18 replies to this topic

[Naimes]

Hi I just started the game today and Im a few hours in. I purchased a x-5 hero mech and some preimium time so Im getting a decent cbill share and I wanted to know if the x5 can be imporved upon and if so how?

Also I would love to know how much a catapult with a proper fit would cost. Its my favorite mech design and I would so love to play it in the future.

[FrostCollar]

Welcome to MechWarrior Online! First, search is your friend. There are a lot of threads on those mechs in here. If you want to try building anything without having to pay for it first though, you can use Smurfy. It's a handy tool.

The stock X-5 is actually a pretty good build and some people run it as-is. Personally, I run mine with a smaller 300XL engine so I can trade the SRM-2s for SRM-6s and add an additional ton of ammo. However, XL engine are expensive so you'll probably want to run it stock for now.

I'm no expert on Catapults and there are many differnet builds for the many different variants of it, so I'll defer to the experts there. I'd do a search on that.

[Naimes]

going to give your thoughts on the x-5 a try

[Victor Morson]

FrostCollar, on 27 April 2013 - 09:26 PM, said:

The stock X-5 is actually a pretty good build and some people run it as-is. Personally, I run mine with a smaller 300XL engine so I can trade the SRM-2s for SRM-6s and add an additional ton of ammo. However, XL engine are expensive so you'll probably want to run it stock for now.

While I don't own an X-5 I can positively tell you running Stock is a terrible way to go.

Generally speaking, you want to run SSRM2 and Med Las on an X-5, with the option to go for a twin PPC build or a Large Laser build as well. But whatever you do, do not run with stock SRM-2s or even bother with SRM-6 right now.

Since you're new I'll explain: About a month ago there was a patch that reduced missile damage. A lot. This was due to a bug, not balance issues, and is supposed to be fixed in May.

In the meantime, SRMs are lackluster-but-alright and LRMs are awful (I would advise against a Catapult until the fix; a Cataphract is a GREAT heavy, in particular the 3D model, however), but SSRMs are still a very solid weapon if you can avoid being ECM jammed.

Ideally, for that reason, the X-5 is great if you try to follow Ravens or ECM Cicadas in, since you won't have ECM of your own. Still, the X-5 is a solid 'mech and it's one I don't hesitate to bring into serious Conquest drops, where it can fill it's "Light enforcer" role very, very well.

tl/dr: Avoid non SSRM missiles until they're fixed.

EDIT: If you really want a Catapult (and plan to buy the missile Catapults later when missiles are at full power again), you could start with the Catapult K2. It doesn't have missiles, but can mount really powerful sniper setups (Dual Gauss), and will count towards getting Mastery over the Catapult line. It's a solid 'mech, if not as popular in the current meta, and a good place to start. (I love Catapults too, but mine are collecting dust right now).

Edited by Victor Morson, 28 April 2013 - 02:26 AM.

[DarkDevilDancer]

As said Above go for ssrm2s for now until we get the missile fix, and don't underestimate the damage grouped medium lasers can do to weak rear armour, you have the speed use it to get behind assaults and rip their backs up.

I've been levelling some cats recently and they are not in a great place, everyone's using ppcs at the moment so it's really easy for people to one shot their massive cockpits, I'd wait till New missile coding gets implemented.

Cataphracts are nice, I set my 3d up as a marauder build 2 ERppcs, an ultra autocannon5 and a pair of medium lasers it's loads of fun.

[Naimes]

Victor Morson, on 28 April 2013 - 02:24 AM, said:

While I don't own an X-5 I can positively tell you running Stock is a terrible way to go.

Generally speaking, you want to run SSRM2 and Med Las on an X-5, with the option to go for a twin PPC build or a Large Laser build as well. But whatever you do, do not run with stock SRM-2s or even bother with SRM-6 right now.

Since you're new I'll explain: About a month ago there was a patch that reduced missile damage. A lot. This was due to a bug, not balance issues, and is supposed to be fixed in May.

In the meantime, SRMs are lackluster-but-alright and LRMs are awful (I would advise against a Catapult until the fix; a Cataphract is a GREAT heavy, in particular the 3D model, however), but SSRMs are still a very solid weapon if you can avoid being ECM jammed.

Ideally, for that reason, the X-5 is great if you try to follow Ravens or ECM Cicadas in, since you won't have ECM of your own. Still, the X-5 is a solid 'mech and it's one I don't hesitate to bring into serious Conquest drops, where it can fill it's "Light enforcer" role very, very well.

tl/dr: Avoid non SSRM missiles until they're fixed.

EDIT: If you really want a Catapult (and plan to buy the missile Catapults later when missiles are at full power again), you could start with the Catapult K2. It doesn't have missiles, but can mount really powerful sniper setups (Dual Gauss), and will count towards getting Mastery over the Catapult line. It's a solid 'mech, if not as popular in the current meta, and a good place to start. (I love Catapults too, but mine are collecting dust right now).

I went with the ppc varient of the catapult just because Im inexperianced with missles. Sounds like a good thing I did. I will consider guass rifles for it.

As for the x5 a ppc build might just be awsome since I can canabilize the weapons off my catapult.

[TheGreatNoNo]

Lrms are useless before 180m, PPCs are nearly useless before 90m and are literally useless before 50m, expect ERPPCs, they also have double their listed range but the damage starts to drop off after their listed range. If you see a light then leg it, same for Cents. I hate streaks with the passion of a million burning suns, but since you are new to this I say use them because MWO is pretty unforgiving no matter who you are and to everyone a new player is a free ticket. Remember that Cicadas are pretty big for what they are and can be a pretty easy shot so NEVER stop moving and NEVER run in a straight line unless you know for sure it is safe to do so. I would not use SRM6 in the X5 myself, it basically turns the weapon into a machine gun that you have to keep on target instead of fire and evade tactics. When going into the slower mediums the Hunch Back 4Sp and Cents (A and AL) are also good choices, but people tend to have a strong hatred of Cents in general.
Never sell your XL engines if you ever sell anything, never.

EDIT: Keep in mind enemy loadout, learn mech weight limits, if the mech is carrying a lot then it means XL or LOW leg armor, maybe both (Jeager with dual gauss and four medium lasers has next to no armor)

Edited by Lost One, 28 April 2013 - 06:05 PM.

[Spheroid]

I would recommend ripping out the SRMs and replacing the medium lasers with a quartet of medium pulse lasers in the short term. Long term consider the 300XL. The Cicada-2A/2B are both very affordable and may suit you better. You can start them off with cheap 250-260 std engines and before going the XL route. Also never buy the Cicada-3C ever. Hero mechs are scams, but you were wise to get premium time.

Edited by Spheroid, 28 April 2013 - 10:00 PM.

[Naimes]

As far as the catapult in concerned I found a nice little build that included 4 medium pulse lasers and 2 ultra ac5s. I have the ac's on wep group 1 and the 4 lasers on wep group 2. The results are promising.

[Buckminster]

A big part of MWO is finding what works for you. I've had people tell me that my builds are complete rubbish, when the truth is that they are built towards my style - which tends to focus on endurance and durability over high damage/high heat. I'd much rather be able to slug it out and a fight, but some people prefer the single strong punch.

So take everything people tell you with a grain of salt - maybe they are right, but maybe not.

[Ph30nix]

i dont have an X-5 but i use lights mostly

first the X-5 doesnt have ECM this means

Streaks - taking streaks might make your life easier vs some other lights, but any mech with ECM will make those streaks useless (no lock)

as for Medium pulse to me they are not worth the lower range, extra weight and heat (more so on the extra heat since you can put in a DHS with the extra ton)

the 300xl engine with 4 ML and 2 SRM6's would be decent damage
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f2d7b68c9ffbe05
that coudl work out really well i think, any lights you run into will be crapping their pants vs 2 srm6's and your speeds still good enough to hit and run vs anything else.

the PPC build could be fun but as suggested go with ERPPC since your going to be at close range with alot of things, its extra heat but you will have to manage that.

if you want the most speed stick with the stock loadout, its not horrible.

oh if you make any changes

DO NOT SELL ANYTHING YOU REMOVE.

NEVER SELL ANY ENGINE OR WEAPONS, unless your 100% sure you will never use it again.

Edited by Ph30nix, 02 May 2013 - 09:15 AM.

[MeiSooHaityu]

If you are going to run a Catapult C1 I recommend (my favorite C1 Build)...

2LLasers (1 in each side torso)
2MLasers (center torso)
2SRM4s+Artemis (1 or 2 ton ammo)
Standard 265 Engine
Fill the rest of the mech with double heat sinks.

For a K2, there are a few good options Here is what I am running.

2ERPPCs (arms)
2 LLasers (side torsos)
XL295
Double Heat Sinks

Note: Fire group the ERPPCs individually incase you start running hot.

Lastly, you can run 2 AC20s or 2 Gauss Rifles in the Catapult K2 also, but keep in mind that the mech will be SLOW (you need a small engine to fit it all with enough ammo to last the match). Plus, people tend to prioritize targeting that build so you may get a lot more attnetion from the enemy.

[Ph30nix]

for the k2 ive always love just the plain old 4 ppc build, lets you put in a 300xl engine for good speed, just dont be off by yourself and scounts/lights wont be a problem.

Also the first time you cripple or kill a light in one salvo...... its awesome.

note that since im usualy a light pilot i do feel very bad doing this sometimes after im done giggiling like a school girl of course.

[Naimes]

Im finding for the k2 I actually like the ultra ac/5 for its power/firing rate. Having the 4 medium pulse lasers mapped to my second weapon group gives a nice little one-two punch and gives me alot of control over my heat.

My biggest issue so far was overheating my k2 (even with ppc's I kept doing this) and finding myself dying on cooldown. The guns allow me to continue fighting while I wait for my mediums to rechage. Everyone has something to say about the ultra's tendency to jam but I find that if and when they do I usually have enough cooldown leeway for me to get off a laser salvo while waiting to clear the jam.

[Ph30nix]

PPC"s are the Over heat machines, if you have 4 ppc, an xl300 and max heat sinks you can hold (wtih adaqute armor) you can usualy get off 3 shots at then have to wait for cool down,

what you need to do is "test fire" on each map as much as people hate this, and see how high your heat climbs with 4 ppc i wanna say it will get into the 50-60 range, so just make sure after you opening slavo before you fire again you have 50 heat available (or whatever each shot adds)

[Koniving]

Mkay.. So normally I post these giant walls of text that most people don't read. This time... I went and played the game. >.> These were made with you in mind, Naimes.

There's lots of good advice as far as the X-5. Mine are in the following videos, which I made after reading about you getting the X-5.

XL 255 engine, medium lasers, twin LRM-10 with Artemis, followed by XL 245 with twin LRM-5 with Artemis and an ER PPC.


XL 245 with LRM-10 with Artemis and ER PPC. Ton saved went to additional armor. Ferro is removed.


As far as the catapults, that really depends. There are many common builds, and none of them are particularly cheap since most happen to use XL 300 to XL 315 engines. The K2 is the exception, where some of its builds can't use XL engines.
I talk about my Catapults here, which I also made today after reading your post.

As promised during one of the videos, here's a plethora of awesome Catapult pictures, most of which should be wallpaper worthy.

Spoiler

From here on, all the catapults are mine.
















In this one, I'm the C4 on the right. You can count our missile tubes.

Shots by Lordred. Check out the Perfect Screenshot thread!
K2 piloted by ShardsTheBroken
A1, C4 piloted by Koniving

Hope this has helped in some way.
(Now that I think about it, press R to target things; the rest is point, wait, and click when it comes to LRMs and Streaks. If you can't get a bracket on a target, there's an ECM field involved. A PPC to the ECM user will remove that protection for 4 seconds.)

To help you further improve your Cicada, there's this guide someone recently put up. As with any guide, take it with a grain of salt as most guide makers will create a guide based on their opinions which may or may not work for you.
Also remember that while speed does help more fragile mechs survive, there's a fine balance between speed and firepower. You can go amazing speeds but truly get nowhere if you have insufficient firepower. Just as you can carry all the firepower in the world, but never reach your target due to being too slow. It's all about finding the right balance that works for you.

Builds made for myself are quite strange in the sense that my heavier mechs tend to be fast, and my lighter mechs are slow power houses. But hey, who would suspect the AC/20 Cicada or AC/20 Raven? Or flamers in your face from a Stalker, let alone MGs in an Atlas? Sometimes being able to surprise the enemy is quite the way to tilt the scales. People still think my Gauss Spider is a myth. I don't use it often. But when I do it's freakin' amazing the responses I get when they realize what took down the Highlander, the Atlas, the Catapult, the Jager, etc. "A spider? From that far away?" "Where was he?" "BS, hacker!" Gotta love it!

Edited by Koniving, 02 May 2013 - 11:26 PM.

[MeiSooHaityu]

I don't care what people say, I still think the Catapult is one of the (if not the) coolest looking mech in the game. Got to like the Atlas and Raven though too.

The only thing the Catapult is missing is arms. I wonder if some organization will try something like that?

Edited by MeiSooHaityu, 03 May 2013 - 07:44 AM.

[ShotgunWillie]

The cheapest and easiest way to improve your X-5 is to drop one heatsink and replace the SRM-2s with SSRM-2s. Don't forget to change the ammo out, too.

[Naimes]

What about this for a catapult?

- xl315 engine
- max allowable armor
- 4x med pulse laser
- 2x ultra ac5
- heat sink efficency at 1.15 with 12 double heat sinks
- endo steel structure
- ferro fibrous armor.

This is the k2 catapult Im toying with now and it makes a decent compliment when working with an assault. I have my guns set to my left mouse button and my lasers to my right so I can spam the guns until jam then get a few vollies off on the lasers while I wait for the barrels to clear more or less avoiding overheating altogether.

Edited by Naimes, 08 May 2013 - 04:42 PM.