34 replies to this topic

[Zookeeper Dan]

I always find myself strapped for cash. My wants always outstrip my income. Whether it's a third Jenner variant, removing the FF armor from my Griffin so I can use an XL engine, or a XL 125 engine for the AC20 Urbie build that I'd like to make the grind just takes too long.

I've spent some real money, mainly when there are great sales or lot of freebies, but with the tax return fun money just about gone my disposable income is going way down. I need to start getting better at farming C-Bills.

I've heard LRM heavy builds can rack up the damage and assists in the solo queue. I was thinking of converting my CN9-AH(L) to an LRM mech for this purpose. I could do the same thing with my AS7-S(L), but turning an Atlas into an LRM boat just seems wrong.

What are some other builds that can be used to generate cash at a faster than normal rate?

[Takashi Uchida]

I guess you gotta look at 2 main things:

1. Does the mech have a c-bill bonus?
2. Are there builds with the mech that you win a lot with?

Point number 1 is pretty obvious. You got the reward Atlas and Centurion, which means you have some other mechs with a c-bill bonus right? Or maybe some heroes?

Point number 2: well, on average you get more cbills when you win then when you lose, because when you win you're more likely to have more kills/assists/other bonuses.

That's pretty much it, IMO.

LRMs: I find that when I'm running LRMs, I'm more likely to do more damage and get more kills when I'm running at least 40 tubes. So, that means it's pretty limited to an Assault dedicated to LRMs with some MLs as backup. My Battlemaster-1S and Crab-0000 are well suited to this, but they don't come with a c-bill bonus.

The CN9-AH is probably too light to be that good of a LRM carrier, you are likely better of with a brawler build. Big XL with AC20 and SRMs or STD engine with SRMS and MGs. Staying power is an issue with this mech, but that's just how it is.

AS7-S is probably best as a brawler too, but I have had some success with LRMs. Maybe a 10/5/5/5 setup with a Gauss rifle for even more punch at range.

[RazorbeastFXK3]

Pretty much any build you enjoy using.

Equipping UAV and Artillery/Air Strike modules helps a little with boosting your c-bill income when used properly.

Dismembering the opposition instead of going for quick kills helps to rack up points. Though I'm not sure if Salvage goes up when you deal headshots or if it goes up when you destroy arms then legs then L/R Torso but it's worth looking into.

Getting Kill Assists helps a bit so even if you scratch an opponent with an ER Large Laser or tickle one with an AC2/LB10X at a distance and deal a little damage, you will get a bonus for that.

Holding onto a lock while your team lobs LRMs you will get a Spotting Bonus when the missiles hit their mark.

But in general, the more damage you deal end game = more c-bill income.

[sycocys]

CTF-4x/King Crab/Jaeger with 4 ac5s - pretty much anything you can get 4 ac5s and 8-10+ tons of ammo on is going to crank out damage. -- note fire in 2 sets on chain fire, not 1 lump.

Or if you are willing to buy a hero mech, the Hellslinger with 2 LPL, 4 MPL, 3 SRM6 - has I think an 84.7 alpha so as soon as you figure out how to maneuver it into engagements you will consistently make a lot of damage and destruction.

Edited by sycocys, 02 May 2015 - 04:05 PM.

[GutterBoy5]

If you still have some $ buy a hero 30%cbill boost + premium time 50%cbill boost they stack together so chills can sore over time.

Or should can be good but also really bad earners depending on how many lights & ECM.

Or group up with some friends & do CW. With ya hero/premium combo. I've made 500-750,000 in CW. In a match & I know many others do as well & higher even.

Cheers

[Gagis]

Streak Stormcrow can get you pretty hilarious damage numbers, and it is more useful to the team than a useless lurmspammer.

Our of Hero mechs, Huginn and Misery are famous for racking up high scores.

[bad arcade kitty]

play conquest only

[TheCaptainJZ]

Play a faster mech that allows you to move easily all over the battlefield. It can be a light or medium, perhaps a heavy mech too. Shoot at every enemy you see at least once for a possible assist. Play to stay alive. The longer you're alive, the more damage you can do, the more assists you can do, the more rewards you can get, the more kills you can get. Faster mechs are easier to do this with. Cbill earnings aren't inflated with raw damage as much as they were a couple years ago so simply dealing damage will not generate the kinds of earnings you want. Play as a team and stick with them. Don't rambo.

[Ollorin]

I think my best earner currently is my hunchback 4j, a LRM build. LRM does not equal instant c-bills though, you have to use it properly.

I run 2X LRM10 & 4X ML with an XL255 engine and act as a close support for my teams heavies and assaults. Basically try to keep a range of around 300 and rain missiles. When I have LOS or when I run out of LRMS I can bring the lasers to bare. Generally, by the time I've run out of ammo the everyone has taken a bit of a beating, while my armor is still relatively fresh. Thjs is when I go into vulture mode and use those ML to take down critically injured enemies.

Firing the missiles as a group yields more damage over the entire target while chain firing tends to focus the missiles a bit more on the torso, both firing modes have their merits depending on the situation.

If you're determined to use a centurion I'd recommend the AL over the AH. The AL will allow you to fit pretty much the same loadout. I've run the AL like that before and it works pretty well, though the Trebuchet 3C and Hunchback 4J do it better. Just keep in mind that both these mechs can puke missiles at an impressive rate which can be both good and bad.

In the end I think it boils down to what you find works best for you.

[Repasy Cooper]

[Redacted]

Edited by Repasy, 03 May 2015 - 12:59 AM.

[Shalune]

Takashi Uchida, on 02 May 2015 - 04:01 PM, said:

The CN9-AH is probably too light to be that good of a LRM carrier, you are likely better of with a brawler build. Big XL with AC20 and SRMs or STD engine with SRMS and MGs. Staying power is an issue with this mech, but that's just how it is.

Take this with a grain of salt. To each their own play style.

Personally I refuse to run LRMs heavier than 65 tons because I find it way too difficult to keep moving into positions where the LRMs will consistently connect. As a counter example, my single favorite mech, and easily most effective LRMer is my HBK-4J with 2x LRM 10s. It was already fun pre-quirks, and now it's a murder machine.

OP, there's only 2 things to worry about:

- Do you consistently do a lot of damage with it? This game rewards damage and kills over all else. For cbills it doesn't matter how much you help your team if you aren't putting up numbers.

- Do you like playing it? Simply, you're going to burn out playing something you don't love just for cbills.

[Leone]

For me, the nova is was best earner, followed by the BNC-3E. (and yes, I got the champion Banshee, but it just can't compete with the AC5, 4xMedium laser build for damage output.

Of course, I play aggressive and believe there are only two things that matter at the end for this question, the c-bill count, and match time. Way I see it, one good match that lasts 15 minutes and nets 200k cbills is not as good as three five minute matches that net 100k. I mean, I could earn more in CW in a fifteen minute stomp on the losing end that a full length Normal match. (I still prefer farming in CW, but I assume that's not what your talking about.)

To that end, I'd always tried to run high output sustained fire mechs whilest farming c-bills, basing their usefullness on whether or not they could face tank a Direwolf. (still a good measure of any non light build.)

However, recently I've found my Firestarter to be a great earner. With the assassin mindset, that is, to flank without being seen, and core the rearmost mech before you are spotted, you do two things. One, speed up match time by taking a mech down (usually an assualt too, since they tend to get left behind.) Two, get a kill and earn money (Brawling, solo kill, kill most damage dealt these things add to c-bill count.) And three, since two is really just a part of one, distract a bunch of mechs from the frontline, thus making it easier for you team to secure a victory.

Best part is, if three doesn't happen and they ignore you, you repeat the process until it does. Might not deal as much damage, which means lowered earnings, but again, two things matter here, c-bill count, and match time. Assassinating the heaviest armoured mechs greatly speeds up match time.

And, if you do die early, you can always browse the forums whilest your team cleans up.

~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 02 May 2015 - 06:58 PM.

[loopala]

when i get low on cash i hit pugland in a super stock boars head. stock weapons DHS, artemis, move the ammo out of the STs, and almost max armor. do not play like most other atlas. if you use your speed and twist you can rake in the cbills. beware though once in awhile you get a good pug that can aim, Pop goes the XL

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...dfd39a9fd6e3ce3

[Takashi Uchida]

Shalune, on 02 May 2015 - 06:12 PM, said:

Take this with a grain of salt. To each their own play style.

Personally I refuse to run LRMs heavier than 65 tons because I find it way too difficult to keep moving into positions where the LRMs will consistently connect. As a counter example, my single favorite mech, and easily most effective LRMer is my HBK-4J with 2x LRM 10s. It was already fun pre-quirks, and now it's a murder machine.

No problem, I'm a pretty casual player and I'm not one attack someone for their preferred build/weapon style.

The Battlemaster can strike a decent balance between payload and speed though (a decent sized XL can get you 70+ kph with speed tweak, which I find is fine for repositioning). I've messed around with LRMs on the Shadowhawks, my HBK-4SP, etc. I've personally found that playable but if I'm using LRMs I still prefer to "go big or go home."

[Tarogato]

bad arcade kitty, on 02 May 2015 - 04:15 PM, said:

play conquest only

I usually avoid Conquest, because in that mode it's common for teams to split up so you're less likely to get all 12 assists/kills.

Unless assists are worth less than I think they are.

[Nothing Whatsoever]

One thing is use smurfy's site to play around with build ideas to save you C-Bills.

What mechs do you have and how do you prefer playing?

You can look to use mechs that have their C-Bill boost and I'd also recommend using Premium Time too.

[MechWarrior3671771]

Stalker - Misery is a good cbill earner. Hero mech that can dish out damage.

I prefer the 4 Large Pulse laser, but any large laser build will work.

Just remember to reach out and get assists too. I'm pulling in about 250k per win.

[Moldur]

I have the Ember hero mech with an XL 280 (took out some jump jets, because well, you start with 5.) That I like to use to grind c-bills. Plus I have premium time. I also only play assault, which lasts on average about 4 minutes.

Others suggest using higher damaging mechs, which is viable. I like the Firestarter even though it might not always pull a ton of kills (though I have gotten 600+ dmg games in it) but it's also a light, meaning the queue time is super short. Not great damage always, but I feel it has a pretty consistent payout.

[jss78]

As said, some weapon types make it easy to rack up assists. These include ERLL's and MG's which make it very easy to quickly touch opponents, at long and short ranges, respectively. I run both in my BJ-A and get assists for most kills which I don't do myself, which combined with the hero bonus makes it a very good c-bill machine.

Yet, I think the short answer is to use any mech you do well in (high K/D, W/L ratios). A win alone is worth 40k and you also get c-bills for damage/component destruction/kills, so I'm not convinced that running around farming assists is the best c-bill earning strategy.

Shalune, on 02 May 2015 - 06:12 PM, said:

- Do you like playing it? Simply, you're going to burn out playing something you don't love just for cbills.

And this here may be the best answer of all -- if you're going to play a lot farming for c-bills, at least do it in a mech that makes it fun.

Edited by jss78, 02 May 2015 - 11:45 PM.

[Insects]

bad arcade kitty, on 02 May 2015 - 04:15 PM, said:

play conquest only

I can't understand this, I make rubbish money in conquest so have turned it off.
What is the secret to making a lot in the mode?
Cap all game and the rewards are pathetic, people say its good for lights but I am decent in lights and make a lot more in the other modes?

How much are people classifying as good earnings?