Cannon vs Rifle debate (some say they do the same damage but how?)

[Finrok]

There is a debate about this since some commandos would like to use a rifle. On several threads here I've seen many posters swear that rifle and cannon are the same damage its just that you cannot use the cannon only abilities when your using rifle.

 

Whenever I see a BFG of same level compared to a rifle the max damage is always like 20% more..for instance coruscent commendation rifle is 95 max and the cannon is 123 max..same level ..same commendation cost.

 

How can you say that rifle and cannon do same damage?

 

Are people in a lot of these threads playing serious but really just trolling/joking around (keeping a straight face).

[Keilin]

The Cannon abilities take a firing time, so are a bit slower than the rifle.

 

Cannon may put out more base dps, but with the rifle firing more often, it evens out.

 

At least that's what I'm assuming they are refering to. I haven't personally tested both yet.

[LaManoNera]

Actually, when comparing the two, I'd say base damage is more important, not max damage.

[TheRabbit]

The way attacks work (other than the basic white damage attack) is a combination of 3 things:

• Mainhand Damage
  
• Offhand Damage
  
• Power Bonus

These 3 things are added together for both the minimum side and the maximum side and then the final damage is rolled between the two.

 

Depending on the skill in question, the Mainhand damage may be an insignificant portion. For instance, all TECH attacks do not use mainhand/offhand damage at all. This is probably why most people say that there is no difference between Rifles and Cannons. However, skills that say RANGED do use Mainhand/offhand for some portion of their damage roll.

 

So there you have it.

[Thornne]

Comparing a rifle with a cannon at rating 104:

 

- Rifle min damage is ~95% of cannon.

- Rifle max damage is ~75% of cannon.

- Rifle avg damage is ~75% of cannon.

 

Not knowing exactly how the game 'rolls' a value between the min and max range, I am just guessing that average damage is (min+max)/2.

 

I can't test cannon vs. rifle much further than this, as my troop is a Vanguard.

 

Higher rating weapons do cause the non-'weapon damage' abilities to do more damage, but does a higher weapon max damage affect your non-weapon damage abilities? If not, then it's really only 'weapon damage' abilities you're losing out on with the rifle.

 

Still, unless using the cannon increases the GCD from 1.5s to 2s, I don't see how you could do the same DPS with a rifle.

 

EDIT: TheRabbit posted while I was composing the above. I went back and double checked -- it does appear that it is NOT the weapon rating that was causing tech abilities to do more damage, but the higher amount of tech power (and other stats) on the higher rated weapon. So I would assume there would actually be NO difference cannon vs. rifle for any of these abilities.

Edited January 29, 2012 by Thornne

[LordRaeth]

Afaik the only thing the min-max damage on the weapon do is effect the white damage your weapon throws out, abilities like grav round etc are tech based and yellow damage so don't rely on what weapon you use. Edited January 29, 2012 by LordRaeth