42 replies to this topic

[Satan n stuff]

UrsusMorologus, on 04 September 2014 - 02:22 PM, said:

Is there a rule of thumb on minimal armor? I'm adding in the widgets to learn how they work, and had to drop down to LRM-10 already.

Always put max armor on your torso and your head, you can sometimes do with less head armor on fast light mechs but on anything else it's too risky.
If you have arm mounted weapons, those arms will need max armor or as close to it as you can get.
Leg armor is usually the first to go on minmaxed builds, but experienced players do keep it maxed on all fast mechs. Mechs that can take more than 40 or so on each leg can usually afford to lose a bit. You certainly won't need all 5.25 tons of leg armor an Atlas can take.
I personally don't put a lot of armor on the back, usually 3x10 at the most, but that's a calculated risk on my part, if you're getting attacked from behind a lot you'll need more.
I'd say a 25/75 split is the most you might ever want, I know a few players who don't have any rear armor on some of their builds but that is a very bad idea if you're just starting out. I've also seen light mechs with the armor split evenly between front and back, but I'd say that's a bad idea regardless of how good you are as the front usually gets hit a lot more.

[Koniving]

Heh. Truth be told, I'm in a happy place where people aren't aiming for heads so much anymore. You might see it happen from AC/40 Jagers (just don't get near them) and twin Gauss + PPC and twin PPC + Gauss mechs back in the day.

PPCs are very incompatible with Gauss Rifles now, so the headshot thing is just about gone. (Now if there was an enemy slick enough to run twin Gauss + three IS AC/2s or 2 Clan (U)AC/5s... then headshots would come back).

Until then, meh. My head armor tends to run light and I rarely get worse than yellow armor for it... unless I'm in a Clan mech, then I feel like a walking head hitbox.

[LT. HARDCASE]

UrsusMorologus, on 04 September 2014 - 07:33 PM, said:

This is what I've ended up in Orion K

(2) ER-LLs
(1) LRM-10
(1) AC-10

That gives me operating range of 200-900m. I can make enemy ticks move from their positions with LL/LRM combo and still brawl moderately well with the LL/AC combo without overheating on either. Mediums were a bit more effective but this is simpler.

I think I have a handle on things now. Huge thanks for the info.

Also, any other new players, take a look at this guide, it was also very helpful

You have no reason to use BAP, and your mistake is compounded because you've sacrificed a huge amount of CT armor for it. Huuuge mistake.

Drop BAP, max the front CT armor, and use the last ton for more AC10 ammo, which you hould put in the head. Two tons is never enough.

Edited by Kevjack, 05 September 2014 - 08:53 PM.