Newcomer / Intro APA or Pacifier for PvE, this is the question.

Frags

F
I'm almost at the end of my four week pledge for Aisling to get Prismatic. The question is what's next.
I'm choosing between APA and Pacifier for PVE. I'm pretty good running three PA (3B and 2Cx2) with Short Range in Krait MKII.
I didn't like regular Frag Cannon due to its huge jitter.
Mainly looking for something new to destroy faster.
 

Trollymctrollerson

T
I think i used the APA more. Pacifier is better than regular frag in my opinion though. Faster projectile and tighter spread make it more effective on moving targets or range a little further than point blank. APA is just loads of fun though. Put 4 on anaconda and engineer with efficient and put multi servos on a few and the cascade of plasma is just ridiculous.
 

Ashnak

Ashnak
Don't ask me... this is my PvE Krait Mk.II:

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
s.orbis.zone s.orbis.zone
Optionals will vary - right now, I'm running cargo racks and two collector limpet controllers instead of the fuel scoop, AFMU and DSS, and a Guardian (Javelin) fighter hangar instead of the FSD booster.

Just don't take her into a CZ or any other place where non-hostiles may be within range. The Pacifiers tend to be... democratic in pacification.

On the other hand, I never bothered with APAs or prismatics until now, so YMMV. Fast destruction you will get - but (at least with my engineering) also very fast ammo depletion. I'm usually good for the four Dangerous+ Anacondas from a cargo mission, maybe also another random Python or even Corvette, but then ammo on the pacs is running really low.
 

Rubbernuke

Rubbernuke
APA is a bit outmoded these days, as the TLB effect has been toned down with a cooloff (so ships like a x2 APA would be very nasty). APAs too have much lower damage than regular PA too. For 'fun' weapons APAs are great though.

PACs have a tighter spread and are really nice for quickly wrecking a target.
 
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Frags

F
Ashnak said:
Fast destruction you will get - but (at least with my engineering) also very fast ammo depletion. I'm usually good for the four Dangerous+ Anacondas from a cargo mission, maybe also another random Python or even Corvette, but then ammo on the pacs is running really low.
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Wouldn't be better to use overcharged instead of rapid fire since the original ROF 4.5/s is pretty high to me?
 

Northpin

Northpin
The huge jitter in normal frags can be compensated by firing them up close.
Really up close

The advantage of running gimbaled frags instead of PACs is off-boresight shooting allowing for more evasive flying
The advantage of running PACs is less jitter and faster shot speed making them effective at longer range.

I used to do High CZ in a Vulture running 2x gimbaled overcharged frags (incendiary and corrosive). Most of the time the ammo was enough to finish a CZ.
Sometimes i had to resynth. The trick was to engage ships that were already under fire from friendlies and to fire really Up Close - less than 300m or even closer for smaller ships

APA are simply not worth it anymore.
In the past they were used in conjunction with Target Lock Breaker experimental since it had no cooldown and could really hinder someone's ability to target stuff.
But since TLB got a cooldown, there is absolutely no reason to use APA anymore
 

Ashnak

Ashnak
Frags said:
Wouldn't be better to use overcharged instead of rapid fire since the original ROF 4.5/s is pretty high to me?
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That's the (old) big discussion in the outfitting subforum - OC vs. RF, with a side order of Double Shot.

In my opinion, the shortcoming of the pacs is their reload time - default is 5 seconds, OC doesn't change that. RF gives you a 1.75 second reload. Add Screening Shell on top, and OC sits at 2.5 seconds reload, RF at 0.88 seconds.
That reload time then shows up in the sustained DPS - I know that Coriolis isn't perfect, but it gives an indication: OC/SS gives you 82.4 SDPS, RF/SS sits at 120 SDPS. The downside is, of course, that RF will go through your ammo twice as fast.

The ROF itself is pretty much meaningless - you get three shots per reload, as fast as you can squeeze them off. The difference comes in when you need to wait 2.5 seconds for that reload or you have it in less than one second. For me - and that's highly subjective - this means that I can often squeeze off two salvoes per pass, instead of just one (taking into account that you need to get close). And if I can manage to get short distance broadside towards my opponent, it's pure slaughter.
 

Ashnak

Ashnak
Regarding your builds: why the pulse laser (for the PAC build)? Against shields, it won't make much of a difference (ok, that goes either way), and your ammo endurance is limited from the pacs.
As for the APA build - not for me. Against multiple small fry, I'm useless with fixed weapons on the Krait - and the pacs are only useful if you can get short range. i.e. most of the pellets on the target.
 

Frags

F
Ashnak said:
In my opinion, the shortcoming of the pacs is their reload time - default is 5 seconds, OC doesn't change that. RF gives you a 1.75 second reload. Add Screening Shell on top, and OC sits at 2.5 seconds reload, RF at 0.88 seconds.
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What's about additional 0.5deg jitter which is coming with RF? The main advantage of PAC is low jitter.
 

Ashnak

Ashnak
Frags said:
What's about additional 0.5deg jitter which is coming with RF? The main advantage of PAC is low jitter.
Click to expand...
If you want to use it at a range where this matters, then yes, this is a disadvantage. It's more than with OC, but still less than half of a regular frag.
I prefer to get up close.
 
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