Engineers Multicannon overcharge, grade 5 is king?

[Fortran]

Dear all

I plan to update my single class 4 and 3 class 3 multicannons on my Anaconda with engineers. I assume that overcharge is the way to go in order to chew away the hull rapidly.

However, when at the blaster engineer I noticed that overcharge grade 5 really has no downsides as compared to grade 4 or 3. Thus, why would someone go for anything lower than grade 5?

Sure, the mats are more difficult to obtain but it's just a mattet of time.

 

[Ozram]

Overcharge is only worth it at grade 5. Make sure to have some effects to go with it (incendiaries are good and make sure to have at least one with corrosive). I'm not the biggest fan of the Large Multicannons as they have a huge delay between opening fire and actually firing.

 

[Fortran]

Overcharge is only worth it at grade 5. Make sure to have some effects to go with it (incendiaries are good and make sure to have at least one with corrosive). I'm not the biggest fan of the Large Multicannons as they have a huge delay between opening fire and actually firing.

Interesting observation indeed with the slow fire rate. What would you recommend instead for my huge slot?

 

[UnhappyDev]

I like OC multicannons but you burn through ammo quickly, especially if you have special effects. Also, you spend a lot of time reloading.

Also, as Ozram mentions above, they have a lengthy spin-up time making them difficult to use as fixed weapons

 

[StiTch]

Interesting observation indeed with the slow fire rate. What would you recommend instead for my huge slot?

It's not fire rate he's talking about - on the C3 multi cannons, there's a fair spin up time on them, so when you pull the trigger you don't get any shots fired for a couple of seconds.

The C4 MC fires differently and has no spin up time.

To answer the original question, no it's not worth it below G5 because jitter wrecks the majority of weapons once applied.

 

[Ozram]

It's not fire rate he's talking about - on the C3 multi cannons, there's a fair spin up time on them, so when you pull the trigger you don't get any shots fired for a couple of seconds.

The C4 MC fires differently and has no spin up time.

To answer the original question, no it's not worth it below G5 because jitter wrecks the majority of weapons once applied.

Yep, this. Have some rep.

 

[Fortran]

It's not fire rate he's talking about - on the C3 multi cannons, there's a fair spin up time on them, so when you pull the trigger you don't get any shots fired for a couple of seconds.

The C4 MC fires differently and has no spin up time.

To answer the original question, no it's not worth it below G5 because jitter wrecks the majority of weapons once applied.

Ooo, my bad. Do you then suggest another weapon for those large slots, e.g., cannon?

 

[MrReynolds]

I made the mistake of engineering lots of pulse lasers over the weekend.
Without testing them I stupidly upgraded 2 huge pulses to level 5 with effects.

Put them onto the 'Vette and they are FAR worse than the 2 overcharged l5 MCs. Fun, yes - but stats and capacitor wise pointless. With the M.Cs I can fire all day. The pulses drain capacitor way too quick.

I'm playing with one huge pulse and one huge M.C. at the moment, just to mix things up.
The capacitor lasts a bit longer with this, but if I were to set up the best layout I would probably go for 2 huge M.C. with a large pulse under the frame.

**Wish I remembered to upgrade the mediums with effects instead of huge. At least they would have been spread throughout the fleet more (FDL, Python, all other large). I took a lot of commodities to the engineer but forgot to check the materials for the l3-5 upgrade. Only did 3 effects and ran out of l3 mats!

 

[StiTch]

Ooo, my bad. Do you then suggest another weapon for those large slots, e.g., cannon?

Typically cannons are viewed as even worse on large slots - the issue this time being projectile travel speed and lower hull shredding ability. Cannons are usually best used on smaller ships with a few of them, where you can sit on top of a larger ship and take their PP to pieces in seconds.

I know Ozram mentioned he's not a fan of the MCs, but your best bet is to experiment with what you like and then modify from there. Many people get on just fine with the C3 MCs - Ozram might be using fixed weapons on an agile ship for instance, where the spin up time is typically more of an issue.

Ships like the conda benefit from keeping at mid range, running 4/0/2 on pips, and effectively forcing smaller enemies into tanking you. Multicannons are perfect for this, unless you want to take a look at pulse lasers with the new rapid fire mod.

 

[vindicator jones]

I am about to link to a video I just did on my class 4 multicanon with rapid fire and corrosive shell, mixed with rapid fire phasing pulse lasers. I suggest you wait until you have seen this video. Rapid fire is just incredible.

 

[StiTch]

I am about to link to a video I just did on my class 4 multicanon with rapid fire and corrosive shell, mixed with rapid fire phasing pulse lasers. I suggest you wait until you have seen this video. Rapid fire is just incredible.

Why corrosive on the C4 slot?

Would personally avoid rapid fire on MCs because you'll chew through ammo and gain jitter, but the distributor draw was never a problem anyway. People are breaking out rapid fire on pulses because there's no ammo concerns and as a thermal weapon has an element of capacitor draw to address where possible.

 

[vindicator jones]

Why corrosive on the C4 slot?

Would personally avoid rapid fire on MCs because you'll chew through ammo and gain jitter, but the distributor draw was never a problem anyway. People are breaking out rapid fire on pulses because there's no ammo concerns and as a thermal weapon has an element of capacitor draw to address where possible.

The ammo issue is completely negated with synthesis, and as you will see in the video, the way it rips through armour is frightening.

 

[StiTch]

The ammo issue is completely negated with synthesis, and as you will see in the video, the way it rips through armour is frightening.

It also drops the DPS on one of your two huge weapons, when it could be applied to a C1 weapon for the same effect.

 

[lineagerulz]

MC are the best atm but i Made my pvp fdl with 4 c2 rapid fire Pulse with Phase and a c4 PA rapid fire with phase, pulses are fix whit this loadout i was able to win corvettes and cutters 1v1, with a good lvl 5 pd. I was able to not overheat more than 80%, however in pve i recommand MC.

 

[rockswift]

All MC/frag hardpoints on my Conda.

1x Huge gimbaled multi (overcharged grade 4 w/ incendiary rds)
2x Large gimbaled multi (overcharged grade 4 w/ incendiary rds)
2x med turreted multi (overcharged 4 w/ incendiary rds)
2x small turreted multi (extended mag 4 w/corrosive rds)
1x Large turreted frag cannon (short range blaster w/incendiary)

Currently working towards grade 5s... got 8a PP overcharged and 8a dist weapons focused.

Only need corrosive on one or two hardpoints for the debuff, works nicely with extended mag on smalls.

Absolutely rips ships apart.

Credit to DarthRavadge for this loadout, adapted from his corvette build.

 

[StiTch]

1x Large turreted frag cannon (short range blaster w/incendiary)

Nice build, but heads up that range changes don't just affect the max range of the weapon, but completely re-draws the range curve to the new range. Short range blaster mods are generally a dud because any damage gained is lost if you fire at more than a few metres away.

If you can get that conda at point blank range consistently anyway, then good show to ya

 

[Von Shadow]

Why corrosive on the C4 slot?

Would personally avoid rapid fire on MCs because you'll chew through ammo and gain jitter, but the distributor draw was never a problem anyway. People are breaking out rapid fire on pulses because there's no ammo concerns and as a thermal weapon has an element of capacitor draw to address where possible.

I've put 1x rapid fire and 1x overcharged pulse class 3 on my Vulture.... can fire indefinitely with 4 pips.... with 3 pips you deplete your capacitor and lose a fraction of fire rate but almost nill ... Even with 2 pips (meaning you can dump 4 for sys) is respectable.

I need to re-roll my weapons and stockpile on items needed to get me back up (buying corrosive/phasing)

 

[Ozram]

Looks like a lot of good advice on this thread. My build is not up to standards of new meta. It's a nice ship with lots of effects but more geared to taking on medium and small ships than facing another anaconda or larger on its own. I'm also a bit burned out with engineers so won't be doing the rapid fire stuff for a while. I do use a single large OC 5 multicannon with incendiary. It just compliments the huge OC 5 with no effects (both gimballed). I have a medium multicannon with extra amo and corrosive. On the other side I have a cannon for dispersal field (also added ammo). The two top larges are pulse turrets which may not be a popular option but it's been effective. One has Focussed weapon level four with scramble spectrum and the other is OC 4 with emissive amo. Underneath I have drag munitions seekers and a feedback Cascade rail. Shields are nicely boosted level 5s with five A rated support boosters (various effects), a pair of heat sinks and an ECM. I like SLFs too much though so aim not taking it into PVP for fear of losing my hired NPC. Instead I've modded up a courier with all reverb Cascade torpedoes that I intend to move with me ank keep sitting pretty at CGs. I'm also doing up a fast iEagle with a pair of reverb Cascade mines and a medium super penetrator round railgun. It runs cool enough and fast enough to be stealthy, annoying and cheap. None of it is hard meta because Engies are beginning to really do my head in. I'm even considering Möbius these days. Too hard to keep up with the joneses.

 

[rockswift]

Yeah, this was the only hardpoint I've been unsure about to be honest.

I might aim to replace this with a large beam (maybe turret) with regeneration sequence for healing wingman... does regeneration sequence work on launched fighters? Would be cool keeping my plasma accelerator assassin alive.

Thoughts?

 

[StiTch]

Yeah, this was the only hardpoint I've been unsure about to be honest.

I might aim to replace this with a large beam (maybe turret) with regeneration sequence for healing wingman... does regeneration sequence work on launched fighters? Would be cool keeping my plasma accelerator assassin alive.

Thoughts?

Interesting thought, though I noticed most SLF shields drop when you breathe on them anyway.

If you wanna keep the frag just shove double shot on it Shame hardly any other weapons get such tailored mods...