37 replies to this topic

[fenomeno]

Curious.

Edited by Use of Weapons, 02 July 2018 - 01:40 PM.

[Jun Watarase]

fenomeno, on 31 August 2017 - 09:06 AM, said:

Our unit is looking at switching to IS soon, and while it's a lot of fun to theorycraft potential decks and strategies, I personally never play IS in any game mode, and don't really know where to begin.

I'm hoping some of the more successful IS pilots can recommend some of their 'go-to' drop decks for long range / brawling / hot maps so I at least have a starting point for developing my own IS play style.

My observations from playing as clan vs IS are that armor quirks, SRM boats and erLL quirked mechs are OP, but I don't have much else go go on!

Thanks

Fen

Well all the decent IS units seem to do a mix of 3x warhammers/black knights/marauders/battlemasters all using laser vomit + one fast mech, most commonly a 40 ton SRM assassin.

Unless its a hot map in which case theres less laser vomit and more UACs.

[Serial Number]

2x blr, 1 black knight + locust or 3x warhammer + griffin/wolverine works pretty good

[Davegt27]

PGI has me so conditioned every time I see a post like this I think its PGI trolling

they want to find out what is good so they can nerf it

my advice is stay Clan

[xX PUG Xx]

Serial Number, on 31 August 2017 - 10:36 AM, said:

2x blr, 1 black knight + locust or 3x warhammer + griffin/wolverine works pretty good

I would listen to this guy, he knows how to put out the hurt.

[ccrider]

3x Orion VA, 1 assassin or cicada. Longe range poking is boring. Just ac20, SRM brawl every map. Its more fun.

[Xaat Xuun]

Semi-successful pilot here, suggest plenty of mech bays

BLR -range
BNC - range
WHM - range,vomit, brawl, midrange
TDR - MidRange, brawl
RGH - midrange, Vomit, brawl, range
ASN -
WLF -

Edited by Xaat Xuun, 01 September 2017 - 01:40 PM.

[MischiefSC]

We've had run-ins lately with Roughneck heavy decks. Avoid the XLs, stick with the LFEs but the laservomit ones are solid and the AC10 + all the SRMs builds were harsh. Like a slower but tankier Linebacker.

Assassin has been a stone cold PITA to deal with too.

Locust for smoke diving or the like but I can't say the last time I had a legit 'problem' with one.

The laservomit ones are effective but from the Clan side, the current laservomit builds of HLLs + CERMLs or MPLs, or the just massed MPL builds are flat out stronger.

Most the good Clans are running laservomit with an optimal range around 400-500m at 64-71 alpha and it's more heat sustainable than the 5 LPL builds.

What you don't often see among Clans is DPS-sustainable builds that are good for pushing. I'm not talking about RACs, I'm talking UAC5s/AC5s and SRMs and such. The current Clan decks are strong when pushing but weak when getting pushed. We need to cool down and we need control of the engagement to decide when/where that happens.

A reasonably fast and brawly IS deck is a lot, lot tougher for us to deal with right now. The laser-vomit ones are just playing to our strengths. Because currently my 9 MPL TBR/EBJ/MAD builds are just walking over IS laservomit. I'm doing 20-30% more damage than they are every single trade, I go faster and I have better cooling. That extra 5-10 HP you've got really doesn't matter.

That's not even looking at the super nasty gauss + energy builds that let me bring 80+, or on wider maps the ATM + ballistic/energy builds that let me drop 100-120 pts on you at 120-240m.

Again, I've only been on the Clan side but IS laservomit is not my biggest challenge right now. The faster, push oriented builds that don't let me cool and are tough to keep by lasers on target for the whole burn (DEM HLLs) are a much, much bigger issue.

At least that's been my take on it.

[Leone]

I've always been a fan of the Battlemaster, Marauder, Hunchback, Urbanmech, set up. Of course, nowadays you young-uns get more tonnage, and fancier toys. Why back in my day we had to fight the clans up-hill both ways, with single heatsinks and standard engines.

~Leone.

[naterist]

battlemaster
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b201df99f2a852e

uac marauder
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...4ef6224f4fc24bd

lbx marauder
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b8d2feeda6b1b38

splat-ssassin
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c9aadb77dfa1d59

speed tweak the marauders, and give them all the survival tree. they only need magazine andtheir associated uacjam/lbxspread nodes from the weapons tree.

assassin speed tweak, durability, and sensor trees.

blr im still playing with skill wise, but follow the meta from your chosen site and youll be good. survival, maybe speed tweak, heat gen nodes... etc.

Edited by naterist, 01 September 2017 - 02:23 PM.

[Carl Vickers]

naterist, on 01 September 2017 - 02:17 PM, said:

battlemaster
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b201df99f2a852e

uac marauder
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...4ef6224f4fc24bd

lbx marauder
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b8d2feeda6b1b38

splat-ssassin
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c9aadb77dfa1d59

speed tweak the marauders, and give them all the survival tree. they only need magazine andtheir associated uacjam/lbxspread nodes from the weapons tree.

assassin speed tweak, durability, and sensor trees.

blr im still playing with skill wise, but follow the meta from your chosen site and youll be good. survival, maybe speed tweak, heat gen nodes... etc.

That Battlemaster build is just bad. Use XL 350 and 5 large pulse.

The rest are a bit meh as well, but if they work for you thats fine.

[MischiefSC]

Lights are really iffy for IS. A Lolcust isn't a good gate jumper. Better off taking an Assassin.

[Carl Vickers]

fenomeno, on 02 September 2017 - 12:32 PM, said:

Thanks for all the advice guys - so hard to find guides that are both from a reputable source and are written/made since the civil war tech (LFE seems mandatory, for example).

One thing I'm still struggling with is lights - can anyone recommend a good 'gate jumper' light? i.e. to go scouting / kill afks wave 1?

Generally you dont want to bring a light first wave, specially on Invasion where there are gates to jump, unless u are in a 12 man.

Leaving your front lines down a man while you go and hunt an AFK on the first wave is not a great idea either. Always bring your heaviest mech first. The AFK is still going to be there later on for your light, at the start of the match you are better staying with your team and keeping the 12 to 11 numerical advantage on your side.

You are more likely to win the match that way.

[Carl Vickers]

fenomeno, on 02 September 2017 - 03:34 PM, said:

I appreciate that your advice applies 99 times out of 100, but if I'm defending on Vitric, Hellebore, Sulfurous, etc.. I'll want to at least have the option of taking a gate-jumper... call it misguided personal preference, but it works for me!

On another note - If I wanted a long range deck for a cold map (Boreal, Arctic, Polar, etc etc) - once you've got a GHR-5P and the BLR-1G in there, what do people recommend to fill out the rest of the tonnage? Are there any chassis with similar ERLL range/heat/cooldown quirks?

Thanks again for all the advice, people!

Understand personal preference but try to remember, this is a team game mode and a lot of people will very much look down on someone taking off to kill afk'ers on that first wave.

More than likely you will acquire the wrath of the rest of your team for doing it and some will not mince words in saying so.

[MischiefSC]

Running off in a light wave 1 is bad while pugging. We have a player (Starwulfe) who is an insanely good light pilot - as in he will routinely solo 2 people in a light and has no issues putting up 1k+ consistently in an ACH. Still it's very rare for him to wave 1 a light.

Wave 1 is critical for firepower. You need the massed firepower and armor to break the enemy line. Being a squirrel on wave 1 is rarely helpful. Leaving your team down 400 armor and a 60 pt alpha vs the enemy can be crippling.

Wave 3, when the other team is fielding badly damaged mechs, is likely spread out and unsure of where you all are? A light can do a lot of damage, make a lot of havoc. Wave 1, they're all grouped up and alert and fresh. Worst time to drop light unless it's part of a coordinated team strat.

[Carl Vickers]

I will be in that Evil premade and you wont get far trying to farm an AFKer from the start.

But I do with you luck and good games. There is some very good advice on mech builds in this thread.

Edited by Carl Vickers, 02 September 2017 - 04:38 PM.

[ccrider]

Carl Vickers, on 02 September 2017 - 04:37 PM, said:

I will be in that Evil premade and you wont get far trying to farm an AFKer from the start.

But I do with you luck and good games. There is some very good advice on mech builds in this thread.

I was surprised to see you sporting EVIL tags last night Carl; it was a fun match, got our solos to listen and had some fun. Good last wave by you guys; looking forward to the next time we run into you. o7

Edited by ccrider, 02 September 2017 - 04:58 PM.

[Carl Vickers]

ccrider, on 02 September 2017 - 04:58 PM, said:

I was surprised to see you sporting EVIL tags last night Carl; it was a fun match, got our solos to listen and had some fun. Good last wave by you guys; looking forward to the next time we run into you. o7

That was the best match in a long time CC, so much fun, looking forward to the next one.

[Xaat Xuun]

yeah . . this weekend is a good time to getting those new mechs skilled, with the Double XP

[Marius Evander]

I wish id been quicker to this thread to say offer us a payment like bud crue does for that information that will help pgi work out what to nerf next.