50 replies to this topic

[Foxwalker]

LordNothing, on 09 April 2015 - 06:49 PM, said:

ppcs aren't powerful enough to warrant a gauss like charge mechanic. up damage to 15 without making it hotter and then we can talk.

I am one of the many that cannot use Gauss anymore, as I cannot wrap my head around the stupid charge mechanic. Please don't make another weapon completely unusable for me. Even with faster speed they are largely ineffective. Hit registration sucks. Heat is high. I don't care how much you buff the speed they will still have the same issues. Check the Vindicator. Even with a 40% velocity increase they still are not useful at distance. Combine that with the heat factor, slow recycle time and minimum distance and you have junk.

Considering that this was supposed to be essentially the most feared weapon in canon, PGI must just hate it.

[LordNothing]

gauss aint that bad. you kind of have to give it its own group, usually the first one. and you need to back it up, preferably with a second gauss rifle. but gauss also has a really fast projectile. ppc would need the same for a charge mechanic to work. i dont like the charge mechanics, it seems like a cheap way to fix a simple balance issue.

if the ppc had a charge mechanic, it would be like the fusion cannon from descent. that cartoony, slow, purple blob gun that i never used. has no place in a more serious universe like battletech.

[Escef]

LordNothing, on 09 April 2015 - 09:02 PM, said:

gauss aint that bad. you kind of have to give it its own group, usually the first one.

You have 6 blocks surrounding your targeting reticule, each one represents one of your weapon groups. If the group is totally ready to fire, the block is the same color as the rest of the HUD. If the group is totally unready to fire, the block is dark red. If part of the group is ready to fire than the corresponding block is half HUD-color/half red. If the group is a charging Gauss rifle the block is yellow. If the block is a fully charged Gauss the block is green. If you assign the Gauss to all of your unused weapon groups it's a little hard to miss 3 or 4 blocks around your targeting reticule turning green.

Granted, the Gauss Rifle stays charged for a very brief window of time, and you have to let up on the trigger to charge it anew if you don't fire during that window. The Gauss's charge/release mechanic can be infuriating to get used to, took me a long while and I still screw it up from time to time.

[LordNothing]

if you want to use a gauss rifle effectively its all about rhythm. also helps to start it charging if you think you are gonna need it in a hurry. sometimes when there are enemies around a corner, i am constantly cycling the charge in case something pokes i just have to release to fire. or if i poke i want it to be ready to fire when i see an enemy. rarely do i hold to long or i am unable to take aim fast enough and miss the window. but thats one of those practice makes perfect kind of things.

the hud is nasty really, using the same color for ready lights and crosshair has more frequently than i like caused a missed shot (especially with trackir because a lot of that stuff is floating). simply making the crosshair a different color, like white or light gray, would fix all the hud issues. i dont really look at those lights when using a gauss, i usually rely on audio cues while sniping, or if its noisy count off the shot in my head ('one...two...fire', usually with aim established by two). you cant really rely on the visual cues all the time, nor the audio cues, but you can always bet on your own perception of time.

ppc doesnt need that kind of frustration though, they are frustrating enough already.

Edited by LordNothing, 09 April 2015 - 10:47 PM.

[Postumus]

PPC is garbage (again) for the same reasons it was garbage the first time around: too hot, too slow. The difference is that now there are good alternatives to PPC in energy weapons - large lasers and LPL don't suck anymore. That said, I don't want to go back to the old days where the PPC was king, buffed PPC and ballistics have the potential to wreck the game. The best thing for the PPC to just increase the velocity significantly, along with a small heat increase. Long range projectile weapons that are too slow to hit anything at range are just dead weight. A velocity and slight heat increase would make the PPCs viable, but not boatable without quirks, so that their impact on the meta can be controlled.

[Juodas Varnas]

Why not add the gauss rifle-like charging mechanic, BUT, hear me out guys, make it into a frontloading damage HITSCAN weapon?
I mean, we have hitscan DoT weapons (lasers), projectile DoT weapons (Clan ACs, missiles), frontloading projectiles (IS ACs), but no frontloading hitscan! I mean, it would make them much better at what they're supposed to be (long range weapons, if you need reminding) and would make them a nice alternative to laser vomit, in case you want something hotter and frontloading (albeit with a chargin mechanic like the Gauss)

Then we could make them look less like a ********* and make it into a laser-like flash with electric helixes like in some of the artwork for BT.

Not a fan of Mad Cat, but it does show off what i mean about the PPCs.

PS. (Blue baIls is censored?? )

Edited by Juodas Varnas, 10 April 2015 - 02:16 AM.

[Lily from animove]

Time to exposure.

hop out, fire and return. In some mechs thats a better tactic than looking at someone getting returnfire.
also PPC is pinpoint damage, laser may spread.

[QuantumButler]

If you have high ping, lasers barely work, but ppcs and acs do.

[Weeny Machine]

Lily from animove, on 10 April 2015 - 04:57 AM, said:

Time to exposure.

hop out, fire and return. In some mechs thats a better tactic than looking at someone getting returnfire.
also PPC is pinpoint damage, laser may spread.

What you describe is sniping and then you can safely assume that your enemy is sniping as well. Guess what will happen: he just hops into cover before your bolt is there. Point is: even for sniping lasers are better

[Elizander]

Juodas Varnas, on 09 April 2015 - 09:10 AM, said:

Shooting lightning > pewpewpew

But lightning travels so slow.

[LordKnightFandragon]

Postumus, on 09 April 2015 - 11:35 PM, said:

PPC is garbage (again) for the same reasons it was garbage the first time around: too hot, too slow. The difference is that now there are good alternatives to PPC in energy weapons - large lasers and LPL don't suck anymore. That said, I don't want to go back to the old days where the PPC was king, buffed PPC and ballistics have the potential to wreck the game. The best thing for the PPC to just increase the velocity significantly, along with a small heat increase. Long range projectile weapons that are too slow to hit anything at range are just dead weight. A velocity and slight heat increase would make the PPCs viable, but not boatable without quirks, so that their impact on the meta can be controlled.

You did not just say increase PPC heat...I know I did not read that right..

OMG, I did.....are you drunk? PPCs, esp ER, are already hotter then hell, slower then a medince ball and deal only 10 dmg. You can fire 3 LL for 27 dmg and like 24 heat, vs a PPC 3x is 30dmg for 45 heat...then the Lasers will deal more dmg while the PPC will render you to hot to do anything else for awhile.....

NO, PPC heat, esp ER should drop for the IS to 12 and CERPPC should just get 12 or 13 dmg.