Thanks for doing a great job on this analysis. Can you do me a favor and compare to the forge. I would appreciate the insights as I know you are one of the PLC experts.

Thanks, will read enthusiastically.


What if we had an assault variant PLC that has 2 shots in the clip before reload? It's impossible for Hotfix Alpha because we have to change the descriptions, which means localization and a longer deployment.

Also, think about a breach variant, with longer charge and higher damage.

Just so you all have something to do while I sleep.

Thanks, will read enthusiastically.


What if we had an assault variant PLC that has 2 shots in the clip before reload? It's impossible for Hotfix Alpha because we have to change the descriptions, which means localization and a longer deployment.

Also, think about a breach variant, with longer charge and higher damage.

Just so you all have something to do while I sleep.

Sorry Ghazabaran that's not the right link to your spreadsheet its the link to Hotfix Alpha

When devs don't ask for feedback, people ***** and whine about them not listening.
When devs ask for feedback, people ***** and whine about how it's their job to do that.

This is why we can't have nice things.

I'm not whining or complaining. But asking players to go and crunch the numbers is not feedback. CCP should do the stats comparison between the PLC and forge guns, as part of their own internal processes. In the context of how haphazard this games development has been, I just felt that it was worth calling out a little.

That is all.

Don't be dissuaded by my ranting on variants, I hope the results turn out well

- Just be careful

Too many issue's arise with those Variants Ghaz... 2 shots is OP, 3 shots is Overkill

- Keep regular Variant.... As the Assault Plasma Cannon while reducing charge time slightly (1 shot)

- Breach Variant... Slower Charge, load time with approx 2000 DMG
?? IF just for theories sake, the charge mechanic was altered and rather than charge fully then fire,
make it charge for a minimum time equal to PLC now, but up to an extended ? 10 seconds ?
so if released at minimum charge time, deals low damage (1000?) but if charged for 10 seconds
it would overheat after shot but you could potentially raise DMG up to 3000 as the overheat would be
the balancing factor and the BPLC would equal BFG alpha DMG ... thoughts ????

- So we have 2 variants, the Regular (Assault) and the Breach ... Job done

- A 3rd variant needs to be designed by CCP when they can provide the lasting burn DMG to vehicles..

^^ Dust mercs should be well practiced at waiting... why rush out spam variants when we could all ask for
A weapon that would be perfecting it's already specialist role, and becoming a vital AV tool...

DAMMIT PEOPLE IF YOU WANT A MASS DRIVER....... BUY ONE !!!!!

i think the problem is.. some people who possibly haven't played EVE don't know the important difference between DPS and alpha. the alpha on plasma is good tho i think needs to be buffed up some to be comparable to Forge guns.

also plasma cannon can be used vs infantry as well where as swarms cannot.

swarms are lock on, while plasma is dumb fire.

throw Flux nade (or 2 depending on cal or gal tank) pop a plasma and gg.

That's right but instead of decreasing the drop I would like to see it gone completey I mean come on its an energy based weapon not a plasma grenade luncher.

I never really understood why in gods name the PLC had this drop limited range with a disappearing projectile ok but this???

Its basically the same with the flaylock pistol I never understood why o rocket pistol had a projectile drop similar to grenade launcher...

Well said but still, the splash damage needs a boost. The blast raius is fine now but the damage against some people around your feet is still kinda squishy.

Just want to clear up one thing for your calculations: The delay between firing and when you start reloading is 1.5 seconds, not 1 second (if you're looking in the SDE, this is the fire interval). This would also be the time between firing shots if there is more than one round in a clip.

On that note, I've been playing around with the fire interval and it feels a lot better when set to 0.5 (a 1 second reduction) so for the single shot variants I'll be looking at the possibility of going with that. For variants with multiple rounds in a clip 1 second interval felt better with full auto and charge (similar to how the bolt pistol works)

I said I've been exploring reducing the fire interval, not that it's coming for sure. Just have to test a bit more, crunch some numbers and convince CCP Ratatti to make the change.

As for full auto Plasma Cannons, I say for sure we'll add them, but it sure was fun to test one the other day when I was messing around with numbers. (Don't ask about the Burst Plasma Cannon. That was too far)

(Don't ask about the Burst Plasma Cannon. That was too far)

this is totally the worst thing about it

Why does the pc need a delay at all? Do rifles have a delay? Heavy weapons? Sidearms?

Please if i'm wrong and other weapons have a delay tell me, but doesen't look like it when i reload or switch weapon with my assault rifle, forgegun, hmg, mass driver, any sidearm, the sniper rifle or the swarm launcher.

The delay should be removed completely, or if you can't (maybe the animation looks weird without? dunno) shorten the reload speed to compensate.

All weapons have a fire interval. Its the number that dictates the time between shots, and by extension the ROF of the weapon. Most automatic weapons have a very low fire interval as the time between shots is very low, while weapons like sniper rifles and mass drivers have higher fire intervals. The plasma cannon is unique in that it's not constrained by it's fire interval as much as other weapons due to having only one round in a clip. This means that the fire interval then only dictates the delay between when you fire, and "finish" firing the shot and can start reloading.

If we ever make a plasma cannon with more than one shot, the fire interval will be very important as it will dictate the time between shots.

And trust me, 0.5 is much better. Setting it lower felt a bit weird when I tried it out. Setting it any lower would mean that you would essentially be reloading the moment the shot left the barrel.