31 replies to this topic

[Chris Morris]

Just curious what you think. I'm new to mechs and MWO but I would like to build a mech that would do some damage on the Raven 3L swarms, or just specialize in countering lights for the fun of it.

I'd prefer to do it with a Cicada, Hunchback or Catapult (the mechs I have).

Thanks for you input!

Chris

[Zerikin]

Streak SRMs are the easiest. Large amounts of SRM6 work well too (e.g. a splatcat).

[Moonsavage]

SRM6
Streaks won't touch an ECM capable light, unless you have ECM or Tag.

The other option is to spend the weight on a faster engine and run away from the pests.

[Ryllen Kriel]

SRMs are a nice counter to light mechs up close. Streak SRMs are good, but most lights are packing an ECM so sometimes it's better to go with that. Rapid fire lasers are nice to discourage light mechs as well, or the good old AC 20 on your hunchback if you are good at leading them.

[AlexEss]

medium pulse lasers if you got the aim(and heat sinks) for it or SRM4/6 if you have the TAG for it.

But in general i'd say the best weapon is a wingman. As long as you can stay out of each others fire that light will not be a problem.

[El Bandito]

Tons of medium lasers I suppose.

[verybad]

Friends.

[Tickdoff Tank]

Streaks>Lasers>missiles>ballistic/PPCs

To expand a bit:

• Streaks are the easiest thing to hit lights with, assuming that there is no ECM to contend with.
  
• Lasers are your most consistent weapon for hitting lights. You might not do full damage if the light is moving fast, but you can usually hit them for at least some damage, and you never run out of ammo.
  
• Missiles and SRMs are about equal in effectiveness. The SRMs can do a lot of damage but are range and ammo limited, but at least ECM is a non-issue with SRMs. LRMs can dish out the pain, but the fast movers can dodge a large amount of them, and ECM will make your LRMs useless.
  
• Ballistics and PPCs do good damage, but they are harder to hit with. Hopefully state rewind will make a big difference. The ammo limitations for non-energy ballistic weapons makes shooting at lights a risky move. PPCs have the advantage of no ammo and disabling ECM, but they are still more difficult to hit with than missiles or lasers.

[EyeOne]

LBXs, SRM6s, and Large Pulse Lasers.

[LordBraxton]

UAC5 is the best ballistic for keeping lights off you, otherwise its all about SRMs (streaks or otherwise)

medium lasers are OK against everything

verybad, on 18 March 2013 - 09:55 AM, said:

Friends.

my bad, THIS

[Radical FX]

My double gauss K2 has no problem taking out lights. Usually once I connect with my first shot they decide to leave me alone. Just got to learn how to aim and be patient with your shots you don't have many and takes a long time to reload.

[Sable Dove]

Moonsavage, on 18 March 2013 - 09:51 AM, said:

SRM6
Streaks won't touch an ECM capable light, unless you have ECM or Tag.

The other option is to spend the weight on a faster engine and run away from the pests.

Run away from them how, exactly? You can't possibly go faster than them unless their engine is woefuly undersized.

If you have ECM, SSRM2;
If not, SRM6.

Any pulse laser.

AC5/UAC5, and maybe AC10.

[TexAce]

3 LPLs to a leg go ouchy ouchy

Edited by TexAss, 18 March 2013 - 10:03 AM.

[Utilyan]

The best weapon?

Cliffs.......

When a mech falls from certain heights...........there is a tiny window. Its like when the sunlight hits a raven......and the stars align.......It opens its mouth........medussa is right next to the reflection.......The MCP changes colors.....its when OBI-Wan says.....let go luke.........yipee-ki-yay mf.....its when the raven 3L's super ferro feather armor reveals a missing scale in its indestructible armor.....

That tiny delay.......you line up and you alpha that mf.......


And what does this feel like?......like the most epic kills of all.........

[Exoth3rmic]

Probably best weapon is a second mech. Keep distance, pop pop!

[zhajin]

The cicada is not typically good at killing lights unless you are a better pilot then they are. Its ecm variant has no missile hard points so you are stuck using medium and medium pulse. the X-5 can run missiles but no ecm so streaks are not helpful and its limited on tubes so its hard to hit lights with a full volley, of srm6s or even 4s.

a centurion, hunchback, or trebuchet with srms and medium lasers will typically work. but even still its hard to kill something much faster than you, since most lights will take off if they get to heavily damaged. trebuchet or a cent-D with a 300+ engine can often keep up long enough to finish them off though.

but as has been stated medium lasers and srms are pretty much the go to weapons of the medium mechs. they are effective against everything if you use your speed advantage.

[Urdnot Mau]

I've had much sucess against light mechs in my CN9-AL. Because of it's speed i can keep up with their circling. The best maneuver against them is to reverse throttle and turn in the same way they are circling. This way you can keep your aim on them and fire your lasers. With enough speed you can put non-ecm light mechs on the run if you got those 2 streaks.
If you have the 4SP, i'd recommend you to take 2 larges and 2 mediums and 2 streaks (maybe another medium on the head). Put Endo and Double HS and the biggest engine. This is a pretty solid build against lot's of other mechs. You can also try 2 SRM (4 or 6) if you have a good aim.

[FrDrake]

Against cicadas or ravens, aim for the legs with lasers (state rewind > missiles).

[Valrin]

In my experience the large pulse laser is one of the best. Good damage and a shorter duration makes it a bit easier to hit the fast moving targets as you don't have to hold it as long. Obviously, the fire and forget SSRMs are pretty good, too. I just prefer the lasers as I can target a specific part (legs) much easier.

[NRP]

5-6 PPC alpha. Never. Gets. Old.

Recently, I hit a Raven in the water on River City with a 5 PPC alpha from my AWS 8Q. He actually rag dolled through the air in a shower of sparks and destruction. I LOL'd hard on that one. It made up for the million times I've been swarmed killed by those little a-holes.