Engineers Multicannons - Is there any justification for using Rapid Fire over Overcharged?

[Soothsayer]

I'm about to re-roll my Corvette's multicannons to get rid of their Incendiary specials (I'll be using efficient beams for my G4 hardpoints, since my upgraded PD from the Dweller was pretty much a god roll) and replace them with Autoloaders. However, I'm puzzled by the rapid fire mod - in terms of DPS, it should, on paper, be comparable to overcharged. However, you chew through ammo much faster, and the added jitter is also a bit lame.

So what's the logic behind rapid fire? Is it a "just for fun" kind of mod, or does it somehow beat out overcharged for, say, module sniping at close range or hull shredding against hardened targets?

As a side question, is it possible to get rate of fire increases on multicannons as secondary attributes while rolling?

 

[Apos]

It's great if you want to have to go back to a station every 5 minutes.

 

[shadragon]

From memory, Rapid fire had an accuracy negative. So you shoot more, but miss more as well. I never found that attractive.

 

[domaq]

Like you say, the Jitter is annoying. You'll go through ammo faster, miss more, which reduced dps for me. Rapid Fire offers no inherent benefit to armor piercing ("hull shredding against hardened targets") unless you get a secondary.
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And, yes, you can get fire rate secondaries to the overcharged mod.
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I only considered RF for a pulse laser until I put Focused on it.

 

[Trafalgar Law]

Rapid fire has a reduction on distributor draw, overcharged has an increase. Rapid fire also has a faster reload time vs a reduced magazine size for the overcharged. On the other hand Overcharged has less Jitter (0 at OC G5 vs 0.5-0.25 RF G5).

I think it very much depends on your flying style, if you like getting up close and personal then Rapid Fire might be the better option as the Jitter won't matter so much.

 

[Ziljan]

Rapid fire has a reduction on distributor draw, overcharged has an increase. Rapid fire also has a faster reload time vs a reduced magazine size for the overcharged. On the other hand Overcharged has less Jitter (0 at OC G5 vs 0.5-0.25 RF G5).

I think it very much depends on your flying style, if you like getting up close and personal then Rapid Fire might be the better option as the Jitter won't matter so much.

The Rapid fire WEP draw reduction is on a per shot basis, so overall the WEP draw still goes up once you factor in the increased rate of fire.


In anycase the general rule is:

Overcharged for kinetic/ammo based (with some exceptions)

Rapid Fire for thermals, as long as you have a ship that is fast and agile enough to overcome the jitter-range issues.

 

[StiTch]

In anycase the general rule is:

Overcharged for kinetic/ammo based (with some exceptions)

Rapid Fire for thermals, as long as you have a ship that is fast and agile enough to overcome the jitter-range issues.

Not quite true. The ball game for thermal is a lot more varied; efficient is the right shout sometimes, as is long ranged, because a 6/7km hitscan weapon doing full damage rules. In fact rapid fire died a death after its nerf...

 

[JC Zephyr]

Rapid fire isn't even a choice in my eyes; like stated earlier, drawbacks make it fairly moot upgrade unless you're against big ships or your nose is on your enemy.

Have you considered long range? Two words for you, velocity speed.

 

[-Denali-]

I use rapid fire multi's on some ships. It's great for making the most of small firing windows so they're nice when you're in something slow and lumbering and fighting someone who's very agile. That same burst damage is great for doing as much damage as you can before a large targets shields come back up. Some hardened fed ships only have a 30 second shield regen. Rapid fire autoloaders with an increased reload speed really maximizes your ability to deal shear hull damage in that window. With the new module protection it isn't unheard of for someone to be low hull way before they see any meaningful module damage. The jitter also isn't that bad! It's still very possible to kill a module on a soft target.

 

[Ashnak]

In my very limited view, I prefer RF over OC for fixed guns. But I like to get up close and personal (still will have to try Frags).
RF has the advantage of lower power draw and heat, with the drawback of higher ammo consumption.

 

[JeanGrey]

I'm about to re-roll my Corvette's multicannons to get rid of their Incendiary specials (I'll be using efficient beams for my G4 hardpoints, since my upgraded PD from the Dweller was pretty much a god roll) and replace them with Autoloaders. However, I'm puzzled by the rapid fire mod - in terms of DPS, it should, on paper, be comparable to overcharged. However, you chew through ammo much faster, and the added jitter is also a bit lame.

So what's the logic behind rapid fire? Is it a "just for fun" kind of mod, or does it somehow beat out overcharged for, say, module sniping at close range or hull shredding against hardened targets?

As a side question, is it possible to get rate of fire increases on multicannons as secondary attributes while rolling?

The best configuration I found so far for Multi-Cannons is Overcharged Grade 5 with Autoloader.

Overcharged grade 5 has no jitter, but it will reduce your clipe size, which means you will make more realoads, and therefore Autoloader compensates.
Also autoloader doesn't reduce damage in the gun, like other effects.

Rapit fire deals good damage, but eats your ammo load like there is no tomorrow!

 

[HazardousMatt]

I like Rapid Fire on my Huge Multicannon. I've tried it on Large and smaller, didn't care for it....but on the huge it shreds.

 

[Eden von Ragnarok]

I've got rapid fire on my Anaconda's huge Multicannon, since I wanted corrosive rounds and didn't want a double hit to the ammo.

 

[Nazdakka]

I'm about to re-roll my Corvette's multicannons to get rid of their Incendiary specials (I'll be using efficient beams for my G4 hardpoints, since my upgraded PD from the Dweller was pretty much a god roll)

Don't re-roll them, store the incendiary ones and buy new ones! That way you get to avoid the faff of re-creating the incendiaries if you ever want to go back.

 

[Von Shadow]

Never re-roll - but fresh and store

I use a class 4 MC rapid fire w/ corrosive on my FdL and sometimes on the top points on a corvette

They suffer from jitter and are technically lower dps but if you're clever with them you get more shots in a firing arc .... its dependent on how accurate you are.... wouldn't use on lower class ... only class 4

 

[Shanaeri]

I've used rapid fire as a way of increasing the chances of corrosive shell triggering, in the same way as people use rapid fire for pulse lasers for the scramble spectrum/phased effect

 

[Soothsayer]

I've used rapid fire as a way of increasing the chances of corrosive shell triggering, in the same way as people use rapid fire for pulse lasers for the scramble spectrum/phased effect

Corrosive has a 100% proc chance, I believe. Or close enough to it, anyway.

 

[CMDR Cylixx]

On a corvette maybe to get the spec effect yeah but not as a means of DPS. Rapid fire is better for little beasts who will stay up close on tail consistently. Missing with rapidfire is much more costly than OC

 

[Chaparral]

OC. No jitter, significant damage boost. Make sure one of them has corrosive.

 

[[VR] Enexemander]

Rapid fire maximizes shorter engagement windows. I use 2 medium beams on my Anaconda and the rest are Rapid Fire Mulits. I kill medium and larger ships primarily by taking down the power plants.

Throw in the lower distributor draw. I *like* having as many pips into ENG as possible (considering 4 pips to SYS is a must under fire)

That's my reasoning anyway. Works well for me. I don't have to reload more often than my wing mates when doing a CZ or bounty hunting (usually the opposite, in fact).