36 replies to this topic

[Mighty Virtus]

Whats up pilots, I was wondering what chassis is a good ballistic weapon-based unit to go with? Im sure peeps will have several opinions, but I'll put it together!

[Davinelulinvega]

Jagermechs and Cataphracts are the obvious choices.

[Revorn]

Jaeger, Cataphract, Battlemaster, ect. there are many of them.

Edited by Revorn, 13 January 2014 - 02:29 PM.

[DEMAX51]

Depends on what you want (i.e. ballistic boat? or a 'Mech with multiple weapon systems that are just more centered around ballistics?), and what type of roll you want to fill (sniper, brawler, support, etc...), but the Shadowhawk, Jager, Cataphract, and Highlander are all good places to start.

Edited by DEMAX51, 13 January 2014 - 02:31 PM.

[Turist0AT]

CTF-4X with 4 AC5 and 200-300 shells. (330 in mine)
ILYA with 3 UAC5 or 3 AC-10

Jägers are too low on tonnage for my (balistic) taste. The rest of the contenders cant carry more than 2 say AC5s

Edited by Turist0AT, 13 January 2014 - 03:12 PM.

[ImperialKnight]

Mighty Virtus, on 13 January 2014 - 02:22 PM, said:

Whats up pilots, I was wondering what chassis is a good ballistic weapon-based unit to go with? Im sure peeps will have several opinions, but I'll put it together!

there is only one ballistic murder machine. the quad AC5 CTF-4X. the Jagermechs come in close behind.

Ilya is nice but it's a Hero so real $$$$

[Mighty Virtus]

Ah, yes, choices I figured! But my role is a quick moving heavy sniper-mech, And maneuverability/jumpjets required with that said, does that narrow things down a bit?

[Op4blushift]

You want a Cataphract 3D.

[Mighty Virtus]

Lemme check that out

[Tag]

Mighty Virtus, on 13 January 2014 - 04:21 PM, said:

Ah, yes, choices I figured! But my role is a quick moving heavy sniper-mech, And maneuverability/jumpjets required with that said, does that narrow things down a bit?

That kinda doesnt exists, atleast not in a balanced configuration. Im running a catapult k2 with dual gauss but to get that you need a smaller engine(i top out at 61kph) and no armor on my "arms" and lowered armor on my legs. I can very easily deal 500+ damage a match and get multiple kills because the damage is concentrated to one area(like a sniper) but im slow and vunerable and if i run out of ammo, im about as useful as a brick wall. To get something with jumpjets and manuverability, your not gonna have the weight to carry "sniper" weapons with any large amount of ammo to run them. If you do want this, your prolly gonna be sporting dual AC2 which is less sniper and more spray and pray

[Mighty Virtus]

That 3D has only 2 hardpoints for ballistic, I need more, might aim more towards Jager-DD, 6 Ballistic hardpoints...no JJ, but I'll have to manage

[Buckminster]

Look at the Shadow Hawks. The -2H has three ballistic points high on the torso - great for taking shots over intervening terrain. It also has jump jets, which is quite nice.

It is a little light at only 55 tons, but is really a great chassis. I've been running my -2D2 as a gauss/4SSRM platform, and it's a great combination of heavy hitter and nimble striker.

[Amsro]

Mighty Virtus, on 13 January 2014 - 04:36 PM, said:

That 3D has only 2 hardpoints for ballistic, I need more, might aim more towards Jager-DD, 6 Ballistic hardpoints...no JJ, but I'll have to manage

Only ballistic you can fill that up with is 6 Machine Guns + your choice of Energy weapons.

Build using Smurphys Mechlab first, then buy what you want.

[DEMAX51]

Mighty Virtus, on 13 January 2014 - 04:36 PM, said:

That 3D has only 2 hardpoints for ballistic, I need more, might aim more towards Jager-DD, 6 Ballistic hardpoints...no JJ, but I'll have to manage

If you want to snipe, you don't need 6 ballistic hardpoints....

The 'Phract-3D with 2 Gauss and 2-3 medium lasers and jumpjets is exactly what you're looking for (the dual Gauss packs a mean punch at 30 points of damage, has great range, the Gauss slugs travel incredibly fast making it an easy weapon to aim, and they generate virtually no heat).

If you're instead thinking about using a Jager with multiple ACs (like some combination of 2s and 5s) you should know a few things...
- The heat on 6 AC2s would be ridiculous, and would not be very viable.
- Sniping with a build like that is difficult, as the 2s and 5s have different projectile velocities.
- You would have to hit with 7-8 AC2 or 3 AC5 shells to equal the damage done by a single Gauss shot (which leaves you exposed to enemy fire for longer, and makes it difficult to put all of the damage onto a single component of an enemy 'Mech)

I'm not saying builds like that are bad - they can be incredibly effective, actually - but they're not ideal snipers. They're better as support 'Mechs firing into the brawl from mid-range.

Edited by DEMAX51, 14 January 2014 - 02:31 PM.

[TercieI]

Mighty Virtus, on 13 January 2014 - 04:36 PM, said:

That 3D has only 2 hardpoints for ballistic, I need more, might aim more towards Jager-DD, 6 Ballistic hardpoints...no JJ, but I'll have to manage

Keep in mind PPCs are basically ballistics in terms of how they behave.

A 2 AC/5 2 PPC CTF-3D can have an XL300 and a JJ or two without making too many sacrifices. IMO, that's as close as you can get to your request. I run it. It rocks. Close behind (though lighter) would be a SHD-2H with 2 AC/5 & a PPC. I run that too. Also rocks.

[Victor Morson]

Mighty Virtus, on 13 January 2014 - 02:22 PM, said:

Whats up pilots, I was wondering what chassis is a good ballistic weapon-based unit to go with? Im sure peeps will have several opinions, but I'll put it together!

While Jagers are pure ballistic, I'd recommend you start out with Cataphracts.

The Cataphract 4X with 4x AC/5 is an extremely powerful setup now, despite it's drawbacks. Likewise, this will start you on your way to mastering the other Cataphracts like the 3D, which are more split between ballistics & energy, but are still very good.

If you're looking for twin AC/20 or twin Gauss, consider a Jag, otherwise I'd definitely go Cataphract for heavies. Shadow Hawks are also exceptional ballistic mediums.

[Menson]

SHD are lighter so they carry less weapons, but are more maneuverable. Most SHD run around 80/85 kph while most CFT run around 65/70 kph. CFT have low mounted ballistic points and high mounted energy points (ppc sniping), while SHD have the opposite: High mounted ballistic points and low mounted energy points. All SHD and make excellent pop-tarts. Only the 3D has JJ for pop-tarting, so to use any of the other CTF to it's maximum efficiency you have to expose more of yourself. Fortunately they have the armor to do this (for a short while).

Do you want speed or firepower?

Edited by Menson, 15 January 2014 - 07:26 AM.

[MechWarrior679696]

If you want a jump-sniper, there's really only the Shadowhawk or Cataphract you can go with. But I would advise you to steer clear of ballistics at almost any cost for that kind of sniping, simply because your ammo loadout is going to be limited enough as it is. If you want a poptart, PPCs are almost mandatory, as being an energy weapon you can just try again when you miss. Yes, technique and skill make one hell of a difference, but somewhere between 25% and 50% wastage of your shots is actually likely, and with weapons like the gauss that's definitely not what I'd call economical. Particularly since the Gauss is such an uneconomical weapon already with regards to tonnage. The only mech you can actually turn into a ballistic poptart with at least a few merits is, as has been mentioned, the CTF-3D. And it's far, far from an optimized build.

To put it simply, there are two traits you're looking for that don't match up; good burst damage and weapon properties, and poptart capabilities. When we put ballistic weapons of any kind on a machine we're sacrificing tonnage and imposing constraints like ammo limits and penalties to user friendliness, all for the sake of better weapon properties. That is, burst and pinpoint damage, better range dropoff, and unique weapon traits such as enhanced fire rates (UAC), crit rates (MG, LB-X) and failsafes (Gauss). And jumpjets are a sacrifice of tonnage and accuracy. Trying to use both at the same time will kind of be like tying one hand behind your back. Then, if you try and impose even more restrictions and compromises to try and make the mech usable in anything but the single clearly defined niche that your main - heavy - weapons are adapted for, and get some turn of speed out of it, and have decent armor, or ammo capacity, etc. you'll end up not just using one hand but putting on the full strait jacket.

If you really want that jumpsniper, and still use ballistics, I'd go with the CTF-3D and put PPCs on for the sniping, then stick a UAC/5, maybe even two, on for the extra DPS and flavor. You've got the tonnage. But I wouldn't even try jumpsniping and using the ballistics at the same time.

[Abivard]

Mighty Virtus, on 13 January 2014 - 04:21 PM, said:

Ah, yes, choices I figured! But my role is a quick moving heavy sniper-mech, And maneuverability/jumpjets required with that said, does that narrow things down a bit?

The Blackjack 1, Is a medium that can fill this role,
high arm mounted ballistics hard points (1 each arm)
JJ, fast, maneuverable, has energy hard-points and room for a couple ML.

Smaller size and speed can make up for having less armor.

Tends to get overlooked when standing by friendly assault and hvys. This means they are not shooting at you.

When weight limits are introduced this mech gets even more attractive.

Requires higher player skill level.

[Solis Obscuri]

If you want to go pure ballistic and play a sniper, Jagermechs are the way to go, hands down. Lots of ballistics slots and high-mounted arm hardpoints make it ideal for the role.

Cataphracts are also good and a bit tankier, and one version has jump jets. Weapon mounts are a bit lower, making it less useful for hill-peeking.

Highlanders are very tanky, jump, and make good snipers, though only one variant (HGN-733C) carries multiple ballistic hardpoints. The weapons are mounted fairly high, which helps it snipe.

On the somewhat lighter end, Shadow Hawks make very good snipers and are very mobile with large engines and jump jets. The gun mounts are high up, letting it shoot over cover easily. Mediums are challenging, but a lot of fun to play.

Blackjacks typically can't carry as many guns as Shadow Hawks, but are much smaller target, making them a very good sniper in the truest sense of the term, as opposed to just being super-heavy direct fire support. They have similar arm set-up to a Jagermech, and most equip jump jets.

The Victor carries a lot of ballistic hardpoints and is delightfully mobile, though I find the low, wide set of the arms makes it less than ideal for sniping over cover - it can work well around cover from the side, though.

The Orion performs somewhat similarly to the Cataphract, but with less ballistic and energy slots and more missiles. If you're interested in diversifying from ballistics to some degree, I'd recommend them highly.