Rail Guns?

[Morbad]

Anyone remember Beta, where cannons did equal damage to shields, hull and modules, while still having 100 rounds?

On top of the superior damage to shields, they used to have 2100 round magazines and more than double current projectile velocity.

Yes, I was one of those quad cannon Viper pilots...

I'll explain to you how I use my rail guns atm, only in PvP, that means that I only ever use them on other players, after Ive been in a single fight, I head back to the station and reload them

Having to rearm after every significant encounter is one of the key aspects that balances rail guns.

 

[Alexios Komnenos]

On top of the superior damage to shields, they used to have 2100 round magazines and more than double current projectile velocity.

Yes, I was one of those quad cannon Viper pilots...

http://i.imgur.com/UWE1rn2.jpg



Having to rearm after every significant encounter is one of the key aspects that balances rail guns.

That's hardly balance, just a huge inconvenience. Make them have 200 ammo (or unlimited even) and they'll still have the drawbacks of power/heat etc. Just means you can do more than just hunt one cmdr before returning to rearm.

 

[Dhan]

Convenience is one of the aspects of balance. Admittedly, it's one of the least impacting aspects, but it's still part of balance.

 

[PhanttoM]

Balanced via ammo pfff, (that balance only serves to make players dock more).

I'll explain to you how I use my rail guns atm, only in PvP, that means that I only ever use them on other players, after Ive been in a single fight, I head back to the station and reload them (30 is perfect for this), if I am doing anything PvE I dont use rail guns, the negatives out weigh the positives for PvE.

I don't disagree with that — My current Clipper loadout has 1 railgun for extra direct damage just-in-case PvP situations, but I still occasionally use it in PvE. (For when NPCs try to run for example)
Came out of a 1 hour Combat Zone session with only 20 rounds used last night.

 

[Morbad]

That's hardly balance, just a huge inconvenience. Make them have 200 ammo (or unlimited even) and they'll still have the drawbacks of power/heat etc. Just means you can do more than just hunt one cmdr before returning to rearm.

Convenience is one of the aspects of balance. Admittedly, it's one of the least impacting aspects, but it's still part of balance.

Being able to stay on station, without having to dock, is a huge advantage in any larger scale confrontation.

Railgun 30 vs. 200 ammo would be the difference between one side having an extra ship to help half the time, and having one present 80-90% of the time. More often than not, rate of of consumable use (ammo primarily, SCBs secondarily) is the limiting factor of wing PvP action.

Give railguns significantly more ammo and you dramatically shift the balance of weapons in it's favor.

 

[Moriarte]

50 would be just fine. 30 is a bit on an insulting side in case of frags and rails. Or, I wouldn't mind their ammo count increased to 100, while toning down the damage somewhat. Returning to stations that often = unnecessary grind.

 

[CMDR Mansoul]

Ammo counts should not be on the scales for balancing purposes. It only increases the difference between PVP builds and PVE builds; thus driving more people from open. (Limited ammo means you have to go back to reload after only a couple of encounters. It means it's not for farming; it's useful if cruisin for a bruisin in PVP, but not so much for prolonged engagements. And a PVP build will have the better of a PVE build.)

Either all ammo should be removed, or let us store generous quantities in cargo space.

 

[Comrade Napoleon]

you have got to love those Class 3 gimballed Rails...



Cheers Cmdr's

 

[bladebss]

Ammo count makes a wepon into a defensive or single strike wepon.

torpedo has one or two so its for when things have gone very south or to end a target fast amd get out of there.

rail guns need lost of power and produce lots of heat so you cant have many firing at once pr too often, the ammo is a bit too low and I agree that 50 or 60 would be better and make them 5 shot magazines and a realy long reload would be better.

Missiles should go up to large and ammo should increase acordingly. They should fly a bit faster and fire a bit faster.

torpedos should do twice the damage they do now and have more health to reist pdt better. This would give ecm more use.

dumb fires should fly fast and have slightly more ammo than current and fire much faster. Mabe have lower pay load im not shure as I havent used them since 1.1.

Ammo makes you dock more witch is fine for traders and small ship pirates, but miners and bounty hunters need indurance. Some thing lasers cannons and pa's have, hence they are what is common as its the trip to the station for ammo that limmits your cred/hour. But they are as good if not better in many cases than the ammo limmeted wepons on offer.

of more wepons and variants are introduced the whole dynamic can change as niches will expand and new ones will get created.

not to mention the shield meta.....

 

[Snarfbuckle]

Yeah seriously, Missiles, Torpedoes hell even the dumb fire Missiles are arbitrary weapons and useless due to their tiny ammo counts.

Not to mention that for some reason there is quite the energy requirement for missile systems whose payload AND delivery system is inside the ammunition.

I could live with the limited ammo if the fitting requirements were abysmal.