Extra railgun ammo is nice...

Mr_Blastman

Mr_Blastman
But they still kill themselves when you overheat. Why was such a bad mechanic ever introduced? They're hard enough a weapon to use as is, and the gimbal weapon meta is boring. So sad you can't load up several rails and use them. If you do... they melt themselves in a matter of seconds.

Why?

Any way to get around this?
 

Ziljan

Ziljan
Yes. Use fixed burst lasers instead. Same timing/skill required. Similar overall DPS. Much better options for engineering.
 

Lucius-Darcia

Lucius-Darcia
Mr_Blastman said:
But they still kill themselves when you overheat. Why was such a bad mechanic ever introduced? They're hard enough a weapon to use as is, and the gimbal weapon meta is boring. So sad you can't load up several rails and use them. If you do... they melt themselves in a matter of seconds.

Why?

Any way to get around this?
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Just don't be greedy with rails. The 2 small rails on my Corvette and Anaconda work perfectly fine. I can shoot and shoot and shoot with no overheating. Doing it with 2 medium takes some more time but 4 mediums on FDL is too much. Just don't do it :rolleyes:
 

Heavenly-Hammer

Heavenly-Hammer
Snarfbuckle said:
Perhaps DPS but hardly the hull penetration and module damage.
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I mean I'm still stuck on the DPS statement. Don't C2 rails do like 50dps? And they can be Engineered to around 70dps per shot? And that's a Class 2.

I don't think any laser variant of any class size can match that damage output. Perma-firing limitations notwithstanding, rails are the highest damage C2 weapons in the game, trailing only PA's.
 

Ziljan

Ziljan
Heavenly-Hammer said:
Bursts having the same overall DPS as Rails? Idunno about that one, homie.
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If you count heat cooldown time and ammo saving for perfect shots? Yes. Burst might even do better effective DPS than rails.

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Snarfbuckle said:
Perhaps DPS but hardly the hull penetration and module damage.
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Depends greatly on your mods. Burst can have very good penetration with a clever combo.

I spent a LOT of time with hammers and rails trying to justify their existence in beta, and that was when their relative penetration was much higher than in the live version for C1 and C2. But the ultimate hard reality is that rails are a (fun) waste of space compared to any thermal alternative.

The only caveat here is if you are using a small hardpoint on a big ship with a huge PP, for a specialized purpose like SCB thwarting. Or PVP bursting with massed heatsinks.
 
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RagingxPenguin

R
I'm disappointed with the rails. Extra rounds is great but they really don't do much module damage even with the super penetrator mod.

Been trying all sorts of combinations on my MK4 with little luck. While the IMP hammer is nice I'm betting a fixed long range cannon would be better.
 

Duckfat

Duckfat
Mr_Blastman said:
But they still kill themselves when you overheat. Why was such a bad mechanic ever introduced? They're hard enough a weapon to use as is, and the gimbal weapon meta is boring. So sad you can't load up several rails and use them. If you do... they melt themselves in a matter of seconds.

Why?

Any way to get around this?
Click to expand...

Stick a pack of frozen peas on it.
 

Ziljan

Ziljan
Heavenly-Hammer said:
I mean I'm still stuck on the DPS statement. Don't C2 rails do like 50dps? And they can be Engineered to around 70dps per shot? And that's a Class 2.

I don't think any laser variant of any class size can match that damage output. Perma-firing limitations notwithstanding, rails are the highest damage C2 weapons in the game, trailing only PA's.
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If you look at the game in 3 second intervals only, then yes, rails are amazing a few seconds at a time. If that is filler DPS while your other guns are reloading, or supplemental DPS to help your main weapons burn down shields or hull, then Fine. Good. But otherwise you will eventually be forced to consider your sustained DPS over the duration of a fight. Most fights last longer than 3 seconds.

Seriously, the next time you are in a fight that lasts longer than a minute, count the number of times you fire your rails in a minute. Then divide by 60. That is your real DPS.
 
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Morbad

Morbad
Rails are crazy powerful now. 30 rounds was the key balancing factor before, making plasma slug almost mandatory to get solid use out of them. Now you can just slap on sturdy or lightweight for the reduced thermal and/or distributor load and fire them as fast as they cycle until they run dry...on a vessel with appropriate thermal capacity.
 

Ozram

Ozram
Ziljan said:
If you count heat cooldown time and ammo saving for perfect shots? Yes. Burst might even do better effective DPS than rails.

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Depends greatly on your mods. Burst can have very good penetration with a clever combo.

I spent a LOT of time with hammers and rails trying to justify their existence in beta, and that was when their relative penetration was much higher than in the live version for C1 and C2. But the ultimate hard reality is that rails are a (fun) waste of space compared to any thermal alternative.

The only caveat here is if you are using a small hardpoint on a big ship with a huge PP, for a specialized purpose like SCB thwarting. Or PVP bursting with massed heatsinks.
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Funny you mention that. The small, feedback Cascade rail has been a useful side kick on a few of my ships, but most effective in my anaconda for that specific purpose and little else.
 
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Apos

Apos
I'm more concerned with the fact that Plasma Slug rails are now not worth it if you are carrying at least 2 railguns, unless your ship has a base fuel tonnage of 32+.

And yet it still has a damage penalty.
 

Madrax573

Madrax573
I have been using 3 small rails on my Cobra MK IV and 2 small on my viper MK IV and I love them! Target the PP on my intended victim and blast away. Only a couple of volleys and his shields are bye bye. Unload my Medium MC while re-acquiring the target (fixed weapons on two slugs!) then unload the next volley while peppering him with the MC's. Take out elites really nicely. More ammo just means more targets dead before I synth up more ammo :)
 

UnhappyDev

UnhappyDev
Mr_Blastman said:
But they still kill themselves when you overheat. Why was such a bad mechanic ever introduced?
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Why is it a bad mechanic? If you use something beyond its safe tolerance limits it will break?

Apos said:
I'm more concerned with the fact that Plasma Slug rails are now not worth it if you are carrying at least 2 railguns, unless your ship has a base fuel tonnage of 32+.

And yet it still has a damage penalty.
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Yes, the 20% damage penalty is just too much to make plasma slug rail viable IMO, especially now that ammo count got buffed. FDev said they would look at railguns again after the patch. They just don't offer enough reward for the skill needed to use them effectively
 

KR4K40

KR4K40
Mr_Blastman said:
But they still kill themselves when you overheat. Why was such a bad mechanic ever introduced? They're hard enough a weapon to use as is, and the gimbal weapon meta is boring. So sad you can't load up several rails and use them. If you do... they melt themselves in a matter of seconds.

Why?

Any way to get around this?
Click to expand...

Sturdy mount. Enjoy halving the heat output of your weapon, increasing its durability and armor piercing for the only drawback of mass.
 
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