13 replies to this topic

[Azumazi]

With the latest patch and the changes to CW, most especially the change to drop tonnage to 250 tons I'm looking at changing up my drop build.

I was initially going for 2 Hellbringers, an Arctic Cheetah, and a Kodiak when the pack gets released as I'm waiting for May 17th for it.

The loss in 10 tons doesn't make that build work now. What I'm looking at now is the following.

Kodiak, Mad Dog, Mad Dog, Arctic Cheetah for 250.

My Cheetah is a short ranged build with 2x SRM6's and 4x ER SL and ECM. Basically, mid battle when the enemy are in a fight I rush in fast and start hitting assaults in the rear. The 2 SRM's are enough to bust open a lot of assaults and I work them with the small lasers while I wait for reloads. Works pretty well if you keep moving.

My 2 Mad Dog builds, are brawlers and exploiters. They are going to run hot as I expect to harass a target by engaging hard and breaking off to hard cover to cool and let my radar deprivation to drop locks. Basically, going for a high alpha build to drop the target ASAP when it's focused to attempt to roll a flank as fast as possible.

My issue is the following. I have 2 builds I'm debating on, but can't decide.

MDD-A One Shot Wonder
This build is pure short range. Radar Deprivation with Seismic Sensor lets me hug a wall or hard cover and locate a target after they pass an area. I might drop the idea on the Seismic for a 9x9 Cool shot though as I haven't unlocked Seismic yet, so its a toss up.

MDD-A Long mid setup

This one exchanges some heat sinks for a pair of ER LL for engaging targets at range before I close in for certain maps that require it. Problem is, both look good to me, so looking for some veteran comments on these 2 designs.

[Rogue Jedi]

Azumazi, on 21 April 2016 - 04:28 AM, said:

My issue is the following. I have 2 builds I'm debating on, but can't decide.

MDD-A One Shot Wonder
This build is pure short range. Radar Deprivation with Seismic Sensor lets me hug a wall or hard cover and locate a target after they pass an area. I might drop the idea on the Seismic for a 9x9 Cool shot though as I haven't unlocked Seismic yet, so its a toss up.

MDD-A Long mid setup

This one exchanges some heat sinks for a pair of ER LL for engaging targets at range before I close in for certain maps that require it. Problem is, both look good to me, so looking for some veteran comments on these 2 designs.

Both of those builds look way too hot for me.

The long mid setup may be manageable provided you do not ever alphastrike, do not fire the missiles and lasers together, lasers for long range, missiles for short, and never fire more than 3 SRM6 at once, but if you fire all 6 SRM6 at once you will be hit hard by "ghost heat" (extra heat for firing more than a certain number of a specific weapon.

If I was to do ether of those it would be SRM4 instead of 6 and use the weight saving for heatsinks, you could do with more ammo for the SRMs unless you are planning to run in, fire and blow up, which could happen if you alpha on a hot map.


also be warned the Faction Play tonnage limit WILL be changed again, the question is when, it could be next patch or could be 6 month time.

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 21 April 2016 - 04:49 AM.

[Azumazi]

Yeah, I have 6 keys on my mouse, was going to set the SRM's to stagger fire with 3 on one and 3 on another. The same for left and right arm for lasers. So that will allow me to avoid ghost heat entirely.

[Digital_Angel]

I run 1 of my MDDs close to your One Shot Wonder. I use either 4 MLs or 2MLs and 2 SLs, using the extra weight for additional ammo and heat sinks. I use SRMs with Artemis as well but the builds are still very similar.

Remarks from my experience:

If you divide the SRMs into groups of 3 then you can hit pretty hard as a 1-2 punch and still avoid ghost heat, or take the ghost heat and poke/hit/hide around the corner again fairly well.

In more open terrain, the SRMs work better in 2 groups using chain fire and hitting the target with 6-12 SRMs again and again with the chain fire and it controls you heat MUCH better.

The biggest issue is getting in close enough to be useful on maps with large open areas without being torn to pieces on the approach.


I have also tried swapping out the small and medium lasers for 2 ERLLs instead, similar to your second build. I find that this gives you more diversity in a fight, but you are not really GOOD at either long or short range.

In lower tiers where opponents didn't use the 'R' key as often as they should, it worked OK. As you get to more experienced tiers, more players realize that they should stay at medium range with you where your SRMs are not a threat yet, but they can easily out gun you 2 LLs with multiple ACs or MLs.


For a good multi range MDD build I use 4xLRM5, 2xSRM6 and either 4MLs or 2 MLs and 2SLs depending on how hot I'm willing to run.

Edited by LadyDanams, 21 April 2016 - 08:56 AM.

[Roughneck45]

Those builds are going to be super hot.

SRM Brawler

Large Laser mix

Less punch, sure, but no ghost heat to worry about and a heat bar you'll be able to manage in the thick of it.

Artemis is up to you. I always run it but I tend to take shots that are near max range. Its also less useful on the 4's than it is the 6's.

If you want to run large lasers consider an LRM build.
LRM5

[Azumazi]

Due to what Danams had to say as well as a few others I talked to, I'm opting for the One Shot wonder build, but with a bit of a change. I dropped one ML and the comp for 2 more heat sinks. So now it has 4x ERML, 6x SRM6 with 6 tons of ammo. I'm also going to toss a level 5 SRM 6 cooldown module on it making the cooldown 3.52 sec instead of 4. I'm debating on what to make the second weapon module. I'm seriously considering getting level 5 range for it as that puts the missiles at 297 meters instead of 270, those 27 extra meters really can make a difference when necessary.

I really didn't see the need for a ML Module as overall it's in a good position already compared to the SRM's.

I'll give it a shot this weekend and see how it pans out and update here.

[Rogue Jedi]

Azumazi, on 21 April 2016 - 01:21 PM, said:

Due to what Danams had to say as well as a few others I talked to, I'm opting for the One Shot wonder build, but with a bit of a change. I dropped one ML and the comp for 2 more heat sinks. So now it has 4x ERML, 6x SRM6 with 6 tons of ammo. I'm also going to toss a level 5 SRM 6 cooldown module on it making the cooldown 3.52 sec instead of 4. I'm debating on what to make the second weapon module. I'm seriously considering getting level 5 range for it as that puts the missiles at 297 meters instead of 270, those 27 extra meters really can make a difference when necessary.

I really didn't see the need for a ML Module as overall it's in a good position already compared to the SRM's.

I'll give it a shot this weekend and see how it pans out and update here.

SRMs spread out a lot, and the more you fire the more they spread, firing a 18 missile (3x6) volley some will likely miss if fired at an Atlas at 200m, the extra range means you will hit with ^{(if you are lucky)} half your 18 missile volley at 297m, your choice but I think range would be far more useful on the lasers which are likely to do full damage at max range.

[Azumazi]

So, got the mech today, while getting the money to switch the arms I opted to just go with MDD-B right arm and put 3 Medium lasers on it and leaving the left arm empty to use for rolling damage.

Mad Jack

Out of 10 matches, had the following damage.

531
830
851
633
858
268 (team was rolling them hard)
795
518
641
922

Overall, I'd say the build is a success in quick battles, but we will see how it goes in Faction warfare when I get it skilled out and 2 more units bought to get them mastered.

Most of the maps were areas like the Bog with and or maps with 20-33C heat, it ran a bit hot and I did managed to shut it down in Frozen City Night, but I also was running hard on a Dire Wolf and knew the last few hits would kill him so took the chance. Overall, the main thing I'm enjoying and totally forgot about from playing Mad Dog's on MW2, the agility it has in the frame in a turn fight.

[Vathailos]

For the OP, I have a similar setup (6x SRM-6 and 4 ER Med Lasers). The heat is manageable, even when eating the ghost heat on the SRMs as long as you do what a previous poster suggested and don't fire the lasers with the SRMs.

My success with this has been overwhelming at extremely close range. The SRM grouped volley fire will one-shot most any light, and two-shot many MED/HVY mechs if you're close and the missiles hit the same area on an opponent.

I'm weighing Hill Climb vs. Seismic, and don't have enough data yet to advise.

One thing I can recommend is to consider the Prime chassis. I took the 3xM Omnipods and put them into the Prime chassis because of the pitch quirk. I know other chassis can give you a +40% acceleration/deceleration bonus (15% more, IIRC Prime is only 25%), but I've found that since your main damage comes from your SRMs, having that pitch quirk means you can utilize them in more scenarios. I'm thinking specifically of Canyon or Viridian Bog, where with the Prime pitch quirk, you can super-elevate and hit those directly above you on a ledge, whereas I couldn't on the MDD-A.

GL regardless, and I already know you'll have fun.

Edited by Vathailos, 07 May 2016 - 09:27 AM.

[Void Angel]

Azumazi, on 21 April 2016 - 04:28 AM, said:

With the latest patch and the changes to CW, most especially the change to drop tonnage to 250 tons I'm looking at changing up my drop build.

I was initially going for 2 Hellbringers, an Arctic Cheetah, and a Kodiak when the pack gets released as I'm waiting for May 17th for it.

The loss in 10 tons doesn't make that build work now. What I'm looking at now is the following.

Kodiak, Mad Dog, Mad Dog, Arctic Cheetah for 250.

My Cheetah is a short ranged build with 2x SRM6's and 4x ER SL and ECM. Basically, mid battle when the enemy are in a fight I rush in fast and start hitting assaults in the rear. The 2 SRM's are enough to bust open a lot of assaults and I work them with the small lasers while I wait for reloads. Works pretty well if you keep moving.

My 2 Mad Dog builds, are brawlers and exploiters. They are going to run hot as I expect to harass a target by engaging hard and breaking off to hard cover to cool and let my radar deprivation to drop locks. Basically, going for a high alpha build to drop the target ASAP when it's focused to attempt to roll a flank as fast as possible.

My issue is the following. I have 2 builds I'm debating on, but can't decide.

MDD-A One Shot Wonder
This build is pure short range. Radar Deprivation with Seismic Sensor lets me hug a wall or hard cover and locate a target after they pass an area. I might drop the idea on the Seismic for a 9x9 Cool shot though as I haven't unlocked Seismic yet, so its a toss up.

MDD-A Long mid setup

This one exchanges some heat sinks for a pair of ER LL for engaging targets at range before I close in for certain maps that require it. Problem is, both look good to me, so looking for some veteran comments on these 2 designs.

Well, as other people have told you, if you try those builds in combat, you're going to fry. Even if you take out the ER Larges in your second build, you're still down to 11 seconds time to overheat with a mastered 'mech. Your SRM alpha is powerful, but it's not going to reliably one-shot people, and you'll end up melting yourself down. For builds like these, I'd go with builds like these:
Short Range
ER With Benefits
Don't feel like you have to fill all your hardpoints to build your Clan 'mechs. That's often not true even of Inner Sphere designs, and Clantech builds are usually heat-limited (as opposed to space-limited and weight-limited builds more common to the Inner Sphere.)

[S 0 L E N Y A]

On a related note: I would ditch the SRMs on the Arctic Cheetah.
One of the greatest strengths of the ACH is its small profile (hit boxes).
When you put missile launchers on them they become incredibly easy to hit.

[dragnier1]

Boogie138, on 07 May 2016 - 02:18 PM, said:

On a related note: I would ditch the SRMs on the Arctic Cheetah.
One of the greatest strengths of the ACH is its small profile (hit boxes).
When you put missile launchers on them they become incredibly easy to hit.

Do they really change that much? They kind of look small to me still

[S 0 L E N Y A]

dragnier1, on 08 May 2016 - 12:14 AM, said:

Do they really change that much? They kind of look small to me still

They do. You are just begging to get your arms shot off quicker, which is inherently 1/3rd of your fire power gone.

and getting into Meta theory:

Any given weapon as at most 2 modules (AC2 being a family) you can use to buff it (range and cool down)

So the idea for the Arctic Cheetah (and a lot of other mechs as well) is just run 1 type of laser, this way you can have cool down and range boosted by modules. Plus a homoogenous weapons load out is easier to manage in game.

[Satan n stuff]

Azumazi, on 21 April 2016 - 04:28 AM, said:

MDD-A One Shot Wonder

MDD-A Long mid setup

Adjusted for viability:
MMD-A One Shot Wonder
Regular SRM6s and ER medium laserss will not let you one shot anything, so I switched them to SRM4s and small pulse lasers. Also I removed half a ton of ammo to add leg armor which you're going to need on a close range build.

MDD-A Long mid setup
I removed the SRMs because they're not going to do anything at the mech's intended range, you can't possibly fire all weapons reliably at any range and they're taking up tonnage that you could use for heat sinks. I switched the ER large lasers to large pulse lasers for better damage focus and added another ER medium laser. I also added a targeting computer MKII to extend your range a bit and increase effective damage against internal structure, I filled the remaining tonnage with heat sinks. Lastly I swapped the A sidetorso pods with the C pods for extra internal structure, you'll need that if you're going to snipe with lasers.

Edited by Satan n stuff, 09 May 2016 - 01:00 AM.