Anti-Shield Multi-Cannons Vs. 'Lasers'

[Myrmidon]

So first things first let's get the obvious ♥♥♥♥ out of the way. Multi-Cannons have finite ammunition and need reloading. Sure. But let's not worry about that for now.

What I'm interested in is how multi-cannons actually compare to laser weapons vs shields. Now you can have beam, burst and pulse and they can be engineered in many ways but multi-cannons can also be engineered. I've been reading the wikia a lot but it seems like one of those cases where the information just isn't clearing it up for me very well and I need to either ask for player views/opinions and/or test it out for myself, the latter I intend to do but it's obviously not as quick.

I've heard the term "literally shreds" shields from quite a few people regarding incendiary rounds, particularly relating to the larger class-4 multi-cannons. But how do they actually compare to say an engineered beam laser? I'm partly interested in versatility too because it seems reading the wikia at least in engineering multi's to "shred" shields you don't actually give up much kinetic hull damaging power. Or would that be incorrect? Perhaps debatable?

It can take years of play to try out all the weapons, engineering, special effects and combinations in this game but I know there's many vets out there that are probably quite knowledgable about this stuff.

[Crimson Echo]

The advantage of the multis is more than just damage in absolute terms, but damage per energy. Running say 2 huge beams on a corvette is very taxing on the distro where as the mutli can be run basically constantly (not counting reloading times)

Here is a link to coriolis where you can look at the specifics. (clicking on the wrench icon on the weapons lets you change the engineering effects etc):

https://s.orbis.zone/6ict

[Myrmidon]

Originally posted by CMDR Crimson Echo:

The advantage of the multis is more than just damage in absolute terms, but damage per energy. Running say 2 huge beams on a corvette is very taxing on the distro where as the mutli can be run basically constantly (not counting reloading times)

Here is a link to coriolis where you can look at the specifics. (clicking on the wrench icon on the weapons lets you change the engineering effects etc):

https://s.orbis.zone/6ict

I had wondered what bloody site was called. I looked on it a lot when I started out then lost it. Yeah my Anaconda currently runs 1x Huge, 2x Medium beams, not yet engineered and I can only get a few seconds of fully sustained beaming on a target. Rest are 5x multi-cannons currently.

I do really want to test more engineering stuff but the thing is some of the engineering can just get wasted because you have these "mixed ship" that may be guns and missiles or missiles and guns or guns and lasers etc and different hardpoint classes will be different weapons but then you swap them around like maybe you want all the mediums for missiles and you move the beams onto your huge points etc and suddenly the ratios have all changed and ♥♥♥♥ needs completely re-engineering for the new setup despite the weapons more or less being the same in terms of how many weapon types you have.

[Furry Eskimo]

A shield of mine prefers engineered multicannons vs shields, since they can damage the hull too. I use engineered beam lasers and find i can take out shields faster, but I need other weapons to finish the ship off (so I added a small multicannon with corrosive shells.)

[Myrmidon]

Originally posted by Furry Eskimo:

A shield of mine prefers engineered multicannons vs shields, since they can damage the hull too. I use engineered beam lasers and find i can take out shields faster, but I need other weapons to finish the ship off (so I added a small multicannon with corrosive shells.)

Yeah for me the shields always seem to be the easy bit it's the killing stuff when it's shields go down that seems to take the time because most ships seem to run away at that point. I also have a corrosive multi-cannon. It's very confusing understanding it, it doesnt actually matter what size it's mounted on the effect is always the same and applies from the first hit? And having more than 1 corrosive weapon is redundant?

[Jankules]

Originally posted by Myrmidon:

Originally posted by Furry Eskimo:

A shield of mine prefers engineered multicannons vs shields, since they can damage the hull too. I use engineered beam lasers and find i can take out shields faster, but I need other weapons to finish the ship off (so I added a small multicannon with corrosive shells.)

Yeah for me the shields always seem to be the easy bit it's the killing stuff when it's shields go down that seems to take the time because most ships seem to run away at that point. I also have a corrosive multi-cannon. It's very confusing understanding it, it doesnt actually matter what size it's mounted on the effect is always the same and applies from the first hit? And having more than 1 corrosive weapon is redundant?

Yes...the effect is the same from all size of hardpoints(and it is not cumulative-only one hard point needed with corrosive)...but since it goes with 25% low ammo you should consider using it on a lowwest possible hardpoint on top of increased ammo modification.

For fastest kills(ultimate dps) in pve nothing beats...all multicannon build...one hardpoint corrosive(increased ammo mod)...all others overcharged - autoloader.

[Myrmidon]

Originally posted by Jankules:

Originally posted by Myrmidon:

Yeah for me the shields always seem to be the easy bit it's the killing stuff when it's shields go down that seems to take the time because most ships seem to run away at that point. I also have a corrosive multi-cannon. It's very confusing understanding it, it doesnt actually matter what size it's mounted on the effect is always the same and applies from the first hit? And having more than 1 corrosive weapon is redundant?

Yes...the effect is the same from all size of hardpoints(and it is not cumulative-only one hard point needed with corrosive)...but since it goes with 25% low ammo you should consider using it on lowwest possible hardpoint on top of increased ammo modification.

For fastest kills in pve nothing beats...all multicannon build...one hardpoint corrosive(increased ammo mod)...all others overcharged - autoloader.

Yeah I think mine is on a medium hardpoint. Needs changing. When I got it done I knew it wasn't cumulative so only applied to 1 hardpoint but didn't realise about class.

This last bit about 1 corrosive and then having all hardpoints overcharged and with autoloader... I understand in principle in means you can just pour 7 multi-cannons into a target without any reloads until your ammo pool essentially runs dry but they're still kinetic despite the insane volume you're putting in. Is it really still a fast shield dropper? I'm guessing it's massively ammo inefficient too but I'm not so worried about that personally.

[Mr Robert House]

Multis are great until you run out of ammo. My anaconda, the RVS maximum dakka has 8 of them, 2 incindiary and 1 corrosive, it kills faster than any other ship I own.

[Myrmidon]

Originally posted by Mr Robert House:

Multis are great until you run out of ammo. My anaconda, the RVS maximum dakka has 8 of them, 2 incindiary and 1 corrosive, it kills faster than any other ship I own.

And you find 2 incendiary is enough to shred through shields and get straight into the hull? Just wondering because I have no idea how effective these incendiary multis are on shields. I use regular regular kinetic multi's on shields from time to time when I know my beams aren't quite going to drop them and the target is about to go over me so it's just like a bit of extra really inefficient DPS and they do seem horrid for it.

[Rogue]

https://coriolis.io/outfit/anaconda?code=A2putpFklndzsxf57o7l7l7l272724240204040404040404B05nfm3d1K1K1Km91J1J1J2766.Iw18ZXEA.Aw18ZXEA.H4sIAAAAAAAAA42TPUsDQRCG5%2FL9ccnlLrnkEqJG72LAQmIpCFYigoilWGlrZaGQQkELwVpELCxS%2BAMsLSwtFSwtxF9gYSEifsw4c3hLishdiuGF59nZy84uYBoAfpJcvk%2B45G9iAIUDHcBc42Rd5wG8Nw2ANJxX5j6XzG0WwJh7J6r2DeYxrCq%2Bw8XwPokqo19EtnDnKgHgbtfYjGNDmb3A9Heq7NlsPjGhBM4EktF7YX73TERJnFVLD7lkdSTKnZoA45ImJLUlTUqiFG6KHudiydbT3Q%2Biuo8yuK46CU8ujwDUZSfX%2FzvZAQ5DeC6E50O4HsILIbw4wPUh3AjhJWwHRwPHZT6fUgegKYlMXFRLz%2BVOXKZ4CKs8SVOSI4P3JJEV2SxHNiu4oMwLmb5cB6u7%2ByeNPRZZsqNI1ShSLYrk4IqStkSSIzTl6z3%2FRtdxSXhC%2BBEXTZam%2B%2Fw2Og%2F8vlobr3x3XZxSTc7kCO45FltN7iTJkp6eJPKwGbTTZSyOoIY8NSL4%2F%2FcLDqeYRcwDAAA%3D.EweloBhBmSQUwIYHMA28QgIwVyKBQA%3D%3D&bn=star%20fighter%20pve

[WRONGTURN]

Originally posted by Rogue:

https://coriolis.io/outfit/anaconda?code=A2putpFklndzsxf57o7l7l7l272724240204040404040404B05nfm3d1K1K1Km91J1J1J2766.Iw18ZXEA.Aw18ZXEA.H4sIAAAAAAAAA42TPUsDQRCG5%2FL9ccnlLrnkEqJG72LAQmIpCFYigoilWGlrZaGQQkELwVpELCxS%2BAMsLSwtFSwtxF9gYSEifsw4c3hLishdiuGF59nZy84uYBoAfpJcvk%2B45G9iAIUDHcBc42Rd5wG8Nw2ANJxX5j6XzG0WwJh7J6r2DeYxrCq%2Bw8XwPokqo19EtnDnKgHgbtfYjGNDmb3A9Heq7NlsPjGhBM4EktF7YX73TERJnFVLD7lkdSTKnZoA45ImJLUlTUqiFG6KHudiydbT3Q%2Biuo8yuK46CU8ujwDUZSfX%2FzvZAQ5DeC6E50O4HsILIbw4wPUh3AjhJWwHRwPHZT6fUgegKYlMXFRLz%2BVOXKZ4CKs8SVOSI4P3JJEV2SxHNiu4oMwLmb5cB6u7%2ByeNPRZZsqNI1ShSLYrk4IqStkSSIzTl6z3%2FRtdxSXhC%2BBEXTZam%2B%2Fw2Og%2F8vlobr3x3XZxSTc7kCO45FltN7iTJkp6eJPKwGbTTZSyOoIY8NSL4%2F%2FcLDqeYRcwDAAA%3D.EweloBhBmSQUwIYHMA28QgIwVyKBQA%3D%3D&bn=star%20fighter%20pve

Why would you use "short range " which boost's your dps 75 % but cuts your range by 50 % ?? when overcharged boosts your dps by 70 % and you still maintain FULL range. ? especially on such a slow ship .someone with normal range or long range weapons can just pick you apart. also the incendiary mod adds a 10 % dps penalty on each weapon . A friend and experimented with it.. he had ALL incediary mods and fired them at me at point blank range .. it only raised my ships temperature by 2 % THAT'S IT.

[HamakiBCN2]

Here's the thing, i don't think anyone mentioned that, if you use incendiary MC's, that's going to increase your internal heat quite considerably, specially if you run multiple ones. If you don't manage that, you can pretty much cook yourself.

For that purpose, i would combine those Incendiary MC's with Efficent or Long Range Thermal Vent gimballed beams whenever possible.

[WRONGTURN]

Originally posted by HamakiBCN2:

Here's the thing, i don't think anyone mentioned that, if you use incendiary MC's, that's going to increase your internal heat quite considerably, specially if you run multiple ones. If you don't manage that, you can pretty much cook yourself.

For that purpose, i would combine those Incendiary MC's with Efficent or Long Range Thermal Vent gimballed beams whenever possible.

I LOVE GIMBLED BEAMS with thermal vent. ! I use them on almost all my combat ships I don't worry about ammo.. but I DO use a grade 5 weapon focused distro. with it as well. Unless I have a mixed build that only has a couple weapons that are fireing at all times , then it's a charge enhanced .

[HamakiBCN2]

Originally posted by WRONGTURN:

Originally posted by HamakiBCN2:

Here's the thing, i don't think anyone mentioned that, if you use incendiary MC's, that's going to increase your internal heat quite considerably, specially if you run multiple ones. If you don't manage that, you can pretty much cook yourself.

For that purpose, i would combine those Incendiary MC's with Efficent or Long Range Thermal Vent gimballed beams whenever possible.

I LOVE GIMBLED BEAMS with thermal vent. ! I use them on almost all my combat ships I don't worry about ammo.. but I DO use a grade 5 weapon focused distro. with it as well. Unless I have a mixed build that only has a couple weapons that are fireing at all times , then it's a charge enhanced .

Same here. Thermal Vent opens a lot of new loadout possiblities with ships that don't handle heat all that well, like the Chieftain/Challenger/Crusader.

[Mr Robert House]

Originally posted by Myrmidon:

Originally posted by Mr Robert House:

Multis are great until you run out of ammo. My anaconda, the RVS maximum dakka has 8 of them, 2 incindiary and 1 corrosive, it kills faster than any other ship I own.

And you find 2 incendiary is enough to shred through shields and get straight into the hull? Just wondering because I have no idea how effective these incendiary multis are on shields. I use regular regular kinetic multi's on shields from time to time when I know my beams aren't quite going to drop them and the target is about to go over me so it's just like a bit of extra really inefficient DPS and they do seem horrid for it.

It takes a little time but the fighter has beams and any more with incindiary make overheating a big problem. Bear in mind that's 2 large incindiary multis. Honestly a thermal vent beam would do my build a lot of good but it's called the maximum dakka for a reason.

[Rogue]

Originally posted by WRONGTURN:

Originally posted by Rogue:

https://coriolis.io/outfit/anaconda?code=A2putpFklndzsxf57o7l7l7l272724240204040404040404B05nfm3d1K1K1Km91J1J1J2766.Iw18ZXEA.Aw18ZXEA.H4sIAAAAAAAAA42TPUsDQRCG5%2FL9ccnlLrnkEqJG72LAQmIpCFYigoilWGlrZaGQQkELwVpELCxS%2BAMsLSwtFSwtxF9gYSEifsw4c3hLishdiuGF59nZy84uYBoAfpJcvk%2B45G9iAIUDHcBc42Rd5wG8Nw2ANJxX5j6XzG0WwJh7J6r2DeYxrCq%2Bw8XwPokqo19EtnDnKgHgbtfYjGNDmb3A9Heq7NlsPjGhBM4EktF7YX73TERJnFVLD7lkdSTKnZoA45ImJLUlTUqiFG6KHudiydbT3Q%2Biuo8yuK46CU8ujwDUZSfX%2FzvZAQ5DeC6E50O4HsILIbw4wPUh3AjhJWwHRwPHZT6fUgegKYlMXFRLz%2BVOXKZ4CKs8SVOSI4P3JJEV2SxHNiu4oMwLmb5cB6u7%2ByeNPRZZsqNI1ShSLYrk4IqStkSSIzTl6z3%2FRtdxSXhC%2BBEXTZam%2B%2Fw2Og%2F8vlobr3x3XZxSTc7kCO45FltN7iTJkp6eJPKwGbTTZSyOoIY8NSL4%2F%2FcLDqeYRcwDAAA%3D.EweloBhBmSQUwIYHMA28QgIwVyKBQA%3D%3D&bn=star%20fighter%20pve

Why would you use "short range " which boost's your dps 75 % but cuts your range by 50 % ?? when overcharged boosts your dps by 70 % and you still maintain FULL range. ? especially on such a slow ship .someone with normal range or long range weapons can just pick you apart. also the incendiary mod adds a 10 % dps penalty on each weapon . A friend and experimented with it.. he had ALL incediary mods and fired them at me at point blank range .. it only raised my ships temperature by 2 % THAT'S IT.

It is a ship for pve, and in my opinion multi-canons are almost useless for more than 2 km,07.