7 replies to this topic

[Vladrik Impalor]

Hey guys, as a relatively new player here, I was wondering on what your thoughts would be on the Thunderbolt TDR-5S build I've been working on.

-XL 250 Engine
-Endo-Steel construction
-Standard armor
-6 standard heat sinks (4 in feet, two in center torso)
-ERPPC (For long range) on right arm
-AC10 (For brawling range) on the left arm with 2 tons of ammo in the arm and left torso
-LRM15 coupled with AMS on the right torso with a ton of ammo for each

I had originally gone with dual AC2's on the left arm, but I needed something that could pack a punch, and make up for the short range weakness. All armor is maxed except for 12 points of armor I removed from each leg for the AC10 ammo (It drains quickly). I had chosen the 5S particularly because of the two ballistic hardpoints. It does not have jumpjets, and goes at a speed of 70-80kph. I had chosen the XL engine and the Endo Steel because I needed the tonnage for the weaponry. I'd really like yall's feedback and suggestions. I may try to move the heatsinks to the left and right torsos for added heat prevention. I would've put ML's on a torso for backup, but I didn't have the tonnage to do so.

[SgtKinCaiD]

Use http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab and enjoy endless tinkering of your mech !

Edited by SgtKinCaiD, 18 April 2014 - 06:30 AM.

[Wintersdark]

Don't use standard heatsinks. Not ever. Ever. Just don't.

The game isn't very clear about it, but they are objectively bad. Not bad as in "These other things are better, but those are actually passably ok", they are bad as in "If you are using them, you are severely disadvantaged"

What happens is you get 10 heat sinks "free" inside your engine. DHS count as 2 SHS's in that case, so upgrading to DHS effectively gives you 20 heat sinks before you add a single one to your mech. Compared to your build above, that would have cooling equal to you adding 4 MORE heat sinks. Using the same tonnage as you have, you could have 6 DHS added (DHS added to your mech cool like 1.4 Single Heat Sinks)... that would be the same as having 28.4 Single Heat Sinks.

So, yeah, double heat sinks, on all mechs, all the time. Just do it, you'll see the difference right away.

Otherwise, looking alright

[Vladrik Impalor]

That sounds like a good idea! But I've seen that they require 3 critical slots, which makes me lose the ability to put any in the legs. I'd definitely put some in the torso's tho.

[Zerberus]

If you switch to DHS, drop the 250, remove the AMS and AC10, and put in an LBX and an XL 300, then you`ll have the same "Summoner Junior" build that myself and others have been running and having tons of fun with.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...893825b823efd6c
As such, assumming you switch to DHS I see no reason why that build should not work.

Seriously, SHS are objectively bad. The only mechs that can feasibly run them are ballistic only builds and some lights (and the lights tend to still use DHS). And by needing less of them, you free up tonnage a for more ammo or a larger engine.

Just put your ammo in the legs instead to make place for them, or mount a larger engine. Btw, an XL 255 weighs exactly the same as a 250.

Something like this... http://mwo.smurfy-ne...eac22562cf616fd

Edited by Zerberus, 18 April 2014 - 06:52 AM.

[Wintersdark]

Yeah, no need to put them in legs. Heat sinks cool more in the legs when you're standing in water, but not a lot more, and only the ones in the legs are affected by that.. and then only by what percentage of your legs are actually in the water. At the very best, in the most optimal circumstances (your legs have 4 SHS, and are fully submerged) It doesn't come even close to comparing to how much of a difference switching to DHS has just on your free 10 in-engine heat sinks.

4 SHS in legs, fully submerged (not possible on a Thunderbolt, as far as I know) count as 8. Add 10 in-engine free, and 2 in your torso = 20 effective heat sinks. DHS? You're at 20 effective heat sinks just buying the upgrade. Toss 6 sinks in randomly elsewhere, and you're at 28.4.

I only harp on about this because it's very important to understand to be at all competitive (or really, just to not struggle with overheating all the time) - the DHS upgrade is critically important to almost every mech, and should be done first, before anything else.



(* Yes, there are a couple builds where it just doesn't matter, such as dual-gauss mechs with no more than two medium lasers as backup, but if you were to ever run... well, anything else, you'd want DHS anyways.)

[Buckminster]

With very very rare exception, DHS are a must. I think it's one of the biggest problems in MWO - players come in to the game, fight through 25 matches in 'meh' trial mechs to scrounge some c-bills and buy a mech, only to need to spend millions in c-bills to bring them up to a competitive level.

[Divine Retribution]

If you're interested in some fun, non-PPC builds here's a couple:

XL w/ AC/10

STD with LBX for fun

STD w/ AC/10

Here's a PPC + AC/10 loadout:

XL w/ PPCs + Ballistics

And here's something similar to the OP build:

TDR-9S

Used an LRM 10 because it's a 10 tube hard point. Can also remove the BAP for another DHS or ton of ammo and a little more armor. Or remove BAP and a half ton of armor for another DHS and another ton of ammo... endless possibilities.

EDIT: Whoops you wrote 5-S, the builds I posted are all 9-S. It's pretty much the same on both though, minus 1 AMS. What you actually asked about:TDR-5S. This time the LRM-15 can be dropped to a LRM-10 to add BAP.

Edited by Divine Retribution, 18 April 2014 - 10:01 PM.