Difference between weapon types?

[Tigrezno]

What's the difference between turret, small, main, and others??

It's not clear. Size? Damage?

[Tigrezno]

Originally posted by burial:

All of the above. Turrets can rotate 360 (I think). They have said several times they are working on adding more useful information to the game.

oh thanks

[MrUnimport]

Yeah, they're just different classes of weapon for different-sized vehicles. It goes Heavy - Main - Auxiliary - Turret - Small, and IIRC each weapon category has two entries per weight class. Some vehicles have bigger guns than others, it's one thing that helps differentiate them. The Chook, for example, has two Auxiliary guns, whereas the Fork can only mount Turret weapons.

Like burial said, Heavy weapons tend to be powerful but run out of ammo quickly if not managed, and conversely Small weapons can fire for ages but have a hard time taking down heavier opponents.

[MagneticJerk]

While all of the above is generally true, the only "true" difference between them is what mount they use, and therefore what vehicles they can be put on. Well, and that turret weapons rotate independently (though this is something any weapon can theoretically do code-wise).

Thinking of your weapon types by mount doesn't make that much sense overall, since the differences per mount are way less pronounced than the differences by... well type like Chaingun, Cannon, Laser shotgun etc. But within one of these types the smaller the mount the less direct damage it does - generally. The König for example is a heavy mount chain gun, and the Banshee a main mount chain gun. They both serve a similar purpose overall, but the Banshee has a higher rate of fire and more ammo, but does less damage per hit and less DPS overall. However, when comparing weapons of different types (e.g. a chain gun to a howitzer), the mount becomes an irrelevant point of comparison, since even the smallest howitzer is gonna do more hit damage than the heaviest chain gun.

[ImHelping]

It's somewhat disingenuous to claim there is no real difference between the mount. Plus there is often a lack of overlap in usage variety across mounts. MAIN has the only rocket pod launcher. Only heavy and AUX have chemical launchers. AUX's only laser a shotgun type, etc. If you want any of those, then your only option is those mount types.

That said, even double AUX can let you go full rambo. The AUX Stutter is one of my favorite chainguns as well. You can totally kill stuff efficiently with AUX/Turret weapons.

The primary "overall" difference as the mounts get bigger is basically "How much will firing this ONCE/for two seconds, absolutely murder everything I see that isn't a top tier Ultra with it's shields up?" A Small Carlos might kill your target, if you hit them from behind, and their shields are down. A Main Abbot will leave a crater where your target and all his friends used to be.

Comparigin most howitzers to other weapons sort of falls flat. I get what you are going for, but the arc time on those really resticts you to comparing them to eachother and mortars. By the time their shot lands, you could have already killed everything with equivilent mount direct fire weapons (Often an issue I face when using even the EMP utility. "I'll fire the EMP at them to make this fight easier! *EMP finally lands now that everyone is dead* welp!).

The only mount that can be so weak by comparison or Niche to need to work around, rather than work with, is the Small mount. Some are a great niche, others are not so hot but can get the job done, like the Bonesaw (It's doing much better now with the recent shield changes, now a Bonesaw doesn't need five seconds of sustained fire to kill a POWER SUIT that has a shield generator)

The only "Bad" weapon in the game is the Lockdown. It's labeled as an "EMP", but it does nothing about enemy alert call ins even if you manage to hit them while their shields are down. Despite it's statistics of 5 shield damage, it feels super lackluster even if you DO manage to hit your target with all the slow moving projectiles.

The lockdown is so bad, that I don't even worry about it when the enemies are shooting me with it. Because anything with the lockdown, their side weapon will deal more shield damage to me, and is more likely to hit on top compared to standing still and watching half the lockdown shots miss me.

Several hundred ammo of **** all.

Meanwhile, the Pinch is super great at it's job, has a sweet side effect, and can also manage to kill a group of unshielded Corvid battle tractors. Pinch is the poster boy for Small weapons being great.

Lockdown what are you doing with your life? Your brother Pinch is a Doctor and best selling author.

[MagneticJerk]

Yeah, no idea how the Lockdown is supposed to work really. Can't say I like the Pinch that much though, but that might be because the only small mount vehicle I really use is the Hoker, and
1) with Twin Temblors and a cloak on that I got all I need and 2) there's no real good small weapon to go along with it, because it has a horrible rate of fire so you need something fast, but the only fast firing small weapons are the Bonesaw and the Temblor, which alone kinda lack the firepower you really need.

Might go along well with the Bully on the Rope Kid though, gotta try that out sometime.

[ImHelping]

Originally posted by MagneticJerk:

Yeah, no idea how the Lockdown is supposed to work really. Can't say I like the Pinch that much though, but that might be because the only small mount vehicle I really use is the Hoker, and
1) with Twin Temblors and a cloak on that I got all I need and 2) there's no real good small weapon to go along with it, because it has a horrible rate of fire so you need something fast, but the only fast firing small weapons are the Bonesaw and the Temblor, which alone kinda lack the firepower you really need.

Might go along well with the Bully on the Rope Kid though, gotta try that out sometime.

Double Small like the Hoker is Pro Mode, basically. Double Small is rough going even on minimum difficulty. The pinch shines the most when you have something along with it that can put the hurt down too (But not be so short on ammo you are desperate for every reload), because at the end of the day the Pinch is still an anti shield + Debuff.

Precision/rapid but weak weaponry is always harder to use on A Gravs when trying to dodge around. Your firing angle is always going to be constantly changing far more than if you were doing donuts with a mech or tank. This happens even with bigger mounts, like running double Belters on the Buckler and trying to hit a bunch of small targets while dodging fire.

I like the Duchess or Pitbull + Pinch on the Buckmaster. It makes me feel like a tiny soldier, but I've still got enough durability and firepower to survive when things go a little wrong. Plus being a mech (or tank) gives more steady aim while in motion than an A Grav.

Thunderclap laser is amazing too (and great vs shields), but the Duchess/Pitbull has a stun effect.

Main Duchess is one of my favorite weapons in the game when I want an "All Rounder" gun, when I have shields reasonably covered. It's not as strong as many weapons, it's got a very small splash. But it is still 80 shots, and just enough explosion to make sweeping up swift or hard to direct hit enemies a breeze.

It's just strong enough to feel comfortable taking out single large targets, but it's generous enough to not feel like you are wasting it on smaller ones even if you miss.

Eightball is also pretty fun if you want Small/Aux. It's also more durable than the Chook (Chook's got better overshield, though). Whenever I'm gunning down Corvid cannon fodder in a hurry, it's always the Eightballs shooting me in the back when I assumed I got everything...

Even though the basilisk has more health and shields according to the intel files, wonder why? Must be a visual situation, round eightball is easier to overlook compared to the longer torso on a basilisk popping more as it turns.

[Tigrezno]

is it me or mortar really sucks?

[MagneticJerk]

Arced weapons are generally more difficult to use because you need to be able to predict the enemy's movement very well, but especially for fast hit-and-run type loadouts they can be pretty good once you get the hang of it.

[Tigrezno]

Originally posted by MagneticJerk:

Arced weapons are generally more difficult to use because you need to be able to predict the enemy's movement very well, but especially for fast hit-and-run type loadouts they can be pretty good once you get the hang of it.

I see your point. The problem is that I can only see the top-half of the arc light/helper. I can't know for sure where it's going to land.

[MagneticJerk]

Yeah, that takes a bit of practise, but once you get the hang of it you can aim them pretty reliably and then I find them pretty fun to use. They're definitely the most difficult weapons to use in the game though.

[ImHelping]

Originally posted by Tigrezno:

is it me or mortar really sucks?

Mortars are super strong but also super hard to use in live combat. Some of them have so much overkill it helps though (Hello, MIRV launcher!). Even I'm super terrible with them unless I'm using it primarily to shoot distant targets or attempt to carpet bomb an area.

That said, the Turret mount's "Gutterball" is much more user friendly. It's got basically no splash damage, but it has a low arc and a (comparativly) fast projectile speed. So you can just pitch it right into a mech's face.

Plus it has a decent bit of scenery penetration. Most mortars you fire over a house. The gutterball you can fire THROUGH a house. Since it's basically a cannonball.

[MrUnimport]

I love the Gutterball's name and function, but besides campaign missions I never seem to be able to bring myself to take it into battle. Something about how it bounces clean off anyone with their shields up is singularly heartbreaking for me. All that effort for so little payoff.

Probably my favourite artillery weapon though.

[Tigrezno]

Guys, what is penetration for? shields? cover? It's not explained

I've seen some weapons that will go through cover and others won't. Are there weapons that ignore shields?

[MagneticJerk]

No weapons will ignore shields. Penetration determines if a projectile will go through something it hits, this goes for both environment and enemies. There's two variables at play here, a weapon's penetration and an object's penetration resistance.

From what I can tell, whenever you hit something its resistance is substacted from the penetration value, and if that resulting value is still higher than 0 the projectile will penetrate. It will also keep the reduced penetration value, so a projectiles ability to penetrate will decrease the more objects it already penetrated. Because of this you need to be careful when trying to shoot through walls, make sure you're perpendicular to the wall and make sure you're only firing through one wall tile, if you aim right between two you'll hit both and your shot might not penetrate.

[Tigrezno]

Originally posted by MagneticJerk:

No weapons will ignore shields. Penetration determines if a projectile will go through something it hits, this goes for both environment and enemies. There's two variables at play here, a weapon's penetration and an object's penetration resistance.

From what I can tell, whenever you hit something its resistance is substacted from the penetration value, and if that resulting value is still higher than 0 the projectile will penetrate. It will also keep the reduced penetration value, so a projectiles ability to penetrate will decrease the more objects it already penetrated. Because of this you need to be careful when trying to shoot through walls, make sure you're perpendicular to the wall and make sure you're only firing through one wall tile, if you aim right between two you'll hit both and your shot might not penetrate.

thanks, very informative ;)