13 replies to this topic

[Snazzy Dragon]

Picked these up while they were on sale. Love the Marauder and Marauder IIC and I was waiting for another hero + MC bonus sale to get it. Picked the Black Widow up because I hear nothing but praises for it and the Warhammer 6R, which I own and enjoy immensely.

What are your top fits for these mechs? I'm always a little wary when it comes to outfitting IS mechs because of engine costs.

[RestosIII]

Back before I went to the realm of only lore builds, I mostly ran the 6 MLas+AC/20 Bounty Hunter setup. Worked quite well IMHO. Sometimes I think about going and loading it up again, just for old times sake. But the pull of lore builds are too great.

Edited by RestosIII, 26 December 2016 - 03:54 PM.

[Y E O N N E]

Snazzy Dragon, on 26 December 2016 - 03:52 PM, said:

Picked these up while they were on sale. Love the Marauder and Marauder IIC and I was waiting for another hero + MC bonus sale to get it. Picked the Black Widow up because I hear nothing but praises for it and the Warhammer 6R, which I own and enjoy immensely.

What are your top fits for these mechs? I'm always a little wary when it comes to outfitting IS mechs because of engine costs.

ez

Bounty Hunter II

That's what I use; don't let the ghost heat scare you, it runs pretty chill. You can also drop the case, swap to an AC/20, and add another half-ton of ammo if that's your thing. Then there are also the LPL+ML combo builds. Those are all pretty good, if somewhat boring.

You can also build 2x LPL + 5x MPL on an XL300. Nobody ever seems to be able to pop the STs on this thing.

[Escef]

Most people run the Widow with 2xAC5/2xUAC5, or quad AC5s. Those builds tend to shred people. I run the Widow with 4xLPL/4xMG and a 325XL, fairly fast and can lay down a lot of hurt.

The Whammy 6R I usually run with is 2xLPL, 4xML, and an LRM10 (just to give it something to do before engaging up close) with the stock standard 280 engine. My secondary 6R I never used much, 2xPPC/2xAC5 with... I think it was a 300XL. It's ok, and I wager there are plenty of folks more used to PPCs and AC5s than I am that could get great results from the build.

The Bounty Hunter II... Eh... I've mastered it out, but I'm just not friends with it. The low engine cap really hurts it, IMO. I think I've got it with a Gauss and a bunch of MLs right now. The build I tend to use on my 5M is an AC20 and a bunch of MLs, which might work on the BH2 (honestly tried the 5M with a 300 and beefier lasers at first, but I found the lack of speed hampered its performance, and cut the lasers down and dropped in a 325).

[Snazzy Dragon]

I keep getting brutally reminded of why I hate piloting IS XL mechs in general; anyone with half decent aim can hit a side torso and anyone with half a grain of patience will hold their fire and hit the side torso you've twisted away anyway.

Edited by Snazzy Dragon, 26 December 2016 - 07:28 PM.

[Y E O N N E]

Snazzy Dragon, on 26 December 2016 - 07:28 PM, said:

I keep getting brutally reminded of why I hate piloting IS XL mechs in general; anyone with half decent aim can hit a side torso and anyone with half a grain of patience will hold their fire and hit the side torso you've twisted away anyway.

Front forward!

The XL pulse build should be brutal enough to put anything short of a Banshee or Mauler on the defensive. But I prefer the STD builds just for the range.

[Snazzy Dragon]

Yeonne Greene, on 26 December 2016 - 07:33 PM, said:

Front forward!

The XL pulse build should be brutal enough to put anything short of a Banshee or Mauler on the defensive. But I prefer the STD builds just for the range.

When you're fresh, sure! But we have 12v12 so trading one mech for your own is nice and all, but it's rather difficult to trade half a mech leftover for another one or two with an IS XL.

[RestosIII]

Snazzy Dragon, on 26 December 2016 - 07:35 PM, said:

When you're fresh, sure! But we have 12v12 so trading one mech for your own is nice and all, but it's rather difficult to trade half a mech leftover for another one or two with an IS XL.

Pssst. I'll probably get a lot of flak for this, but don't use XL's on Marauders. I only ran XL on a single marauder, and that was one I had setup for long range engagements with LL's and LRMs. STD 300 is your baby, treasure it. And always, always do the nose waggle!

[Snazzy Dragon]

RestosIII, on 26 December 2016 - 07:40 PM, said:

Pssst. I'll probably get a lot of flak for this, but don't use XL's on Marauders. I only ran XL on a single marauder, and that was one I had setup for long range engagements with LL's and LRMs. STD 300 is your baby, treasure it. And always, always do the nose waggle!

Sorry, was playing black widow, not my marauder. I would never XL a marauder unless it's clan XL or there's some sort of one shot build you can do with an XL, which there isn't.

Edited by Snazzy Dragon, 26 December 2016 - 07:43 PM.

[RestosIII]

Snazzy Dragon, on 26 December 2016 - 07:43 PM, said:

Sorry, was playing black widow, not my marauder

Ah. Well, don't own the Black Widow myself, but (Even more flak for this one), I hated XL builds for the Warhammer as well. I always just made do with STD engines, again, outside of LRM builds.

[Escef]

RestosIII, on 26 December 2016 - 07:40 PM, said:

Pssst. I'll probably get a lot of flak for this, but don't use XL's on Marauders. I only ran XL on a single marauder, and that was one I had setup for long range engagements with LL's and LRMs. STD 300 is your baby, treasure it. And always, always do the nose waggle!

Not going to give you flak for your preference, but I will disagree.

XL on a Marauder can and does work. Your front profile is narrow enough that you can do some respectable face tanking even with an XL, and simply moving around like you would in a normal brawl will spread the damage around in such a way that you put almost no effort into torso rolling. However, if your engine is anything less than a 325, don't bother. In fact, just straight up go for a 350XL, it works wonders.

That said, BH2 has an engine cap of 300. Just don't XL the thing, the speed to fragility trade is not in your favor.

EDIT: As for the Warhammer, don't XL unless you are going for at least a 325. Speed buys enough survivability to offset the durability hit. Hell, my favorite Whammy is a 325XL, 2xLPL, 4xML, and 3xSRM4. Capable of swooping in, laying down some hurt, and moving to cover.

Edited by Escef, 26 December 2016 - 07:48 PM.

[RestosIII]

Escef, on 26 December 2016 - 07:45 PM, said:

However, if your engine is anything less than a 325, don't bother. In fact, just straight up go for a 350XL, it works wonders.

See, I never took a Marauder with anything higher than a 320 engine. Always preferred guns, armor, and ammo over the mobility. But I piloted the thing as a pocket assault, so... 'shrugs'

[LT. HARDCASE]

These is the best STD engine dakka builds, for the Black Widow:

4x AC5

3x UAC5

As you can see, you sacrifice ammo for survivability. You don't take any long range potshots with these builds.

With Warhammers, I only run XLs in the laser vomit builds, which require many tons dedicated to heatsinks.

Edited by LT. HARDCASE, 26 December 2016 - 08:03 PM.

[Y E O N N E]

Snazzy Dragon, on 26 December 2016 - 07:35 PM, said:

When you're fresh, sure! But we have 12v12 so trading one mech for your own is nice and all, but it's rather difficult to trade half a mech leftover for another one or two with an IS XL.

I frequently find myself stripped all over and missing arms with all three torso parts ready to pop before somebody finally takes my XL out in the Marauder. I don't lose much. And yes, even the 300-size engine. The trick is to front-load your damage as much as possible so you can spend most of your time moving and jiggling to spread the damage. That's why the pulse lasers work on the BH2. On the other variants, I'm using PPCs and ACs; nothing with a longer burn than an LPL when I'm running XL, and nothing slower than an XL 325.

It is honestly impressive how much punishment the Marauder can take with an isXL.