4 replies to this topic

[Golfin Man]

I was inspired to write this after reading a FOTM forum. Someone asked what the new flavor of the month mech would be. Several people said the Poptart version of the CTF-3D, aka some *** jump jetting and ripping off a ppc or two in conjunction with a guass rifle before falling down behind cover again. Someone else mentioned that PPC's in general would be overused, considering the tweaks in conjunction with the EMP effect and the wide open, cold climate of Alpine Peaks. It made me realize that this and other builds smear the reputation of one of the best weapons in the game.

That of course is the PPC. I am new to the MW universe, but having read forum posts and seeing they way PPC's were used before the improvements I got the sense that they are an iconic (and altogether bad*** weapon). It seemed like people used them on builds that seemed more true to canon builds (as opposed to pure boats/pure brawlers). I also noticed a general sense of pride about them, which inspired me to use them. They seemed inneffective at really any range in terms of killshots, and were somewhat underwhelming. It may have been due to my lack of skill/experience, but I remember various people who were amazed when they actually got a kill with one, and had obviously been using them (with a respectable skill level) for a while. I've read in other topics that they all but disappeared due to this, hence the revamping. I believe they are popular now because they are functioning how they should(or at least how I feel they should anyway). This is only my personal experience/opinion, and I am not knowledgeable on the lore concerning PPC's, or the physics (theoretical or otherwise) behind what a particle projectile would actually do. What I mean is, reading the description and watching the animation of a PPC impact makes it look like a PPC fires something that strikes with the force of a solid projectile, and then explodes in a burst of energy. This gives me the impression that it would be very effective, particularly against exposed internals, due the "double action" I am basically guessing that it has.

One thing that makes this game great, at least to me, is the dynamic impact of various weapons. As in, if someone is cored in their center torso, but you rip gauss shots into their arms at close range, it seems as though the rounds rip right through them and destroy the mech. This may be my imagination, but if you think about it a round fired from a railgun at close range would tear through just about anything and still have more than enough kinetic energy to destroy anything behind it. The same goes for PPC's, their dynamic action is that hit like a projectile that explodes upon impact, perhaps similar to an RPG-like effect but way more bad***.

PPC's, like any weapon, can be boated. Also, they have infinite ammo and are very manageable with the new heat tweaks. Considering the new EMP effect and the fact that they can actually get killshots ensures that they will see more use, and thus will be the center of complaints(like almost every weapon). That being said, they actually require some amount of skill to use to their full potential. Anyone can run around firing one (or 4) of them, but often times cannot hit with them. My first game on Alpine I marched around in my STK-3F lighting up the people who thought they could just strafe and rip PPC's in my general direction. My build allows me to sustain constant fire as long as I take the time to line up shots, which is often not very long as people seem to enjoy standing in the open. Those people might say PPC's are overpowered now, but are they really?

This does bring to mind one more sidenote (your fault if you're still reading this), and that any weapon in this game seems "overpowered" in the right hands. Anyone can do a lot of damage with a gauss (or two), but in the hands of a skilled pilot they are extremely deadly. These pilots should not suffer, and, for lack of a better word, "deserve" to have a weapon that does large amounts of damage if they are good enought to hit with it regularly. I used to ***** about hellcats, but having read enough posts where veteran players say they have no real problem with them I realized even those builds are not as overpowered as I once believed. Anyone can throw 90 damage point blank into someone and kill them, but if you can identify them and avoid them they are inneffective outside of 270m. That being said, if they are able to position themselves correctly, or you walk into an ambush, then I would say its not unreasonable for them to light you up. I had an A1 for a day or two (got sick of only being able to mount missiles). I realized that if you are able to use better tactics and get behind someone (flank or what have you), you should be able to do a massive amount of damage simply because you used better tactics. If someone wasn't watching their back/flank, that is their fault. There shouldn't be a single moment of complaceny during a match, and if there is it should mean your life.

That's my shpiel, I hope it's not completely ignorant/uninformed/biased (take your pick if it is), I just really hope PPC's don't suffer too much in the near future (besides game changes that require them to change). Let me know what your opinion is, I'd love to know what other people think.

[Joseph Mallan]

PPCs are not quite as good as they were on TT. If you want to observe the hitting power a PPC had you need to boat 6 on a Stalker. PPCs have to do a lot of work to get through 2x armor as they did on TT.

But yeah, pay attention to those Mechs that are boating 4-6 PPCs, That is the kind of damage they used to deliver to standard armor levels with half as many guns and less heat that goes with it.

[Voridan Atreides]

I used to shrug off mechs with PPCs because I did not think they are a big deal. It would be pretty stupid to do that now. PPC boats are very dangerous now.

[Sigifrid]

PPC's are supposed to move at speed of light, and the projectiles are supposed to resemble lightning bolts. Granted, the devs do not seem to have been able to achieve this.
The problem until it was fixed a few patches ago was that PPC's did not hit correctly. Now that they do they have become viable.

[Redshift2k5]

It's hard to complain about the PPC, even when boated. They're heavy, very hot, require travel time, come with a minimum range (or a greatly increased heat scale) give you zero damage on a miss (compare with a LL which allows you to adjust your aim during the beam duration), and are supposed to be an effective weapon.

They seem to be doing exactly what they're supposed to do since the heat buff went in a few weeks ago.

Edited by Redshift2k5, 20 February 2013 - 10:03 AM.