I got up to 1245 infamy in a M3. I strongly believe this setup would've carried me into master league had I let it. I started losing on purpose. If you've done better than that then you can safely ignore this post
I also like to dogfight up close and personal... often times 1v5... a workable proposition at 650 infamy and below. It's a twitchy and intense play experience but if it sounds like fun then here's what I used.
Standard Cannon: Was the bulk of my DPS at mid & short range. This is really what provided the ability to just go slaughter another boat. The standard cannon is much-maligned on these boards but the players saying that are much higher level with way more weapon slots. That changes the needs on weapon timing. Sure, it doesn't look like it does much damage but look again at it's DPS number. I can only assume that many of my opponents have been swearing and cursing as they waited for their weapons to recycle and getting popped by me every 3 seconds like clockwork. I can't speak highly enough of this weapon on a 3 or 4 slot shooter if you like to fight up close. Range perks on this. The fleeing speeders will love you for it. It makes a handy second sniper cannon with a 5 second reload.
Sniper Cannon: This is a very versatile weapon. It hits at all ranges and does reasonable damage. Oh... and it's
perfect for tagging that fleeing speeder and watching him go up in flames. Crit% perks on this. These two cannons are what made speeders my natural prey. Lower mark speeders simply don't have the kind of gear to survive an encounter with that much damage delivered so quickly unless that speeder captain is very good. What adds to the fun is that they don't know that until it's way too late.
Long Range Mortar : Useless at close range but has some use at mid-range. Great for long-range (like the opening of the match). I put damage perks in mine. Between this and the sniper cannon I had at least reasonable throw weight at long range. The mortar also arcs which has it's moments. Another use for this versatile weapon is herding speeders. Sure, you're not likely to hit one with it, but you can certainly encourage them to take the route
you want them to take in avoiding the blast.
For weaponry, I just made sure that I would always have a weapon available and that I would have weapons suitable for all ranges and most situations. I also needed my damage to be precision not area. For blue gear, I alternated between turbo/bandage and dual turbo. The first option allowed me to get in, kill someone and get out to heal up again before going for round 2. With the second option it was more like "Just don't get hit". At the lower infamies, people are awful at leading shots. Most don't even try. Heh... the same is not true at 1000 infamy though. Dual turbo was my choice when it started being me facing an entire squad of M5's with racks of E40 weapons. At that point, getting hit simply isn't an option so you dance and hide. Needless to say, the speeders didn't appreciate dual turbo either.
Let's talk about those big torps. It happens (and it is
always a speeder), but I seldom see a big torp user who can reliably hit me with the things so I consider the big torp a wasted weapon slot. In my opinion damage is not what wins matches. From what I've seen the single strongest indicator of who's going to win a match is which team can reliably focus fire. If you can do that with a torp then rock on. If not, then consider a different weapon or get better at the torpedoes.
Spoiler: We won't discuss...
We won't discuss those few nasty little speeders in their dirty yellow little boats who were able to hit me constantly with the cursed things. I'm certain they were cheating anyway.
HAX!.
Looking forward, when I went M4 I added in an blast cannon. Exploding would've been better but it's what I had. Now that I'm almost M5 I've finally swapped out that standard cannon leaving me with blast cannon, exploding cannon, sniper cannon, long range mortar. What drove that decision is the people I'm facing are routinely too good to just miss all the time. If I was going to do stuff like cutting the fixer out of their pack I needed more burst damage. So my trusty standard cannon finally got set in a place of honor on my mantle. I'm looking forward to adding the railgun I've been cooking up at M5. By the time I have a slot for it it ought to be R30. That should give me a nice boost in burst damage and also take care of the occasional weapon cycle delays I have now (and great for fleeing speeders).
*** edited to add ***
Yes you can use a blast with a sniper but at a penalty. The talents for each fight with each other. That's why the exploding cannon is better with a sniper. Still though, when I needed more punch I brought on a blast cannon and it served admirably. I still use it, just in conjunction with an exploding cannon. Eventually it'll get replaced by missiles I suspect.
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