34 replies to this topic

[Angel of Annihilation]

Asakara, on 18 July 2013 - 08:10 PM, said:

I thought I heard PGI was considering making pulse lasers fire constantly like a machine gun as long as you hold the trigger and do not overheat.

Edit: Link to the podcast - Comment is just before the 26 minute mark (Garth typed it in chat):

http://www.nogutsnog...opic,486.0.html

Actually in one of the novels, this is exactly as the pulse laser was described, i.e. a laser machine gun. Just makes each pulse for the SPL 1 damage, MPL 2 damage and LPL 3 damage then scale heat and number of pulses per second accordingly.

Also because it was pulses with small damage amounts each, you don't have convergence issues. This would be a good plan I think.

Edited by Viktor Drake, 18 July 2013 - 08:23 PM.

[Dracol]

The main benifit pulse have over standard are for those quick passes where you can not hold on target the full beam duration. Jenners and spiders are the only ones that can really benifit.

Otherwise, they work well for those who can not hold a laser on a section continuously. If you can, pulse lasers are not for you.

[Asakara]

]

[Unbound Inferno]

Viktor Drake, on 18 July 2013 - 08:22 PM, said:

Actually in one of the novels, this is exactly as the pulse laser was described, i.e. a laser machine gun. Just makes each pulse for the SPL 1 damage, MPL 2 damage and LPL 3 damage then scale heat and number of pulses per second accordingly.

Also because it was pulses with small damage amounts each, you don't have convergence issues. This would be a good plan I think.

Damnit. Lost my work. Ought go back to fussing with Word for that.

Depends entirely on the set recharge of what constitutes a 'turn' in the game.

Going with what we have now its like 5 seconds.

SPL is 1.2 damage, but a fast 1 second recharge with 0.8 heat
MPL is 2.4 damage on a 2 second recharge with 2 heat
LPL is 4.8 damage on a 3 second recharge with 4.8 heat

Good pinpoint up-front damage, but it only adds up if its sustained fire. Could make the mech vulnerable to do that, but with satisfying results.

[Cycleboy]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but weren't pulse lasers in TT also "crit seeking"? I thought they had double chance to do a crit once hitting internals. In this case, they'd do 2x damage to components. Too bad the simulation portion of MW isn't working, so that arm criticals would make the reticle drift around a bit (blah, blah... SKILZ!... I know, but would be a good game mechanic) and leg crits would slow you down. Unfortunately, with the 2-3 alpha mechanics still fairly prevalent, just coring out a mech is way better than ever worrying about picking it apart piece by piece.

Maybe they need a MWO 2.0 to go with the UI 2.0... drop ALL weapon damage by half, incorporate mechanical failures from crits on actuators and such... ah... to dream....

[3rdworld]

Unbound Inferno, on 18 July 2013 - 08:57 PM, said:

Damnit. Lost my work. Ought go back to fussing with Word for that.

Depends entirely on the set recharge of what constitutes a 'turn' in the game.

Going with what we have now its like 5 seconds.

SPL is 1.2 damage, but a fast 1 second recharge with 0.8 heat
MPL is 2.4 damage on a 2 second recharge with 2 heat
LPL is 4.8 damage on a 3 second recharge with 4.8 heat

Good pinpoint up-front damage, but it only adds up if its sustained fire. Could make the mech vulnerable to do that, but with satisfying results.

I could agree with those numbers. What type of duration are you thinking?

[MeiSooHaityu]

All the pulse lasers in this game are a bit to restricted in my opinion.

I know why the pulse has more weight, it is to offset the higher damage amount and front load damage, but it also has a severely reduced range and noticably more heat.

I think the severe lack of range should be enough of a negative and the weight should be in line with the standard laser. If not, then make it weigh 2 tons, but increase the range or even reduce the heat. Even if you aren't going to make the range equal to the regular MLaser, make it closer.

I don't think the changes are necessary, but you just won't see many people run pulse because it is more of a handicap then a benefit under almost any conditions.

[SerEdvard]

Cycleboy, on 19 July 2013 - 06:09 AM, said:

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but weren't pulse lasers in TT also "crit seeking"? I thought they had double chance to do a crit once hitting internals. In this case, they'd do 2x damage to components. Too bad the simulation portion of MW isn't working, so that arm criticals would make the reticle drift around a bit (blah, blah... SKILZ!... I know, but would be a good game mechanic) and leg crits would slow you down. Unfortunately, with the 2-3 alpha mechanics still fairly prevalent, just coring out a mech is way better than ever worrying about picking it apart piece by piece.

Maybe they need a MWO 2.0 to go with the UI 2.0... drop ALL weapon damage by half, incorporate mechanical failures from crits on actuators and such... ah... to dream....

Pulse lasers in TT got no bonuses for critting, but they did get a +2 to their to-hit die rolls so that they were more likely to hit. Basically the to-hit roll got bumped down one range bracket... E.g, Long-range shots with pulse lasers had medium-range to-hit difficulty. (Note, pulse lasers have shorter range, so long-range for a pulse laser is roughly medium range for a standard laser)

Edited by SerEdvard, 19 July 2013 - 08:57 AM.

[Captain Stiffy]

Pulse lasers feel far more deadly with the new patch which reduced duration. I'll have to think about the numbers again.

[Captain Stiffy]

The weight is still a problem. It's only just possible to get 4 LPL onto a stalker and actually have enough HS to be able to use them all in a way that means anything and that's if you are not a bad.

LPL needs to be 6 tons. 6.5 really - that damn half-ton keeps popping up in the pulse laser department. By this I mean,

If you were mounting 4 that was 28 tons and it turns it into 24 tons which at the edge of the space limits easily puts you at full heat sinks, a STD310 engine and full armor. I don't honestly see this as a problem but the devs seem to want to always make builds harder than that to put together.

I'm running 2 ERLL and 2 LPL right now trying things out.

Edited by Captain Stiffy, 06 August 2013 - 12:39 PM.

[Joseph Mallan]

Pulse lasers weigh just the right amount now.

[Nik Van Rhijn]

Some people have said that with the convergence/pinpoint front loded damage problems with PPCs and Gauss we don't need more at short range. Personally I don't think they are going to change the above so why not give Pulses some point in existing for brawlers or as a good back up weapon against lights? Keep the weight and range the same but drop pulse duration further to something like 0.4 or 0.3. RoF could be adjusted for fine tuning but DPS should be at least that of the equivalent standard laser version, preferably slightly higher, in order to make them a valid alternative.

[Funkadelic Mayhem]

I loled.
really?

Next thing you know people like you are going to want all weapons the same 1t and heat at 1.

[Deathlike]

You cannot change the weight/crits of the weapons in question. It simply can't AND won't be done. You have to balance around other attributes.

[LaserAngel]

Small Lasers along with Pulse could see a range increase of 30 m across the board. 120 m for SL/SPL, 210 for MPL, 330, and 330m for the LPL.

Otherwise they are going to need to change the Pulse Laser mechanic entirely to be more like MechWarrior 3 or go full laser machine gun. (Yes, please.)