8 replies to this topic

[mistformsquirrel]

So, I just had the most ridiculously enjoyable game in my X-5. I honestly felt more like I was flying an Aerospace fighter than a Battlemech, just... limited to two dimensions.

I zoomed around the outer edge of the map, got behind the enemy team, and proceeded to harass a Heavy Metal and a Hunchback of some description, they got a couple shots on me but nothing solid, then when they started to take me seriously, I ran off, un-capped one of their points, ran off again just as they came over the ridge, leaving them to sit there and take back the point while I went on my merry way.

Almost immediately after this I ran into the backside of an LRM boating Catapult, and killed it. I won't lie, it takes a few volleys even to get through the back armor in this thing, and heat is always an issue... but it felt amazing having taken a heavy down in a 40 ton sprinter.

Anyway about this time the Heavy Metal and Hunchie have caught up to me, and catch me in a crossfire... and absolutely no cares were given; because I just punched the accelerator, took a couple glancing hits and kept going. Hunchie overheated itself trying to hit me, shut down, I sprinted around behind it, went all the way back around that same ridge from before and got into the Heavy Metal's rear arc, where I proceeded to cause pretty serious damage.

It died in a rather amusing fashion - it finally decided it couldn't tolerate the pest on it's tail, so the pilot naturally does a jump-pivot with their jump jets to bring the machine to bear on me... except said pilot had either not realized or not considered that I'd burned away every scrap of rear armor his machine had and started to punch through the internal structure. One Gauss Rifle slug from a teammate and boom - down goes the Heavy Metal.

The Hunchie has recovered about this time and is coming back down the hill at me, firing, so I dash off, again, causing it to turn to keep me in it's sights - at this point I think the Hunchie pilot was pretty annoyed with me (and I cannot blame them), and intended to finish me once and for all... however as with the Heavy Metal before, turning to face the annoying Cicada behind them meant opening their backside to absolutely every gun on my team, and boom - down goes the Hunchback.

I finished that match with something like 450 damage, 1 kill, 5 assists, and I survived the entire thing.

Weapons were 4 MLs and 2 SRM4s. I think I'm going to drop the SRM4s in favor of going back to SRM2s however, simply because the 'double tap' the dual missile tubes perform when firing SRM4s makes half the volley miss, and this way I can control my heat and ammo is a bit better as well. (I ran out of ammo toward the end since I could only carry one ton.)

Still... that was quite a bit of fun. Curious what other shenigans I can get up to in this machine.

I take no real credit for how this battle went down - I had a LOT of good fortune going for me and the rest of my team did extremely well even without my being a pain in the enemy team's tuckus - it was just too much fun ot to say anything.

[Kylarus]

mistformsquirrel, on 08 July 2013 - 06:46 PM, said:

Weapons were 4 MLs and 2 SRM4s. I think I'm going to drop the SRM4s in favor of going back to SRM2s however, simply because the 'double tap' the dual missile tubes perform when firing SRM4s makes half the volley miss, and this way I can control my heat and ammo is a bit better as well. (I ran out of ammo toward the end since I could only carry one ton.)

For that cool fighter pilot feel, go for 'guided missiles' aka SSRM2's since you want to go from SRM4s to 2s. You'll conserve a bit more ammo that way and trying to get that lock while zooming in is fun.

[Benjamin Davion]

Kylarus, on 09 July 2013 - 12:59 AM, said:

For that cool fighter pilot feel, go for 'guided missiles' aka SSRM2's since you want to go from SRM4s to 2s. You'll conserve a bit more ammo that way and trying to get that lock while zooming in is fun.

I tried that for awhile, but my only hold up was that I had a hard time reliably achieving lock when I went strafing by. I found myself needing to slow or even stop to get a good lock unless I was driving straight at them. Any tips on that?

[Hauser]

Benjamin Davion, on 09 July 2013 - 01:10 AM, said:

I tried that for awhile, but my only hold up was that I had a hard time reliably achieving lock when I went strafing by. I found myself needing to slow or even stop to get a good lock unless I was driving straight at them. Any tips on that?

Get the Artemis upgrade. It currently decreases lock on time for all missiles but doesn't cost an extra ton when using streaks. It's a long standing bug that hasn't been solved yet.

Also get the target decay module. It will give you a 3 second window in which you don't have to stay on target after acquiring a lock. Your streaks have no problem doing back flips over you so you can even shoot them while running away.

If you have tonnage to spare you can also get a BAP and reduce the lock time to nearly instantaneous.

Edited by Hauser, 09 July 2013 - 04:20 AM.

[Cubivorre]

I liked your thread title.

I liked to read this more.

X-5 forevah!

[Mazzyplz]

Hauser, on 09 July 2013 - 04:17 AM, said:

Get the Artemis upgrade. It currently decreases lock on time for all missiles but doesn't cost an extra ton when using streaks. It's a long standing bug that hasn't been solved yet.

Also get the target decay module. It will give you a 3 second window in which you don't have to stay on target after acquiring a lock. Your streaks have no problem doing back flips over you so you can even shoot them while running away.

If you have tonnage to spare you can also get a BAP and reduce the lock time to nearly instantaneous.

so you openly admit you're using an exploit.. oh dear.

[mistformsquirrel]

Cubivorre, on 09 July 2013 - 04:37 AM, said:

I liked your thread title.

I liked to read this more.

X-5 forevah!

Hehe, thank you!

Yes this was a fun battle, and I've had some good ones since as well!

----

Oddly enough regarding the missiles, I prefer dumbfires to streaks, I'm generally so close to an enemy when I fire my SRMs that missing is pretty much impossible anyway, and, sadly, I notice I run into a LOT of ECM, so being able to fire without a lock is a great boon. (I do have a BAP, but multiple ECMs still shuts my missiles down if they require a lock, sadly).

I think the only thing I don't like about this mech is that the 'best' loadout (for my playstyle) is the one that comes installed on it to begin with... I have too much fun tinkering with most mechs, hah!

[darqsyde]

I love the X-5, so much so that I built the rest of my CDA's around the same basic loadout(Engine, Armour, ES/FF). It's also one of only 2 mechs I have that are in stock configuration(The other being the AWS-9M).

I found that with the X-5 (and all high speed mechs in general), it's all about the hit and run. Get in, get a couple of shots off, get the hell out before somebody gets lucky with an AC20/GR.

Your only worry tends to be high-speed Streak boats, especially if only armed with SRMs.

I find the best modules for the X-5 to be Target Decay and Cap Accel. Target Decay helps your LRM-mates, and Cap Accel makes you a Conquest ninja.

[Dominik]

I actually switched out my srm's on the x5 for LRM 5's. there is a touch of added weight, but it adds the ability to harass at much longer ranges- so you can circle behind the group and fire missiles into them from your own cover, forcing them to actually move from their positions to try and chase you down. ... and of course with the cicada's speed you just zip off as soon as they start heading your way and fire again.

What makes it -really- fun is when you just plain confuse the hell out of them because you get behind so quickly and LRM's normally come from heavier and slower mechs. if you can avoid detection yourself it makes them wonder just what forces got around them so fast.