23 replies to this topic

[Cstriker]

Well, I left for a few weeks due to work and school and now I'm back and I see that the Gauss cannon took a big hit in survivability. Is this thing even worth using now? I was saving my money to outfit my Catapult to make a gauss kitty but I return to see that it might not be worth using?

Is it still viable, or should I drop my millions on a new mech like the Stalker or Atlas?

[Stingz]

15 damage, long range, no heat. Still good, but not a brawling weapon anymore. AC/s fly faster now, really fast.

Use the Trial Stalker, and see if you have the patience to bracket fire weapons (not alpha to death).

Edited by Stingz, 20 December 2012 - 04:05 PM.

[Cstriker]

Well, maybe ill put AC/10s in my K2 kitty instead of Gauss.

[Dabral]

I was enjoying gauss since the patch but i switched out for ac 20 just cause i usually dont get to sit out in the back field

[Elizander]

I brawl with it in my Atlas. It's not really much of an issue even if I carry an XL engine. It's fine if you're the type to keep moving but if you prefer to stand and deliver then you probably want to get something else.

[Cstriker]

Well I think ill drop the money for dual AC20s then and dual medium lasers with a standard engine.

[Hex Pallett]

Cstriker, on 20 December 2012 - 04:07 PM, said:

Well, maybe ill put AC/10s in my K2 kitty instead of Gauss.

If K2 is what you're after why not dual ERPPC? After the projectile speed upgrade ERPPC now packs a ton of juice.

[Wolfways]

Helmstif, on 20 December 2012 - 04:56 PM, said:

If K2 is what you're after why not dual ERPPC? After the projectile speed upgrade ERPPC now packs a ton of juice.

It's exactly the same as it used to be...except the bolt travels a bit faster. Still a broken weapon.

[Wrenchfarm]

Wolfways, on 20 December 2012 - 05:27 PM, said:

It's exactly the same as it used to be...except the bolt travels a bit faster. Still a broken weapon.

I disagree. The projectile speed is massively improved and it is much easier to reliably hit a target. ERPPCs might generate too much heat still, but regular PPCs are a legit weapon now.

As for the point of this thread, the guass is still one of the best weapons in the game, only now it has an actual downside. I don't think it is much of a problem in a K2, it can be difficult to nail the sides with those big ammo boxes in the way and the Cat's amazing torso twist. If you are damaged to the point where they are hitting your side internals, you were probably going to go down anyway. Still a fine weapon tucked inside the torso of a heavy or assault.

On the flip side, guass is now a much bigger liability in Hunchies and especially Cent's and Dragons that hang their weapons off their arms. Less armor, easier to hit, big explosion that usually kills the mech. Ironically, the indirect nerf to guassapults hurt most other guass users more.

[Wolfways]

Wrenchfarm, on 20 December 2012 - 06:27 PM, said:

I disagree. The projectile speed is massively improved and it is much easier to reliably hit a target. ERPPCs might generate too much heat still, but regular PPCs are a legit weapon now.

I meant broken as in random damage and spreading damage across multiple locations.
As for the speed making it easier to hit the target...well it wasn't hard in the first place, the same as ballistics really...apart from the annoying fire delay.

As for the gauss...well i think it's too weak now. You barely have to touch the side of an Atlas and the gauss is destroyed. I thought that the armour had to be completely destroyed for the weapon to take damage, but my wife's Atlas proved otherwise. On the other hand of course, gauss on the K2 is a different story.

[Orgasmo]

I mounted a gauss on my Atlas AS7-D a few days before the patch. I noticed that it is usually the first weapon to go down in case the mech is damaged. The funny thing is the gauss is located in the torso, the strongest point of Atlas. I might switch back to the AC20 if I feel uncomfortable with it. I'll give it a few more days first.

[Hex Pallett]

I guess I just don't like the idea of Gausspult. You sacrifice too much speed for two giant glass cannons that will blow your XL out of water under LRM. Also you wouldn't have the signature PPC arms - it's like waving two empty snub nose around while stuffing a grenade launched in the pants. Cataphract 4X and Ilya are better at dual Gauss (at least when you lose your arms you can still zombie a bit).

I run my K2 with XL315, 2xERPPC, 2xML and stuffed every corner of my Manticore with DHS. Heat is not a problem, as long as you don't fire both ERPPC at once all the time. Amazing LRMboat suppress weapon. With the projectile speed buff now I can even hit lights circling around me without leading too much. Just killed a Raven few hours ago while down to structure. I could almost hear the pilot smashing his desk yelling "F[beep]" when I killed him with two tubes of hot electrons in his tiny face.

Edited by Helmstif, 20 December 2012 - 09:20 PM.

[Cstriker]

I should have prefaced this with I bought a K2 pre ECM and Gauss patch...in face pretty much launch of open beta. I then was waiting for my money to roll in to get my XL engine so I could mount the gauss. I had to wait on the gauss kitty since I was focusing on my CPT-C4 and HBK-4SP first. Now my kitty has a turn.

So I did buy 2 engines, a STD 245 and XL 245 so I could run both AC/20s and Gauss. I am pretty slow at 61kph, but the slower engine lets me mount more things with a little variance. I can stuff in an AMS, and 2-4 Mlas also and have decent heat reduction still. Especially in the Gausskitty. Not sure which I like more, I find myself forced into more situations where 2x AC/20 would probably be more approriate (forced into brawling).

With that my dilemma then is now, should I try to mount AC/10s for the higher rate of fire, or even AC/5s and dump more into Large lasers?

[Elizander]

Large Lasers are pretty cheap at 200k each so it won't cost you too much to try them out. I'm iffy on AC/5s. They are like the most mediocre AC out there. They could probably use a rate-of-fire buff or something.

Edited by Elizander, 21 December 2012 - 03:06 AM.

[Av3nGer]

Helmstif, on 20 December 2012 - 09:18 PM, said:

I run my K2 with XL315, 2xERPPC, 2xML and stuffed every corner of my Manticore with DHS. Heat is not a problem, as long as you don't fire both ERPPC at once all the time. Amazing LRMboat suppress weapon. With the projectile speed buff now I can even hit lights circling around me without leading too much. Just killed a Raven few hours ago while down to structure. I could almost hear the pilot smashing his desk yelling "F[beep]" when I killed him with two tubes of hot electrons in his tiny face.

Thats how I play mine as well. The speed buff of PPC projectiles was necessary. If they add the EMP effect to them, slightly reduce heat on ERPPCs and remove that annoying fire delay, it would be perfect.

[Wrenchfarm]

Wolfways, on 20 December 2012 - 06:54 PM, said:

I meant broken as in random damage and spreading damage across multiple locations.
As for the speed making it easier to hit the target...well it wasn't hard in the first place, the same as ballistics really...apart from the annoying fire delay.

Please explain this "random damage" and spreading from the PPCs. As you say, they function pretty much like ballistics, they dump all their damage in the place they hit. That precision hit is the reason to use them over say a LLAS which will be spread by torso twisting and movement. Are you referring to the 90m deadzone?

I've been using PPCs a lot lately to test them for myself. While I can agree they need some love, either in the form of less heat generated or a small bump in damage, I think the hate-on for them is overblown. People seem to come up with reasons for why they presumably suck or just blindly agree without even trying themselves. Although I suppose you can say the same about a lot of weapons and mechs.

Edited by Wrenchfarm, 21 December 2012 - 08:26 AM.

[Flapdrol]

The gausscat is still viable, just dont get hit by LRM's

I guess the dual gauss cataphract is a better idea, sure you might have one shot off but at least it wont take your torso with it and you'll have some weight left for lasers.

[De La Fresniere]

The Gauss takes up a lot of crit slots, meaning if that section gets crit the Gauss will usually get hit. Combined with the fact that it's now very fragile, that means it'll be destroyed exceedingly quickly once internals are exposed. If that wasn't bad enough, the damn thing explodes when destroyed.

I really wouldn't recommend using it in an arm if you're using, say, a Centurion. Really, I wouldn't use it there unless you're in a much bigger mech (like a Cataphract at least) with maxed arm armor.

In a side torso though, it's a decent enough weapon. It's a *huge* weight investment (usually 19 or 20 tons depending on how much ammo you want), and it's not easy to hit smaller or faster targets... but it has good range, good damage and negligible heat, plus the ammo itself doesn't explode.

I use one in my Flame right now. I might replace it with an AC/5 to get a better Engine, for variety, but I think it's still very nice the way it is now.

[Wolfways]

Wrenchfarm, on 21 December 2012 - 04:51 AM, said:

Please explain this "random damage" and spreading from the PPCs. As you say, they function pretty much like ballistics, they dump all their damage in the place they hit. That precision hit is the reason to use them over say a LLAS which will be spread by torso twisting and movement. Are you referring to the 90m deadzone?

You obviously don't read the forums much
Many players have reported PPC's not doing full damage within their optimum range, and they don't do all their damage to one area. It spreads sometimes into two areas. I've been using a K2 since CB and i can tell you that when firing both PPC's together the target will take damage in three areas.

[locilocisu]

Wolfways, on 21 December 2012 - 08:27 AM, said:

You obviously don't read the forums much
Many players have reported PPC's not doing full damage within their optimum range, and they don't do all their damage to one area. It spreads sometimes into two areas. I've been using a K2 since CB and i can tell you that when firing both PPC's together the target will take damage in three areas.

Yes to this. I use a PPC in my Cicada and have seen multiple times that a shot would damage CT, Side Torso and Arm for several mechs. Notably Atlases. Since if you hit their Side Torso, their arm hit box and CT hitbox are close enough to the STs. Same thing with CATs.

Seems like PPCs projectile is like a giant ball. It might be bigger than the Side torsos of some mechs, hence the damage is spread out.

Gauss on the other hand, has a small AC2 size bullet. That 15 Damage is not likely to be spread out over several components