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Why No Love For The Ppc?


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#1 Alalcomenous

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Posted 13 November 2012 - 05:39 PM

I've been hearing lately that the Particle Projector Cannon, one of the most powerful weapons in the TT game of Battletech, is not so awesome of a weapon in MWO? The question I'm asking is: Why is there no love for it?

#2 BOOMLegShot

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Posted 13 November 2012 - 06:44 PM

Probably because the alternatives are more attractive. It has the drawbacks of a ballistic weapon (travel time) combined with the drawbacks of an energy weapon (heat).
An ER Large Laser gets you more range, no travel time, fewer slots and tonnage, and barely less damage with barely more heat.
An AC/2 gets you more range, roughly same tonnage and slots, less heat, and more dps with the same travel time drawback.On larger mechs where hardpoints are the bottleneck rather than tonnage, guass becomes a more attractive choice for long range heavy hitting.

Edited by BOOMLegShot, 13 November 2012 - 06:47 PM.


#3 Mordegar

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Posted 13 November 2012 - 06:56 PM

The Gauss is also missing it's minimum range of 2 squares (60 m ingame) while the PPC got a min range penalty of 90 m like it should have.

The dev's refuse to balance the current gauss to match the TT variant in both aspects, min range and ammo capacity.
The ammo per ton buffs in the close beta made everything even worse regarding the Gauss's general utility over everything else.

Edited by Mordegar, 13 November 2012 - 06:57 PM.


#4 Kiiyor

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Posted 13 November 2012 - 09:39 PM

I've tried it a few times, out of nostalgia for how good it was in other MW games. I just can't gel with it here; there's better stuff around. Maybe if it was hitscan?

It's like the Granddad you have that comes over every Christmas who's slowly losing his marbles. Everyone talks about how awesome he used to be, but all you know of him is his maniacal laughter while he craps behind the TV.

What were we talking about again?

#5 DivineEvil

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Posted 13 November 2012 - 10:21 PM

First of all, PPC are have specific feature of disrupting electronics when it his, which isn't yet implemented into the game.
Secondly, it's hard to balanse the energy weapon of AC10 damage potential, but it's heating level is way too much still.

#6 twibs

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Posted 14 November 2012 - 12:19 AM

It's still a fun gun. Not the most effective, but fun.

#7 Jay Z

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Posted 14 November 2012 - 02:18 AM

I have run 4 ER PPCs in a Cicada before. It was great if you got a hit. But with a standard 100 engine and a 40 second shutdown each fire, it was not that practical.

#8 skoot

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Posted 14 November 2012 - 02:19 AM

View PostJay Z, on 14 November 2012 - 02:18 AM, said:

I have run 4 ER PPCs in a Cicada before. It was great if you got a hit. But with a standard 100 engine and a 40 second shutdown each fire, it was not that practical.


I saw a vid of you! Fk that was funny...

#9 DivineEvil

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Posted 14 November 2012 - 04:05 AM

That's reminded me when I tried shooting 6x PPC alpha-strike on my Daishi in MW3, which resulted in 5 second freeze, after which my mech blown apart and two of my lance members each lost an arm.

#10 Flapdrol

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Posted 14 November 2012 - 04:11 AM

why use ppc when you can put 2 gauss rifles in a K2 cat?

#11 Cleverbird

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Posted 14 November 2012 - 04:23 AM

I actually like the ER PPC on my AWS-9M, it gives me some nice sniping capabilities while not having to worry about expensive ammunition. And the heat is quite manageable if you ask me

#12 Cybermech

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Posted 14 November 2012 - 04:23 AM

PPC's need some thought put into when using compared to things like guass.
however PPC's are really good to those who gets practice with them.
be surprised how much volley's/damage you can get out of 1 erppc.

guass has had to unique ability to brake through lag compared to most guns for the last few months.
this to me is the main factor of why guass is used over ppc's.

#13 Jay Z

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Posted 14 November 2012 - 04:42 AM

View Postskooter, on 14 November 2012 - 02:19 AM, said:


I saw a vid of you! Fk that was funny...


Haha, although that was not my video, the build I used was almost identical.

I got a few funny remarks when I got the (rare) one shot or people wondering why I was sitting still for so long. Not practical but so worth it.

#14 twibs

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Posted 14 November 2012 - 05:00 AM

View PostFlapdrol, on 14 November 2012 - 04:11 AM, said:

why use ppc when you can put 2 gauss rifles in a K2 cat?


Because you can put 2 PPC AND a gauss.

#15 Shiney

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Posted 14 November 2012 - 05:31 AM

PPC's 'can' be ok. They're not great, their excessive heat makes them a little bit niche, they can be teamed with low heat weapons [ACs/Gauss] to take advantage of the engine heatsinks. Really it's ashame that the stock Awesome-8Q with 3 PPCs runs excessively hot. The only mech you can run 3 PPCs is the Atlas, with most of the rest of the mech dedicated to heatsinks to cope with the heat. Running 2 is more successful, Hunchies and Cent's can run 2, if they're your only weapons reasonably well, again, it's the heat that's the issue. You are for the most part, better off running Large lasers in most cases, less heat issues, less weight, less crits, and only 1 damage less! The mentioned disadvantage of being a 'projectile' weapon to my mind is an advantage, you hit single armor locations with each hit. Ie. they have a useful punch.

If I were in charge of balancing them, I would drop their heat by 1 for PPCs and 2 for erPPCs, then we would finally see a sniping alternative. Yes they ought to have disadvantages, because of the no need for ammo, but currently the disadvantages of heat far out weigh the benefit.

I hope that gives another perspective to PPC's, my 'feel' comes from spending some time getting used to them and trying builds of all shapes and sizes in their current guise. I like them, but like LL's more currently for the same job.

#16 Buckminster

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Posted 14 November 2012 - 05:35 AM

Until heat gets straightened out, the gauss will always be a better option.

As an old TT guy, I know I was looking forward to marching around in something Warhammer style - twin PPCs blazing. The number of heat sinks you need to do that has approached stupid though, I think it's something like 30 heat sinks to keep each PPC from cooking you off. DHS help somewhat, but still only some.

That being said, when I buy my K2 I plan on sticking with PPCs. Then again, I'm one of those guys that insists on using a joystick even though I could get finer aiming with a mouse.

#17 DivineEvil

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Posted 14 November 2012 - 06:42 AM

PPC-K2 Cata works fine with them if you use just those two and a loooot of standard Heat Sinks and keep yourself from berserking into enemy team alone.

#18 Asyres

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Posted 14 November 2012 - 10:19 AM

It really needs a heat reduction--and probably a dps increase. Right now, you have to work really hard to be almost as good as Gauss.

#19 Goose

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Posted 14 November 2012 - 03:20 PM

Standard PPCs are nothing but trouble, as every one knows to get below 90m.

The ERs are just too hot for the damage they put out: Three of them, with 20 DSHSs, in an Awesome-8Q can fire twice before shutting down, for all of 30 points in a strike, if the damn things converge, which appears to be a problem as they weigh 7 tons each.

The only thing going for PPCs is how they fire like rifles, and not lasers, which is handy for my driving techneek …

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#20 The Mecha Streisand

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Posted 19 November 2012 - 09:29 AM

I'm admittedly new, but one of the most successful builds I've run so far had a PPC on a Raven. It was still quick (though no Jenner), and could reach out & touch someone. And the flashysplash effect when it hits something is just... fun...





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