The sad state of projectile weapons and missiles and why they can't compete with energy weapons.

[BACKER#50040]

At this time, using any other projective weapon other than the multi cannons is both very expensive and ensures an incredibly bad endurance. There is simply no reason to use any other projectile weapon other than the multi cannons. I feel that the current situation is incredibly unbalanced and favored towards energy weapons. Both missile and projectile weapon systems suffer greatly because of this. The consequence is that people aren't using projectile and missile weapons to much extent, leading to more repetitive gameplay with fewer tactical scenarios in combat.

My first argument is that ammunition is not plentiful enough. Just allowing more ammunition into a weapon module is one way of solving the issue I think. But i feel it would greatly overpower projectile weapons. A better solution would be to allow ships to bring extra ammunition in the cargo hold. When your weapon system run out of ammunition and the extra magazine, you have to retract the hard point, wait for some time (maybe 15-30 seconds) in order to let the gun reload from the cargo rack and then bring the hard point back up. All of this should have to be done manually. This also promotes team play as you can have guys coming in with a ship, drop ammunition on the field for your wingman to scoop, a mechanic I believe would add a lot of fun to conflict zones. Logistics for the win. It puts players in a situation where they can be the hero the wing needs in order to keep fighting.

My second argument is that (some) ammunition is just too expensive. This is true for large caliber projectiles such as the cannon, railgun and dumb fire missiles. Seeker missiles you should pay a premium for, they require very little skill to be used. The multi cannon ammunition is very cheap and gives great bang for the buck, much more so than any other projectile weapon. There is little incentive to use anything else than the multi cannons given that they have great endurance and cheap yet effective ammunition.

These are just my five cents regarding the projectile missiles and missiles in game. Any one else have any thoughts on this issue you'd like to share?

 

[Duckfather]

Seeker missiles and Torps should be expensive. Otherwise everyone would be using them as the default loadouts.
.
One thing I will add though; Type 9 + missiles + Torpedoes = a Space Cow with a very large sting in the tail if interdicted

 

[RedWizzard]

One word: dumbfires.
That is all.

 

[BACKER#50040]

I agree fully with the fact that seekers and torpedoes should be expensive! They are a lock-on, fire & forget type of ordeal, you ought to pay a premium of that luxury! It's the amount of of them that you currently can carry that grinds my gears. Let's face it, you can't be engaged in combat for very long with any projectile weapon aside from the multi cannons at this point. So there isn't much point in using any thing else.

 

[Riepah]

Since you already said "other than the multi cannons", there isn't much for me to say. Those things are amazing, though.

Extra ammunition in the form of cargo sounds like something I'd very much welcome.

 

[Derath]

Since you already said "other than the multi cannons", there isn't much for me to say. Those things are amazing, though.

Extra ammunition in the form of cargo sounds like something I'd very much welcome.

I really would like this also, so I don't have to run laser weapons for extended forays, I really dislike laser weapons... Its all the overheating and that I can't brap brap brap with them none stop.

 

[Duckfather]

Perhaps an extended magazine module would be an option for the future? That way you would have to make a choice between that shield cell bank you normally rely on or go the full conversion to a missile boat (for example).

 

[duffbeeeer]

Ive tried alot of different weapons on my ASP but I keep coming back 6x Multicannon setup for bountyhunting. Its just too good vs hull and the ammo count is high enough. The rest of the guns seem to be useless because of reduced ammo counts.

 

[schuesseled]

Ive tried alot of different weapons on my ASP but I keep coming back 6x Multicannon setup for bountyhunting. Its just too good vs hull and the ammo count is high enough. The rest of the guns seem to be useless because of reduced ammo counts.

have you seen the asp one shot stuff with 6 dumbfires, thats a nice video.

 

[duffbeeeer]

have you seen the asp one shot stuff with 6 dumbfires, thats a nice video.

Yeah seen that, it sure is a lot of fun but the low missile counts make it still not very viable imo.

Maybe we could get some ammo crafting module in the future? Let it take a high class slot and make it use refinery modules and mining lasers for feeding materials. This could actually promote teamplay because youd need to cripple 1 ship heavily for this purpose. Make ammo a salvage commodity like the artifacts and it could be traded between players via cargo ejection. One can dream

 

[BACKER#50040]

Well I guess I'm not the only one to think like this. I rather like the idea of an extended magazine/reloading module.

Imagine the following scenario possible with projectile ammunition stored in cargo bays.
The warzone conflict has intensified with an increasing amount of commanders choosing to aid the Brothers of He Bo in gaining control of the system. The alliance has in turn responded with sending capital ships in in order to put an end to the civil unrest and halt the on-going civil war. In the midst of lasers glittering across the skies and smoke trails from missiles, Bob runs out of ammunition. He gets on coms: "Hey, Jeff, could you help me out? I'm out of ammunition and I've only got one limpet left!" Response is quick: "Okay buddy, I'll resupply and come back with more, hang in there". As Jeff engages his FSD to go to the station and get more ammunition, Bob finally gets his opponents shields down, he fires the limpet and it begins to break open the cargo hatch of the alliance ship he's fighting. He got that kill and quickly engages the next target. The next targets shields quickly drops. Bob pushes the trigger, his railgun takes out the remaning hull of the ship. The ships starts to explode in a big fireball of death. Bobs shields takes a hard hit from all the ammunition that went off inside the dying ships cargo racks.

 

[bassman]

I agree with the general thrust of the OP. It makes no sense for example that cannons cost vastly more to operate than multi cannons - they should be broadly comparable weps just allowing different tactics. Also the presence of shield cells further deprecates projectile weapons.

 

[JonnyC0mbat]

I agree with the general thrust of the OP. It makes no sense for example that cannons cost vastly more to operate than multi cannons - they should be broadly comparable weps just allowing different tactics. Also the presence of shield cells further deprecates projectile weapons.

My viper originally had 2 multi cannons which were swapped with gimballed cannons. My ammo cost went from 4.5k to 5k. Hardly a big difference. I swear by projectile weapons grouped with beams

 

[avow555]

Op got some valid points there.

 

[Spur]

Went back to the old meta. My Viper has two Beam Lasers and two Cannons (Gimballed). I have to say my results with the Cannons are fairly mixed. They're good enough for burst damage but sometimes I fire them and it seems like no damage has been done to the hull, then I shoot them again and it removes 5% hull. Ammo is limited and that's an annoyance. My C2 Beam Lasers are able to do a fair amount of damage, especially because they're fixed and it helps that I'm decent at keeping the crosshair on target. I think I might switch to dumbfire missiles, which I'll use when I need to inflict heavy burst damage as Cannons seem underwhelming. The Beam Lasers do good enough damage to the hull and to shields. Having watched some Youtube videos, dumbfires can inflict a great amount of burst damage. Of course, I am yet to use them, so I'll get back to this thread on that.

 

[CreepyD]

That's because cannons are fairly high penetration, when you see no hull damage, they probably hit a sub-system and did a crap load of damage to it.
Plasma Accelerators are similar, but far far more effective than cannons - although they need power to fire - a trade off.

 

[Ixnatifual]

Maybe if cargo racks could be used as missile storage...

 

[duffbeeeer]

That's because cannons are fairly high penetration, when you see no hull damage, they probably hit a sub-system and did a crap load of damage to it.
Plasma Accelerators are similar, but far far more effective than cannons - although they need power to fire - a trade off.

Way too much power imo. An ASP is not capable of operating 2 of those with full A grade gear. Youll end up with 1 gun always being in thermal overload status. The slow projectile traveling speed only adds up to it.

 

[baggioSWE]

i got an ASP (allmost fully kitted) and i use 2 C2 beams and 4 C1 cannons, i find this to be the best loadout for my fightin style, all gimballed.
i use gimballed cos i use a X-box controller and i find it hard to aim with it=).and i suxs at figthin.lol! anywho,,,,i tried all sorts of configurations,like all pulse ,all projectile, but i found this the most favorable and it dont cost u a fortune.
The beams can take out all problems u meet up to a python, with python and above i use the cannoins after i stripped their shields. just target the powerplant and they are done for in no time=)
oh! i play solo by the way , so i havent tried to fight a human player yet.

cheers

 

[Katkon]

I think projectile weapons are in a got spot currently. I think they've got about the right amount if ammo, at a decent price and that they're generally speaking superior to energy counterparts. In short, I think the beta balancing that took place worked.