29 replies to this topic

[NickFury271]

I have been playing MWO for about 6 weeks now and my first set of mechs that I am working on mastering is the Catapault C1, C4 and K2. I just finished unlocking Master on my C1 and I can now consistently get 2 - 3 kills per match with my LRM boat and Medium Laser combo. Just bought an XL 300 engine to share amongst the 3 variants and have maxxed out the armor and update the loadouts a bit.

I am now working on mastering the K2 but in the time I spent playing my C1 I apparently forgot how to get kills with the K2!!! With the upgraded XL300 engine I dropped the two small lasers and added another ER PPC and a Med pulse laser. So here is what I have.

Weapon Group 1: 2 ER PPC (Both arms)
Weapon Group 2: 1 ER PPC + I Med Pulse Laser
Weapon Group 3: 2 Machine Guns

In the stock loadout I was always good for at least one kill but now I am consistently doing at least 200 - 300 damage but no kills! I try to focus fire on CT and manage my heat carefully but no matter how much damage I do I can't seem to kill with the K2 like I used to. What am I missing?

Also..my K2 seems to have become the subject of attention a lot more than it used to so I find myself getting focus fired down a lot more than I used to as well. Perhaps I got too comfortable standing in the back firing waves of LRMS to get kills with my C1.

[Modo44]

I recommend looking here. That thread has multiple good K2 builds.

The K2 will draw fire, because it usually carries a seriously dangerous array of weapons. You want to stay out of sight early on, e.g. close to some assault.

[I C Wiener]

Hey Hey,

1. I wouldn't pack an ER PPC and a Med Pulse Laser in the same weapon group considering how different the two weapon systems behave in terms of range, heat and ccoldown.

2. Machine Guns are - despite of beeing buffed a bit over the last few patches - a pretty bad weapon system. The only thing they do kinda well is landing critical hits on parts of the enemy where the armor is already gone. But most other weapon systems simply to more damage so I recommend to get rid of the machine guns alltogether.

3. Three ER PPC's generate a lot of heat for a 65 ton chassis, if you wanna keep them you will need a smaller engine and more heatsinks in your mech.

NickFury271, on 24 July 2013 - 06:43 AM, said:

Also..my K2 seems to have become the subject of attention a lot more than it used to so I find myself getting focus fired down a lot more than I used to as well.

That's because the K2 is a dangerous enemy in the right hands and people tend to kill the tougher enemies first


There arte actually a lot of decent builds for the K2 depending on what you want to play. The most common one might be the Gausspault with 2 Gaussrifles and nothing else.

I personally pilot this one and I had tons of fun with it:

Edited by I C Wiener, 24 July 2013 - 07:09 AM.

[NickFury271]

FYI - This is my current build

CPLT-K2

[Fire and Salt]

First, I must say that your weapon groups are a little strange. Mixing a ppc and a laser is something I usually avoid because they have different aiming characteristics.

If you only have 3 triggers, it might be best to just get rid of the machine guns and add another laser or heat sink.

Then you would have a free trigger - you could have a group of 2 ppcs and a group for chain firing the ppcs.


My opinion on medium pluse lasers is that if you have an extra slot, you are usually better off with 2 medium lasers. They have a better ratio of damage/heat. Although all lasers have a more favorable damage to heat ratio than ERPPCs do, assuming you are in the effective range of the lasers.



I doubt you got 'worse' though. Maybe you did so good in the other catapults that you ate now facing tougher opponents.



I am fond of using 1 ballistic weapon in addition to the 2ppcs if I am doing a 2ppc mech. That way when you get hot, you can still keep firing the ballistic weapon. 2 erppc and an ac5 would be cool. I ran something similar but with a smaller engine and 2 ac5s.

A single uac5 is better than an ac5 but some people get frustrated by the jamming... 2 uac5 s are harder to fit, that's why I used ac5s.





My current catapult has an xl300, 4 medium lasers, and 2 ultra ac5s. Its pretty effective in pugs.

[EyeDie I]

have you tried making the c1 into an energy brawler?my c1 has 2erppc and 2 med lasers.my k2 used to have 2ac2s 2erppc and 2 med lasers now it has 2ac5s and 4 mediums.i gave up on the xl engine and now use a std 285 .your k2 gets attention cause it has ballistics theyre afraid you have big guns not machine guns...i noticed you dont use a beagle active probe it helps with targeting times and range, every mech should have it.

[Fire and Salt]

I misinterpreted your post as saying that you had 2 ppcs and 1 med pulse, but assigned one to the pulse laser group as well, didn't realize you had 3.


Try 2 erppc and 2 large lasers, and get rid of the machine guns. It is similar to what you are used to, but better IMO. Will still be hot, though. If you do that - try to use your large lasers if they ate in range and you can get a good hit, as they make a lot less heat than ERPPCs but do only 1 less damage each.


Or try 2 erppc and some small autocannons. Seriously, you will like it. Plus you won't have to stop shooting everything when you get hot.

[I C Wiener]

Fire and Salt, on 24 July 2013 - 07:48 AM, said:

My current catapult has an xl300, 4 medium lasers, and 2 ultra ac5s. Its pretty effective in pugs.

Yep, that is fun too

The jamming made me switch to 2 AC/10, 4 ML and a 280 XL though. The loss in speed is very much compensated by the gain in firepower IMO.

[EyeDie I]

start with sniping with the canons because theyre harder to track whos shooting at them then move in and unload your energies.

'The jamming made me switch to 2 AC/10,'

thats why k2s are prime targets

Edited by EyeDie I, 24 July 2013 - 08:05 AM.

[scJazz]

That ERPPC + MPL group and the MGs just seem wrong.

Perhaps something like this?

CPLT-K2

Better heat efficiency... although personally I'd put the lasers on the arms so I could shoot lights.

[EyeDie I]

generally when considering weapon placement think about if i lose my arms will i have weapons, will i be too hot losing hs in arms with high heat energies in the torso and find a balance.

[Fire and Salt]

I also must add that I think the catapult k2 should always have an xl. Any build that works well on a k2 with a standard will probably work even better on a jagermech with a standard.


The catapult had a long nose, so even if you turn to the side, people can still shoot your CT. Not true of the Jager.

[Hebdomas]

This is what I use for something a little different: CPLT-K2
It looks like it run hot, but since you aren't firing the ER PPCs and medium lasers the heat efficiency isn't nearly as bad. Used an AC5 as it weighs less and doesn't jam.

I wouldn't gauge your performance based on how many kills you get. Kills seem to be more about luck (being in the right place at the right time and a sufficiently injured opponent) unless it's 1v1 which is rare. I've seen a Spider with a medium laser get 6 kills before.

[Prezimonto]

I've had a lot of success running my K2 with 2xUAC5 2xPPC with an xl255. It puts you in place as a very dangerous mid range direct fire support unit. Follow you team, make sure the assaults or other heavies are engaged and pour fire onto something. You have run a little light on UAC5 ammo, so I use them as finishers. Rely on the PPC's until you need to ballistics punch, then hammer them. Consistent 400+ damage and several kills if you play carefully.

You can substitue AC5's for the UAC5's.. you'll fire slower, but get tons more ammo, allowing you to use them more if you find that's an issue. What you lose is that short term punch that 2UAC5's can bring to the table.

[Redshift2k5]

EyeDie I, on 24 July 2013 - 08:10 AM, said:

generally when considering weapon placement think about if i lose my arms will i have weapons, will i be too hot losing hs in arms with high heat energies in the torso and find a balance.

Do you often lose arms? Obviously in my Catapult I'm taking damage to the CT and sides, very rarely do I lose an arm. I doubt anyone is trying to take your arms off when they could just as easily blow out your side torso or at least a leg.

3 ERPPCs and a medium pulse is just too hot, let alone the fact you're spending tons and crit slots on MGs.

[DragunSlayer]

I'm excited about all these XLs in your Catapults.

[Bracchus]

I run either 2x ac10 or 2x uac5 with some mlas. Speed is provided by a xl300 block. Really good in any kind of situation

[scJazz]

DragunSlayer, on 24 July 2013 - 09:32 AM, said:

I'm excited about all these XLs in your Catapults.

You have obviously not spent a lot of time in a Catapult. The Side Torsos are tiny the CT gigantic... yeahhhh we put XLs in our Catapults... DUH!

[EyeDie I]

losing arms is just something i think about when building, i shy away from no torso weapon mechs,but think 'should i put my hot weaps in the arms less hot in the torso?'i have found on my stalker i tend to lose 1 sides weapons b4 the other(usually the same side) so i heatsinked my surviving side more...

[Koniving]

This is my most recent build.


However before that -- which was to try something new -- a build I really liked is an XL 315 engine with 2 AC/2s and 4 medium lasers. The AC/2s you can fire at the same time or macro to fire every 0.25 seconds (since the first gun will reload by the time the macro comes back to it 0.5 seconds later) for a good solid firing rate and shake against the enemy. The 4 medium lasers I'd use with arm-lock turned on (or off with just the two arm lasers firing).

This is an older video, but I've reused it since in the 6 PPC metal and it works very well with a bit of stealth. This vid does not have elite unlocks. It is insanely fast now.

Good luck.