(Mech Arena) Pulse Cannon 8 thoughts

Thanks, Redfiend. I recently ranked my panther to 3, and now I have two bots with 16 energy (guardian). RN, the only 8 cost weps I have are LAs. Was looking to get another set of 8 cost weps, and pulse cannons are within reach. Not sure if I should just save it and grind out another 250k for the missile racks.

Missile rack is only going to get you so far, and only feels strong because it's Rank 4, while the rest of your stuff, and your enemies, aren't. From what it sounds like in other threads Deadeye is reaching the upper limit of how far missile racks carry before the AI takes you seriously enough to legitimately try to ruin your day.
This is what I meant by what I was saying about blueprints on discord. You probably get jack squat for them as you continue to pick up more. That's by design (Purple item, low blueprint drop rate)

You guys really don't want to rush up to where I am unless you're really sure you've gotten good, because that's what it's going to take when you reach the top of Division 1:

There are bots everywhere. The playerbase is still very scarce. They get meaner, smarter, and as shown above, loads stronger.

They’re 「deteriorated bum-bum」 on Panther too, since the stasis barrier lasts a while, you have plenty of time to unload the sustained fire of PC8 with a degree of safety

it means ‘super good’

Ok, so I just upgraded my Panther to 3* and dropped on Pulse Cannon 8’s. And I like them, so long as I don’t play like a moron and get the thing killed. It just goes against my nature to A, find cover, and B, stay there until the stasis barrier recharges, but that’s what I need to do. Or use other weapons that unload quicker.

I know this is a Pulse Cannon thread, but what other en 8 weapons are better on a Panther?

Danny Linguini
Also, health is a resource. Theres always at least one good time and place to die in beacon rush. Being able to pick those times and places well can turn what started as a blowout into a win.

Pulse 6 is better at rank 4, after it gets it's first accuracy boost.

Putting in the upgrades to Auto Cannon 4 makes them slightly better than Pulse cannon 4.
Anything that cost 6 energy ends up being the main loadout options for light bots in the end game
Autocannon has the same accuracy cone as Pulse cannons with their max accuracy bonus from Rank ups.

Plasma 6 are at home on Jug for rank 3, since you're always trying to be at the heart of the fight. They have better cycle damage than RPG/Missile Rack 6 when upgraded to rank 3, and since they deal damage over time on a short reload, it's easier to control space.

Random comparison...I know the Carbines are supposed to be better, but I was briefly looking at the numbers...is the PC8 going to be comparable to the Carbine 8 at equal levels? It sure looked like it might and it seemed like it might be more accurate at range (similar levels again) too. Am I imagining this Redfiend and others?

One thing to remember is that Carbines are rank 5 out of the box, so getting them early is much of the same compared to getting Missile Racks early. They'll put down the hurt, until the AI decide you're strong enough for them to take the kid gloves off.

There also seems to be a ceiling for average AI. When you watch youtubers use max/near max items against opponents, remember that AI in tournament is based on bracket, so they can pretty much murder the low level AI in droves, and that they're using those weapons against the same AI that die to nothing but their Killshot's dash (27K) meaning they're fighting underleveled opponents for the most part.

To give a better example of how weapons look later on, this is Omnivers using MAX RANK Killshot and Missile racks against the rank 4 AI that you or I would run into. The difference between his output/health and them is about the same as the oddball running Carbines against you or I. When they're squared up, it's a different story.

At the same levels, it's a matter of effective range, firing time and downtime.
Don't let youtube videos showing people that have been around since alpha fool you.
Pulse can do better between 30 and 60M. Weapons that have optimal ranges have a high chance of dealing double damage per particle in those ranges. That's why snagging a tag with Long Arms against someone 105M away tags for 8k instead of 4

The numbers listed per weapon are actually their base values before any modifiers, like Optimal range, critical hits, and the enemy being overheated. Optimal range and critical hits scale from base damage additively.
So 207 base, 414 Optimal range, 414 critical hit outside of optimal range, 611 critical hit inside optimal range. I pair Pulse 8 with Thermal lance 4 on my rank 3 tanks. They deal 400-800 damage per particle at range when overheat procs, and if something else is shooting the enemy with Lances, my Pulse shots register over 1K a bullet on crit.

When I use Pulse 8, I notice it actually dealing double the damage listed per particle under 60M. For example, my Pulse 8 lists 207 damage per particle, but tends to hit for 414 with most of the bullets, and hits it's base of 207 occasionally, as well as critical hit 611 damage about as often as the 207.

Pound for pound, Pulse 8 and Carbine 8 are interchangeable at even levels, and function a bit differently. Youtuber Carbines are near maxed, they do 1K/bullet because of criticals and optimal range. Further out passed 30M, Carbines don't get the optimal range bonus.
Between pulse 8 and Carbine 8 at the same rank/level:
Carbines are aggressive and deal loads of damage in brawling distance.
Pulse cannons are bullet hoses that deal the same amounts of consistent damage between 30-60M that Carbine can only deliver at 0-30M.

Once you get to Carbine 10/12, the EN cost difference makes them stronger than Pulse cannons at the base line.

Does the accuracy of the Pulse Cannon increase between Rank 5 and Rank 6? or stays at 30%?