22 replies to this topic

[Rampancy]

Seriously, this thing is a wanton beast of destruction. If you wanted to do Clan vs. IS 5v12 Stock Mech Mondays, you could probably field 3 Nova Primes and leave the other two spots AFK.

84 damage "alpha" at 450 meters, poking force of 42 damage when in need of cover. You are a ranged component-stripping machine. Each arm possesses an unholy firestorm of yellow doom. Up to 18 lasers can be fired within a ~7 second period without shutdown.

I think I'm in love. I played around with all sorts of small laser mixes etc. before coming back home to Mama Stock.

Give this thing a whirl. Double basics recommended. YMMV.

[Mcgral18]

Well, you can't really call it an alpha.

If you alpha, you boom.

But yes, lot's of small and Med lasers cut things down fast up close.

[Rampancy]

Hence alpha in quotes

[El Bandito]

I really don't like to say Alpha about DoT weapons, but I suppose if you catch someone's rear while he is standing still, then good for you.

[FupDup]

It packs a wallop for sure, but having to be exposed during beam durations can be an issue depending on how many enemies have line of sight to you. Also, the low mounted arms mean that you have to expose more of your robot to fire (corner peeking sort of works, but the Nova is fairly wide and thus still liable to getting hit anyways).

[MonkeyCheese]

El Bandito, on 14 July 2014 - 09:00 PM, said:

I really don't like to say Alpha about DoT weapons, but I suppose if you catch someone's rear while he is standing still, then good for you.

That happens a lot if you have the speed to sneak around the enemy

[Mercules]

Also, the fact that dumping Alphas will shut you down and turn your CT yellow even without the enemy hitting you.... means it is probably not a great go to mech for newish players.

[process]

Stormcrow Prime > Nova Prime.

[Rampancy]

process, on 14 July 2014 - 09:15 PM, said:

Stormcrow Prime > Nova Prime.

Nova outclasses it hard in raw firepower, not even close. Mobility advantage would be a push due to speed vs. jumpjets tradeoff

FupDup, on 14 July 2014 - 09:07 PM, said:

It packs a wallop for sure, but having to be exposed during beam durations can be an issue depending on how many enemies have line of sight to you. Also, the low mounted arms mean that you have to expose more of your robot to fire (corner peeking sort of works, but the Nova is fairly wide and thus still liable to getting hit anyways).

If you're smart about the peeking you should be able to trade ~42 damage for whatever they hit you back with every time. Just gotta be aware of enemy movements.

[627]

Try to drop 6 ML and fill with heatsinks. If you are after dps you will actually make more damage because of better heat. sure, you can fire 3x with 6 Lasers but that takes forever to cool down and you're a sitting duck in that time.

[Scratx]

The Nova Prime has one big drawback, though. Unskilled, that's 2 arms fired and you're at ~90% heat. With basics, that's around ~75%, I think.

That means you have a huge punch, but then you're mostly out of the fight until you cool off. YMMV on whether this is a good play-style for you.

For newbies, I do not recommend. For people who aren't complete newbies and have a clue how to manage heat (hint: don't keep all your firing buttons constantly pressed), it's a good mech. Heck, it teaches fire discipline and making each shot count... because you get 2 shots before you have to back off and cool down!

[Rampancy]

627, on 14 July 2014 - 09:32 PM, said:

Try to drop 6 ML and fill with heatsinks. If you are after dps you will actually make more damage because of better heat. sure, you can fire 3x with 6 Lasers but that takes forever to cool down and you're a sitting duck in that time.

I actually don't like the Nova as a DPS mech, that's sort of square peg round hole despite the hardpoint count. Too broad of a mech for DPS brawling, much better for unload-and-retreat.

[627]

RampancyTW, on 14 July 2014 - 09:51 PM, said:

I actually don't like the Nova as a DPS mech, that's sort of square peg round hole despite the hardpoint count. Too broad of a mech for DPS brawling, much better for unload-and-retreat.

Oh I didn't men to brawl in that thing, way to squishy for that. But you still have to get into 450m to do full damage and you have jumpjets. With 12 ML you can do one big hit and have to hide forever while with only 6 you still hit hard but can do this more often. Fire, reposition, fire and so on without a cooldown phase.

On top of that, with the B (or S? not sure) arms with only 3 E-hardpoints you don't get those negative quirks from the prime.

[Rampancy]

627, on 14 July 2014 - 10:02 PM, said:

Oh I didn't men to brawl in that thing, way to squishy for that. But you still have to get into 450m to do full damage and you have jumpjets. With 12 ML you can do one big hit and have to hide forever while with only 6 you still hit hard but can do this more often. Fire, reposition, fire and so on without a cooldown phase.

On top of that, with the B (or S? not sure) arms with only 3 E-hardpoints you don't get those negative quirks from the prime.

The really advantageous part about stock prime is that if you can line up one arm you can pump 42 damage out no problem. Good for peeking either side. It also means you're near-full combat effectiveness even if you lose a side.

[MonkeyCheese]

So I got a nova today but I didnt like the heat of the stock so I slapped 12 small lasers on it instead, found a raven behind my teams assaults shooting it in the back, so I alphaed the raven in the back with the 12 ersmalls which only do like 48 damage and I still got bitched at for using a pay to win clan mech... so yeah

But still a brutal mech for the solo queue =D gonna be kinda insane when they finally come out for cbills.

[Bigbacon]

MonkeyCheese, on 15 July 2014 - 12:20 AM, said:

So I got a nova today but I didnt like the heat of the stock so I slapped 12 small lasers on it instead, found a raven behind my teams assaults shooting it in the back, so I alphaed the raven in the back with the 12 ersmalls which only do like 48 damage and I still got bitched at for using a pay to win clan mech... so yeah

But still a brutal mech for the solo queue =D gonna be kinda insane when they finally come out for cbills.

this to me is still the way to go with the 12SLs (i pack 1 ML RT for 'backup')

stick with folks and punch people where it hurts when they try to make a move. component destruction galore is usually what follows. only down side is if you get players that actually think a bit and target specific areas. the arms are big and exposed.

[Mechteric]

5v12? Has anyone ever actually won as clans being that outnumbered in this game? I have to highly doubt that no matter how bad the stock IS mechs can be.

[CDLord HHGD]

El Bandito, on 14 July 2014 - 09:00 PM, said:

I really don't like to say Alpha about DoT weapons, but I suppose if you catch someone's rear while he is standing still, then good for you.

It is applicable in the Lore, when a pilot fires all their weapons in one tick, FLD, DoT, whatever.
Alpha Strike

[Shae Starfyre]

For DPS, I have been using a CUAC5, 4 MG, and 3 CSMPL; a little peck at distance for cover fire, but when the brawl happens, and the big nasties are being focused, I just let it all rip and it strips fast and can be maintained for a long time even on the hotests maps.

It's interesting when the CUAC5 is sync'd upclose with the MG; it's like continuous tinking with intermingled thuds and a little wub, wub, wub; and the cycle time is good (no need to double tap unless in a pinch).

Situational, though, build.

Edited by Aphoticus, 15 July 2014 - 05:26 AM.

[Sephlock]

MonkeyCheese, on 14 July 2014 - 09:13 PM, said:

That happens a lot if you have the speed to sneak around the enemy

You know what else happens "a lot" in that situation?

You run headlong into 1 or more enemies that are at least as fast as you, and are doomed. You are now far, far away from any support, you can't run, you're probably outnumbered, and the enemy may not have anything else to shoot at.

It's a roll of the dice.

Also.

Quote

Nova Prime

Quote

alpha strike