12 replies to this topic

[Chill Bill]

Have never worked with PPC's. Decided to give it a shot on one of my Assaults.:

Considering:

Warhawk A with 2 erPPC's + UAC20 (or should it be 4 X erPPC?)

Atlas DDC with 2 Heavy PPC's and an AC20

No clue if it make sense. Any better suggestions on build or Assault?

Thanks

Edited by Chill Bill, 07 July 2018 - 09:03 PM.

[ShiverMeRivets]

I find PPCs are bad as a main weapon, unless you intend to sit back and snipe. This is a bad use of an assult mech. PPCs are better as an added PPFLD damage to big ballistics - in this case the high heat of the PPC is dilluted by the lower heat of ballisitcs to give a reasonable damage/heat ratio. Finally, if you boat PPCs you have to boat heat sinks as well, and suddenly the total weight of PPC+Sinks is almost like ballistics for the damage they do. If you only carry 1 PPC you can rely mostly on the internal sinks or add just a few.

[Steel Raven]

PPCs are in a tough spot, high heat, 4-5 sec cool down and bad hit registration. All the coding love seems to go towards ACs.

I have seen 4 PPC Warhawks but they are rare, combination of low rat of fire and low hard point gimps the performance.

I own a Atlas DDC, PPCs are just a bad idea. Maybe a Banshee or Snubbies on a Annihilator backing up ballistics (Annis are slow and require a decent DPS)

Haven't seen a PPC+UAC Mad Cat MKII yet but it should work, PPC+UAC Mad IIC has been in the meta mix for some time now.

[Chill Bill]

Thanks both.

[Damnedtroll]

I have a twin lbx10 twin PPC Banshee with a std 340. Range and velocity are compatible even for long range shooting and it make a good mess on the target. If you are hot or in close range you can continue with lbx only. I found it fun too.

I got another build with ppc, Its a BLR-1g with twin erppc and 5 medpulses with a big light engine. Medpulses for close range and erppc for sniping/lr.

Hit registration is still a pain with ppc... and they like to catch any corner, twig and leaf possible on their flight path.

[IllCaesar]

The Awesome-8Q is an example of an assault mech that can run multiple PPCs but part of that is due to it's low engine cap - you're gonna have enough weight and space left over to fit the PPCs and tons of DHS because you can't really use it for anything else. Problem with that build is that you have to play as an Awesome.

PPCs honestly just aren't that good on big guys in general, though, in part because many smaller mechs can be much more mobile and often much more effective with just two PPCs. For clans the Adder, Shadow Cat, and Summoner all do reasonably well with just PPCs. I see the occasional clan Hunch-A with two for poptarting but it's less common than any of those and their range of success is always varied. For IS mechs the Shadowhawk-2K has had mixed results for me while running both two PPCs and three PPCs while the Centurion-Al and Vindicator-1AA can do decent with two Snubnose PPCs but both generally have something better available. The Rifleman-5D has some PPC heat gen quirks available but I never see anybody run it with those. The Catapult-K2 with Heavy PPCs is very popular, though.

Edited by IllCaesar, 08 July 2018 - 06:59 PM.

[Brethren]

PPCs on assault mechs is generally possible and can do quite well. But often you will find yourself in a situation that calls for something either your assault or a PPC isn't made for.
You'd like keep a good firing line, but an assault isn't fast to reposition. The situation may call for a push with your armor on the frontline but your PPCs are a bit hot for close combat.
Shorter engagement range will make it easier to take out enemy components, though. It's always fun to dismantle mechs, although you might need some team mates to finish it, because you'll be constantly running hot.

Always remember that as a PPC assault you pilot a great tool for area denial. Set up preferably on a long firing line where the opposing team is likely to attack or pass through. Since noone likes to get hit by PPCs you can hold the red team in an unfavorable position or at least slow their movement.

Chill Bill, on 07 July 2018 - 09:00 PM, said:

Atlas DDC with 2 Heavy PPC's and an AC20

Those are 3 huge weapon systems. All 3 cost a lot of tonnage and slots which will leave you with a very low engine. Also none of them is low on heat. So this will run hot fast and be a pain in the *** to cool down. Plus the minimum range on the HPPCs and the short range of the AC20 don't mix very well. All in all I'd guess that configuration won't do well.
If you like, you could add a (best torso mounted) snub PPC. These go along great with an AC20, due to similar range and cooldown. Plus the snubs are smaller and lighter, which means you'll have less difficulties with heat sinks and engine.

On IS side having 2 PPCs is already a big commitment that requires a good amount of heat sinks.

Chill Bill, on 07 July 2018 - 09:00 PM, said:

Warhawk A with 2 erPPC's + UAC20 (or should it be 4 X erPPC?)

One of the most common PPC assaults is the WHK-Prime. Simply drop the LRM launcher and the computer and fill up with heat sinks. At 65kph it is also fast enough to get where it is needed.
Warhawks all in all have amazing cooling capacity (20 fixed heat sinks). I'd personally not pair PPCs with an UAC20, but that might be just personal taste. I prefer the LB20-X (longer range, cooler, crits from hell).

Edited by Brethren, 10 July 2018 - 01:14 AM.

[Quandoo]

PPCs is only for fast mechs with jump jets. To use on other mechs, the mouinting points need to be around the shoulders, or you will hit the ground and invisible walls all the time.

PPCs are trash. Just a toy weapon for fun but don't expect to see the numbers of other weapons. Even snub nose has only 10 damage for 10 heat. Compare to AC10, heat, range, damage and cooldwon wise.

Edited by Quandoo, 10 July 2018 - 01:17 AM.

[Brethren]

Quandoo, on 10 July 2018 - 01:16 AM, said:

PPCs are trash. Just a toy weapon for fun but don't expect to see the numbers of other weapons. Even snub nose has only 10 damage for 10 heat. Compare to AC10, heat, range, damage and cooldwon wise.

Whoop! Whoop! I can turn trash into 1300pts of damage... well trash and an airstrike. Dang I must be good.




Okay, to be fair on good days I usually score just 500 to 900 damage with it.

Edited by Brethren, 10 July 2018 - 01:57 AM.

[Raso]

I've been having fun with this build.

https://mwo.smurfy-n...79b1f240539d67f (ignore armor values I never balance those in Smurfy)

It's not super effective but I've been having fun with it......

Edited by Raso, 10 July 2018 - 06:59 AM.

[Brizna]

PPCs are in a bad spot as a weapon system but they are very workable when you mount them in mechs with big quirks for them. You want to use PPCs look for those chassis, most important is HEATGEN, followed by RANGE and SPEED.

Warhawk Prime is a beast if you can aim and are experienced enough to position properly diminishing the low slung weapons and its wide target profile.

[Eisenhorne]

The EXE-D makes a surprisingly decent PPC boat, like this: https://mwo.smurfy-n...7236270f34a060d

Having all 3 ERPPC's on one side makes it very good at corner poking. Also with MASC + JJ's, its far more mobile than the Warhawk, so its easier to get into good PPC sniping positions.

[TripleEhBeef]

I wanna try this for giggles though.

ANH-1E