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[1453 R]

Mad Dog (Vulture, Hagetaka [“Vulture”])
Tonnage: 60 (Heavy-class)
Structure: Standard (actually semi-advantageous, though obviously we wish it had flipped the other way around)
Armor: Ferro-Fibrous (8.5t by default)
Engine: 300XL (81kph base, 89kph w/Tweak)
Jump Capacity: --
ECM Capacity: --
Heat Sinks: 12 Double (all engine-mounted)
Pod Space: 28 tons

Solaris 7's page on the 'Mech, complete with full CS allocation lists: http://www.solaris7....Info.asp?ID=593

With 28 tons of pod space by default (less two-odd tons for optimizing armor, as with many Clan ‘Mechs’ default configurations), the Mad Dog has plenty of room for mayhem most foul. The Ferro-Fibrous armor crits are distributed in a surprisingly beneficial manner: the head and each arm bears one FF slot, while each side torso gets two. This leaves the CT and both legs free for equipping DHS or socking ammo, which most Clan ‘Mechs don’t get to do

I’m going to skip the usual variant breakdown and go right to the meat of why I will (hopefully) be piloting the hell out of this thing in a week’s time, and why you will all be terrified of me and everyone else riding one of these things. And that would be the SplatDog.

MDG-PRIME(I) “SplatDog”

Prime base chassis, A-variant side torsos.

Right Torso: 3x C-SRM-6 w/3t C-SRM-6 ammo, 1x DHS (8.5t, 8c)
Left Torso: 3x C-SRM-6 w/3t C-SRM-6 ammo, 1x DHS (8.5t, 8c. 17t running total)
Left Arm: Elbow, 2x C-ERML, 2x DHS (4t, 7c. 21t running total)
Right Arm: Elbow, 2x C-ERML, 2x DHS (4t, 7c. 25t running total)
Center Torso: 1x DHS (1t, 2c. 26t running total. Potential trade for an Active Probe as warranted)
+2t armor (2t. 28t running total)

Now that we’ve laid it out, let’s analyze it.

We have 19 total DHS; 7 external, 12 fixed to the engine, which may (testing pending) allow us to get away with the traditional 1-button-six-launcher SPLAT once in a great while, if it’s needed to tear down something angry. It will most certainly be enough to allow the SplatDog to rapidly cool off and make hefty use of its armament even on hot maps. The SplatDog is also much more difficult to disarm than the traditional SplatCat; the Splat portion of the armament is nestled in much less obnoxiously shootable side torsos as opposed to giant boxy arms. A quartet of arm-mounted lasers gives us targeted firepower for slicing off wounded components without having to commit more SRM salvos to the job, which was a failing of the original SplatCat. The lasers also give us options out to 800 meters, with reasonably comfortable damage capability out to roughly 600 or so meters, alleviating the SplatCat’s traditional 270-meter hardwall limit. The nimbleness of the arm-mounted beams also give us a great dueling tool, though we do lose out on the CPLT-A1 SplatCat’s jump-assisted maneuverability.

In totality…this is going to be one of the most terrifying city fighters and ambush predators in the game. Even the almighty King Crab will have to be wary of turning corners and finding itself pinchers-to-muzzle with a SplatDog’s one hundred points of single-salvo damage output. A single cycle of all the SplatDog’s available launchers and lasers will cripple or outright eliminate any target caught by it, and while Ghost Heat and innately hotter Clan weaponry prevents a true alpha strike, the SplatDog wins the five-second DPS race without any real contest against pretty much anything else ever. And unlike the SplatCat, the SplatDog is a relatively sturdy delivery system for its weapons – short of killing it completely, it will generally have at least something left to shoot you with, and while 60-tonner armor isn’t exactly an unbreakable wall of metal, it’s not a cardboard standee, either.

This is the Mad Dog’s real niche amongst the Clan heavy ‘Mech selections – the Timber Wolf has its legendary versatility and 75-tonner sturdiness, the Hellbringer’s ECM gives it an edge, the Summoner…is a thing…and the Mad Dog (potentially) outclasses virtually everything else on the field in raw close-quarters devastation. Dependent, of course, on Piranha giving us the A-variant omnipods, which an examination of the available timeline variants makes me think is pretty inevitable.

We have the Prime, A, B, and C variants available at the moment with equipment that exists right now. If we had ATMs, HAGs, and heavy lasers…I’d squee. But we don’t, so we’ve got those four variants, three of which are making it in. And Piranha specifically stated that ‘Mechs like the Nova-D, with only two hardpoints, aren’t likely to be released as official variants, since two-hardpoint ‘Mechs are boring and severely limit creative freedom (see Summoner), so that leaves the Mad Dog C out. Which gives us the Prime, the A, and the B (and possibly the C right arm, so that people can make a ghetto C variant with that RA pod and the A-variant LA), a mix which actually gives us a respectable selection of energy and missile hardpoints as well as a single ballistic for heavy gunnery on the A.

Now there is one consideration, of course. Piranha is not staffed solely by blithering dunderheads. They can run the numbers as easily as I can and see that the A-variant side torsos provide options for a truly stupid number of SRM launchers, which in turn provides the preposterous close-quarters dominance I’ve spent two pages lauding by now. Anyone who sees this and doesn’t expect the A-variant side torsos to get quirk-slapped halfway to oblivion is too dumb to live.

Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised to see 15% missile cooldown penalty per A side torso, for a total of 30% increased cooldown times, as well as maneuverability cuts and possibly even armor or structure penalties. The latter seems especially likely to me – an omnipod overstuffed with hardpoints the way the A-variant STs are would make an easy case for being more fragile and easier to damage/destroy than a single-hardpoint omnipod. Something like a 10% negative damage reduction quirk (i.e. 10% more damage taken from all sources) would force some extra caution on SplatDog pilots, and allow enemies to partially redress the firepower imbalance against a SplatDog without ruining the ‘Mech’s effectiveness as a striker or ambush predator. Combined with steep missile cooldown penalties, it would simply force the SplatDog to move on more often than it otherwise might, as its decreased DPS over time and increased vulnerability to enemy fire would make it much more susceptible to being worn down over an extended engagement. Which fits nicely into line with how Piranha seems to want the Clan/IS divide to work.

So! What do you guys think? Am I on about the right track here, or am I out of my gourd? Lemme know what you think, what your upcoming Mad Dog fits are going to look like, and what sort of quirks you’re hoping for/dreading. Let’s have some fun before the thing goes live!

[1453 R]

Totes nailed it, variant-wise.

Come next Tuesday, we are ON, MWO playerbase! Come and let me Splat all over you

[Kitty Bacon]

1453 R, on 17 September 2014 - 03:50 PM, said:

Totes nailed it, variant-wise.

Come next Tuesday, we are ON, MWO playerbase! Come and let me Splat all over you

Sounds hot. But you are missing the potential of it being a long range missile mech too. The Mad Dog has the flexibility to do most anything a Timby can do, cept it can use 6 Missiles over 4 xD Plus the Mad Dog has the benefit of that very narrow torso. Its going to be a nightmare to hit those side torsos accurately.

[Alaric Hasek]

If you put Prime or -B arms on an -A, you can get 6 LRM 15s, 5 ERML, and maybe 8 tons of LRM ammo in there (if my math is good).
That should be fun.

[1453 R]

True, but a 6x C-LRM-5 fit (the most efficient LRM delivery system the Mad Dog can pull off, largely bypassing the streamfire limitations of Clan LRMs) doesn't really have half the battlefield impact something like a SplatDog here would have. Sure, you can do LRM-5 chainfire spam and aggravate the hell out of people or gang-fire them for surprising accuracy and AMS penetration, but in the end you're still using six hardpoints on what amounts to a pair of LRM-15s. I would think the best way of running Lurms on the Mad Dog will be to stick to the prime variant's set-up, dodging whatever horrific quirk penalties the A side torsos inflict and still have enough Lurmage to suppress targets.

As for crap like six LRM-15...yeah, that doesn't work for Roflpults, it ain't gonna work for Mad Dogs

Edited by 1453 R, 17 September 2014 - 04:17 PM.

[Clownwarlord]

Mad Dog isn't scary. It is dog that just has a bite as well. I know I will be piloting a SRM boat with ER Medium Laser back up. That way I pop tin cans open with missiles and then crit internals with the lasers on open points and ER Mediums have decent range so all good. If you try lrm then you run into issues with always sitting in the back with lrms and not using the full potential of the weapons.

[Bloodweaver]

1453 R, on 17 September 2014 - 11:05 AM, said:

Even the almighty King Crab will have to be wary of turning corners and finding itself pinchers-to-muzzle with a SplatDog’s one hundred points of single-salvo damage output...the SplatDog wins the five-second DPS race without any real contest against pretty much anything else ever.

Behold, the Cave Lion!

[1453 R]

That's not a Cave Lion. THIS is a Cave Lion. Which, by the way, I would pilot the sh!*!t out of.

[Arctcwolf]

They already have the B variant ready with 6x srm launchers. I'd assume that missile cooldown will be a minimum +7.5% each side...15% total.

I'd run 2 tons less ammo, add another couple heat sinks, or a laser and heatsink in the 3e arm, and "chill" lol. find a watery spot to soak the legs and torso in...use the speed to get a few back kills...72 damage into a back of any mech will core it...otherwise use the 5x med lasers to finish the job.

[1453 R]

Thirty-six tubes of SRM launcher will eat four tons of ammo in no time flat. That's over a third of a ton of Surm rounds per complete salvo, you'd kill four tons in seconds. Even six tons is running it light, but the way I see it, if I can get that many salvoes off from thirty-six SRM tubes in a match, I'll have done my job anyways. Finding room for that fifth laser is tempting...but the SplatDog is going to run hot as hell as it is, adding a fifth beam exacerbates the issue, especially if you end up pitching a heat sink for it instead of ammo.

It's certainly a viable take on the design, but I honestly kinda like the Mad Dog B stock, or at least almost stock. Drop the pulse lasers down to standard beams and use those three tons to pack in some extra ammo for the launchers, maybe slim the launchers down some to get a bit of extra plating in there, and use it as a flexible response platform rather than going for broke SplatDog style with the A/Prime mix. It'd run hot as all get-out, but that's Clan 'mechs for ya, and you could slack off different weapons as need be at different ranges.

This sucker's surprisingly flexible, given how similar all its in-game fits are so far.

[n r g]

i em skurred.

[Kiiyor]

It does terrify me, but mainly as a portent of the future.

Scrying into my crystal ball, I see legions of SplatDogs cutting a swathe through... everything. I then see CSRM's being nerfed like the bajeezus to compensate, which will brutalize other builds.

[n r g]

Kiiyor, on 17 September 2014 - 10:25 PM, said:

It does terrify me, but mainly as a portent of the future.

Scrying into my crystal ball, I see legions of SplatDogs cutting a swathe through... everything. I then see CSRM's being nerfed like the bajeezus to compensate, which will brutalize other builds.

[1453 R]

E N E R G Y, on 17 September 2014 - 09:47 PM, said:

i em skurred.

You scoff, but while you may not care what I can do with it, I'm pretty sure that even House of Lords drop decks will be experimenting with SplatDogs. May not hold up to Timber Wolf Overlords in the final accounting, but even if a Surmbombing Timber-S proves to be superior to a SplatDog, the Dog may well be close enough that taking one for the fifteen ton weight savings in your deck gives you options.

Or, to put it shortly: laugh all you want, but even us worthless game-killing scrubs in Puglandia ye guys all hate so much can recognize ridiculous when we see it.

Kiiyor, on 17 September 2014 - 10:25 PM, said:

It does terrify me, but mainly as a portent of the future.

Scrying into my crystal ball, I see legions of SplatDogs cutting a swathe through... everything. I then see CSRM's being nerfed like the bajeezus to compensate, which will brutalize other builds.

The one good point in this unfortunately depressing prediction is that Russ really seems against mucking with Clan weapons anymore. I see him as being more likely to wifflebat Paul when Paul decides to do something drastic to Clan SRMs and tell the man "NO WE'RE DOING QUIRKS NOW." The SplatDog may end up with some truly horrific negative quirkage in this instance, enough to take it off the table even because Paul just doesn't do tweaks, but even if it does, at least the SRMs themselves will still be worthwhile on other 'Mechs.

Right? ...right?

Edited by 1453 R, 18 September 2014 - 07:49 AM.

[Kiiyor]

1453 R, on 18 September 2014 - 07:49 AM, said:

The one good point in this unfortunately depressing prediction is that Russ really seems against mucking with Clan weapons anymore. I see him as being more likely to wifflebat Paul when Paul decides to do something drastic to Clan SRMs and tell the man "NO WE'RE DOING QUIRKS NOW." The SplatDog may end up with some truly horrific negative quirkage in this instance, enough to take it off the table even because Paul just doesn't do tweaks, but even if it does, at least the SRMs themselves will still be worthwhile on other 'Mechs.

Right? ...right?

I, too, believe.

*touches wood, scratches a stay, turns three times*

[Kain Demos]

I think I'll try boating C-LRM 5s w/Artemis in one for the juggle of death.

[process]

I'm expecting Catapult-level missile rack geometry treatment.

[FearNotDeath]

I can see all the overheated mad dogs already. People are going to be so aggressive with their new toys just need to wait back a bit then one shot em. Need to do something while jealously watching them till Jan.

Nice build, like minds I've been imagining the exact same since beta(Nearly wasn't sure about omnipods.) That Splatdog seems to fill the exact niche I've put my Warhawks into, it will just do it a lot faster.

[Just wanna play]

just wanna point of clan srms are a bit weaker then IS and really, a 4 srm6 ac/20 4 medium laser atlas really ain't gonna have much trouble against your spaltdog...thingy, heck my atlas ddc only has 4 average dps lesslet alone something like a dire wolf that easily beats it in the 5 second dps race

Edited by Just wanna play, 18 September 2014 - 06:50 PM.

[FatYak]

I'm expecting a 60 ton medium (lets face it, its a medium) with a big CT hitbox that can be cored out pretty darn quick just looking at the images