4831 replies to this topic

[bloodangeluk]

Since I've been off, I've been hitting it hard on MWO. I think I'm getting a hang of how to pilot my Locusts now, but it's become VERY apparent that I'm going to have such a better time when I get the Radar Derp and speed tweak. It's practically mandatory on everything except the PB from what I'm beginning to notice. There are so many LRM boats out there that will quite literally dump their entire load onto your head despite you only being a locust.

Anyway, The 3S build I have that has 2 1/2 tons of ammo on it, a XL 180 and 4 SRMs is doing really well, despite the cut in movement speed. The 2 1/2 tons of ammo is on the cusp of being enough to do something, at least for me anyway. And having the high alpha of 4 launchers really helps with playing peekaboo as well, allowing for a quick load to their face before ducking back behind cover then relocating instantly.

[Tim East]

3xnihilo, on 28 December 2014 - 04:04 PM, said:

All I want is the bloody "Johnny Five"!!!

Edit: On my way to buy the PB, maybe that will do the trick.

Don't try too hard, man. When it comes, it'll be as natural as breathing. You just get in your mech, play some Alan Parson's Project, and zen out. At least that's what I was doing when I got that almost Johnny Five game the other day. Didn't even realize how many I'd killed, or how much damage I'd been able to do. I always seem to do my best matches when I'm just in a trance. Though I do tend to get excited when I realize that there is only one enemy left and it's a Banshee.

[Dauphni]

Ovion, on 28 December 2014 - 03:58 PM, said:

As per this post, and the post linked in it the following are really the only two practical armour layouts:
6.5T free LCT-1E
7T free LCT-1E

Read the link for the full armour theory, it's a crazy, scary concept, but makes sense once you know why.

Ah yes. I figured front and back armour should be fairly even since you're generally running away from opponents as much as towards them, but I forgot about the ‘front armour as rear armour’ concept. I've gotten too used to my Stalkers, and I forgot the Locusts are almost like the old Catapults in twist craziness. I always loved pulling that Parthian shot!

[BUDFORCE]

Wow great thread. One thing, is there realistically anything else you can do with teh 1V other then just slapping an ER LL on it?

I grinded out 3 locusts back when I got them as part of one of the Phoenix packages and before quirks existed...and yes it was tough work.

However I found the 1V to be the worst and most restrictive, the only thing I could do with it back then was to fit an ER LL and funny enough that is now the quirk.

Id like to make it work, as I have the (P) version with the C-Bill bonus, but I feel this might be one to give up on?

[Ovion]

If you go back, somewhere in the last few pages (1-3 I think), you'll find a post I did with viable builds.

Your main 2 options are:
Mpl + 4 MGs
ERLL + 2 MGs (plus ERLL cool down 5)

Both with an XL 190

[Nightshade24]

Ovion, on 28 December 2014 - 10:09 AM, said:

Yeah.

I just don't know what to do with it.
The 1M just outright outclasses it.

There's almost nothing the 3S can do, that the 1M doesn't just do better at.

The 4SRM 2 build is one of the few, but even then only barely breaks the alpha output of the 2MPL,2SRM 1M, and isn't half as sustainable.

Does put out solid screenshake with the chaining though.

If I remember rightly, a 3SRM2 build still cycles quick enough for the missile-MG build, and frees up a little extra weight.
LCT-3S

The LRM5 build(s) are good for a laugh too, which the quirks make it slightly improved for over the 1M
2LRM5 LCT-3S
LRM5 + SRM2 LCT-3S
LRM5 + SRM4 LCT-3S
LRM5 + SSRM2 LCT-3S
No idea how good thesell be.

I am the master of LERM-custs.

I killed Sean Lang before in my LRM Locust. It was amazing. (My build was a med laser and 2 LRM 5's. this was before quirks and I never got LRM 5 modules as LRM's back then had no modules)

[Tarogato]

Hat Tricks and Johnny Fives in a Locust...

Why aren't there Locust-specific Achievements?

Also, what's this I hear about a Locust meeting on Friday that I didn't know about? 24-Locust No-Hud Free-for-all! Let's do it!

[Nightshade24]

I think it should be a saturday for 2 reasons...

1) people have more time on the weekend. This may not mean the usual off "I got nothing better to do with all this time, so please put it here!" but it also accomidates more people from across the world from ie ... work, school, sleep, etc.

2) US Saturday is (this side of the world) Sunday. So I thikn it should be on western Saturday because then people over here (eastern sunday) can play as well.

If it is Western Sundary then it excludes many eastern people.

(Note: Just because there are countries not in the northern hemisphere or are past Germany on terms of east, doesn't mean they are uncivil, poor, or weird. Also if anyone wants me to go all geography on my opinions of USA from a person who got bombed (I used to be in Serbia) by USA from an unbiased point off view or want to talk about new zealand, Then I'm here. just PM me! I love to chat)


Anyway. I just got a locust with 2 med lasers and 2 SSRM 2's, it has a lack of the amazing feels of quirks the other locust got but I still do 400 damage +. I am going to go look into weapon modules for it...

What should I mod more? Lasers? SSRM's? both? (cooldown or range?)

[DaniBot]

I got my Pirates Bane for FREE from all the events and challenges since Halloween and i'm totally satisfied.

Spoiler

How to Locust you may ask?. Easy...
Put in 4 medium lasers, an ECM and you're good to go!
Play smart, don't be like Heavies or even worse Assaults (they are all dumb anyways..) and let them hit your beautiful BattleMech. Snipe a lot and change positions regulary. Watch for the heat, if its at nominal heat you are doing it wrong.
I played so far 76 battles in the Pirates Bane and must say: It worth the "money"!

(alomst) 1000dmg ?


"Johnny Five" ?

Spoiler

Stay strong Locustians, the world is hard to some like us and never forget:

"Locust is love,

Locust is life."

-DaniBot-

[That Dawg]

LCT-PB...peanut butter...more accurate than Pirate's Bane! yarrrgh

bane, ⁿ. death; destruction; ruin.
pirate- thug/thief villain of the high seas and deep space-notoriously vicious criminal




this is MORE like Truman Capote dressed like Liberace

I am struggling with it.

The speed tweak (or engage vomit comet) now propels me at such speeds neither my aging brain, nor aging computer can keep up with it.
making tons this week on premium and champion/hero mechs, so might buy an XL one or three steps lower just so I can function at speed.
I find I get stuck more on 'things' than other mechs, hung up would be more accurate- not stopped cause I can't get over it.
Couple of times cost me dearly.
And in spite of suggestions, the four ML combo (keeping ECM, or really WHY have it) seems to be the most damage inducing combo. I'd trade all the energy weapons for a 6MG variant, how cool would that be?
Good thing I dropped blakes wad and got small laser cool down, small laser range level 5 modules only to discover that ain't happening.
It may become my conquest mech. I did well in that, did hardly any damage- all in passing about 20-30total, but won two games, last man standing simply cause I could scoot like a flash in the pan

[3xnihilo]

Dawg, if it makes you feel any better all of he frustration you are feeling towards the Locust is exactly how I felt for my first *lots and lots* of drops with the cn9-ah. At least when you die in the first 2 min of the match with 24 damage in a locust everybody knows that is what locusts do. In a centurion it is a little more shameful honestly locusts have to "click" and then they seem entirely natural. Until then they are, um . . . Infuriating. And if you are a machinegun kinda guy pick up the 1v with lots of mg's and a ml or mpl.

[jper4]

finally tried the PB out today and kept the ecm (feels dirty). tried the 4ML build a few matches but ran a bit hotter than i liked so dropped to ML down to 2SL and added an extra heat sink. xl170 and only kept a half ton of MG ammo (seeing how i keep forgetting i have them anyway as i wait to cool down enough for that last(?) shot on that orange/red mech part). average about 150dmg a match, think i've only had one match under 100 and none over 200. 5/3 w/l and 7/4 k/d so far. gotten three two kill matches already cleaning up after people.

mostly been finding the assault lance and hiding in the middle of them and taking potshots when i can til we get the kills edge and then i go off hunting. also find the words "ecm" and "going with assaults" are like magic- suddenly PUGs everywhere start following us and staying together as a group to advance steadily, focus fire and other unheard of things like that. or at least keep a lance alive long enough for the rest of the team to kill everyone else.

got a win on caustic conquest like that. saw ecm-less lance going to kappa, went over to help them, four of us (one guy wandered off wherever) pretty much stayed there the whole match as other team started bring more mechs over to take it (or lob lrms in their cases), i kept everyone in ecm and by the time their counter ecm arrived and they took the cap there were five of them left when the three of us left all died. but they were the last five left of the other team and we had three of the other four caps. our guys swarmed in and finished them off in about a minute after we died.

[Ovion]

Nightshade24, on 29 December 2014 - 06:52 AM, said:

I am the master of LERM-custs.

I killed Sean Lang before in my LRM Locust. It was amazing. (My build was a med laser and 2 LRM 5's. this was before quirks and I never got LRM 5 modules as LRM's back then had no modules)

TBH, from what I've seen of Sean Lang....
It's harder to not kill him.

Nightshade24, on 29 December 2014 - 07:20 AM, said:

I think it should be a saturday for 2 reasons...

1) people have more time on the weekend. This may not mean the usual off "I got nothing better to do with all this time, so please put it here!" but it also accomidates more people from across the world from ie ... work, school, sleep, etc.

2) US Saturday is (this side of the world) Sunday. So I thikn it should be on western Saturday because then people over here (eastern sunday) can play as well.

If it is Western Sundary then it excludes many eastern people.

(Note: Just because there are countries not in the northern hemisphere or are past Germany on terms of east, doesn't mean they are uncivil, poor, or weird. Also if anyone wants me to go all geography on my opinions of USA from a person who got bombed (I used to be in Serbia) by USA from an unbiased point off view or want to talk about new zealand, Then I'm here. just PM me! I love to chat)

The suggestion of the First Jan is due to most people having it off as Bank Holiday / general holiday.

What we need is a list of Timezones and available play from everyone, I'll figure out a way to organise this later.

Nightshade24, on 29 December 2014 - 07:20 AM, said:

Anyway. I just got a locust with 2 med lasers and 2 SSRM 2's, it has a lack of the amazing feels of quirks the other locust got but I still do 400 damage +. I am going to go look into weapon modules for it...

What should I mod more? Lasers? SSRM's? both? (cooldown or range?)

I'd go 2SRM2 + 2MPL
Though if you're set on SSRMs, module wise you want stuff that'll reduce lock time, and cooldown.
(Have you got BAP?)

So ML + SSRM Cooldown, but you'll also want to look at TIG and such to help speed up data and locktime where possible.
Probably 360 Target Retention too.

[Khaze]

Tim East, on 28 December 2014 - 09:04 PM, said:

Don't try too hard, man. When it comes, it'll be as natural as breathing. You just get in your mech, play some Alan Parson's Project, and zen out. At least that's what I was doing when I got that almost Johnny Five game the other day. Didn't even realize how many I'd killed, or how much damage I'd been able to do. I always seem to do my best matches when I'm just in a trance. Though I do tend to get excited when I realize that there is only one enemy left and it's a Banshee.

He speaks the truth. You need some real zen when playing the Locust.

But that said, nothing in MWO has ever given me as big of a rush as getting the Ace of Spades achievement on a LCT-3M. The adrenaline and caffeine high I was in could've powered a city block. And I thought scoring 6 kills on my Battlemaster was hard work... try 8 on a Locust

[3xnihilo]

Khaze, on 29 December 2014 - 12:17 PM, said:

He speaks the truth. You need some real zen when playing the Locust.

But that said, nothing in MWO has ever given me as big of a rush as getting the Ace of Spades achievement on a LCT-3M. The adrenaline and caffeine high I was in could've powered a city block. And I thought scoring 6 kills on my Battlemaster was hard work... try 8 on a Locust

There definitely seems to be a positive correlation between coffee consumption and kills in a locust. I will have to brew a pot and see if I can find the ideal cup to kill ratio. My hypothesis is somewhere between 3 & 5 after that aiming gets rather difficult.

[Nightshade24]

Ovion, on 29 December 2014 - 11:17 AM, said:

TBH, from what I've seen of Sean Lang....
It's harder to not kill him.

The suggestion of the First Jan is due to most people having it off as Bank Holiday / general holiday.

What we need is a list of Timezones and available play from everyone, I'll figure out a way to organise this later.

I'd go 2SRM2 + 2MPL
Though if you're set on SSRMs, module wise you want stuff that'll reduce lock time, and cooldown.
(Have you got BAP?)

So ML + SSRM Cooldown, but you'll also want to look at TIG and such to help speed up data and locktime where possible.
Probably 360 Target Retention too.

No map. If I do put it on I only got a half ton off ammo.

(main reason I'm set on streaks instead of normal SRM's is that I already got a build with 4 SRM 2's and 1 med las. do not want a 'copy' so to say)

[IraqiWalker]

BUDFORCE, on 29 December 2014 - 06:17 AM, said:

Wow great thread. One thing, is there realistically anything else you can do with teh 1V other then just slapping an ER LL on it?

I grinded out 3 locusts back when I got them as part of one of the Phoenix packages and before quirks existed...and yes it was tough work.

However I found the 1V to be the worst and most restrictive, the only thing I could do with it back then was to fit an ER LL and funny enough that is now the quirk.

Id like to make it work, as I have the (P) version with the C-Bill bonus, but I feel this might be one to give up on?

If you check the out-dated OP (Sorry fellas, I am wrapping up the updated version), the 1ML (or MPL) + 4MGs is a great vulture/clean up build. I mastered the 1V in it, before quirks were a thing, and in all honesty. I still haven't put a weapon with more range than an ML in my 1V. I'm contemplating trying out the ERLL build (saw vids of that beautiful short burn time), but I haven't done it yet.

Also, what Ovion said:

Ovion, on 29 December 2014 - 06:32 AM, said:

If you go back, somewhere in the last few pages (1-3 I think), you'll find a post I did with viable builds.

Your main 2 options are:
Mpl + 4 MGs
ERLL + 2 MGs (plus ERLL cool down 5)

Both with an XL 190

---

That Dawg, on 29 December 2014 - 09:14 AM, said:

LCT-PB...peanut butter...more accurate than Pirate's Bane! yarrrgh

bane, ⁿ. death; destruction; ruin.
pirate- thug/thief villain of the high seas and deep space-notoriously vicious criminal




this is MORE like Truman Capote dressed like Liberace

I am struggling with it.

The speed tweak (or engage vomit comet) now propels me at such speeds neither my aging brain, nor aging computer can keep up with it.
making tons this week on premium and champion/hero mechs, so might buy an XL one or three steps lower just so I can function at speed.
I find I get stuck more on 'things' than other mechs, hung up would be more accurate- not stopped cause I can't get over it.
Couple of times cost me dearly.
And in spite of suggestions, the four ML combo (keeping ECM, or really WHY have it) seems to be the most damage inducing combo. I'd trade all the energy weapons for a 6MG variant, how cool would that be?
Good thing I dropped blakes wad and got small laser cool down, small laser range level 5 modules only to discover that ain't happening.
It may become my conquest mech. I did well in that, did hardly any damage- all in passing about 20-30total, but won two games, last man standing simply cause I could scoot like a flash in the pan

Remove ECM (especially if you have Radar deprivation), try some of the builds that have MPLs in them as well.

However, if you are going Conquest mode, then you need to spend 6 Million C-Bills on a Capture Accelerator (First module I ever bought)

[3xnihilo]

Try harder little locust, you will get them next time.

[jper4]

i have achieved the zen of Pirate's bane today. on HPG manifold, stuck with the big guys for a bit and we picked off a couple mechs including ecm raven. so far so good. up 3-0, then 4-1. i start peeking around corners and getting shot at pinging away merrily as i go before i notice it's now 4-3. go back to the biggest cluster of friendlies while enemy lrm blob is firing away under their ecm. gets up to 7-4 but now lrms taking their toll- i'm still zooming run randomly shooting stuff as i zoom by. now it's 9-6, then 9-7, then 9-8 and i see a dual erppc t-bolt (note the ER part) fighting a friendly and enemy kill the friendly despite my taking off one torso.

no biggie- ppc tbolt is... AAAAAH ERPPC- point blank to the CT there go my MGs but fortunately i kill him soon after so it's 10-9 us. see a hellbringer now shooting the last frienly at 10-10 so like a good lil locust i go down and help out. fortunately the hellbringer is only shooting the friendly. bad news- hellbringer's at 80%. i pew pew away and friendly dies while HB is in the 60% 11-10 them. fortunately for me the HB keeps overheating and can;t quite keep up with the twist so after several overheats on his part i finally kill it with one orange leg, orange head and orange CT. 11-11

last thing left no idea where so wander around until i finally see it- one of the lrm bunch- stalker also around 80%, walking away from me on one of the ramps/bridges. sneak up behind it and get a couple alphas off before he finally can finally target me (stupid narrow ramps). i fall off and now have a red leg, stalker fortunately only has a LL for close defense- ecm takes care of the lrms. go up and down the ramp a couple times and get a vulnerable RT before i fall off (fortunately near the bottom this time so leg stays on) again and circle from the opposite direction back up behind it. light it up again, it backs up against the wall in proper anti-light defense, but leaves a slight angle so i can barely target the RT i shoot it again. in responce he turns his torso the other way now exposng the RT completely. i shoot it and suddenly it blows up when the RT goes- guess he had an xl-with about a minute or so left in the match.

we win 12-11, i got the last three kills for our team- 3 kills 6 assists and 648 dmg. 5900xp which let me clean out my last three basic skills.

also the 1V on our team had 2 kill 7 assists and 450ish points as well to keep with the locust OP theme.

i'd post the screnshot by i don;t have any image hosting type stuff on my relic of a system.

Edited by Tanar, 30 December 2014 - 10:29 AM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

As far as organizing the 24 man Locust bit goes - I live in Alaska (for timezoning) - but I am not going to be available to play on Sundays.