14 replies to this topic

[Koujo]

How many of you ALWAYS put max armor on all of your mechs? I just can't stand the thought of stripping any armor off any of my mechs other than a few points on the legs just to round it off to the nearest half ton. Maybe I'm OCD but anytime I see a build with less than max armor I'm immediately turned off and refuse to look at it any further. Am I in the minority in this?

[Hauser]

It depends on how I'm taking damage and how much I can shield using my arms. If my side torsos tend to go even after twisting lots I'll take some off the arms.

Edited by Hauser, 29 March 2013 - 01:26 PM.

[TorturedPaladin]

It really depends on your build, for example:
A Gausscat who doesn't intend on putting anything in his arms would reduce them to very low values. This would free up the weight needed for the two gauss, and give the opponents something to shoot at without a big detriment to the pilot.

I don't deviate far from Max armor, and if I ever strip armor its from the extremities first.

[Smk]

My 3D only has like 10 armor on its left arm simply because I don't use it for anything. I like to take that armor and spread it over the rest of the mech. Hopefully they see the arm is weak and focus it first or at least I try to use it as a shield.

[Krazy Kat]

I will sometimes trim 0.5 to 1.0 ton. But I tend to agree: Unless you have uber skills, dropping with less than max armor seems to be a foolish idea.

[SweetWarmIce]

I always go for max armour. I'll drop armour off the legs (and only the legs) to round down to the nearest 0.5 or 1.0.

The only exception is my JM6-S with dual gauss rifles and 4 ML, which seems to be ok at range. I have 50 on the CT and 40 everywhere else but even then I'm thinking of dropping two of the lasers for more armour. Edit: Wrong armour values.

Edited by SweetWarmIce, 04 April 2013 - 03:37 AM.

[Gigastrike]

I tend to take off nearly half the leg armor unless it's a light much. Why armor something no one shoots at?

[Captain Stiffy]

On almost any heavy or assault mech you are at 32 points/ton and can easily drop 16 armor off each leg without suffering.

[Splinters]

Max armor is generally a good thing, but I will thin our my leg armor on heavier mechs (no less than 50 points per leg) to gain a few tons to use in my assaults and heavies.

The more interesting question is how much front armor do you put vs rear armor? I've seen a lot of players put single digits in rear torso armor and beef up the front...

-S

[barnmaddo]

I almost always go max armor. (except for a bit to round to the nearest .5-1 tons)

In most cases it just doesn't seem like I could get much more useful damage if I had a few extra tons.

[Chalkman]

Eh, I think that max armor is generally sub-optimal. For example, in a Catapult, the side torsos are generally not hit before the massive center torso, so you could drop a few points from there.

You can also optimize the amount of armor on your front vs rear by trial and error. Notice during each fight which side you lose your torso armor from first: front or rear. If you lose your frontal armor first every round, shift a point or two of armor from the rear to the front. Then play a few more games and reassess your torso armor. Eventually you should reach a happy medium where you lose all your torso armor before you lose a single component. This may change with time as you get more proficient at torso twisting (which tend to favor slightly more rear armor) or add in different engines.

Edited by Chalkman, 18 April 2013 - 12:54 PM.

[Salis777]

Usually run max, with a legs stripped half or less (depends on mech role) and max front/10 rear on torsos, slightly more if its a slow brawler. Rarely get legged or rear cored, just reverse into a wall if youre slow and getting circled.

In rare cases I'll strip some from arms, but I find it's generally worth keeping.

There are exceptions to the rules though!

[Culler]

In anything but a scout mech I'll usually strip some armor out of the legs since they're rarely targeted. Generally I strip enough so that the legs have about as much armor as my arms, with jumpjet mechs having an extra half-ton of armor on top of that. Arms without anything in them are also frequently stripped to some degree in my mechbay except for mechs that I can use the arms to shield like a centurion or cataphract. I love using a shield arm to soak damage.

You better believe that my torso is gonna be maxed though, always. I think that's true for almost everyone.

[DEMAX51]

It should depend on the 'Mech you're running - if you find that you consistently take very little damage to a certain component, you'd be foolish NOT to lower the armor on that part of the 'Mech and free up some weight to use elsewhere...

For instance, a Commando has a TINY head hitbox, so you can easily shave a few points of armor off....
Similarly, for some reason most people simply do not shoot at an Atlases legs, so you can shave a bit off of those as well...

When you die, take a few seconds to review your 'Mech's paper doll, and see where you're taking damage and where you're not.

[Chazer]

There are a lot of specific chassis where you do not want max armor. An atlas for example does not need max armor on the legs for example. A catapult with no weapons in the arms(ears) as won't need max armor there.