Quicksilver Kalasa, on 24 January 2017 - 03:20 PM, said:
Considering in both cases Gauss is preferred despite the extra fragility it adds, then yes it does need to do it better.
AC10: 10 dmg, 3 heat, 2.5 second cooldown for 12 tons.
PPC: 10 dmg, 9.5 heat, 4 second cooldown for 7 tons.
Gauss: 15 damage, 1 heat, 5.75 second cooldown for 15 tons.
Closest convergence we get is at 20ish seconds, when the PPCs and AC10s overlap, and well, close enough for the Gauss.
Singly, at that mark we have:
AC10: 80 damage, 24 heat, for 8 shots.
PPC: 50 damage, 47.5 heat for 5 shots
Gauss: 60 damage, 6 heats for 6 shots.
Double the weapons up, and the difference is much larger. And the PPCs run into issues with the crit spaces needed for DHS.
PPC does have the better range and velocity, but it suffers heavily in sustainability. Gauss certainly has it's advantages (long range, essentially no heat) but is heavy as heck, fragile, and has a low RoF plus a the charge up.
AC10 is, even now the better choice for brawling. PPCS and Gauss compete for sniping, with Gauss being superior in heavier chassis, because of low heat and the projectile speed... but the PPCs low weight (comparitively) let's it pair well... and is the only choice for lighter units, if one wants more than one...though I find the RoF on those Medium dual PPC mechs pretty atrocious if you can press them.
On a Medium Chassis only capable of mounting one of them, it would depend on the role, but I would lean toward the Gauss for sniping still, and the AC10 for medium to short range builds. Even doubled... I have my RFL-5D with 2x PPC, and it is nowhere near as efficient as my RFL-3N with 2x AC10.
So no, I don't consider the ac10 a pinnacle weapon, but it is far from bad. And I still have seen nothing to really address the issues with boating/syncing, other than to dismiss it can happen... when in fact, it can... and as such, it will.