Question about damage and DPS

ejsphcrisp

Which is better;
Polaron Dual Heavy Cannon (not canon)
567.2 polaron damage (378.2 DPS), or
Antiproton Dual Cannons
302.8 Antiproton damage (403.8 DPS)

I know it is different types of damage, but the Polaron is still ~250 points more than the Antiproton.

Should I go with the stronger damage or the higher DPS? How does this work?

bendalek

The difference is Damage per Volley vs Damage per Second ... In other words, some weapons do more damage on the first hit, but they cannot sustain that damage over subsequent hits.

So the compromise comes from either doing massive damage in one hit from all weapons, enough to perhaps destroy the enemy, or doing more damage over a longer period and 'wearing down' the enemy.

Also Anti-Proton weapons have a 'built in' Critical Bonus, so for PvP or Solo play, they are generally preferred, where as weapons that 'debuff' or otherwise reduce an enemies health/resistance/damage output, are preferred for 'team' play because ALL members of the team benefit from it.

luckychucky

If you are a tac player you should choose the ap for more damage output
there are two kinds of cannons
normal (your AP) and heavy (your polaron)

the normal fire twice as the heavy at the same time

the advantages of the normal version are
- double chance for crits
- better energy refill management

... of the heavy

- better for tactical maneuver (defense)
- more direct severity damage per critical shoot (huge spike damage)

its your choice
i would prefer the heavy ones ... and always AP (more power, better buff possibilities), the polaron proc is useless and you have to use the jem hadar set to buff it

groomofweird

I have (and still do) use polaron with the mk xii jem set in pvp with great results in terms of an energy draining build, providing you have your points in the right place to make proper use of the proc. Alpha strikers are a problem for this though as its more of an "over time" build so its works better as part of a team.
If you're looking for raw damage, antiproton should be your choice as you will be landing far more crits overall and boosting your average damage output as a result. Though the base damage is lower it makes up for it with the procs.
It really depends where they fit into your playstyle.
Just my opinion though