6 replies to this topic

[Wolfways]

Is there some kind of different firing mechanic for these weapons?
Other than range, damage, etc. they both fire a "shot" like a ballistic but the ERPPC is way much harder to hit with than the gauss...or any other weapon.

Since CB i was using a K2 (ERPPC's) and found that using lasers and AC's was much easier than using PPC's. In fact, with those weapons it's hard to miss a target. But i got sick of the K2's massive head hitbox getting hit all the time and wanted to try ballistics on a mech with arms to compare to the K2's "arm" mounts, so i used a Cataphract-4X with gauss in the arms.

After quite a few games i know how vastly different gauss and PPC's are. While i find hitting targets with the PPC's difficult, it's hard to miss with the gauss. Sometimes i feel like the weapon has a kind of lock-on like missiles.

Also, where PPC's nearly always hit seperate locations the gauss will nearly always hit the same location, and they seem to crit way more often than PPC's.
I know in my K2 i've been 1-shot plenty of times by dual gauss, and in a game recently i 1-shot a Hunchback from about 1000m.
Once on River City (in my K2) as the countdown finished i pressed W to start moving and my mech just exploded, and the other team said it was their dual gauss K2 that hit me...from base to base? At the time i didn't believe it as that's just ridiculous, but after using gauss i know it's entirely possible.

Even in close-range brawls vs. lights it's hard to miss the target with gauss, yet with PPC's i rarely get a hit.

I know that PPC's had a shot speed increase recently, but that has never been a problem, and for some reason since the buff it's even harder to hit targets than it was before.

So it seems to me that the firing mechanics for PPC's and gauss are completely different for some reason.
Does anyone know how they differ and why?

[Polarice]

I would say that what you find comfortable firing is a large part of it, as in it feels natural to aim one weapon over another. I know it sounds a bit silly, but if your more atuned to how a ppc works as opposed to the gauss, you will use that experience more effrctivly.

In game wise, i have not seen a differance in how they aim per say.

[Wile Ee Coyote]

One of the differences between the catapult and the cataphract is that the cataphract has lower arm actuators. This might have influence on weapon convergence: do they pinpoint to the same location, or are they stuck in a forward direction like torso weapons.

[Ghogiel]

The projectile speed of PPCs travels faster than gauss, meaning you have to lead them less at longer ranges.

I've been practicing with ER/PPC lately and I dunno, I wonder if they they have hit detection issues that gauss never suffers from. They seem off to me and I just outright prefer gauss in everyway. Cept that splodey **** they do that always kills me.

[BerryChunks]

I use the crosshair to lead, and depending on the zoom, I "mentally record" the movement of the enemy mech in terms of how fast it appears to be going <- or ->, I shoot, and then correct. It should take only about 3-4 shots per each "speed" of mech in order to "intuit" the weapon and then you can just start blasting away for the rest of the time you use ER PPCs.

I find that ERLL and ERPPC are great weapons in standoffs, while gauss or other weapons are good if it's going to close to MechBrawler Online mode.

[Grits N Gravy]

It has to do with the distance between the hardpoints and the way the aiming reticule works. Your weapons all converge on the same point under the reticule at the specific distance the reticule is aimed at. When you are shooting at a surface that is not directly perpendicular to the parallel plane of your weapons, your hits will land in different locations as function of the angle of convergence the reticule is automatically setting. The farther apart the hard points and the greater the offset to perpendicular the target is, equals a greater spread between where your shots will land. This problem tends to be compounded by the fact that the reticule will range the terrain as a convergence point if you're leading your target. If you're moving you also compounding the problem because now your have to deal with the inheritance of motion. The gauss seems more accurate for a number of reasons.

The dual gauss on the K2 seems more accurate for a few reasons. First the hard points are torso mounted which means they have very little play in their movement. This means you have to take all of your shots near perpendicular to your target. Secondly, they are very close together and located very close to the center. This means the angle of convergence is very slight. Resulting in a much tighter grouping in off angle and lead shots.

The same phenomenon can be observed via the PPC, or ER PPC on the Stalker. Mount the same variants of ppc in the torso slots and 2 in each arm. A pair in the same arm will converge most tightly, the ones in the torso but on opposite side will converge slightly less tightly, pairs on opposite arms have the greatest angle of convergence, which will result in more frequent hits to multiple target locations. Firing all at once can result in very wide angles of convergence if the target is not perpendicular to you.



Look at the crap diagram I have drawn up to explain the point. All the shots seem to converge well except the ones on the left.The shots from the arms would tend to hit different locations as factor of their convergence angles.

Fundamentally the problem comes down to the fact that the reticule is not a bore sight of the weapon. Its a continually updated impact point. Bore sight would be extremely difficult to use and would be much more complicated than what we currently have. A much more useful function would be to have the ability to toggle locking the arms so that they only fire dead center. This would force you to pivot and bring the target closer to perpendicular.

Edited by Grits N Gravy, 26 January 2013 - 03:30 AM.

[ASSASSYN X]

Personally I have gotten more hits with the Gauss, but I have killed targets at very long ranges with the ERPPCs. It all depends on what your aiming at and how big it is. With regards to hit boxes, there is virtually no excuse in missing an atlas at variable ranges, a commando however is understandable. Gauss or PPC I cannot hit light mechs unless they are point blank except of course with lasers.

Pointless addition, nothing like striking a mech with a gauss shot and watching the purty sparks fly.

Edited by ASSASSYN X, 26 January 2013 - 03:56 AM.