30 replies to this topic

[Shadey99]

So some time ago I asked what mech I should go with next, the Victors and Jenners topped that list. So I bought both though the Victors took a bit of time. In fact they took enough time that I just bought my last of the three Victors yesterday, the 9K. However I'm having a bit of a probably outfitting the 9K. Currently I'm running a near stock build like this VTR-9K. I used GXP to buy out all the basic skills, but even so running it with that build in a game doesn't do so well...

I have already thought about something like this fast VTR-9K, but I don't have an XL 380 or 385 lying around right now

So I need ideas for what to do with this thing. What builds do you guys run on it?

Edited by Shadey99, 10 December 2013 - 03:21 AM.

[Alistair Winter]

I have Gauss + 3 LL with an XL320. Usually I chain fire the LL's, and then I fire them all together when I have a very good shot. The gauss runs pretty cool anyway.

The only time I'd put an STD engine on a Victor would be if I had enough firepower on both sides to be a threat with one side torso blown off. In your case, you're close to useless if you lose your gauss, with less firepower than most light mechs, so I feel the STD engine is a waste.

[Scrawny Cowboy]

[smurfy]http://mwo.smurfy-ne...7919be6483de391[/smurfy]

After the gauss charge patch, low-slung ballistic arms with the lower arm actuator left me with only the AC10 as a practical option. Well if there were more hardpoints it would be interesting, but that's my go-to weapon now for the Centurion, some of the Highlanders, and this Victor.

Up to you though, whatever floats your goat : )

[Escef]

I'd swap the MPLs down to normal MLs, pull 2 DHS, toss in 2xSSRM2, 1 ton of SSRM ammo, BAP, nd up armor the legs with the remaining half ton. The net result is slightly better heat efficiency, more damage, and better performance against lights. Also, the longer range of the MLs vs the MPLs will see you dealing more damage at mid to close range.

[John MatriX82]

It's fun if you slap many JJs on it. If you use it like "any other victor" then 9S or 9B are AC-20 capable so I've got rid of the 9K as I did with the 9B; I kept only the 9S to complement my DS.

[Shadey99]

Alistair Winter, on 10 December 2013 - 03:22 AM, said:

The only time I'd put an STD engine on a Victor would be if I had enough firepower on both sides to be a threat with one side torso blown off.

I didn't put a standard in, it came that way... I just haven't figured out what to put in it... I do have a 350 XL currently in my 9B...

Scrawny Cowboy, on 10 December 2013 - 03:23 AM, said:

After the gauss charge patch, low-slung ballistic arms with the lower arm actuator left me with only the AC10 as a practical option. Well if there were more hardpoints it would be interesting, but that's my go-to weapon now for the Centurion, some of the Highlanders, and this Victor.

I have thought about tossing in an AC10 instead of the Gauss and replacing the MPLs with PPCs... Though that is kinda like an underpowered version of my 9S which runs the ever popular AC20+2xPPC...

[Shadey99]

Escef, on 10 December 2013 - 03:28 AM, said:

I'd swap the MPLs down to normal MLs, pull 2 DHS, toss in 2xSSRM2, 1 ton of SSRM ammo, BAP, nd up armor the legs with the remaining half ton.

That is not actually going to fit. Changing to MLs, pulling the DHS, adding the SSRMs, and adding a ton of ammo leaves you 1 ton... Not enough for the BAP...

[Escef]

Shadey99, on 10 December 2013 - 03:40 AM, said:

That is not actually going to fit. Changing to MLs, pulling the DHS, adding the SSRMs, and adding a ton of ammo leaves you 1 ton... Not enough for the BAP...

Correction, 3 heat sinks. And the heat efficiency does dip somewhat. http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c60646d2a2b2378

You still get better DPS, higher alpha, better able to cope with fast lights, and the range on your secondary armaments improves.

[Shadey99]

Escef, on 10 December 2013 - 03:50 AM, said:

Correction, 3 heat sinks. And the heat efficiency does dip somewhat. http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c60646d2a2b2378

You still get better DPS, higher alpha, better able to cope with fast lights, and the range on your secondary armaments improves.

I actually tried that with the 320 standard setup I have now... However I did not really do any better, though that may be because everyone and their brother targets my arms/side torsos and very quickly I have no guns. For having maxed armor on those areas it sure doesn't feel like it... At this rate I'm not sure if a XL is worth it in this one, which is funny as I don't see this in any of my other Victors... That may be more because the guns in my other Victors are a tad more kick though...

[Carrioncrows]

This build will see you through the hard times.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b62b31b7e00141c

Keep the larges on Chainfire, then just line up shots with the Gauss.

You can also drop the Gauss for a AC10 if you like

[DONTOR]

Buy a DS as your 3rd victor chassis.

[Bishop Steiner]

Shadey99, on 10 December 2013 - 03:07 AM, said:

So some time ago I asked what mech I should go with next, the Victors and Jenners topped that list. So I bought both though the Victors took a bit of time. In fact they took enough time that I just bought my last of the three Victors yesterday, the 9K. However I'm having a bit of a probably outfitting the 9K. Currently I'm running a near stock build like this VTR-9K. I used GXP to buy out all the basic skills, but even so running it with that build in a game doesn't do so well...

I have already thought about something like this fast VTR-9K, but I don't have an XL 380 or 385 lying around right now

So I need ideas for what to do with this thing. What builds do you guys run on it?

Well, first mistake, is it's not the 3 energy in the arm that make the 9K tick, it's the Jumpjets. People who run a single JJ on mobile jumpers gimp the thing that makes them truly effective. Being able to grab sky fast, and actually clear obstacles is what makes the 9K unique in the VTR family. You are a fast striker Assault. Own it. You wan't weapons that fit all situations, with decently fast cooldown. Save teh single JJ for poptaring in a Highlander.

The second laughable problem most people have with all Assaults, is over engining them. Even with Maxi engines, they are not gonna move like a Centurion. Period. So just STOP it! Have enough speed to move and disengage, anything more is pointless. A Victor moving at 80 kph is really no more survivable than one doing 75.

VTR-9K
Great heat endurance, and good firepower, and you own your agility. AC10 has a great RoF and pinpoint damage, is the most underrated ballistic in the game. You could also burn a few heatsinks and switch to a Gauss, which will be a pretty heat neutral swap, but IMO, a mobile mech is not the ideal Gauss platform. Others would disagree. But I will probably take them 1v1, so to me it's a moot point.

Shoot, scoot, jump into the enemy,back out, wash, rinse and repeat, and oh, terrorize any Shadowhawks that think their faux HBK builds are good while you are at it.

Edited by Bishop Steiner, 10 December 2013 - 08:30 AM.

[Shadey99]

Carrioncrows, on 10 December 2013 - 07:11 AM, said:

This build will see you through the hard times.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b62b31b7e00141c

Keep the larges on Chainfire, then just line up shots with the Gauss.

You can also drop the Gauss for a AC10 if you like

Interesting concept, though having to stay in sight of the enemy for 2 seconds to use the lasers seems... suicidal... I'm lacking a 335 XL as well.

DONTOR, on 10 December 2013 - 08:06 AM, said:

Buy a DS as your 3rd victor chassis.

I would be tempted if they were on sale and I had cash... The downside to being a consultant though comes in winter when the holidays roll around. I simply have a good week or so with no income...

Bishop Steiner, on 10 December 2013 - 08:28 AM, said:

Well, first mistake, is it's not the 3 energy in the arm that make the 9K tick, it's the Jumpjets. People who run a single JJ on mobile jumpers gimp the thing that makes them truly effective. Being able to grab sky fast, and actually clear obstacles is what makes the 9K unique in the VTR family. You are a fast striker Assault. Own it. You wan't weapons that fit all situations, with decently fast cooldown. Save teh single JJ for poptaring in a Highlander.

The second laughable problem most people have with all Assaults, is over engining them. Even with Maxi engines, they are not gonna move like a Centurion. Period. So just STOP it! Have enough speed to move and disengage, anything more is pointless. A Victor moving at 80 kph is really no more survivable than one doing 75.

VTR-9K
Great heat endurance, and good firepower, and you own your agility. AC10 has a great RoF and pinpoint damage, is the most underrated ballistic in the game. You could also burn a few heatsinks and switch to a Gauss, which will be a pretty heat neutral swap, but IMO, a mobile mech is not the ideal Gauss platform. Others would disagree. But I will probably take them 1v1, so to me it's a moot point.

Shoot, scoot, jump into the enemy,back out, wash, rinse and repeat, and oh, terrorize any Shadowhawks that think their faux HBK builds are good while you are at it.

I don't own Cents, so I have no idea how they act... But I do have Battlemasters and I like doing ~80 kph. It was a very slow grind at highlander speeds without my three variants. Though speed is not really the key to my 9S 'mini-highlander' and neither are the JJs...

The current build I have it on looks like this VTR-9K. Though I've now used all my cash... Darn expense of assault mechs. I want to replace the engine, but my current options above 300 are limited. I have 320 XLs, 330 XLs, 350 XLs, and then I jump right to the big 400 XL in my one BM. I'll need to save up more funds to grab anything else. I could buy another Victor for just a bit more than the 375-385 XLs...

[Elyam]

I'm with Bishop on this one, but while keeping the 6 jets, I sometimes set the rest of the loadout closer to Scrawny's up above.

[FireSlade]

Shadey99, on 10 December 2013 - 09:13 AM, said:

Interesting concept, though having to stay in sight of the enemy for 2 seconds to use the lasers seems... suicidal... I'm lacking a 335 XL as well.


I would be tempted if they were on sale and I had cash... The downside to being a consultant though comes in winter when the holidays roll around. I simply have a good week or so with no income...



I don't own Cents, so I have no idea how they act... But I do have Battlemasters and I like doing ~80 kph. It was a very slow grind at highlander speeds without my three variants. Though speed is not really the key to my 9S 'mini-highlander' and neither are the JJs...

The current build I have it on looks like this VTR-9K. Though I've now used all my cash... Darn expense of assault mechs. I want to replace the engine, but my current options above 300 are limited. I have 320 XLs, 330 XLs, 350 XLs, and then I jump right to the big 400 XL in my one BM. I'll need to save up more funds to grab anything else. I could buy another Victor for just a bit more than the 375-385 XLs...

Based on everything that you mentioned this is how I would build your Victor
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...407966f4c1db088 or you can drop down to 2 SRM4s and 2 tons of ammo drop the AMS grab an extra ton for the GR and max out your JJs (this is more like mine) http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b44fa058efba2b8

I picked the 350XL since you mentioned that you had one on your other Victor. If you want more engine later you can swap the GR for AC10 and a 360XL works great plus an 80kph Assault that moves like a heavy is pretty nice. The SRMs add a nice short range punch (when they register) that with the GR and MLs will strip armor off like a hot knife through butter. You can go to SSRMs if lights are a bit too difficult to deal with.

It is all up to you how you want to build it but I recommend that you use your speed with hit and run tactics fading in and out to minimize damage. Jump as much as possible to throw their aim off and spread damage to your legs. Good hunting.

[Carrioncrows]

Shadey99, on 10 December 2013 - 09:13 AM, said:

Interesting concept, though having to stay in sight of the enemy for 2 seconds to use the lasers seems... suicidal... I'm lacking a 335 XL as well.

There are very few people I can't back off with those large lasers. Generally best with in the 450m it's still fantastic for keeping pressure on opponents.

If you find them being particular obstinate just start aiming for the head to obscure their view and deal damage.

[Spheroid]

This thread has inspired me to bring the 9K out of retirement.

Going to try a 325XL, AMS, 2x LLAS, TAG, LRM5+LRM10 and an AC-10.

Edited by Spheroid, 10 December 2013 - 04:02 PM.

[Golfin Man]

It may not be able to mount the AC/20/PPC combo, but the AC/10 PPC combo is cooler and is therefore capable of putting out more shots in rapid succession during heated battles. This also applies to hot maps of course. That being said pure meta can get boring, and I've always enjoyed the 3LL/Gauss combo (some call the 9K the Mini-Metal). I also like the thinking behind Bishop Steiner's build, max JJ's are always fun.

[Shadey99]

Yeah, well my lack of bits has lead me to this VTR-9K build for the moment that runs insanely hot... And doesn't seem to hit very hard... But I lack the non ER PPCs to bring down the heat level. I have dozens of MPLs and nearly as many small lasers, but sadly not a single plain PPC lately.

As for LLs... I have LLs on my 9B and that never seems to go well for me... as evidenced by my 14 kills in 30 games with it... Though in 6 games with my 9K I've gotten a whole single kill... And my 9S has one kill for every match I've played (34)... Though tonight was a whole series of bad games for both my Victors and Jenners...

[FireSlade]

Shadey99, on 11 December 2013 - 07:11 PM, said:

Yeah, well my lack of bits has lead me to this VTR-9K build for the moment that runs insanely hot... And doesn't seem to hit very hard... But I lack the non ER PPCs to bring down the heat level. I have dozens of MPLs and nearly as many small lasers, but sadly not a single plain PPC lately.

As for LLs... I have LLs on my 9B and that never seems to go well for me... as evidenced by my 14 kills in 30 games with it... Though in 6 games with my 9K I've gotten a whole single kill... And my 9S has one kill for every match I've played (34)... Though tonight was a whole series of bad games for both my Victors and Jenners...

LLs are better though I use MLs so that I have the tons to play with. The problem with your mech is that ERPPC cannot really be used effectively brawling which is what the AC10 is suited more for. The other problem is firing 2 ERPPCs is like firing 3 PPCs without the ghost heat or the 10 extra damage. These days it is hard to run more than 1 ERPPC with out either sniping, so that you can cool off some, or you alpha and run away to cool off. PPCs are better suited to brawling even though they have the 90 meter minimum limit just have to remember that and use your mech's speed to stay in the sweet spot range.