37 replies to this topic

[xXBagheeraXx]

I'm probably driving them wrong, but does anyone out there actually LIKE the king crab....that doesn't run an XL build? I'm not sticking an xl in a mech that wide. they look incredibly silly getting one shotted when they peek out of cover, I'm not going to be that guy.

yeah, sure You can cram a bunch of Uacs or Ac5's on them but they have the same problem that dakka whales have...you have to stay exposed to get your damage in and before you know it your CT is gone. These things get focused harder than I ever did in my Direwhale. And even tho I try to roll my damage The hitboxes are completely unforgiving...If i derp around the corner in my Atlas and bump into a few mechs,by the time i get back into cover I might have a Red arm for my troubles. I do that in a Crab and half my mech is gone. It seems like its just a one trick pony, its good at ganking or catching people in the open...and nothing else....I cant seem to play this mech as aggressively as my meta whale or my atlases...

[Alaskan Nobody]

I love mine - and I run them near stock.

[MandyB]

Yea dual ac20/LPL works great, dual gauss/ppc or LPL works as well

[Wintersdark]

The King Crab is a monster, and definitely NOT an XL assault. I mean, you can, and go all Dakka - that's not wrong, but it's not a good build against players who don't freak out under dakka fire (sadly, this is pretty much everyone I play against, which ruins Dakka Whales as well).

HUUUUGE side torsos mean easy death from any half-witted player, and they'll know you have an XL based on your loadout.

So.... Play with a Standard. Lose either side torso, and you still present basically Atlas level firepower. I'm personally quite fond of my 2ERLL/2Gauss STD Loyalty crab, but AC40 crabs are entirely practical as well. I don't yet have a lot of experience with the other variants (haven't bought them yet) but honestly the crab is simply better than Atlases. All Atlases suffer from "Take the RT", so you don't even need to pay attention to variant, you just pop the RT and it's neutered.

Further, the Crab is *vastly* more agile than the Atlas. It's almost depressing how much better it is. The King Crab's biggest flaw is how low slung it's arms are (so easy to shoot the dirt), but that's hardly an Atlas strength either. Hell, it's side torsos are very vulnerable from the side but are if anything much smaller than the Atlas's from the front.

Low slung arms aside, the King Crab's present extremely high-mounted lasers and missiles, making firing over cover trivial - something no other IS assault does so well.

With the obvious exception of ECM, I can't think of one thing Atlases are superior at.

[Kiiyor]

4 UAC5, 2 ML.

The trick with the Crab, IMHO, is understanding how to position it.

I get my best results (by far) If I wait for enemies to come to me. While brawling is possible, I find that you are focused on far too quickly if you lead charges.

Also, you need either relatively flat ground, or a decent fire position on a hill somewhere. Those arms are low slung, meaning that enemies above you are often immune to your dakka, as it explodes ineffectually at your feet. Small protrusions are your ultimate enemy.

[CyborgDragon]

I run 2x LLas, 2x UAC/5, and an AC/20 with a STD 300. It wrecks at both mid and close range and I love it

[DjPush]

Nothin says "suck it!" like a 65kph crab with UAC5's and an XL360..

[Wintersdark]

I'd like to try something like: KGC-000B

Early match, just spew LRM's and LPL from range and cover, then push in shield-side first, dealing death with the AC20+3LPL: 53 points near instantaneous pinpoint damage is nothing to sneeze at.

And while this totally breaks my arguments above re: symmetrical builds and not being a "oh, just shear off the Atlas's Right Torso" mech, people don't expect KC's to run shield sides.

Alternatively, swap the silly LRM5's for more cooling, or SRM's. But IMHO SRM's would add a lot of face kicking but heat issues, and removing the missiles entirely removes options. I like my assaults to be able to engage at long range, and LPL's don't do that.

Kiiyor, on 28 February 2015 - 09:59 PM, said:

4 UAC5, 2 ML.

The trick with the Crab, IMHO, is understanding how to position it.

I get my best results (by far) If I wait for enemies to come to me. While brawling is possible, I find that you are focused on far too quickly if you lead charges.

Also, you need either relatively flat ground, or a decent fire position on a hill somewhere. Those arms are low slung, meaning that enemies above you are often immune to your dakka, as it explodes ineffectually at your feet. Small protrusions are your ultimate enemy.

Yes.

If you push ahead in the advance, too many enemy mechs get flanking angles at your looooooong side torsos. You can't be too eager, that's why I like to supplement with LRM's or ERLL's - something that can be fired from cover over long range effectively, until forces get close enough for you to push in hard and put the boot claw down.

[Impyrium]

The King Crab is one of the few 'Mechs I run near stock because it's just really fun stock. The only other 'Mech I run near stock is the 4G with the obvious upgrades, but the KC is quite fun as it is. My 000B still runs with the dual AC20s, with 3 MLs and I even kept a LRM15 for that little long range persuasion.

The LPL might be more effective overall but I'm pretty content with running a mixed range build. Kinda feels more classic somehow. And I still average a kill or two in the solo queue so it still performs well.

[Kiiyor]

Wintersdark, on 28 February 2015 - 10:16 PM, said:

I'd like to try something like: KGC-000B

Ah, LRM5's. I've had great success with something... well, not really similar, bit I do love screen-shake and Gauss.

It's a true long range support mech, with it's slower-than-Dire-ness, but Gauss and LRM's are a great combo. If a target pops up, when you hit them with Gauss, you should also have lock. Then, they can either stick around while the missiles are heading towards them, or get to cover. Most targets scamper, and if they stick around, they have to deal with screen shake... and Dual Gauss.

It's a phenomenal area denial tool.

Edit: Also, a newer version with ENDO0 (when I could affort it!)

Edited by Kiiyor, 28 February 2015 - 10:36 PM.

[Project_Mercy]

Honestly, the KGC was the first assault I've played that I actually enjoyed playing, and I've leveled up 3 variants of dire wolf, warhawk, gargoyle, atlas and victor and didn't really like any of them (yes, heresy, I didn't enjoy the DWF). Mechspecs has a bunch of good builds that are vetted.

[Troutmonkey]

The build I have the most fun in is 2xLB10X and 4xSRM4 with a STD320 engine.
Sure it spreads damage all over the place but it certainly does a lot. Great fun to brawl in, even if not as effective as 4x UAC5

[Joseph Mallan]

I like teh King... But I don't like it more than my Atlas-S.

[Fate 6]

Quad UAC5 Crabs are the heart of a team. It's the team's job to keep them alive, but also the Crab's job to keep his team alive be being a presence on the battlefield. It's not a mech for peeking but for pushing.

[FaceRipt]

While being better than the atlas, I find my best results come with the KGC come when I play with the mindset I use to pilot my atlas ddc and that is don't be the first one in or seen alone.

Now I don't mean hang back and do nothing, just give a second for other assaults to engage or the brawl to break out then jump out of cover and watch the glorious destruction.

I have all the variants and this tactic is key for the dual 20 build as you will never get close enough to be effective or if you do your gona die shortly after getting there from soaking damage.

xl's are garbage for them, so much nooo there.


my favorite builds are 2x ac/20 4 med. pulse, 2x gauss 2x ppc, and the one that I think is the best (my opinion of course) is 4x uac/5's I used to have 2 med lasers as back up but by the time I got down to just them I would be so jacked that they were of no use so I have since replaced with more ammo, go big or go home they say.

Edited by FaceRipt, 01 March 2015 - 05:34 AM.

[Mudhutwarrior]

Still don't get the crazy XL hate in Assaults. Its an idea which is based in stupid.

Putting an XL in an assault for the right reasons pays dividends. My XL crab does fare better than the others and scores really well. Just have to know how to play it.

If you think assaults should soak damage your doing it wrong. Trick is to avoid damage and I can absorb a dual gauss shot in the torso. You just better pray you get a chance at the same component again. If not you die.

[CMDR Sunset Shimmer]

xXBagheeraXx, on 28 February 2015 - 09:43 PM, said:

I'm probably driving them wrong, but does anyone out there actually LIKE the king crab....that doesn't run an XL build? I'm not sticking an xl in a mech that wide. they look incredibly silly getting one shotted when they peek out of cover, I'm not going to be that guy.

yeah, sure You can cram a bunch of Uacs or Ac5's on them but they have the same problem that dakka whales have...you have to stay exposed to get your damage in and before you know it your CT is gone. These things get focused harder than I ever did in my Direwhale. And even tho I try to roll my damage The hitboxes are completely unforgiving...If i derp around the corner in my Atlas and bump into a few mechs,by the time i get back into cover I might have a Red arm for my troubles. I do that in a Crab and half my mech is gone. It seems like its just a one trick pony, its good at ganking or catching people in the open...and nothing else....I cant seem to play this mech as aggressively as my meta whale or my atlases...

oh... me ME!

I run a 3025 era King Crab, x4 AC5, x2 medium lasers. Single heatsinks and ammo for the rest, standard 300 engine.

It's slow, it's hot, but dear god does the dakka and pain it inflicts make it feel worth while!

I've mastered my crabs, loved every moment of driving them. I have 4 total thanks to the 2 loyalty and the 2 normal to grind out pilot skills. Of course I also ground out 4 Atlas battlemechs as well.

it takes a different mindset to drive these beasts... with the King Crab, because of the hardpoint's and the profile, you end up face tanking a bit more than the mech can really handle if you're not careful. Keep in mind that to get the most out of the mech you have to learn the footwork just as much as the typical torso twisting. You're big and wide, let those side torso's eat some damage and spread as much hate as you can.

The King Crab can fill a multitude of assault roles, and do so very well... it's just a matter of learning it. and not treating it like an atlas, which is much, much thinner.

[xXBagheeraXx]

So its basically a big Lurker....odd thing is Thats how i drive my atlases as well. I dont always push, I'm a corner fighter...when people peek out i go "here, have some ac20 and some splat 6es to the face".

I tried the dual gauss/erlarge build and got nothing, the arm locations with the gauss rifles just did not work for me, I always shot the dirt right before the rounds got to the target, or even when aiming at the target the rounds would coverge right before they hit then go wizzing off into the distance....then since its a crab and most of the time my teams assaults die in the first few minutes, I'd have to move up to short range with gauss rifles...seldom ends well.

[Mudhutwarrior]

xXBagheeraXx, on 01 March 2015 - 09:23 AM, said:

So its basically a big Lurker....odd thing is Thats how i drive my atlases as well. I dont always push, I'm a corner fighter...when people peek out i go "here, have some ac20 and some splat 6es to the face".

I tried the dual gauss/erlarge build and got nothing, the arm locations with the gauss rifles just did not work for me, I always shot the dirt right before the rounds got to the target, or even when aiming at the target the rounds would coverge right before they hit then go wizzing off into the distance....then since its a crab and most of the time my teams assaults die in the first few minutes, I'd have to move up to short range with gauss rifles...seldom ends well.

Drive it like a phract, you will love it.

[Shatterpoint]

Regular engine King Crabs have become my staple mech, they've even taken over for the Awesomes which I'm a fanboy for.

000B - STD 300/quad UAC5/2 ML
000(L) - STD 300/Dual LB 10-X AC/ER PPC
0000 - STD 300/Dual AC20/3 ML

All rock solid mechs, not the fastest things on the field but there's nothing I dread meeting on the battlefield apart from LRMs and that's just a boredom factor of sitting behind rocks instead of fighting.