Pistoleer Archive
Thread: Which is better: Fan Shot, Stopping Shot, or Last Ditch?
imho both FS and LD have there place (as such i keep both hotkeyed)
FS is faster (or at least appears to be) great for soloing creatures (used with the proper food/drinks and spice)
In a group i tend to use LD as it has more damge output...is a bit slower not much...but i tend to use that as part of my opening combo (Lowblow, Panicshot, HS2, HS1,LD LD) before closing to melee range.
hope this helps
most people are going to tell you Last Ditch, but after using both I really prefer stopping shot. I run out of action so much faster with last ditch. I've lost fights before because I emptied my action with it and then got nailed on my action ham. The damage difference isn't that much different.
Ok, this is gonna sound really noob, but what does AOE stand for? I've seen it over and over referring to certain attacks, but I can't for the life of me figure it out as noone has not used the abbreviation.
Fan Shot = 4.0 damage, 2.4 delay, AOE
StoppingShot = 5.0 damage, 4.0 delay
LastDitch = 6.0 damage, 4.0 delay, Stun
LastDitch is always better than StoppingShot -- I have the Smuggler specials right now (Holo profession) and I never use StoppingShot. LastDitch has a slightly higher HAM cost, but that's rarely a consideration given Doctor buffs and the power of well-experimented stim Bs. In terms of pure DPS, LastDitch is always better than StoppingShot.
FanShot is just different ... it's an Area of Effect attack. Great for levelling fast in PvE, not that useful in PvP since your enemies rarely stand around clumped together while you keep shooting them. 
. tons of damage + stun effect.. last ditch is probably the best single shot in the game. This was (before the patch) my one-hit winner in alot of duels. Great shot
Efour is correct. To elaborate, in case you don't know what Area of Effect is either. Fan Shot hits multiple targets, in an area of effect (I believe it's like a cone effect, projected from you, and centered on your target). So, someone standing on either side of your target, or behind them, will also be hit.
This is a great tool when several foes are approaching you.
It also can get you into trouble...I've agroed an otherwise peaceful nest or creatures who were standing behind my target minding their own business. This can get out of hand, real fast.
Fanshot is I believe a cone AOE, whereas MTPS is supposed to hit reds all around you, not justa cone. So this is a different type of Area of Effect. But basically, anything that hits more than one target is an AOE.
I hope I'm correct in my statements above, and that they make sense.