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I Need Help Making A Deck...


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#1 sgtarkeus

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Posted 24 May 2017 - 01:54 PM

I've been playing this game off and on for a few years now. I started with a Timberwolf Prime back in the fall 2014 (I think, it was a trial mech at the time) Liked it enough to buy it with my cadet bonus and a few games. Got some friends to play and they liked IS tech and I decided to sell my TBR-Prime for a CRB-27B. Never regretted it once. It turns out I really liked the IS tech and mechs. So fast forward to present, I've got four mechs to my name a CRB-27B, an ON1-K, a CP-11-A and I just picked up a LCT-1V last night.

My Crab is mastered, the other three are about halfway there, but I perform fairly well in QP dealing around an average of 450-500 damage a match in my ON1-K and sometimes my CP-11-A. In my crab, I can pull closer to 700 damage a match.

My mechs are built as follows:
CRB-27B: 3xERLL, 1xML, STD250
ON1-K: AC20, 2xSRM4, 4xML, STD300
CP-11-A: Gauss, 2xML, SRM4, LRM15, STD325
LCT-1V: 4xMG, ML, STD160 - I'm working on getting an XL190 and upgrading the ML to an MPL.

By my count, this puts me a 30 tons under max drop tonnage. Would it be better to keep my Locust benched for FP and grab something that is 50 tons?

I've tried various builds in my Cyclops and I can't quite decide if I like this or not. I'm terrible with the double (U)AC5 builds.

#2 UrbanTarget

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Posted 24 May 2017 - 02:07 PM

rule of thumb is to always fill your tonnage unless you have specific mechs for a specific drop that merits lower tonnage.

If you can afford it, the IS standard seems to be 3 Heavies and a Medium, but faction play has a lot of facets you have to consider where it makes sense to have Range Decks, Brawley decks, decks with one or 2 lights in it (conquest and perhaps Domination)...

I say all this to warn you of the rabbit hole you are going down by investing time in FP. Do what you can now, but look at what others are dropping in to consider when buying new mechs... Find a group/unit to join that you get along with. Don't boat LRMs solo...

Finally, try to have fun. you may face a lot premades and it is up to you to make it fun if your team is getting clubbed. We've all been there, you slog through it till you have the mechs/knowledge/skills/team to return the favor...

#3 LordLeto

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Posted 25 May 2017 - 06:16 AM

Check out the RKA decks in the FRR boards:

https://mwomercs.com...ck-composition/

Those are still a good starting point even though they were put out before the skill tree and likely won't be updated till after new tech drops.

The grasshopper deck is the go to deck as they came thru the skill tree changes unscathed for the most part. Warhammets not so much. Though you can double or triple up on variants with the death of the rule of three.

#4 justcallme A S H

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Posted 25 May 2017 - 06:35 AM

There is zero synergy in your deck.

1. All mixed ranges and far too hot.

2. That crab build will be horrific as it's too slow/hot. If you must run ERL then THIS is how you must run it

3. Cyclops with LRM, no. CASE for Gauss ammo, no. Not required. Forget LRMs, worst weapon.

4. Locust build is too slow and just down right useless in all honesty.


To be blunt/frank - go read some threads about builds. There are PLENTY. Your builds are T5 builds where you will be facing T1 players. You will get rolled constantly, you will do less than 500dmg. Most players lose FP before even hitting the ground as they lose in the Mechlab, as you have.

#5 MovinTarget

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Posted 25 May 2017 - 07:08 AM

Geez Ash, stop pulling your punches and tell him what you really think ;)

sgtsrkeus, Listen to Ash and don't take his tone too personally, he knows what he's talking about, we should all wish that FP newcomers like you actually asked more experienced players how to start instead of charging in blinding and getting disillusioned quickly.

Like he said, you do need to have decks (notice the plural!) that match the map/mode you are dropping in. It will take time to build that arsenal up so I would suggest starting on a specific deck first and then build from there. If you were to start with something with midrange punch, it might be a good starting point.

But, ASH is right about LRMs (I think I mentioned it too), unless you are droppin in a big group and they call for LRMs, I would advise against bringing them.

#6 Stonekeg

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Posted 25 May 2017 - 07:12 AM

I think Ash and UrbanTarget offered some good advice in response to your post. I'd suggest trying to maximize the tonnage, but only with mechs you enjoy playing.

Here's my 2cents on Ash's point about synergy. (Ash is a better and more experienced pilot than I am, so I'm certainly not trying to imply that what I'm saying is what Ash meant) Right now your Cyclops is a fast moving large target with "meh" at long range firepower, and also "meh" for short range. Being middle of the pack in all aspects is ok, but groups benefit more from strong specializations. So, with that big engine I'd suggest dropping gauss/lrm and picking up more mid/short firepower.

Edited by stonekeg, 25 May 2017 - 07:13 AM.


#7 justcallme A S H

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Posted 25 May 2017 - 07:25 AM

View PostMovinTarget, on 25 May 2017 - 07:08 AM, said:

Geez Ash, stop pulling your punches and tell him what you really think ;)

sgtsrkeus, Listen to Ash and don't take his tone too personally, he knows what he's talking about, we should all wish that FP newcomers like you actually asked more experienced players how to start instead of charging in blinding and getting disillusioned quickly.

Like he said, you do need to have decks (notice the plural!) that match the map/mode you are dropping in. It will take time to build that arsenal up so I would suggest starting on a specific deck first and then build from there. If you were to start with something with midrange punch, it might be a good starting point.

But, ASH is right about LRMs (I think I mentioned it too), unless you are droppin in a big group and they call for LRMs, I would advise against bringing them.


Yeah my intention wasn't to be rude, just straight to the point really. No point sugar coating it as FP is not the place to bring stuff that isn't worthwhile.

Hopefully he listens, I mean starting a thread is better than 99% of people so big well done there for sure.

As always I step fly suggest joining a unit. Look at leaderboards. Pick something in the top 30, sus out from there.

#8 sgtarkeus

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Posted 25 May 2017 - 09:42 AM

Thank you guys, this is all a big help. FP was a big part that appealed to me so I've been trying to figure out what mechs I like to pilot.

LordLeto, thank you for posting the link I'll check it out.

Ash, thank you for your honesty and bluntness, it is much appreciated. I had been running around in my crab with a STD275, 5xMLs and 1xLPL but have been trying this out for about a month. Either way, it is a fun mech. I enjoyed the Trial Orion so I decided to build something similar, but decided against artemis for more armor/heatsinks. My Cyclops is my biggest challenge. I picked the 11-A for its Gauss (and Gauss quirk) as I've never played around with it and kinda like it. Honestly this mech has been difficult to figure out a good build for it as I didn't want it to be a large Orion, but I understand needing range synergy. I do enjoy mechs with a mixed loadout and I enjoy midrange-close range the most. What do you, or anyone else suggest for the Cyclops?

I definitely started this thread to get feedback. I had started a unit with a couple friends but they rarely play and I felt that we were screwing up our FP teams when we were playing FP so I haven't really done any except for the Tukkayid event, I went in with my crab, orion, cyclops, and I think the trial phoenix hawk, which I didn't do to bad in. I'm certainly not stuck with keeping my unit of three people together, as I said, the other two rarely play, and when we do it is QP or Scouting.

#9 MovinTarget

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Posted 25 May 2017 - 10:01 AM

View Postsgtarkeus, on 25 May 2017 - 09:42 AM, said:

Thank you guys, this is all a big help. FP was a big part that appealed to me so I've been trying to figure out what mechs I like to pilot.

LordLeto, thank you for posting the link I'll check it out.

Ash, thank you for your honesty and bluntness, it is much appreciated. I had been running around in my crab with a STD275, 5xMLs and 1xLPL but have been trying this out for about a month. Either way, it is a fun mech. I enjoyed the Trial Orion so I decided to build something similar, but decided against artemis for more armor/heatsinks. My Cyclops is my biggest challenge. I picked the 11-A for its Gauss (and Gauss quirk) as I've never played around with it and kinda like it. Honestly this mech has been difficult to figure out a good build for it as I didn't want it to be a large Orion, but I understand needing range synergy. I do enjoy mechs with a mixed loadout and I enjoy midrange-close range the most. What do you, or anyone else suggest for the Cyclops?

I definitely started this thread to get feedback. I had started a unit with a couple friends but they rarely play and I felt that we were screwing up our FP teams when we were playing FP so I haven't really done any except for the Tukkayid event, I went in with my crab, orion, cyclops, and I think the trial phoenix hawk, which I didn't do to bad in. I'm certainly not stuck with keeping my unit of three people together, as I said, the other two rarely play, and when we do it is QP or Scouting.


Look, almost all of us stumbled through FP initially... the different challenge you have is that this late in the game you'll have lots of *ssholes yelling at you that have no business yelling.

If you are going to be IS, go to the FRR/DC hub and try to drop with guys that know what they are doing... people will be patient if you show you really want to LISTEN and get gud.

Right now is as good a time as any to get into it since the Skill tree will be shaking up the meta a bit...

Edited by MovinTarget, 25 May 2017 - 10:04 AM.


#10 Vxheous

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Posted 25 May 2017 - 10:22 AM

View Postsgtarkeus, on 25 May 2017 - 09:42 AM, said:

Thank you guys, this is all a big help. FP was a big part that appealed to me so I've been trying to figure out what mechs I like to pilot.

LordLeto, thank you for posting the link I'll check it out.

Ash, thank you for your honesty and bluntness, it is much appreciated. I had been running around in my crab with a STD275, 5xMLs and 1xLPL but have been trying this out for about a month. Either way, it is a fun mech. I enjoyed the Trial Orion so I decided to build something similar, but decided against artemis for more armor/heatsinks. My Cyclops is my biggest challenge. I picked the 11-A for its Gauss (and Gauss quirk) as I've never played around with it and kinda like it. Honestly this mech has been difficult to figure out a good build for it as I didn't want it to be a large Orion, but I understand needing range synergy. I do enjoy mechs with a mixed loadout and I enjoy midrange-close range the most. What do you, or anyone else suggest for the Cyclops?

I definitely started this thread to get feedback. I had started a unit with a couple friends but they rarely play and I felt that we were screwing up our FP teams when we were playing FP so I haven't really done any except for the Tukkayid event, I went in with my crab, orion, cyclops, and I think the trial phoenix hawk, which I didn't do to bad in. I'm certainly not stuck with keeping my unit of three people together, as I said, the other two rarely play, and when we do it is QP or Scouting.


Everyone has given some good points, and I'll add a few more:

Your mech selection is pretty meh, in general. They'll work, assuming you synergize their loadouts well (there's the running joke that you can slap 3 IS LPL on anything and it immediately becomes viable). If you are considering getting more mechs to build your dropdeck, look for these attributes:

1. High Mounted laser and/or ballistic hardpoints. Having your weapons up high on the mech means less of your mech gets exposed while trading from cover. These mechs are also more resistant to quirk change, because being able to shoot from cover/over cover is just that good. Mechs like the Battlemaster, Warhammer, and to an extent, the Grasshopper come to mind. Of course you'll notice that these mechs got played A LOT on the IS side during Tukayyid.

2. Mech silhouette. There is a reason beyond bad hardpoint location that makes Awesomes not that "awesome", Being as wide as a barn door is going to just scream "shoot me" the moment you break cover. Skinnier mechs are able to spread damage across the entire mech better.

3. Quirks. This is more of a meta try-hard whale mentality, but if you want to get the biggest advantage, you pretty much have to pay attention to what is quirked well at the moment, and buy/play those mechs. In your case, this is less important, because I can't really see you going out and picking up a bunch of mechs that might just get quirk nerfed next month. Stick to my points 1 and 2.

Edited by Vxheous Kerensky, 25 May 2017 - 10:24 AM.


#11 warner2

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Posted 25 May 2017 - 11:47 AM

View Postsgtarkeus, on 24 May 2017 - 01:54 PM, said:

I've been playing this game off and on for a few years now. I started with a Timberwolf Prime back in the fall 2014 (I think, it was a trial mech at the time) Liked it enough to buy it with my cadet bonus and a few games. Got some friends to play and they liked IS tech and I decided to sell my TBR-Prime for a CRB-27B. Never regretted it once. It turns out I really liked the IS tech and mechs. So fast forward to present, I've got four mechs to my name a CRB-27B, an ON1-K, a CP-11-A and I just picked up a LCT-1V last night.


sgtarkeus your biggest issue right now is that your current four 'mechs are not great for faction play.

However I am assuming you don't have 100,000 CBills floating around to buy four more and are asking for help in building out these four?

That Locust has to go at a minimum... there are some good Locust chassis but that isn't one of them and at the very least it is no good for FP.

Given you only have 4 chassis you won't be able to have more than one drop deck so I would concentrate on being able to fight in the midrange 300m - 500m.

Starting with your Crab I would swap out the ERLL for LL for better heat efficiency and DPS. That's enough range. Front-load the armor a little more and it's servicable:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...32bbf0c50725fff

The Orion is tough however I'd be tempted to tweak your build towards a midrange loadout based around 2PPC with either an AC20 or GR:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...df6f4f424d8f937
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...708077911f93320

Neither of those are particularly meta however you may do OK with them.

The Cyclops again is tough. Spending as little money as possible you could consider tweaking your build to 3ERLL and 1GR:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...e2ad7748e151285

That does indeed leave you with 50 ton. You could buy another CRB-27B and perhaps build something that complements your existing build to give you options during a drop. Another option would be a Hunchback. A Hunchback P won't be too expensive, and you mentioned having a STD 275 lying around, so you could put together a shorter range laser build that would work well in the later stages of a FP match.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...6c16b37a048ef45

Overall I would say that to participate in FP you'll need to aim towards a specific drop deck of better chassis. Sadly the IS has many bad 'mechs, a number of good ones, and only a few great ones (possibly, even fewer after the recent patch). So choose carefully only having read the various guides and what not mentioned above. The good news is that with the new skill system you only need to buy 1 chassis to fully level it.

Edited by warner2, 25 May 2017 - 11:48 AM.


#12 sgtarkeus

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Posted 25 May 2017 - 01:05 PM

Thanks warner2. I'll give those builds a shot and look to figure out what 50 tonner to pick out.

#13 A Cultist

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Posted 25 May 2017 - 01:11 PM

Most of ypur builds suffer from proper management of ammunition.
E.G CP-11 needs at least 1.5 tons of srm ammo and does no need ams at all (ams is close to useless now)
Why not simply use metamech.com or similar resources to get a full list of possible optimal builds of mechs you already own? You will need however to buy 1 mech, but alternatively can use a trial mech, to get the maximal tonnage. The problem is not the tonnage it is in the configuration of mechs. There are no really bad mechs in this game, but some need more skill to uncover their true efficiency.
In fact , heavy mechs are the best for FP , especially if someone brings assaults instead of you.
Configurations of trial mechs are good, but still too much lLRMs imo which are useless in solo.

#14 MovinTarget

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Posted 25 May 2017 - 01:37 PM

View PostA Cultist, on 25 May 2017 - 01:11 PM, said:

Most of ypur builds suffer from proper management of ammunition.
E.G CP-11 needs at least 1.5 tons of srm ammo and does no need ams at all (ams is close to useless now)
Why not simply use metamech.com or similar resources to get a full list of possible optimal builds of mechs you already own? You will need however to buy 1 mech, but alternatively can use a trial mech, to get the maximal tonnage. The problem is not the tonnage it is in the configuration of mechs. There are no really bad mechs in this game, but some need more skill to uncover their true efficiency.
In fact , heavy mechs are the best for FP , especially if someone brings assaults instead of you.
Configurations of trial mechs are good, but still too much lLRMs imo which are useless in solo.


I prefer to think AMS is situational. If he's dropping solo in FP, he'll want it, if he's dropping with a good group and they stay tight, probably not.

#15 justcallme A S H

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Posted 25 May 2017 - 05:02 PM

Ye AMS isn't a bad choice.

I usually have it on my first 2 waves of late given the proliferation of LRMs during Tukk especially from all the baddies. It made 12-0 first waves with minimal dmg very easy when 5-6 of us carried AMS.

#16 naterist

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Posted 26 May 2017 - 04:21 PM

my units deck for hot maps.

Description:
WAVE 1 WARHAMMER

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...33763e925c6c3e3

WAVE 2 MARAUDER (NO XL'S ON MARAUDERS YA DANG HEATHENS!)

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...ffed89e453895ee

WAVE 3 WARHAMMER

ONLY OPTION http://mwo.smurfy-ne...e9b27601e778c26

WAVE 4 HUNCHBACK EITHER OF THE SEVERAL OPTIONS BELOW, BY ORDER OF QUALITY

1. BEST! HUNCHBACK 4-SP
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...035936c00540b66

2. CENTURION A
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...6aec500ca9300a7

3-HUNCHBACK 4G
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...5365abd3fab0090

and the one for cold maps


wave 1 battlemaster

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...ce6454044a97007

wave 2- grasshopper 5h xl

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...bfec0edbb445941


wave 3, grasshopper xl

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...247e43ace3537e8

wave 4 cicada 3m

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...1a1b655202aa768

#17 ShooteyMcShooterson

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Posted 16 June 2017 - 01:00 PM

I've been playing FP on the Clan side for a while now, and am building up a stable of IS mechs to use in FP. I have 10, and am looking to add 3-5 more, to have 3 different drops at the ready in FP.

Looking for input on what you would add to this lineup to make it handle roles it presently can't. You'll note I have one energy boat, the GHR-5P. I also have several mechs with hard points for all three weapon types. That's my version of being flexible for upcoming Civil War tech.


Posted Image

I'm thinking I need more ballistic builds and obviously more energy. Thoughts?


For more energy options... Maybe a Hunchie and a Black Knight? I really like the Warhammers, and will probably get a 6D regardless.

Edited by ShooteyMcShooterson, 16 June 2017 - 01:02 PM.


#18 MovinTarget

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Posted 16 June 2017 - 01:36 PM

More Hoppers for laser vomit.

I would say that if you drop solo a lot, having all-ecm decks are a nice luxury... ECM may not be as good as it used to be but it will still be helpful...

#19 ShooteyMcShooterson

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Posted 19 June 2017 - 01:08 PM

^Good thinking on the ECM. When I first started playing FP for Clan, I ran an all ECM drop with 3 Hellbringers and a Shadow Cat.

As you can see, I have that in mind a bit already with the 2 ECM Griffins and the ECM Cicada. I was pondering trying out the ECM Atlas to make a drop, or more likely the ECM Cataphract and ECM Stalker, paired with the Griffins.

But even on pug FP drops, I don't see a tremendous amount of value in ECM, for a range of reasons. (primarily starting with the 18 point skill tree hit every ECM mech starts out with if they want their ECM to actually work. That is ALOT of points to give up for something that isn't that valuable in the first place, and means your mech also surrenders tonnage, slots, and almost always has a purposefully compromised set of hardpoints and/or mobility.)

I'm very effective with a jumpy SRM build, so I looove the Griffin, and will always run at least one in any drop and see the ECM as a worthy benefit to that play style... I got the Cicada as a 4th drop filler. I'm not very good with maneuvering speedy mechs, as I never had to play WASD until this game, so I figured the ECM cover would help save me from some of my own mistakes.



In any case, I bought a JM6-DD and a MAL-1R and am loving playing with and tinkering with both.

Best match so far is with the Mauler of course. 1041dmg, 2 kills, 3kmdd, 8 components. I was tip of the spear, so I faced fresh enemies much of the match, but survived it with all components intact. Mauler is a torso twisting champ!

Edited by ShooteyMcShooterson, 19 June 2017 - 01:12 PM.


#20 MovinTarget

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Posted 19 June 2017 - 01:26 PM

The tremendous value of ECM will be that you will be targeted less than your teammates. Most enemies will prioritize easy pickings and you won't be as easily locked as others for LRMs...





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