31 replies to this topic

[Nabbis]

I really really would like some more Dakka mechs.
I have 3 Jagers on the IS side they are good at what they do but what other good Dakka mechs are there on the Is side?
Preferable on the heavy/Assault side of things.
Also which mechs from the Clan side could be build to be beast with the clan AC's?
Atm I have my Timberwolf S as a 2 10 ac and 3 ML but it really does not have the same umph the jagers had back in the day . And the Timberwolf C i have build as a 20ac 3 srm6 is a whole different beast.
I would really like a solid dakka mech that says here are some AC and that there is a target now shoot and don't miss to replace the timber S role in my dropdeck and maybe build it as a Laserboat again.

[Bohxim]

Can't go wrong with the mauler when it comes to the dakka. 2 models with 4 ballistics and 1 model with 6. All torso mounted though.

[ImperialKnight]

IS: Rifleman, King Crab, Mauler

Clan: Direwolf, upcoming Kodiak

[B L O O D W I T C H]

Clan side: direwolf with 5-6 UAC/5 or 4 UAC/10
Mad Dog with 2 UAC/10 (c sidetorsos)
Warhawk with 2 UAC/10 + 1 LPL (or 2 MPL) or 1 UAC/10 + 1 UAC/20 + Some Pulselaser

For lolz, i use a Shadowcat with single UAC/20 and an adder with dual UAC/2

Blackjack with AC/2 quirks is pretty fun too.

[Remillard]

Marauder MAD-3R can mount 3 AC/5 or 2 UAC/5's. The MAD-BH2 tends to rock an AC/10. Not sure if this is enough ballistic for you but it's an option. I tend to do okay with them.

The Banshee 3E has some nice capacity too, though they mount shoulder to hip and you have to expose a great deal of your body to get all three going.

[Rogue Jedi]

In addition to the sugestions you have already recieved,
For Clans the Ebon Jaguar is worth a look, it has high back mounted balistic hardpoints and with max armor has more free tonage than any other currant clan Omnimech other that Direwolf and Warhawk despite only weighing 65 tons.

The Orion IIC is a Clan Battlemech, it is able to do multiples of any balistic smaller than a 20, yes including dual Gauss unfortunately they would all be in the same torso, however those are in low torso hardpoints.

[Bud Crue]

Cataphract was once a great choice for Heavy IS dakka. Now the Marauders have taken most of the equivalent Phract builds and do them better, via superior hardpoint locations. I still like my Phracts though. Just something about them. Also if you are willing to get a loan Hero, the oft overlooked Quickdraw IV-4 has some great ballistics quirks that can make a spectacular dual LBx or AC10 build.

[sycocys]

Timber - uAC20 + srms. Skip lasers.

Otherwise - Mauler, King Crab, Warhawk, Jaeger, Direwolf, Centurion, Blackjack and everything else is about equal to the BJ variant to me. Limited hardpoints/locked gear really limit a lot of mechs.

[Koniving]

If you're considering the Mauler, this is from this morning:

Standard engine Mauler, 4 out of 6 ballistics in use. Very first time using it (no skill tree).


I think it handled alright. Twist kinda blows before unlocks to be careful of that. With the ACs being torso mounted, the arms feel a bit useless without energy weapons to back it up.

The center torso does feel kind of big, and so DPS builds are not terribly recommended; face time with this thing doesn't seem to be a good idea.

Edited by Koniving, 23 March 2016 - 07:03 AM.

[Tim East]

Bud Crue, on 23 March 2016 - 06:21 AM, said:

Cataphract was once a great choice for Heavy IS dakka. Now the Marauders have taken most of the equivalent Phract builds and do them better, via superior hardpoint locations. I still like my Phracts though. Just something about them. Also if you are willing to get a loan Hero, the oft overlooked Quickdraw IV-4 has some great ballistics quirks that can make a spectacular dual LBx or AC10 build.

The CTF 4X was the go-to AC5-boat before the Jagermech more or less rendered it obsolete.

Why no mention of the Catapult? I mean, I know you have to do missiles on two others to get elites, but the K2 is still a very fine 'Mech.

And the Dragon? All of those are pretty good if you know what you're doing with them.

The Hellbringer can ballistic, but like the Cataphract the hardpoints are kind of in a bad place.

Victors are an option, but I don't see them used much since the jump-sniping meta was killed.

Same thing with Highlanders.

I think those are all of the reasonably ok ones that I didn't see mentioned above. Can't believe they skipped the Dragon though. I know it can be built on the light side for speed, but the quirks more than make up for it.

[Koniving]

Dragons; before quirks.

Now with those AC quirks...just imagine.

[sycocys]

Kiniving - if you are only going to use 4 hardpoints the 1R or 1P are far better choices with the -CD quirk. The only reason to use the MX90 is for 5 ac5 or 6 ac2.

[Koniving]

sycocys, on 23 March 2016 - 07:37 AM, said:

Kiniving - if you are only going to use 4 hardpoints the 1R or 1P are far better choices with the -CD quirk. The only reason to use the MX90 is for 5 ac5 or 6 ac2.

That's the eventual goal.
But short of selling a number of things in my inventory, buying: the mech + double heatsinks + endo steel ate literally all but 1 cbill.
Then I sold some stuff to load up the armor and slapped some LBX's and AC/5's in and took it for a spin or 3.

[Infinite Freedom]

When it comes to Ballistics, for IS I like the Mad-3R and the Bounty Hunter 2. Granted, I run a similar BH2 build to M4J3ST1C, but that's just me.

I also like the Victor as a mobile ballistic build, still working on figuring out a good build, though I'm leaning towards keeping the stock AC20.

If mediums are your thing, Centurion will always have my vote as long as it isn't the Yen-Lo-Wang.

The King Crab is great for a bullet carrier. UAC-5s, Gauss Rifles, LB X-10s... All work well on it in my opinion.

Finally, there's the Atlas... just the Atlas. It may be low mounted but it can handle any ballistic in the game pretty easily.

Clan, I've been running a Hunchback 2C with twin AC10s and one with twin AC20s. It's fun, though you probably are going to die.

Other than that, what everyone else has recommended.

[Ano]

If you're looking clanside, there's a UAC20/UAC5/ERSL build for both EBJ and TBR that I find a lot of fun. I can't say I'm all that effective in it (compared to laser blech or gauss blech or even the 2UAC10/ERML build) but there's something oddly satisfying about it.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

UM-R60

[Tickdoff Tank]

Centurions are decent ballistic mechs, but they are only 50 tons, so if you run with a heavier ballistic you will not have much in the way of secondary weaponry.

The Dragon is one of my favorite mechs, but part of that is because I enjoy taking a less than good mech and making it work. They require a lot of practice, have limited hard points, a huge torso that seems to attract damage like a magnet and are rather expensive to set up due to the necessity of endo steel and most likely an XL engine. The Dragon 5N is great for AC5s, but it is definately a hit and run mech, it can not take the damage you would need to absorb in a stand up fight.

The jagermech may be a good choice for you. High mounted ballistics, decent quirks, 65 tons, average to good speed, lots of options on how to set them up.

If you want to play around with lighter ACs, like the AC5, you can set up a Blackjack to mount 2 of them and have some fun (love my 2 AC5 BJ, with 6 SL as back ups).

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Some Warhammers can do ballistics well enough. Black Widow and 6R can both do good dual-AC/10 with a quad-ML backup, and that's a fair PUG mech.

I like the ROFLman (erm, Rifleman) right now, as a small & quick Jagermech. Single-Gauss or -AC/20, or dual-UAC/5, or quad-AC/2, are all quite reasonably possible on it with backup lazorz.

Marauder is a LOT of fun, actually. -3R with 3x AC/5, or -5M with dual-UAC/5 (add a JJ and a couple LL, because REASONS). The BH2 isn't BAD, but with only a single B hard point, it ain't much of a dakka mech. AC/10 and 7x ML is usually the build there.

Bummer, though, that none of those is up for CBills yet.

Right now, IS dakka is pretty much Mauler, Jagermech, Rifleman, Marauder, Blackjack. Clan is ... well, whatever you want to build it on, really. HBK-IIC/IIC-C is good for dual-UAC/10 (with decent speed, JJs, and backup CT-mounted lasers). EBJ is GREAT for it, as you can do 3x UAC/5 EASILY on a 81.0 km/h mech with a low profile, that puts at least ONE of those ACs up high. Or go dual-UAC/10. Even HBR does dual-UAC/5 with ECM and a bunch of ERMLs pretty well (one of my favorite PUG recipes, actually). WHK can do dakka a little, but DWF is better at it BY FAR. It's just so SLOW.

That's about it. Good luck!

[Windscape]

ive only seen 1 person mention the jager in this thread

for is, jager, kingcrab, mauler, rifleman, are my go-to ballistic mechs

clan, direwolf. Its like a porsche, it has no substitute.

[Tim East]

Windscape, on 23 March 2016 - 09:28 PM, said:

ive only seen 1 person mention the jager in this thread

It's because the OP already had Jagers and wanted more of the same, ergo mentioning the Jager is redundant. He asked for "other good IS dakka on the heavy/assault side." Or something to that effect.