What do you like? Fxed or gimballed?

Bryan K

Bryan K
Gimbaled all the way (except for rails and PAs, obviously).

It’s 3304 for crying out loud. The MC bullets should be self-guided by now. Didn’t David Braben watch The Fifth Element?

I won’t touch turrets, though. Tried them once, and quickly determined that they were biowaste.
 
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Godsailsaqueen

Godsailsaqueen
I get the existence of a "fixed pride", but I will go as far as using turrets depending on the ship. There's no shame in choosing the most practical loadout. Not all ships are vultures.

I've watched famous youtubers break their teeth with fixed weapons in not-so-maneuverable ships - sure they do more absolute damage, but if you actually miss half your shots, a gimbal will always be the better choice (chaff scenarios included).

As for turrets while we're at it, they're very acceptable on big ships in PvE situations. they're multi-c.rew ready, and they are quite flexible, hitting your target only or every target they can depending on the mode. On a ship such as the anaconda whose hardpoints cover pretty much all firing arcs (and provided you have the adequate power distributor), that means you are constantly firing on every possible target. pretty useful against wings or in Combat zones.
 

RagingxPenguin

R
I like fixed lasers/multicannons but the ships are getting so fast with engineering that's its getting a little hard for HOTAS/Controller to maintain adequate time on target.

So I'm reluctantly swapping back to my PA build.

Not quite ready to jump back on the gimballed train though


This is from a PvP stand point. PvE wise my regular builds are fine
 
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CptXabaras

CptXabaras
Wobblin-Gobblin said:
I've tried fixed lasers at the CG in the Califonia nebula, and it was a lot of fun. I've bought an eagle down there and equipped it with them.

But I've noticed that even the fixed ones get a little 'help' by the ship's computer (?), as the crosshair went from alone the last milimeters.

Or am I wrong?
Click to expand...

It snap for a moment to module locations
 

Bomba Luigi

Bomba Luigi
Depends on the ship and what I'm doing with it, but mostly its gimballed. I do use fixed lasers in class 1 slots on ships like the Viper mk3, or all fixed weapons on a FAS I have build for hunting bigger ship - but don't ask me to kill small ships with that FAS, I'm not hitting them most of the time :D
 

biohazard15

B
Depends on weapons.

For cannons and frags, it's always fixed. Gimballed cannons are just terrible - compare their stats to fixed, you'll see what I mean. They are nerfed in every possible way, with gimbal jitter cherry on top. There is simply nothing worse in the game than gimballed cannons. As for frags, fixed or gimballed doesn't matter much, so why not get some extra damage?

For lasers and multicannons, it's always gimballed. These are low-damage weapons, and you need every second on target to get the most of them. That's why I hate AX weapons, and I have never ever killed a single thargoid - I simply cannot use fixed multicannons (and turreted multicannons waste too much ammo).
 

GunnerBill

GunnerBill
shadragon said:
Deselect the target and gimbals turn into fixed. When the chaff wears off (count to seven) re-engage the target lock. Sorted.
Click to expand...

Lol, of course there's know way you'd know (or even care) but I've been playing this game since commercial launch and figured that out about 2 years ago! :)
So I sometimes wish there could be a sticker that goes in your sig indicating you know all the basics. Maybe like Scouts have badges? Yes the Gimbal Laser proficiency badge.

I just learned to use fixed instead, easier in the long run.
 

NeilF

NeilF
I still wish to this day, they'd done a single weapon type which was a combination of fixed and gimballed.

Simply, if you hit the target direct on, it would do more damage. But the further off true, the damage would diminish/reduce.


I think it would have resulted in less issues with the resultant gameplay, and indeed even possible compromises made with it trying to fit both types in happily.
 

Stealthie

Stealthie
Bryan K said:
I won’t touch turrets, though. Tried them once, and quickly determined that they were biowaste.
Click to expand...

You're missing a trick, there, with large ships especially.

Maybe I'm just "gaming" the AI but I always fit a turret top and bottom on a large ship (usually small turrets, to avoid "wasting" much DPS, with some kind of long-range mod) so that I've always got something firing on an NPC.
Thing is, the NPCs have attack patterns and they'll break off and go defensive if they get shot at.
If you've got a turret that can always put fire on a target they'll break off their attacks and go into "look for a safe position to mount another attack" mode instead.
As a result of this, you'll end up in far fewer "jousting matches" because the attacker will break off as soon as the turret starts laying fire on them.

Also, on ships like the Anaconda and Corvette, a pair of turreted frag-cannons mounted pectorally can provide a 360° field of fire and really punish any ships (I'm looking at you fed' ships) that attempt to get too close.
As a bonus, due to the short range of FCs, you can leave turreted FCs enabled in the knowledge that they're unlikely to cause problems with friendly fire.


On the subject of fixed weapons, I don't think it's as much about learning to aim the weapons as it is about learning to fly the ship.
Pick something like a Python or a Keelback, with modest agility, and it'll be a lot easier to get used to fixed weapons than it would be on something like a Vulture or Viper because the ship isn't as twitchy.
Sure, you won't be able to out-turn your targets but it'll be easier to hit 'em when you do get 'em in your crosshairs.
Once you're comfortable tracking targets in a forgiving ship, then give it a try with a more agile one.

I put a small fixed MC in my 850m/sec+ Viper and I doubt anybody would be much use with it 'cos the ship is simply too twitchy.
On that, I have to set 0 pips to engines just to make it controllable enough to get through the mailslot and land.
Bung a gimballed MC on it and at least I can actually irritate other ships with it by hitting them.

If I do ever reach a point where I can track targets accurately in the Viper, I guess I'll know I'm done learning how to use fixed weapons. :eek:
 
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GunnerBill

GunnerBill
Stealthie said:
You're missing a trick, there, with large ships especially.

Maybe I'm just "gaming" the AI but I always fit a turret top and bottom on a large ship (usually small turrets, to avoid "wasting" much DPS, with some kind of long-range mod) so that I've always got something firing on an NPC.
Thing is, the NPCs have attack patterns and they'll break off and go defensive if they get shot at.
If you've got a turret that can always put fire on a target they'll break off their attacks and go into "look for a safe position to mount another attack" mode instead.
As a result of this, you'll end up in far fewer "jousting matches" because the attacker will break off as soon as the turret starts laying fire on them.

Also, on ships like the Anaconda and Corvette, a pair of turreted frag-cannons mounted pectorally can provide a 360° field of fire and really punish any ships (I'm looking at you fed' ships) that attempt to get too close.
As a bonus, due to the short range of FCs, you can leave turreted FCs enabled in the knowledge that they're unlikely to cause problems with friendly fire.


On the subject of fixed weapons, I don't think it's as much about learning to aim the weapons as it is about learning to fly the ship.
Pick something like a Python or a Keelback, with modest agility, and it'll be a lot easier to get used to fixed weapons than it would be on something like a Vulture or Viper because the ship isn't as twitchy.
Sure, you won't be able to out-turn your targets but it'll be easier to hit 'em when you do get 'em in your crosshairs.
Once you're comfortable tracking targets in a forgiving ship, then give it a try with a more agile one.

I put a small fixed MC in my 850m/sec+ Viper and I doubt anybody would be much use with it 'cos the ship is simply too twitchy.
On that, I have to set 0 pips to engines just to make it controllable enough to get through the mailslot and land.
Bung a gimballed MC on it and at least I can actually irritate other ships with it by hitting them.

If I do ever reach a point where I can track targets accurately in the Viper, I guess I'll know I'm done learning how to use fixed weapons. :eek:
Click to expand...

vJoy - http://www.xedocproject.com/joystickcurves.html

You can damp the response for any axis but it's specifically the over response from yaw that IMO is a problem for fixed weps on agile ships. You can set a profile for any ship.

I use vJoy, but only for the yaw, and have a profile for small fighters that effectively cuts yaw response by 40% so I can use fixed more effectively. Interestingly this damping started at 50% and as I get better I am easing it off.

You may of course already know this!
 
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Achilles7

Banned
Achilles7
I try to use fixed weapons on my Vulture, but the terrible convergence of its hardpoints causes me to miss a lot!
 

GunnerBill

GunnerBill
Achilles7 said:
I try to use fixed weapons on my Vulture, but the terrible convergence of its hardpoints causes me to miss a lot!
Click to expand...

Which is a good point. So - The convergence is only terrible on really small ships? Engage from slightly further away, select a module and use the tiny "target snap" this gives you to make the shot.

--------------

Ashnak said:
Get closer :).
Click to expand...

No no! Further away!! :D
 
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Stealthie

Stealthie
GunnerBill said:
vJoy - http://www.xedocproject.com/joystickcurves.html

You can damp the response for any axis but it's specifically the over response from yaw that IMO is a problem for fixed weps on agile ships. You can set a profile for any ship.

I use vJoy, but only for the yaw, and have a profile for small fighters that effectively cuts yaw response by 40% so I can use fixed more effectively. Interestingly this damping started at 50% and as I get better I am easing it off.

You may of course already know this!
Click to expand...

TBH, I try to avoid "stacking" app's to control stuff 'cos it causes confusion for my ancient HOTAS.
The old Saitek software has it's own doodad for adjusting curves but then, if I use something like vJoy on top of it, it does all sorts of screwy things when it comes to recalibrating the stick. [sad]

I bought one of Leo Bodnar's superb joystick boards with the intention of building a custom joystick but so far it's just a mess of wires, buttons and potentiometers taped to a lump of plywood in the corner of my workbench.
One day I'll get around to making a proper gimbal for it, and then the project will truly begin.
 

GunnerBill

GunnerBill
Stealthie said:
TBH, I try to avoid "stacking" app's to control stuff 'cos it causes confusion for my ancient HOTAS.
The old Saitek software has it's own doodad for adjusting curves but then, if I use something like vJoy on top of it, it does all sorts of screwy things when it comes to recalibrating the stick. [sad]

I bought one of Leo Bodnar's superb joystick boards with the intention of building a custom joystick but so far it's just a mess of wires, buttons and potentiometers taped to a lump of plywood in the corner of my workbench.
One day I'll get around to making a proper gimbal for it, and then the project will truly begin.
Click to expand...

I can see why "stacking" such app's would be a problem, sort of like looking through two pairs of spectacles...

Your build - with customisable responses for each axis?
 

shadragon

shadragon
GunnerBill said:
I just learned to use fixed instead, easier in the long run.
Click to expand...
Every time I load fixed weps I get jumped by a wing of 3-4 Eagles and can never use them. I have turrets on my larger ships and gimbals on the small - medium ones. They do less damage, but hit more often. A good trade-off for me.
 
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