8 replies to this topic

[blighty]

The Cicada 2B can be one of the most dominant mechs on the battlefield. This build is meant for new and old players alike. With the right understanding of her quirks and hitboxes, as well as the fighting style she excels at, you have one of the highest sustained dps mechs in the game. All from a measly 40 tons

All up I think this build costs around 4.5 million, without modules. The engine will set you back an extra 4.9 million, but its one of the most popular ones to buy, so you will find it being useful in many mechs. To fully unlock her you will need to buy another 2 chassis (around 3 mill each), but this wont be necessary once the skill changes arrive.

First, the build.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...d14b5430a90d570

We take a fairly standard 5 medium pulse set-up. 1 in the CT, and 2 in each arm - giving some amazing vertical (but not horizontal) angles. This gives you a 30 point alpha, and as its pulse you can usually do all of that damage to a single area.

We use an XL300 for its sweet spot for tonnage and power, providing 121.5 kph, or 130.6 when speed tweaked. This is the kind of speed that gets you out of trouble and helps spread damage across your mech.

For upgrades, we take them all except ARTEMIS missile guidance (clearly). So you'll need to upgrade to Double Heatsinks, Ferro Fibrous Armor, and of course the essential Endo-Steel Structure.

Now for the first important part. We are going to place an extra 6 double heatsinks in this mech. 2 in each arm, and 2 in her engine. This only leaves you a measly 6.6 tons, or 232 points of armor.

However for the cicada (and a lot of other mechs) its where we put this armor that makes the biggest difference.

2 points go into the head - heads are hit rarely - particularly the cicadas, and until system componants are part of the destructable items in the game, you can feel confident running with this.

Max RT, CT, and LT. I always prefer to put the vast amount of its armor in the front because its fairly difficult to hit the rear torsos on fast mech, and the cicada can torso twist enough to be facing targets even when running away. My splits are 35/5 for L/R torso's, and 40/8 for the CT. This gives you a very decent front defence from high value alphas of assault and heavys.

The legs get almost max, 37 points each.

For the arms, after a lot of testing I've settled on 14 points. '14!, but my weapons are all in the arms!' you say. Well yes, however the cicadas arms rarely take hits because her hitboxes are tiny and most of the damage goes to the torso's. On top of that, she has wonderful structure quirks (as most lighter mechs do), which give you a lot of absorption. You will remember that we also put 2 heatsinks in each arm, which drastically improves the chances that you wont have your weapons destroyed if a crit is rolled.

Now onto the playstyle

You are a skirmisher. This means that you hunt the battlefield making lightning attacks and only staying so long as you are not being targeted. This does not mean you roam the battlefield on your own, because you don't. Stick with your main group.

By staying mobile and near your group, take the opportunity to reposition often. If your attack vector doesn't feel right, back out and swing around from another angle. When you see mechs engaged, that is your time to strike.

This mech can pop in and out of cover very quickly (not usually a preferred tactic, but it has its merits in a mech like this), and your pulse lasers are very quick to do damage, so you have a great deal of control of how long you stay in front of the enemy. You can do a truckload of damage over a very short amount of time because of a 25 percent cooldown on your medium pulse lasers, and a 20 percent reduction in heat generation. This means that if you manage to get in a position where you are not being targeted straight away, you can deal very large amounts of damage within a few seconds, usually to the same area. When firing on a target like this, I prefer to mostly just amble back and forth to make yourself a harder target without disrupting your aim. With the heat reduction and cooldown, if you can stay targeted on a mech for more than a few seconds, they start to get shredded, you you can fire those babies in full alpha all day long. (well not all day, but a lot, ok.)

Weaknesses. You must understand these.
The Cicada 2B is not built for taking on light mechs, her arms can only go up and down, so in close battles with lights you find it much more difficult to get hits. Never fight lights alone.

You have very little protection in the rear, so keep turning your torso to face (even a little) the enemy (or missiles) when running away (cicadas can almost turn fully backwards, but not quite).

Good luck mechwarrior!

[Curccu]

It would be more new player friendly with 1 less heatsink and almost maxed armor IMO. dual PPC/Gauss aimed to center mass can 1-shot headshot your build.

[TercieI]

Here is a much better version of the build. You are making terrible trades for the last DHS and you have too much back armor. I'd consider dropping it further on the version I posted, but 8 RCT on a pseudo-light is ridiculous. And stripping the arms where your guns are...SMH.

Edited by TercieI, 19 March 2017 - 06:58 AM.

[blighty]

Curccu, on 19 March 2017 - 06:30 AM, said:

It would be more new player friendly with 1 less heatsink and almost maxed armor IMO. dual PPC/Gauss aimed to center mass can 1-shot headshot your build.

TercieI, on 19 March 2017 - 06:58 AM, said:

Here is a much better version of the build. You are making terrible trades for the last DHS and you have too much back armor. I'd consider dropping it further on the version I posted, but 8 RCT on a pseudo-light is ridiculous. And stripping the arms where your guns are...SMH.

I welcome all feedback. If through testing you find that you are losing arms or the head, please feel free to drop the extra heatsink.

I never do, and find that through thorough playtesting that 14 points on the arms is all that you need (same with the head). This allows an extra heatsink which is a valuable addition when it comes with no real loss.

I'd recommend that anyone who is up for the challenge, test this on 10 drops rather than take my word (or others) for it.

[TercieI]

blighty, on 19 March 2017 - 05:03 PM, said:

I welcome all feedback. If through testing you find that you are losing arms or the head, please feel free to drop the extra heatsink.

I never do, and find that through thorough playtesting that 14 points on the arms is all that you need (same with the head). This allows an extra heatsink which is a valuable addition when it comes with no real loss.

I'd recommend that anyone who is up for the challenge, test this on 10 drops rather than take my word (or others) for it.

I checked your stats. They're respectable...in Season 9...and nonexistent before that. I'm guessing you're fairly new. I'm not. I'm a top tier competitive light pilot and I know of what I speak. The CDA-2B is one of my all-time favorite rides (CDAs are basically lights) and I assure you that last DHS ain't worth making your arms more vulnerable. If you're twisting and moving, you will lose them anyway before you die, don't make it easier on your opponents.

[blighty]

TercieI, on 19 March 2017 - 05:27 PM, said:

I checked your stats. They're respectable...in Season 9...and nonexistent before that. I'm guessing you're fairly new. I'm not. I'm a top tier competitive light pilot and I know of what I speak. The CDA-2B is one of my all-time favorite rides (CDAs are basically lights) and I assure you that last DHS ain't worth making your arms more vulnerable. If you're twisting and moving, you will lose them anyway before you die, don't make it easier on your opponents.

Well that's very kind of you to say. I've played for a bit. I think I'm sitting around 3500 matches (which includes ~1500 from archived stats). I don't play consistently, and I've just spent 4 months in the UK for work, so I probably dont show up I guess. If your interested, I've played a total of 717 matches in the Cicada 2B, going at an average of 401.8 damage per round. I think that stacks up to most.

I'm no light player though, and I certainly respect your comments as you clearly take the game quite seriously and it takes a fair amount of dedication to play top tier competitive anything (I should know, competed in Quake 3 at a high level and those 6 hours per day sessions are taxing).

I do recommend that you give it a go still, I guarantee that you will be happily surprised.

Edited by blighty, 20 March 2017 - 01:53 AM.

[Yiryi-Sa]

Even in Quick Play, some players will notice the weak spot in your armor distribution. They'll take advantage of that opportunity. It is best to drop one less heat sink in favor of more armor.

[blighty]

Yiryi-Sa, on 20 March 2017 - 10:44 AM, said:

Even in Quick Play, some players will notice the weak spot in your armor distribution. They'll take advantage of that opportunity. It is best to drop one less heat sink in favor of more armor.

Try it out. I keep saying it, but this is based on playtesting. I could post plenty of wonderful games, but I would rather you play it yourself.

[TercieI]

blighty, on 21 March 2017 - 03:01 AM, said:

Try it out. I keep saying it, but this is based on playtesting. I could post plenty of wonderful games, but I would rather you play it yourself.

I'm glad it works for you. For my part, I have plenty of miles on my build and have never found it hot enough to really want to shoehorn another DHS in there. Also playtesting.