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Forums > Home› Star Trek Online General Discussion

what is REALLY the difference between DC and DHC, and which do you prefer?

fdashx497fdashx497 Member Posts: 19 Arc User
edited June 2013 in Star Trek Online General Discussion
im sorry if this question was asked a million times, but if you wouldnt mind please tell me what is the difference between dual cannon and dual heavy cannon in the most recent version of game. why is the purple grade dual cannon around 50k and dual heavy around 300k in the exchange? is the DHC really better?
Post edited by fdashx497 on

Comments

  • loukocloukoc Member Posts: 1,189 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    fdashx497 wrote: »
    im sorry if this question was asked a million times, but if you wouldnt mind please tell me what is the difference between dual cannon and dual heavy cannon in the most recent version of game. why is the purple grade dual cannon around 50k and dual heavy around 300k in the exchange? is the DHC really better?

    It's a mix of efficiency (DHC fires 2 shots while DC 4, thus DHC does same damage in less time) and the 10% innate CritD that DHCs have...
  • smokeybacon90smokeybacon90 Member Posts: 2,252 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    There is an indepth analysis of the two here:
    http://deepspacealliance.blogspot.de/2012/08/game-mechanics-revealed-dual-cannons-vs.html
    which concludes that DHCs have better DPS from the critD which override any weapons drain decrease of the DCs. As crit specialization increases I can assume that this gap widens.

    However the pricing of DCs does it for me.
    EnYn9p9.jpg
  • fdashx497fdashx497 Member Posts: 19 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    oh i see, people have been saying DHC better is a myth
  • coupaholiccoupaholic Member Posts: 2,188 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I use both myself, my standard loadout for my escorts are x1 DC, x2 DHC and a torp.

    It is for purely cosmetic reasons, by using both all the weapon hotspots on my ship are used while shooting. Also the x2 turrets on the back of BoP's look a bit pathetic, so I like to boost up that stream of fire with DC's.

    It's probably not efficient, but it does look cool.
  • warmaker001bwarmaker001b Member Posts: 9,205 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    smokeybacon90 wrote: »
    There is an indepth analysis of the two here:
    http://deepspacealliance.blogspot.de/2012/08/game-mechanics-revealed-dual-cannons-vs.html
    which concludes that DHCs have better DPS from the critD which override any weapons drain decrease of the DCs. As crit specialization increases I can assume that this gap widens.

    However the pricing of DCs does it for me.


    Betwen DHCs and DCs, DHCs, hands down.

    Long ago, I was in the belief that the DCs fire more shots, though less powerful each shot than those from a DHC. I figured though that the faster fire rate of DCs would make up for the smaller damage values per shot than the DHC attacks. I also liked the idea of lesser power drain from DCs. I also believed that the "faster fire rate" of DCs would net me more procs.

    What got me going this direction was all these reasons being carried out by 3 Dominion Dual Polaron Cannons. I repeated the mission until I got these 3 copies. Excited, I mounted them on my existing polaron build Qin Raptor after removing the regular Polaron DHCs I had on before.

    However, the results were absolutely terrible. I wasn't really firing more than DHCs, as the linked article above says. It's all based on a firing cycle of several seconds. The DCs fire weaker shots compared to the harder hitting DHCs. And when you're trying to bring down a player's shields, you need that to happen ASAP. And Cannon Rapid Fire with DHCs is nastier than they would on DCs. Simply put, it took me longer to kill something with those Dual Cannons than I did with my older Dual Heavy Cannons. My friend didn't notice any more frequent drains than before with the DHCs. Disappointed, I stored those 3 Dominion Dual Polaron Cannons, remounted the DHCs, and have never touched Dual Cannons since.

    Maybe if Dual Cannons had a 90 degree arc like Dual Beam Banks and not the restrictive 45 degree arc it shares with Dual Heavies, I can **maybe** consider it. But as it stands now, I stay clear of Dual Cannons.
    loukoc wrote: »

    It's a mix of efficiency (DHC fires 2 shots while DC 4, thus DHC does same damage in less time) and the 10% innate CritD that DHCs have...

    Correct on that free mod for DHCs. Not only do they hit harder than Dual Cannons, ALL DHCs have that innate +10% CritD as a freebie. The distance between DCs and DHCs in killing performance widens even more.
    XzRTofz.gif
  • zdfx19zdfx19 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    From a practical usage standpoint, I use dual cannons when I want more consistent pressure damage and perhaps more chances at a special effect proc and can handle the power demand. I use dual heavy cannons when I want more DPS out of an opening attack like when de-cloaking to unload. I find DHC not so hard on weapons power thanks to the way they cycle while DC are more consistently demanding. That's where I see the difference between the weapons if not so much in the overall stats over a long time. I personally would not mix dual cannon types as I would hate what it does to my power cycle and performance consistency.
  • warmaker001bwarmaker001b Member Posts: 9,205 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    zdfx19 wrote: »
    From a practical usage standpoint, I use dual cannons when I want more consistent pressure damage and perhaps more chances at a special effect proc and can handle the power demand. I use dual heavy cannons when I want more DPS, out of an opening attack like when de-cloaking to unload. I find DHC not so hard on weapons power thanks to the way they cycle while DC are more consistently demanding. That?s where I see the difference between the weapons if not so much in the overall stats over time. I personally would not mix dual cannon types as I would hate what it does to my power cycle and performance consistency.

    Check the test page that was linked higher in the thread. Dual Cannons do not proc more than Dual Heavies do. I used to believe DCs were better for procs, but it was terribly wrong.
    XzRTofz.gif
  • baelogventurebaelogventure Member Posts: 1,002 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    The innate CritD for DHCs is perhaps THE biggest selling point over DCs since it's a free mod.

    I suggest that each weapon type have some sort of innate mod, such as DCs having CritH (More shots, more chance to crit. Harder shots, harder crit) and perhaps turrets coming with an innate Acc mod.
  • misterde3misterde3 Member Posts: 4,195 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I've been bothered by the simple question "WHY?"
    Why did they DEVS include a weapon into the game that is basically obsolete?

    *Puts on Mk XII protective gear*
    And while I don't have an answer to that question, maybe reducing the energy demands on the DCs by 1 point would remove the current performance gap between DCs and DHCs.

    *runs for cover*
  • loukocloukoc Member Posts: 1,189 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Actually, I myself hadn't noticed that 10% innate CritD of DHCs until a few weeks ago. It was only when it was pointed out to me that I noticed it.
  • zdfx19zdfx19 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    warmaker001b wrote: »
    Check the test page that was linked higher in the thread. Dual Cannons do not proc more than Dual Heavies do. I used to believe DCs were better for procs, but it was terribly wrong.

    That's the thing. Over time sure. But what about during your opening strikes?
  • zdfx19zdfx19 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    misterde3 wrote: »
    I've been bothered by the simple question "WHY?"
    Why did they DEVS include a weapon into the game that is basically obsolete?

    *Puts on Mk XII protective gear*
    And while I don't have an answer to that question, maybe reducing the energy demands on the DCs by 1 point would remove the current performance gap between DCs and DHCs.

    *runs for cover*

    Sure. That's true of a lot of things in game now. I'd be tempted to argue that your sentiment applies to torpedoes for cruisers some days with all these 8 beam A2B builds. ;) There are a lot of reasons for it. More than I could cover. Things like changes in direction by the development team leaving unfinished or unfulfilled legacy elements in game, staff cut that were responsible for a creating feature that was abandoned by the remaining team, new ideas taking shape introduced onto of the old rather than changing it because of the work involved. STO is kind of messy and Cryptic has a crazy history...
  • tcostiktcostik Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    zdfx19 wrote: »
    That's the thing. Over time sure. But what about during your opening strikes?

    Wait, what? DC's proc at the same rate of DHC's. There isn't any difference when using them, alpha strike or not.
  • zdfx19zdfx19 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    tcostik wrote: »
    Wait, what? DC's proc at the same rate of DHC's. There isn't any difference when using them, alpha strike or not.

    I am not sure I buy it. I can't prove it as I am only a limited genius. ;) I may be totally wrong. But in actual play "it sure feels like" I get a better shot at a proc on opening when moving from mob to mob with DC than DHC like playing Gorn Minefield rather than shooting at a consistent wave as in SB 24. It is what it is.
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