Shadey99, on 21 March 2016 - 08:10 PM, said:
It's a trade off sure, but I've personally never found IS small lasers worth using. SPLs slightly (I run them in a few wolfhounds), but not straight SLs. Probably more than 2 years ago though I ran a dual ERPPC Cicada to mastery. Obviously it's a medium and so has a bit more tonnage (depending on engine), but the concept is still sound. That said I do run a BJ-3 with 2xPPCs and SPLs as backups, but that build can do as much damage with the SPLs as the PPCs. Sadly 2 SLs does not equal 2 PPCs though, and the smart person would close on you if the had heavier weapons or close range weapons to minimize damage from you.
Oh and personally I might opt for the Raven 4X over the 2X. I like the 4X as a ERLL sniper already, and it has JJs like the Panther and Jenner. The sad part is that even with radar dep you are no less visible at range, so your vulnerable to return fire on 'short' maps like Veridian bog which has so much clutter.
Unfortunately, with HoverJets being the only type of JJ available to lights, you need at least 3 to make any reasonable amount of lift unless you abuse static mesh slingshotting. This 1.5 tons is not something that can be easily found in a light, especially if you decide to go with a double PPC setup. It is viable for 2LL or 2ERLL RVN-4X builds, but not so much for a 2x PPC one, which has 4 tons more dedicated to weaponry (14 tons vs 10 tons).
Without JJs, the RVN-2X is objectively superior to the RVN-4X for boating PPCs. The RVN-4X's biggest advantage for ERLL usage is the -30% beam duration and +30% energy range (pre-nerf). But with that reduced, you now have the following:
RVN-2X vs RVN-4X:
Energy range: +0% vs +10%
Energy cooldown: +15% vs +0%
Energy heat generation: -10% vs -0%
Laser burn duration: irrelevant