35 replies to this topic

[Maddermax]

FRAGTAST1C, on 20 November 2018 - 08:27 PM, said:

I just built an Urbie SC with RAC2 and some Med. Lasers with an XL180. I've yet to try it out but I had some C-bills laying around, so I went for it. After having maxed out the Revenant and Javelin, I'm looking for a nice, big ballistic mech to pilot. I have 3.9k MC but don't want to spend it unless there's a Hero mech that absolutely rocks a RAC build (I'm new and I don't know all the mechs). I've checked out the Shadowhawk and Hunchback and realized that the Hero variant of the Shadowhawk has only 1 ballistic hardpoint. I think the Dragon 5N isn't a Hero mech.

I think the RACs would suit me but I haven't been able to find a good mech with 3 ballistic hardpoints and decent speed to quickly flank an enemy push and defend the spot that my team's on. Which mech can go triple RACs and accommodate a good bit of armour and ammo and maybe a couple of JJ as well? I'm going through all the mech variants in the Mechlab site and trying out the builds there but there are a lot of mechs to check hehehe.

Shadowhawk 2H is better than any Hero mech I can think of for triple RACs. Triple RAC2 on a high mount, can go 75kph, jump jets, reasonable armour but sadly needs XL to fit everything. I run one myself, and it’s a fun mech which can just blast shots out constantly and at range, it’s just not super effective at killing. You need to be careful doing solo shenanigans with RACs or being caught too much on the flanks, as triple jams still happen with alarming regularity. But if you find the right spot, generally shooting from behind the front lines so you’re not being focussed by multiple enemies, you can really mess people up.

As mentioned above, the Rifleman is less suited to RACs for various reason, but if you don’t like the AC5s, try double AC10s, with medium lasers. The longer time between shots means you can torso twist much better, and while you miss out on the RFL-3Ns slightly larger ballistics quirk, you get some faster cooling as well, helping you fire the lasers more often. Light engine and torso twisting is definitely the way to go on this mech, in my opinion.

Edited by Maddermax, 20 November 2018 - 10:26 PM.

[Gristle Missile]

Sometimes a good mech is a good mech
case in point: Marauder 3R and Warhammers. Can do anything in it even though it has PPC quirks
Other times a Mech lives on quirks

[FRAGTAST1C]

I was looking at some mechs for the triple RAC2 builds. Seems good to me what I've listed below. Any thoughts on them? Now, I should think about committing to one of the mechs mentioned in this topic.

MAD-3R

POWERHOUSE

BLACK WIDOW

Edited by FRAGTAST1C, 20 November 2018 - 10:54 PM.

[Dragonporn]

Sometimes I do take quirks into consideration, but very rarely. Usually they force to make either atrocious or completely unfun builds to play with. **** quirks, real men don't need em' anyway.

[Gristle Missile]

FRAGTAST1C, on 20 November 2018 - 10:18 PM, said:

I was looking at some mechs for the triple RAC2 builds. Seems good to me what I've listed below. Any thoughts on them? Now, I should think about committing to one of the mechs mentioned in this topic.

MAD-3R

Yikes that looks really hot
here is how I would change build so it has more heat sinks.
no ams but it has a targeting computer. I feel like LRMs arent as big a threat to a Marauder
MAD-3R

Edited by Gristle Missile, 20 November 2018 - 11:29 PM.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Gristle Missile, on 20 November 2018 - 11:28 PM, said:

MAD-3R

Cool. Thank you.

I was looking at some mechs and I feel that the Marauder 3R's high mounted ballistic hardpoints are very good for the Triple RAC2's. The Cataphract hero, Ilya Muromets (?) is almost perfect. The ballistic hardpoints are distributed and are low, which is annoying. But it has a lot of armour.

[Maddermax]

FRAGTAST1C, on 21 November 2018 - 02:54 AM, said:

Cool. Thank you.

I was looking at some mechs and I feel that the Marauder 3R's high mounted ballistic hardpoints are very good for the Triple RAC2's. The Cataphract hero, Ilya Muromets (?) is almost perfect. The ballistic hardpoints are distributed and are low, which is annoying. But it has a lot of armour.

Just remember triple RAC2s still don’t do a whole lot of damage, they need a fair bit of time on target. You can also try double RAC5s, which are hotter, shorter ranged and have a longer wind up, but do a bit more damage and free up tonnage for other equipment.

Edited by Maddermax, 21 November 2018 - 03:12 AM.

[JediPanther]

Depends on mech and quirk. Often what sounds like a super op omg must use quirk in patch notes or the store mousing over mech is hot garbage. Panther's 40-50% cool down on ppc. Has that huge GORILLA ARM and a pitiful 250 engine cap. Spider 5V's 80% capture quirk...with only 2 ct E points. Ember's 25% mg rof.

More often than not I plan the mech around how I want to use it with a lot of mechs getting the same generic skill tree build because pgi really hates 35t mechs so the vast majority of my 25 plus lights almost always have full mobility and survival. If a quirk is in the 15-20% range and I like the quirk or weapon then I might use just that quirk to build around. Like 15% missile range on the locust with a lrm 5 just because why the hell not? I'm not here for a second job but to have fun.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Ok, I think the Cataphract IM is actually very good for what I have in mind. Please feel free to critique it.

ILYA MUROMETS

The quirks are as follows:-
1. Ballistic cooldown: -10% (not useful)
2. Ballistic Range: +15% (neat)
3. Ballistic Velocity: +10% (very nice)
4. Energy Cooldown: -15% (reasonably useful)
5. Base Armour (CT = +22; LT = +15; RT = +15; LA = +11; RA = +11; LL = +15; RL = +15) (nice)

This mech seems to be perfect in almost every way except for the hardpoint locations but I think it's the best one for the build I have in mind. The Marauder 3R is another great mech with perfect hardpoint location but the quirks aren't useful for RACs and also, I get the feeling that its hitboxes are way more prominent than the Cataphract's. What do you guys think?

[Daurock]

FRAGTAST1C, on 21 November 2018 - 06:49 AM, said:

Ok, I think the Cataphract IM is actually very good for what I have in mind. Please feel free to critique it.

ILYA MUROMETS

The quirks are as follows:-
1. Ballistic cooldown: -10% (not useful)
2. Ballistic Range: +15% (neat)
3. Ballistic Velocity: +10% (very nice)
4. Energy Cooldown: -15% (reasonably useful)
5. Base Armour (CT = +22; LT = +15; RT = +15; LA = +11; RA = +11; LL = +15; RL = +15) (nice)

This mech seems to be perfect in almost every way except for the hardpoint locations but I think it's the best one for the build I have in mind. The Marauder 3R is another great mech with perfect hardpoint location but the quirks aren't useful for RACs and also, I get the feeling that its hitboxes are way more prominent than the Cataphract's. What do you guys think?

For RACs, you're still gonna want the Marauder. The hitboxes on the cataphract are very wide, and easy to isolate, meaning that you'll take a ton of return fire compared to the marauder. The marauder is actually quite narrow fromthe front, which is what you want when using a set of cannons that require facetime. RAC's also do not make use of the cooldown quirk, and the energy quirk isn't particularly useful either. (when it comes to energy weapons, unless you're running an extremely cold build, Heat is almost always your limiting factor instead of cooldown) The ballistic range and velocity is handy, but the low, very widely spread mounts on the phract are going to be more or a problem than a bit of velocity and range are going to take care of, so you're likely down on firepower too compared to the MAD.

This is more than anything, a case of where quirks don't make up for geometry and basic hardpoint location between a pair of mechs.

[Mole]

You know, another point I'd like to make if I try to avoid making builds that are dependent on quirks to be good. If I am building a 'mech I want it to stay good forever. And PGI has demonstrated that quirks are a fleeting thing that can change. Last time I made a build based on a quirk they decided my Thunderbolt with the two ERPPCs was OP and nered it to the point where the entire build doesn't really work anymore and a 'mech I used to be able to pilot quite competently is now one of my more difficult rides. So yeah. I don't want to make that mistake again.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Hmm... I see. So, to me, it's either the Marauder 3R or the Cataphract. The Marauder has more armour+structure combined thanks to the quirks whereas the Ilya Muromets has armour but overall, has less of the combination of the two.

[Gristle Missile]

Mole, on 21 November 2018 - 08:19 AM, said:

You know, another point I'd like to make if I try to avoid making builds that are dependent on quirks to be good. If I am building a 'mech I want it to stay good forever. And PGI has demonstrated that quirks are a fleeting thing that can change. Last time I made a build based on a quirk they decided my Thunderbolt with the two ERPPCs was OP and nered it to the point where the entire build doesn't really work anymore and a 'mech I used to be able to pilot quite competently is now one of my more difficult rides. So yeah. I don't want to make that mistake again.

Ive still been using a Thunderbolt ERPPC build pretty decently. I would say dont give up on it
TDR-9S
It was "okay" for a while, but still fun to use. Then they buffed heat sink dissipation and it feels pretty viable now

[Grus]

FRAGTAST1C, on 20 November 2018 - 05:46 AM, said:

Do you guys judiciously build a mech to utilize its quirks even though you think a different weapon system could be better?

For e.g., the RFL Dao Breaker has a IS AC5 cooldown of 10%. I think the following build would be better...

1. LE 250
2. Ferro and Endo Steel
3. Max armour except for the head
4. 3 RAC 2 with 4 tons of ammo
5. 3 ER SL

What do you guys think?

*most clan mech pilots* what are quirks?...

[FRAGTAST1C]

Grus, on 21 November 2018 - 05:12 PM, said:

*most clan mech pilots* what are quirks?...

Ah, yes. The Clan'ers. Just give them a very large axe and a promise of Metal-halla and everything's fine.

[Grus]

FRAGTAST1C, on 21 November 2018 - 06:55 PM, said:

Ah, yes. The Clan'ers. Just give them a very large axe and a promise of Metal-halla and everything's fine.

Well... youre not wrong.. lol