C4 PA useless in CZ?

[Synther]

So I'm running an FDL and I recently got enough money to use the C4 Plasma Accelerator. While it does do heavy shield damage, it seemed useless against annies unless I direct hitted the modules. Otherwise it barely did any hull damage and left me exposed out in the open for far too long. I switched back to my gimbal cannon because at the very least that will hit modules much more often. Also it allowed me to use another grade a shield booster.

Thoughts?

 

[Eagle Eye]

How does it expose you in the out?

It's not a shield stripper. C4 PA is the gun you unload when you want that Anaconda dead in 10 seconds after its shield goes down. 2 shots in the general area of the power plant and it explodes. 1 direct hit should also be enough (much harder to pull of though).

 

[Synther]

Yes but it doesn't do any hull damage on many of the ships i was shooting at (Asps, Annies and Pythons were my test subjects). I was landing hit after hit and it would do no damage! The only time it did do damage was towards the modules if I managed to even hit them. I guess I can make a video.

This was much more noticeable in CZ and not so much at RES.

How does it expose you in the out?

Trying to hit the power plant while tanking damage from the annie.

 

[ChubbyBunneh]

Hit an Eagle or Viper with it and tell us what happens.

CZ Pythons and Anacondas take forever to kill through bashing the hull no matter what weapon you use. 2 shots to the power plant is all it takes with the huge PA.

 

[Eagle Eye]

Yes but it doesn't do any hull damage on many of the ships i was shooting at (Asps, Annies and Pythons were my test subjects). I was landing hit after hit and it would do no damage! The only time it did do damage was towards the modules if I managed to even hit them. I guess I can make a video.

This was much more noticeable in CZ and not so much at RES.



Trying to hit the power plant while tanking damage from the annie.

Well yes, PA is not a shield/hull damage weapon, it's a subsystem damage weapon, so your aim need to be true for it to do its best. 1 solid direct hit (or 2-3 glancing shots) to a power plant more often than not destroy most large ships.

IMO for the C4 slot, it's the best weapon to use. I tried the Cannons and they are... garbage really. Both my Anaconda and FdL sport a PA and I am quite happy with it.

 

[Bazorlag]

So I'm running an FDL and I recently got enough money to use the C4 Plasma Accelerator. While it does do heavy shield damage, it seemed useless against annies unless I direct hitted the modules. Otherwise it barely did any hull damage and left me exposed out in the open for far too long. I switched back to my gimbal cannon because at the very least that will hit modules much more often. Also it allowed me to use another grade a shield booster.

Thoughts?

Gimballed C4 cannon is the best consistently reliable huge weapon and it goes well together with a beam array that are also capable of adding more damage to components accurately and engaging from stand-off distances when situation calls for it.

Plasma accelerators are bit iffy at the moment, due to their numerous downsides (ammo, high heat, projectile, no gimbal option, high power use and expenses) are not properly compensated with enough damage output or high enough alpha (124mj may sound high, but it still takes several hits to knock down shields from larger ships). Cannon beats it for component damage because it fires two shots faster and has no heat issues emerging from continuous fire. Class 4 PA actually loses to class 3 fixed beam in shield stripping. This thread has some great info: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=140240

 

[Synther]

Gimballed C4 cannon is the best consistently reliable huge weapon and it goes well together with a beam array that are also capable of adding more damage to components accurately and engaging from stand-off distances when situation calls for it.

Yeah that's pretty much my stance. Back to the C4 gimbal cannon.

I get pretty much the same module damage with less ammo usage and more active shield boosters.

 

[Morbad]

Thoughts?

Get better at aiming the PA.

Yes but it doesn't do any hull damage on many of the ships i was shooting at

It does tons of hull damage, but it's armor penetration is so high that if you strike any subsystem with it (a very common occurrence), the bulk of damage is transferred to that subsystem, rather than the hull.

Gimballed C4 cannon is the best consistently reliable huge weapon

I can land hits more reliably with the huge PA than the gimbal can land hits with the huge cannon. It's all about timing, and once you have that down, the much faster projectile velocity almost ensures superior accuracy with the PA.

 

[Chris Rosenkreutz]

A huge PA is indeed good at killing Anacondas if you get some practice at hitting the power plant. And it can sometimes do enough damage to the hull of clippers and dropships to destroy them in a few shots even if you miss the power plant. Medium pulses do full damage to Asps so you don't need the PA to take out the power plant quickly.

The difficult ship for this build is the Python. It's fast enough that you do not have long to aim at the power plant in each pass. And the hull takes many shots. So it takes a lot longer than a Vulture with class 3 pulses would take to kill a Python.

Now I run a class 3 beam on my FDL and a couple of multicannons as well as the pulses. This is better against Pythons and small ships. But I miss the PA against 'condas!

 

[Rich Bramwell]

2 D2 gimballed beams on the outside hardpoints and 2 D2 gimballed cannons on the nose hardpoints with the B 4 gimballed cannon is lethal within 500 meters. You do have to be such a good shot at firing with just one large cannon or one large PA, granted the PA projectile does fly faster but load slower. My hits with all 3 cannons range from 25 to 35% hull damage and the main advantage the B 4 cannon has over the PA is the ''heat buildup'', it means you have 0.3 seconds to take that shot between the next with the PA but after 2 or 3 shots you need to use a heatsink or your ship overheats, with the triple-cannon setup I have never used heatsinks for anything other than the 2 beams which can fire for ages on an A 6 power distributor.
So the triple cannon setup for big ships, or my all time favorite....4 Gimballed multi-cannons and 1 C 3 gimballed beam on the huge belly hard-point, once that shield is down...bye bye hull.
I do love the PA and it's sound but it really is a big ship weapon especially since it is only available as fixed, not all us CMR's are young sprites with reflexes of steel...more like reflexes of cheese with me I know that.

 

[HipToss]

Get better at aiming the PA.



It does tons of hull damage, but it's armor penetration is so high that if you strike any subsystem with it (a very common occurrence), the bulk of damage is transferred to that subsystem, rather than the hull.



I can land hits more reliably with the huge PA than the gimbal can land hits with the huge cannon. It's all about timing, and once you have that down, the much faster projectile velocity almost ensures superior accuracy with the PA.

All of this! I have them on various ships. Trick I find for the quick kill, target PP, fly in REAL close to module, pew pew, boom goes the dynamite! Being real close makes you a very hard target to hit. Or, lateral thrust circling around the crafts top and bottom and hit the subsystem a few times. I find turrets are hard to track you at this rate of speed and closeness.

 

[rizal72]

The C4 PA is the Hammer of God.
I've won so many PvP fight thanks to his gorgeous Thermal + Kinetic damage: it's always a face to face joust, and a PA shot in the face is soooo much damage! The fact is that it is effective both on shields and hull, with a prevalence on the latter.
for PvE is 10/20 seconds depending on target.

Sometimes I take the luxury of equipping a C4 PA and four Cannons or MC: 4 pips to shields, 2 to weapons and you become an Highlander...