53 replies to this topic

[dr lao]

I have spent over 2 mil. of C bills beefing up my Nova prime I started with its initial group of 9 M-lasers firepower was at 77 beefed up the heat sinks brook up the weapons group into 3 keys so I wouldn't over heat but with no avail I shot 3 to 4 times and shut down .
Then I went all ballistic one ac20,four MG's lots of ammo drop armer to 22 in each spot to get better spotting,faster fire,accelerated lock on it drooped the firepower to 36 I like it better but I can still get better damage from my Grid iron hunch.

Grid iron:Mastered gets an average of over 300 damage and up
Nova prime gets 250 at best
what am I doing wrong ?

[Redshift2k5]

It's a fragile mech, with relatively poor hitboxes. Easy for anyone to strip whichever component they choose, combined with weapons with long burn time forcing you to stare at your target.

They work best as clean-up crew or by using thier JJ to get on top of cover- I've put my Nova on top of the center building in River City and been able kill a whole lance with impunity.

Overall it's not the best medium, especially since the ERML and ERSL were nerfed.

[That Dawg]

Stay back, support the group.
nova is a killer, heats its undoing. S variant for me, all the way
4 MG's, 3 smalls on arm, and whatever suits on the other. dual ppc, large pulse, 3-5 mediums
mostly hang tight on any ecm and keep the lights off the assaults.
winning is more important than damage.
I have GIG's of screens: me killing 2-5, me doing 500-900 damage, often getting the best match score or top five........and LOSING.........
think what can you do to help WIN- the cbills and xp generated outstrip losing and big damage numbers.
funny, my damage scores average gone down a bit and my win rate has climbed steady- kills about the same. 150-200 average damage per kill

[LauLiao]

dr lao, on 29 September 2014 - 01:43 PM, said:

I have spent over 2 mil. of C bills beefing up my Nova prime I started with its initial group of 9 M-lasers firepower was at 77 beefed up the heat sinks brook up the weapons group into 3 keys so I wouldn't over heat but with no avail I shot 3 to 4 times and shut down .
Then I went all ballistic one ac20,four MG's lots of ammo drop armer to 22 in each spot to get better spotting,faster fire,accelerated lock on it drooped the firepower to 36 I like it better but I can still get better damage from my Grid iron hunch.

Grid iron:Mastered gets an average of over 300 damage and up
Nova prime gets 250 at best
what am I doing wrong ?

A big difference in the Hunch and the Nova is that most of the firepower in the HBK is in the high shoulder mounted ballistic, so you can peek up over cover, fire, and still be relatively safe. With the Nova all the firepower is concentrated in the arms so you pretty much have to completely expose yourself to get your shots up over the terrain.

Generally I have the best luck in Novas if I run close escort for slow assaults like DWs and Atlases. Stick close and the OPFOR will generally shoot at the big baddie first, and you are also just agile enough to keep pesky mediums and lights off the big fella's back.

[FogOfW4r]

Nova is a challenge to use, it can't fight for itself very well unless the enemy fires everywhere and doesn't concentrate on the arms. Though most people concentrate on the arms.

The nova does shine as a support 'mech, do not lead any charges, instead you should support the 1st line or even the 2nd line.

As for weapons, less is more since everything generates heat. 3-4x ml in each arm should be fine if you chain fire each arm so you can fire 1-4 lasers when needed. Adding a erll adds some long range firepower but also generates quite a bit of heat. Generally a good ballistic weapon is the machine gun, the nova does not have enough tonnage to make a viable ballistic-only build without it being a huge challenge.

To use the nova you have to pace yourself and refrain from brawling unless needed, and also learning to manage heat really helps.

[Anassi]

The Nova is an ambusher. Don't run in headlong, don't get too exposed and dear lord don't start trading fire. You're in a medium, pretty much anything willing to trade fire with you is better armored and will most likely be able to sustain their fire for longer.

You have a metric shitton of pinpoint damage but you can't keep it up for long. Three volleys, four at best if you're set up with ERSL; after that you are in terrible danger of overheating. So the Nova is best used starting from cover. Keep at the back lines, don't run off too far. When a fight is about to break out, get cover and start peeking around a corner. Hillpeeking works too because you have lots of jump jets, but you have to expose yourself more so it's more risky. Only do it if you are reasonably sure you won't eat Gauss rounds.
Only unload ONE volley, but try to keep it on target as much as you can without getting wrecked, then fade back to cover. Relocate frequently. Don't make the mistake of peeking around the same corner time and time again. Try to fire on enemies that are distracted and if possible within your optimal range.

My go-to version (and probably favorite mech in the game) is the Nova Prime with 6x ERML, 6x ERSL, 4x MG. Three Mediums and three Smalls per arm. Use the MGs only as last resort, either to finish off stripped components or if you are caught in the open and are close to overheating. Do not force yourself into MG range. If you can use them - fine. If not it's not a big deal. The rainbows in your arms are you main source of damage.

Edited by Anassi, 29 September 2014 - 02:31 PM.

[n r g]

dr lao, on 29 September 2014 - 01:43 PM, said:

I have spent over 2 mil. of C bills beefing up my Nova prime I started with its initial group of 9 M-lasers firepower was at 77 beefed up the heat sinks brook up the weapons group into 3 keys so I wouldn't over heat but with no avail I shot 3 to 4 times and shut down .
Then I went all ballistic one ac20,four MG's lots of ammo drop armer to 22 in each spot to get better spotting,faster fire,accelerated lock on it drooped the firepower to 36 I like it better but I can still get better damage from my Grid iron hunch.

Grid iron:Mastered gets an average of over 300 damage and up
Nova prime gets 250 at best
what am I doing wrong ?

general mech design, has nothing to do with you. No matter what you do, it won't be tier 1 or (maybe) even tier 2 just based on it's hardpoints, location of hardpoints, generally mech geometry and pre-fitted (non-adjustable) jump jets (wasted tonnage).

ggclose

[xeromynd]

dr lao, on 29 September 2014 - 01:43 PM, said:

I have spent over 2 mil. of C bills beefing up my Nova prime I started with its initial group of 9 M-lasers firepower was at 77 beefed up the heat sinks brook up the weapons group into 3 keys so I wouldn't over heat but with no avail I shot 3 to 4 times and shut down .
Then I went all ballistic one ac20,four MG's lots of ammo drop armer to 22 in each spot to get better spotting,faster fire,accelerated lock on it drooped the firepower to 36 I like it better but I can still get better damage from my Grid iron hunch.

Grid iron:Mastered gets an average of over 300 damage and up
Nova prime gets 250 at best
what am I doing wrong ?

An effective build I've started to run since the heat nerfs is 1 Gauss Rifle with 2 MLs (and ADV zoom).
Slapping 6 MLs in one arm (and nothing in the other) is another high risk high reward loadout. Make sure to use your dummy arm to shield your mech, and your 6ML arm to punch.

Edited by xeromynd, 29 September 2014 - 02:46 PM.

[dr lao]

guys thanks I think Il try the strip down maybe an ac10X I noticed a big deferents in accuracy they must of tweaked it ,with 4 ML and stay back to assist the big guys I don't understand the the point in prime bonus it at best gives out 8 points I get more from my heroes ?

[n r g]

xeromynd, on 29 September 2014 - 02:46 PM, said:

An effective build I've started to run since the heat nerfs is 1 Gauss Rifle with 2 MLs (and ADV zoom).
Slapping 6 MLs in one arm (and nothing in the other) is another high risk high reward loadout. Make sure to use your dummy arm to shield your mech, and your 6ML arm to punch.

you don't really need advance zoom with gauss, or let alone medium lasers.

[WonderSparks]

Well, while I cannot tell you how to use the Nova in an effective role, I can certainly tell you that it is the perfect speed and has the perfect jump capability to land on top of Warhawks and Dire Wolves, which is totally fun.
After all, you can hit them from up there, but they cannot hit you back.

[IraqiWalker]

E N E R G Y, on 29 September 2014 - 02:35 PM, said:

general mech design, has nothing to do with you. No matter what you do, it won't be tier 1 or (maybe) even tier 2 just based on it's hardpoints, location of hardpoints, generally mech geometry and pre-fitted (non-adjustable) jump jets (wasted tonnage).

ggclose

That is the least helpful post in this thread, seriously.

dr lao, on 29 September 2014 - 01:43 PM, said:

I have spent over 2 mil. of C bills beefing up my Nova prime I started with its initial group of 9 M-lasers firepower was at 77 beefed up the heat sinks brook up the weapons group into 3 keys so I wouldn't over heat but with no avail I shot 3 to 4 times and shut down .
Then I went all ballistic one ac20,four MG's lots of ammo drop armer to 22 in each spot to get better spotting,faster fire,accelerated lock on it drooped the firepower to 36 I like it better but I can still get better damage from my Grid iron hunch.

Grid iron:Mastered gets an average of over 300 damage and up
Nova prime gets 250 at best
what am I doing wrong ?

OP. Run the Nova like a Hunchback, and always stay behind someone else, pop out to dish some damage from one of your fists of fury, and duck back in. The Prime stock configuration is practically impossible to work with right now.

I run my Prime with 6 MLs, and 6SLs, each arm packing 6 of one or the other. With the MLs being on chain fire, and the SLs on Alpha fire.

Hide, and use terrain to your advantage, the mech knuckle drags a lot, and can't peek over any terrain easily.

The S is probably the best set up one with 3 MLs per fist, and 4 MGs. Alpha one arm, torso or hide, alpha the toher when you peek again, and always work the MGs on your target.

So far my best moment in it was on Forest colony when we had our lance charge quickly across the water towards the enemy base. We had an Orion K, a Kitfox with ECM, and 2 Novas (my S, and another pilot's newly acquired Prime). We hit fast, and hit from the flank, managed to pick enemy mechs off quickly, and rear-core them. The pincer was a success.

However, that charge worked so well because our Orion was the main focus of the enemy counter attack, allowing our Novas to dish out some serious damage.

[Nothing Whatsoever]

Also, if you haven't make full use of Smurfy's site for builds

And you can check out MechSpecs aside from threads here (New User) and in the Guides section

[dr lao]

Ok I did good with this set up and staying back to help Atlas



never over heated and got some fast shots in with M pulse Laser not a bad score for first time out with build

[Nothing Whatsoever]

dr lao, on 29 September 2014 - 05:32 PM, said:

Ok I did good with this set up and staying back to help Atlas

I see.

For those weapons I'd take off the Targeting Computer, max up to 17 DHS and switch to ERML

Check out this Nova build here, what do you think?

[dr lao]

Praetor Knight, on 29 September 2014 - 05:40 PM, said:

I see.

For those weapons I'd take off the Targeting Computer, max up to 17 DHS and switch to ERML

Check out this Nova build here, what do you think?

Nice but two things dosnt the Targeting Computer give me more range and fast cool down for my pulse L and I have never had much luck with less then 4 MG's two just don't have any punch .

all so pulse L will keep my head down a hit and duck M lasers I half to hold on target

Edited by dr lao, 29 September 2014 - 05:59 PM.

[Nothing Whatsoever]

dr lao, on 29 September 2014 - 05:55 PM, said:

Nice but two things dosnt the Targeting Computer give me more range and fast cool down for my pulse L and I have never had much luck with less then 4 MG's two just don't have any punch .

It helps with Range and Crits, check out this thread here, towards the middle. But on a 50 tonner, I dunno if there's enough of a benefit to carry it, especially with the high heat weapons.

And sure if you don't want MG's on there, you can certainly swap back to MPLs.

Either way, I figure that Armor and DHS would benefit you more, on more maps than trying to squeeze in a Targeting Computer bigger than Mk I on the Nova.

Edit: double checked TCs

Edited by Praetor Knight, 29 September 2014 - 06:09 PM.

[xeromynd]

E N E R G Y, on 29 September 2014 - 04:20 PM, said:

you don't really need advance zoom with gauss, or let alone medium lasers.

Yes, I do

[dr lao]

Praetor Knight, on 29 September 2014 - 06:06 PM, said:

It helps with Range and Crits, check out this thread here, towards the middle. But on a 50 tonner, I dunno if there's enough of a benefit to carry it, especially with the high heat weapons.

And sure if you don't want MG's on there, you can certainly swap back to MPLs.

Either way, I figure that Armor and DHS would benefit you more, on more maps than trying to squeeze in a Targeting Computer bigger than Mk I on the Nova.

Edit: double checked TCs

thats some nice armor Il try that thanks for all your time and help Knight

[IraqiWalker]

dr lao, on 29 September 2014 - 05:55 PM, said:

Nice but two things dosnt the Targeting Computer give me more range and fast cool down for my pulse L and I have never had much luck with less then 4 MG's two just don't have any punch .

all so pulse L will keep my head down a hit and duck M lasers I half to hold on target

Targeting Computers don't help with cooldown. Only max range for beams, and projectile speed for ballistics, and crit chance for both.