70 replies to this topic

[Darth Futuza]

Nova's seem to work best as a close range sniper, the guy that hangs out with the Atlas and lets the Atlas distract an enemy mech and then pokes his head out and alpha's the enemy mech leaving their torso cored.

[Lily from animove]

Darth Futuza, on 08 October 2014 - 11:50 PM, said:

Nova's seem to work best as a close range sniper, the guy that hangs out with the Atlas and lets the Atlas distract an enemy mech and then pokes his head out and alpha's the enemy mech leaving their torso cored.

If so, this is very much an issue of the opponent not doing it right. Whenever in any situation I face an atlas which is not damaged high enough to be taken down in two strikes and a nova appears, I would start firing at the nova. The Nova is a threat when left unattented, but can easily be scared away with some hits in the CT. It's a glasscannon and with an atlas furfills the typical stanrdard MMORPG party with a tank and a DD. But we aren't stupid NPC mobs. We are able to make any stanrdard MMO group fail because we would focus on the healer and DD first instead of the tank.

[eFTy]

That's why, in a Nova, you need to shoot'n scoot and never stay put.

[Lily from animove]

eFTy, on 09 October 2014 - 12:28 AM, said:

That's why, in a Nova, you need to shoot'n scoot and never stay put.

LOL, with the size of a nova this is not possible. SOmeone who wants to hit you will hit you. If he has some skill and aim.

[eFTy]

It is possible, you just need bigger cover. And he can't aim at you for too long if you're doing it right. Most of the time you should only come out to fire one arm.

[Lily from animove]

eFTy, on 09 October 2014 - 12:42 AM, said:

It is possible, you just need bigger cover. And he can't aim at you for too long if you're doing it right. Most of the time you should only come out to fire one arm.

this is still half of your mech to come out, plenty of time with the nova's size and speed.

[eFTy]

If the enemy is already busy shooting at another target, you will only take superficial damage, if any. If they're idling, waiting for a target, yes, you will get hurt bad. This is where situational awareness (and the camera drone) come in handy.

[Lily from animove]

eFTy, on 09 October 2014 - 12:57 AM, said:

If the enemy is already busy shooting at another target, you will only take superficial damage, if any. If they're idling, waiting for a target, yes, you will get hurt bad. This is where situational awareness (and the camera drone) come in handy.

Well as said its up to your opponent, if he has situational awareness, your camera drone reveals you. and he will have an eye on what is happening around him. But I have to admit a lot players are not vey familiar with situational awareness. Watching them play and how they often react 2s after a enemy mech appears on their screen shows this partially. Thats like when I see my GF playing, she is also kinda "slow" in reacting to stuff happening. Bless the guy who gave the Hinter class a pet able doing all the job xD. And I guess this makes the real difference between a average and a good player, his awareness during a firefight not being focused only on one opponent. Every gamer coming form a decent shooter genre knwos that a single second is a LOT time. and you nova needs a fw of them to pop out shoot and pop back.

[michaelius]

michaelius, on 06 October 2014 - 01:34 PM, said:

Are there any good ideas for Nova-B which actually use that balistic slot arm ?

In the end I took UAC10 + 3 ER ML on nova-S arm - works ok but still pretty pointless compared to prime/S.

I can't wait for stormcrow for cbills to have some fun with clan UAC20 or LBX20

[Lily from animove]

michaelius, on 11 October 2014 - 09:25 AM, said:

In the end I took UAC10 + 3 ER ML on nova-S arm - works ok but still pretty pointless compared to prime/S.

I can't wait for stormcrow for cbills to have some fun with clan UAC20 or LBX20

i have SC with lbx 20 its an epic way for hit and run, and the lbx 20 sound is awesome xD

[LordKnightFandragon]

Gotta say, I have been playing in Smurfy, trying to come up with builds I would feel comfortable taking into battle and on the Nova and Summoner, I just cant lol.

Maybe its just me comparing them to my Warhawk...but the Stormcrow? I have one build I would be ok with taking, but the Nova and Summoner....yikes, dem JJ suck up a few tons I could do something else with. Plus the Nova gets no Missile pods....

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...23e8133b5fe44a4

that is my one attempt at a Nova that improves on the heat eff of the prime. I cant stand packing in those 12 MLs, it simply runs to hot.

4ML and 2 MPL so they can kinda group fire and not get GH...unless that doesnt work and I missed something.



Ive tried to put LL or LPL on the Nova, but 2 lasers? lol.....

Edited by LordKnightFandragon, 17 October 2014 - 12:39 PM.

[Ruccus]

LordKnightFandragon, on 17 October 2014 - 12:36 PM, said:

Gotta say, I have been playing in Smurfy, trying to come up with builds I would feel comfortable taking into battle and on the Nova and Summoner, I just cant lol.

Maybe its just me comparing them to my Warhawk...but the Stormcrow? I have one build I would be ok with taking, but the Nova and Summoner....yikes, dem JJ suck up a few tons I could do something else with. Plus the Nova gets no Missile pods....

With the Nova and Summoner, I'd suggest dropping in the training grounds for the sole purpose of seeing what the mechs can and can't do with their jump jets on each map (River City and Mining Collective are good places to start - lots of levels to jump to/over). You can't remove them, so you've got to learn to use them (though note that according to the October Road Map mechs with multiple JJs are getting a buff soon - a jump you can't quite make now might be doable when the patch drops).

If you know which buildings and ledges and areas you can jump to/over and how far back and what kind of run up you need to get the best jump arc, you can use that mobility and the enemy's assumption of from where you would attack if you didn't have jump jets and get an extra second or two of surprise (which when giving the Nova's 42 point, 6ERML alpha strike could mean the difference in a confrontation). It's satisfying seeing a mech on radar and jumping on to or over a small building to find them staring at the side of the building you would've been coming around if you didn't have jump jets.

[Mech42Ace]

Dale Grible, on 16 September 2014 - 08:59 AM, said:

I PUG that is all

Since the new nerf on clan erml, I have been trying to love the nova but have bashed it over and over again. i am mainly a heavy/assault driver. I have had success in trebuchets but have had to really change tactics with the nova.

The Nova cannot brawl....There might be those who say "yeah but I..." I'll say it again...the nova....cannot...brawl.

So I have a couple of builds for you all to try if you are having problems like me

-S (4 weapons groups) I did forget the ams in the build, my bad
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...19c52fca2b2e2e3

-B (hafta get S variant right arm)
(carry uac5 if ya like)
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f50c300ec1abc7a

Prime (group ml in each arm 3 a piece and alpha all 6 sml)
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...617f840ee50dd36

I like the clan mg, just not on novas. The whole idea behind these builds is alpha and move or to engage at range. i have been having way better match score, survivability, and c-bill grind than with carrying mgs that as soon as I close with any mech i am toast so I ask....why carry mgs....why tempt myself. Stay with a pack, escort the assaults and shoot and scoot

I see the dps or heat efficiency may be sub par but the uncover/alpha technigue has worked well for me.

The one good thing about the nova being a laser boat is that it allows for mutiple weapons groups for chain or group firing of weapons. take the S for example, wpg1: group fire LL, wpg2; group fire ml, wpg3: chain fire ml, wg4: chain fire LL. Manages heat very well with this setup

only pod swap was on the B. S and Prime are stock pod. otherwise, uac10 and 3erml on a B?

Dale Gribble... I swear I've heard that somewhere... Lol small world...

[Macksheen]

As a hater of Novas who just now finished mastering all of them, I was able to reach ... a common ground ... with them.

Maybe I've gotten better ... or maybe the game is a bit different ... but I was frustrated with them when they came out. I struggled ... weak damage, less than a 1.0 K/D, poor win/loss. I stopped after basics and just picked them up last week.

Here's what I ran:

Prime: Built like an S default ... 3 ERML in each arm, 4 MG - TC1.
S: Extra AMS torso, so run 3 ERML in each arm, 2xAMS and 2xMG ... TC1. I'd love to have more MG, but so be it.
B: LPL in arm, LPL in torso, 3xMG, TC 1.

It took a bit, but they each played essentially the same way. I was very ... picky. Big mechs, I ate their torsos. If I could see damage already, I poured it on and faded out once the torso was gone, then looked for another angle. I didn't aim for kills (though I got them), I aimed for disabling legs and torsos. I'm a natural face-hugger, and that's dangerous in the Nova - so I had to be patient and pick my time.

[eFTy]

Huh, I reached the exact opposite conclusion on MGs in the nova - all of them useless. I rarely spend enough time facing the enemy to make good use of them.
I prefer the Prime with 4 ERML in each arm plus as many heat sinks as it can carry.
The S has ER LL & 2x ER sL in each arm, plus all the heat sinks and zoom module.
The B is the one I'm not sure on. I ran it near-stock (UAC5, ERML, 2x MG, ERLL) until I got speed tweak, did ok. Now I switched the left arm for an -S arm, moved the ERLL in the torso, dumped the MGs and a ton of UAC5 ammo (2 tons is enough) and mounted 3x ERML in the left arm. Plays fun, nto sure how effective it is yet...

[Kain Demos]

Has anyone ever tried this--

12 x C-SPL
4 x CMG with 1 ton ammo

I thought about it ever since the pulse laser changes. basically, by swapping the C-ERMLs the prime usually has for the C-SPL (1 ton vs 1 ton) you get 1 less damage and 3 less heat per laser. The downside?

VERY limited range. I added the MGs for when you're cooling off (if necessary) in exchange for two heatsinks. If, and this is a big if, you get close to someone you can just MELT them with this. The problem is the very limited range--some maps you struggle to contribute and it is a very niche build.

[Bigbacon]

had my second 1000 dmg round ever today in a 12SL nova (might be my first actually)

Edited by Bigbacon, 01 December 2014 - 01:10 PM.

[Kain Demos]

How are you running that BigBacon?

Just the 12 C-ERSLs and all heat sinks?

When I setup my prime with the 12 C-SPL/4 x CMG build I considered the C-ERSL instead for additional heat sinks and range but the short duration of the SPL really won me over.

[Bigbacon]

12SL + targeting computer 4 + SL range 5 and then DHS, as many as I can fit which I think is 6 extras.
SL range at this point is 231m

EDIT: screen shot

Edited by Bigbacon, 01 December 2014 - 01:18 PM.

[Kain Demos]

Here's what I'm running:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...e0d46113340a562

The DPS is just bananas and will send pretty much anyone running. The problem is the short range--I have to be aggressive and go in first and the Nova is like paper so typically I go in guns blazing, pop both of my coolshots and do 400-600 damage before I hit the heat cap a third and final time. It is usually a suicide run since I have to get so close......which is why I started thinking about CERSML instead.