27 replies to this topic

[ShadowThunder77]

can it fill all 7 hardpoints with PPC and not be overweight??

[Solis Obscuri]

You cannot fit a PPC in the head hardpoint.

[ShadowThunder77]

but can all the other hardpoints be filled with PPC and not be overweight or worry bout being a heat magnet??

[GalaxyBluestar]

if you succeded in that i'd hate to see the result of an alpha strke... messy business.

[yashmack]

short answer, no

[ShadowThunder77]

im asking cause when i get an Awesome AWS-8Q i plan on making it a PPC boat when/if the PPC gets buffed

[Brilig]

If you can fit 6 PPC's into the mech then heat management will be a very big worry. It is a big worry at 4 PPCs. An alpha strike will probably overheat and explode you immediately.

[ShadowThunder77]

so a PPC boat would do more harm than good to the team??

BTW whats the recommended number of PPC's??

[GalaxyBluestar]

Brilig, on 13 December 2012 - 01:07 AM, said:

If you can fit 6 PPC's into the mech then heat management will be a very big worry. It is a big worry at 4 PPCs. An alpha strike will probably overheat and explode you immediately.

*in jest* WE'VE DONE THAT!

ShadowThunder77, on 13 December 2012 - 01:10 AM, said:

so a PPC boat would do more harm than good to the team??

BTW whats the recommended number of PPC's??

depends on your chassis, in mech lab effient weapon usage is determined by the heat dispertion bar on the left amongest firepower armour etc. ideally for some practical use go for no less than 1.0 a good energy boat is 1.2-1.3

no point having the firepower if you're overheating every 10 seconds.

[ShadowThunder77]

so a PPC boat would do more harm than good to the team??

BTW whats the recommended number of PPC's??

[BigJim]

A PPC boat isn't an ideal mech in any circumstances, I'd probably say.

A PPC is only 10 damage, 4x PPCs can be replicated by 2x AC/20's (K2), or an AC/20 & 4x Med-Las (cataphract), or 8x Medium Laser (Hunchback 4P), or any number of other builds that can dish out 40-DMG and handle it way better.

I know the PPC is the sexy-iconic weapon in BT background fluff, but really it's just an AC/10 with more heat and no ammo costs imo, nothing more.

[Taizan]

ShadowThunder77, on 13 December 2012 - 01:13 AM, said:

so a PPC boat would do more harm than good to the team??

BTW whats the recommended number of PPC's??

Something between 0 and 2. Sure you can load up 4 or more PPCs go ahead, try it out. Maybe in one battle you will have the ultimate opportunity to put it to use.

[Rifter]

Its a bad idea.

Yes you can do it just either go XL on the engine or go with a super slow engine to make room for the weight of the PPC's and the 40+ heatsinks you are going to need.

Its still a really bad idea though, i had trouble keeping a 4 LL awesome cool i dont even want to think about how bad a 4 PPC awesome would be.

[ShadowThunder77]

but the possibility of buffing the most iconic weapon in the mechwarrior universe has me excited.

[xxx WreckinBallRaj xxx]

Did no one see my thread? Just fill it full of Large Lasers! Large pewpew!

Edited by Bluten, 13 December 2012 - 01:22 AM.

[Ascendent]

More than 3 PPCs on an Awesome is relatively useless due to excessive heat, let alone tonnage. You need to leave enough weight and crit slots open for heat sinks to be effective. Also mixing in some LL or ML or others weapons (depending on hardpoints) lets you have some closer range weapons that generate less heat and/or have different functions, making a better rounded mech. In other words you have diminishing returns with PPCs after 2 due to heat. 3 are still useful for distance snipe and cover techniques. After that its probably dead weight. But again maybe some else has had success with more on an Awesome.

[MustrumRidcully]

ShadowThunder77, on 13 December 2012 - 01:10 AM, said:

so a PPC boat would do more harm than good to the team??

BTW whats the recommended number of PPC's??

I don't think there is a consensus. Bu I would say 1 or 2. Anything more will give you extreme heat problems, and only very few players can make such mechs work, and I believe even then, that is more a testament to their skill than to the viability of the build.

Best use for a PPC is if you are using a ballistic heavy mech with double heat sinks. The Ballistics will probably not need much of your DHS dissipation power, and the extra PPC can give you some extra alpha strike ability.

Currently the perfect fit is with a Gauss Rifle, as the PPC and the Gauss have the same projectile speed.
Unfortunately, while a Dual Gauss +1 PPC build may be possible right now on a Cataphract, the sacrifices are immense... Not worth it usually.


On the Awesome 8Q, what you could try - 2 toros-mounted PPCs and 1-2 arm-mounted lasers (either medium or Large Lasers). The arm mounted lasers are for defense against lights, and the torso mounted PPCs will make it easier to deal with weapon convergence issues. At range, you can afford the limited movement range of the PPCs,and at close range, you can't use the PPCs effectively anyway.

Edited by MustrumRidcully, 13 December 2012 - 01:39 AM.

[Solis Obscuri]

MustrumRidcully, on 13 December 2012 - 01:37 AM, said:

On the Awesome 8Q, what you could try - 2 toros-mounted PPCs and 1-2 arm-mounted lasers (either medium or Large Lasers). The arm mounted lasers are for defense against lights, and the torso mounted PPCs will make it easier to deal with weapon convergence issues. At range, you can afford the limited movement range of the PPCs,and at close range, you can't use the PPCs effectively anyway.

Maybe...
4 PPCs in torso
2 Medium Pulse Lasers in arm
17 DHS (~24 singles)

It'd still run pretty hot if you group-fired the PPCs, but it might be manageable if you switched off to chain-fire after 1-2 volleys...

[Roadbuster]

I think chain fire is a waste of power if you fire at a moving target.
For the best effect and point damage you want to fire many weapons at once.
Mixing weapon systems for such a strike (missiles, lasers and ballistics for example) is not effective either because all require different aiming to hit the same part. If the target is stationary that's no problem though.

So for optimal effect you'd want to fire as many of the same weapon as you can at the same time.
That's the advantage of high damage/hit weapons vs high dps weapons.
And because PPC is like a "ballistic energy weapon" you don't have to follow the target like you have to when using lasers.

PPCs are effective weapons and pretty good actually. It's just that they run too hot to be very effective at the moment.
If you want to boat PPCs I'd wait till they changed the ammount of heat they generate (this change has been confirmed already).

In the meanwhile I'd go with just 2 PPCs or ERPPCs and use other weapon systems for backup. I wouldn't use more than 4 PPCs at all, because you'd just overheat alot and chain firing them is not effective. You can chainfire 2 PPCs too.

Also don't group weapons in your arms and torso to fire together. Keep them seperate.
I can't count the times I've seen pilots aim their arms at one side of the target while the torso looks at the other side of it, then firing an alpha strike and hit with their arms while all torso weapons miss, just generating alot of heat.

[Jay Kroc]

I ran 3 PPCs and lots of single sinks (31 or so) on my Q8.
Now I run 3 PPCs, 3 med pulse laser and 21 dual sinks on my 9M.

Like it a lot. It doesn't pack as much punch as my 8R LRM boat, but I can also quite easily score a kill by punching holes into the vital sections of enemies.

Edited by Jay Kroc, 13 December 2012 - 06:17 AM.