32 replies to this topic

[Roughneck45]

Don't XL your king crab.

You'll have a bad time, and whoever is shooting you will have a good time.

Edited by Roughneck45, 21 February 2017 - 12:45 PM.

[Neput Z34]

Gentlemen, you are overthinking it.

If you wish to drive a King Crab with a Standard Engine, fit a STD 325 at a minimum.
Standard 350 is preferred, but it limits your weapons payload. Weapons payload and speed of STD 350 KGC ~ Weapons payload and speed of STD 300 STK

If you wish to drive it with Extra Light engine, fit an XL 350 or larger, otherwise don't bother with XL.
Be aware that once people see your load out (2 Gauss + 3 LPL or something along those lines), they might go for an "XL" check.

just my 2¢

[DeeHawk]

I run a face-off long range build with 6x AC2. Tier 2.

The KGC is horrible at torso twisting/spreading damage, which (I guess) is why it excels at this:

With constant facing the enemy, people will be uninclined to take your side torso. The massive CT simply eats majority of the hits.

In the many hundreds of games played (This is my fav mech), it's rare that I die to losing an XL-equipped Side Torso.
Quite often tho, I experience getting CT cored with both of my side torsos exposed. But in the end it mostly comes down to a CT kill.

I'd imagine I have a rate of 1 in 20 deaths being side torso, and only half of those deaths could have been avoided by STD (since my CT is cored and red half the time when this happens)

And to add to OP's point: I can actually follow the team around, and make flanks, instead of holding hands with an overequipped Dire Whale in the far back row. This boost your survivability by unfathomable amounts.

Finally, I do believe that I will meet more XL checkers in T1, but then again, the tier compositions of the matchmaker shouldn't change much when I 'ding'.

[Mercworks]

No. Just. No. The King Crab's back is a LRM magnet, and it's going to take a beating in any engagement as it is a highly targeted mech. What you gain is not nearly worth the increased vulnerability.

[Sunstruck]

I run XL 325 and XL350s in my King Crabs, and 99% of the time I die from my CT getting cored out. So it really isn't a big deal about using an XL vs a standard in it.

The arms rarely get blown off on a crab so use it to store ammo you can't fit in the legs.

[The Lobsters]

I never could get any love for the King Crab until I saw that it was basically a big turret on legs. Now I strip the arms and focus my build around the torsos, which are still decent and deadly. That saved tonnage now goes into engine size and heat sinks. The arms just look like big earrings now.

[The6thMessenger]

The Lobsters, on 27 February 2017 - 05:50 PM, said:

I never could get any love for the King Crab until I saw that it was basically a big turret on legs. Now I strip the arms and focus my build around the torsos, which are still decent and deadly. That saved tonnage now goes into engine size and heat sinks. The arms just look like big earrings now.

HERESY!

Edited by The6thMessenger, 27 February 2017 - 07:13 PM.

[justcallme A S H]

Who puts a STD300 into a KGC? XL is a pure glass cannon as well... Crazy stuff.
Between 325 and 350 is no problem. 340 usually sits fine, and that is plenty.

[The Lobsters]

The6thMessenger, on 27 February 2017 - 07:11 PM, said:

HERESY!

Hehe

and this isn't even the first time I've been accused of mech apostasy this week. I'm still in the stocks for suggesting that I dropped to an xl170 and fitted ams to my Locust.

KJC 0000 3 x large laser, 4 x lrm 10 with tag and artemis, std 340 (mid range domination, NOT lrm king crab)

KJC 000B 3 x large pulse, 3 x srm 6 with artemis, std 360 (72 pt alpha yo!)

KJC 000 2 x ppc, ac20, 2 x srm, std 340, heatsinks vs engine size to taste. (ok, yes, I'm using one arm)



But....but..... Lobsters, I can get bigger load outs on smaller mechs than the King Crab.....why?

Because you have a decent working loadout with massive armour, and now on an unusually fast KJC that can hill hump for days.


Honestly though, once I ditched the arms for walking turret glory it became a mech I could get behind.

[Gaussfather]

My 360xl King Crab with 2AC/20s and 2LPLs is a blast to play. No pun intended. The Arms on the King Crab absorb alot of damage so unless a mech gets behind me the survival rate for my XL King Crabs is not much worse than when I run a STD. The King Crab is somehow more XL friendly than I imagined. Not sure why but maybe because everyone aims at the head when its face on and from the sides the arms and legs take a lot of the damage...

Now, that's for quick drop... if its faction play then use a STD engine... you want the extra durability and ability to tank as much damage as possible for the team.