Cycler > ???

[QKittie]

I'll throw in my two cents about my experiences with cycler, unfortunately I'm not familiar enough with the other faction weapons to name them.

That said, I've been in a large number of infantry fights and have experimented enthusiastically with all of the heavy weapons available to the Terrans. I'll say the same as the previous poster, that I think the Terran cycler is extremely user friendly, but that the difference for the more experienced players doesn't outweigh skill. What he said about gunning down the strafers at medium to long range strikes a chord with my experience.

At long range against kneeling targets I win 1/2 against solo NC and 1/3 against the nasty vanu high damage energy rifle which hurts and seems to be extremely accurate too.

If the enemy starts leaping around and strafing side to side, my percentage jumps way up, to 75%+ against NC and probably even against Vanu (dang energy weapon hurts, whatever it is). The lesson is, if you are leaping around like a monkey at full assault rifle range, don't even bother complaining about rifle balance, you are dead meat whatever you carry.

The third category is players I engage at range who manage to close the distance using trees/hill/ridges cover and skillful dodging to close the range. I see this most often from skilled NC players, who will promptly blow me away with their shotgun. Players good enough to do this will usually beat me, partly because the cycler clip will only last a scant few seconds and so if you miss your first burst, you are caught reloading at the worst time.

I'll repeat that last part for those of you tallying up weapon strengths and weaknesses, in outdoor settings where there is a ton of room to dodge and strafe around, the short range fights are often 75% missed shots in my experience. The cycler clip only lasts a couple seconds as a burst, and controlling bullets from a cycler while dodging for your life and aiming is not an easy task. I'd much rather have my finger permanently down for those fights, as I suspect our NC friends do with that seriously nasty shotgun, freeing them up to concentrate on aim and dodging.

QKittie