38 replies to this topic

[jozkhan]

So I got 1 or 2 XL 400 engines sitting around...

Is there any mech that can really make use of them and be viable?

[TercieI]

Good for about 3.25MM c-bills.

[Just wanna play]

Id say no, the only things that can use such an engine are big and wont be THAT fast with them anyway and will be relatively lightly armed, only for when you want a heavy mechs speed and weapons with an assaults armor

[Void Angel]

Battlemasters and the Boar's Head.

You can get good mileage out of a Battlemaster because its CT is a damage magnet unless you are actively trying to mitigate. You can do a number of variations on This Theme, or for a Long-Distance Attacker type of build; variations abound. The Boar's Head, on the other hand, is the only Atlas chassis that can use an XL effectively - it's a dramatically different playstyle from the normal Atlases. You're deceptively fragile, but you're also going 71 kph in an Atlas. You can Hang Back with long-range weapons, or just Go For Broke and take more of a brawling loadout. No matter what, you're going to try to keep pressure on the enemy while preserving your armor for the final phase when everyone's all beat up from the sniper war - then teach them the fear of Atlases, up close and personal. Not something that'll be easy to do, especially for novice brawlers, but it's a ton of fun when you time it right and the team backs you up.

Edited by Void Angel, 07 July 2014 - 04:02 PM.

[jozkhan]

the cash could be useful...

I have already switched my Boars Head to a standard engine and am still getting good results with it plus the extra longevity is really useful.

Battlemasters? I might try that, which ones can use the XL 400?

[Nothing Whatsoever]

Yeah, Battlemasters can handle the XL400.

Here's another build that I was thinking about now that SRMs work better.

This is what I've currently got on mine: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...9c9fa9fc5df3f61

[Void Angel]

All Battlemasters can use an XL400 - it just depends on what weapons you're loading onto them.

[Fang01]

Pretty Baby goes NINETY with a tweaked xl400...

[jozkhan]

Thanks!

Ah that's good to know on the Battlemasters, I think I will keep them and try them out on those as I get my mastery up.

I hate selling engines - always comes back to haunt me!

[Koniving]

XL 400 engine, what is it good for?


But seriously, I dunno what it's good for other than really fast mechs and Chargers.

[WVAnonymous]

I never go over a XL 385 in my Pretty Baby, and I also replaced the engine in my Boar's Head with a STD. I may try one of the suggested builds above for the BH in another year when I'm done mastering all these new Clan mechs...

[Wintersdark]

IMHO: an XL400 is a terrible engine. The tonnage you pay per engine rating goes up as the engine gets larger, so there's hugely diminishing returns with large engines. Under normal circumstances, I cap out at 350 rated engines, going up to ~360-385 in oddball builds very rarely. I can never justify a 400, just look at the tonnage difference compared to a 360, say, and the speed difference.

...and I'm a solo pug player, where speed is life.

[Alaskan Nobody]

My BH uses a STD340

Having said that, I have had my best matches in my Battlemasters with the XL400 from it, and I do not take PB out without it mounted.

In theory a 380 or 390 would work just as well (the speed lost is under 5kph) and give me plenty more weight to play with, but I have not had the Cbills free to buy those.

Wintersdark, on 07 July 2014 - 04:57 PM, said:

...and I'm a solo pug player, where speed is life.

So am I - and for the 7E Battlemaster at least, the extra DHS it lets you mount may be worth it.

[KhanCipher]

it's good for The Original CB Awesome which imo is done better by the TDR-5SS with a std300...

[Thejuggla]

I highly discourage using the 400xl it's just too much weight for little benefit. I'd recommend selling them. If you want a fast battlemaster I've had good results with a 375xl and can still carry its stock loadout with a ton of heatsinks. Xl in an atlas is a no no and that leaves pretty baby, don't waste your money on that one.

[Wintersdark]

Shar Wolf, on 07 July 2014 - 04:59 PM, said:

My BH uses a STD340

Having said that, I have had my best matches in my Battlemasters with the XL400 from it, and I do not take PB out without it mounted.

In theory a 380 or 390 would work just as well (the speed lost is under 5kph) and give me plenty more weight to play with, but I have not had the Cbills free to buy those.


So am I - and for the 7E Battlemaster at least, the extra DHS it lets you mount may be worth it.

Well, to each there own, but some numbers:

Battlemaster 1G: XL400 w/ Endosteel leaves 30.56t free for payload for 83.9kph Tweaked.
XL375 w/ Endosteel leaves 37.56t free at 78.6kph Tweaked. 5.3kph, 7 tons freed. Using the extra heatsink to justify the 400 is flawed, Endosteel takes 14 slots and only grants 4 tons. You could drop ES, go down to the 375 and use the 3 tons to take 3 more DHS and still have 5 more slots free.
XL350 w/ Endosteel leaves 42.06t free at 73.4kph - roughtly 10kph less, 11.5 tons.

The 375 (or, in my opinion, 360) offers good enough speed for a fast assault while offering substantially more payload. With a 400 and only 30.5 tons free, you have a comparable armament to a Dragon/Quickdraw (29t) mounting an XL300 and booking around at 89kph.

That's kind of sad.

(* All figures assume max armor)

So, with an XL 400, your 85 ton assault is basically only barely a heavily armored Heavy, in fact, it actually packs less payload than most 55 ton mediums at comparable speeds.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Wintersdark, on 07 July 2014 - 07:00 PM, said:

So, with an XL 400, your 85 ton assault is basically only barely a heavily armored Heavy, in fact, it actually packs less payload than most 55 ton mediums at comparable speeds.

Of that, I am sadly aware.

But as I said, I lack the Cbills for anything that did not come with another mech.

That probably explains why my score skyrocketed though - Mediums have been my best weight so far.
(or mechs that play like mediums, such as the Clan lights, Dragons, or the like)

Edit: forgot to mention - but whereas I did not mind being slow in my Atlas's's's, the 340 felt to slow for my Battlemasters.

....On the other hand - with the engines people cram into their heavies, most of them are heavily armored mediums, so it kinda balances out in the Pugworld (kindasortanotreallybutkinda)

Edited by Shar Wolf, 07 July 2014 - 07:06 PM.

[pwnface]

It's all about the rush hour jackie chan version:

[XxXAbsolutZeroXxX]

The 400XL's main advantage is it can house 6 dual heat sinks.

6 DHS would normally take up 18 slots. 400XL frees up an additional 16 or so slots (in heat sinks) in comparison to a normal engine with 2 internal heat sinks.

It may also provide the best heat dissipation / heat threshold of any engine, if engine heat sinks function as true DHS. Can't remember if such is the case.

400XL is my goto engine for laser and ppc boats. Builds where every available slot contains a weapon, dynamic structure slot, or DHS. With the 400XL's 6 engine dhs slots offering more space than would otherwise be available.

[Mahws]

Well, if you have a Dragon Slayer.

90kp/h, 4 JJ, 3xLL, enough heatsinks to keep you cool on any map on an XL friendly mech. Whether it would be effective is debatable, but it'd probably be fun.

I Zeratul I, on 07 July 2014 - 07:24 PM, said:

It may also provide the best heat dissipation / heat threshold of any engine, if engine heat sinks function as true DHS. Can't remember if such is the case.

No, they're the same as external heatsinks. Only the 'hidden' in engine heatsinks are true doubles.