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DJINN leukoplast
Hellstorm Inc
League of Infamy
844
   |
Posted - 2013.07.29 02:04:00 -
[1] - Quote
I figured I would give the plasma cannon a shot, so I loaded up my ~5 million SP alt and speced into the std plasma cannon (from what I read, going any further than std isn't worth it). I played a good 5 hours using nothing but the PC (I did use sidearms and nades, but I ran the PC as my main all night).
First the positives:
 Fun! It may be mostly useless in it's current form, but it is still fun to use. And getting kills with it is very rewarding, not only cause you need to have perfect aiming, but also because very few people ever get killed by them (I've never been killed by one to my knowledge, and only seen it in use two or three times).
A heavies worst nightmare. Since heavies are much bigger and slower targets (especially once they spool up their HMG), they are really the only ones that need to worry about the PC right now, as it has a direct damage of over 1000 HP. I one-shotted a few heavies last night, and it was awesome! I needed some vengeance after getting slaughtered by them repeatedly the other night in my adv min MD suit. 
Splash damage of about 285 is very useable damage, even to proto tanked suits. And direct damage can OHK any suit out there (don't think anybody can go over 1000 HP with a realistic suit config, maybe heavies?)
Based on the positives, I don't think it needs any adjustment in the damage department. Seems to be about right IMO (at least against infantry). Only thing I can think of it slightly better splash damage, but 285 for the std is still very nice.
Now the negatives:
 Useless against vehicles. I haven't had the chance to test it out on a std LAV yet, but tanks and LLAV's are pretty much immune to it. Not only because 1000 HP in damage is miniscule to vehicles with 5k+ HP (and damage resistance etc), but also for the two reasons below.
- Projectile travels too slow, and is easy to miss or be dodged.
- The above plus spool up time makes it even more difficult to land a successful hit on a fast moving object. Tanks are easier, but still difficult from long range. For something that only does ~1000 damage and is a single shot, it shouldn't be this hard to land hits.
Possible tweak: Make the projectile magnetically attracted to vehicles, like AV nades. This could also be an excuse to add more variants, some with more or less magnetic attraction (more magnetic attraction would have less damage and vice versa). With the magnetic attraction, this could definitely be a plausible go-to AV and anti-infantry weapon (more in line with the forge).
Either that or give the weapon significantly more direct damage (2000-3000). It can already OHK any infantry suit with a direct hit, so adding more direct damage shouldn't make it unbalanced vs infantry.
Splash radius is way too small. At distance, it is almost pure luck to land any hits, direct or splash. Up close it is still difficult to land splash damage, and you are very vulnerable since it has to reload after each shot. I've shot the thing into crowds of reds, yet don't even receive any splash damage indicators. So either the splash is messed up like the Mass Driver was before they fixed it, or the radius is far too small for all the limitations of the weapon (spool up time, only one shot, limited ammo, slow moving projectile).
Possible tweak: Add some more radius to this thing! At the very least give it something similar to a MD, in the 4.5m zone. But realistically based on what this weapon is, make the splash radius the same as grenades, 6m. For it only being one shot, having a spool up time and shooting a slow moving easily dodge-able projectile, I think having a 6m splash radius is more than reasonable.
TL;DR
I've used the weapon in many scenarios, long distance, medium distance, and close range. It doesn't seem to excel at any of them, and is most useful in very close ranges (but only having one-shot before reload makes that a dangerous place to be in). I am not really sure what the weapons intended use is with the specs it has.
So with keeping all the weapons balancing features in-tact (spool-up time, one-shot limitation, and slow moving projectiles) here is the suggested tweaks which will not only make the Plasma Cannon a viable AV light weapon, but will also make it a worthy anti-infantry weapon as well.
- Projectiles could have magnetic adhesion towards vehicles - OR - Give the direct damage a massive buff, so it has between 2000-3000 damage.
- Splash radius needs to be increased. I would like to see it have the same as nades, at 6m. But even a buff to around 4.5 like the MD would be nice.
Overall if you don't care about dying or not topping the leaderboards in kills, the Plasma Cannon is fun to use, albeit mostly useless as anti-infantry (damage is the only thing that makes it somewhat useful) and it is especially useless against vehicles. |
DJINN leukoplast
Hellstorm Inc
League of Infamy
854
|
Posted - 2013.07.30 03:14:00 -
[2] - Quote
Played with the plasma cannon most of last night, although I was getting tired of not getting many kills, so I ditched it.
Will continue to use it tonight for a while, but overall I feel my suggestions are still what I believe should be tweaked. At this point, I can't see any reason to use the weapon competitively (PC matches for example). |
DJINN leukoplast
Hellstorm Inc
League of Infamy
859
|
Posted - 2013.07.31 04:12:00 -
[3] - Quote
I just want to add another nail in the plasma cannons coffin, switching to a secondary after taking a shot.
Multiple times last night I either got killed, or almost killed, because it took me several tries to switch to my secondary after shooting the PC (due it wanting to reload). And sometimes there would be a delay in the switch, so when it finally did switch I was already pressing R2 again, and it goes right back to my PC.
If you are going for long distance shots, this is not an issue, and is why i didn't notice it before. But last night I tried to get up-close and personal with the weapon (seems to be what it was designed for, a one-shot shotgun that packs a lot of punch if you can get the hit), but if I miss that first shot, or there is another player around, the glitchy switching to secondary often gets me killed.
For a one-shot weapon that is meant to be used in CQC, being able to switch to a secondary reliably after taking a shot is absolutely crucial. |
DJINN leukoplast
Hellstorm Inc
League of Infamy
881
|
Posted - 2013.08.02 02:19:00 -
[4] - Quote
Played with the PC again last night for quite a few matches (swapping back and forth with a mass driver). And I am pretty sure the hit-detection is broken for splash damage, and it seems the only reliable way to get a hit, is to direct-hit somebody or shoot it right on their feet. It's supposed to have something like 3.4m splash, but it feels more like 0.5m.
The MD's hit detection is great, but the PC seems to only work 1 out of every 5 times in regards to splash damage actually working. |
DJINN leukoplast
Hellstorm Inc
League of Infamy
886
|
Posted - 2013.08.02 11:25:00 -
[5] - Quote
Played tonight as a militia heavy with an avd assault forge, and I have to say, the forge OWNS the PC in every way possible. Not only was it significantly easier to score OHK's on infantry (or even get splash damage), but the assault forge was also incredibly effective against most vehicles (LLAV's aside, even the PC is useless against them... and so is the forge, LLAVs need the most massive nerf imaginable).
Come on CCP, buff it already for crying out loud... |
DJINN leukoplast
Hellstorm Inc
League of Infamy
888
|
Posted - 2013.08.02 11:40:00 -
[6] - Quote
Artemis Kaiba wrote:You can't compare a heavy weapon to a light one. I think PC indeed need a buff but the Forge gun will and should always be better (if comparable).
The argument is wrong but the conclusion is right and I agree with it.
True, as only heavies can use the forge (and heavies have quite a few disadvantages in comparison to lights/mediums).
But for what the weapon is, and for all it's disadvantages, it is a little too far behind the forge to be acceptable (which it seems you agree with  ). |
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