3 replies to this topic

[Dirus Nigh]

I am trying to figure out the rate of decay on damage beyond effective range. I cannot find this information any were on the forums.

Can any one who knows were this is, or has better search skills than me, please drop a link for the info?

I want to have a basic understanding on damage drop off so I understand how it impacts sniper alpha builds.

Thank you.

[Ningyo]

I have seen two therioes on this

The Devs say: its a linear fall off to 0 at max range

Some people with fairly quality looking testing say: its a exponential fall off, with 0 at max range and somewhere between 20-30% at halfway between range and max range. (this could also be out of date too if it was happening and devs fixed it?)

So my answer would be I don't know, but firing at up to halfway between range and max range will be decent either way, and firing at near max range will do almost no damage, but will get you assists to raise your exp and C-bill payout. (on mechs with ERLL in river city I would often hitscan the entire enemy force right at beginning with them. Probably did under 0.1 damage to each but guaranteed me 6-8 assists)

Edited by Ningyo, 24 June 2013 - 08:45 PM.

[Liquid Leopard]

I can tell you that Smurfy's Mechlab models it as linear.

I made this build in the mech lab just to see the graph of Range vs. Damage Per Second for some different cannons.
Click on "Weaponlab" near the top, center of the page, and the graph pops up:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...cd91e7879fe4918

The linear dropoff in DPS indicates there's a linear dropoff in actual damage.
So, at maximum range, damage may be zero, but halfway between the optimum and max ranges, a weapon should be doing half damage.
For an AC/20, with a specified range of 270m, and maximum range 3 times that, it means at 540m it still does 10 points of damage. That's the same as a PPC, and more than an AC/10 does at that range!
But the AC/20s rate of fire is slow, and if you're planning to fight at 540m or so, it probably pays to compare DPS at that range.

(And before anyone says anything, I think this build is barely fit for the Testing Grounds. I'd never take it into a match.)

[Dalziel Hasek Davion]

I recommend using Smurfy's Mechlab. The site has a weaponlab function which displays the damage vs. range, DPS (max and sustained) for any 'Mech design you care to build with any loadout. It's a great planning tool.

As Liquid Leopard says - that site models it as a linear decline from optimum range to maximum range and I have no reason to suspect otherwise. The site also has a handy reference chart for all weapons showing you optimum and maximum range as well as other weapon stats.