Are C4 beam lasers objectively better than C4 burst lasers?

[Soothsayer]

EDIT: Sorry about the title. I meant for it to be the other way around, since the paper stats of Overcharged C4 burst lasers are objectively better than the paper stats of C4 Efficient beams.

I spent the last few days engineering my Corvette's beam lasers to the point where I can fire them indefinitely, and while they're a bit short on range, they seem to be devastating against both shields and hulls. However, I've taken a look at C4 burst lasers on EDShipyard / INARA, and I've noticed that with G5 Overcharged, burst lasers offer less capacitor drain and more (theoretical) DPS than G5 Efficient C4 beam lasers. Wouldn't that make them objectively superior to beam lasers?

Ideally, I'd like to hear from someone who has experience with C4 burst lasers. Are they as amazing as they seem to be on paper, or is there some kind of hidden caveat that I'm not aware of?

 

[Crash1099]

EDIT: Sorry about the title. I meant for it to be the other way around, since the paper stats of Overcharged C4 burst lasers are objectively better than the paper stats of C4 Efficient beams.

I spent the last few days engineering my Corvette's beam lasers to the point where I can fire them indefinitely, and while they're a bit short on range, they seem to be devastating against both shields and hulls. However, I've taken a look at C4 burst lasers on EDShipyard / INARA, and I've noticed that with G5 Overcharged, burst lasers offer less capacitor drain and more (theoretical) DPS than G5 Efficient C4 beam lasers. Wouldn't that make them objectively superior to beam lasers?

Ideally, I'd like to hear from someone who has experience with C4 burst lasers. Are they as amazing as they seem to be on paper, or is there some kind of hidden caveat that I'm not aware of?

To me c4 beam lasers are better then burst. I have one c4 Beam laser and capacitor never drains.

 

[Soothsayer]

To me c4 beam lasers are better then burst. I have one c4 Beam laser and capacitor never drains.

Point is, C4 burst lasers seem to be a little better on paper due to having more DPS and less capacitor drain. Unless there's some kind of hidden variable I'm not aware of, like a firing delay (ala rail guns), beam lasers don't seem to stack up.

 

[ForeverN00b]

For any laser, long range is superior to OC after 1200 meters. The damage dropoff for lasers begins at 500M. LR lasers have no damage dropoff, so 1200M is about the point where LR lasers trump OC lasers. LR lasers also have the benefit of going out past 4KM.

I don't ever recommend OC lasers, and I don't really recommend efficient either. LR lasers FTW.

 

[Gorr]

Yup, must agree on this point. Corvette is slow ship, so fight distances are usually around 1+km. Long range mod is really usefull in this cases.

Also, beam lasers have one really strong advantage which is termal vent mod. I am basically using Size 4 beam laser on my FDL as a cooling mechanism while shooting rails or plasmas. This is example where efficient mod shines, as not having it will negate cooling.

 

[biohazard15]

Yup, must agree on this point. Corvette is slow ship, so fight distances are usually around 1+km. Long range mod is really usefull in this cases.

Also, beam lasers have one really strong advantage which is termal vent mod. I am basically using Size 4 beam laser on my FDL as a cooling mechanism while shooting rails or plasmas. This is example where efficient mod shines, as not having it will negate cooling.

That is probably the only case where thermal vent is useful on efficient beams.

 

[NecasekO]

OP, are you sure you are comparing the right numbers? As far as I know capacitor drain for beam lasers is displayed per second, while for pulse and burst lasers it is per shot. You would have to convert the burst laser value to energy / second to be able to compare the two.

 

[Earth Ultimatum IV.]

Bursts are objectively better. Higher damage per distro energy means they do more damage in a long run. Of course, for frying that NPC eagle or stripping that viper's shield, beams are good, but for anything else burst is more efficient.

Subjectively they may not. Bursts can be very annoying to aim.

 

[Bryan K]

For any laser, long range is superior to OC after 1200 meters. The damage dropoff for lasers begins at 500M. LR lasers have no damage dropoff, so 1200M is about the point where LR lasers trump OC lasers. LR lasers also have the benefit of going out past 4KM.

I don't ever recommend OC lasers, and I don't really recommend efficient either. LR lasers FTW.

I love my OC C4 beam on my Cutter. I fight up-close and personal so it strips shields frighteningly fast (especially since I teamed it with two C2 OC beams. Only thing more effective at shield removal would be reverb cascade torps/mines.

Mind you, I only fight NPCs, though. I doubt many players would be stupid enough to stick too close to the front of a Cutter.

 

[Mephane]

For any laser, long range is superior to OC after 1200 meters. The damage dropoff for lasers begins at 500M. LR lasers have no damage dropoff, so 1200M is about the point where LR lasers trump OC lasers. LR lasers also have the benefit of going out past 4KM.

I don't ever recommend OC lasers, and I don't really recommend efficient either. LR lasers FTW.

I have also grown fond of long range lasers (except for turrets, where I use rapid fire or efficient). I've got a pair of decent long range beams on my Python, but lately I have been wondering if burst lasers in their stead would be better. They're much more DPE and DPH efficient and the DPS loss is not as big as with pulse lasers. However, I am not sure if I should spend any effort on engineering new items before we know how 2.4 will deal with the new gear vs old gear vs engineers...

 

[goemon]

one of the caveats of c4 burst is their weird rate of fire, making it complicated to hit smaller moving targets at all with a full burst, and to hit moduls.

i'd suggest either overcharged pulses or efficient beams on huge, or both as longrange G1 (as the upped apv of focussed won't help on huge hardpoints).

 

[Mephane]

While we are at it, how does the larger breach damage of beam lasers hold up vs burst lasers? I tend to go for the power plant on larger enemies, so this might be a plus, but I can't really tell how much of a difference it actually makes.

 

[bladebss]

I tryed oc huge burst on my conda. I was using long range beam with thermal conduit. After 5 mins i was back at the station swapping back to the beam.

The aiming is harder, the damage drop off it too grate and i didnt find it to be as efficient as i was hoping.

If you're using gimbaled it might be worth it as you will be using them inside 1.5k and they are hit scan so you can stop those nippy little ships from dodging your projectiles.

 

[Mephane]

I tryed oc huge burst on my conda. I was using long range beam with thermal conduit. After 5 mins i was back at the station swapping back to the beam.

The aiming is harder, the damage drop off it too grate and i didnt find it to be as efficient as i was hoping.

If you're using gimbaled it might be worth it as you will be using them inside 1.5k and they are hit scan so you can stop those nippy little ships from dodging your projectiles.

I was thinking more of a comparison long range beam vs long range burst, not going to use overcharged on any weapon because I have no MEF (and I refuse to play the utter terrible way left to obtain them).

 

[timbero]

Objectively? Don't know.

Subjectively - Yes.

I tried 2 huge OC bursts, did not like them at all. Don't like the slooow burst fire mode, the heat build-up .. pretty much nothing I liked about them.

Would rather use 2 pulse.

But I'm currently using 2 fixed efficient beams, which I actually really like.

 

[bladebss]

I was thinking more of a comparison long range beam vs long range burst, not going to use overcharged on any weapon because I have no MEF (and I refuse to play the utter terrible way left to obtain them).

Well.. on a python. How long can you keep the time on target with fixed. Do you drain your cap with the beams before they get past you? Long range burts lasers are more efficient than long range beams.

I have done some extensive testing on the ole breach damage of burst and beam..
2 large gimbaled burst was good but was not nearly as good as gimbaled beams. I could kill the pp on an npc conda in about 3 to 5 seconds but the bursts were more like 5 to 8 seconds.

Also whats hard about getting mef? Just do the data rout in a small long range ship and in a couple of hours you have 30 to 50 mef and some cif to boot. I have been doing it for cif and after two or three runs i have 87 mef! If there is alien engeneering no doubt you are probably gunna need it [cool]

 

[Mephane]

Also whats hard about getting mef? Just do the data rout in a small long range ship and in a couple of hours you have 30 to 50 mef and some cif to boot. I have been doing it for cif and after two or three runs i have 87 mef! If there is alien engeneering no doubt you are probably gunna need it [cool]

I just hate the base-hack-against-the-clock gameplay. While a lot of engineer mats are annoying to get (e.g. fly around for USS in systems in a specific state), I find the base hacking so stressful and aggravating that I have just decided MEF don't exist for me. Yeah, that also means no multicannons for me (where overcharged is king), so i stock mostly to lasers with rapid fire, long range and efficient (depending on laser type and loadout).

 

[bladebss]

But.. its so easy. All the bases on the list have the same layout you just scoot from one to the next, they are easy to get to and no one even shoots at you. The timers are realy generous, i often stop mid way to purge some mats. Once you know where the 4 beacons are you just do a little rout round the outside of the facility. I think ypu should give it another try! Not that i wana knock your play style as i like build diversity and refusal to use boring oc multicannons makes you a winner in my book!

 

[Mephane]

But.. its so easy. All the bases on the list have the same layout you just scoot from one to the next, they are easy to get to and no one even shoots at you. The timers are realy generous, i often stop mid way to purge some mats. Once you know where the 4 beacons are you just do a little rout round the outside of the facility. I think ypu should give it another try! Not that i wana knock your play style as i like build diversity and refusal to use boring oc multicannons makes you a winner in my book!

Well there's also that. I prefer lasers in general and the only ones I'd ever put overcharged on would be pulse, and for these i am doing fine with rapid fire anyway.

 

[timbero]

Damage per energy: Beam wins
Energy per second: Beam wins
Heat per second: Beam wins

Burst has slightly better DPS (almost the same) and piercing, but you have to contend with the annoying sloooow burst fire, and ~75% more heat buildup per second.
Also the burst seem to be LESS dpe efficient and drain MORE of the capacitor.