Gimballed Weapons

Spam · Mar 23, 2015

I have always used Fixed variant weapons for primary attacking as they are super accurate, more accurate and cooler.
I got myself a Vulture t'other day and after reading these forums fitted some Gimballed Pulses in it. My initial impression was yuck. They are massively innacurate. They hunt around and miss more often that not.
But lots of people were raving about them so I persevered and found it was me that was being bad, I was trying to effectively snipe with them from too great a distance. So I changed tactics and got in way closer than I was used to.
It's revolutionized combat for me in the Rift. It's stunning. I now fly pretty much in the exhaust wash of the larger ships. The graphics have become massively better. Before I was shooting at a twinkling light in the distance. Now I can see where every single shot lands, if it was a penetrative hit or not. And the ships look amazing. I am loving going against the Python/Anacondas. They are a proper good fight and it really shows off the benefits of the head tracking in the Rift.

If you haven't tried these tactics I would highly recommend you do. Its truly awesome. I'm not a great pilot but doing this ha taught me huge amounts. Being that close to a ship lets you read it positioning and "tells" from thruster fire.

I'm off to grab me an Eagle again for extra giggles.

[VR] Mad Mike · Mar 23, 2015

Spam said:
I have always used Fixed variant weapons for primary attacking as they are super accurate, more accurate and cooler.
I got myself a Vulture t'other day and after reading these forums fitted some Gimballed Pulses in it. My initial impression was yuck. They are massively innacurate. They hunt around and miss more often that not.
But lots of people were raving about them so I persevered and found it was me that was being bad, I was trying to effectively snipe with them from too great a distance. So I changed tactics and got in way closer than I was used to.
It's revolutionized combat for me in the Rift. It's stunning. I now fly pretty much in the exhaust wash of the larger ships. The graphics have become massively better. Before I was shooting at a twinkling light in the distance. Now I can see where every single shot lands, if it was a penetrative hit or not. And the ships look amazing. I am loving going against the Python/Anacondas. They are a proper good fight and it really shows off the benefits of the head tracking in the Rift.

If you haven't tried these tactics I would highly recommend you do. Its truly awesome. I'm not a great pilot but doing this ha taught me huge amounts. Being that close to a ship lets you read it positioning and "tells" from thruster fire.

I'm off to grab me an Eagle again for extra giggles.

The thing is, if you are fighting up close and personal, would the fixed (ship/weapons mount depending) still not deliver more pain per shot? (and if you are that close its hard to miss

)

Jaeger · Mar 23, 2015

Spam said:
They are massively innacurate. They hunt around and miss more often that not.

Yup, they should be called "Spam" weapons, not gimbals

Time Streamer · Mar 23, 2015

Jaeger said:
Yup, they should be called "Spam" weapons, not gimbals

Preferably, i have a taste for fixed. Using a viper with two PA already requires some effort to land those shots against nimbler targets. For shield tearing in this situation, i went for gimbal burst lasers. Have no problem whatsoever with them missing. They're innacurate at long ranges only. If i come closer, they do the job quite well.

Spam · Mar 23, 2015

Its the fact that the gimbals have such a large window of operation that allows you to fly so close. Keeping fixed weapons on the target is very tricky.

I'm not saying it's best, it's just ace is all. Best combat fun I've had so far.

Jaeger said:
Yup, they should be called "Spam" weapons, not gimbals

Any weapon fired by me is indeed a Spam weapon. Literally. No pun needed there. Sometimes I even open my eyes. Just think along the lines of an "Infinite Monkeys" approach to combat.

Rhaedas · Mar 23, 2015

Gimbaled, just like fixed, miss a lot if you don't pay attention to when it is on target. Like Spam learned, being up close and personal with the ships is fun, and having that wider field of coverage makes the difference. Think of the gimbaled as the shotgun vs. the fixed being the sniper. Difference power, different tactics.

Thoemse · Mar 23, 2015

Using the DK2 + X-55 with a fixed pulse vulture. I am fighting big ships (anaconda to clipper) only in RES sites. I fight them up close and i have a hit quote of 99.xx %.
Why would i use gimbaled? With DK2 + hotas it is almost impossible to NOT hit. First i though maybe ppl use gimbaled to target subsystems but when you are up close i don't see that advantage either.

CMDR Holycow · Mar 23, 2015

Thoemse said:
Using the DK2 + X-55 with a fixed pulse vulture. I am fighting big ships (anaconda to clipper) only in RES sites. I fight them up close and i have a hit quote of 99.xx %.
Why would i use gimbaled? With DK2 + hotas it is almost impossible to NOT hit. First i though maybe ppl use gimbaled to target subsystems but when you are up close i don't see that advantage either.

You're playing against crappy pilots. Fly against a human player like myself, in an A rated vulture, and I can guarantee you your 99% rate will drop to single digits. Gimbled weapons are a bit weaker, but your on-target time against pilots that know how to fly is far longer. One big advantage to a gimble, is being able to point your craft below your target ship as you both pitch upwards, letting you stay/keep out of his target window, and stay closer to the actual tail of his ship, instead of going right towards it. ..while still being able to make shots.