9 replies to this topic

[numb_nuts]

So ok I'm 6-7 games in already I got that clan mechs you get to play around with the loadout but have a fixed engine, IS mechs you get fixed hard points but get to play with the engine size / speed .

• So my question is , I guess that there is a sweet spot re engine size for the IS mechs ( a balance ) .
  
• 
  
• What is that with the raven 4 please ?

[SpiralFace]

Depends on what kind of playstyle you are going for.

Always strive to hit 250 no matter what for the full internal 10 heat sinks (otherwise you need to put heat sinks outside of the engine.)

Beyond that it depends on what kind of tonnage / role your trying to play.

• Typically for lights, you are going to want to get max or near max engine no matter what.
  
• For Mediums, you still want to skew high on most models, but there are a handful of 'Mechs such as the Hunchback and Bushwhacker that might be served better going slower to up their armaments. Doubly so if you are going for ballistic armaments.
  
• For any kind of heavy energy build, you will want to go with bigger engines so you can optimize critical space and boat heat sinks in the engine.
  
• For Heavy 'Mechs it heavily depends on your build.
  
• For Assault 'Mechs, once you cross that 325 threshold on your engine, you start getting diminishing returns quick. So it heavily depends how much armament you are trying to put on a 'Mech.

[mailin]

Also for lights you really want to run an XL, and ideally the biggest one you can, but that depends a little bit on the weapons you have. Lights might initially be inexpensive, but those XL engines are not cheap. Also, you will need double heat sinks, which cost an additional 1.5 mill.

[Barkem Squirrel]

Nice choice in Ravens. It depends with the Raven 4X. Do you want to run it with two ERLL's. Then a 275 XL.

Now the Boom Chicken, AC 20 180 - 200 xl. With Single heat sinks.

Generally use a 275XL or the 245 XL, but maybe a 225 even. (don't forget about the 200 or 180 for AC 20 fun)

Remember only omni mechs can not change engines. (hunch back IIc, any IIc or the Kodiak can change engines) We have yet to get IS omni mechs.

Now as to speeds of the mech depending on engine size. over 100 you are just harder to hit. light s really want to be over 120, 80 to 90 kph is a great speed for a medium and maybe high for a heavy and only a few assaults can go 80 kph. As for engine sizes, the 280's, 300's 260's are the good area for mediums and heavies. Some mechs can handle the XL's like the catapults, but others like the Awesomes are not XL friendly (meaning side torso hit boxes.) Some people will identify your load out and fire for your side torso's for an XL check and kill you. The light engines can help with that instead of using standard engines.

Now for the Battlemaster, 400 XL all the way to chase down slow mediums and kill them. You will have to try that some time, it's fun seeing the fear in their movements.

That saying I have one Urban mech with a 60 standard that works just fine at slow or very slow speeds (30) and others at 100 that work great.

then there are the vindicators going 90 + and they need to go that or faster.

The speed or engine size or type (standard, light and extra Light) depends on the mech. weapons load out, speed, survivablity of the mech are all concerns.

Look for engine sizes that keep you around 70 kph at the lowest speed for heavies and mediums. Then over 60 for assaults if not close to or over 70.

Now for the atlas, 340 or 350 standards is what you want.

[Koniving]

Raven Mad, on 02 September 2017 - 08:39 AM, said:

So ok I'm 6-7 games in already I got that clan mechs you get to play around with the loadout but have a fixed engine, IS mechs you get fixed hard points but get to play with the engine size / speed .

• So my question is , I guess that there is a sweet spot re engine size for the IS mechs ( a balance ) .
  
• 
  
• What is that with the raven 4 please ?

It's a bit more than that...

IS and Clan have access to different weapons and tech, as well as similar stuff with different stats.

Both sides can have that issue. However, currently only the Clans have Omnimechs. IS is going to have them sometime next year.

Omnimechs can change everything except Armor/Structure type, heatsink type, engine and "Fixed" equipment. Yes, this means they can change hardpoints.

Battlemechs can change everything except hardpoints.
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Technically in the source material, Omnimechs have a lot of advantages that Battlemechs don't, but without repair and rearm and with changes to mechs being instant... none of it really applies here.

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"Engine sweet spots" really depend on what you want to bring. Honestly I build based on what weapons I want at the cooling power I want, and then I find an engine to suit the weight left over.

Most people like their Ravens around 80 KPH or higher if that helps. If the engine provides that, there's your sweet spot. You won't get much better than 90 in a Raven 4th gen, though. Like the 2nd gen, it's not made for speed.

[stealthraccoon]

My top 3 engines are easy:
180XL - Urbanmechs and Locusts
255XL - Spiders, Javelins, all kinds of 45 - 50 ton mechs
300XL - basically, everything...

[Tier5 Kerensky]

There is no sweet spot. Most of the time you want to take something you already have. With battlemechs, both IS and Clan, you don't want to keep dumping large amounts of cbills to make them "perfect". It's not worth it.

Certain engine sizes are better than the rest, though, that when buying new engines you should try to favour them.

250 is good because it offers 10 internal heatsinks. For some mechs it too small(slow), for some mechs it's too heavy or big.(even with XL/LFE as due to engine cap of the smallest IS lights)


275-300-325-350 are the next good steps each offering one more engine heat sink slots, which are really useful for IS mechs in particular, as those double heat sinks take 3 slots a piece, further by the fact that IS endo takes 14 slots, so IS energy boats are often slot restricted. Of course kinda because of that, you build them differently than comparable Clan energy boats.

With some mechs you can't or won't even take 250, so below it are certain other sizes which are favourable. But here it also depends on if you are talking about LFE, STD or XL, as they have different weight limits. STD 175 is inferior to STD 180 as both weight the same.

STD 160 is, in theory, inferior to STD 170.(and obviously to the STD 165 as well), as they all weight the same. In practise however I have 3 STD 160 engines on stock. The reason for that is, probably a bunch of mechs came stock with them.

STD 220 is inferior to STD 225 as in practise they both weight the same. Sure in theory there is one ton of weight difference. But as both have below 10 heatsinks, and every mechs need to have at least 10 heatsinks, with STD 220 you'd always need one more external heatsink, which always weights the ton, so in practice STD 225 is better as taking account the required heatsinks, they weight the same, but 225 is obviously faster.

[Mercworks]

I agree with all of the above, with some notes. Try, if you can, to increase engine size in units of 25. For each time your engine size is divisible by 25 (over 250) you can put an additional heat sink in the engine. It doesn't save weight, but you do save critical slots, and that's important for Clan mechs, but critical for the IS.
Except for a very few light mechs, try to have a minimum engine size of 250. Since every mech must have at least ten heat sinks to be valid, this gives you the maximum "free" number already installed, saving you both weight and space. If you have less than a 250 engine, then you have to buy heat sinks to mount to get you up to ten. That's an additional ton, and 2 or 3 additional crit spaces.
Also, pay attention to the tonnage of each engine size. There are several engines that don't increase in weight as they increase in number. So, for example, a 275XL and a 280XL have the same weight, and the latter will get you slightly better performance.
Keep in mind that some designs will leave you with extra tonnage but no real usable hardpoints or critical slots. Since engine size doesn't increase with tonnage, that's a perfect opportunity to dump that weight into speed.

[Athom83]

Barkem Squirrel, on 02 September 2017 - 09:26 AM, said:

Now for the atlas, 340 or 350 standards is what you want.

LFE 360 or Bust!

stealthraccoon, on 08 September 2017 - 09:40 PM, said:

My top 3 engines are easy:
180XL - Urbanmechs and Locusts

Urbies run Std and LFE 180s better.

stealthraccoon, on 08 September 2017 - 09:40 PM, said:

300XL - basically, everything...

Um... might want to rethink that decision.

[MechaBattler]

It's really up to you. My preferences. For lights generally take XLs, bigger the better. But its okay to go a little under the cap imo.

For medium a 250/250 is usually a good point to start with. But I have no problem dipping to 200 on some mediums. If you're going XL you're either getting a 255 for max available tonnage or an XL300 for speed without over committing. An X350 if you've got the need for speed in a medium package.

Heavies for me tend float between 275 standard, 280 LFE, or XL300. I'm okay with driving just under 70 kps.

Assaults. My Banshees have a 350 standard, a 350 LFE, and an XL380.