Loadsamunny Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 I don't have any clue what it does, only that it affects other things in some way. What does it do, and how does it tie in with Accuracy and Tracking Penalties? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phalczen Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I don't have any clue what it does, only that it affects other things in some way. What does it do, and how does it tie in with Accuracy and Tracking Penalties? The firing arc represents an invisible three-dimensional cone with the apex (point, origin) of the cone from your ship's nose (front). If you fire your weapon (primary or secondary) at a target that is within that cone, you have a good chance of hitting it. The larger that cone, the more area on your screen you have to actually aim your shots and score a hit on your target. See also my response in this thread for how firing arc, accuracy stat, evasion, and real life aiming all interact: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=762972 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadsamunny Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) The firing arc represents an invisible three-dimensional cone with the apex (point, origin) of the cone from your ship's nose (front). If you fire your weapon (primary or secondary) at a target that is within that cone, you have a good chance of hitting it. The larger that cone, the more area on your screen you have to actually aim your shots and score a hit on your target. See also my response in this thread for how firing arc, accuracy stat, evasion, and real life aiming all interact: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=762972 So...I'm not sure I fully understand it, but...the more Firing Arc you have, the more "area" your weapons will cover when fired and the more likely you are to score a hit, even if you're off the mark? Edited October 28, 2014 by Loadsamunny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altheran Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) It delimits the area where you can fire and/or lock missiles. It is displayed as circle(s) on your screen. Trying to fire or lock outside of this circle will fail (it won't waste energy/ammo either - nothing happens). And oh, obviously, the bigger the firing arc is, the bigger the circle on your screen will be. Tracking penalties is tied to the position of your cursor when firing (therefore, within the firing arc). The further the cursor is far from the center of the screen (and the closer to the firing arc circle), the more your shots are tilted with a certain angle. This angle determines how much accuracy you lose according to the tracking penalty stat of your weapon. Bottom of the line is that firing arc doesn't affect how the tracking penalties works, but gives you an idea about how much accuracy you can lose in the worst scenario. Edited October 28, 2014 by Altheran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadsamunny Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) It delimits the area where you can fire and/or lock missiles. It is displayed as circle(s) on your screen. Trying to fire or lock outside of this circle will fail (it won't waste energy/ammo either - nothing happens). Tracking penalties is tied to the position of your cursor when firing (therefore, within the firing arc). The further the cursor is far from the center of the screen (and the closer to the firing arc circle), the more your shots are tilted with a certain angle. This angle determines how much accuracy you lose according to the tracking penalty stat of your weapon. Bottom of the line is that firing arc doesn't affect how the tracking penalties works, but gives you an idea about how much accuracy you can lose in the worst scenario. I have 2 circles on my screen, a smaller one inside a larger one. I'm going to assume that the smaller circle within the larger one is the Firing Arc? And the bigger it is, the easier it will be for me to score a hit or a lock? I was under the impression that a bigger Firing Arc meant I wouldn't have to be dead center to score a hit. Seems like a very confusing mechanic. Why can't it just be whether or not your blasters or missiles actually connect, like in Rogue Squadron, instead of Hit Scan? Edited October 28, 2014 by Loadsamunny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunewalker Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 It delimits the area where you can fire and/or lock missiles. It is displayed as circle(s) on your screen. Trying to fire or lock outside of this circle will fail (it won't waste energy/ammo either - nothing happens). Tracking penalties is tied to the position of your cursor when firing (therefore, within the firing arc). The further the cursor is far from the center of the screen (and the closer to the firing arc circle), the more your shots are tilted with a certain angle. This angle determines how much accuracy you lose according to the tracking penalty stat of your weapon. Bottom of the line is that firing arc doesn't affect how the tracking penalties works, but gives you an idea about how much accuracy you can lose in the worst scenario. Example of its effect on Accuracy. Burst Laser has 34 Degree firing arc (as stated above this will decide the size of the circle that you can shoot inside) If you are NOT firing dead center of your screen you are a few degrees off center. For ever degree off center you are you suffer the Burst Lasers Tracking penalty of .5% per degree.... so if you are firing mid way between center and its edge (17 degrees off center) you are suffering an 8.5% drop in accuracy. On quads its 24 Degree arc (10 Degrees smaller you will see this visually as the circle will be smaller) so you can not even attempt to fire at 25 degrees or further off center. It suffers a Tracking penalty of 1.5% per degree... so again if shooting half way between dead center and edge of the Circle (12 degrees in this case) you will see a 18% drop in accuracy. Different weapons have different fireing arcs (different circle sizes) and different Tracking penatlies. Both dictate your ability to fire when the target isnt dead center. If the target is not in the Firing arc at all you can not shoot him at all. If he is in your firing arc but towards the edge you can shoot him, but your weapons tracking penalty will play a huge roll in whether or not you "hit" your target. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunewalker Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) I have 2 circles on my screen, a smaller one inside a larger one. I'm going to assume that the smaller circle within the larger one is the Firing Arc? And the bigger it is, the easier it will be for me to score a hit or a lock? I was under the impression that a bigger Firing Arc meant I wouldn't have to be dead center to score a hit. Seems like a very confusing mechanic. Why can't it just be whether or not your blasters or missiles actually connect, like in Rogue Squadron, instead of Hit Scan? The answer is Aim bots Bioware wanted to discourage cheaters thus added an aim mechanic and one to force both good aim AND good piloting as well as good ability use. The "faded Circle" is your secondary weapons firing arc. The Darker circle (likely the larger that you speak of) is your Lasers firing arc. Edited October 28, 2014 by tunewalker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadsamunny Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 Example of its effect on Accuracy. Burst Laser has 34 Degree firing arc (as stated above this will decide the size of the circle that you can shoot inside) If you are NOT firing dead center of your screen you are a few degrees off center. For ever degree off center you are you suffer the Burst Lasers Tracking penalty of .5% per degree.... so if you are firing mid way between center and its edge (17 degrees off center) you are suffering an 8.5% drop in accuracy. On quads its 24 Degree arc (10 Degrees smaller you will see this visually as the circle will be smaller) so you can not even attempt to fire at 25 degrees or further off center. It suffers a Tracking penalty of 1.5% per degree... so again if shooting half way between dead center and edge of the Circle (12 degrees in this case) you will see a 18% drop in accuracy. Different weapons have different fireing arcs (different circle sizes) and different Tracking penatlies. Both dictate your ability to fire when the target isnt dead center. If the target is not in the Firing arc at all you can not shoot him at all. If he is in your firing arc but towards the edge you can shoot him, but your weapons tracking penalty will play a huge roll in whether or not you "hit" your target. Okay, I think I understand. So that second smaller circle inside the bigger one is the Firing Arc, and the higher your Firing Arc, the bigger this circle is. So if your Firing Arc is higher, it means your opponent can be further off center and you'll still have a chance to hit it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunewalker Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) Okay, I think I understand. So that second smaller circle inside the bigger one is the Firing Arc, and the higher your Firing Arc, the bigger this circle is. So if your Firing Arc is higher, it means your opponent can be further off center and you'll still have a chance to hit it? No, the smaller circle is the firing arc of your secondary weapons. the second part is yes and no... The larger arc means you can make more Firing attempts, but the Tracking penalty will decide whether or not those attempts at that distance will work. Edit: You want to fire dead center as much as possible with all weapons. The only weapons firing arc REALLY matters on is Missiles as you can lock at any time they are inside the Missiles firing arc, once the lock is finished and the missile is fired the only way for that missile to "miss" is for a "Missile Break" to be used. To more clearly see what we are talking about. Get on a T1 Strike fighter. Hit the 1 key it will swap primary weapons when it does, you will notice a change in the size of the "big circle" on the second one if you are still using concussion missiles you will see the second "Smaller circle" or "faded circle" disapear because your primary weapon and your secondary weapon have the same firing arc. Edited October 28, 2014 by tunewalker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadsamunny Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 No, the smaller circle is the firing arc of your secondary weapons. Okay, I just tried firing my Pods outside of that smaller circle, they won't go off. But my blasters will. So I'll incur huge tracking penalties the further my reticle is away from the center, but as long as the enemy is within my Firing Arc, I still have a chance to hit it? So it basically increases the amount of area I have to shoot in then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunewalker Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) Okay, I just tried firing my Pods outside of that smaller circle, they won't go off. But my blasters will. So I'll incur huge tracking penalties the further my reticle is away from the center, but as long as the enemy is within my Firing Arc, I still have a chance to hit it? So it basically increases the amount of area I have to shoot in then? Yes..... The larger the arc the more area you have to shoot in. Every degree off center incurs a penalty though dependent on the weapon. Edited October 28, 2014 by tunewalker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadsamunny Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 Yes..... I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out then. The way it's explained is extremely complicated, but the end result is so...simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altheran Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I have 2 circles on my screen, a smaller one inside a larger one. I'm going to assume that the smaller circle within the larger one is the Firing Arc? And the bigger it is, the easier it will be for me to score a hit or a lock? I was under the impression that a bigger Firing Arc meant I wouldn't have to be dead center to score a hit. Seems like a very confusing mechanic. Why can't it just be whether or not your blasters or missiles actually connect, like in Rogue Squadron, instead of Hit Scan? Usually, that's because you have two active weapons at a time, and they use different firing arcs. I believe there's a way to know with circle is which weapon's firing arc, but in my opinion the best is just to remember which one has a bigger/smaller firing arc from tooltips and remembering that the big one is this weapon, and the small one that other weapon. Missiles usually are the smallest circle, but it's not absolute truth. Nothing hinders one player to choose missiles with larger firing arc than the cannons. As you're starting, the small circle is definitely your missiles/pods and the big one, your cannons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunewalker Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) Usually, that's because you have two active weapons at a time, and they use different firing arcs. I believe there's a way to know with circle is which weapon's firing arc, but in my opinion the best is just to remember which one has a bigger/smaller firing arc from tooltips and remembering that the big one is this weapon, and the small one that other weapon. Missiles usually are the smallest circle, but it's not absolute truth. Nothing hinders one player to choose missiles with larger firing arc than the cannons. As you're starting, the small circle is definitely your missiles/pods and the big one, your cannons. Dark circle= Primary weapons AKA lasers Faded Circle= Secondary (missiles, pods, railguns) Edited October 28, 2014 by tunewalker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altheran Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Dark circle= Primary weapons AKA lasers Faded Circle= Secondary I figured there was something like that, but that's not exactly the most eye catching feature ever... I remember that when starting I found too complicated to look how light one is compared to the other. P.S. You answer too fast... I guess these are the limits of not speaking English as a native language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunewalker Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I figured there was something like that, but that's not exactly the most eye catching feature ever... I remember that when starting I found too complicated to look how light one is compared to the other. P.S. You answer too fast... I guess these are the limits of not speaking English as a native language. I have honestly been doing this to long and have gotten a pretty quick typing speed out of it. I havent taken typing lessons but am proud of my 50 words per minute typing speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verain Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 http://lmgtfy.com/?q=firing+arc+gsf Sigh. Anyway, tune explained it all, which is very patient of him. Too patient IMO. I'll throw in one odd thing: the extra arc from the talent and the extra arc from the crewman seem to talk about two different things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickDagles Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 http://lmgtfy.com/?q=firing+arc+gsf Sigh. Anyway, tune explained it all, which is very patient of him. Too patient IMO. I'll throw in one odd thing: the extra arc from the talent and the extra arc from the crewman seem to talk about two different things. Explain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama-Eight Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Explain BW being inconsistent with their terminology vis-a-vis firing arcs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadsamunny Posted October 30, 2014 Author Share Posted October 30, 2014 Does Firing Arc from Qyzen Fess affect Clusters/Secondaries, or just Primaries? And if it does, is the Firing Arc increase worth losing 25% more ammo for Double Volley? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drakkolich Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Does Firing Arc from Qyzen Fess affect Clusters/Secondaries, or just Primaries? And if it does, is the Firing Arc increase worth losing 25% more ammo for Double Volley? It does increase secondaries. However it's not worth losing the ammo for double volley, especially because of how it seems to intreract with double volley. Cluster Missile Base Ammo is 20 Cluster Missile with Ammo upgrade is 24 Cluster Missile with only 25% Passive is 25 Cluster Missile with Ammo upgrade and 25% passive is 30 Now lets do these with double volley upgrade Cluster Missile Base Ammo is 10 Cluster Missile with Ammo upgrade is 12 Cluster Missile with only 25% Passive is 15 Cluster Missile with Ammo upgrade and 25% passive is 18 So you can see that the upgrade for 4 ammo is indeed halved like its supposed too, however the 25% passive is calculated before anything is halved then added on top of the base halved amount. If we look at this line "Cluster Missile with Ammo upgrade and 25% passive is 18" we can see that it takes base of 20 + 4 = 24 figures out that 25% of 25 is 6, then halves the 24 to 12 and then adds the original 6 that it calculated at the start on top of the 12. So if you're using the double volley upgrade on clusters the "25% ammo" passive suddenly becomes "50% ammo" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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