20 replies to this topic

[Kai Harper]

I've got a 2X 'Phract that I'm not sure what to do with - bought it a long while ago, before I was pointed at Smurfy's, and I didn't look at the hardpoints before I got it - so I'm wondering if anyone has anything to say about how to kit this thing out. I'm toying with the idea of using this, but I'd like some feedback.

[Modo44]

There are many frankenmech builds that supposedly work. Personally, I would make it as simple as possible: AC20+2xLL zombie. Good cooling, good speed, plenty of ammo, simple weapon groups. Should break stuff nicely while being very hard to kill.

[Kai Harper]

Modo44, on 17 December 2013 - 12:25 AM, said:

There are many frankenmech builds that supposedly work. Personally, I would make it as simple as possible: AC20+2xLL zombie. Good cooling, good speed, plenty of ammo, simple weapon groups. Should break stuff nicely while being very hard to kill.

Why not have the external DHS in the engine? Slight oversight?

[Alistair Winter]

Since you're a Founder, I assume you have some skills. This is what I'm running on my CTF-2X. It's good, but not great. On the other hand, it's the best build I have for this variant, and I have never seen any really great builds for it. It's by far the least popular CTF.

XL320 engine
PPC
AC10 with 3 tons of ammo
2 Medium lasers
2 SRM4+Artemis with 1 ton of ammo
14 DHS
Endo-steel
Standard armor
416 of max 434 armor

I use 3 weapon groups.
1 = PPC & AC10 (hold down left shift to lock arms momentarily, when needed)
2 = Medium lasers
3 = SRM4s.

Edited by Alistair Winter, 17 December 2013 - 12:41 AM.

[Modo44]

Kai Harper, on 17 December 2013 - 12:30 AM, said:

Why not have the external DHS in the engine? Slight oversight?

Crit padding. If that side gets critical-hit, there is a chance that you will lose the heatsink rather than the laser. But now that you mention it, you could hide the heatsink in the engine, add Ferro Fiber using up the 14 remaining slots, and take one more engine heatsink.

Edited by Modo44, 17 December 2013 - 12:58 AM.

[Arend]

This Setup works pretty good for me!

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...203ee6042680ef1

[LuInRei]

I've ran it like this, when I grinded up my phracts.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...471faf0bda80a60
Still an unimpressive design, quite hot and all over the place.

[Zordicron]

I havent run mine since 8v8, sooooo I likely cant help you much. I messed with this thing quite a lot, and decided I didnt like being up close with it.

So, I put LRM5 and LRM 10 in the arm. When fired continuously, this constant stream of small groups of missiles comes out in a never ending arc arching across the map. It really was just trolling, but it was surprisingly good at suppression fire and making the enemy stay in predicatable routes. If you caught some {Dezgra} in the open without AMS, it was hilarious.

Not that that is particularily fit for a serious match. But it was fun, running and gunning so to speak with endless stream of missiles flying out of my left arm.

I fit the rest with 2 PPC in the torsos( too damn hot now) and I think a LL or ML in the other arm to shoot lights with. I think LL, and then put an XL in.

Anyway, none of this is actually helpful i imagine lol. For the current game state, an AC20 with required Std engine, and then 2 streaks in arm to shoot annoying lights with. Add ammo to taste, fit ML or LL depending on how many heatsinks you want to put in. You really cant go wrong with AC20 nowdays.

Alternatively, even though it doesnt have JJ, you could mount a GR and PPC in torsos. Or AC10 and PPC even to save a little weight. 2 ERLL and AC10 would be a hard hit from a good distance, with plenty of tonnage for heat sinks and ammo. throw streaks in the arm again for lights. Ignore the right arm then. like this:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...echlab#modified


It really isnt the best mech, but it is still a phract so it is tough and hits hard. The best loadouts I have seen for it all have some big ballistic and then support weapons. Right now, Streaks are the most useful for the missile arm if ytou want to use it as SRM are bad hit detection and the LRM stuff is mostly just for trolling.

[luxebo]

Modo44, on 17 December 2013 - 12:25 AM, said:

There are many frankenmech builds that supposedly work. Personally, I would make it as simple as possible: AC20+2xLL zombie. Good cooling, good speed, plenty of ammo, simple weapon groups. Should break stuff nicely while being very hard to kill.

I thought frankenmechs were builds that were awkward to use, like something on a Pretty Baby (maybe 4-5 groups plus many different ranges, tracking of missiles, etc.) Pretty Baby has it's uses, but it requires a different playstyle, and is a good example imho of a frankenmech and how it should look. Some Dragon builds I planned as well use multiple groups, and quite a lot of stock builds (stock Shadow Hawks, stock Stalkers, etc...) are hard to use with many different awkward aspects of it. Zombies don't equal frankenmechs as far as I know.

Edit: To OP, I suggest making a miniature Atlas brawler. Like 1xAC20, 2xSSRM2s, 3xMedlasers.

Edited by luxebo, 17 December 2013 - 10:44 PM.

[Modo44]

luxebo, on 17 December 2013 - 10:43 PM, said:

I thought frankenmechs were builds that were awkward to use[...]

Yes, and the 2X invites 4 separate weapon groups: energy arm, energy torso, ballistic torso, missile arm.

[CarnifexMaximus]

I would strongly advise against the use of a XL in a landbased Cataphract. I have even started to go STD in my 3Ds as I now firmly believe that dying slow is far greater than any amount of XL enabled firepower you can pack in there.

Its somewhat uninspired, but this saw me through Basic to Master.

In past iterations of SRMs (think way back now) I was a firm believer in artemis. Even then, when artemis was arguably worth it on SRM racks, I still felt the 2x was screaming for some cheap regular old SRM4s. I didn't find much improvement with artemis on the 2X then or especially now

Edited by CarnifexMaximus, 17 December 2013 - 11:34 PM.

[luxebo]

Modo44, on 17 December 2013 - 10:47 PM, said:

Yes, and the 2X invites 4 separate weapon groups: energy arm, energy torso, ballistic torso, missile arm.

Ah. I'm not a professional at Cataphracts at all, but I usually just stick to as few weapon groups as possible.

[Kai Harper]

Thanks for the feedback, guys and girls. I'm considering all of it, and tossing up mainly at this point between the AC/20 + SSRM4 + MLx3 build and the AC/10 + SSRM4 + ERLLx2 routes - using standard SRMs on my ping (roughly 300 since I'm in AU) simply isn't viable. Thanks so much for the suggestions!

[Bront]

Kai Harper, on 17 December 2013 - 12:02 AM, said:

I've got a 2X 'Phract that I'm not sure what to do with - bought it a long while ago, before I was pointed at Smurfy's, and I didn't look at the hardpoints before I got it - so I'm wondering if anyone has anything to say about how to kit this thing out. I'm toying with the idea of using this, but I'd like some feedback.

Way too much ammo for that LB10X (if you manage to use 90 shots of LB10X with a single cannon, I'd be impressed)

I like the mini-atlas build. CTF-2X. AC20, 2MLs, 2 SRM4s. The MLs are high mounted, the SRMs are tight, and the AC20 has some reasonable range (it's still 10 damage at 540m), and you're fairly mobile, and pretty durable.

[Autobot9000]

@OP

Your mech has too much ammo to start with, but I think the difference in effective ranges (LB spread vs LL range) makes it harder to use.

I played the 2X always in the what I see as canonical configuration (very very effective)
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...dd9719658fe7fcf

AC20 (21)
2xSRM4 (200)
3xML
AMS
15 DHS
std engine

If you run a smaller (in crit spaces) autocannon you can run a fast XL in him too, but I never found that to be superior to the aboves build. The aboves build can still run hot, so definitly the more heat sinks the better.

Edited by Autobot9000, 19 December 2013 - 07:07 AM.

[Bors Mistral]

I have mine as follows:

XL340
2xLPL
ML
2xSRM6

Sprinkle with DHS till you like the taste.

Pretty fun cavalry mech, and it'll be even more awesome once/if SRM's get fixed and LPLs get made into something more worthwhile.

Edited by Bors Mistral, 19 December 2013 - 09:29 AM.

[Kai Harper]

Thanks guys. I've rekitted her out to run XL340, AC/10 + LLx2 + SSRM4 at this point. Standard SRMs are hellish to use on 300ish ping - you get minimal hits (incidentally, probably why I'm not a fan of my zombie Cent), but I've had moderate success so far with this. Kept the right arm as a shield, 1 ton Streak ammo, 4 tons AC/10. I'll still tweak it some and look back at this - may give the AC/20 + MLx3 a look when I get comfortable with this - so thanks for the feedback guys. =) She doesn't feel like a Horribly put together frankenmech anymore.

[Elyam]

I've typically used 320XL, AMS, Endo, 14DHS, AC/10, ERLLAS, 2x MLAS, 2x SRM-6. Artemis hasn't been necessary due to the tight salvo caused by the 4 close tubes. I prefer this salvo out of any in MWO - it sprays very dependably at the intended target. This design is based on a 'hull-left' tactic for cover while sniping, peeking the right arm and torso out while keeping the rest of the mech covered to fire the 2 long-range weapons. Good speed for a heavy and versatile to many situations.

Edited by Elyam, 24 December 2013 - 09:36 AM.

[Kai Harper]

If it wasn't for the 300 ping, I'd try standard SRMs over SSRMs - thanks for the feedback, Elyam! I've been learning to try and use the same tactic, when I'm not just punching the ever living scrap out of whoever I'm targeting because they got too close.

[Shinonome Kai]

In the case of my 2X, I just did a simple modification/upgrade and went with an ERLL for closing distance fire, and upgraded the AC/10 to a 20, upgraded the SRM4 to an SRM 6, then added an SRM2 for some extra firepower.

In terms of grouping I prefer to try and slag off a target's armor with the lasers, before administering a knockout punch with a well placed AC/SRM combo.

Despite the simplicity, I enjoy the build very much; its netted me countless killing blows whenever I charge in weapons glowing hot, not sure if this would provide anything useful but figured I'd chip in since I treat my 2X like I do my car.

Edited by Todi Omiki, 28 December 2013 - 11:57 PM.