62 replies to this topic

[JD Wack]

I feel a little like one could make a point of me being slightly stupid to say this, seeing as who couldn't do with a tiny bit more dam/shot and also reduced spin-time, less heat and shorter jam durations are all in th "yes! Yes! YES!"- department - I'll have to say that I find the RAC an awsome concept. And a very well executable one too, at least when it comes to the RAC5 version.

In my initial experiments with the weapontype, I quickly came to disregarding the RAC2 after a few try-outs and much for the reasons given here, esp the weight/slots-to-dam ratio compared to other weapons. With the RAC5's in a dual mound on my Jagermech, it's also skirting becoming an issue (dual UAC10's are not to be scuffed at, as some has already put foreward) although if I manage to get a good position off to a side, behind the team and slightly elevated to it's push-vector, I can do stuff in this mech I am not able to as efficiently with UAC's. If at all. It's a support weapon, in dual-mounds as in my heavy it does it's job no questions asked, because people die before getting a chance to ask them if they don't get out of the way. The heavy, then, being such a conspiceous platform as it is, it's rare that these truely golden opportunities arise where I can pepper to my heart's contend and not fear, part spraying my own team (which is a real risk with this weapon, and one that is only negotiable by expertice on how to play the game, namely not firering when there's a better-than-arbitrary chance that you'll hit your own people, LRMs and consumables being notorious in this regard), part getting called out by the enemy team.

But on a medium, or even better (bar at least one medium bushwacker-variant that simply takes this to a whole new level, adding MRM20's to the mix of highly manouverable suppressive fire) the RAC5 absolutely shines. No one bothers shooting a light when there are juicier targets around,and when the heads-up suddenly explodes in little orange blossoms and you can't see squad-diddly, it's too late. You just have to move out of position and allow whatever you were trying to keep in check to advance until you can get your bearings.

I use a Raven 4X for this. Sacrificing speed to bring the RAC5, I chose to sacrifice even more speed to bring jumpjets as well as two ER medium lasers. Only 119.1 mph, but what I got never ceases to amaze me. I can stare down heavies in this thng in the sense that they break contact first and without me running all over the place but pretty much staying stationary. And for no other reason than the panic-factor of being peppered with something quite evidently heavier than a machinegun. It gets seasoned players too, not only pugs or potatoes or whatever. And obviusly, all the usual rules of engagement also applies if you expect to live on for the duration of the match, experiencing multiple successes suppressing enemies from effectively fighting your team, in a single match.

So, I actually think the RAC5 is a strong weapon, especially if used on a nonobvious chassis. I'm a little meh regarding the RAC2 but suspects that there might be a hidden boon to it between the myriads of builds it is possible to create in the game.

And so having come clean with my conscious about doing so, l can join in on the clamour for more power to the Rotary: MORE DAM, LESS JAM - MORE DAM, LESS JAM!

Edit: named Raven variant properly. I name all my mechs individually as a habit and can rarely remember the variant designations off the top of my head :-/

Edited by JD Whack, 17 October 2017 - 01:29 PM.

[g4borg]

i find racs to be only more dangerous because you have to expose yourself but i have fun with dual rac5 as well as triple rac2s on my marauders, while one of them is still autocannoned.

suppressing enemies, or pushing on them seems their definite strength

dual rac5s seem to get me more kills than triple rac2s. on the other hand, triple rac2s allow longer suppression, and you feel one gun jamming less, so often i go out of battle with way more damage and destroyed components. and die less.

i find them very different in usage from uacs, simply because of the spin up time, of course if one uses them like uacs, might see other results.

i am quite glad tho if they get buffed

[KageRyuu]

The6thMessenger, on 16 October 2017 - 03:26 PM, said:

Which DPS?


So basically a "magazine fed" UAC.

Their idea isn't really much of a problem is the jam duration/dissipation isn't just poorly implemented. Having a fixed damage per burst really was the guiding principle of my design. As opposed of PGI inviting us to push over redline.


Well, yeah. Unfortunately they didn't.

Clearly the Peak or "Peek" DPS that I alluded to by pointing out that the UAC20 deals 40 damage within .5s of double tapping.


More or less, though as my suggestion also plays into their whole "run the red line" concept to allow it to compete with the UACs it was meant to, namely the UAC5 and 20 respectively, it would be more of a compromise between your 100% jam idea and their current rendition.


Sadly.

JD Whack, on 17 October 2017 - 12:12 PM, said:

...

In regard to your experience JD, recently, as in last night, I got into a fight with a dual RAC2 Enforcer, now two RAC2's have slightly better DPS than a single RAC5, and I managed to brawl with him for a solid 3 jams or roughly 26s in a 30t Javelin 11B, now I didn't manage to kill him because he was a flighty bugger and my Javelin had no arms let alone arm mounts, but he also didn't manage to kill me because I could easily spread his damage across my torso. Then when my armor was all gone and he was jammed once again, I just ran away to capture objectives leaving him severely mauled for a pair of mediums to finish off.

Now I very much doubt I would have gotten away if he had been using an AC10 let alone a UAC10 as he would have been able to far more effectively focus fire on a single section, assuming he could aim.

So yes, RACs can be effective in lower tiers where people are more inclined to stare at you, but if they know how to torso twist and especially if they are smallish targets already, the weakness of RACs begins to show, that being face time and duration. Comparing the RAC5 to the UAC10, the RAC5 requires just about 2s to deal the same amount of damage the UAC10 can deal in .3s with a double tap. This means the RAC5 user is essentially stationary as he is not able to torso twist during that time effectively lowering his effective armor, while the UAC10 can deal it's damage then spend the next 2.2s spreading his damage around effectively increasing his effective armor, in that exchange, even if the RAC5 technically has the advantage in DPS, the UAC10 will most likely win because his damage will be more pin point, assuming he doesn't jam every other shot.

So to make RACs more effective against more skilled opponents either the RACs need substantially higher DPS to negate the negative of their extended duration, or the length of that duration needs to be shortened without significantly reducing their overall damage. As is, RACs are the worst of both worlds, they have DPS equal to or slightly less than their UAC contemporaries (UAC5 and 20) in addition to their extended duration that precludes torso twisting.

Edited by KageRyuu, 25 October 2017 - 04:24 PM.