Standard AutoCannons

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Standard AutoCannon (AC for shorthand) are the most basic ballistic weapon systems in Mechwarrior: Living Legends. They represent various ballistic weapons that are rapid-firing and auto-loading.

Overview

A Warhammer B firing an AC10.

Standard AutoCannons are functionally identical to their older predecessors. They deliver damage by firing armor-defeating shells at a high rate-of-fire. There are four classes of Standard AutoCannon: AC2, AC5, AC10, and AC20. In addition a Battle Armor version of the AC2 exists. There are no Clan versions of these weapons (although Clan Elementals may equip the BA AC2).

Because of the ballistic nature of a weapon's trajectory it is possible to strike targets beyond the maximum listed range by aiming high to lob the shell at the target. As the target gets farther outside the listed range, however, damage drops off. Also, because of the time delay between the weapon's firing and the shot's arrival at the target it can be difficult to aim accurately -- especially if the target is actively evading.

Standard Autocannons are classified with an arbitrary number system that roughly indicates the respective damage-dealing capabilities; larger numbers (AC20's) will deal much greater damage than smaller numbers (AC2's).




Weapon Stats

All stats are current as of release 0.8.2.

Weapon Listed Range Max Range Ammo/ton Heat Damage Damage Type Secondary Damage Secondary Damage Type Splash Radius Shots/min Overheat Cooldown Mech Damage/sec Heat/sec Ammo Cost/ton Max Damage/ton Ammo Damage Fall-off Fall-off After Notes
BA AC2 150m --- --- --- 50 Kinetic --- --- --- 500 5s 3s 417 --- --- --- -2 85m Heavy recoil
May have some minimum damage?
AC2 1200m 1500m 360 9.32 175 Light Kinetic --- --- --- 12.5 --- --- 36.04 1.94 250 10380 --- --- ---
AC5 800m 900m 300 4.08 346 Light Kinetic --- --- --- 11.45 --- --- 66.029 .08 450 11072 --- --- ---
AC10 600m 540m? 28 14.5 450 Kinetic 450 Frag 1.3m / 2.6m 17.7 --- --- 139.39 4.28 750 13230 -20 600m ---
AC20 350m 305m? 22 37.6 600 Kinetic 600 Frag 1.6m / 3.2m 22.6 --- --- 279.3 16.67 1000 13860 -20 350m ---


BA AC2

This arm-mounted version of the AC2 is exclusive to battle armor. Because of the large size of the weapon it has a terrible recoil, and prolonged firing after the first shot spreads the rounds in a large cone pattern. It can fire at full auto for 5 seconds, after which it must cool down for 3 seconds. It does reasonable damage at close range to all targets when fired full auto, but can also be fired one shot at a time in order to hit targets at extreme ranges.

AC2 and AC5

Both the AC2 and AC5 feature a high rate-of-fire making them ideal Anti-Aircraft and anti-BA weapons. They also perform acceptably against lightly armored, highly mobile opponents such as Light 'Mechs or Hover Vehicles. Long weapon range also makes them suitable long range direct fire support weapons, aiding friendly brawler units from a safe distance. Unfortunately their Light Kinetic damage makes them less effective against more heavily armored foes.

AC10 and AC20

The AC10 and AC20 trade rate-of-fire for improved damage-per-round, making them much better at dealing with heavily armored targets. They also inflict splash damage, meaning that nearby unit components will also take some damage depending on how close they were to the point of impact. It is important to recognize that the AC10 and AC20 both have noticeably shorter ranges than the AC2 or AC5. This can be especially problematic for the AC20, with a range limited to 350 meters making it difficult to bring the weapon into play when used in wide open areas.


Canon

The first Standard AutoCannon was an AC5 introduced in 2250 by the Terran Alliance, and would be followed by the AC2 in 2300 (Terran Alliance), the AC10 in 2500 (Terran Hegemony), and the AC20 in 2500 (Lyran Commonwealth). The weapons represent a wide range of heavy ballistic cannon with varying rates-of-fire and calibers ranging from 30 millimeters at the lightest up to larger than 200 millimeters.

Among the Clans the Standard AutoCannon was phased out sometime around 2820 in favor of the newer Lubalin Ballistics-X AutoCannons and Ultra AutoCannons. Even in the Inner Sphere the standard AC only continues to remain in use due to lower cost of production and the introduction of specialty munitions which are usable only by these weapons.

Usage

The following vehicles equip these weapons.

AC2 AC5 AC10 AC20

See Also