15 replies to this topic

[AHZeruel]

There has been quite some talk about the Cataphract and its dominance due to the "New Mech" syndrome over the last 2 days, and there has been some chat about it replacing some mechs in the battlefield. After playing a bit i think i can say that the Cataphract will fill the niche taken by the Catapult K-2 as a heavy direct fire support.

There are several builds ive seen with the K-2, Dual AC10/AC5/AC2/LB10-X with Laser (ML, MPL) support, Even Quad LLasers, but most, if not all of those, can benefit from migrating to a Cataphract chassis, given some variants have more versatile hardpoints, other have Jumpjets and others include a splash of missile support.

All those brawler-style K-2, in my opinion, will be rightfully replaced for a Heavy Mech best fitted for the job.

Im not really sure where the GaussCat sits in all this, but i would love to hear from some Gaussphracts pilots and their experiences on it.

[Comassion]

That's sort of what the 'mech is for, so if it indeed does its job better than the Catapult, more power to it.

[Viper69]

The Catapult has the advantage of not having arms to get blown off and small side torsos to protect an XL engine. Granted its all center torso but it wont lose half of its firepower with an arm gone (provided its a Gauss toting cat). I like the look and sound of the cataphract.

[Joseph Mallan]

Comassion, on 21 November 2012 - 11:31 AM, said:

That's sort of what the 'mech is for, so if it indeed does its job better than the Catapult, more power to it.

It is also one of those sweet spot tonnages. I can have a Warhammer build, Archer build Sure teh LRMs are arm mounted but its still 2 LRMs on a 70 ton mech

Quote

The 2K Archer is a modification built to increase its direct firepower capability and give it more staying power on the battlefield once it has run out of ammunition. The 'Mech replaces the LRM-20 launchers with two LRM-15 launchers and removes all of the Medium Lasers. The 'Mech uses the saved weight to add two Large_Lasers and two heat sinks

Edited by Joseph Mallan, 21 November 2012 - 11:44 AM.

[Mu]

The 3D is really tricky to run dual gauss on. I think the jumpjets more than make up for the Catapult's side torso protection but you'll never have the insane accuracy of the gauss cat. And nobody is gonna crap their pants about getting hit with one gauss shot in their CT and one in their leg because your weapon convergence was acting weird. Maybe if you carefully fired each individually.



I did have some success running it with a single gauss (torso) and 2xLLs(arms)/2xMLs though.



As for the 4X it's got terrifying damage output but something that slow and easy to kill isn't exactly a one man army. But it's got that direct fire support role covered.

[TruePoindexter]

There are still some advantages to the Catapult - weapon convergence being a key one. Still we anticipated that the bulk of the roles/builds that people had been using the K2 for could be better fulfilled by the Cataphract. The extra 5 tons of weight is a huge benefit as well.

[Hillslam]

Weapon convergence cannot be overstated as an impact.

I'm an Atlas pilot, but I'm trying out a Phract for grins and giggles since its the new kid on the block thats anywhere near my current tonnage, and for me, the jury is still out. Running a 3D

[Kibble]

So you are saying the Cat will be back to what it was orignially designed to do?!? Missle Support?!?! NO WAY!

[Star Colonel Mustard Kerensky]

Kibble, on 21 November 2012 - 12:10 PM, said:

So you are saying the Cat will be back to what it was orignially designed to do?!? Missle Support?!?! NO WAY!

The k2 won't. The A1 however: still missiles.

[Undead Bane]

My beloved AC20Pult looks at Cataphracht and smiles. Though, I one one too, for trololomech (4xAC5)

[AHZeruel]

Kibble, on 21 November 2012 - 12:10 PM, said:

So you are saying the Cat will be back to what it was orignially designed to do?!? Missle Support?!?! NO WAY!

Yeah, but i think its a good thing

[Ngamok]

Undead Bane, on 21 November 2012 - 12:23 PM, said:

My beloved AC20Pult looks at Cataphracht and smiles. Though, I one one too, for trololomech (4xAC5)

Exactly. The K2 with 2 AC20s still hits more consistantly than the Cataphract. The torso convergence is way better than trying to get the arm + torso shot to line up most of the time. The 4xAC5 is pretty funzies.

[shadowwolf jerricho]

What are the Hardpoints on the Cataphract 4X?

[Droz]

Driving a 4xAC5 Phract -4X currently. Enjoying it a lot, and not having convergence issues that Guass pilots are. Wierd.

[TruePoindexter]

Droz, on 21 November 2012 - 12:50 PM, said:

Driving a 4xAC5 Phract -4X currently. Enjoying it a lot, and not having convergence issues that Guass pilots are. Wierd.

I only see convergence issues when you have one torso gun and one arm gun. Two arm guns will converge nicely

[ReD3y3]

Convergence is why the K2 is better.

Dual gauss to med laser 4X with XL255 and 90 tons of gauss ammo and ams.

Been running that all day. It hits hard and does well. Arm aiming is great.

But the convergence on it is terrible. Both gauss RARELY hit the same spot. With the K2 you are gauranteed that both guass hit the same location.

I have not unlocked the +%15 convergene however. I am hoping this will help.