, said:

But yeah, I have no idea why an Atlas pilot would ever put in an XL engine, much less an XL engine and explosive things in the side torsos. One of the (many) reasons that Atlases rock is that if they blow up half your mech, the remaining half of your mech can probably still blow up their mech. Why would someone want to stop being able to do this?

Exactly right. An Atlas's big thing is being very hard to kill, in return for which we're very slow. An XL engine makes us better at the thing we do worst, in return for losing the thing we do best. No deal.

[The Warspite]

Two guns for two different purposes. One's a short range brawler, the other is a long range sniper.

[Chaosbarbarian]

however there is still no substitution for the joy of double ac20 linked to a single target S$%t eating grin you get :
) when a gauss just will not do

[Punk Oblivion]

My biggest issues with the weapons:

AC20, runs hot, and ghost heat makes you over-cautious when running two. All it takes is a moment of panic to hit that alpha button and your shut down.

Gauss: charge-up mechanic. I know there are sounds that guide your charging and firing and reloading (aka ready to fire again). But in the middle of an intense battle, many times the sound will get drown out. However, the virtually 0 heat is SO nice.

I prefer AC20's. But will use Gauss occasionally. Usually paired with an ERPPC, or ERLL.

[Amsro]

Gauss are you talking about!!?

[Skarlock]

Kyutaru, on 21 February 2013 - 09:22 PM, said:

How about the AC2s? Would boating a bunch of them be more effective than an AC20? It obviously does less damage, but the refire rate and accuracy they have...

It's situational, but here's the gist of it. With AC/20s you get to torso twist and distribute damage from return fire, whereas with the AC/2s you don't. You can either keep DPSing and have a staring contest, or stop firing and twist the damage, not both. The target also gets to torso twist damage from AC/2s rather well, whereas the AC/20s don't. You're pretty much gonna eat 40 damage vs. AC/20s on the first volley to wherever the AC/20 mech puts them.

In order for 2 AC/2s to catch up on the damage inflicted by a single AC/20 because of the alpha difference, it will take about 10 seconds for them to surpass the total damage done from the AC/20 by a reasonable margin. I don't think most people will have an opportunity to dps a single target for ten seconds so AC/2s suffer a lot when opponents can simply duck behind cover, and you will constantly get out-traded by mechs with heavier alpha strikes. Keep in mind almost EVERYTHING will have a bigger alpha strike than boated AC/2s due to the fact that other than Flamers and Machine Guns, AC/2s have the worst alpha in the game.

That being said, AC/2s are more sniper like with solid extreme range damage, whereas AC/20s can't shoot half way across the biggest maps and actually do damage. As for accuracy, I would say it's harder to aim with AC/20s due to the drop of the shell at longer distances, but the reward is much more focused damage. AC/2s at longer ranges will never concentrate their damage on any area, except against a perfectly still target. Again, who holds perfectly still while being pelted at range?

In the case of a king crab, you can boat 6 AC/2s for 16.68 base dps (quirks, mastery will change this) whereas the AC/20 gets based 10 dps, BUT, you can take a firing module to increase your AC/20 firing and you get more firing bonuses from quirks than the AC/2 gets in the KGC-000 , which makes the overall dps much more comparable. There currently is no AC/2 firing module so that alone is somewhat significant.

Bottom line, extreme range is very situational and short lived, whereas mid/short range is where most people (including your teammates and opponents) will play in. AC/2s hurt your survivability but do have better accuracy, yet because of their high rate of fire and low alpha, will naturally spread damage much more than AC/20s and be much less lethal. AC/20 is great for snap shots whereas AC/2s will hardly be noticed. If you have to choose between the 2, I'd go with the AC/20 every time, unless your *only* priority is range.

Edited by Skarlock, 24 February 2015 - 09:31 PM.

[Punk Oblivion]

Skarlock, on 24 February 2015 - 09:30 PM, said:

That being said, AC/2s are more sniper like with solid extreme range damage, whereas AC/20s can't shoot half way across the biggest maps and actually do damage. As for accuracy, I would say it's harder to aim with AC/20s due to the drop of the shell at longer distances, but the reward is much more focused damage. AC/2s at longer ranges will never concentrate their damage on any area, except against a perfectly still target. Again, who holds perfectly still while being pelted at range?

Oh, speaking of shell drop, I forgot to mention that you can actually use that to your advantage if you get used to it. I have lobbed AC20 shells over cover, and over "cliff"edges to just skim a hit onto an enemy mech that I normally could not have hit. Due to the shell passing over cover, then "dropping" into the enemy rather than keeping its trajectory and going over their heads.

Of course you can't count on this always working. It is a combination of experience with the AC20, skill, and luck haha.

[990Dreams]

So you're basically saying AC/20s are better than Gauss?

[Bloodweaver]

Helmstif, on 21 February 2013 - 12:21 PM, said:

An AC20 has an effective range of 270m, but also an astonishing max range of 810m. That means, assuming the damage drop-off is linear (if anyone could provide the damage drop-off rate I would be very grateful), then a quarter way beyond AC20's max range, which is 405m, it would still deal 15 damage, the same as a Gauss. By the time an AC20 shell reaches 540m, it would only deal 10 damage. In short, when the target is beyond 400m, Gauss would deal more damage.

Mm, not anymore. They removed the triple-range damage for autocannons. Which is a good thing, because it was a ridiculous imbalance for all the benefit they already had over lasers. Only Gauss goes out to three times its optimal range now. AC20 does zero damage beyond 540 meters now, and ten points of damage at 405 meters. Drastically changes the OP's applicability

Edited by Bloodweaver, 25 February 2015 - 04:31 PM.

[HARDKOR]

[kosmos1214]

wow and i thought i was the necro king

[ShinVector]

I guess some people don't check posted dates when replying to OPs.

[kosmos1214]

ShinVector, on 25 February 2015 - 04:41 PM, said:

I guess some people don't check posted dates when replying to OPs.

yah really