MadcatX, on 13 November 2013 - 08:29 AM, said:
True, until the Cicada gets sniped by a mech with a higher alpha sniping build when it is popping out and aiming it's shot.
YueFei, on 13 November 2013 - 08:53 AM, said:
You could try to engage from 1000+ meters with ERPPCs, where the Cicada's speed lets it *literally* dodge enemy fire (takes a PPC bolt 666 milliseconds to get to target, human reflexes are about 200 milliseconds). Given the speed and size profile of a Cicada, versus the speed and size profile of an enemy Heavy or Assault sniper, there is going to be a sweet spot where the Cicada can always hit assuming perfect aim, and yet still be able to dodge return fire, even assuming the enemy Heavy/Assault sniper has perfect aim. I dunno if that sweet spot is at 1000 meters, but it logically must exist.
Of course such a Cicada loses to any other Cicada built for close-in fighting. That's the trade-off in the design.
It was easy to stay outside of return fire range with an erppc. Like YueFei said you could even dodge shots at long range. Also its a Cicada, with its relatively small profile, with ecm, that moved at ~125kph. You could easily pop up almost anywhere on the map, take a potshot, and duck down and reposition before anything could spot you. Being shot by bigger mechs was not a concern at all, and their alpha damage/range were almost irrelevant. Light mechs were the counter.
Joseph Mallan, on 13 November 2013 - 09:16 AM, said:
And you are tying to tell me I am wrong? I am a power player shooting an enemy for minutes is against all my training. My favorite Quote, "If you are in a fight longer than 3 seconds, get out. You are going to get hurt!" Sifu Ambrose.
Not sure exactly what you're trying to say here... You were comparing an ac10 to a single ppc, and saying how a ppc needs a faster cooldown to be "balanced." You should not expect a weapon at half the weight to give the same performance, especially when its a weapon that most mechs can mount several of. Again, the tradeoff between an ac10 and a pair of ppcs is long term dps vs alpha. Alpha seems to fit your quote better.
Cycleboy, on 13 November 2013 - 09:45 AM, said:
People still keep comparing cherries to apples (not oranges, because at least they are similar mass). Small mechs use energy weapons because the integral heat capacity of their engine is sufficient to buffer most of their heat from energy weapons with speed enough to break engagement and run away. Once you hit 50-55tons, with the ability to carry the weight of a ballistic, you get them if you can.
Again... if you could get a Stalker variant with a ballistic in each arm and each side torso, would you take that over the 6 energy slot Stalker???
Other than a dual ac20 build, what would you put on it? 4 ac2's is a pitiful alpha and forces you to stay in the open, facing your target to use the dps. 4ac5's or uac5's would actually be pretty nice, except you'd be slow, have to run an xl, or cut armor/ammo. Anything bigger than that is not practical at all.
People conveniently forget that ballistics are heavy, and that boating them forces you to make sacrifices in speed (smaller engine) or durability (going xl). The most successful mechs in the game currently run a mix of ballistics and energy, that give a decently high alpha but also the ability to do some more heat-efficient brawling.
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