40 replies to this topic

[juxstapo]

Another vote for the K2. Rocking the sniper builds. Used to run quad ERPPC before heat, now dual ER's and a LrgPulse. One of my "don't mess with" mechs that I refuse to take parts off of to finish out other builds, even sprung for a 315XL just to leave in it.

[James The Fox Dixon]

I go with the A1 since it is the best at what it does as a missile boat. When doing LRM support, I can tear up enemy mechs constantly as long as I have a nice lock. When doing light hunting, the Streaks will kill any light mech out there in no time flat. The Streaks are also good against heavier mechs, especially when attacking an enemy from the rear.

On my LRM A1 I have 6xLRM5s, 12 tons of ammo, and a 300 XL. With the Streak build it's 6xSSRM2's, 5 tons of ammo, and a 300 Standard. An A1 Brawler is very survivable and usually requires the enemy team to take out of everything on your mech before you die. I've had many matches where the only thing left on my Streak Kitty was the head and a leg with everything else destroyed.

[MeiSooHaityu]

It is REALLY close between the C1 and K2.

I think the C1 edges out the K2 in my eyes because the C1 is the traditional looking Cat. I know that seems like a stupid reason, but when I think Catapult, I think of those missile box ears.

The C1 (more legitamate reasons) has jump jets and the missle slots cater to LRM (long range) and (SRM short range) depending on the build I am looking for.

I do like the K2, but mostly for dual ballistics and and the Jager or Cataphract seems a bit better suited (despite the fact that the Cataphract seems to drag it's ballistic harpoints on the ground.

Lastly, I am not THAT good of a player and I like the fact that the Catapult C1 has it's energy harpoints all torso mounted. I can aim a bit more accuratly that way.

The K2 is really good (I am currently running 2 A/C10s and 4MLasers), but if I could only keep 1 chassis, it is the C1.

[CygnusX7]

C1 or K2. C1 is a stack of fun with the JJ's.
K2 with 2 UAC5's and some lAzOrS is a hoot.

[Daekar]

I love my C1 Founder's Cat when I'm playing with a team, LRMs rain until ammo runs out and then I wade in with my 4xMedLas. I HATE it when pugging unless I'm playing with lights who are good enough to bother tagging.

That leaves the K2, since I barely play my C4 and A1. I mastered them all, and even tried a streak-cat for a few games back when streaks were totally broken, but... with SRMs not really fitting the current meta I haven't used either for a while.

Currently have the K2 fitted out with 4 LrgLas, but soon will probably switch back to 2xLB10X or 2xAC10 with some backup MedLas.

[Bishop Steiner]

Rhialto, on 05 October 2013 - 05:27 PM, said:

Which one and for what reason?

I want to get elite and keep only one so I bought my first, the A1 because it looked like the one I would not want but maybe I will be wrong. I wanted an Energy to put carry my own TAG. I thought of C4 as the one to keep.

the K2.

Missiles are meh, overall, LRMs too dependent on group dynamic, SRMs have buggy detection at best. The K2 is a great energy or ballistic platform being abke to be tasked as an ambusher (2x AC20 "Boomcat"), a Sniper (2x Gauss "Gauss-a-Pult" or the PPC/ER PPC builds) so I generally go for it.

Lacking JJS does kinda suck though. I would like to recommend the C1, but the missiles are a little too limited, though a largely stock one with a tag and 3 mediums aint bad.

[tib3r]

The K2. The whole LRM boat thing is basically a way of saying I have thin skin and dont like melee or I have no talent.

[Deathlike]

Although I like the K2 a lot more than the C1... the C1 has the edge with JJs. Even with the current state of missiles, the C1 can be pretty good going all energy...

[Bishop Steiner]

tib3r, on 07 October 2013 - 07:58 PM, said:

The K2. The whole LRM boat thing is basically a way of saying I have thin skin and dont like melee or I have no talent.

a self sufficient LRM Cat is actually requiring a lot of skill. You have to hold between 350-500 to really maximize those LRMS, and need to maintain LOS with your TAG. Then your 3 lasers are to duke it out and add supplemental damage. There is nothing "thin-skinned" about driving one. Only the LRM-Awesomess and such who stay hidden behind the hill fit that billing, and often, they are doing what their team says, not whats fun. But when I team lead I prefer my artillery to stay out of sight.

[MeiSooHaityu]

tib3r, on 07 October 2013 - 07:58 PM, said:

The K2. The whole LRM boat thing is basically a way of saying I have thin skin and dont like melee or I have no talent.

Just like the guy above, people just don't like getting hit with weapons from range by people they can't directly hit. They think it is cheap, however it is not.

I run LRMs in my C1 and it is not easy. I need to pick targets I don't think will decay (loose lock) and try to pick my cover that keeps me out of sight but allows for maintained lock and allows my missile to clear cover. It is very team dependant and as a PUG, that is not easy to come by. It's a tricky mechanic and not THAT easy to use effective (at least when going solo).

Not to insult the guy I quoted (especially because I don't know his talent), I can say that it sounds like somone who doesn't know how to deal with LRMs and would rather call LRM users out and complain then try and use; AMS, cover, and picking a time to close distance and get under the LRM range.

[Ozric]

tib3r, on 07 October 2013 - 07:58 PM, said:

The K2. The whole LRM boat thing is basically a way of saying I have thin skin and dont like melee or I have no talent.

Oh its on.

[Samziel]

tib3r, on 07 October 2013 - 07:58 PM, said:

The K2. The whole LRM boat thing is basically a way of saying I have thin skin and dont like melee or I have no talent.

Any Jagermech>K2 hands down.

C1. Why? You have jumpjets so you can work as a poptart with PPC's (Or LL's) AND you can equip streaks to **** up lights if you want to play with the current meta.

Edited by Samziel, 08 October 2013 - 08:38 AM.

[Rhialto]

tib3r, on 07 October 2013 - 07:58 PM, said:

The K2. The whole LRM boat thing is basically a way of saying I have thin skin and dont like melee or I have no talent.

I don't think so... I wanted to try the Catapult because I wanted to try something different than brawl, I wanted to rain LRM on enemy and I thought the Catapult was designed to be the ultimate Mech for this.

What I found out is that the way the game is played now, it's a very hard task to be effective on your own with LRM. How many times I ask if someone have TAG and for people to press R to lock target?

Many times I can see a target showing up, I lock on it, fire LRM, then the lock is lost so LRM hit nothing. For effective LRM you really need a pal to help and work with you by spotting and locking on a target, or if solo you need your own Energy point (which the A1 is missing) to carry your own TAG.

Edited by Rhialto, 08 October 2013 - 08:45 AM.

[Rhialto]

MeiSooHaityu, on 08 October 2013 - 03:15 AM, said:

I run LRMs in my C1 and it is not easy. I need to pick targets I don't think will decay (loose lock) and try to pick my cover that keeps me out of sight but allows for maintained lock and allows my missile to clear cover. It is very team dependant

Exactly and could be very drustrating in some games... I'm sure that it must be aweome in a clan and TeamSpeak but I always play solo and I don't think LRM are as fun with how the game works currently. I wish I have a friend to play with but I don't know anyone around me playing MWO. We are all busy with children, etc.

Fortunatly, I have a blast playing Lights, I can go solo no problem. And I also have fun with other builds but about LRM I can get frustrated pretty quickly depending on the team of the moment.

[Capt Jester]

The C1 and K2 are hands down the best Catapults. Your choice between them is LRMs or ballistics.

The K2 has many options: dual AC/20, dual Gauss, dual UAC/5, or an asymmetrical 1 AC/20 with LL or any number of other odd builds.

The C1 has 4 Energy hardpoints, leaving you with the option of building a strong LRM boat (2 LRM20 or 2 LRM15) with 4 backup ML, or going with all energy and building a 3/4 LL boat.

[Gauvan]

To me, each mech type has a particular character to it. If I had to pick one out of the variants I'd pick the one that best represents the character of the mech.

For Catapults that's the C1: LRMs + Jump Jets + reasonable backup weapons. The others offer variants on this theme (except for the K2) but the C1 is the "standard." Back in the old days the K2 could do some interesting things that other mechs couldn't and was appealing for that reason. These days, if you find yourself interested in the K2 then I think you should at least consider the other mechs that play in the same space as the K2, such as the Jagermech.

That's not to say the K2 is a bad mech--it's still very good. But if I had to pick one Catapult to keep it would be the C1 because it's the most "Catapulty."

As an aside, I think one of the strengths of the class is how each variant offers a pretty distict play style (perhaps excepting the C4). As such it's a good mech to keep multiples of, versus some other chassis which offer less variety between variants.

[Agent 0 Fortune]

CPLT-C1 is my favorite, but LRMs and SRMs are in such a horrible state right now that I prefer to pilot the CPLT-K2

[MeiSooHaityu]

Rhialto, on 08 October 2013 - 08:52 AM, said:

Exactly and could be very drustrating in some games... I'm sure that it must be aweome in a clan and TeamSpeak but I always play solo and I don't think LRM are as fun with how the game works currently. I wish I have a friend to play with but I don't know anyone around me playing MWO. We are all busy with children, etc.

Fortunatly, I have a blast playing Lights, I can go solo no problem. And I also have fun with other builds but about LRM I can get frustrated pretty quickly depending on the team of the moment.

Yes, and that is why the Cat C1 and A1 are my only LRM equipped mechs. Most other mechs I have with missile tubes I leave empty and instead focus on energy or ballistic. I might throw in an SRM depending on the loadout specs of a mech, but LRMs as a PUG for the most part is iffy for effectiveness.

[CDLord HHGD]

I choose ugly!

[Butane9000]

The problem with the Catapult is all of the chassis are useful in some way or the other.

You could go with the C1 Mini Mad Cat which I use to great effect. I believe I knocked the LRM15's down to LRM10's but you can go either way. As long as your smart about how you fire your weapons you should do really well.

On the A1 you can go with the Champion build with 2x LRM15 and 4xSSRM2. I used this A1 build for awhile and I really enjoyed it since it's a jack of all trades kind of deal. Other then that you could go with a SPLAT Cat (all SRM) build or Streak (6xSSRm2) Cat.

The K2 is the only variant without jump jets but also the only variant with ballistics. This variant has so many builds it's kind of hard to list them all. Until the Jagermech came out this was everyones Gauss/AC20 toting heavy. But it's best use at the moment is long range fire support using Large Lasers, AC5's/UAC5's or PPCs.

The C4 is the the intermediary between the C1 and the A1. It's great to use as missile support. Knock the LRM20's down to 2xLRM15 and 2xLRM5 to free up an extra 2 tons for ammo or equipment. Unless you plan on using Artemis then stick with the LRM20's as they'll save you weight. You can also use it to brawl with a 4xSRM6 1xLL build.

The entire chassis is just rock solid and I'd recommend getting them all at some point. For me I started with the C4 and used this build to great effect.