15 replies to this topic

[eminus]

if you can mount 8MGs which one is better?

8x LMG
8x MG
8x HMG

[Daggett]

This depends of cause on how close you can/want to fight and how much tonnage you got.

In theory HMGs would be perfect for lights because they got the best DPS and lights have no problem getting close enough.
But HMGs are too heavy, which is good because otherwise the Piranha would be truly OP. Slower mechs with enough tonnage however can have trouble getting into knife-fighting distance.

Next best option are MGs but even on lights many players don't want to get that close and prefer the LMG despite it's lower DPS.

For example a good mech for HMGs is the Shadow Cat because it has the rare combination of enough hardpoints, speed and tonnage to not only mount up to 7 HMGs but also a decent additional armament like heavy larges or SRMs.

Edited by Daggett, 17 July 2018 - 06:43 AM.

[eminus]

Daggett, on 17 July 2018 - 05:59 AM, said:

This depends of cause of close you can/want to fight and how much tonnage you got.

HMGs would be perfect for lights because they got the best DPS, but are too heavy because otherwise PIR-1 would be really OP. Slower mecha with enough tonnage however can have trouble getting into knife-fighting distance.

Next best option are MGs but even on lights many players don't want to get that close and prefer the LMG despite it's lower DPS.

A good mech for HMGs is the Shadowcat because it has the rare combination of enough hardpoints speed and tonnage to not only mount HMGs but also a decent additional armament like heavy larges or SRMs.

I just spent 500 HMG ammo on the back of a cyclops and just made it into an orange color , I guess the cyclops have a default allocation of armor points

[Nightbird]

Depends on how close you can safely get in your mech.

[Daggett]

eminus, on 17 July 2018 - 06:03 AM, said:

I just spent 500 HMG ammo on the back of a cyclops and just made it into an orange color , I guess the cyclops have a default allocation of armor points

In theory 500 HMG bullets should do about 70 dmg which would be 10 damage short to kill a stock Cyclops (22pts back-armor + 58 structure) from behind if everything hits the CT.

Though most players run their mechs with really low back-armor it's always possible to run into someone with stock or even more back armor and/or structure-bonus from the skill-tree. So on average bringing a cyclops to (dark) orange structure with 500 HMG bullets would be what i expect, it's an assault after all.

Edit: There is some additional crit-damage which may kill a stock cyclops with 500 HMG bullets, but since it's a bit random i ignored it for the sake of argument since you could have been unlucky with your crits especially if the target had some crit-reducing nodes from the survival-tree.

Edited by Daggett, 17 July 2018 - 06:31 AM.

[Anastasius Foht]

eminus, on 17 July 2018 - 05:37 AM, said:

if you can mount 8MGs which one is better?

8x LMG
8x MG
8x HMG

Normal ones is most balanced in my opinion

[JediPanther]

My ember,locusts and spider all use lmg for range or when I want tad more damage smgs. At a mere 1dmg/1sec they only do ok on mechs with mg quirks such as the rof the ember has. I guess if you have not much space left on any mech 40t or bigger you can try using them but on bigger mechs I'd rather have a better damaging ac.

[BWS2K]

Just chiming in with my two cents - the regular MGs. HMGs, as has been mentioned, aren't terribly efficient in terms of weight you'd give up to bring them. Sure, you might wreck a leg or break even on your KDR but you become useless once your ammo is gone. The choice is really between LMGs or MGs and this is why I always favor the MGs: You're a Light.

Standing way back and picking off open components, while a valid strategy, is simply not something you can count on being able to do (not in QuickPlay anyway). You have to assume that you'll need flexibility to adapt to various situations and sometimes that means knife-fighting range and sometimes that means kiting and sometimes that means support and so on. LMGs simply aren't as useful up-close and regular MGs are more than adequate to engage at-range because you're a fast 'mech. If you're worried about getting too close, you can run away. I'm by no means an expert but I have considerable time in the MLX-G and I don't waste my time with the other machine guns. Happy Gaming!

[FupDup]

The overall best MG right now is the vanilla MG, both sides.

[MischiefSC]

HMG value is questionable because the range is so poor and while its stronger it's not strong enough to warrant the face time it needs at ankle biting range. You're better off with regular MGs, you'll get more actual safe shooting in and do more total damage most the time without having to make every attack such a commitment. LMGs are just overall mediocre. The range is good but it doesnt do enough damage.

[The6thMessenger]

Probably 8x MG because it would have more ammo than 8x HMG. I tried that with mist-lynx, i barely have enough ammo.

[5th Fedcom Rat]

You know, you've got to hand it to PGI just this once for actually finally getting the balance between the machine gun classes right on.

Now watch them change it....

[thievingmagpi]

5th Fedcom Rat, on 17 July 2018 - 08:57 PM, said:

You know, you've got to hand it to PGI just this once for actually finally getting the balance between the machine gun classes right on.

Now watch them change it....

I wouldn't say the balance is right on since no one uses lmgs... But, hmgs are a nice like spicy brawl accompaniment.

Also really enjoy my 4hmg, 2mpl urbie. Sounds like an incredibly anemic loadout but it's a ton of fun.

[Felbombling]

Standard MGs are the way to go. On the Clan side, a case could be made for LMGs paired with Heavy Medium Lasers, as the range envelope matches fairly closely. You'll get less damage or crits in most cases, but you can extend range a bit if you don't like to bite ankles.

[Vellron2005]

eminus, on 17 July 2018 - 05:37 AM, said:

if you can mount 8MGs which one is better?

8x LMG
8x MG
8x HMG

I rank MGs thus:

From best to worst:

HMG - MG - LMG.

I never use LMGs.. most my MG mechs have HMG or MG..

[Athom83]

If its a primary weapon, HMG.
If its a supplementary weapon; MG.
If its a secondary weapon; LMG.