Sir Roland MXIII, on 25 May 2013 - 11:45 AM, said:
I'm not judging it by it's main variant, I'm judging it by the only variant I know we'll get. They announce the variant with RA / LA Ballistics and that'll be somethin' else entirely. Until then I'll go with the variant that's a solid lock rather than smoke in the wind.
Oh, and triple guass / AC60 is going to be done but I see it as being a build akin to the 4 UAC5 JM6s - not viable in the MW:O paradigm. Double of either is more dangerous and sane, and also not something we can do currently in assualt. That'd be nice, but again, until we KNOW the variants with this I'm holding judgement - although I would like nothing more than to retract myy statement of being underwhelmed and replace it with a thanks & sorry.... this IS PGI we're talking about.
Well, the VTR-9B is the "basic/common/default" variant, so it seems fairly safe to say that it will ultimately be included.
The variant from the intro story is from the Davion Heavy Guards and is described as firing a Gauss Rifle, Medium Pulse Lasers, and an SRM launcher - so, it is either a stock VTR-9D (or a captured VTR-9K - the difference is that the the parts are sourced from different manufacturers) or a custom variant (as was the case with the
Blackjack intro).
Based on that, it seems fairly safe to see that the VTR-9D (and/or VTR-9K) will also ultimately be included.
Also of note is that the
VTR-9D and
VTR-9K have the Lower Arm Actuator present in the Right Arm, which prevents those specific variants from mounting an AC/20 there.
The
VTR-9B and
VTR-9S carry their AC/20s in their Right Arms (which lack the Lower Arm Actuator) as their only ballistic weapons (so, it seems likely that any additional ballistic hardpoints will be added to the same location).
The
VTR-9A comes stock with an AC/20 in the Right Arm and a Machine Gun in the Left Torso, which guarantees (if that variant is implemented) the potential for at least two heavy ballistic weapons.
it is the
VTR-9A1 that presents the issue - it comes stock with the AC/20 in the Right Arm and a Machine Gun in each leg.
Some hope (and some fear) that the MGs will be "moved straight up" from each leg to the corresponding side-torso, which guarantees (if that variant is implemented) the potential for up to three heavy ballistic weapons (RA, RT, and LT).
By contrast, some fear (and some hope) that PGI would actively try to avoid precisely that by consolidating the MGs' hardpoints into one location (probably the RT, IMO, so as to be distinct from the VTR-9A) or by not implementing that particular variant at all (as only
three are actually needed for the XP system, and there are
five others to choose from).
Thoughts?
Edited by Strum Wealh, 25 May 2013 - 12:32 PM.