17 replies to this topic

[Verilligo]

So I was curious a bit about what it would take to gather together an IS-based drop deck for a generalized setup. Having read a few things around the forum, it seems the best way to go is basically full-on laser vomit and a deck of either a set of four heavies, a set of an assault, two heavies, and a medium, or a set of two assaults, a heavy, and a light. Given I've never set foot in an assault mech in my career thus far, the best option seems to be a set of four heavies.

I'm also aware that the common advice is to have multiple drop decks or options for them to switch out based on map topology, climate, etc. Given I happen to not have terribly many mechs or funds for them, however, I was wondering if there was a commonly accepted set of four that would be competent within FW, even if not necessarily the best for every situation. Should one have two ERLL snipers and two straight laser voms? Do you only need one ERLL sniper? Should you switch and have one ERLL sniper, a gauss/ERML boat, and two laser voms? I'm relatively aware of the builds to use and the mechs to use them on, but not necessarily the balance to have for a commonly-used deck.

[MovinTarget]

If you are limited, just bring your best mechs.

Having said that, yes, mid-long range mechs would be good unless you drop with a group that brawls

[IL MECHWARRIOR]

All around deck
Battlemaster 1g 6erll xl350
Battlemaster 1g 3ll+3erml xl400
Black knight (the 10%heatgen) 3ll+6erml xl350
Locust (the 20% cooldown one) 4ml

[MovinTarget]

anonymous223, on 15 October 2017 - 01:26 AM, said:

All around deck
Battlemaster 1g 6erll xl350
Battlemaster 1g 3ll+3erml xl400
Black knight (the 10%heatgen) 3ll+6erml xl350
Locust (the 20% cooldown one) 4ml

I knpw the op said he's less comfortable with assaults but that is a pretty good deck for mid-long range play.

Edited by MovinTarget, 15 October 2017 - 03:47 AM.

[Verilligo]

MovinTarget, on 15 October 2017 - 03:40 AM, said:

I knpw the op said he's less comfortable with assaults but that is a pretty good deck for mid-long range play.

It's less that I'm uncomfortable and more that I literally had never gotten into an assault. I do worry about lagging behind the team and not effectively sharing armor, I would hate to be That One Assault you see that's off in the boonies not contributing to the fight. That said, on Anon's advice and after reading prior posts, I went ahead and picked up one of the BLR-1Gs and geared it for the ERLL boat design. Only got one QP game in it so far, 601-ish damage, 1 kill, 7 assists. Not good numbers compared to the 1100s and 1300s I can pull in my HBR, but I can work on it.

[MovinTarget]

Verilligo, on 16 October 2017 - 12:34 PM, said:

It's less that I'm uncomfortable and more that I literally had never gotten into an assault. I do worry about lagging behind the team and not effectively sharing armor, I would hate to be That One Assault you see that's off in the boonies not contributing to the fight. That said, on Anon's advice and after reading prior posts, I went ahead and picked up one of the BLR-1Gs and geared it for the ERLL boat design. Only got one QP game in it so far, 601-ish damage, 1 kill, 7 assists. Not good numbers compared to the 1100s and 1300s I can pull in my HBR, but I can work on it.

Its a different beast, you can improve on that with familiarity.

[Verilligo]

MovinTarget, on 16 October 2017 - 12:37 PM, said:

Its a different beast, you can improve on that with familiarity.

Yeah, it'll help when I stop trying to tank a WHK with a UAC20 at point blank range by making sure it can only hit the side torso that's already open. Learning to live with an IS XL is going to be a very educating experience.

[November Juliet]

Verilligo, on 13 October 2017 - 12:43 PM, said:

So I was curious a bit about what it would take to gather together an IS-based drop deck for a generalized setup. Having read a few things around the forum, it seems the best way to go is basically full-on laser vomit and a deck of either a set of four heavies, a set of an assault, two heavies, and a medium, or a set of two assaults, a heavy, and a light. Given I've never set foot in an assault mech in my career thus far, the best option seems to be a set of four heavies.

I'm also aware that the common advice is to have multiple drop decks or options for them to switch out based on map topology, climate, etc. Given I happen to not have terribly many mechs or funds for them, however, I was wondering if there was a commonly accepted set of four that would be competent within FW, even if not necessarily the best for every situation. Should one have two ERLL snipers and two straight laser voms? Do you only need one ERLL sniper? Should you switch and have one ERLL sniper, a gauss/ERML boat, and two laser voms? I'm relatively aware of the builds to use and the mechs to use them on, but not necessarily the balance to have for a commonly-used deck.

You sort of need at least 3-4 decks.

1. Long range deck for open maps (Battle-1g, hopper 5p, dragon 5n, etc)
2. Laser vomit deck- good trading mechs (black knight 7, hopper 5p/h, warhammer 6r/d, etc)
3. Brawler decks- (victor 9s, cyclops D.C./ srmclops, griffin 2n, shadow 2d2, bushwackers, assasins, etc)
4. Dakka or low heat deck- dual gauss builds, good dakka mechs

But if you just getting started I would roll with grasshopper 5h/5p and either a war hammer 6d/6r. Get at least 3 of those fully kitted and skilled out that will get you to 210 tons of quality mechs. And then figure out a 55 ton mech you have a preference for. After than you might want to add a battle master and the assassin 21. You will struggle for about 3 months. But hang in there it gets better. You might want to look to join a good merc unit or a is loyalist unit.

Edited by November Juliet, 21 October 2017 - 05:01 AM.

[Berean03]

I'm somewhat wary of the IS XL engines due to their....fragility. Most of my Heavy/Assault mechs run with Standard engines due to their ability to lose a side torso and still be able to fight.

[IL MECHWARRIOR]

Tier 4 people should learn, not give tips to others

[Wolfengel]

anonymous223, on 23 October 2017 - 03:10 AM, said:

Tier 4 people should learn, not give tips to others

Sorry, this is nonsense. Tier 1-5 says nothing about how good a real one is.
There are many Tier 1-2 players who do not know what Teamplay is.

Some Tier4 players build their mechs better than some Tier 1 / 2 / 3 players

[shameless]

my go-to deck is 2 thunderbolts, a cyclops and an assassin. it excells at mid to close range. for long range, 2 battlemasters a roughneck and spider/javelin works well. if you want dakka, shadowhawk 2h, dragon 5N, warhammer 6R with 2UAC10's...or you can run lbx both work, so long as you save LBX for a wave aside first...

[Arend]

This works on most Maps quite good as a General Deck!

1xBattlemaster-2C | LFE350 | 5x LL + TC1
2xWarhammer-6D | LFE320 | 3x LL + 6x ERML(Grasshopper are also an Option)
1xAssassin-21 | XL320 | 4x SRM4 + 1x JJ

Edited by Arend, 23 October 2017 - 05:04 AM.

[MovinTarget]

Wolfengel, on 23 October 2017 - 03:30 AM, said:

Sorry, this is nonsense. Tier 1-5 says nothing about how good a real one is.
There are many Tier 1-2 players who do not know what Teamplay is.

Some Tier4 players build their mechs better than some Tier 1 / 2 / 3 players

Yup, you can get carried to Tier 1 if you have the right friends...

Also, people need to consider when giving/taking advice that we are all different and some builds/tactics may be *generally* optimal for a given circumstance but that does not mean they are the *best* for a given individual in that circumstance right now...

For example, ~a year ago when PPFLD was at its height with the Night Gyr and such, you couldn't just given *anyone* a 2GuassERPPC build and tell them to go get 1k dmg/game EZPZ...

My point is suggestions are great, but without context both the giver and the receiver of said suggestions may be missing something...

[IL MECHWARRIOR]

come on dudes, that potatoe just said "run standard engines in heavies and assaults"....come on...

[Champion of Khorne Lord of Blood]

Berean03, on 21 October 2017 - 09:26 PM, said:

I'm somewhat wary of the IS XL engines due to their....fragility. Most of my Heavy/Assault mechs run with Standard engines due to their ability to lose a side torso and still be able to fight.

Get with the times old man, STD engines are stone age, LFE is the future, XLs if you really know what you're doing in a skirmishing poker build.

[Agent 0range]

4 roughnecks go brawl

[Horseman]

My drop decks are currently set up like this:

Deck 1 (brawl):

• MAD-3R
  
• WHM-7S
  
• CTF-0XP
  
• ENF-4P

Deck 2 (frontloaded for laser vomit)

• BLR-1G
  
• BLR-1S
  
• BSW-P1 (doubles as a Scouting mech)
  
• ASN-21

Edited by Horseman, 18 November 2017 - 03:57 AM.