There are some points made in this thread that I disagree with.
1) Ballistics are not ineffecient or weaker than energy weapons.
The big boon Ballistics have is that they need a lot less heat sinks to run. That means that if you consider the total weight investment including heat sinks and ammo, they are highly competitive with energy weapons.
Missiles tend to be even more efficient, but LRMs seem to be unable to utilize most of their potential. Short Range Missiles can be used very effeciently on several levels - good damage to weight ratio, and good hit-ratio. Of course, that's when you use them at the ranges they work.
2) Ballistics are difficult to aim.
Maybe I am a Ballistic Sniper or something (ha, with a 60 % accuracy? Laughable Sniper I'd say), but if I look at my statistics and compare the number of attacks and the resulting expected damage and the actual damage inflicted, I am about as precise with my ballistic weapons as with my laser. Sure, the Accuracy stat for the Laser is higher, but it counts as a hit if I hit just for one tick.
Compare this:
AC/20: 431 Shots Fired, 265 hits. Damage dealt: 5290 damage. Expected Damage for 431 shots is 8620.
That means I deal 63 % of the damage I could deal if I hit with every of my shots.
Medium Laser: 1068 Shots, 944 Hits, 2566 Damage Dealt. Expected Damage for 1068 shots: 5340. That means i deal only 48 % of the damage I could deal if I hit with every tick of the medium laser.
SRM6: 7032 shots, 3743 Hits, 8114 Damage Dealt. Expected Damage for 7032 Shots: 17.580
That means I deal only 45 % of the damage I could deal if I hit with every single missile.
So by this, I am actually the most accurate with the AC/20!
Maybe this is significantly different with other ballistics (longer range attacks are generally more difficult to take, and a fast firing weapon like the UAC/5 doesn't allow you to aim for long if you actually want to utilize its DPS).
Edited by MustrumRidcully, 12 March 2013 - 11:40 PM.