Echidna vs. Scylla

[Ofiach]

Well with Lesmok loaded and a Pafa gunner you'd be surprised the lethal range of a mortar pyra.

This, so much this. Gorath = walking mortar nuke.

Also the mortar is definitely a weapon that requires a comfort level between gunner and captain. What I mean by that is, the gunner has to know what the captain is doing. I wont randomly jerk left or right or reverse or change speed and leave him with no shots. There is a trust level between captain and gunner with the mortar that is completely absent with the flak. Maybe not completely absent but ...

@ Machiavelliest  The mortar is a master at firing down, not up, so the cap has to keep that in mind.

[Gambrill]

@Ofiach you are so right about the firing down. But if your within spitting distance it won't matter

[Skrimskraw]

scylla vs galleons.

Way I do it:
ambush and ram the galleon, then sine up behind hind or on his sniper side. front side of a galleon is hard to stay on, but most players cant react to behind or sides. if you go on the sniper side too, chances are the only thred there will be the mercury, but if he wants to use his hull engie on the merc, then he will die faster anyway.

if he tries to turn, just follow him around, the scylla has a large clip so your gunner can basicly just keep pressing the trigger.
now when the hull of the galleon is down, we all know its hell for the hull engineer when he gets hit by 5 mortars in a row, often if charged is used, results in instant death without the need for reload.

[HamsterIV]

It is worth noting that the Scylla has a smaller lateral field of fire then the Echidna. So while it is possible to get a Gat/Flack/Gat trifecta on a pyramidion, it is impossible to do the same with a mortar. It is mostly for this reason I don't change out my flack to a mortar.

[Captain Smollett]

A really good Scylla gunner doesn't need a second gat.  Load in burst and use the first 10 shots to assist the armor break, finish with the remaining rounds for a brutally fast kill.

[HamsterIV]

But the downstairs engineer doesn't get to share in the glory, and the pilot doesn't get to hear the sound of two gats shooting at once. Besides good Scylla gunners are few and far between, I will keep my Pyra as idiot proof as possible.

[NikolaiLev]

It is worth noting that the Scylla has a smaller lateral field of fire then the Echidna. So while it is possible to get a Gat/Flack/Gat trifecta on a pyramidion, it is impossible to do the same with a mortar. It is mostly for this reason I don't change out my flack to a mortar.

Actually, I'm fairly certain this is false.  I'll have to confirm this, but I'm pretty sure the Mortar has a superior turning arc than the Flak, while it has an inferior turning rate.

This is somewhat offset by the Mortar's inferior projectile speed, which means you need to lead a target more to hit it, so it needs the extra turning arc.

[Captain Smollett]

It does need more turning arc but sadly it has less.

There was a really good thread Hamster had started about increasing the turning arc of the mortar to give the Squid a buff.

I'm not sure of the overall game consequences this would have since it would help out other ships like the Junker as well but it would undoubtedly be an incredible boost to the squid.

Currently the squid can bifecta the mortar and gat but it is pretty difficult and too inconsistent for a competitive match.  Really powerful though when you can nail it and hold in arc.

[Charlemagne Montigue]

Yah I think that neither are really superior. Currently I am piloting a Junker. And the two main loadouts so far that I have used are Carronade/Scylla and Gat/Echidna. Each of them are good, Scylla is really good for up close and personal damage. When going against light/med ships this is a great loadout because it's unrelenting and doesn't allow them to escape easily. The Scyllla once you get used to the arc, is a dps machine.

Now when going up against heavy ships or hwacha heavy ships, the gat/echidna loadout is better. When you need to keep a little distance to keep the heavy weapons from ruining your day, the echidna is good for dealing heavy damage while being able to approach from odd angles and distances. The only downside being if you get rammed or hwacha rammed you will be wishing you had your Scylla.

[N-Sunderland]

My opinion right now is that in the hands of a gunner who can use it, the mortar is definitely superior. It does more damage, and the larger clip size means that less timing is required, allowing the mortar to assist in the armour break.

[Ofiach]

My opinion right now is that in the hands of a gunner who can use it, the mortar is definitely superior. It does more damage, and the larger clip size means that less timing is required, allowing the mortar to assist in the armour break.

Watching Gorath and AwildGodzilla shoot the mortar is a thing of deadly beauty isn't it?

[N-Sunderland]

My opinion right now is that in the hands of a gunner who can use it, the mortar is definitely superior. It does more damage, and the larger clip size means that less timing is required, allowing the mortar to assist in the armour break.

Watching Gorath and AwildGodzilla shoot the mortar is a thing of deadly beauty isn't it?

And being on the receiving end is one of the worst feelings you can have.