14 replies to this topic

[RAM]

Background
The diminutive Capellan Confederation was searching desperately for force multipliers at the end of the Third Succession War. One research and development program was a bold attempt to recreate the sophisticated electronic warfare technology of the long-lost Star League era. Though a technical success, the prototypes were too bulky to install on any of the Confederation’s existing BattleMechs. Rather than abandon a promising technology, they developed a new design to serve as a platform to carry the electronics into battle. The result was Hellespont Industries’ RVN-1X Raven.


Common:
35 tons
210XL rated Engine producing top speed of 97.2kph
10 Heat Sinks
No JJ
356 MAX Armour


****
RVN-1X: CB
Top Speed:
Max Speed:
Armour:
SRM6 & 2x ML w/ 128 Armour
*****


RVN-2X: 2,473,658 CB / 990 MC
Top Speed: 81 km/h
Max Speed: 111 kph
Armour: 6.5 tons; 208
Weapons: 1 Large Laser, 2 Medium Lasers, 1 SRM 6
Hardpoints: 4 Energy, 1 Missile, 1 AMS
LT – 2xEnergy, AMS
RT – 1xMissile
RA – 2xEnergy


*****
RVN-3X: CB
Top Speed:
Max Speed:
Armour:
SRM6, 2x ML w/ 128 Armour
*****


RVN-3L: 5,862,992 CB / 2,350 MC
Top Speed: 95.4 km/h
Max Speed: 133.56 kph
Armour: 4.5 tons Fero-Fibrous; 161
SRM6, 2x ML, TAG, Narc w/ 160 Armour
Beagle Active Probe & Guardian ECM Suite
LT – AMS
RT – 1xMissile, 1xEnergy
LA – 1xMissile
RA – 2xEnergy


RVN-4X: 2,520,666 CB / 1,010 MC
5x JJ
Top Speed: 81 km/h
Max Speed: 111 kph
Armour: 7 tons; 224
Weapons: 2 Medium Lasers, 2 Machine Guns, 1 SRM 6
Hardpoints: 2 Energy, 2 Ballistic, 1 Missile, 1 AMS
LT – AMS
RT – 1xMissile
LA – 2xBallistic
RA – 2xEnergy


The Raven is a technological marvel and employs a large number of advanced electronic warfare systems, possibly making it the most advanced light 'Mech on the field, at least in detection and targeting equipment. Of immediate note is the Raven’s electronic package: Guardian & BAP make for a powerful EW presence.


RAM
ELH

[mr dude guy]

Sadly Electronic Warfare is not implemented yet, so ravens suck. Try again next patch

[Jenova Stark]

Note: This build is optimized for the current patch (e.g., engine double heatsinks broken) after the next patch, I plan to alter the build to take into account greater heat efficiency.

My current Raven 4X custom build:

245XL Engine
endosteel frame
Ferro Fibrous armor
double heat sinks with 2 additional heat sinks outside the engine
AMS with 1 ton AMS ammo
1 jump jet
2 medium lasers
1 AC2 with 1 ton AC2 ammo
1 SSRM2 with 1 ton SSRM ammo
All additional free weight dedicated to armor

This build is fast and agile, enabling the Raven to act as a true scout. It is very difficult to hit in this set up if piloted correctly. It comes with a lag shield for close encounters with multiple enemy mechs (i.e., tap the jump jets multiple times while engaging). It minimizes the threat of LRMs by enabling quick cover and using an AMS. The greatest feature is that it can really burn through the enemies armor quickly with its weapon loadout without running too hot thanks to the double heatsinks and emphasis on ballistics and missiles rather than energy weapons. The SSRM enables accurate hitting of enemy scouts, while the large number of AC2 rounds means missing doesn't reduce your combat efficiency very much. It also looks much cooler than any Jenner and opponents will tend to underestimate you (they think any good pilot would be using a jenner instead).

[Lsq78]

My current build which i just love:

RVN-3L
210XL engine
Ferro-fibrous armor > 230points(238 max)
Double heats sinks: 6 additional
3x ML
2xSSRM2 with 3 tons of ammo
ASM with 1 ton of ammo

Relatively fast and agile while being surprisingly durable for a light, and enough firepower and heat capacity to dish out large amounts of pain while barely paying attention to heat.
2x SSRM plus 3 ML is perfect for chasing jenners and commandos.

[Punk KMSD]

RAM, on 30 October 2012 - 02:41 AM, said:

Background
The diminutive Capellan Confederation...

If you coulden't tell where RAM's loyalty lies from the giant Davion flag next to his name...I think this comment makes it quite clear.

RAM, be nice, you know they don't like to be called diminutive....

...they prefer the term; "Speed Bump"


I basically use the same loadout as Lsq78 does but skip on the AMS in favor of a slightly larger engine for keeping pace with Jenners(or rather trying to) and working my way around Meds. Scout chaser and harraser, fun little ride. Though I have played with a 4X Med laser LRM 5 combo, it didn't work that well before we got endo and I didn't mount a light engine so it suffered from massive heat build up. The combination of endo and an xl engine might get you enough heat sinks for a med/long range fighter. I'll have to play with this once I get the C-bills.

[Jenova Stark]

Punk KMSD, on 01 November 2012 - 07:04 AM, said:

I basically use the same loadout as Lsq78 does but skip on the AMS in favor of a slightly larger engine for keeping pace with Jenners(or rather trying to) and working my way around Meds. Scout chaser and harraser, fun little ride. Though I have played with a 4X Med laser LRM 5 combo, it didn't work that well before we got endo and I didn't mount a light engine so it suffered from massive heat build up. The combination of endo and an xl engine might get you enough heat sinks for a med/long range fighter. I'll have to play with this once I get the C-bills.

Please tell me the secret of fitting 4 lasers on 3 energy hardpoints.

Edit: You must be using a 2x and not a 3L. Your statement that your load out was similar to Lsq78's 3L is what confused me.

Edited by Jenova Stark, 01 November 2012 - 09:28 AM.

[Punk KMSD]

Jenova Stark, on 01 November 2012 - 09:26 AM, said:

Please tell me the secret of fitting 4 lasers on 3 energy hardpoints.

Edit: You must be using a 2x and not a 3L. Your statement that your load out was similar to Lsq78's 3L is what confused me.

Yeah I was, should have been more spicific to which varient I was running with. My bad.

[KnightedChaos]

I just don't see Ferro-fibrous been useful on a light mech like this, compared to endo at least.

238 max armour
standard/32 : 7.4375 tons
FF / 35.84 : 6.640625
weight savings: 0.7968 tons

Standard body : 3.5 tons
Endo-Steel: 1.75 tons
weight savings: 1.75 tons

Plus when you take dmg your armour is always hit so FF really drives up your repair costs, your structure is a lot more likely to survive undamaged.

[Jenova Stark]

KnightedChaos, on 01 November 2012 - 09:13 PM, said:

I just don't see Ferro-fibrous been useful on a light mech like this, compared to endo at least.

238 max armour
standard/32 : 7.4375 tons
FF / 35.84 : 6.640625
weight savings: 0.7968 tons

Standard body : 3.5 tons
Endo-Steel: 1.75 tons
weight savings: 1.75 tons

Plus when you take dmg your armour is always hit so FF really drives up your repair costs, your structure is a lot more likely to survive undamaged.

It is unfortunately true that FF significantly increases your repair cost. However, if you are min/maxing (which is kinda the point of this thread) you should be willing to make some non-tactical sacrifices to maximize your machines capabilities.

In regards to FF vs. Endo, that arguement, while valid for heavy and assault mechs, is not valid at all for lights. The reason is simple: If you are in an assault mech with heavy weapons, then you don't have the critical slots to have both FF and Endo, therefore you must choose, but in a light mech with light weapons you have enough critical space for FF, Endo, double heatsinks, and you will have critical slots left over at the end.

Finally, due to bewildering game mechanics, I can confirm that you get 1.5 tons for endo in a 35 ton mech instead of the 1.75 tons promised by the in-game tool tip. The developers have stated that they have set the program to always round down to the nearest .5. Is that a good idea? No, it is clearly not because it is extremely deceptive to have the tool tip say one thing and the game actually do another. However, facts are facts.

[KnightedChaos]

Well I was unaware of the rounding thanks for letting me know.

In regards to the min/maxing I guess I just wanted to point out that your should always prioritize endo-steel since it is more weight savings as well as lower repair costs.

Edited by KnightedChaos, 02 November 2012 - 08:52 AM.

[thebrassthief]

Jenova Stark, on 31 October 2012 - 07:48 AM, said:

Note: This build is optimized for the current patch (e.g., engine double heatsinks broken) after the next patch, I plan to alter the build to take into account greater heat efficiency.

My current Raven 4X custom build:

245XL Engine
endosteel frame
Ferro Fibrous armor
double heat sinks with 2 additional heat sinks outside the engine
AMS with 1 ton AMS ammo
1 jump jet
2 medium lasers
1 AC2 with 1 ton AC2 ammo
1 SSRM2 with 1 ton SSRM ammo
All additional free weight dedicated to armor

Geezus. Talk about the billion dollar Raven.

[Narcissistic Martyr]

Here's my Raven 4X build

AC20 Raven 4X AKA Say hello to my little friend

XL175
Endosteel
Ferro Fibrous
Std Heatsinks

AC20 w/ 3-4 tons of ammo depending on the amount of armor you want
1 Medium Laser

Sure it's slow and lightly armored compared to a Hunchback, the AC20 isn't as good as a guass rifle, and you have some over heating issues if you aren't careful, but assaults tend to ignore that raven sneaking behind them as long as there's another bigger target. At least until you drop a couple of AC20 rounds in their back eating into their internals at which point they either turn to be killed by the supposedly more dangrous target or twist slightly at which point you can maneuver with your supperior speed and shoot them.

Beyond that there is are some match making benefits to this build. Your opponents get a light mech which will make a good harrasser but should do fairly light damage if the team works together while your team gets a sneaky ac20 to poke massive holes in anything that isn't a light mech. This is opposed to having to face an LRM/SSRM support hunch or an small laser boat hunch with a slow and obvious Wang or a normal AC20 hunch, or a gaussapult/extra LRM boat if you're going for a gauss Dragon.

There are some weaknesses though. Pretty much any light mech can out maneuver you easily and can kill you if you're alone, unless they charge at you straight on in which case AC20 to the face can take care of the problem fairly quickly (solves a lot of problems actually). Any and all SSRM Cats can pretty much kill you so without any trouble since they have high damage output that won't miss and enough speed that you can't control the range of the engagement. In such situations I find it best to do your best to focus fire on the CT and twist to last as long as possible, or power down if they don't have anything besides streaks and there's no one else around to kill you.
.

Edited by Narcissistic Martyr, 03 November 2012 - 09:35 AM.

[Tarys]

Raven 3L build - normally i would prever the 2X but thanks to the change with max. engine ...

295 XL engine
2 med. lasers
2 SSRM2 with 2 tons of ammo
AMS with 1 ton of ammo
1 TAG
CASE
FF armor
Endo Steal
DHS with 2 additional HS used
215/238 Armor

I can give most Jenners and Commandos a real bad day and my team has some nice support through TAG.

[CrazyPenguin]

While I sometimes like to stick two AC/2s or an AC/20 in a 4x, my favorite Raven build is a 3l.

280 XL engine
3 x Medium Pulse Lasers
2 x SSRM2s with 2 tons of ammo
Ferro Fibrous and Endo Steel
12 Double Heat Sinks
215 Armor

I use a 280 instead of a 295, because to me an extra 10kph isn't worth the extra ton of weight. My primary job in this build is as a small mech killer. I escort the assaults and heavies, moving at up to 85 kph, until the Jenners/Commandos arrive to harass the larger mechs. They typically ignore me. The streaks and pulse lasers mean that my damage almost always hits, and my high top speed (about 130) means that I can easily keep pace with the Jenners and I can respond to changing battlefield conditions quickly. Heat isn't a problem, when I start to overheat I back off with the lasers for a moment or two and just use the streaks.

I've tried this role with normal medium lasers instead of pulse, an AMS, and an extra half ton of armor, but the extra discharge time in the normal lasers cut my effectiveness against scouts too much, and I found that I was consistently doing worse than with the pulses.

[The Decoy]

Long time fan of the Raven and am also running a Raven 3L with the following configuration:

260 XL Engine
Endo Steel
Double Heatsinks
2 x MPL
2 x SRM4's w/2 tonnes ammo
AMS w/1 tonne ammo
TAG
238/238 armor

I use 260 XL's in my catapult and when I config my hunchbacks for ranged support instead of brawling, so it was a safe engine to invest in for the Raven. I had actually originally considered taking the 245 XL for this build but ultimately it only saves half a tonne(once you add the mandatory external HS) and lowers the top speed by almost 10km.

Maxed out armor because I am clumsy and enjoy brawling, so it helps to have some extra padding. This will be subject to change in the future I'm sure. I've yet to run out of SRM ammo as I tend to only fire them when I have a sure shot, a good head-on with another scout or am parked behind an enemy assault giving them a neck massage. No external heatsinks means I cannot alpha indiscriminitely but I can keep up the twin MPL's and get an occassional missile barrage in when it counts.

When BAP and ECM are implimented then I'll likely drop the SRM4's for SSRM2's and replace the MPL's for ML's. This will definitely reduce the punch but allow my mech to play the role warfare it is intended to. If ECM works wonders then it is probable that the AMS will get pulled to be replaced by the ECM. Same criticals and weight makes it a perfect trade even while allowing me to keep either the SRM's or the MPL's. Probably the latter as staying power is important when harrassing.

Edited by The Decoy, 08 November 2012 - 03:18 AM.