26 replies to this topic

[Aratan Aenor]

+1 to ECM, I always stick close to D-DCs with ECM because I don't usually carry an AMS on my K2.

[OneEyed Jack]

Sairai, on 25 February 2013 - 11:38 AM, said:

Thank you realy much for your tips!

I tried to follow your hints and ended up with a mech that looks pretty the same like the build from Koshirou, with some minor changes that I think, could make sense.

AS7-D-DC v2

I took a little armor away and added 1 mashine gun + 1t ammo. Many said, my mech would be fittet for long range, but when I didnt get everything wrong, then I can use all weapons except LRM also perfectly on very short range. Why not add some additional non-heat dps then? What do you think?

Well may be I need that additional DHS more then this mashine gun but this will be learned by doing then.

I drive a D-DC quite a bit, and do reasonably well in one. For what it's worth, here's my take. Three things stand out to me about your build.

A single MG serves no real purpose, with the possible exception of annoying your opponent with the constant noise and flashing armor. The 1/2 ton for the MG is no big deal, but the additional full ton makes it a real concern; 1.5 tons for no effect.

I'm not sure exactly how it's coded to determine what launchers use what tubes when firing LRMs, but the Atlas has 2 separate slots, each with it's own tube count. When you use 2 launchers like that, the second one will default to the second (SRM6) launcher, causing it to fire in 3 waves. This has 3 negative effects on the launcher's impact. It takes longer to launch, therefore longer to reach it's target, giving them more time to break LOS. The longer firing sequence means that the total cycle time for the launcher is extended, lowering DPS and putting the 2 launchers on different rate of fire. The 3 small waves give AMS a longer time to shoot them down, reducing DPS.

That many LRMs without TAG will too often be wasted tonnage.

With those in mind, I'll agree with the point that a few others have made that an Atlas does not belong hiding in back, since it makes his heavy armor useless, and that you're kinda weak in a brawl. An Atlas, particularly a D-DC needs to be able to act as a focal point of the fight, which is hard if you'r hiding in back or getting your butt kicked because you took long-range weapons to a brawl. And most of the maps are not Alpine.

For myself, I've found that the best compromise was to take the commonly accepted brawling build and swap the AC20 for a Gauss and use ERLL. This is the build I've adopted to allow for the long ranges on Alpine. LRMs often end up out of range on this huge map (missiles are the only weapons for which the max ranges are hard caps), as well as suffering from ECM, and you don't have the energy slot to spare for TAG. This build offers enough range to keep up on Alpine, doesn't care about ECM, and has nearly the same brawling ability as the most-used build.

This build kind of splits the difference, keeping some of the LRMs to harass and increase ranged DPS, while keeping some SRMs for brawling DPS. It adds AMS because an Atlas is still easy to TAG. The missile ammo is a little low, but I think that's fine. You really shouldn't be spending enough time hanging back to make more LRMs useful, but spending some time at range means you won't be getting as many chances for good SRM shots as a pure brawler (I carry 4 tons SRM for 3 launchers in a brawling build). Just make sure you keep them for good shots and 1 ton per launcher is plenty. If you really feel you need more ammo, you can drop the AMS. Then you can boost ammo by 1 ton and armor by 1/2 ton, or drop armor by 1/2 ton and boost ammo by 2 tons, since 65pts is really plenty for legs that no one shoots at.

[Sairai]

Thank you guys for your comments. The machine gun will vanish then of course.

OneEyedJack, that sounds realy nice but I wonder one thing since a while:

To not have those SRM does that realy mean I am not capable for brawling? Because everyone says I am long range fittet but I think I am not, because Laser and Gauss can be perfectly used brawling, cant they? I want to be able to do both, range and brawl and I came to the thoughts, that this should be possible with the weapons I have chosen now.

Maybe I can focus on SRM a bit more to get used to them, but in my out of the box D-DC I got never used to those SRMs and didnt realy like them. What I like for sure is my damn nice AC20. I did the most kills with that weapon till now. The Idea to fire a bit faster projectiles and for longer range sounded nice, that was the reason why I want to try Gauss now, also I am very sceptic because of those 3 Hitpoints. I also already lost my AC20 very often so far.


Oh and then one question: Can my teammates see, that I have ECM? And how?

Thank you all, you do a great job!

[Koshirou]

Sairai, on 26 February 2013 - 01:25 AM, said:

Oh and then one question: Can my teammates see, that I have ECM? And how?

Thank you all, you do a great job!

Yes, they can. A little blue tag saying ECM appears above friendly Mechs in the HUD if they have it. And if you are in the range of friendly ECM, a little blue eye-shaped icon shows on your HUD.

On that occasion I should also point out that you can use the "show target overlay" key to show additional information about your team mates in the HUD, Check it out in your configuration in the Menu -> options.

[OneEyed Jack]

Sairai, on 26 February 2013 - 01:25 AM, said:

To not have those SRM does that realy mean I am not capable for brawling? Because everyone says I am long range fittet but I think I am not, because Laser and Gauss can be perfectly used brawling, cant they? I want to be able to do both, range and brawl and I came to the thoughts, that this should be possible with the weapons I have chosen now.

Yes, the Gauss and lasers are usable at short range, but the damage output with just those is rather low for a assault mech at short range.

This is all just advice for getting the most out of your Atlas. In the end it's you that has to play it.

[loliza]

Sairai, on 25 February 2013 - 11:38 AM, said:

Thank you realy much for your tips!

I tried to follow your hints and ended up with a mech that looks pretty the same like the build from Koshirou, with some minor changes that I think, could make sense.

AS7-D-DC v2

I took a little armor away and added 1 mashine gun + 1t ammo. Many said, my mech would be fittet for long range, but when I didnt get everything wrong, then I can use all weapons except LRM also perfectly on very short range. Why not add some additional non-heat dps then? What do you think?

Well may be I need that additional DHS more then this mashine gun but this will be learned by doing then.

gaus in torso of an atlas BOLD move mate

Edited by loliza, 26 February 2013 - 05:59 AM.

[Koshirou]

loliza, on 26 February 2013 - 05:58 AM, said:

gaus in torso of an atlas BOLD move mate

If you do not have an XL engine and you use a CASE, it should be alright.