multicannons worth putting on high-end combat ships?

Commander Pickle

Commander Pickle
How far does the usefulness of multicannons extend? Are these just an early-game weapon or can these be used effectively on top-tier ships? With only 2 damage it seems ineffective but the high DPS of around 7 could compensate...

What do you guys think of multicannons? Where and how are they best used?
 

Carradin

Carradin
Class 1 multicannons are at a severe disadvantage vs large ships, simply due to the low class resulting in a damage penalty. But Class 2s still do well against ships of any size and have decent penetration to boot, even though they too get a (smaller) penalty vs the largest ships. A major advantage of multicannons is lower heat and power draw than a comparable energy weapon, which definitely also comes into play if you're running, say, Class 3 beam lasers as well. You might not actually be able to fit in extra energy weapons within your power budget, while C2 multicannons might be possible to shoehorn in.
 

Davevti

Davevti
Some people like them on their Pythons, I for one didn't get on well with them. They felt like I was firing confetti at larger targets and for the smaller ships it felt like I wasted more bullets trying to hit them, this is of course my view on my Python, it maybe a different case for others and different ships, but in this case I prefer thermal or the larger thermal/kinetic weapons, any other seems a waste.
 

tetra

tetra
Run a pair of class 2 multis on my python with 3 C3 pulses. Use the C3's until the shields go down (usually capacitor is near empty by then if taking on a large ship) then let the MC's keep up sustained fire on the power plant. The power draw is so low on them that with an A rated PD the capacitor actually recharges while they do so. Once they go into reload the capacitor is fully charged again and I continue to destroy the powerplant with the C3's again. Can keep this cycle up indefinitely. For smaller ships the shields come down quickly with the C3's, capacitor still has enough energy in one load to then fire the MCs at the same time to finish off the hull. So yeah, in my opinion C2 MCs are still very viable.
 

veryinky

V
Multicanons are more of a "fun" weapon than a "practical" weapon for me. Mounted a couple of them on my Python even though the main damage dealers are 3 beams. They don't use up much heat, can fire them for a long time and are one of the more entertaining weapons you can install on a ship.
 

Pufferfish

Pufferfish
I love them. In my opinion, the best loadout is plasma lasers/cannon or multicannon. I only shoot thermal weapons at shields, then when the shield drops, I add in my multicannons. Targeting a Deadly Python in my Python, I'll drop the shields with about 15-20% of my gun power remaining, pause for 3 seconds while they regen back to near full, then unload. They're dead before I run out of power. Probably takes me 20-30 seconds to kill anything in the game. For PvP, probably less effective as multicannons shouldn't really be used on shields.
 

Crimson Kaim

Crimson Kaim
I use Multicannons alot an try to always have atleast two of them with me. Multicannons are not supposed to break down the hull but due to their good armor piercing stats, they are excellent for destroying modules.
For example, two multicannons can (if you can keep the good impact angle) destroy a Python faster than a Vulture if you target the reactor. Cannons are even better for that. But in order to archieve that, gimballed versions are a must-have because otherwise you have a really hard time hitting the modules which results in a disadvantage -> flares.

However, in my FDL I removed the gimballed multicannons and have now four C2F beam lasers (oooooh, Pythons will love me) and one C4G Cannon. The cannon is excellent for taking down modules and almost one-hit every small ship without shields.


A full multicannon loadout can be effective as well due to the low energy draw, your can have a mobile shield tank whith decent firepower. However, you quickly run out of ammo. Some kind of additional ammo storage for the interior of the ship would be nice.

One major disadvantage of them are that they are not "hitscan" (laser-like. No projectiles to be dodged). This means that smaller ships have a huge advantage against multicannons due to their small hitbox. Because of that, they can 1. dodge the shots better (more agile) and are not hit by multicannons because they actually have some spread which results in some misses.

Conclusion: Multicannons: Good when using more than 1, good against modules, medium against hull, medium against shields, good heat and pwoer 'price', low-medium damage overall, harder to hit small ships.


Hope that helps :]
 

Captain Willard

Captain Willard
Well said crimson. I run 6 gimbaled MC with 3 pips in weapons, they never stop firing. At 61, not so good eyesight, and reflexes that left yrs ago I can always have 2 mc on the target and when I can get all 6 back on the ship it melts them and takes out the pp quickly. As for running out of ammo, when doing a cg I can bring down 250k to 500k before running out of ammo. By then I need a nap. LOL
 
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jacozilla

jacozilla
Crimson Kaim said:
A full multicannon loadout can be effective as well due to the low energy draw, your can have a mobile shield tank whith decent firepower. However, you quickly run out of ammo. Some kind of additional ammo storage for the interior of the ship would be nice.
Click to expand...

our additional ammo storage bin is probably being used by the 10,000 extra rounds of point defense :)
 
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