24 replies to this topic

[opcow]

So, I've been grinding my way through the centurion chassis (Elite now, w00t) and I've been working on the CN9-D and I've found the loadout that works most consistantly for me is dual AC/2 and the torso mLas and a bunch of SRM. I've been running around, poking away in the early game, then taking pot shots in between hitting and fading when the battle is joined.

When it comes time to move onto another chassis I was looking at the Blackjack (so I have a jump on that master slot). Or the Catapult (so I have some boating options as I grind as well). I know that the Spider, Raven, and Jagermech can fulfill the sniper roles as well. In addition, I think I'm going to replace my CN9-AL's ERLL with a PPC while I finish out that grind.

So does any one have any input for an aspiring mobile sniper? Anything I'm missing? Any preferences?

[Garegaupa]

From the 'Mechs you mention I only have experience with the Jagermech and the Catapult. Both of these have the potential to be a decent sniper chassis. Also, both can mount their sniper weapons very high on the chassis, making sniping from behind partial cover much easier than with a 'Mech such as the Cataphract.

The CPLT-K2 can mount both ballistics like gauss rifles and energy weapons like PPCs for good sniping possibilities (you can even put in two gauss rifles to make the (in)famous Gausscat). The Catapult chassis is very XL engine friendly, so you can put a big XL engine in there for great mobility. The CPLT-K2 is the only Catapult without jump jets, however, so if those are important to you it would probably be better to choose another Catapult model. The Jester makes a decent PPC sniper, in my opinion.

As for the Jagermech, those also have great sniping possibilities - mainly with ballistics, but the Firebrand is the exception here and should do well with PPCs. Also relatively XL friendly, but no Jagermech has jump jets.

It basically boils down to personal preference, but I can personally highly recommend both of these!

Edited by Garegaupa, 18 April 2014 - 08:43 AM.

[luigi256]

For a mobile sniper what comes to my mind is the Cicada 3M. You can have two PPC an XL 300 engine and ecm so you can stay hidden from the enemies sensors. The only downside I have for it is that it does not have jump jets.

[Redshift2k5]

Every mech can be a sniper, so you want to look at other factors such as speed, armor, height of weapon mount, and budget.

You have a good start on mediums, so I'd look at the Shadowhawks (with their very high mounted shoulder ballistic weapons) or of course for a somewhat slower mech, a Jager or Ctaphract

[TheCaptainJZ]

Any of the mechs you named can work in a sniper role. Since no one has touched on the Blackjacks yet, I will. I have found them to be very agile little mechs. They don't have a lot of armor, but are quick enough (with an upgraded engine) that you can take cover. Some models have jump jets, some don't. They also don't tend to draw as much attention as, say, a Jagermech so they might live longer. Tonnage would be the most limited with a big ballistic such as a guass rifle. I haven't used guass rifles much since they got the recharge mechanic.

[Mechteric]

SHD-2D (only available for MC now, available for CBills next tuesday I think)
2 ERLL
1 ERPPC
88/97kph
2 Jump Jets

Edited by CapperDeluxe, 18 April 2014 - 09:00 AM.

[Greyrook]

Just to add to cacophony of differing advice, I've been a longtime fan of sniping and particularly the catapult chassis. The decision seems like it's going to come down to whether you can take advantage of high-mounted arms (as opposed to the standard arms) and jumpjets. I would personally suggest the Blackjack as it is a cheaper mech with lots of options; you can try out PPC sniping which it can do pretty much to the same effectiveness as a dual PPC cat, just with a couple less heatsinks, has the same high-mounted arms for both ballistic and energy slots on the BJ-1 (my personal favorite) -and- jumpjet capabilities which I find essential for effective sniping. However I cut my teeth personally on the K2, and it's still a decent sniping platform.

[-Natural Selection-]

From a moving ya way up standpoint I would say go Jaggers (not saying bigger is better at all!). You can get the most variety of builds from the one platform. I always have a spot for cats because was my fav heavy before jaggers though. Jaggers have high mounts, can move fairly quick, and basicly what you see you can hit. Great ballistic, energy, and lrms builds can be done with the one variant. I own damn near all the mechs in game and the low wide armed ones make no sence and you can wear them out easily via a small hill.

As far as lights, they are my favorite and run them the most. But they work allot better once you get an understanding of what drops different mech builds the fastest or you use as a support for friends.


**and like greyrook said, my fav is the k-2 gauss cat. You can do the same build on the jagger but weapons are in arms vs side torso. The benefit of the k2 is you can drop some armor in unused arms to get extra ton of ammo over jagger. Plus you can use the unused arms to shield some damage for longer survivability from weapon explosions. Drawback is you loose the range of movement from the arm mounted jagger.

Edited by Dozier, 18 April 2014 - 10:24 AM.

[Modo44]

Many mechs can be used as snipers. I would divide the possibilities into 3 categories:

• Lights -- 2xERLL is your friend; big engine (130+kph), JJs, and/or ECM highly recommended
  
• Mediums -- 2xPPC is your friend; JJs mandatory, big engine (90+kph) preferable
  
• Heavies -- 2xGauss; only a few can do it, you want those (Jagermech best by far)

Pick depending on which speed/firepower ratio you prefer.

Notice no assaults. Putting that kind of armor in the back of your team makes your squishier friends die too fast. There are long-range assault builds, but all of them need to be tanking while shooting, not just shooting. They can not afford to be easily killable by a facehugger.

Edited by Modo44, 18 April 2014 - 10:30 AM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

opcow, on 18 April 2014 - 08:23 AM, said:

So does any one have any input for an aspiring mobile sniper? Anything I'm missing? Any preferences?

Try a gauss in the arm - bit trickier to use than the AC2 - but better range (now anyways) more damage per shot - and faster bullet time (which does a lot to counter the charge mechanic )

Other than that - Jagers tend to make good firesupport - and their high weapon mounts make for good hill-humping.

Just keep mobile or youll find yourself swarmed.

[Koniving]

opcow, on 18 April 2014 - 08:23 AM, said:

When it comes time to move onto another chassis I was looking at the Blackjack (so I have a jump on that master slot). Or the Catapult (so I have some boating options as I grind as well). I know that the Spider, Raven, and Jagermech can fulfill the sniper roles as well. In addition, I think I'm going to replace my CN9-AL's ERLL with a PPC while I finish out that grind.

So does any one have any input for an aspiring mobile sniper? Anything I'm missing? Any preferences?

Based on your Criteria, the closest mechs to your experience are the Hunchback series (specifically Grid Iron and 4G) and the Shadowhawk. Very similar speed and performance. Yen Lo Wang if it is still on sale can also give you another twin AC/2 build if you are interested in finishing the Centurions with it instead.

Blackjacks, 2 of them can pull it off. Jagermech (all of them) and Catapult K2 can do it. Cataphracts 3D and 4X can do it, but the 4X is slow.

Any higher in tonnage and mobility degrades significantly.

Spiders, Firestarters, and Ravens 4X and Huginn can all do this (two AC/2s).

I suppose it depends on what looks most promising and what you have for XL engines.

[Takashi Uchida]

I've tried the Shadowhawk-5M with a Gauss rifle in the shoulder and two ERLL. It's a bit different, but it's playable and can go around 90 kph. You could also try poptart weapons (AC5/PPC with jump jets) in the Shadowhawks.

You can turn most lights into ERLL/ERPPC pokers, but the Raven-3L and Cicada-3M ("honorary light") may be the best choice if you want to do that, as they have ECM (no jump jets tho, you'll need to be wary of other lights when doing those kinds of builds) and are heavy enough to balance speed and firepower.

Victors can get pretty fast if you put a big enough engine in them and are great for AC5/PPC builds. Though you may find the turn/twist and arm speed to be sluggish.

Edited by Takashi Uchida, 18 April 2014 - 03:28 PM.

[Rear Admiral Tier 6]

Old metabucket

this

[opcow]

Thanks for the help folks. Luckily I have a few more cbills to accumulate before I make my decision. Definitly considering that Shadowhawk now, It looks good, no wonder I see so many of them. So yeah, I'll be going BJ, CAT, or SHD.

Stuck a gauss on my CN9-D (That thing is hard to use) but still performing almost as well as I was with the AC/2s. Guess I don't have to hit that much stuff when I do so much damage.

[Takashi Uchida]

opcow, on 19 April 2014 - 08:37 AM, said:

Thanks for the help folks. Luckily I have a few more cbills to accumulate before I make my decision. Definitly considering that Shadowhawk now, It looks good, no wonder I see so many of them. So yeah, I'll be going BJ, CAT, or SHD.

Stuck a gauss on my CN9-D (That thing is hard to use) but still performing almost as well as I was with the AC/2s. Guess I don't have to hit that much stuff when I do so much damage.

The danger of the Gauss on the Centurion is that a lot of players will be specifically aiming for your gun arm (people do that when fighting Centurions in general). You have to be very vigilant about twisting to protect it. As you know, Gauss rifles have a tendency to blow up when hit (similar to ammo explosions). Due to the explosion damage transferring into your torso, this can leave your mech severely crippled or even dead depending on the circumstances. You can slightly decrease the chance of your Gauss being critted by filling up the remaining spaces in the arm with Gauss ammo (they don't explode like other ammo) or heat sinks.

So, you'll generally want the Gauss in a more heavily armored part (like a torso, or a heavier mech's arm) or a harder to hit part (ie. Jagermech arms). The Centurion just isn't a very optimal chassis to use a Gauss rifle. If you enjoy this weapon and want some decent speed, go with the Shadowhawk. If you specifically like the weapon enough to want to commit to it fully, there are a few chassis that can mount two. Unfortunately, these are heavier mechs and are not as fast

Jagermech (all models): High arms good for sniping. Arms are tiny and more difficult to hit. The downside is you'll need to use an XL for it to be practical and the side torsos of this mech are very easy to hit. Very high risk/high reward.

Cataphract 3D: You can put a Gauss in the right arm and the right torso. This model is the most popular Cataphract and has the ability to mount jump jets. The disadvantage is that the right arm is very low slung and you might find yourself shooting a lot of dirt when on hilly terrain. Jump jets and Gauss rifles are a bit hard to coordinate due to the charge mechanic. If you are willing to compromise on range, you can also run this mech with a 2xPPC 2xAC5 build. The Victor is better at doing this, but it's still a very effective platform for jump-sniping. Be prepared to be called names if you take on this playstyle.

Cataphract Ilya Muromets: Similar to the 3D but has another ballistic hardpoint in the left arm. Triple Gauss rifles are actually possible, but you'll be sacrificing a lot of speed and/or armor for the ultimate glass cannon. This mech costs real money but will also give you more cbills when you use it. You can basically run the same 2xGauss + backup lasers as you did on the 3D. No jump jets, tho.

Catapult-K2: See Dozier's post

[Alaskan Nobody]

Takashi Uchida, on 19 April 2014 - 07:11 PM, said:

The Centurion just isn't a very optimal chassis to use a Gauss rifle.

I would argue against that part (and the Shadowhawk, but that would be my dislike of the chassis)



Otherwise I agree with it all.

[Takashi Uchida]

Shar Wolf, on 19 April 2014 - 07:19 PM, said:

I would argue against that part (and the Shadowhawk, but that would be my dislike of the chassis)



Otherwise I agree with it all.

I think I just suck at Centurions lol.

I did some poking around and came across a discussion on the Gauss builds in the Blackjack. May be worth a look.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Takashi Uchida, on 19 April 2014 - 07:27 PM, said:

I think I just suck at Centurions lol.

It is interesting how some people I talk to are better with Hunchback than Centurion, while others are.. well... the other way around.

Could be you need more practice, or it could be that that little difference is throwing you too far off... or something else entirely.

Nothing in the world is truly "one size fits all" after all.

Takashi Uchida, on 19 April 2014 - 07:28 PM, said:

I did some poking around and came across a discussion on the Gauss builds in the Blackjack. May be worth a look.

Similar tonnage profile to the AC/20 (heavier gun - more ammo per-ton) so it should work about the same - just at different ranges.
I may have to try it when I get to BJs

[luxebo]

I tried Gauss on the Hunchies and Centurions, and I dislike Gauss on either of them because of the explosion. Centurions once they lose their arm (if they had Gauss) will likely lose the ability to zombie due to losing the torso nearby. Hunchbacks will also end with heavily damaged torsos, and it's due to the explosion. I've seen it be properly used however, so it's likely just myself.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Lost my arm on my Yenlo-wannabe a few times - never lost the side torso though