I had purposefully withdrawn from this
argument discussion because I agree to disagree with your side of the yard. I'm perfectly willing to use AC/2 and AC/5 in my mech builds if the role requires it. Thats enough for me.
UncleKulikov, on 13 April 2012 - 09:52 AM, said:
You neglected to mention that the PPC does as much damage as 5 AC2s, and 2 AC5s, altering the heat calculations.
I don't recall neglecting anything but in case I did; We are dealing with individual weapons and not weapon groups. Your statement is both valid but also ridiculous at the same time. That is like saying "ZOMG, the AC/2 isn't nearly as effective as 12x Gauss Rifles and 100x Large Lasers). Really?
I am sure other people have done the math to discuss your particular angle. Scroll through the posts plz.
Quote
You also didn't include critical space and tonnage, considering that ACs require additional slots for ammunition, which can then detonate through over heating or damage.
Actually, I believe I covered how to minimize ammo explosions due to penetration. As for over heating and cooking off your rounds? If you are over heating a mech that has primarily ballistic rounds that mechwarrior shouldn't be sitting at that computer let alone inside the cockpit of a mech.
I do believe that you forgot to mention the extra tonnage and critical space that is required to cool the PPC by adding heat sinks; I won't get in to that since this is about showing I have given this careful consideration and not just decided "Today, is AC day!! yaaay! all hail AC day!".
What do you mean I forgot to mention the heat sinks needed to run PPCs? OK I have double heat sinks!!!!
Fair enough, don't forget to mark 3x the number of critical spaces unless they are included in your fusion reactor at a hugely higher price point which, even in 3049, wasn't the standard for mech construction yet. All those shiny toys come with a price tag which acts as a negative in my opinion; especially if reactors, gyros blah blah blah are destructible items in MWO
(sighs) I will reiterate for the sake of continued discussion.
Let us take the PPC and the AC/2 since most people seem to think that is the most useless weapon.
PPC = 10 damage per shot, 10 heat per shot, 3 critical spaces, requires no ammo and weights 7 tons
AC/2 = 2 damage per shot, 1 heat per shot, 1 critical space (+1 critical space for ammo) and weighs 6 tons (+1 for ammo)
So, let's break it down
Again, lets take arbitrary numbers that are easy to work with (and not necessarily what the game will have) I've even upped the ROF on the PPC to something slightly more realistic than once per 60 seconds. Combine this with any math that I have done in previous posts within this thread to get the FULL picture since I am not gonna repeat what I've already said (or attempt not to).
PPC fires 3 times per minute (20 second recharge time) so that is 30 heat per minute with 30 damage
AC/2 fires 20 times per minute (2 second reload time) so that is 20 heat per minute with 40 damage spread out
The PPC fires from a max range of 19-24 hex (whatever that translates to in game meters)
The AC/2 fires from a max range of 25-32 hex (again, whatever that translates to in game meters)
Positives
- Weighs the same as the PPC (the weapon + 1 ton of ammo)
- Can out-shoot the PPC in terms of distance
- Has a faster rate of fire than the PPC
- Does more damage over time versus the PPC
- Uses less critical space than the PPC (1+1 = 2 for AC and AMMO versus 3 for a PPC and ?#? for the HS to run that PPC)
Negatives
- Doesn't do as much damage as a PPC per single volley per single hit location
- Requires ammunition (which can explode but which can also be dumped)
The RoF on ACs will be much faster than that of PPCs (as stated before) thus doing more damage per minute (DoT)
As for your risk of explosion? Any pilot worth his salt will dump his ammo in an attempt to reduce the chance of explosion due to armor penetration. CASE (while awesome) isn't needed. If you are at the point where you have no external armor and are STILL attempting to brawl it out with someone using your highly exposed ammunition then you deserve the roman candle you are about to become.
Fact of the matter is the weapons are designed for two totally different roles. I wouldn't take an AC/2 or even an AC/5 in to a brawl fest with an Awesome. That would be suicide. I would however sit back and snipe at an awesome while he is engaged with my buddies and cackle maniacally as I plink his armor down and he can't hit me for squat without exposing himself to my close quarter combat buddies.
Then again I wouldn't take a PPC and attempt to fire off three or four of them at maximum range (doing the same role as the AC/s mentioned in the previous paragraph), maxing out my heat and limiting my ability to escape with jump jets or a run. Or worse yet; causing unintentional shut downs and leaving myself exposed.
(big breath and a smile) Now, can we all agree
that I am right to disagree?
Victor Morson, on 13 April 2012 - 11:02 AM, said:
LRMs are the weapon to compare to AC/2s, really.
PPCs are better compared against AC/5s.
How is this the case? Because the math then works in your favor? An AC is an AC and a PPC is a PPC and an LRM is an LRM