59 replies to this topic

[o0Marduk0o]

This quirk pass isn't limiting our options, but it reduces the number of well playable variants. The 1E will be used for all builds, either SPL or ML.

[Alaskan Nobody]

EX S, on 14 February 2015 - 12:43 PM, said:

If an Xl 190 is what I need, I'm in a lot of trouble. I dumped quite a bit of my CBills into that XL180 I bought, and I don't see that being useful on anything else...

I use an XL180 on most of my locust builds, as well as my Commandos
Much lower speed than most people like - but it lets me take much more firepower

[o0Marduk0o]

EX S, on 14 February 2015 - 12:43 PM, said:

If an Xl 190 is what I need, I'm in a lot of trouble. I dumped quite a bit of my CBills into that XL180 I bought, and I don't see that being useful on anything else...

Don't worry man, considering you might be low on money there are options to use the XL180. Standard builds with 6ML or 6MPL can't use the 0,5t you saved with your lower engine. But you could drop one MP/SPL and slot AMS with 1t ammo.

Edited by o0Marduk0o, 14 February 2015 - 12:55 PM.

[Dino Might]

Here is the 1E build fixed for you:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f6c2d97e3b649ca

It does really well:


Now with the changes in the quirks, I may have to test out something different. It will lose a bit of range (which is a serious nerf in my opinion) and only get a small duration bonus (not a fair tradeoff).

The benefit of this build is that with modules, the medium lasers reach out to 387m. You poke and hide at longer range, where the Locust's size makes it really hard to hit. If you are running into MG range, you negate the major advantage of this thing (small form factor). It's acceleration and deceleration make it second to none at hill poking. Use cover, and blast people's legs.

[o0Marduk0o]

Dino Might, on 14 February 2015 - 01:15 PM, said:

Here is the 1E build fixed for you:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f6c2d97e3b649ca

It does really well:


Now with the changes in the quirks, I may have to test out something different. It will lose a bit of range (which is a serious nerf in my opinion) and only get a small duration bonus (not a fair tradeoff).

But EX S has a XL180, what results in 0,5t free tonnage.
The old ML range was 378m with range module and +30% quirk, we lose 5% soon. I won't call this a serious nerf.
The range nerf for SPL and SL is huge but -25% duration is a lot as well.
On the other hand, SPL are not meant to be used at range anyway, so even less face time and precise damage is a good trade-off imo.

Edited by o0Marduk0o, 14 February 2015 - 01:26 PM.

[Tarogato]

Indeed, the 180 XL will be just fine. Just make sure you use all 20 of those tons!

If you want to take Locusts seriously, I would invest in an XL190 eventually. Flying around at 170kph is worth the C-Bills, trust me. But until then, you get to play Locust-Hardmode... which is basically Hardmode-Hardmode.

That said, I use a 180 XL on my SRM Locusts and I used a 170 XL on my 4x MG Locust before I sold it because I realised that MGs suck and there was no way I was going to get by on a single ERLL. Just not my style.

Edited by Tarogato, 14 February 2015 - 01:27 PM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Another thought - STD 190 are a LOT cheaper than XL190 >.>

Edit: Links not working - gimme a sec
Fixed

Edited by Shar Wolf, 14 February 2015 - 01:40 PM.

[Bloodweaver]

190 and 170 are the sweet spots for Locust builds, but 180 is useful as wel.

[SethAbercromby]

Speaking of Quirk Pass, I'm not sure how I feel about the 3S. Switching 30% reange and 15% cooldown around sounds like a good trade, but due to the high heat, a 4xSRM2 3S can barely use the full rate of fire anyway. I guess I'll have to start investing into Coolshots.

[EX S]

Completed basic on the 1E, now doing the 3S. I think for sure I'll want to keep the 1E and 3S to use on a ship, but the 1M seems pretty lame.

Dino Might, on 14 February 2015 - 01:15 PM, said:

The benefit of this build is that with modules, the medium lasers reach out to 387m. You poke and hide at longer range, where the Locust's size makes it really hard to hit. If you are running into MG range, you negate the major advantage of this thing (small form factor). It's acceleration and deceleration make it second to none at hill poking. Use cover, and blast people's legs.

The XL 190 doesn't seem to be in the cards at the moment (I'll eventually have to buy two it seems), but I did consider medium lasers for a bit. What I didn't consider was how the Locust's small size and movement would allow it to be a pretty good mid range sniper. With that, I wouldn't miss the heat efficiency I lose by switching to med lasers. I'll definitely consider this, but I feel a preference for the SPL because it seems more fun.

[Alaskan Nobody]

EX S, on 14 February 2015 - 02:04 PM, said:

Completed basic on the 1E, now doing the 3S. I think for sure I'll want to keep the 1E and 3S to use on a ship, but the 1M seems pretty lame.

Nice to know I am not the only one.

Most people seem to prefer the 1M over the 3S (because lasers are lighter than missiles)

But I liked my 3S more
(Yes - I still have SHS on it, the heat issues kept me from sticking around overly long and gettin blown up )

[Tim East]

EX S, on 14 February 2015 - 11:55 AM, said:

Well, thanks to the advice of everyone in this thread, I was able to increase my average damage these last few games to around 100-150 points of damage. Although I never thought stealth would be useful (or possible) in a mech sim of all things...


Thanks to this tip I was able to get a 232 damage game on HPG just now. I died because I fixated too much on one target, so I definitely need to work on knowing when to disengage.

Are there any mechs who I should flat out never attempt to fight without a reasonable advantage? I've heard Streak Carriers are bad news, but what mechs typically carry them?

You don't really see many IS streakers since the clans came out with their higher tube counts, but there used to be Stalker and Catapult streak-heavy builds. In this day and age, clan streakers rule the genre.

Shar Wolf, on 14 February 2015 - 11:58 AM, said:

Stormcrow are the current big one I keep seeing - but a lot of clan mechs will carry them (despite their horrible reload times)

The heavier ones you can usually slip out of LOS enough to make their streaks useless - but Scrow can turn very fast.

In addition to the dreaded Stormcrow, you'll also run into the occasional Adder or Summoner streak-boat. These aren't as popular as the Stormcrow for durability reasons, but they can still wreck your face, so exercise caution.

General Locust advice: close fast and hard, and treat it like a very fragile AC20 strapped to an engine. And DON'T FORGET TO RUN AWAY! I can't emphasize how many times I've died because I'm a greedy pilot who just wants one more alpha, one more kill.

[Satan n stuff]

Shar Wolf, on 14 February 2015 - 11:34 AM, said:

I actually found it easier with the MG.

MG do bonus damage to internal structure and components (such as ammo bins...)

Put that and the bit in () together = BIG BOOM
(Sans-CASE, which all Clan mechs come with )

For that particular Locust I recommend a single ER large laser and two machine guns with one ton of ammo. You can fit that pretty much exactly if you strip all armor from one arm, the head and take a bit from the other arm. You'd get something like this.
Note that the torso armor distribution is smurfy default, I personally front-load more because it's usually easy to avoid giving the enemy a shot at your back in a light. Running it like that does mean that a single mistake will kill you, so unless you're willing to risk it don't do that.

Don't worry about the ammo exploding, aside from taking a single AC/10 or PPC hit to the head just about anything that is likely to set it off would kill you anyway, and you're pretty much never going to get hit there. The stripped arm is good for taking at least one solid hit if you need to, that will usually save you unless the sidetorso it connects to is badly damaged.
You might want to swap a few points of armor to get rid of the mechlab warning, but you don't really need any armor on the unused arm or the head.

Edited by Satan n stuff, 14 February 2015 - 02:15 PM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Satan n stuff, on 14 February 2015 - 02:14 PM, said:

For that particular Locust I recommend a single ER large laser and two machine guns with one ton of ammo. You can fit that pretty much exactly if you strip all armor from one arm, the head and take a bit from the other arm. You'd get something like this.

I ran the MPL 4xMG build myself - but the ERLL build is technically the stronger one.

[SethAbercromby]

Shar Wolf, on 14 February 2015 - 02:07 PM, said:

But I liked my 3S more

haha, similar minds think alike it seems. Our builds are almost identical with the exception that I went for DHS simply because I'm way too reckless to remind myself not to do it.

[Alaskan Nobody]

SethAbercromby, on 14 February 2015 - 02:23 PM, said:

haha, similar minds think alike it seems. Our builds are almost identical with the exception that I went for DHS simply because I'm way too reckless to remind myself not to do it.

Reasons stated + Lack of funds...

So many mechs... So few Cbills

Spoiler

People tend to complain about the income rates (and they do feel low) - but even without running my Heroes or PT, I am buying new mechs faster than I am mastering them
Edit:
And the Locusts are the only ones currently lacking upgrades

Edited by Shar Wolf, 14 February 2015 - 02:25 PM.

[SethAbercromby]

Shar Wolf, on 14 February 2015 - 02:25 PM, said:

Reasons stated + Lack of funds...

So many mechs... So few Cbills

Story of my life...

Quote

Spoiler

People tend to complain about the income rates (and they do feel low) - but even without running my Heroes or PT, I am buying new mechs faster than I am mastering them
Edit:
And the Locusts are the only ones currently lacking upgrades

I've been surprised at how much money I'm currently making with my Locusts. Once I'm done mastering them, I might actually have the funds to buy a Clan 'Mech for once lol.

[EX S]

Shar Wolf, on 14 February 2015 - 02:07 PM, said:

Nice to know I am not the only one.

Most people seem to prefer the 1M over the 3S (because lasers are lighter than missiles)

But I liked my 3S more
(Yes - I still have SHS on it, the heat issues kept me from sticking around overly long and gettin blown up )

That's exactly the build I have right now. I can't afford DHS at this very moment, but it is still loads of fun. Unlike most mechs I've used with 2 tons of SRM ammo, I actually almost deplete my ammo with this. However, my damage is still not very high so my aim is likely very off. Being my first light coming over from assaults, I'm not used to fighting at a nearly constant 145+KPH.

Tim East, on 14 February 2015 - 02:13 PM, said:

In addition to the dreaded Stormcrow, you'll also run into the occasional Adder or Summoner streak-boat. These aren't as popular as the Stormcrow for durability reasons, but they can still wreck your face, so exercise caution.

I never thought to consider the Adder. 4 streak 4-6 missile pods is nothing to sneeze at in a Locust.

[Tim East]

EX S, on 14 February 2015 - 03:38 PM, said:

I never thought to consider the Adder. 4 streak 4-6 missile pods is nothing to sneeze at in a Locust.

I got killed by one the other day when he blindsided me while I was carefully deconstructing an Awesome. So, you know, it was kind of on my mind.

Edited by Tim East, 15 February 2015 - 07:05 AM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Tim East, on 15 February 2015 - 07:05 AM, said:

I got killed by one the other day when he blindsided me while I was carefully deconstructing an Awesome. So, you know, it was kind of on my mind.

I rarely see Adders (unless I am driving them)
When I do, they are usually carrying ballistics.
(Mine went for the PPC or LRM builds )

So that did not even occur to me.