I like what they propose.

http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/166212-the-gauss-particle-projection-directive/

Hey folks,

I'm going to pre-empt the concern that nothing has happened with the PPC/Gauss combination in the game and Russ mentioning work being done on it for this patch.

The new firing mechanic that Russ was mentioning is indeed in the game right now but it is set to off. The reason for this is that it's a very complex active system which is going to directly affect your weapon triggering. Yes we have complex systems in the game like Heat Scale but Heat Scale is passive. There's a big difference in a player's experience when the active triggering mechanism is changed, much like the Gauss Charge. The Gauss Charge however is a single stage active change, the Gauss/PPC system that is on hold right now is a 3 stage active change.

The Mechanic:

A Gauss Rifle is a charging weapon.
A PPC is a heavy energy draw weapon.
In the case of a 2+ PPC - 1 Gauss equipped 'Mech, the following will happen:
While the Gauss Rifle charges, the pilot can only fire 1 of the PPCs. Choice is the pilots.
While the Gauss Rifle charges, the pilot cannot fire both PPCs simultaneously.
If the pilot decides to fire 1 PPC, there is a 0.5 second period in which the 2nd PPC cannot be fired.
In the case of a 2+ PPC - 2 Gauss equipped 'Mech, the following will happen:
If the pilot charges 2 Gauss Rifles, no PPCs will be able to fire.
This PPC lockdown effect lasts for 1 second after the Gauss Rifles have fired or auto-discharged.

We are in constant talks about this and MIGHT bring it on-line on the Public Test Server for you to provide feedback and thoughts on the mechanic.
Feedback: http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/166209-the-gauss-particle-projection-directive-feedback/


One of the other solutions I've been looking at is slowing down the PPC projectile. What this gains is the ability of a target 'Mech to spread incoming damage more effectively by twisting its torso out of the line of fire. The number I've been toying with is 750m/s for PPCs and 850m/s ERPPCs(IS and Clan). Now if you're wondering what the current speed is, it is 1500m/s. So yes... that is a 50% decrease in projectile speed for PPCs.

What this translated into is that at 1000m, the PPC projectile hits its target just under 1 second after a simultaneously fired Gauss round. At 500m, it is around 1/4 of a second. Optimal target distance for the PPC/Gauss combo falls into the 600-700m range which allows enemy 'Mechs to close the gap a little easier vs PPC equipped 'Mechs. This also means that the PPC/AC20/AC10 combinations will be affected as well. A 50% decrease in projectile speed seems overly excessive but it really does bring the feel of the PPC/Gauss combo back into alignment with the rest of the game.

I'd like to, at this time, ask that you give your thoughts on these two solutions in the feedback thread for this post. Please keep in mind that the numbers listed in this post are testing values only and not the final, to be put into game numbers.

I understand that that both of these mechanics seem fairly heavy handed but it's time to bring this weapon combo into alignment with the other combinations of weapons.

This does sound promising.

I like how the direction of some of these and recent changes.

For instance, having jump snipers mostly gone has been great, once they implement this that would be really nice.

I just don't like the high-alpha-pinpoint damage meta that is currently in the game. This takes away from brawling which I have always enjoyed the most.

I think they're overcomplicating it again, like they did ghost heat.
If each weapon and gadget like ECM had an energy cost, and speed had an energy cost, they should make you work within the confines of what each engine can product.
Or simply slow down the ability to pinpoint your aim, in particular between arms and torso. That's the root of it all.
Lasers require the skill to hold your targeting on the body part to get full damage in one spot. To put ballistics and PPC's on a level playing field, they need to slow down the ability to pinpoint
by another .75/sec or so.

Gotta say though, I'm not terribly unhappy with things the way they are now. Other than PPC's, the clan mechs are balanced well with the AC's due to the way they fire. No pinpoint damage on the move. Gauss/PPC...still a problem.
Maybe leaving the IS mechs with the fast pinpoint aiming is a good balancing tool, since they can't bring the same firepower.

Sometimes I think PGI is completely clueless. The whole point with the Gauss charge mechanic was to decouple PPC and Gauss. Now we need to go further down the rabbit hole? If the problem is grouping weapons with Gauss, why not just make the gauss not fire when in a group ( or at the same time as another group )? Then we could be rid of the gauss-charge mechanic altogether. They are coming up with a convoluted hidden ruleset that will only apply to maybe 5 mechs total that can reasonably carry the Gauss/PPC build. If ECM wasn't so gamebreakingly OP, the natural counter to the Direwhale would be indirect barrage from LRM and the whole point would be moot.

I don't think the DW is even remotely an issue, although I see mention of it in games often. To be so cumbersome and slow, it makes sense that they should pack a huge punch. Otherwise they would be totally useless. I'd rather come up on one of them than a highlander.
I would like a solution that took the charge up time off of the gauss. It would be better placed on the ppc's....and a longer charge up for each ppc being charged.

I don't mind the fix, but I agree that it seems overly complicated. They also need to find a way to make it more visible to the user so he can see what's happening and why weapons aren't firing.

I liked the idea that one member posted that suggested an overall energy level with a visual meter/gage on the HUD. Firing any energy weapon (or charging up a gauss) depletes the energy level, with the amount varying depending on the weapon. That system would render ghost heat not necessary for energy weapons and be a lot easier for the player to understand.

Then ballistics weapons would be regulated via heat and heat cap. A lower overall heat cap with high dissipation would maybe be necessary.

Remember when they added in the function of extra heat if you tried to fire more weapons of a certain type than your chassis was designed to?

Why don't they do the same thing with accuracy? If you fire too many large weapons too close together, it affects their accuracy, kinda like any automatic weapon in an FPS?

IMO, I'd rather have ghost heat removed entirely and just slow down arm and torso weapons convergence.