13 replies to this topic

[NighthawK1337]

Hello there, I'm a main Nova pilot so I thought I'd share some of the things I use on the Nova so that people who just bought it for the event to have an idea how to use it to a great extent.


Useful Omnipods breakdown:
Basically get this if you want to mix it up when you feel like changing play styles.

D variant RT and LT - Give 10 bonus armor, use this if you find losing STs quite often

Prime variant RT and LT - Give -4% energy heat generation per ST, use this when you're more comfortable with piloting the Nova and looking to increase your damage output before overheating.

Prime variant RA and LA - each arm provides 6 energy hardpoints and -2.5% ER laser heat reduction. This is what makes the Nova a good ERSL boat.

S variant RA and LA - each arm provides 3 energy hardpoints, -2.5% pulse laser heat generation and -2.5% energy heat generation. This works best with pulse lasers but you'd only be able to mount 6.

B variant RA - this arm provides 9 bonus armor, 10 bonus structure, +10% ballistic cooldown, +10% UAC velocity and -20% UAC Jam Chance. As you can see this arm is really good with UACs.

D variant LA - this arm provides 9 bonus armor and +12.5% to Ballistic velocity, range, and cooldown. Gives best performance when combined with the B variant RA.

A variant LT and RT - provides AMS hardpoints and 10% AMS rate of fire each. A variant LT also provides 1 energy hardpoint

C variant RT - provides +5% energy cooldown and an energy hardpoint. Best used in conjunction with A variant LT. Don't buy the B variant RT because it have no quirks and has the same hardpoint configuration as the C variant RT

A variant LA and RA - each arm provides only 1 energy hardpoint but also gives really good quirks, +9 armor, +7.5% ER PPC velocity and - 3% ER PPC heat generation.


Which CT to get:

I'd suggest that you get the S variant CT because most CTs are almost exactly the same and since you're not looking to use the 8 set bonus anyways the S variant CT will offer an extra AMS hardpoint and another 10% AMS rate of fire.



Playstyle:
Most effective Nova builds are short to medium range, you are slower than a Stormcrow but you have 5 Jump Jets that will help you climb more obstacles will make you more maneuverable than the Stormcrow in maps like Canyon Network, Viridian Bog and Grim Plexus. You'll also be able to Poptart better than most mechs because of your 5 Jump Jets. Always look to get some verticality when maneuvering, to get from cover to cover, and to get closer to the enemy to use your weapons. ALWAYS take the time to aim properly. When sheilding, always watch if your arms is about to go (Red armor preferably), then switch to the other side, this will help you keep most of your damage potential. In my experience I don't get legged quite a lot and since you have those Mega-man like arms you'll tend to lose your arms more often than your legs.


Builds:

12 ERSL
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...7557fc0713d57dc

This build is what you'll go for when you need the most sustained damage output. The Nova with 12 ERSL can down an Atlas in about 6-7, 6ERSL volleys if its allowed to do so which is quite fast since ERSLs only have 2.25 sec cooldown (about 6 seconds if you manage to put all the damage in the CT). The Prime STs and Arms provide -13% energy heat efficiency, coupled with an elited Nova and 24 total DHS, you'll be able to fire between 7-9, 6 ERSL volleys before overheating. That's roughly 210 to 270 damage before needing to cool off. You can replace the STs with the D variant if you feel that it's necessary.


12 ERSL + 3 AMS
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...e741f5130ca969b

This is my go to build for the Nova. With AMS overload and +30% AMS rate of fire, this almost guarantees that enemy LRMs will not work unless they have a significant number of carriers in which case you can rush them either way. This build shines in Public Queue and will work in FP Invasion to some extent. If you want to be a team player then use this. It will also free up a module slot since you won't need Radar Deprivation, I personally go with the Target Info Gathering so that you can easily pick off components, 75% targeting time reduction with both TC1 and CAP. You'll only be able to fire 5-6 6ERSL volleys but I think the utility it provides is worth it. Repeat after me: If I don't use AMS, I lose all rights to complain about LRMs.


All in - UAC/20
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...fa5615d3a46180e

Basically you will put all your eggs in one basket, or in this case your damage potential in one arm. The Quirks you get for Ballistic and UAC weapons makes this a decent UAC/20 carrier. The extra armor from both arms also help in shielding.


6 MPL
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b7581eb36958148

Like the first build except it has a lower beam duration and longer range. You have less DHS but the -18% total heat generation and higher cooldown makes heat difference between two builds negligible. Your damage output will also be lower but you'll also be at a less risk of being noticed since you're farther away and exposed for a shorter amount of time. Could also be used for poptarting.


2 ER PPC + TC5
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...d4562f46c449ff4

+45% ER PPC velocity. That's all you need to know to sell this build. You can downgrade the TC for more heatsinks if you prefer. This can poptart higher and better IMO than a 2 ER PPC Hunchback IIC-A since you have more Jump Jets and faster projectile but a little bit hotter, you'd still lose to hill hump though. Since you're a Nova, you'll also less likely be targeted than a Hunchback since you have a smaller stature. The mounts are really close to the cockpit and if you see the enemy you'll almost certainly be able to fire at them too.


Happy Hunting

Edited by NighthawK1337, 08 November 2016 - 11:55 PM.

[Kmieciu]

You forgot about the best Nova build for scouting: NVA-S 9xSPL

[aGentleWarrior]

i run 5mgs + 6ml...

but tell me one, you prefer to put 6 lasers in one arm and save the armor on the other arm (i do it that way), or do you prefer to split the lasers?

Edited by aGentleWarrior, 09 November 2016 - 12:12 AM.

[NighthawK1337]

Kmieciu, on 08 November 2016 - 11:47 PM, said:

You forgot about the best Nova build for scouting: NVA-S 9xSPL

I tried that too. In my experience it's quite redundant with the 6 MPL build. I find that Min-maxing with 12 ERSL is better since you have a bit more range and use all the quirks to the fullest.

[NighthawK1337]

aGentleWarrior, on 08 November 2016 - 11:59 PM, said:

i run 5mgs + 6ml...

but tell me one, you prefer to put 6 lasers in one arm and save the armor on the other arm (i do it that way), or do you prefer to split the lasers?

Running asymmetric is doable in the Nova since its got good torso twist range and speed. I prefer Symmetric builds but asymmetric is more efficient. Overall what it boils down to is can you shield like your life depends on it? because it kinda does.

[Kmieciu]

NighthawK1337, on 09 November 2016 - 12:01 AM, said:

I tried that too. In my experience it's quite redundant with the 6 MPL build. I find that Min-maxing with 12 ERSL is better since you have a bit more range and use all the quirks to the fullest.

C-SPLs are so much stronger than C-MPLs in a brawl.

If C-SPL and C-MPL were balanced you would see the equal number of 6xSPL Cheetahs and 3xMPL Cheetahs. The fact is, , you don't see any MPL Cheetahs.

C-MPL is 8 damage 6 heat, 1.33 damage per heat
For the same weight you can have 2xC-SPL = 12 damage 6 heat, 2 damage per heat (33% more efficient).

The extra range of C-MPL is useless in scouting mode. You might shoot one alpha before the enemy gets into C-SPL range.
If you try to poke and hide from range and don't share armor, your teammates will be killed in a 4vs3 brawl, and then the enemies will come for you.

And don't forget the 9xSPL Nova can shoot an alpha strike of 54 damage with only 8.9 heat penalty. That's more damage than 6xC-MPL (48).
On a normal map, alpha striking will bring you to 44%, so in fact you can alpha twice without any consequence. 54 damage with a burn time of 0.75s is truly deadly. Two strikes like this will leg or destroy a side torso of most medium mechs.

9xSPL Nova has so much DPS that ballistic and srm builds have a trouble keeping up with it.

Edited by Kmieciu, 09 November 2016 - 02:24 AM.

[NighthawK1337]

Kmieciu, on 09 November 2016 - 02:22 AM, said:

C-SPLs are so much stronger than C-MPLs in a brawl.

If C-SPL and C-MPL were balanced you would see the equal number of 6xSPL Cheetahs and 3xMPL Cheetahs. The fact is, , you don't see any MPL Cheetahs.

C-MPL is 8 damage 6 heat, 1.33 damage per heat
For the same weight you can have 2xC-SPL = 12 damage 6 heat, 2 damage per heat (33% more efficient).

The extra range of C-MPL is useless in scouting mode. You might shoot one alpha before the enemy gets into C-SPL range.
If you try to poke and hide from range and don't share armor, your teammates will be killed in a 4vs3 brawl, and then the enemies will come for you.

And don't forget the 9xSPL Nova can shoot an alpha strike of 54 damage with only 8.9 heat penalty. That's more damage than 6xC-MPL (48).
On a normal map, alpha striking will bring you to 44%, so in fact you can alpha twice without any consequence. 54 damage with a burn time of 0.75s is truly deadly. Two strikes like this will leg or destroy a side torso of most medium mechs.

9xSPL Nova has so much DPS that ballistic and srm builds have a trouble keeping up with it.

That's why I run 12 ERSLs for scouting, Symmetric. I've had more success with 6 MPLs in pugs, where brawling with that many players will tend to kill you faster, and peek-a-boo gameplay in general is more prevalent. I think it will also work the same in Invasion mode since its also peek-a-boo there. I like the ERSLs better to max out the DHS for sustained fire, .25 extra burn time is barely noticable and I'd rather have the extra cooling efficiency. 2 6ERSL volleys do 60 damage and will leg even heavies yet barely pushing past 30% heat capacity on neutral maps, and the quirks are too good to pass up for min-maxing, that ghost heat could be translated to extra 15 damage. 12 ERSLs put up too much damage that it can down assaults with ballistic builds too, but a lot more heat efficient.

I see quite a lot of 4 ERMed Cheetahs, does that count? I think they'd choose MPLs if they had the tonnage. Scouting isn't the only mode in FP or in the event, there's more than one way to build a Nova. For instance I'd argue that 2 ERPPC Novas are bad at scouting too so I don't run them, but I'd consider them for Invasion.

In conclusion, Pulse lasers in general are used for minimizing facetime, so I find that 6MPLs are better at that than 9SPLs if the goal is peek-a-boo because of the range, if brawling is the goal I'd go with 12 ERSLs for the heat efficiency.
I think SPLs are best for lights because they can close the distance and require max damage output for the minimum facetime.

Edited by NighthawK1337, 09 November 2016 - 03:27 AM.

[Kmieciu]

NighthawK1337, on 09 November 2016 - 03:04 AM, said:

12 ERSLs for the heat efficiency.

SPLs do more damage (6) for the same heat compared to ERSLs (5) . Therefore SPLs are more heat efficient.

Just compare those stats:
12 ERSL: 7.9 sustained DPS
9 SPL: 8.4 sustained DPS.

SPLs have 25% less face time than ERSL. (0.75 v 1 second burn duration).
Plus you can alpha 9 SPL within 0.75 seconds (8.9 points of extra heat) while shooting all 12 ERSL takes at least 1.51 second (you need to wait 0.51 second to avoid ghost heat). If you accidentally trigger ghost heat, you're cooked (53,5 points of heat penalty).

If you shield with one arm, you will be left with 6ERSL or 6 SPL.

Edited by Kmieciu, 09 November 2016 - 03:29 AM.

[Lily from animove]

You main NVA? why then S CT and not B? B is entirely superior to it.

also, AMS builds? seriiiiously? ESPECIALLY for this event thats a even worse choice than it woudl generally be, because vs clan you will mostly meet novas doing the events, which won't bring much lrm/srm. and Most event doing IS palyers will have crabs which won't bring ANY lrm/srm at all.

also UAC20 si a bad build dps are horrible

the 6MPL build is also not good, it simply lacks proper punch to alternates. That can be much better done even with CERSL or CSPL's because those opponents you will have to deal with in these situations are anyways those coming close. CMPL are a tonnage waste in mechs with weight issues since the delta gain from CERML or CSPL si simply not justifying the 2xtonnage spent for them.

2ERPPC +tc 5? why what for that is a lot wasted TC tonnage for hardly any gain, it is a funbuild if you want, tc 1 is enough, rets on cooling. 16DHS with 2ERPPC's make you way too low on DPS with this coolant and for the event it's not good because in scouting you need to strike hard and fast. Games are short there. And fast mechs will eat your lousy dps. especially since most maps procive a lot of cover. 2 ERPPC builds are great for matches with more people where you have a frotnlien to stay behind.

and sry, but assymetric builds with a a shield side will KILL YOU. decent opponents will use your weakness havign to expose a lot by simply going the lesser/non armed side.

cheetahs use ERMEDS because thy are fast enough to make use of the extra range and they usually don't go bawling. But in your comparable slow Nova MPL's make you just inefficient to other loadouts available. yes youc an do it in puglandia we even made lrm crows wreck people in scouting, but when you want to give people advices for an event give them something proper to play with that does not have to rely meeting derps on the enemy side.

Most reliable builds for NVA scouting are

12ERSL (but only SPL is usually better)

10SPL

6CERML 6ERSL (if you prefer some range)

one tc1 at max rest DHS.

Kmieciu, on 09 November 2016 - 03:26 AM, said:

SPLs do more damage (6) for the same heat compared to ERSLs (5) . Therefore SPLs are more heat efficient.

Just compare those stats:
12 ERSL: 7.9 sustained DPS
9 SPL: 8.4 sustained DPS.

SPLs have 25% less face time than ERSL. (0.75 v 1 second burn duration).
Plus you can alpha 9 SPL within 0.75 seconds (8.9 points of extra heat) while shooting all 12 ERSL takes at least 1.51 second (you need to wait 0.51 second to avoid ghost heat). If you accidentally trigger ghost heat, you're cooked (53,5 points of heat penalty).

If you shield with one arm, you will be left with 6ERSL or 6 SPL.

+ SPL's have better pinpoint damage. BUT the 12 ERSL will weight 6tonnage vs 9SPL's being 9 tonnage so you can get an extra 3 DHS form that. so the ERPL build is better in longer battles. But usually scouting doesn't last that long.

Edited by Lily from animove, 09 November 2016 - 04:13 AM.

[NighthawK1337]

Kmieciu, on 09 November 2016 - 03:26 AM, said:

SPLs do more damage (6) for the same heat compared to ERSLs (5) . Therefore SPLs are more heat efficient.

Just compare those stats:
12 ERSL: 7.9 sustained DPS
9 SPL: 8.4 sustained DPS.

SPLs have 25% less face time than ERSL. (0.75 v 1 second burn duration).
Plus you can alpha 9 SPL within 0.75 seconds (8.9 points of extra heat) while shooting all 12 ERSL takes at least 1.51 second (you need to wait 0.51 second to avoid ghost heat). If you accidentally trigger ghost heat, you're cooked (53,5 points of heat penalty).

If you shield with one arm, you will be left with 6ERSL or 6 SPL.

What if the other arm goes? 12 ERSLs are symmetric so either way, you get 6 when an ST blows up while you can also get 3 SPLs.

Heat efficiency is not just in the weapons, its also in the number of equipped heat sinks and max sustained DPS. You cool down faster with more DHS, 4.7 vs 4.2 heat dissipation, max DPS 18.46, vs 18, overall if you fire until you hit critical heat, you'd get better results with the 12 ERSL, on top of the quirks, wait, then back to the fight faster. Also smurfy's sustained DPS for 12 ERSL is assuming you fire everything without ghost heat, when staggered its sustained,

(not counting elite skills yet since the results will be the same)

Heat assuming you avoid ghost heat
(((3*6) - .5*4.71) +(3*6))) = 33.645

Seconds for heat neutrality
33.645/4.71 = 7.14 seconds

DPS calculation
60dmg/7.14 seconds = 8.4 dps


lets do it for 9spls

Heat assuming you avoid ghost heat
((6*3)-(.5*4.2) + 3*3) = 24.9

Seconds for heat neutrality
24.9/4.2 = 5.928

DPS
54/5.928 = 9.1


Time to full heat
9spl
62.10/9 HPS = 6.9

12 ERSL
65.4/11.04 = 5.92

Full heat to heat neutral calculations
9SPLs
62.10/4.2 = 14.78 seconds

12 ERSL
65.4/4.71 = 13.88 seconds

More DHS does matter at min maxing, except you get better range, faster heat dissipation, less chance of having 1/3 of your firepower, so yeah better sustained fire. With 12 ERSLs you can get to critical heat, cool off, then fire again faster.

I don't trigger ghost heat myself, and I never had a problem with it. Might not be the same with everyone, People who pilot Novas generally know that Alphas are generally a bad idea.

Overall does it matter? 1 or 2 points are a drop in the bucket, what it boils down to is range vs burn time since most heat and damage calculations comes so close. For me .25 is almost negligible, but that 165 vs 200 range is the difference between a UAV kill, or extra damage at above optimal range to get a kill.

Edited by NighthawK1337, 09 November 2016 - 04:41 AM.

[NighthawK1337]

Lily from animove, on 09 November 2016 - 03:31 AM, said:

You Mian NVA? why then S CT and not B? B is entirely superior to it. also, AMS builds? seriiiiously? ESPECIALLY for this event thats a even worse choice than it woudl generally be, because vs clan you will mostly meet novas doing the events, which won't bring much lrm/srm. and Most event doing IS palyers will have crabs which won't bring ANY lrm/srm at all. also UAC20 si a bad build dps are horrible the 6MPL build is also not good, it simply lacks proper punch to alternates. That can be much better done even with CERSL or CSPL's because those opponents you will have to deal with in these situations are anyways those coming close. CMPL are a tonnage waste in mechs with weight issues since the delta gain from CERML or CSPL si simply not justifying the 2xtonnage spent for them. 2ERPPC +tc 5? why what for that is a lot wasted TC tonnage for hardly any gain, it is a funbuild if you want, tc 1 is enough, rets on cooling. 16DHS with 2ERPPC's make you way too low on DPS with this coolant and for the event it's not good because in scouting you need to strike hard and fast. Games are short there. And fast mechs will eat your lousy dps. especially since most maps procive a lot of cover. 2 ERPPC builds are great for matches with more people where you have a frotnlien to stay behind. and sry, but assymetric builds with a a shield side will KILL YOU. decent opponents will use your weakness havign to expose a lot by simply going the lesser/non armed side. cheetahs use ERMEDS because thy are fast enough to make use of the extra range and they usually don't go bawling. But in your comparable slow Nova MPL's make you just inefficient to other loadouts available. yes youc an do it in puglandia we even made lrm crows wreck people in scouting, but when you want to give people advices for an event give them something proper to play with that does not have to rely meeting derps on the enemy side. Most reliable builds for NVA scouting are 12ERSL (but only SPL is usually better) 10SPL 6CERML 6ERSL (if you prefer some range) one tc1 at max rest DHS. + SPL's have better pinpoint damage. BUT the 12 ERSL will weight 6tonnage vs 9SPL's being 9 tonnage so you can get an extra 3 DHS form that. so the ERPL build is better in longer battles. But usually scouting doesn't last that long.

AMS for PUGs, and Invasion. LRMs in Invasions are actually a thing even if people don't boat them and people aren't gonna sell their Novas after the event.

As for 2 ERPPCs, again, not only for scouting. For scouting I'd go with you on the 12 ERSLs.
You got me on the TC5, I did say that you can trade it for heatsinks. Generally more velocity is good because it makes people hit more with PPCs.

6 MPLs for peek-a-boo is surprisingly good, with JJs, its like poptart but with more pinpoint and more heat efficiency. 6 ERMeds would give you more heatsinks, but the burn time is too long for poptarting and will generally make people notice you, which is opposite of what you want in Peek-a-boo Warriors Online.

The B arm has + 20 total HP and D torsos has +10 HP, I've had successes even in scouting with a UAC/20 Nova, I dunno maybe I just haven't met T1 players or the quirks are doing their jobs. The range bonus and velocity bonus works really good. No overheating, 10 DPS without cooldown quirks yet(assuming no jams), about 400m range. I'd say its ok.

Difference B vs S Center Torso

S
1 AMS hardpoint
+10% ams fire rate

B
+5% Acc and Decc quirks
+9% Torso degree

Structure quirks are the same and both had Acc and Decc quirks anyway.
I'd rate that extra hardpoint quite high for the versatility as it can run 1 more build than the B could.

Edited by NighthawK1337, 09 November 2016 - 04:30 AM.

[Lily from animove]

NighthawK1337, on 09 November 2016 - 04:14 AM, said:

AMS for PUGs, and Invasion. LRMs in Invasions are actually a thing even if people don't boat them and people aren't gonna sell their Novas after the event.

As for 2 ERPPCs, again, not only for scouting. For scouting I'd go with you on the 12 ERSLs.
You got me on the TC5, I did say that you can trade it for heatsinks. Generally more velocity is good because it makes people hit more with PPCs.

6 MPLs for peek-a-boo is surprisingly good, with JJs, its like poptart but with more pinpoint and more heat efficiency. 6 ERMeds would give you more heatsinks, but the burn time is too long for poptarting and will generally make people notice you, which is opposite of what you want in Peek-a-boo Warriors Online.

The B arm has + 20 total HP and D torsos has +10 HP, I've had successes even in scouting with a UAC/20 Nova, I dunno maybe I just haven't met T1 players or the quirks are doing their jobs. The range bonus and velocity bonus works really good.

if you meat good layers, they don't shoot your arm at all. they will CT you or shoot the side wiht the weapon. Thats how you distinguish the random crowd form the good players.

if I read the event conditions right you do not have to bring Nova's to Invation related events, thats just for scouting. So people will go with whatever thy usually go.

also poptrading works way better with other stuff than 6MPL. And 6MPL is rather "short" so thats a bad ppoptard build at all, as the danger of getting pushed is still hgh and then you don't have much else to go with. And it is hardly more heat efficient when you count in the DHS you would get. So the only smaller tradeoff is the lower burn duration.

it would be much better to run a 2x5 CERML for poking as this allows you to be less situational for just one side and allows you to push out more damage in situations allowing you to fully fire. and ther eis many maps where you cannot poke in many typical battelpoints with the MPL for their too short range. 6CMPL poking can be doen better with other mechs and less horrible profile.

[NighthawK1337]

Lily from animove, on 09 November 2016 - 04:37 AM, said:

if you meat good layers, they don't shoot your arm at all. they will CT you or shoot the side wiht the weapon. Thats how you distinguish the random crowd form the good players.

if I read the event conditions right you do not have to bring Nova's to Invation related events, thats just for scouting. So people will go with whatever thy usually go.

also poptrading works way better with other stuff than 6MPL. And 6MPL is rather "short" so thats a bad ppoptard build at all, as the danger of getting pushed is still hgh and then you don't have much else to go with. And it is hardly more heat efficient when you count in the DHS you would get. So the only smaller tradeoff is the lower burn duration.

it would be much better to run a 2x5 CERML for poking as this allows you to be less situational for just one side and allows you to push out more damage in situations allowing you to fully fire. and ther eis many maps where you cannot poke in many typical battelpoints with the MPL for their too short range. 6CMPL poking can be doen better with other mechs and less horrible profile.

Event page reads:
In Faction Play (Scouting or Invasion)
Get 6 kills or kmdds in a Nova

Faction Play (Scouting Mode only)
Play at least 4 Scouting matches...... (Not necessarily in a Nova)

Faction Play (Invasion Mode only)
Play at least 6 Invasion matches.....(Not necessarily in a Nova)

You need to get a kill in a Nova to get the Warhorn and Standing Item, Invasion or Scouting counts.

Any mech dies when you shoot their CT, I find that the Nova is good at shielding because it has big paddle like arms and the ST covers the CT in the side like the Stalker or the Catapult or the TBR.

Yes there are many other mechs better than the Nova at it, but then why bother with the Nova to begin with? I love the Nova, If I want to win that badly I'd take out my HBK-IIC or TBR. The point of the post was builds that the Nova aren't terribad at, like the 14 Flamer Nova or 14 TAG Nova. To give people who bought the Nova for the event an idea of stuff that would actually work.

Edited by NighthawK1337, 09 November 2016 - 04:53 AM.

[Lily from animove]

NighthawK1337, on 09 November 2016 - 04:50 AM, said:

Event page reads:
In Faction Play (Scouting or Invasion)
Get 6 kills or kmdds in a Nova

Faction Play (Scouting Mode only)
Play at least 4 Scouting matches...... (Not necessarily in a Nova)

Faction Play (Invasion Mode only)
Play at least 6 Invasion matches.....(Not necessarily in a Nova)

You need to get a kill in a Nova to get the Warhorn and Standing Item, Invasion or Scouting counts.

Any mech dies when you shoot their CT, I find that the Nova is good at shielding because it has big paddle like arms and the ST covers the CT in the side like the Stalker or the Catapult or the TBR.

Yes there are many other mechs better than the Nova at it, but then why bother with the Nova to begin with? I love the Nova, If I want to win that badly I'd take out my HBK-IIC or TBR. The point of the post was builds that the Nova aren't terribad at, like the 14 Flamer Nova or 14 TAG Nova. To give people who bought the Nova for the event an idea of stuff that would actually work.

Nova cannot shield CT thats a lie workign vs bad players. good players will and can hit your CT.

About the event: read what the first sentence says:

Quote

This Event features a Faction Play Personal Challenge for the Nova or Crab chassis, along with two other Faction Play Personal Challenges which can be achieved in any 'Mech.

then followed by the challanges:

Quote

Get 6 Kills or KMDD (any combination) in a Nova
Get 6 Kills or KMDD (any combination) in a Crab

theres 7days with 4x scouting requirement, there is no reason why someone familiar with other mechs would ahve to bring a nova to an invasion, Scoutings go faster and are shorter. Someoen needing help or advice doesn't and shouldn't for the event even bring a Nova to invasion. all you need is 6puny KMDD's in scouting which means if you bring 12SPL you just spamfire one mech and stay int he team and mostlikely you will gte the KMDD for this mech when it dies. Trying to get your 6KMDD's in invasions is the leats needed r efficient way for peopel unfamiliar with novas. And PPC's are so low DPS they will msotlikely not net you any KMDD's anyways. go for a ST and you will et your KMDD if the mech dies because then you also get the damage for the arm flying off.