12 replies to this topic

[WhnDiplomacyFails]

Hello pilots,

I'm mainly use CTPL-K2 with 2 RAC-5 and looking to improve the build.
Torso-rotary's 5+LAMS (Effective range 544)
Arms- D Heatsinks+ER MED
Engine-280 Light(one D heatsink)
ammo 720 RAC shells.
Armor Type- Light Febrous.
Structure-Endo Steel

Sometimes I remove LAMS and mount 1-2 adittional ER MED'S but its heat inefficient in my opinion. Problem with RAC weaponry is long face time which often turns up in a lot of incoming damage. CTPL-K2 has structure quirks so I invested in skeletal density but I look to improve it further. Does "Armor Hardening" worth investing in? With Light Febrous or without?

[Zh0u]

Armor hardening is always worth investing, especially so if you involve longer than usual face time with the RAC5. More armor allows you to spread it around better by twisting.

[Koniving]

WhnDiplomacyFails, on 27 January 2018 - 03:58 AM, said:

Hello pilots,

I'm mainly use CTPL-K2 with 2 RAC-5 and looking to improve the build.
Torso-rotary's 5+LAMS (Effective range 544)
Arms- D Heatsinks+ER MED
Engine-280 Light(one D heatsink)
ammo 720 RAC shells.
Armor Type- Light Febrous.
Structure-Endo Steel

Sometimes I remove LAMS and mount 1-2 adittional ER MED'S but its heat inefficient in my opinion. Problem with RAC weaponry is long face time which often turns up in a lot of incoming damage. CTPL-K2 has structure quirks so I invested in skeletal density but I look to improve it further. Does "Armor Hardening" worth investing in? With Light Febrous or without?

You can use any armor type, prefer standard myself. Light and regular Ferro are just 'lighter' versions of the armor but that only actually saves you anything if you max out the armor anyway (and armor hardening doesn't increase your weight).

Since you're using RACs, what you could do is increase the forward armor as your rear armor will be less important. Just be aware of your surroundings.

Front armor covers your front, sides, upper and lower body of the torso. Rear only applies to the back panels and nothing more, so just keep them hitting your front and sides whenever you must take damage.

[Spheroid]

My recommendation is that you switch to four mlas and a standard AMS. Armor would be 407/422.

[Spare Parts Bin]

To the OP armour skills should work on all armour types. Endosteel is better than Ferro or Light Ferro in terms of weight savings.

[nehebkau]

@ op

First, reconsider the RAC. While it sounds nice and looks nice and can put up nice damage numbers the weapon spreads worse than SRMs once you start getting past 200M. Like you said they have a terrible face-time requirement and you catapult has too big of a CT to play that style -- even with full structure tree.

the difference in armor in this game is all about weight saving and crit use -- there is no real difference in how they act or react. Armor hardening on std and ferro are exactly the same values and use -- and the skill tree is very worth getting on a heavy mech.

So I guess, if you have your heart set on RACs then you are going to have to get the structure tree.

Edited by nehebkau, 13 February 2018 - 01:44 PM.

[Metus regem]

Personally I'd drop the RAC/s, they are very misleading weapons...

CPLT-K2

That's the K2 build I've been using from time to time, I like the ability to snap shot the twin 10's, then either re-position or twist to block with arms as much as possible before turning back to snap shot again with the twin 10's.

The AC/10 is a very underrated weapon in MWO, if you can learn to land shots reliably with it, it's actually decent enough.

[Zergling]

As with other posters, I recommend you swap from the RACs to different weapons.

I'd personally go with twin UAC10, by stripping the arms down to 1 point each, legs down to 49, and moving the ER Meds to the side torsos, like this.

[Ruccus]

While the above posters mentioning that you might be better served by switching to a PPFLD weapon like an AC10, I do understand the satisfaction of spinning up a pair of RAC5s and just holding it down until mechs start dropping. There is a different type of satisfaction I get when hearing the tinny reload of a pair of AC10s. My mech of choice for both dual RAC5s and dual AC10s is a Bushwacker.

There are some things that might not initially be apparent with regards to using RACs. First is its spread. It's only close to the targeting reticule at short distances so it's a brawling weapon, not a longer range weapon no matter what its 450m effective range says. Play it inside the medium laser effective range, though you can set up a mouse button to fire one of your RACs to nuisance enemy mechs at up to 900m. That's just to get their attention or get an assist though; inside 500m just use the medium lasers to do the same.

Second, don't repeatedly spin up the RAC. The jam bar starts increasing when you push the button but the RAC doesn't start firing for a bit, so if you keep spinning up your RACs in anticipation then releasing because you don't have a good shot you'll just reduce the effective damage before a jam. If you start spinning up the RACs you're committing to firing at someone even if the shot isn't perfect. It's better to waste the first half-second of fire and maneuver into the spot you want than it is to release and re-spin the RAC. I do find that makes me a bit more ammo-hungry though. 2 1/2 tons of ammo per RAC5 works for me, as when I used 2 tons per RAC5 I occasionally ran out near the end of a match.

Third, keep moving on an angle while firing. Try not to run straight at a mech while firing RACs; the enemy will just alpha along the path of the bullets and he'll hit your CT. Drop in the training grounds and get used to walking at an angle and slaloming while keeping your RACs on a target. This really helps with pushes, as with a pair of RAC5s you are an intimidating front line mech and have the safety of teammates following when you jam. When a push happens I like to be behind the pushing assault mech, then move past him from behind and spool up the RACs just as I'm clearing him. I'll continue walking forward at an angle to become the 'lead' mech from the enemy view, but ideally some will stay on the assault and some will switch to me, dividing their fire. Just make sure you're near the front of a push (so teammates don't try to run in front of your bullet stream), hold your RACs down until they jam, then move back to second line to unjam.

For the initial question about armour hardening, yes it is useful and if you're running RACs you might want to take everything in that skill tree because as the previous posters mentioned you're inviting some serious facetime with the enemy when using RACs.

[Damnedtroll]

My triple RAC2 quad mlaser Marauder is performing fine, but Marauder are quite tanky. Shot spread even more when facing the ennemy and blinding him with a shower of bullet. It's also a fear weapon that put enemy in search of cover. But it's not a finishing weapon, you will not get tons of kill with RAC but you will get damage and fun.

Double RAC make you more in danger to jam both weapons and require more secondary weapons.

[nehebkau]

@ OP

And one thing to note, RACs start to fan out (Like SRMs and LBX) at 200m+ and at ~300m they are mostly machine-gun accurate.

[Darrious Quinn]

Staying in topic with the K2. Here.. this is all you need.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...fd77a3c083f4538

Why ERSmalls? The RAC5s are main. ERS are only for close in or jams. You could just go with 2 MLs if you wanted I suppose.

If you're running RACs, the 2 nodes in firepower's for UAC/RAC are priority. Have BOTH of those before you invest in anything else besides maybe the extra consumable slot in Aux. Once you have those two Jam chance nodes, then move to whatever you feel is needed be it operations for heat or armor.

The priority is on armor hardening from what I understand, though I do try and take a few structural integrity nodes where I can without getting carried away with points. The reason being is because armor hardening add X% armor increase yes? Structural Integrity will do the same for internal structure, however it doesn't offer additional crit protection. You can have all the internal structure all you want, but a single MG can still crit out a location when the armor has been stripped off. So stack hardening.

[WhnDiplomacyFails]

Pilots,sorry for no answering did not log into forums for long time.

Thanks alot for the tips. I often use AC10 they go well with K2 no doubt about that. Also switched back to standard armor.
Ruccus, Yes thats what I like to do,shoot at the enemy head while moving at other direction(If terrain allows it) knowing he is blind and confused,sadly if I'm spoted he still can follow the rectangle.
Darrious Quinn, I'll check the build to test small er lasers. currently I run with 4 mediums(not ER)