Plasma Accelerators for a PvP Corvette?

[Soothsayer]

I've been poking around in several subforums for advice on a viable PvP 'Vette build, so I thought I'd post in the general discussion sub to get some additional advice or input. Are there any Corvette pilots out there who have experience using long range C4 PAs? The projectile velocity of a plasma accelerator is around half that of a C4 multicannon round, making it essentially unusable against anything other than large, cumbersome ships -- but the "long range" modification can double its projectile velocity, making it even faster than a multicannon round. That's ridiculously fast for a PA, and it sounds good enough to comfortably take on some of the game's smaller, more maneuverable ships, but how are they in practice?

I plan on using them in conjunction with a drag munitions weapon like a frag cannon, or possibly seeker missiles, to further reduce the speed / agility advantage of smaller ships.

 

[timbero]

I used a long range fixed cannon with dispersal field + long range PA with target lock breaker. It works, and it's annoying as a hedgehog for the opponent.

You can hit smaller ships, they need to put in some effort to avoid getting hit.

Bigger ships like Cutters and Anacondas that rely heavily on gimbal/turreted weapons tend to disengage and leave when they get hit with DF/TLB.

I'm no expert in PvP though, I only dabble.

Your biggest problem is as always, every ship but the Anaconda and Type 9 is faster then you. If they run, when they run - You can't keep up.

Edit: something I've noticed that's really annoying for smaller ships is when you launch a SLF, I can recommend equipping a C6 fighter bay.

 

[Soothsayer]

I used a long range fixed cannon with dispersal field + long range PA with target lock breaker. It works, and it's annoying as a hedgehog for the opponent.

You can hit smaller ships, they need to put in some effort to avoid getting hit.

Bigger ships like Cutters and Anacondas that rely heavily on gimbal/turreted weapons tend to disengage and leave when they get hit with DF/TLB.

I'm no expert in PvP though, I only dabble.

Your biggest problem is as always, every ship but the Anaconda and Type 9 is faster then you. If they run, when they run - You can't keep up.

Edit: something I've noticed that's really annoying for smaller ships is when you launch a SLF, I can recommend equipping a C6 fighter bay.

Yeah, my NPC pilot is ranked Deadly, and she's close to Elite. Her multicannons shred hulls, but I'll probably switch over to either plasma repeaters or lasers for PvP. But why the C6 fighter bay? Why not lower-class D-rated fighter bays, out of curiosity? There's a significant weight savings for smaller fighter bays, and there's no way you can use up more than a few during a given engagement.

As for target lock breaker, I've been debating the usefulness of that. Given how quickly you can select your target with hotkeys, it seems almost pointless. You basically can't lose a target lock if you press the hotkey right after losing a lock. It might be a useful counter against module sniping, though...

 

[CMDR Corlas]

Yeah, my NPC pilot is ranked Deadly, and she's close to Elite. Her multicannons shred hulls, but I'll probably switch over to either plasma repeaters or lasers for PvP. But why the C6 fighter bay? Why not lower-class D-rated fighter bays, out of curiosity? There's a significant weight savings for smaller fighter bays, and there's no way you can use up more than a few during a given engagement.

Aside from multicrew, where you can have two fighters out with a C6, the two fighter bays on a C6 over the single on the C5 means that if your NPC is shot down you can instantly send them back out in a fighter from the second bay. With the single-bay C5, you need to wait for the bay to build the next fighter, so you spend a lot longer without that extra damage/distraction.

 

[Truesilver]

The long range / focused 1750 mps plasma accelerator is a superb PvP duelling weapon if fitted to a medium ship.

You will have great fun with them on a Corvette against early to mid-xp pilots. However, if you go up against a really serious PvP-er who flies a medium ship evasively, you in Corvette, you will barely ever hit even with 1750 mps. You'll actually really struggle even with fixed lasers or rails.

This is why most Big Three PvP-ers run efficient plasma: they want to wreck other big ships and accept that they will have to use other methods to deal with skilled mediums (i.e., the SLF plus secondary weapons).

 

[timbero]

As for target lock breaker, I've been debating the usefulness of that. Given how quickly you can select your target with hotkeys, it seems almost pointless. You basically can't lose a target lock if you press the hotkey right after losing a lock. It might be a useful counter against module sniping, though...

Yup, module target lost, missile lock lost, gimbal tracking lost. Also if you have fixed projectile weapons you lose the hud aim assist.

Aside from multicrew, where you can have two fighters out with a C6, the two fighter bays on a C6 over the single on the C5 means that if your NPC is shot down you can instantly send them back out in a fighter from the second bay. With the single-bay C5, you need to wait for the bay to build the next fighter, so you spend a lot longer without that extra damage/distraction.

This. 1 fighter can be taken out if it gets targeted. Having 2 means you can launch another while the first is rebuilding. I also can't find that much more useful things to put in my C6 slot than a fighter bay.

Personal preference perhaps.

It also means you can launch 2 with multicrew.

 

[Soothsayer]

The long range / focused 1750 mps plasma accelerator is a superb PvP duelling weapon if fitted to a medium ship.

You will have great fun with them on a Corvette against early to mid-xp pilots. However, if you go up against a really serious PvP-er who flies a medium ship evasively, you in Corvette, you will barely ever hit even with 1750 mps. You'll actually really struggle even with fixed lasers or rails.

This is why most Big Three PvP-ers run efficient plasma: they want to wreck other big ships and accept that they will have to use other methods to deal with skilled mediums (i.e., the SLF plus secondary weapons).

Thanks for the feedback! Any idea as to what SLFs work best for PvP? I've been using Condors, since they seem to do reasonably well in PvE, but I'm open to switching to Taipans or Imperial fighters if they're considered superior. As for "secondary weapons," what kind of weapons would those be?

 

[Truesilver]

Thanks for the feedback! Any idea as to what SLFs work best for PvP? I've been using Condors, since they seem to do reasonably well in PvE, but I'm open to switching to Taipans or Imperial fighters if they're considered superior. As for "secondary weapons," what kind of weapons would those be?

Hi there,

Although I have a lot of experience of PvP, I'm afraid it doesn't really stretch to SLF PvP ... but with that important rider, I'd probably go with the Taipan for its combination of high hit points and lateral thrust.

About secondary weapons, you mentioned drag seekers, which are great (perhaps, OP) in duelling. Drag pack hounds are even better if you have access.

Beyond that, in a big ship (to some extent, in any ship) it comes back to what you can run with no more than 2 pips to Weps (because in a big ship it's pretty much 4 pips to Sys at all times in PvP).

Hence, multis, cannons, pulses and one or more feedback cascade rail guns (for other big ships) are all good choices.

Without getting two complex, I would decide what you want as your primary armament first - because the extent of Draw on your Power Distributor from that will determine what you have left.

So if you go with double-velocity PA's as primary, those are high draw weapons. Meaning you'll want to go really efficient on the rest, e.g. missiles, efficient multis, cannons, with as many specials in there as you can muster, such as emissive, corrosive, drag, force shell, dispersal or high yield (take your pick).

However, if you go with efficient PA's, that will leave you able to use more 'thirsty' secondary weapons, such as long range pulses or rails, or overcharged kinetic.

Hope this helps!

o7

 

[Crimson Kaim]

I've been poking around in several subforums for advice on a viable PvP 'Vette build, so I thought I'd post in the general discussion sub to get some additional advice or input. Are there any Corvette pilots out there who have experience using long range C4 PAs? The projectile velocity of a plasma accelerator is around half that of a C4 multicannon round, making it essentially unusable against anything other than large, cumbersome ships -- but the "long range" modification can double its projectile velocity, making it even faster than a multicannon round. That's ridiculously fast for a PA, and it sounds good enough to comfortably take on some of the game's smaller, more maneuverable ships, but how are they in practice?

I plan on using them in conjunction with a drag munitions weapon like a frag cannon, or possibly seeker missiles, to further reduce the speed / agility advantage of smaller ships.

Totally not viable. The capacicator draw is simply too high and the damage too low. You gonna be outmatched by anything that hasn't got LR PAs on a Vette. I'd recommend 2-3 efficient PAs or (multi-)cannons and 2-4 railguns or 2 missile launchers (seekers).
A C6 Fighter Bay as well as a C6 SCB as backup as you can use it while only overheating slightly.
Or if you want to specialize against large ships only: Anaconda with 5 Frags, 1 OC PA and two small FCRs.

 

[yolomcbobbinz]

I used a long range fixed cannon with dispersal field + long range PA with target lock breaker. It works, and it's annoying as a hedgehog for the opponent.

You can hit smaller ships, they need to put in some effort to avoid getting hit.

Bigger ships like Cutters and Anacondas that rely heavily on gimbal/turreted weapons tend to disengage and leave when they get hit with DF/TLB.

Why not have DF/TLB and force shells makes escaping harder if you knock them away from they're targeted system before they high wake

 

[Soothsayer]

Totally not viable. The capacicator draw is simply too high and the damage too low. You gonna be outmatched by anything that hasn't got LR PAs on a Vette. I'd recommend 2-3 efficient PAs or (multi-)cannons and 2-4 railguns or 2 missile launchers (seekers).
A C6 Fighter Bay as well as a C6 SCB as backup as you can use it while only overheating slightly.
Or if you want to specialize against large ships only: Anaconda with 5 Frags, 1 OC PA and two small FCRs.

Hm. According to Coriolis, even a FdL outfitted with prismatic shields and a couple of heavy duty boosters has trouble mustering more than 1.1k or so MJs of shielding. I'd imagine FdL pilots prefer resistance a bit more than raw MJs, and lots of them might be running bi-weaves. So, the thing with long-range PAs is that they (hopefully) maintain a decent hit rate in conjunction with drag munitions -- alongside being able to penetrate most of their resistances. Sure, their paper DPS is fairly mediocre, but high alpha damage coupled with resist ignore is liable to be devastating all the same.

Kind of wishing I could just stick with my current loadouts, but I'm guessing everyone has chaff launchers and dispersal field munitions in the "meta."