49 replies to this topic

[Signal27]

My curiousity was piqued because of a few matches I've been in where an assault mech exploded after a side-torso being taken out, followed by some harsh words about mech design being exchanged in the chat. I was wondering where the larger community stood on this aspect of assault mech design.

Although the poll is about assault mechs in particular, feel free to share your opinion about XL engines across all weight classes.

[Roadbeer]

I go with the third choice.

Would I put it on an Atlas, wading into the fray and probably the first mech to be burned down. No
Would I put it on a LRM/PPC Stalker that's providing support. Hellz yeah.

[ShadowbaneX]

Horrible. There's barely enough space in an Assault to cram everything in without taking up more space for an XL let alone the risk of being knocked out of the fight too early by losing a side torso.

[Yokaiko]

Unless its a Pretty Baby or -9M awesome, putting a XL in an assault is a bad idea.

[Lostdragon]

I pilot AWS variants primarily. The 9m is my favorite due to the mix of speed and weapons I can get with an XL engine. It plays much differently than other AWS variants and it is pretty easy to core, but if I keep cool and play my role smart I can outmaneuver enemies and take them apart. I need the speed to get in and hit hard then get behind cover and pop out somewhere else to hit again. Obviously there are other roles and styles of play where the XL would be detrimental but it works for me.

[Kraven Kor]

If you intend to brawl, really get in there and trade punches, XL are a bad idea.

For longer range support, the extra firepower it gives you can be very much worth it.

For organized teams, even an Atlas brawler can get away with it. Firepower trumps Armor in almost every case when it comes to focused fire.

[neviu]

I have to put xl in my 6 ppc stalker or its bad

[Tragos]

No you don't

[KosherHamSammich]

It’s generally a bad idea for several reasons:
First is survivability. Awesome’s have paper thin side torso armor and have the 2^nd largest side torso silhouettes of all assault mechs. Speaking of which, the Stalker is a walking side torso and it would be suicide for anyone to add an XL to it. The Atlas is the only assault that has a small enough profile and enough RT/LT armor to even consider an XL, but that brings us to the second issue.

Second is space. Assaults tend to carry very heavy and critical space consuming weapons. Having an XL means no AC/20 on an Atlas. Also means that you have less space that you can devote to cumbersome double heat sinks or to endo steel.

We’ll have to wait until this afternoon to see how the Highlander fares in this conversation.

[El Bandito]

Roadbeer, on 02 April 2013 - 05:54 AM, said:

I go with the third choice.

Would I put it on an Atlas, wading into the fray and probably the first mech to be burned down. No
Would I put it on a LRM/PPC Stalker that's providing support. Hellz yeah.

Basically this. However, as Aziz pointed out above, criticals are critical to an assault mech.

Edited by El Bandito, 02 April 2013 - 06:16 AM.

[Royalewithcheese]

XL in an Atlas: not even once.

[ItsAPotato]

I always run XL engines in my stalker, of which there are 3 of varying roles (Laser/SRM boat, LRM boat, PPC/SRM boat).

My logic is thus:

First, in the stalker, if one side torso is taking a lot of damage, it is really easy to hide that side torso from a couple aggressors. If the fire is coming from multiple directions, then I'm probably boned anyway, so might as well have the extra firepower (and speed) to shoot my way out quickly rather than die a slow, painful death.

Second, most (good) stalker builds are based around long range weapons. This, combined with their slowness, should lead pilots to play them away from the front lines in most situations.

Third, Look at how many hardpoints (and the tight positioning there of) the stalker has! There is already a good damage sponge assault: the atlas. I rarely drop in a match where my team doesn't have at least 1 atlas. And, to top it off, the atlas is a bit undergunned for it's tonnage, in my opinion. Give that man some fire support! The stalker has the hardpoints to be the wtfbbq turret-o-death that the atlas drags around with him to do the damage while he tanks that **** up. Don't leave a brotha hangin'

[TexAce]

Atlas: No
Stalker: Hell no, ever saw a stalker that lost his CT before his side torsos? never....
Awesome: Yes, basically its the total opposite of a stalker. It loses his CT first all the time.

[LordBraxton]

AWS= XL

STK\AS7= Standard

[Royalewithcheese]

What it feels like when the Stalker you were fighting turned out to be running an XL engine:

[Thoummim]

I love when people think XL in assault other than 9M/PB is a good idea.

A XL assault goes down 2 to 3 times faster, always a good surprise.

[Terror Teddy]

XL on everything.

Why? No reward without risk.

I DO tend to stand back and not go into full out brawl though.

ATLAS
XL 360
X2 AC5 [Fast firing heavy AC10 with improved range]
X4 MPL
X2 LRM5
DHS
Endo

Burn through 180-360 rounds of LRM's before going to midrange with AC/5's spitting twinshots at 500-600 meters and then go and finish off people towards the end of the battle with MPL's.

It's a risk, and I tend to explode 50 percent of the time. I could downgrade to a AC/10 and a slightly slower engine but I like my XL 360 engine on my Atlas - Especially all those engine heatsinks.

[Damocles]

Royalewithcheese, on 02 April 2013 - 06:29 AM, said:

What it feels like when the Stalker you were fighting turned out to be running an XL engine:

[Tickdoff Tank]

When you use an XL you are trading survivability for speed and/or additional firepower. Unfortunately, most assault mechs can not attain a high speed, and the assaults usually have more problems with available space than weight. That makes an XL in an assault a VERY risky move.

If the engine caps for assaults was higher, or a particular assault has a higher top speed (such as the aforementioned M and PB Awesomes), then an XL may be a workable choice, but for most assaults the XL makes you too fragile (IMO). If the Highlander's have a higher engine cap (not sure, but I think they are about the same speed as an Atlas) then the XL might work, but I doubt it.

[The Blazer of Lasers]

only on fire support builds.