12 replies to this topic

[HyperFlip]

So i just bought my first mech and decided to go for a jagermech DD.

I'm considering to go full ballistic, due to low heat generation, but i don't know to either go with LB-X10AC or UAC5's.

Not really decided yet if i'm either going to brawl or peek over hills due to the high mounted hardpoints.

I've also seen 6xAC2 builds, but i have no clue how good they are comparing to other builds.


Any help is most welcome.

Edited by HyperFlip, 28 October 2014 - 09:45 AM.

[Spheroid]

There is also twin gauss which removes the need to upgrade your heatsinks immediately.

[Phobic Wraith]

Hey there Hyper, wanted to stop on in and leave my thoughts. Fair warning though, I've never piloted a Jager, but there are a few fairly universal principles you want to keep in mind.

#1 Pinpoint (and usually frontloaded) damage is king. When in doubt, go for the weapon that deals as much damage to a single component as quickly as possible. In this case, that would be the UAC 5. I enjoy the LBX, but honestly, it does better late game and in brawling situations where enemies may be a little harder to hit. UAC 5s are much better DPS-wise and will serve the Jagermech well - because its designed for DPS at a distance, not so much brawling.

#2, Heat scaling, commonly referred to as Ghost Heat will make those AC 2s wildly unusable when firing more than 3 at a time. They generate extra heat and the low damage, but high rate of fire dissipates your ability to do pinpoint damage anyway.

I would load it out something like this
JM6-DD
I'm sure there are better load-outs and better ideas floating around the forums, but that's pretty close to the usual UAC build I see.

Jagermechs can mount a surprising and often scary amount of weaponry, but that comes at a cost. They tend to be a little fragile. Loading triple UAC 5s will almost invariably mean that you'll need to us an XL engine. Standard engines won't leave you with enough room for ammo. XL engines mean your side torsi will become... squishy. Light 'mechs love running up to the blindside of a Jager and aiming 6-8 medium lasers at its gigantic sides. Don't let 'mechs get close to you. Use the distance to your advantage and tear other heavy-hitters apart before they can get to cover. Stay with a group and hope they protect your rear.

Oh, and since you're asking about your first 'mech, I'm assuming a big WELCOME TO THE GAME is in order.

Glad to have you.

Edited by Phobic Wraith, 28 October 2014 - 10:19 AM.

[TercieI]

HyperFlip, on 28 October 2014 - 09:43 AM, said:

So i just bought my first mech and decided to go for a jagermech DD.

I'm considering to go full ballistic, due to low heat generation, but i don't know to either go with LB-X10AC or UAC5's.

Not really decided yet if i'm either going to brawl or peek over hills due to the high mounted hardpoints.

I've also seen 6xAC2 builds, but i have no clue how good they are comparing to other builds.


Any help is most welcome.

The LBX is a pretty bad gun.

The best builds for the JM6 (DD/S) are generally considered to be 2xGauss, 2xAC/20 and 3xUAC5. So of your options, probably go for 3 UAC5s. 6AC2s are pretty much a joke rig and the sometimes-seen 2AC5/2AC2 still requires a lot of face time. This is bad with a JM6 becuase they need to run XL engines (like the XL260 that came with your DD) to run those big ballistic builds, but they have large STs and thus are pretty easily killed. "Glass cannons." Hit hard, hide, move, repeat.

Good luck and welcome to MWO.

[The Trumpet of Gabriel]

The Jagermech is a good choice for first heavy. A couple of things to remember is that you have big side torsos without arms that protect them so survivability in brawling can be difficult. The Jagermech really shines as a second line direct fire support mech. The high mounted ballistic hard points make it excellent at peeking over the crest of a hill, firing, and backing down behind cover again. Don't be the first mech around a corner or in the leading ranks of your team. It's too fragile and you will be focused down quickly. Again, remember it does best if you can engage from behind cover.

On my DD I prefer to run Dual Uac5's, 4 mg, 2 mL, with an xl300. I don't fight up close with it until the end game when most people have their armor stripped off already. It's advantages are good mobility, DPS, and heat management. The disadvantages are vulnerability to death through side torso loss.

You can also run dual ac10's with no problem, but I prefer it on the "S" model because you can carry more lasers. It is very effective but a little hotter than the uac5's.

Another popular build is the DapperJager that uses 2 LPL, and 6 mg's. I've not run it so I don't know what engine you would use, but I think the weapons are light enough for a good sized std engine.

If you want you can also run 2 ac 20's or 2 gauss rifles (I wouldn't recommend these until you are more familiar with the game).

[UrsusMorologus]

High-mounted weapons means you dont have arms to protect your torso. You really need to stay away from the brawling, and bang on targets from a bit of a distance in order to survive.

LB10X is best for very-close combat where you can pinpoint all the damage instead of spreading it across multiple parts of the enemy mech. The goal is to take out a single critical part that kills the enemy, but spreading damage from distance means you have to kill all of the parts. If you are playing a jager as heavy fire-support and keeping distance (like you should) then LB10X is wrong weapon for the role.

AC5s are pretty good if you can stack them up but you run out of tonnage quick. A pair of AC10s will do more damage and consume less tonnage, and they are still good range (400ish).

Something like 2xAC10 2xML 4xMG should work pretty well. You get 20 point pinpoint damage from 450m, and you have the MLs and MGs for defense if you end up in a brawler situation. I use something very similar on my JM6-S (just 2xMG instead of 4x) and it is a very successful build for me, easily get 2 kills 5 assists and 500 damage with it.

Later you might want to mess with gauss and MGs but keep the torso MLs. Gauss rifles explode very easily and will take out the MGs on that arm with it.

[RedEagle86]

As has been said before, the most common are dual AC/20's, Gauss Rifles, or triple UAC/5's (although, IMO, the CTF-Ilya is best for the triple UAC, and the CTF-4X is best for 4 AC/5).

Other builds that work well are things along with what Ursus posted, some people switch out LBX/10 for the AC/10.

Personally, I run several 'joke' builds on my DD. Best used in a group where you can have support.

6 MG build (can swap LPL's for ERPPC's and still have pretty decent heat efficiency), and you have pretty good survivability with the STD engine. Works best when used with Assault Mechs who open up armour, or other DD's with the 'dual' builds.

[pwnface]

4x AC2 can work great if you have the cbills/gxp to get and use advanced zoom. It runs a little hot but can put out serious DPS at range.

[Unnatural Growth]

I had been running the 2 UAC5/2ML build on mine. I've recently switched to 2 AC10's/4MG/2ML build, and max armor, as I seem to prefer to get up in their faces more, which isn't always a good idea with an XL engine. I'm still playing with this one.

My S is still running 2 UAC5/4ML and a STD engine, also with max armor.

Don't be too eager to pull armor off of your Jager. Dedicated Cataphract pilots like me love to find soft and squishy enemy Jagers out there to step on.

Maybe for now, put in a STD engine, max your armor biased to front, and fit what you can from there weapon wise. At least until you get more used to the game. XL Jagers with light armor loadouts are awfully easy to kill if you get "caught" out in the open.

[Gamuray]

I've had quite a lot of success with a 2 ac5, 2 ac2 JM6-DD. Before the ghost heat I ran 4 ac2's, but switched. Prior to the fire rate nerf to autocannons, the 2 ac5, 2 ac2 combo would easily rip teams in half, was pretty strong. It's still strong now, but it's harder to work with. As people stated before, face time is longer.

Haven't had too much success (by my standards, which means high dmg, 400+ most matches to be useful, 500+ to be strong) with high alpha mechs. Tend to be vulnerable right after firing, which is what I wait for in my DD.

(Also, the screen shake you induce, if you put your arms on two buttons, each with one of each ac, and hold 1, then also hold 2 1 sec later, is immense. I've scared off numerous direwolves with it. Keep in mind though that, staggered, the ac2's create ghost heat which will exponentially increase the longer you fire, which it shouldn't. And the alpha is still 14, which is decent)

[HyperFlip]

I'm considering this build, based on an earlier post.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...d3734542d2c2e8c

This is however with the XL260 wich comes with the jagermech.

Edited by HyperFlip, 29 October 2014 - 06:40 AM.

[Unnatural Growth]

I like everything but the leg armor allocation. If it was me, I'd max the leg armor and pull the AMS to get the weight for it. With that done, that's pretty much what I'm running.
Try to stay with a friendly assault mech and help focus down their targets.

Edited by OldOrgandonor, 29 October 2014 - 09:04 AM.

[The Great Unwashed]

I've had tons of fun using a 3*AC5/3*MG/2*ML variant, the XL265 with BAP or XL280 without, 1t MG ammo, rest AC5 ammo. With the AC5s in chain you can really shake an enemy around.

If like like Jagers and want to spend some money, a twin Gauss twin ML Firebrand is really wonderful

The XL260 is nearly as good as the XL265 but for obvious reasons not the preferred choice unless you have none! XL engine wise, I like the 255, 265, 280, 300, 325, 350, 375.... For the Jagers, the 280 is a nice item to save Cbills for...