47 replies to this topic

[pwnface]

I think AC2 heat should be reduced by 50%-75%. I also really miss being able to autofire UAC/5s by holding down the trigger. It is seriously annoying to have to spam click to shoot at the enemy. This literally doesn't exist for any other weapon system in MWO.

[Telmasa]

I feel like the balance is at a good level as it is.

Post-quirks, I have 2 mechs with quirks aimed at using AC/5s: the Shadowhawk 2H and the Jagermech S.

In my Shadowhawk 2H, I went with the AC/5s, because it gets an additional cooldown buff specifically for AC/5s on top of the generic ballistic weapon cooldown. It's pretty amazing how fast it can pump out lead now, totally worth trading in the single UAC/5 and SRMs I had packed on it before.

In my Jagermech S, I stuck with the loadout I had - dual UAC/5s and 4 ML (plus either MGs or AMS, still haven't decided on that note).
The quirk on the S buffs the velocity instead of rate of fire of the AC/5s, so I found myself weighing whether I want to have very slightly faster shot-travel-time, or to keep the double-tap "burst alpha" ability of the UAC/5s.

So far, I've stuck with the UAC/5s on the Jagermech and been happy with it (plus it means my pilot module for the weapon doesn't go to waste).


So in summary, both weapons have their place, both have valuable trade-offs, and both are equally viable on the right platforms and in the right hands. Pretty evenly balanced, in other words.

[Mothykins]

terrycloth, on 10 November 2014 - 12:15 PM, said:

The ACs aren't a linear progression, they're good for different things.

AC5 is a very low heat weapon that I use when the rest of a build is hot. UAC5 is an upgraded version of it that sometimes jams.

(Clan LB5X is pretty nice, too -- fast projectiles, relatively tight grouping)

AC20 is a big SLAM for killing things at short range. I miss with it a lot though.

AC2 is a long-range sniping weapon that I combine with ER LLas because of the projectile speed... but it's way too hot, for no apparent reason. I don't use it much.

AC10 is a useless piece of crap that's basically a nerfed AC20.

LB10x has a higher projectile speed giving it an actually longer effective range, although it spreads damage everywhere, and between the lower weight and lower ammo weight is actually sometimes worth using. I will always use this over an AC10... but I have exactly one mech that uses it, so, yeah.

I think... that what needs to be fixed is the AC2. Reduce the heat. A lot.

The whole AC range is skewed though. DPS/T on the AC20 is higher than the AC10, but the AC5 is also better than the AC10? The AC5 is lowest heat? I mean, the DPS curve is not terrible, but the heat curve just... No? How about the Damage per heat curve? for every one heat you get Five damage? What?

Seriously, how can the Lasers curve be justified if this being on a linear curve isn't? Medium lasers are better for different things than Large or small. And Two smalls are better ton for ton on damage and heat than a medium! By this logic the small laser should produce 2 heat per second!

No, all you're doing is struggling to protect your broken AC5, because you can abuse the low heat gen. This is not valid reasoning. Yes, I would like to see the AC2 have reduced heat. That's cool. But it doesn't fix the AC5, and further invalidates the AC10. It's poor balancing, and a trend that should not be allowed to continue.

Edited by Cavale, 10 November 2014 - 01:14 PM.

[Livewyr]

Make it burst. Make them alllllll burst!

muahahahahaaaaa

[terrycloth]

The AC/5 is *only* useful because it's low heat, just like machine guns. Yeah, I want to 'protect' the weapon and have it be useful. It's hardly overpowered -- AC/20s, if a mech has the tonnage, are much much better.

AC2s could be useful if they were lower heat. They'd be differently useful.

I don't even know how you'd fix AC10s. I don't think dropping the heat would be enough.

[FupDup]

terrycloth, on 10 November 2014 - 01:46 PM, said:

The AC/5 is *only* useful because it's low heat, just like machine guns. Yeah, I want to 'protect' the weapon and have it be useful. It's hardly overpowered -- AC/20s, if a mech has the tonnage, are much much better.

AC2s could be useful if they were lower heat. They'd be differently useful.

I don't even know how you'd fix AC10s. I don't think dropping the heat would be enough.

The AC/10 needs its old projectile speed (or slightly better) first and foremost. A slightly faster cooldown would also be neat, although PGI is insistent on normalizing all the things so that clearly "can't" happen (apparently must have exactly -1.0 DPS compared to the AC/20, no higher or lower allowed barring quirks).

[Deathlike]

FupDup, on 10 November 2014 - 01:57 PM, said:

The AC/10 needs its old projectile speed (or slightly better) first and foremost. A slightly faster cooldown would also be neat, although PGI is insistent on normalizing all the things so that clearly "can't" happen (apparently must have exactly -1.0 DPS compared to the AC/20, no higher or lower allowed barring quirks).

The AC2 is OP... since never. Thus, we cannot have nice things.

[Christof Romulus]

kapusta11, on 10 November 2014 - 12:43 AM, said:

Am I getting this right, longer cooldown AND no double tap AND keep the jamming? What drugs you're on OP?

Sounds like he took a hit of the Drg-1n.