24 replies to this topic

[Xoco]

As per topic, which Light can I slap some AC on?


Is there any light that can carry an AC20? Because that would be hillarious.

Edited by Xoco, 25 November 2015 - 02:53 AM.

[Dino Might]

Urbanmech works, but is super slow. A Raven or Firestarter is the better bet. I like to run an Ember with a Gauss Rifle. I can usually pull out a kill when I don't get jumped early. You can even take out Arctic Cheetahs that aren't too bright - they get really scared and run away when they start getting hit by gauss rounds. Then it's easy pickings.

[jss78]

I believe trolling in AC-20 Ravens is a time-honoured tradition.

The PNT-10P, while commonly maligned as the worst mech in the game, looks to be getting some nice ballistic quirks in the rebalance (25 % cooldown, 25 % range, 20 % velocity, in the PTS run). I bet it'd be at least fun (if not good) with an AC10 gun arm.

[Xoco]

Question: Would the shotgun (LB-X?) fit into a light mech?
Because shotguns are awesome.

[Fox With A Shotgun]

Any light mech that can pack an AC20 can also pack in a LBX. So yes, you can have LBX light mechs.

RVN-4X is the best mech for doing this because of arm mounted ballistic hardpoints. Urbie can do it too, but as stated before, is very slow.

[PFC Carsten]

But it is Urbie! That alone is enough. Plus it is lore for Urbie to have an AC, so you're not even trolling, technically.

[John1352]

It's not really what your asking for, but the Cicada in the link sort of has an AC15 with 3 second cooldown, has a respectable amount of armor and does 133.7 once it's elited. At that speed it will handle more like a light than most big AC light builds.

Edit fixed link: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...04515dfee086d07

Edited by John1352, 25 November 2015 - 04:44 AM.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

The Urbanmech was pretty much built around large ACs, so that's a natural choice. A silly, lulzy, awesome choice.

UM-R60 - AC10, small laser, XL170, ES, FF, 10 SHS, 1 jet. Stock Urbie weapons, but faster and tougher.

UM-R63 - LB-10X, 3x small laser, XL170, ES, FF, 10 SHS, 1 jet.

UM-R60L - AC20, small laser, STD60(!), ES, FF, 10SHS, 1 jet. Yup, it's a stock engine Urbie. Pretty much the only way you're going to get an AC20 in one of these without either stripping half your armor off or taking a seriously light ammo load. I'd say stick with your assaults, but even Dire Whales will be running laps around you. Kristian shows you how to Urbie.

Slightly faster R60L - AC20, XL125, ES, 10SHS, 1 jet. Now you can keep pace with your assaults. Just make sure you stay behind them.

Or, you can go with other lights... 35-tonners are a little easier to do big guns with, for obvious reasons.

PNT-10P - AC10, SRM2, XL200, ES, 10DHS, 1 jet.

RVN-4X - AC20, XL200, ES, FF, 10SHS, 1 jet. - The BoomBird keeps turning up for a reason; this is probably the closest thing you'll find to a good IS light ballistic carrier.

Make no mistake: none of those are competitive builds. They're mostly not even very good builds, and some are downright terrible. They're loads of fun, and if you're sneaky or ballsy enough you can do great things with them, but generally speaking the sacrifices you have to make to mount big ACs in light 'Mechs aren't going to be worthwhile. That said, I have a whole pile of lights with large ballistics, because they are outrageously fun, and even though they're not all that practical they do get you some surprising kills. Nobody really expects a 30 or 35 tonner to be lugging around a gun that's half the size of their chassis- even when they see it, they don't always believe it until you've punched their eyeballs out the back of their head with it. Everyone should try ballistic lights at least once in their life.

Big guns are somewhat easier to fit on Clan 'Mechs, such that they're not really in the realm of joke builds anymore (even though you still won't see ballistic lights very often).

ADR-D - CUAC20, 3xERSL - Very bloody fun. Who can send heavies and assaults scrambling for cover? This guy can! Lurk around corners, cause heart attacks, profit.

KFX-Prime - CUAC10, 2xERML

[stealthraccoon]

[smurfy]http://mwo.smurfy-ne...bffaa23b2fdf596[/smurfy]

I keep trying to tell you all, if you are rolling in an AC20 Urbie, you gotta forget the armor, it's just weighing you down! You gotta play like a streaker with a howitzer!

[Chryckan]

Ofc if you all right with using a smaller calibre AC and love DAKKA this UAC/5 Urbie is probably the most brutal looking of the lot. It is literally bristling with guns!

UM-R60

[Rogue Jedi]

Kit Fox and Urby were designed to pack big ballistics,

the Adder can do any AC20 ^{(standard, LBX or Ultra)} or the Gauss with 3 ERSL, 3 tonnes of ammo and 8 points short of max armor,
the Kit Fox can mount a Gauss or any AC20, and ECM provided you are willing to forgo armor,

the stock Urbies are designed around a big AC, with Endo you can free up a bit of tonnage so you can pack an AC20 or gauss and keep up with the Kitfox/Adder/Stormcrow, with only 18 armor missing and 3 tonnes of ammo but no backup weapons,
unfortunately the Spider's arm mounted balistics rule out the AC20 but it can do any smaller AC or the Gauss

the Raven, Firestarter, Panther and Arctic Cheetah all have variants capable of mounting ballistics, but for most you will have to compromise on ether speed or armor if you want to bring anything bigger than a UAC5

the Locust can do a UAC5 with 2.5 tonnes of ammo, again sans armor and moving not much faster than the Kit Fox/Adder

[Airu]

With ac2 buffs, I though I would post this, played with it before the patch, was pretty fun watching everyone run away from nonstop dakka PNT-10P
Obviously, it is not built for damage, but to have some fun.

[Johny Rocket]

I ran an AC5 3x mg Spider 5K. Just wasn't as good or fast as the LPL 4 x mg buld.

The only thing I can say about the AC20 light is its a derp build yeah its fun, but, you can get a max engine max armor light with the same fire power at the same range with 4 ML.

Edited by Tractor Joe, 04 December 2015 - 06:39 PM.

[Wildstreak]

Adders are, I think, the best for any AC type.
They do not skimp on speed due to locked engine, I don't think they skimp on armor much either and you can run ERSL as backup. Then it is just you choice of AC though they really need to fix the problem differences between Clan ACs.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

Tractor Joe, on 04 December 2015 - 06:34 PM, said:

I ran an AC5 3x mg Spider 5K. Just wasn't as good or fast as the LPL 4 x mg buld.

The only thing I can say about the AC20 light is its a derp build yeah its fun, but, you can get a max engine max armor light with the same fire power at the same range with 4 ML.

Of course lasers make more sense than 15-18 tons of gun + ammo on a chassis that can't really spare the tonnage to begin with. That's kinda the point, though. It's like taking an English Longbow to an archery competition where everybody else is using modern compounds. You don't do it with the expectation that you're going to win, or even do well... you do it because it's fun, because it's stupid, and because every once in a while you'll manage to do something crazy awesome with it and surprise everybody.

20 PPFLD is surprisingly handy, though. The BoomBird Raven is an amazingly good ridge peeker, considering how very little of itself it has to expose to fire- forget LL or ERLL and staying exposed for a second or more; it can pop up just enough to clear the gun barrel, take the shot, and be back under cover before anyone even sees where it is. Even if they do see, they don't have time to take an aimed shot in retaliation. Or you could run a Gauss and do the same thing from over twice the range with half the risk. It's very hard to backtrace a ballistic shot unless you see it fired, and quite often you'll just get ignored in the noise of a general melee. And the damage is sustainable... unlike PPCs, you don't need to stop and cool down, since even with SHS you'd have to fire all week to overheat with a single large ballistic, even an AC20. As long as you have ammo, you're hurting people and breaking things.

Highly situational, true, but there is a place for a small, mobile large ballistic platform in this game. If PGI did a Hollander, I'd buy it in a second.

Edited by PS WrathOfDeadguy, 04 December 2015 - 11:26 PM.

[Fox With A Shotgun]

BoomBird is gimped with this latest quirk update though :/ It loses its 30% ballistic range, making the already-short AC20 range just that little bit shorter. And with its lack of speed and lack of armor, close-up is the last thing you want to be doing.

[Tordin]

jss78, on 25 November 2015 - 03:04 AM, said:

I believe trolling in AC-20 Ravens is a time-honoured tradition.

The PNT-10P, while commonly maligned as the worst mech in the game, looks to be getting some nice ballistic quirks in the rebalance (25 % cooldown, 25 % range, 20 % velocity, in the PTS run). I bet it'd be at least fun (if not good) with an AC10 gun arm.

Worst mech in the game?? Thats pure nonsense. I run it with a gauss rifle Have managed to do just enough results with it.

[Dino Might]

You can fit 2 AC2s and a half ton of ammo on a Pirate's Bane.
Looks super awesome with the guns mounted overhead (see sig).

[Johny Rocket]

PS WrathOfDeadguy, on 04 December 2015 - 11:21 PM, said:

Of course lasers make more sense than 15-18 tons of gun + ammo on a chassis that can't really spare the tonnage to begin with. That's kinda the point, though. It's like taking an English Longbow to an archery competition where everybody else is using modern compounds. You don't do it with the expectation that you're going to win, or even do well... you do it because it's fun, because it's stupid, and because every once in a while you'll manage to do something crazy awesome with it and surprise everybody.

20 PPFLD is surprisingly handy, though. The BoomBird Raven is an amazingly good ridge peeker, considering how very little of itself it has to expose to fire- forget LL or ERLL and staying exposed for a second or more; it can pop up just enough to clear the gun barrel, take the shot, and be back under cover before anyone even sees where it is. Even if they do see, they don't have time to take an aimed shot in retaliation. Or you could run a Gauss and do the same thing from over twice the range with half the risk. It's very hard to backtrace a ballistic shot unless you see it fired, and quite often you'll just get ignored in the noise of a general melee. And the damage is sustainable... unlike PPCs, you don't need to stop and cool down, since even with SHS you'd have to fire all week to overheat with a single large ballistic, even an AC20. As long as you have ammo, you're hurting people and breaking things.

Highly situational, true, but there is a place for a small, mobile large ballistic platform in this game. If PGI did a Hollander, I'd buy it in a second.

That's pretty much what I said, Its fun, I do it once in awhile, but it's bad for your team because it is so situational.

I have a 4x and have ran the AC20 its derp.
You have to sneak around without ecm, sub 90kph if you want a backup laser. Amor stripped, don't know about you but I scout smoke coming from behind boulders.

The speed is the real problem, I run IS lights and mediums, Boombird can outrun 1 out of 43 of them.

Gauss builds are slightly better because of the extreme range, but 1 gauss is feast or famine. I ran an LB10X and out of all the big ballistics it was probably the best. Decent reload, not a glass cannon and has good range.

[4ries]

For myself I have decided that I wanted to do ita bit differently with my urbanmech(s).
R60: 2 medium lasers and 1 ac2, xl145
R63: 3 medium lasers, 1 ac2, xl145
R60L: 3 medium lasers (I had 4 originally but I felt it was a tad bit hot so I removed 1 laser), 1 ac2, xl120.
I have also tried with an ac5. This is also kinda fun, a bit better in the damage department, but that ac5 weighs somewhat. And also I just love the fast rate of fire of the ac2.

Hell, I even use a single or dual ac2 on my orions...

PS: I should buy me another Urbanmech just to shoehorn a gaussrifle in. And perhaps a medium laser as backup or even a few small lasers (I do have the small laser range module... I really dont know why I unlocked and bought the damn thing but hey... )