20 replies to this topic

[Turist0AT]

How much ammo do i need for 2-4 AC-2s? Never used them until today.

To give a litle bit more info:

Mech: Firebrand std300 with 6 mediums and 2 AC-2 (right now 5 tons of ammo)

Edited by Turist0AT, 23 November 2013 - 12:58 PM.

[CDLord HHGD]

on my Jagermech DD where I had 4 ac2's, I had I think 8 tons......

[p8ragon]

On my battlemaster (1D think? The one with 3 ballistics on the left arm) i had 4 tons of ammo to complement 3 ac/2s. My reasoning was that i could use the other tonnage for other weapons so that i could still contribute if my left arm was shot off. I've rarely used up all 300 rounds (i don't chainfire)

[Turist0AT]

have 2 AC-2 on the firebrand with 4 tons (300 shells) and damn that ammo goes fast

thx for the input guys

Edited by Turist0AT, 23 November 2013 - 11:54 AM.

[DarkDevilDancer]

ALL THE AMMO!!!!!!

As a guide i usually carry 3 tons for each gun, but given the fire rate of ac2's i'd go for as much as you can physically jam in there.

[Turist0AT]

Hmmm i might need to drop armor on the arms more, to like 15 maybe? I get one more ton. thats 5 tons of ammo.

Edited by Turist0AT, 23 November 2013 - 12:09 PM.

[Carrioncrows]

With the exception of the Machinegun, all ballistic mounts typically require 3 tons of ammo per gun if it's your main weapon.

The AC20 requires at least 4.

You can run less ammo just fine but you have to make every shot count rather than spamming away on full auto.

[Ngamok]

Turist0AT, on 23 November 2013 - 11:42 AM, said:

How much ammo do i need for 2-4 AC-2s? Never used them until today.

For AC/2s my rule is 2 tons per AC minimum. You can add more, but 1 ton per is not enough.

Edited by Ngamok, 23 November 2013 - 12:15 PM.

[Turist0AT]

Those AC-2s are just so spammy, so its hard to make shots count

[Escef]

2 tons for a single AC2 does not often run out, 1 ton will.

For AC5s I go for a minimum of 3 tons of ammo per 2 guns. 2 tons for a single is pretty safe.

AC10s and LB10X you want to go for 2 or 3 tons per gun, what you have for back up weapons will dictate if you need that 3rd ton of ammo.

A20s and Gauss you want 3 tons of ammo per gun.

SRMs (including Streaks) you can get away with 1 ton if you have under 6 tubes. 6-8 tubes you will need 2 tons of ammo. If you have more than 8 tubes... Well, I guess you'll find out through trial and error, but I would start at 1 ton per 2 tubes, as if you have more than 8 tubes you are counting on these to be the majority of your firepower.

LRMs, 1 ton per 5 tubes, test to see if you need more or less. I used to run 11 tons on my LRM50 BLR-1S, but heat interfered with my RoF, so I never tapped out. I ended up cutting 2 tons of ammo for more sinks, and now tap out the ammo sometimes.

Remember, what other people say to use is a great starting place, but the final word should be dictated by how you play your mech.

Edited by Escef, 23 November 2013 - 12:21 PM.

[Wintersdark]

Start playing. If you run out of ammo all the time, add more. If you never run out of ammo, run less. If you only run out in protracted engagements, you're just right: The goal should be to run as little ammo as possible to save tonnage for armor/heat sinks/engine/other weapons.

If you run 8 tons of ammo for 2 AC/2's and use it all, the problem is tremendously bad marksmanship and you should work on improving that instead of adding more ammo. Consider, ammo is worth roughly 150 damage per ton. If you're taking more than 300 damage to kill an average mech (and keep in mind, you're using more than just AC/2's!)... Marksmanship.

Try to run as little ammo as possible, and you'll get more out of your mech.

[Turist0AT]

im running dry like 5 minutes into the fight and left with 6 puny mediums. Thing is, because of the range AC-2s has i open them up pretty early and at that range i cant aim for specific parts.
The low damage and high fire rate makes me spam as many shells as i can on targets too soften (or suppress) them before CQB.

Thinking about switching platform to CTF-4X witch is my dedicated 4 AC-5 mech, plus i get 5 more tons to play with. But i dont want to stain my phracts with such puny balistics

Edited by Turist0AT, 23 November 2013 - 12:59 PM.

[Asyres]

Turist0AT, on 23 November 2013 - 12:50 PM, said:

im running dry like 5 minutes into the fight and left with 6 puny mediums. Thing is, because of the range AC-2s has i open them up pretty early and at that range i cant aim for specific parts.
The low damage and high fire rate makes me spam as many shells as i can on targets too soften (or suppress) them before CQB.

I don't think of AC2s as a long range weapon -- they just aren't suited to the sort of peakaboo combat that happens at 700+ meters. Instead, I think of them as a midrange weapon used to punish slower members of the opposition for being out of position. At close range, I start to find them rather weak again, as using them to full effect requires face tanking, which is bad.

Wintersdark, on 23 November 2013 - 12:29 PM, said:

*Snip*
Try to run as little ammo as possible, and you'll get more out of your mech.

Pretty much what Wintersdark said. Think of your ammunition as a reservoir of potential damage, and your ballistics (in this case AC2s) as hoses through which to spray that damage at deserving enemies.

If you're running through 5t of ammo (750 damage) and not doing substantial amounts of damage in the process, work on your aim and fire discipline. I run 5t of ammo for 3 ac2s in my VTR-9B and BLR-1D, and find that to be sufficient for virtually every game.

[Hans Von Lohman]

Unless it is a tiny weapon like the SRM-2 or the Machine Gun it is best to get 2 tons per weapon.

If it is a main weapon, then try to get 3 tons.

[KinLuu]

My builds in general try to follow some basic rules:

AC/2 - 2 tons per barrel
AC/5 and UAC/5 - 2.5 tons per barrel
AC/10 - 3 tons per barrel
AC/20 - 4 tons per barrel
Gauss - 3 tons per barrel

SRMs - 1 ton per 4 tubes (e.g. 1 ton for an SRM4, 1.5 tons for an SRM6)
LRMs - as much as possible, in a mixed build, I go for 2 tons per 10 tubes.

[MeiSooHaityu]

KinLuu, on 25 November 2013 - 01:31 AM, said:

My builds in general try to follow some basic rules:

AC/2 - 2 tons per barrel
AC/5 and UAC/5 - 2.5 tons per barrel
AC/10 - 3 tons per barrel
AC/20 - 4 tons per barrel
Gauss - 3 tons per barrel

SRMs - 1 ton per 4 tubes (e.g. 1 ton for an SRM4, 1.5 tons for an SRM6)
LRMs - as much as possible, in a mixed build, I go for 2 tons per 10 tubes.

That seems like a good rule of thumb.

Also, I would keep track of how much ammo you have left at the end of a match you survived through. If it seems like you can get a way with reducing your ammo by 1 ton, that is 1 ton that can be used for something else.

[Turist0AT]

uhu uhu taking notes. Thanks for the help guys!

[Modo44]

Start with 3 tons per gun. Add or remove depending on your aim vs spray and pray preference, the range at which you fire (especially with the AC20 and LB10-X), and whether the gun is a main weapon or not (e.g. for that AC2 slapped onto a rig with bigger guns). After that, adjust depending on how matches go. You want to run out near the end of most matches. Extreme cases are 4+ MGs with a ton of ammo (strictly for finishing open mechs), 6 tons of ammo in Edmiester's Yen Lo (firing at almost any range), or a dual UAC5 build with 10 tons of ammo (dakka all match every match, back when the UAC5 had a silly rate of fire).

[Mike McSullivan]

Turist0AT, on 23 November 2013 - 11:42 AM, said:

How much ammo do i need for 2-4 AC-2s? Never used them until today.

To give a litle bit more info:

Mech: Firebrand std300 with 6 mediums and 2 AC-2 (right now 5 tons of ammo)

My plan of action is allways: jump into Caustic-Testing grounds (small map/many mechs nearby+heat-test) and try to kill as many dummies as you can with the ballistics (or other ammoconsuming weapons). If you run ooA after the 3 first Bots something is wrong (I test by running around and shooting while moving. Aimed Headshots dont count )

5 tons for your Firebrand sounds good!
M.

Edited by Mike McSullivan, 25 November 2013 - 04:43 AM.

[Shadey99]

Another way to think about this question is: How much damage do you want to do?

What I mean by that is that an AC2 with 1 ton of ammo is: 2x75=150 damage max. 2 tons is 2x150=300.

The decision (especially with the AC2) is always "how much damage do I want the option to deal and how much space for other weapons?" My answer in my BLR 3xAC2 is around 1000 damage max (around 500 rounds, somewhat more than half of which I usually land on targets).