32 replies to this topic

[Rommel the Desert Fox]

<a href="http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=44&l=c82e0f4158166c295ba91ca3eaaf54f8dbfe0d1d">CTF-4X</a>

Here is my first build. I like the cataphract a lot. I also really love the idea of long range gauss rifles, and a laser to match. My obvious concern is for small, fast light mechs that would seeming tear me apart with not only my charge on GRs, but the general speed of this mech is pretty poor.

<a href="http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=44&l=dd40e64c2efa35dc90338fa3dbe7f5cfbbd7f747">CTF-4X</a>

This is my second build, which I'm sure is more common as it seems alot more competitive. The 4 AC5s with plenty of ammo is nice, and a couple of lasers added don't hurt either. This has better fire rates and everything in that chance that I am getting kited by a smaller mech.

Are either of these good? I want the first GR build to work for me cause it seems like a hard hitting, fun build. Can I get away with it?

[Alaskan Nobody]

Well first off you don't have enough heatsinks, as every mech requires a minimum of 10 (In the lore, to keep the engine from over heating itself or something along those lines)
Secondly - I believe XL engines are recommended for that mech (XL255 as I recall)
Third - Jager's may outdo you with using dual-guass as their higher gun mounts make sniping a lot eaiser (due to needing to expose less of the mech)

Other than that - for all I have no personal experience with the 4X myself, they do not look to bad.

Rommel the Desert Fox, on 08 February 2014 - 03:54 PM, said:

Can I get away with it?

As for this: Yep, esp if you stick close to the assault mechs.
For your quad-5 build, perhaps with two weapon groups, one for each button - one for all 4, the other to chain-fire them (because sometimes it is more useful to keep the opponent staggered)
Or perhaps a left-arm right arm group?

[Malcolm Vordermark]

I think both of these are fine. The trick will be to understand your place in the grand scheme of things. You will be a fire support mech. Follow an assault mech around and make his targets melt. Both builds have good range so no need to get in close where the slower 4x will have a disadvantage.

As for smaller, faster mechs harassing you. Such is the life of a support fire mech. Stay close to your friendlies and concentrate on defending against the harasser. Your friends should chase them off. The natural defense against wolf packs is the herd.

EDIT: Overlooked the missing heat sinks. You'll need to make cuts somewhere to get up to 10 (STD210 engine only comes with 8). Also using bigger XL would be reasonable as you should be keeping enemies at range and that will help mitigate the weaknesses of the XL.

Edited by Rouken, 08 February 2014 - 04:09 PM.

[Watchit]

Sure, dual gauss is a popular loadout. Not as popular as it used to be, but you can get away with it as long as you don't stay by yourself. Just gotta follow an atlas around probably. Though, your dual gauss loadout need's 2 more heatsinks.

something like This. Though, personally I wouldn't use a standard 210 engine, the weigt gain/gain in speed isn't worth it IMO. I'd rather take a standard 245 or 200.

or if you can afford an XL255, something like THIS

[ShadowbaneX]

Try XL255's as suggested above.

CTF-4X Gauss

CTF-4X 4x AC/5

Range is your friend with these builds. You wanna hang back, use Advanced Zoom and just hammer things. Long-range, direct fire support are what these mechs are for, not brawling.

[Malcolm Vordermark]

I also think something like this would be a lot of fun.

CTF-4X

I picked the XL235 because you might have that laying around for a blackjack. Should be able to fit the XL255 if you give up the back up laser.

[Koniving]

Rommel the Desert Fox, on 08 February 2014 - 03:54 PM, said:

Gauss 4X

Here is my first build. I like the cataphract a lot. I also really love the idea of long range gauss rifles, and a laser to match. My obvious concern is for small, fast light mechs that would seeming tear me apart with not only my charge on GRs, but the general speed of this mech is pretty poor.

The first build reminds me of this little party. Three Gauss Rifles (vid). Apparently the favorite quote from it is "Wait, wrong guy!"

I like it but as mentioned before it needs to have ten minimum. For every "25" points of rating there's another heatsink tacked in for free. A 250 to 270 engine comes with 10 already inside. 275 gets you a free space to throw one in. 225 to 245 comes with 9 and requires you to add one to the mech itself to reach the minimum.

Also copy the plain-text links and type the name of something, highlight it and use the paperclip in the MWO forum here to create a nifty link. The code link you used doesn't work on the MWO forum.

This was a simplified version of the build trading the 9 damage ER LL for a set of twin medium lasers to allow for the weight required. Ammo was moved to help cushion the Gauss Rifles which are volatile. There's slight armor reallocation as well.

Rommel the Desert Fox, on 08 February 2014 - 03:54 PM, said:

4 AC/5 CTF-4X

This is my second build, which I'm sure is more common as it seems alot more competitive. The 4 AC5s with plenty of ammo is nice, and a couple of lasers added don't hurt either. This has better fire rates and everything in that chance that I am getting kited by a smaller mech.

These guys already gave you feedback on it. It had the same heatsink issue though. But if an XL engine isn't within your price range, here's something you can use now that will keep your issues under control.

CTF-4X Std255 2* AC/5, 2*MG, 1* ER LL, 1* Streak + Bap. Super cold. ER LL's for in case if you lose your arms (or fun). Streak and MGs, tie them together for anti-light fun; keep the "o" on the enemy and watch it die. Don't spend your AC/5 ammo on lights unless it's a perfect shot. Line up the "o" and the "+" and you can bring that ER LL to fruit on them too. Then you have the cannons for the big boys.

Currently I run this:
UAC/5 + 3 MG + 2 MPL + Streak CTF 4X. As you can see, I'm obsessive with running as cold as possible.

And because vanity...

Spoiler

My 4X.


My Muromets


My 1X


My 2X

Notice what I don't have? A CTF 3D.

(How does the not and now typo swap-thingy even happen?)

Edited by Koniving, 08 February 2014 - 07:51 PM.

[Koniving]

Rouken, on 08 February 2014 - 04:24 PM, said:

I also think something like this would be a lot of fun.

CTF-4X

I picked the XL235 because you might have that laying around for a blackjack. Should be able to fit the XL255 if you give up the back up laser.

Short lived but definitely loads of fun. My very first build was twin UAC/5 and AC/2s when the UAC/5 was given its first manual automatic unjam. It'd kill Atlases in 7 seconds at point blank. It'd kill itself (as 101% heat was instant death back then) within 8.

(Had mixed explanations given to me. Some claimed at 80% heat and up ammo and heatsinks and weapons started taking damage, leading to an explosion. But it always happened just a second after hitting 100% heat with the old threshold pilot skill buff which back then only raised the shutdown range.)

Edited by Koniving, 08 February 2014 - 08:07 PM.

[Rommel the Desert Fox]

Just lol'd @ whoops wrong guy in vid

thanks everyone for input

[JC Daxion]

My budget 4x bulid.....

Dual AC-10's (i think 2 tons), Dual Machine guns (1 ton), and a pair of ML's, with a STD 250, and double heat sinks.. Put the rest of the wieght in armor


It really hit's hard,,, the machine guns work pretty good on lights, and mechs with out armor, and the ML's for pin-point hits, and leg sweep...


one day i will save the money for an XL255, or put in endo and change it up a little, but for right now... it is a very nice build, and very cheap to make from the stock 4x.

besides that 250STD, works great in a bunch of mechs, so totally worth it




this following mech is not a bad idea,, But for me the one LL, just didnt work for me... and to me, you really need dual streaks to make it worth the BAP weight... But this is coming from an obsessed light mech hunter.. which is something i find that totally sucks in the cataphract..

CTF-4X Std255 2* AC/5, 2*MG, 1* ER LL, 1* Streak + Bap[color=#959595]. Super cold. ER LL's for in case if you lose your arms (or fun). Streak and MGs, tie them together for anti-light fun; keep the "o" on the enemy and watch it die. Don't spend your AC/5 ammo on lights unless it's a perfect shot. Line up the "o" and the "+" and you can bring that ER LL to fruit on them too. Then you have the cannons for the big boys[/color][color=#959595]this is [/color]

Edited by JC Daxion, 08 February 2014 - 08:31 PM.

[ShadowbaneX]

Dual LB-10/X CTF-4X

[IraqiWalker]

OP if you want I would love to dedicate some time to customize some builds for you, and your playstyle.

[Modo44]

ShadowbaneX, on 08 February 2014 - 09:23 PM, said:

Dual LB-10/X CTF-4X

Just don't. Unless playing vs novices who do not shield/take cover, the shotgun is only good for making people laugh. Doubly so on such a slow mech.

Edited by Modo44, 08 February 2014 - 11:08 PM.

[ShadowbaneX]

Modo44, on 08 February 2014 - 11:08 PM, said:

Just don't. Unless playing vs novices who do not shield/take cover, the shotgun is only good for making people laugh. Doubly so on such a slow mech.

Or you can hang back, let the others engage for a bit and then, once the armour gets stripped off, wade in and waste things and steal kills. It's not my favourite 4X build (those are above), but it can be fun every now and then.

[Rommel the Desert Fox]

shadowbanex did you play the game called shadowbane?!

Iraqi, add me in game, thanks!

[Void Angel]

Koniving, on 08 February 2014 - 07:49 PM, said:

(How does the not and now typo swap-thingy even happen?)

Dental myslexia. I'll bet you're thinking out what you type in your head as you go - that's what I do. So you'll sometimes get homonyms slipping past your internal spell checker since you're typing what you're thinking, and you don't actually think in printed words. =)

[Modo44]

ShadowbaneX, on 08 February 2014 - 11:16 PM, said:

Or you can hang back, let the others engage for a bit and then, once the armour gets stripped off,

This is the main issue with the dual/triple shotgun builds. You are depriving your team of the very ability you rely on -- stripping armor at range. It only works if your team is so good, you are only needed for cleanup. Take a quad MG Spider -- it will be just as effective while not wasting upwards of 40 tons. Better still, take 4xMG with 1 ton of ammo on a Jager DD. It will give you that finishing touch with actual main weapons.

Edited by Modo44, 08 February 2014 - 11:38 PM.

[Void Angel]

Modo44, on 08 February 2014 - 11:08 PM, said:

Just don't. Unless playing vs novices who do not shield/take cover, the shotgun is only good for making people laugh. Doubly so on such a slow mech.

I've used LB-10Xs on a number of my builds with good results - but not on a 4X. That chassis is simply too fragile, and the variant too slow, to use LB-10Xs effectively. I also strongly advise against using the weapon system as your primary damage source in most 'mechs.

[ShadowbaneX]

Rommel the Desert Fox, on 08 February 2014 - 11:22 PM, said:

shadowbanex did you play the game called shadowbane?!

Nope. Had this alias for like 6 years before that game came out.

Modo44, on 08 February 2014 - 11:34 PM, said:

This is the main issue with the dual/triple shotgun builds. You are depriving your team of the very ability you rely on -- stripping armor at range. It only works if your team is so good, you are only needed for cleanup. Take a quad MG Spider -- it will be just as effective while not wasting upwards of 40 tons. Better still, take 4xMG with 1 ton of ammo on a Jager DD. It will give you that finishing touch with actual main weapons.

Well, it can strip armour off of lighter mechs, and yeah, some times, it's not all that effective, but other times it's just fun.

[Duncan Longwood]

I like running dual LBX's with dual PPC's on my Ilya. The PPC's in the torso are up high and give you the punch that you need to put the shotguns to use. As a bonus, it is a weapon load-out that is only do-able on the Ilya or an Atlas.

Edited by Duncan Longwood, 08 February 2014 - 11:59 PM.