So I've been using the plasma cannon again recently. The regular fire I've got down, but I'm having issues getting used to the mortar still. I seem to be able to hit the balcony wall that my enemies are hiding behind, but actually clearing the balcony and hitting the enemy is a challenge. Even if the impact indicator is angled because it's ending on the enemy's head. I thought I'd ask anyone around that's more proficient at using mortar mode on the plasma cannon, tempest launcher, and ork Kannon has any tips to nail your targets.
All mortar modes of all arc following weapons need to be effective at hitting enemies crouching behind cover. That is the point of a cover-deny weapons and railings and banisters need to be able to be 'countered' with this weapon. The theory is sound but the game mechanics that should allow for it haven't been perfected yet. Tempest launcher still lacks the aim line in normal mode.
I'd love to hear how anyone gets this to work. I've yet to get a handle on it myself using the Kannon, the direct fire is much more reliable. As you say, it's either well behind them or on the wall in front. Most of the times I've landed a hit using Mortar Mode I'd actually have been better off direct fire anyways.
Not to mention that the projectile doesn't actually follow the yellow projected line arc. This can be extremely frustrating for a low rate of fire weapon as you waste numerous shots which splash on doorways or windows when the line predicted a clear shot.
I cant remember the last time I was killed by a Plasma Cannon, it was probably on the last day prior to its nerf. Since then all the people who switch faction and weapon type based on whatever is OP are currently on either Heavy Bolter / Auto Cannon / Ace Dakka / Shurkein Cannon / Bolter / Shoota etc. Pretty sure that says something, sounds like the PC nerf was more of a nerf by way of mechanic bork. It'd be nice if the mortar mode actually followed its trajectory. For a weapon mode that has such a low rate of fire and time to journey from gun to target having any sort of spread is totally pointless. It needs to land where you tell it to land.
Mortar mode sucks and is currently STILL bugged. It doesn't acually do indirect fire at all unless you are shooting at something far enough away. The mortar arc trajectory does its best to snap to the location of your crosshair, ie indirect fire is impossible 99% of the time. This one bug is what makes the tempest launcher so balls bad (that and no bracing). Grenades work fine as far as I can tell. But mortar mode has not even been addressed by the devs. So here's my tip: if a weapon can "mortar mode," don't. PS; Oh my Jesus fucking God, I HATE phone autocorrect! "if" goes to "of," "bug" goes to "big," "tip" goes to "top" or "too." STOP IT PHONE! JUST STOP you're not helping!!!
I use a lot the tempest on fortress map or on "one objective at a time" when we assault. As mortar it use the ° rule, biggest range at 45°, lobbing fire over 45°, direct fire under. The main problem is the hit cursor which can be see through balcony so it's hard to say if it will land directly behind or way too far. When you see someone peeking just aim for him or on the top part of the cover, the aoe will do the rest. Since it's a mortar, it allow you to shoot while being behind a big cover. Just peek to adjust your aim, and fire after an adaptation to your movement. I generally clean fortified position like this, and they can't do shit since I'm behind a crate. The upper balcony on (I forgot the name) fortress is harder to hit but you can with a lobbing shot.
Like with the Kannon Deffgun the best way to get over cover is simply finding a way to get higher up than the cover so you can shoot over it with direct fire :/ When that isn't possible the Kannon will still have the advantage over the Plasma Cannon due to it's larger AoE and higher Damage, and the Tempest Launcher will be way behind due to the Burst making sure that only one or two missiles will hit (the Storm and Fury is better for indirect fire/cover denial), but in general the Mortar-Modes aren't very useful. In any case, it seems like the Aiming Line doesn't take the "size" of the projectile into account, so it sometimes think you can get over the cover even though the projectile would still hit it. Most of this could be somewhat fixed by letting explosions deal some damage "around" hard cover (it is silly that you deal no damage when the Plasma "Ball" lands on top of the cover, right next to the head of the enemy) and a bit of damage through light cover (like railings), but I guess that would just promote the use of direct fire even more. Do anyone here know if the explosions in EC are "two-dimensional"? It doesn't seem like you can hit something on another "plane" with explosions, unless at least a part of them is on the same level of height (I hope this made sense), a bit like the old issue with melee and stairs. Maybe I should try to test this with some stairs, someone to crouch and a Kannon Deffgun... But at least the Devs said they would add it (at some point) during one of the later livestreams ^^
Explosions are indeed two-dimensional. I've been noticing this for months. Grenades hurting one marine but not the other right next to it, or exploding within a 2in radius practically. My philosophy is that if Jackass 1 and 2 are on a balcony anout the size of a crate thick, and they're on the railing and I hit the wall behind them, jackass 1 and 2 should be dead. If theres a bunch of CSM in a hall and I fire right into the center of them, they should be dead, but normally the game only registers 1 or 2 hits
