41 replies to this topic

[Irishtoker]

Eaerie, on 03 January 2016 - 08:22 AM, said:

for a longer range light mech consider the panther.

I've seen em around. was considering trying them out. Thanks for the tip.

[Ximigami]

If u want to do miracles,then Raven 3L with 2 ER Large lasers. With miracles i mean that u going to do suicidal act and finish the match beign ur last hope for ur team and do 5 kills,ending the match with a tie. However heat generation is ur enemy,this is the cause that my first builded mech is a Jenner F with 4 small pulse lasers,i never run with overheat,except maybe on Terra Therma. Also i have the SPLs with cooldown skill pilot tree. I can help heavys a lot.

[epikt]

Ximigami, on 03 January 2016 - 11:42 AM, said:

Raven 3L with 2 ER Large lasers.

For 2 ERLLas, the raven-4X is much better than the -3L.

[Romual]

epikt, on 03 January 2016 - 11:46 AM, said:

For 2 ERLLas, the raven-4X is much better than the -3L.

Agreed. You get MUCH more range. With your mediocre damage output it is vital to stay in optimal range most of the time while still being FAR away.

[Blaze32]

Rogue Jedi, on 03 January 2016 - 01:21 AM, said:

Locust
at only 20 tonnes the lightest Mech in the game, meaning the least potential for armor, can be really fast, about 20KPH faster than most of the other Lights ^{(exceptions Commando and Spider have variants which can be a few kph faster or slower, the Wolfhound has a variant which is only about 15kph slower)} can mount similar firepower to the Jenner, hit and run, you do not have the armor to survive even one Alpha Strikes from the Firestarter or Arctic Cheetah, or most Medium Mechs let alone heavy or assault Mechs they can literally one shot you so do not stand still, there is an ECM varient, bad cockpit design blocking much of your line of sight

(these armor and structure quirks are on the LCT-1V and 3V)
Additional Structure Center Torso +20
Additional Armor L/R Arm +4
Additional Structure L/R Torso +15
Additional Armor L/R Leg +16

These locusts are able to tank an alpha strike. Same HP per location as all commando variants with quirks (except the COM-1D)

Edited by Blaze32, 03 January 2016 - 12:09 PM.

[Ace Selin]

epikt, on 03 January 2016 - 03:54 AM, said:

If I understand correctly, you have the -1V and -3S.
As I wrote in my previous post, I recommend the 1E. One and only Locust if you want my opinion.

I agree with the 1E but man i love the Pirates Bane too, such a fun mech.

[Ximigami]

epikt, on 03 January 2016 - 11:46 AM, said:

For 2 ERLLas, the raven-4X is much better than the -3L.

But Raven 4X doesnt have ECM

[epikt]

No point on having ECM when you're shooting at more than 750m. And even under radar range, it's not such a decisive advantage.
I'd take jump jets, +30% range and -30% duration over ECM any day.

[Anachronda]

TheRAbbi, on 02 January 2016 - 08:48 PM, said:

LCT-1V is a MUST. Check the quirks, then consider running it with either ERLL or LPL in that single CT hard point. It's freakin' STUPID. Fastest mech in the game, and smallest, with a single weapon of that relative power and range, with that kind of rapid firing. NUTS. Check the quirks on Smurfy, and figure your other two favorites. A -1S or -3S for missiles. Maybe a -3M for dual AMS and 5 E hard points (including CT). RVN Mastery Pack has two good long-range mechs, the RVN-3L and RVN-4X. And in case you get homesick for light mech brawling, the HUGINN hero mech is still pretty darned good for it.

As far as Locusts go, the 1v with erll is nice and useful, but I have found my favorites to be the 3m filled with small pulse lasers and the 3s with srm2s. The 1e filled up with medium lasers is pretty fun as well. Locusts are a special mech. They're lights, and carry the same needs as others, but as the second fastest mech in the game (commandos are *slightly* -2kph- faster) with no jump jets, there are special powers. I like to find places on the map where you can jump over gaps because of how fast you go. Or learn to bank off walls so you can basically fly up like you do have jjs when you fight. But in general, the locust takes a special mentality, so it may not be a good idea for your first mech They are cheap and fun, though, so worth a try.

I'd say you're going to get a lot of good use out of spiders and Firestarters. You don't need to buy the packs for them; in fact I would not recommend it. I do like the Anansi, but the spider I use the most is the 5D. My FS9-A with max small pulse and jump jets is one of my best performing mechs. Spiders can be the highest jumpers in the game, actually, and unlike Firestarters they have ECM available.

In the end I would concur with the others above, that the choice is going to depend on whether you like ranged or brawl. Some would also say the difference between a humanoid form mech (like spiders and firestarters) versus the "chicken mech" like ravens and locusts is another consideration. I will say that with the Spider 5D there are ranged and brawling choices (mine have 2ERLL and 3MPL respectively).

Edited by Anachronda, 03 January 2016 - 10:46 PM.

[Lupis Volk]

Anyone got a smurfy build for the 3S?

[Leone]

LCT-3S Short lived but vicious. I find I prefer the XL 180 for most my locusts. And yes, you will wanna double heat sink it, but it can hold it's own single.

~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 03 January 2016 - 09:13 PM.

[Anachronda]

Lupis Volk, on 03 January 2016 - 08:30 PM, said:

Anyone got a smurfy build for the 3S?

This is the one I use. I call it STING.

The 3M I mentioned is WUBCUST. Compare that with my Firestarter FS9-A, Littlewub.

This is the LCT-1E I mentioned.

190XL is the only way to fly with the Locust. That's what gives it its special locust powers. You can't take much damage so you have to be able to dodge and outrun fire, escape and fly in to attack, rinse and repeat. You need that speed to fly over gaps and bank like I was saying. In any case the two I listed above are probably the most dangerous ones I have.

Edited by Anachronda, 03 January 2016 - 11:48 PM.

[Romual]

Leone, on 03 January 2016 - 09:12 PM, said:

LCT-3S Short lived but vicious. I find I prefer the XL 180 for most my locusts. And yes, you will wanna double heat sink it, but it can hold it's own single.

~Leone.

I don't know about how vicious this build is. I keep bumping into these on my 1E with 6SPL and they don't stand a chance. Or maybe I just get bad pilots in them =3

[Void Angel]

epikt, on 03 January 2016 - 02:51 AM, said:

Arg, no.
I gave it another chance (LPLas build) after the last quirk pass, I still felt it's shooting a nerf gun. I poked, poked, poked, and... still low damage.
The SPLas build on the -1E has three times the firepower. As long as you're eager to get close and personal, I see no reason to chose any other variant.

The 1V feels fun, because of the short burn duration and cooldown, but at the end of the day you're only mounting 1.6 times the dps of that LPL (slightly less, because there's no module for beam duration, but I'm lazy tonight.) That means that you're getting ~4.496 dps - while the SPLs clock in at ~9.57 dps (not counting duration quirks; lazy) with more than double the alpha and comparable beam duration. So, more like double the firepower, but the 1V's quirks just don't make up for the single energy hardpoint. In order to get the most of the variant, you'd have to use its ballistics and work close-in: Something Like This. This can do well with a team that engages strongly so that you can do your work, and the dps from 4 MGs can skyrocket once you start critting equipment - but other chassis (and variants) do it better.

[epikt]

Void Angel, on 03 January 2016 - 11:16 PM, said:

The 1V feels fun

I see what you mean, but it didn't even catch on me. It was indeed not that fun to take ages to take down a single isolate mech, because my fire power was so low, or to see my shots constantly blocked by ground/rocks/fences/whatever because the hardpoint is so low.


NB about Anachronda' builds: use the DHS as padding to protect your weapons. For example, this build is better like this.

[Ximigami]

epikt, on 03 January 2016 - 06:53 PM, said:

No point on having ECM when you're shooting at more than 750m. And even under radar range, it's not such a decisive advantage.
I'd take jump jets, +30% range and -30% duration over ECM any day.

Maybe not,but u can help teammates for doesnt have a rain of missiles. And trust me,there are always an enemy mech with lrms. But at the end,all is personal preference of course...

[epikt]

Maybe. Even if a good LRM-boater would have a TAG and won't mind your ECM a lot. Especially now that its range has been reduced to 90m.

And, if you're planning to stay with the team, I'm not sure the double ERLLas build is the most appropriate (those are made to find weird angles and take the enemy in a crossfire ; you're not necessarily far away form your teammates, but you're definitely not at ECM range). For the -3L I really like the NARC and 3 medium pulses. The range and duration bonus for the NARC are viscous.
(funny story, I played it yesterday and there wasn't a single LRM-boat in my team for five drops in a row - I lighted the baddies anyway)

[Not A Real RAbbi]

epikt, on 04 January 2016 - 04:01 PM, said:

Maybe. Even if a good LRM-boater would have a TAG and won't mind your ECM a lot. Especially now that its range has been reduced to 90m.

And, if you're planning to stay with the team, I'm not sure the double ERLLas build is the most appropriate (those are made to find weird angles and take the enemy in a crossfire ; you're not necessarily far away form your teammates, but you're definitely not at ECM range). For the -3L I really like the NARC and 3 medium pulses. The range and duration bonus for the NARC are viscous.
(funny story, I played it yesterday and there wasn't a single LRM-boat in my team for five drops in a row - I lighted the baddies anyway)

NARC is still quite valuable, especially with the RVN-3L's quirks. NARCing a red dorito of interest, among other things, makes its position and movements and all visible to your teammates for quite some time. There's no wondering about what that DakkaWhale is up to; you KNOW where it is, thanks to your little Raven buddy! Lurms or not, that's worth something. Though, if I have a spare E hard point, I'd just as soon carry TAG and save a couple tons for something else. NARC is just too heavy, IMO...

[epikt]

TheRAbbi, on 04 January 2016 - 04:19 PM, said:

NARC is still quite valuable [...] Lurms or not

Yup. There is nothing like knowing exactly where your opponent is, when they're going to poke that corner. Pretty much like an UAV that can't be shot down.

This Raven is not really heavy on the damage (even though I consistently deal 200-300 damage, which is still decent, I'm not a dead weight) but certainly makes my teammates job easier.

About TAG vs NARC: I'm a NARC enthusiast.
I don't even use TAG on my spotters, spotting with a TAG only make the spotter an easy target. A light mech does not have the armor to take damage, and I find it absurd to hide the armor of an heavy LRM-boat and expose the light instead, that makes no sense (*). With a NARC, you expose yourself only the time to peak and shoot, and hop you're back behind cover. Definitely worth the extra-tonnage, but it certainly makes the mech very specialized.
On the other hand I use TAG on my LRM-boats, because I can afford to take hits.

(*) so please, when you're an LRM boat, don't ask the lights to hold targets, hold your own target, thanks

[Not A Real RAbbi]

epikt, on 04 January 2016 - 05:31 PM, said:

Yup. There is nothing like knowing exactly where your opponent is, when they're going to poke that corner. Pretty much like an UAV that can't be shot down.

This Raven is not really heavy on the damage (even though I consistently deal 200-300 damage, which is still decent, I'm not a dead weight) but certainly makes my teammates job easier.

About TAG vs NARC: I'm a NARC enthusiast.
I don't even use TAG on my spotters, spotting with a TAG only make the spotter an easy target. A light mech does not have the armor to take damage, and I find it absurd to hide the armor of an heavy LRM-boat and expose the light instead, that makes no sense (*). With a NARC, you expose yourself only the time to peak and shoot, and hop you're back behind cover. Definitely worth the extra-tonnage, but it certainly makes the mech very specialized.
On the other hand I use TAG on my LRM-boats, because I can afford to take hits.

(*) so please, when you're an LRM boat, don't ask the lights to hold targets, hold your own target, thanks

See, when I'm playing light spotter, I like to be REALLY sneaky. Doesn't always work. But sometimes, JUST SOMETIMES, it does. TAG works well for me, because I use it like a sneaky little ... SNEAK. Try to position myself so that the intended target is the enemy closest to me (so TAG beam doesn't cross enemy line-of-sight), and so that I'm designating the enemy from outside his field of view (so he's less likely to notice me). And gotta hold that beam on target. Designate, hold for a few seconds, then move on. If the Lurms opened a hole, then twist the ERLL knife in it a little before running off. IF I did it right, there's cover/concealment to be had, and the bad guy didn't know where I was (there is no HUD indication that you're being TAGged, and there tends to be LITTLE communication in solo queue...), so that blast of blue light in the back is the first he's heard of me, and by the time he gets turned to face me, I'm already gone.

Ideally. Doesn't always work out like that.

Having a Hell of a time practicing NARC, since Testing Grounds doesn't let you see the NARC icon on your targets. Kind of a long-overdue thing. Took 'em long enough to even fix BAP and ASR module function in there, though, so whatever. I tend to miss a few shots with NARC. And with the weight that I sacrifice for it, I'd prefer TAG.

And I agree. LRM mechs can get their own locks. I USED to be all about it, but then they never paid any attention to the targets that I designated for them and preferred to just call me names for not meta-brawling alongside them (and apparently, for not carrying them, as they tended to melt within seconds of contact). I can't stand the solo queue any more. And that means that I can't stand light piloting, either.

But there was a time...