12 replies to this topic

[saagri]

I was curious to see if anyone knows the forumla to calculate the damage you deal when the target is outside of Optimal Range. Either that or the damage the weapon does at Max Range.

[Tolkien]

saagri, on 24 November 2013 - 01:36 PM, said:

I was curious to see if anyone knows the forumla to calculate the damage you deal when the target is outside of Optimal Range. Either that or the damage the weapon does at Max Range.

As far as I know, the system works as follows:

- All weapons do zero damage at/past maximum range.
- Missile weapons explode after they reach their rated range.
- LRMs do not arm until 180m so they do 0 damage under 180m.
- Energy weapons do maximum damage out to their rated range (except PPCs which have a 90m minimum).
- Energy weapons have a maximum range of 2.0 x rated range.
- Ballistic weapons have a maximum range of 3.0 x rated range.

Note: Machine guns are a ballistic weapon but follow the 2.0x rule rather than 3.0.

Between 1x rated range and maximum range, damage falls off linearly.

For example - an AC20 has a rated range of 270m and a maximum damage of 20
An AC20 is a ballistic weapon so at 540m range it does 10 damage.
A medium laser has a rated range of 270m and does a maximum damage of 5
A medium laser is an energy weapon so at 405m it does 2.5 damage

That cover it for you?

Edited by Tolkien, 24 November 2013 - 01:50 PM.

[saagri]

So, just under Max range, the damage is practically neglible?

Edited by saagri, 24 November 2013 - 02:02 PM.

[Tolkien]

saagri, on 24 November 2013 - 01:59 PM, said:

So, just under Max range, the damage is practically neglible?

Yes, it is very close to zero near max range.

I recommend not firing beyond 1.5x for energy weapons (half damage), or beyond 2.0x for ballistic weapons (half damage). With ballistic weapons you also have to deal with a bit of projectile drop so shoot ever so slightly high at 2x range.

One situation where you might want to fire further away is to shake an enemy - if you do any damage at all, I think the cockpit shake is a constant so it can still mess up the enemies firing pattern or be a good way to make them keep their head down - they might take a few hits to figure out you're not doing any real damage to them.

Edited by Tolkien, 24 November 2013 - 02:05 PM.

[Cerulean Knight]

That would be correct. As such, for ballistic weapons, it is best to use them towards their optimal range (so, 270m for an AC/20) to increase ammo efficiency (but, if you can afford the ammo use, it is not such a bad idea). Energy weapons you can use at max range to soften targets up so long as you can afford the heat generation and not get caught in a melee at 80% heat... that would be bad to say the least. The reason being is that every point of damage counts and that 1 point could mean the difference between a win and a loss.

*Edit: Or follow what Tolkien just said. Much more precisely put.

Edited by Cerulean Knight, 24 November 2013 - 02:13 PM.

[saagri]

Right, now I understand what the graph represents in smurfy's for the weapon lab, dps vs. range.

[scJazz]

saagri, on 24 November 2013 - 02:15 PM, said:

Right, now I understand what the graph represents in smurfy's for the weapon lab, dps vs. range.

Just a stupid little factoid... you can shoot someone with a small laser at 2000m range. If you "hit" you will count for a 1xp 3200 CB Kill Assist should the target die later on. You can do it with any Ballistic or Energy.

Usually, I do this on Alpine when I'm in a "Scout" just to irritate the enemy and bonus points if I get the FAtlas to stand still shooting at me for 30 seconds. Now he is really lagging the group

I'll also take the stupid shot on any map if... I'm not otherwise engaged, the shot will be clean, and will distract an otherwise engaged opponent. Really, really, really useful if you have a PPC since it also does the ECM effect and cockpit shake

However the general rule is Missiles don't fire past 0.9x optimum range i.e. 900m for LRMs or about 250m for SRMs.
Energy 1.5x optimum
Ballistic 2x optimum (also have a bullet drop beyond optimum x 1 so you have to fire above) PPCs don't have this effect

[Koniving]

...I can't get a "hit" to register beyond 300 meters with a small laser, and there's probably no one who uses them more than me. Though I suppose at the very least I can try that out.

Edited by Koniving, 24 November 2013 - 07:23 PM.

[Satan n stuff]

Tolkien, on 24 November 2013 - 01:41 PM, said:

As far as I know, the system works as follows:

- All weapons do zero damage at/past maximum range.
- Missile weapons explode after they reach their rated range.
- LRMs do not arm until 180m so they do 0 damage under 180m.
- Energy weapons do maximum damage out to their rated range (except PPCs which have a 90m minimum).
- Energy weapons have a maximum range of 2.0 x rated range.
- Ballistic weapons have a maximum range of 3.0 x rated range.

Note: Machine guns are a ballistic weapon but follow the 2.0x rule rather than 3.0.

Between 1x rated range and maximum range, damage falls off linearly.

For example - an AC20 has a rated range of 270m and a maximum damage of 20
An AC20 is a ballistic weapon so at 540m range it does 10 damage.
A medium laser has a rated range of 270m and does a maximum damage of 5
A medium laser is an energy weapon so at 405m it does 2.5 damage

That cover it for you?

You forgot to add that a flamer only reaches as far as it's listed range, but that should be obvious just from looking at it when you fire it.

[Turist0AT]

TIP:

When you hover you crossair over a mech(or anything) the weapon grouping on you lower right will show in different colours depending on the distance.

Green = Full damage
Yellow = Partial damage
Black = No damage

[scJazz]

***** n stuff, on 25 November 2013 - 07:12 AM, said:

You forgot to add that a flamer only reaches as far as it's listed range, but that should be obvious just from looking at it when you fire it.

We have flamers in this game?

[Turist0AT]

scJazz, on 25 November 2013 - 07:42 AM, said:

We have flamers in this game?

Yeah, great against facehuggers. My misery have 3 of them. Anyone in my proximity gets blinded and very hot, while AC-20 and srm6 open them up.

They are even more suiteble now that energy weapons runs so hot. No one can shoot, hahahahaha.

Edited by Turist0AT, 25 November 2013 - 07:49 AM.

[Tolkien]

***** n stuff, on 25 November 2013 - 07:12 AM, said:

You forgot to add that a flamer only reaches as far as it's listed range, but that should be obvious just from looking at it when you fire it.

I completely forgot about sparklers, I mean flamers.

Edited by Tolkien, 25 November 2013 - 10:23 AM.