22 replies to this topic

[KamikazeRat]

Escef, on 14 October 2014 - 11:38 AM, said:

I think the only "power creep" weapon coming up is the Rotary Autocannon. (Comes in class 2 and 5 for 8 and 10 tons respectively, imagine an Ultra AC you can "double-tap" 5 times instead of once.) Maybe Inner Sphere UAC10 and 20, or the Snub-Nosed PPC (6 ton/2 crit Inner Sphere PPC with no minimum range, but severe damage drop off at range).

RAC2 and RAC5 could probably be altered to fire much like Clan ACs, perhaps just hold down the trigger to fire until it jams or runs out of ammo (making them incredible "friendly fire cannons", right?). The big-bore IS UACs might be balance-able by forbidding double-tap until recharge is half done. The SNPPC would just have a harsh damage drop off past optimum.

i like the "stream'o'bullets" RAC idea, but i think the QQ would be pretty bad on that. Maybe just have the same cooldowns, but not have a limit of 1 extra tap between. but with increasing odds of a jam (so, tap(no jam) tap(10% jam) tap(25%jam) tap(45%jam) tap(70% jam) tap(cooldown has expired, no chance of jam if you made it through)

i think a good mechanic to balance the larger uacs would be time between shots has an effect on jam rates....so a double tap has a higher chance to jam than a longer wait between. even include the extra shot in the cooldown to the next primary as a possible jam. (so, tap(primary).....tap(extra)tap(primary) would incur a possible jam the same as tap(primary)tap(extra).....tap(primary), so that keeping a proper cadence would keep your jam rates similar to smaller uac, and hurried shots would be more likely jam)

SNppcs are probably going to fit right in. it would easily replace 1 of my PPC on multi-PPC builds (currently have a AWS with 1 ER, 2 regular, so it would only make sense to do one of each, lol)

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

The last version we saw in any BattleTech game of the RAC's did suffer from jams, but heat was it's primary stopping cause.

- It requires a second to spin up before it started firing and heat was what caused it to stop firing, jams were auto cleared and the weapon returned to a firing state.
- There was a heat bar on each weapon that crept up the longer it was firing, once overheated it stopped till cool enough to return to firing mode.

Keep in mind that the units that mounted this weapon normally had 2 or 4 of them and an advanced zoom was standard for it's use. It's primary roll was for anti-aerospace fire, but still worked well against ground elements.
Quad RAC2's were a fearsome ranged weapon, if the target couldn't get to cover quickly, parts started falling off. (1000mtrs max for RAC2, but most effective around 700mtrs)(RAC5 was what most Mech's carried in dual pairs, Max range of 700mtrs, most effective at 500mtrs.) - PGI will probably modify this range.

- The weapon is designed to fire at an extremely fast rate, so PGI may incorporate belt ammo into it's cycle of fire?(perhaps matched to the tons of ammo? And requiring a second or more as the next belt is cycled into the weapon?)
- running out of ammo was always a problem for this weapon system, and many stories from the books state mountains of brass around locations where this platform was positioned.

Note: ground vehicles were what normally carried the quad RAC equipped units, but dual of each rac2 or 5's were common on some Mech's. (RAC rate of fire: RAC2 = 1920 p/m, RAC5 = 960 p/m)
~ just so we are clear here that's 64dmg per second for the RAC2, and 80dmg per second for the RAC5.
~ truly a scary weapon.

Ref:
The Rotary AutoCannon was developed by the New Avalon Institute of Science in 3062 and is both bulkier and heavier than Ultra-class AutoCannons. In addition, the expense of construction and inability to make use of specialty munitions have prevented it from being developed for the heavier AutoCannon calibers. Offsetting these factors, however, are the RAC's ability to fire at up to six times the rate of a Standard AutoCannon. While the weapon is prone to jamming at higher rates of fire one significant improvement over Ultra AutoCannon is the ability to clear the jam in the heat of battle.
Although initially developed and produced by the Federated Commonwealth, the FedCom Civil War saw the RAC quickly disseminate to other Successor States. Currently the Clans have yet to develop an RAC of their own.

The following vehicles/Mech's equip these weapons:

RAC2
- Harasser (veh)
- Partisan (veh)
- Uziel (Mech)

RAC5
- Atlas
- Bushwacker
- Demolisher (veh)
- Hawkmoth (aerospace)
- Hollander II
- Warhammer
- Fafnir (4 x RAC5's !!)


9erRed

Edited by 9erRed, 14 October 2014 - 05:40 PM.

[Qtvcfr]

The only way I could see making the Heavy Gauss feasible in mwo is to require a mech to be at a dead stop before and while firing it, higher chance of being crit and more weapon explosion damage. Along with the steep damage dropoff over range and very, very low ammo per ton.

As far as the latetech weapons go the Heavy Gauss is really pretty lame. The MRM, RAC, Heavy Lasers, and ATMs would be far more devastating. I've had players be seduced by the glitz the Fafnir in tabletop BT and it never seems to work out well for them. Its lack of versatility always dooms the pilot and they get frustrated because enemies never enter their 25 damage range (why they thought that would actually happen I have no idea).

If you want some IS Assaults to get excited about try the:
Gunslinger
Pillager
Mauler
Emperor
Viking

All of these mechs have great hardpoint layouts and are close enough in the timeline that you might actually see them. Also, most of them have the distinct advantage of not being one trick ponies.