54 replies to this topic

[0I0]

This is more of a list of tested builds then a guide:

My main build:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...39e988794f91bbf

I droped 1 SRM6 in favor of running 2 JJ's. I enjoy the versatility they give me, as I then have options that stalkers/atlases do not. Its like being a poptart lite, in the sense that you do no rely on your JJ's to do all your damage but instead you give yourself extra shots on your targets before you get into brawl range. While keeping in mind that you do not have the armor of the atlas you most be more willing maneuver.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...2b08c55baa4fe40

This is a non JJ version of the first one with 1 more heatsink, artemis, a 310 engine, and slightly less armor on the legs.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...bb10d7e5902eb71

A JJ build, with better brawling in mind. I ran this build for quite a while, eventually I decided that trying to play like a smaller ddc was not going to cut it. It does have its ups with the srm's but much like the other mechs with torso mounted srms it can be difficult hit the smaller faster targets.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...a985f43d8bdd0fd

A decent poptart build, nothing spectacular. You will get shredded by any decent scout. I spent my first few months of play as a phrac pop-tart. I was severely turned off by this variation, basically jump distance seems like the only really advantage over the phracs

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...33d5dc89851873d

This is an experimental build, thats quickly becoming my favorite. Its a little better for brawling with another Srm6 and an ultra ac5, but you loose 1 LL in with a gain of 2 LPL. The idea is that your a mid-range brawler, I found that over the course of testing trying to do light sniping with with a gauss/ac10 was more distracting that actually useful. I had allot of heat issues with the triple LL's, and found(as you can tell by looking at my builds) little use in JJ's. The last thing I'll mention is to have the mindset of a slighly squishy DDC, be careful about picking your brawls, and try to stay at max SRM+ distance(250-350). When closing on optimal srm range (80-150) do so with as little heat as possible, as your going to get 2-3 alphas off at best. So I'd suggest relying mostly on the srms/uac5 at this point. With the occasional LPL.

I'll say in closing that I think the major strength is also its major weakness, which is the majority of its firepower is in its arms(especially your left side including the srm's in your torso).

I did not list any of the LRM builds as I feel like there not viable on this frame(plus I'm not a long range missley kinda dood).

The last thing I'll mention is to have the mindset of a slighly squishy DDC, be careful about picking your brawls, and try to stay at max SRM+ distance(250-350). When closing on optimal srm range (80-150) do so with as little heat as possible, as your going to get 2-3 alphas off at best. So I'd suggest relying mostly on the srms/uac5 at this point. With the occasional LPL.

If theres any thoughts, additions, or corrections let me know. I'll update the post to reflect any and all that passes snuff.

Edited by Oloccorb, 05 April 2013 - 09:02 AM.

[Country Gravy]

Here is what I am running. I like it.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...6cf1599a5a03726

[Wintersdark]

I'm extremely fond of my HEAVY METAL Mk2-PPC. It can poptart very well, but isn't just a poptart.

It's perfectly capable of brawling effectively, and has SSRM's as support against lights - though I'm a huge fan of simply blasting lights with the Gauss Rifle/PPC's.

It's all about the 35 damage strike with the Gauss/PPC's. A headshot is an instant kill vs. anything, and missing the head just means a tremendous smack of damage to whatever you do hit (generally the torso). It's still sporting a near-full suite of armor, so while you don't want to stand and duke it out with an Atlas, it's in no trouble in a fight.

Yes, it's got an XL. The reality with the HM is that if you want 4-5 JJ's, you simply must run an XL. Torso twist to spread damage/protect wounded torsos. It's strongly my belief that running 1-3 JJ's is just uselessly wasting tonnage. Even at 4JJ's, you've got quite a limited jump capacity. 1-3 will barely clear speedbumps. And, choosing not to run JJ's at all? May as well just bring an Atlas - comparable hardpoints, more armor, same speed.

Edit: A substantial advantage of this configuration is you never need rely on torso positioning. You can turn your torso to protect a damaged side, then hold control and free-look your arms to fire all your weapons - the SSRM's being guided.

Edited by Wintersdark, 05 April 2013 - 08:50 AM.

[Thoummim]

Country Gravy, on 05 April 2013 - 08:42 AM, said:

Here is what I am running. I like it.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...6cf1599a5a03726

Ammo in the side torso, with an XL engine... Are you maso chist (consider as rude language lol) ?

My 2cents:
Without JJ the highlander is just an atlas with less armor. Poptarting ? 3D do the same for less tons.
XL doesnt penalise you much on this mech when you're using JJ the damage spread a lot and the center torso is huge.
You do not want to remove too much armor in leg since they will receive a lot of ennemy fire
The arm on the other way are not big enough to be effective shield.
This is what I'm currently using: HEAVY METAL

Edited by Thoummim, 05 April 2013 - 09:01 AM.

[Country Gravy]

Thoummim, on 05 April 2013 - 09:00 AM, said:

Ammo in the side torso, with an XL engine... Are you maso chist (consider as rude language lol) ?

My 2cents:
Without JJ the highlander is just an atlas with less armor. Poptarting ? 3D do the same for less tons.
XL doesnt penalise you much on this mech when you're using JJ the damage spread a lot and the center torso is huge.
You do not want to remove too much armor in leg since they will receive a lot of ennemy fire
The arm on the other way are not big enough to be effective shield.
This is what I'm currently using: HEAVY METAL

I could move the JJ to the torso and put ammo in the legs, but if that side torso gets lit up with an XL engine in there I am toast anyway.

[Thoummim]

Yep but one crit in ammo will resulting in you being dead when a crit in JJ will only result in a reduction in efficiency.

Assault can take a lot of damage in the internal better not nerf that resistance.

[NRP]

I agree that JJs make this mech unique, but for the life of me I can't seem to make effective use of them. I usually end up just screwing around until the fighting starts, then I just brawl without ever using them.

I guess we need a video tutorial on the art of JJ brawling. Any takers?

[Iacov]

i enjoy this build

the uac5 jams a lot...but if it doesn't, it's a lot of pain
and it just looks awesome fabulous!

Edited by Iacov, 05 April 2013 - 10:03 AM.

[usualsuspect]

Glad to see that i'm apparently not the only one having probs in finding a viable build for this one...
From my own experience with the XL engines in this one i'm pretty sure i'll go standard.
Which leaves me with the decision of using the JJ and loose quite some firepower or rely on the weapons and loose the JJ...
Nargh...

[Wintersdark]

NRP, on 05 April 2013 - 09:57 AM, said:

I agree that JJs make this mech unique, but for the life of me I can't seem to make effective use of them. I usually end up just screwing around until the fighting starts, then I just brawl without ever using them.

I guess we need a video tutorial on the art of JJ brawling. Any takers?

JJ's are very effective to maintain engagement range. This is most useful if you're trying to stay in medium range - lasers, PPC's, etc vs. SRM mechs. Maps like River City present massive advantages to jump-jet equipped brawlers too, as there are lots of dead ends and such, as well as low cover allowing a hybrid brawl/poptart approach.

You can absolutely use them effectively in a close in brawling build, but the problem you run into is that for close in brawling, you really don't want an XL engine. Without an XL, the 8-10 tons you need for effective JJ's is difficult to juggle.

My favourite close in jump-brawling build so far is: HEAVY METAL - Brawler. Approach under cover to avoid long ranged fire, use the jumpjets to leap over cover and land behind enemy mechs. Rather than predictably circling cover, use your jets to leap over it and get clear, time to cool and jump back. Use the ballistic-side as a shield.

I had a Stalker back into a dead end in River city, sporting a whole whack of SRM6's and ML's - you really don't want to walk in front of that in close range. Jumped onto the building he backed into, and rained death on him.

usualsuspect, on 05 April 2013 - 10:05 AM, said:

Glad to see that i'm apparently not the only one having probs in finding a viable build for this one...
From my own experience with the XL engines in this one i'm pretty sure i'll go standard.
Which leaves me with the decision of using the JJ and loose quite some firepower or rely on the weapons and loose the JJ...
Nargh...

XL's fine, if you're not close in brawling. Mix direct fire support and poptarting initially, close later with your fresh 500+ armor. You don't just stand face to face with an atlas, of course, but at range it's pretty easy to spread damage across your torsos.

Edited by Wintersdark, 05 April 2013 - 10:26 AM.

[TruePoindexter]

NRP, on 05 April 2013 - 09:57 AM, said:

I agree that JJs make this mech unique, but for the life of me I can't seem to make effective use of them. I usually end up just screwing around until the fighting starts, then I just brawl without ever using them.

I guess we need a video tutorial on the art of JJ brawling. Any takers?

I definitely use JJ a lot when brawling. I'm putting together videos of some TBT-7M and Heavy Metal gameplay. It's really just a matter of jumping and rotating to land in a way that gives you a solid shot. It also lets you clear buildings giving you attack vectors not otherwise available. Plus you can distribute damage vertically across your legs which is a huge boon.

Here's what I run on my Heavy Metal: 1 Gauss 3 LL http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c8dcc4bb8f7545b

I prefer the simplicity and heat efficiency. Plus continuous 42 point alphas are nothing to sneeze at.

[LyskTrevise]

Iacov, on 05 April 2013 - 10:02 AM, said:

i enjoy this build

the uac5 jams a lot...but if it doesn't, it's a lot of pain
and it just looks awesome fabulous!

You should try this instead.

or this

Edited by LyskTrevise, 05 April 2013 - 11:06 AM.

[J0anna]

A little more than 150 drops and I've settled on this setup:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...55d288a40902b8b

I prefer not having an XL engine in my brawlers. The arm mounted gauss is such a pleasure. The streaks are there as a weapon to fire while waiting for the large lasers and gauss to cycle, though I've gotten kills with them. I put the extra ammo in the gauss to encourage using it very liberally on the approach and/or the occasional jump sniping. I've tried the 280, but the 300 feels much more responsive. IMO 3 JJ is the bare minimum, 4 is very nice. If you're not using JJ, then Atlas > Highlander no question.

I've had success with the gauss/3xLarge Las setup and the Gauss/ERPPC/2xLarge Las setups (which is very effective), but this mech handles heat very well and can brawl with very little time w/o weapons firing. Also if missiles become deadly again, you can shave a bit of armor off the arms and drop the gauss ammo by 1 ton and put in an AMS again.

[Amigoid]

I mapped out this build and because I put a bigger engine in I could free up space used by the double heat sinks, which then let me put in FF armor, more ammo and armor, and fill more slots.


HEAVY METAL FASTER

Edited by Amigoid, 05 April 2013 - 12:44 PM.

[0I0]

As you all noticed, I'm more geared towards Brawling. With that in mind, XL engines are a no go. From what I can see though, I've revised my outlook the heavy metal being a viable "version" of the conventional poptart. I'll try to compile some of these builds down to the best 3-4 and then slim down my original post and include a better section with range/poptart builds.

[Solomon Ward]

TruePoindexter, on 05 April 2013 - 10:31 AM, said:

Here's what I run on my Heavy Metal: 1 Gauss 3 LL http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c8dcc4bb8f7545b

I prefer the simplicity and heat efficiency. Plus continuous 42 point alphas are nothing to sneeze at.

No matter what i try i always come back to that build also.

[Effectz]

Solomon Ward, on 05 April 2013 - 02:03 PM, said:

No matter what i try i always come back to that build also.

I use that build but with 2xSRM2's,Been having much success with it.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...24ef7f864cb06d8

[Skadi]

My current build that me and a friend created, used for all ranges, but not realy recommended for brawling unless you have the upper hand/have friends. http://mwo.smurfy-ne...24ef7f864cb06d8

[usualsuspect]

Moenrg, on 05 April 2013 - 11:47 AM, said:

A little more than 150 drops and I've settled on this setup:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...55d288a40902b8b

I prefer not having an XL engine in my brawlers. The arm mounted gauss is such a pleasure. The streaks are there as a weapon to fire while waiting for the large lasers and gauss to cycle, though I've gotten kills with them. I put the extra ammo in the gauss to encourage using it very liberally on the approach and/or the occasional jump sniping. I've tried the 280, but the 300 feels much more responsive. IMO 3 JJ is the bare minimum, 4 is very nice. If you're not using JJ, then Atlas > Highlander no question.

I've had success with the gauss/3xLarge Las setup and the Gauss/ERPPC/2xLarge Las setups (which is very effective), but this mech handles heat very well and can brawl with very little time w/o weapons firing. Also if missiles become deadly again, you can shave a bit of armor off the arms and drop the gauss ammo by 1 ton and put in an AMS again.

Aye, that's my current setup too.
Share your opinion with the 280 vs the 300. Makes quite a difference imo...just feels better.
I'm currently experimenting with only two jump jets. The reason behind this is as you're using your JJ mostly for a repositioning move or a quick turnaround one could also only use two of them...

[Solomon Ward]

Effectz, on 05 April 2013 - 02:36 PM, said:

I use that build but with 2xSRM2's,Been having much success with it.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...24ef7f864cb06d8

I will give this a try.
Didn´t want to cut the number of jump jets so far - but i will see how 3 JJ feel.