Thank you all for your informed responses. I've been quoting as the replies come in but you guys are getting too fast for me, so I'm just gonna post!
I failed to specify that in my initial post, but I'm mainly focusing on when utilizing the Hwatcha as a main weapon. If it's a secondary/panic weapon, I totally agree that it's only worth bringing Burst. As a main weapon, I just think that there's so much more potential within reach.
I have experimented with heavy clip vs burst.
Note, I'd like to focus on Heavy Clip AND Burst. Burst is always going to trump Heavy damage-wise. Heavy Clip is for the utility.
Burst, even at range, is preferred for me. Even when half the clip misses with burst it still gets more disables than heavy clip. This is my personal experience and attempts at using heavy clip as both gunner and pilot in various scenarios, ships, and levels of play.
One of my favorite facets of this game is how, even with a fairly rigorous competitive meta, personal preference and style does play a role on an individual level. My personal experience has led me to try to land as many rockets in as tight of a cluster as possible when at long range. I've been gaining the confidence to essentially snipe by leading the enemy with a dense packet of rockets towards a specific target on the vessel. I don't find myself having to rely on the AoE and missing half the shots when most or all of them hit dead-on. It's also more scary to receive a well-aimed stream than a cough when at long range, IMO.
Well, if you have even a single side stacked with more than one Hwacha, why bother engaging the enemy at anything more than point-blank range?
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There's no point in hitting them from afar with Heavy Clip if it's just going to alert them to your presence, fire fewer rockets, and have less AoE spread. It pays to wait until you're close enough to give them a punch in the gut with the Burst Hwacha.
I agree that the one well-placed Burst volley is devastating, and that it pays to wait when the battle allows for it. What about if the enemy already knows where you are and is making moves to eliminate you? Say a Mobula/Spire plucking away at you from a decent range, or backpedaling away from a pair of brawlers? When on the defensive, giving them as hard of a time as possible as early as possible can discourage an aggressive attack, harass a member of a formation, or draw a line in the sand. This could just a be a contrast of the silent opportunist versus the loud and angry... keep your enemies close versus come up and get me. Doesn't it pay to be both?
An alternative to gunner with heavy clip is spanner mallet buff burst engi. Buffed burst increases range through increased damage, and the spanner mallet give full repair power - which is especially useful on heavy guns. A well timed mallet can be the difference between winning or losing your gun and the engagement
This is a great suggestion. I usually fly on tri-engineer ships when the weapons are predictable and simple. As of late I've been affording to play Gunner to get my hours in, and have taken that as an chance to be diverse and opportunistic when flying with a crew I trust.
If it helps, my inspiration for this post came last night when flying on a Whirlwind/Banshee Banshee/Manticore Spire. I brought Burst, Heavy, and Greased. This allowed me to get a volley of Heavy off when I could, run to the Banshee for either Burst or Greased, and then stam the rest of the Hwatcha reload (if necessary) with Burst for the real whallop. The crew I flew with was an absolute treat, and facilitated the shooting style we decided on for that series of matches. The results left me warm and fuzzy, and with a real sense that I was being a /proactive/ Gunner with the support of our Pilot and Engineering/Engigunning team. As an aside, what are your thoughts on that ship loadout?
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