I would save your certs and get either AP for AV or HE for AI. And get a Skyguard if you haven't already since Vanu knows we need more of those.
I usually run with AP instead of HEAT. HEAT I would use if I was in a Lightning pack (4-5 Lightnings running together) or was supporting a column of MBTs. Essentially I'd use it if there was someone else who was around that could deal with enemy vehicles, or if there were enough of us that HEAT could obliterate enemy vehicles. HEAT is obviously a better choice than the AP cannon when dealing against infantry, but killing infantry is a bit pointless in this game because either they're instantly revived or just respawn a few seconds later. I prefer to use AP against their mobile spawnpoints or gun down MAXes because those are the kills that actually do matter. Between Viper and HEAT I'd usually opt for HEAT anyways, because in the hide-and-seek nature of tank battles you only have a short window to land a hit on an enemy tank before you or him rolls back behind cover. HEAT emphasizes the alpha damage that is necessary to take advantage of those opportunities. Unless it's an ambush or a straight-out slugfest where you can land every single Viper shot. HE has generally been considered to be much more worthless than the Viper... unless you're absolutely sure that there isn't another tank within a few hundred meters of you. HE just sacrifices too much to be more effective at a rather pointless role. Skyguard is awesome, but a very unrewarding job at a high cert investment. Plus it's really not all that effective anyhow.
HEAT is the best gun now since the Viper nerf , it's moderate between HE and AP , heck I think of it as an AP with splash.
HEAT's your jack of all trades. Good against infantry, still gives you punch against vehicles. I always pack it when I'm not sure what I'm going up against or I want to remain versatile. If you fully intend to go hunting vehicle or infantry opponents exclusively of course AP and HE are better for those roles. Although I actually don't have the HE gun as I'd still prefer to pack a HEAT. HE leaves you almost helpless against vehicles while with HEAT you still have some anti-armor punch.
You'll very rarely regret carrying HEAT. You will find situations where you regret carrying AP or HE. Not saying AP or HE are bad, far from it, but in combat scenarios where you're encountering infantry and vehicles, HEAT will deal with anything they can throw at you. Just remember that the Lightning gets exponentially better in greater numbers. A single Lightning is going to get splashed fairly easily. Three or four Lightnings working as a team can wreak havoc. Our outfit ran a Lightning run a while back that destroyed 48+ zerg in a matter of minutes by pulling ten Lightings from a relatively remote base and using the Lighting's speed to get us into position over distance. Ten AP Lightings using synchronised fire from the rear arc took out everything the enemy had and stopped an offensive dead.
HEAT is great, not least because it's so damn cheap to get compared to HE or AV, and it does the jobs of those two relatively well.
HEAT is a correct gun, but I'm still running with viper because I'm addict of autoloader. If compare to Viper, HEAT have larger AoE, can OHK and has more DPM but need 4 shell to destroy a MBT from rear. On the other hand, Viper have good burst ability and is good in 3rd person. * : More exposure, maybe, but no enemy can reload in 1.5 sec (the time to shot all your shells). Both Viper and HEAT are good weapons, choose the one you prefer. (or HE/AP)
HEAT's a good, cheap investment if you're intent on becoming a Lightning driver but aren't willing to shell out the SC or don't have the certs for the AP cannon or Skyguard. Obviously you should get those at some time or another, but getting the vehicle upgrades first will help more in the long run.
ohhh yes, I LOVE the HEAT cannon for my Lightning. For one thing, it's great against all targets. Has a decent amount of splash, and said splash can kill infantry in 2 hits. 1 hit kill for direct hit, obviously, but that can be said of any other tank cannon as well. Against the HE variant, the HE will still be killing infantry in 2 hits with splash, and said splash isn't really that much bigger. I mean, you COULD use HE, seeing as how the Lightning should, in my humble opinion, be used primarily against infantry, given its speed, low profile, and smallish size, but there will be times where you will be called upon to join an armor line for a siege or to try and keep the enemy armor from advancing. With the AP cannon, we see the same problems. Practically no splash damage so you're only going to get direct hit kills, and the return isn't really worth the investment. 1600 AP damage vs 1275 HEAT damage. 325 points of damage, about 1/3 of a decimator rocket, really isn't worth sacrificing your versatility. Bottom line, the HEAT cannon is a great mix, and is good in practically any situation. The muzzle velocity is higher than the HE, and slower than the AP, so you can still hit distant targets as well as annihilate a C4 fairy before he hits the big red button of tears.
AP Weapons all deal 20% more damage to heavy armor and have faster reloads. So actually, the TTK difference is rather significant.
I think you forgot two things about AP versus HEAT. The first is that the AP shell moves at a higher velocity than the HEAT shell. This makes hitting long-range targets easier. The second is that the AP cannon is a different weapon type than a HEAT cannon. HEAT does an extra 0% to Lightnings and MBTs, while AP weapons do an extra 25% against Lightnings and 18-20% against MBTs. So against the front of an enemy Lightning, a HEAT shell would do 446.25 damage (65% of any damage is resisted by the Lightning's frontal armor). But an AP shell would do 700 damage (65% resisted from the front, then increased by 25% due to AP damage type). Which would be 5 shots to kill for AP, and 7 shots to kill for HEAT.
Huh....I did not know that about the AP statistics. You'd think there would be some mention of that on the wiki. All of the sudden, my Magrider's absolutely dominance with the FPC makes alot more sense.
If you're looking to save certs and/or SC, then it's an acceptable medium between HE and AP and I'd say go for it. It'll allow you to do good damage against armor and infantry, so you won't have to adjust your load out or cert the vehicle as much. Otherwise you might be better off getting AP. The default weapon does an adequate job against infantry with its fast fire rate and multiple shots, but isn't so great against armor since the velocity and single shot damage aren't so great.
HEAT seems to be back to where it used to be after the overpowering and nerfing of the Viper. So its again a good general purpose cannon imo ideally for med-long range attacks. Viper is still somewhat good on infantry groups but I wouldn't want to approach just any vehicle with it solo.
I have my HEAT maxed out. Yes, it's worth it. HE is better at pure infantry in large fights where you have protection from Armor (and a fair bit of it) letting you just focus on making the most of your splash radius. HEAT is almost as good (the higher RoF makes up a fair bit for the smalelr splash) while being much better at fighting tanks. A HEAT lightning has more DPS (that is, can kill a Sunderer faster) than a Stock canon Magrider (no gunner obviously). AP gains AV penetration and a small boost in direct damage making it ideal for hunting enemy MBT's, though you'll still want a small pack. 2 bare minimum. 3-5 preferred. They have the highest velocity and least drop making them pretty good Inf/MAX snipers too... but give up all semblance of splash. If I want AV, I usually take my AV specced MBT and get a gunner. If I want to solo tank, I almost always want a balanced mix so HEAT is the way to go. Whenever they finally give us vehicle loadout swapping at terminals, then I'll probably make much greater use of AP, HE, and Skyguard all.
HEAT, yes. I find most of my AI kills are from direct hits. More often than not: Missing with HEAT = Badly injured infantry that.... dies with 2nd shot. Missing with HE = Critically injured infantry with a sliver of life left....that dies with 2nd shot. The HEAT reloads much faster so getting that 2nd shot off is easier. It also has a flatter trajectory so getting that direct hit that you were after to begin with is much easier. I rarely run AP unless on Esamir without the tech plant. When needed it's usually worth the trouble of coming up with an MBT somehow or going AT infantry/air in some form.
