148 replies to this topic

[RickySpanish]

I saw fewer of them tonight and perhaps tellingly, I have only seen Haven Kendrick and Baradul in anything other than standard variants - to me that says few people have been convinced from their experience with the standard variants to drop money on the hero/collector's/reinforcements. Meanwhile those CT cannons are just such juicey targets, slamming them from any angle is sad to watch, sometimes the pilots get super confused and twist in all sorts of directions. #fixmaraudergeometry.

Edited by RickySpanish, 20 April 2019 - 09:03 PM.

[Anjian]

Two sub 100 damage games with the Marauder II back to back and I'm off. Hop back to my old Marauder IIC Scorch and immediately scored a 600+ damage 3 kill game. I think I am temporarily done for now, turn my attention and work on the Corsairs more a bit.

I have seen people who did well on MADIIs but I suspect they are already exceptional assault pilots that could do even better with another assault.

Edited by Anjian, 20 April 2019 - 10:22 PM.

[RickySpanish]

Anjian, on 20 April 2019 - 10:20 PM, said:

Two sub 100 damage games with the Marauder II back to back and I'm off. Hop back to my old Marauder IIC Scorch and immediately scored a 600+ damage 3 kill game. I think I am temporarily done for now, turn my attention and work on the Corsairs more a bit.

I have seen people who did well on MADIIs but I suspect they are already exceptional assault pilots that could do even better with another assault.

Indeed, if you can consistently make it work, that speaks to your skill as a pilot moreso than any advantages the 'Mech has with respect to other 100 ton Assaults.

[Y E O N N E]

Only been able to eek out ~500 damage games, occasional 700, using the non-missile variant ones. Lots of 200-300.

Edited by Y E O N N E, 20 April 2019 - 10:43 PM.

[RickySpanish]

Y E O N N E, on 20 April 2019 - 10:39 PM, said:

Only been able to eek out ~500 damage games, occasional 700, using the non-missile variant ones. Lots of 200-300.

I could not break 400, like you I was usually in the 200-300 range. It's annoying to have to make your team mates suffer to get the SP to actually see how the 'Mech will perform, that's a daft system if you ask me. In the end I stopped, as I was simply a liability in any of the variants really.

[Y E O N N E]

If you run the right laser build, it's not terrible and is fairly reliable to get into the 600 range. If you are actually good in Assaults, unlike me, that should translate into superior performance.

[FRAGTAST1C]

MAD II 4A :- 3 LL + 5 ERML + LFE 350 + Targeting Computer MK1 + 24 DHS

Double Cool Shot is a must for this. You can Alpha Strike twice and then you have to manage the heat extremely well. If you invest a decent amount into the Survival skill tree, you'll get a lot of Structure points. You'll need full Cool Run and Heat Containment from the Operations, 60% Radar Deprivation and the rest you need to put into Heat Gen. nodes as efficiently as possible while ignoring the Cool Downs and go for the Laser Duration.

You can have decent matches IF you don't use this mech as a frontliner. That is very important, which all things considered does defeat the purpose of a 100 tonner. But anyway, treat it like a second line support, move with the team and aim well. I've had several games in the 700 damage bracket but 400 was the consistent one. Getting kills is easy enough though.

MAD II 4HP :- 4 SRM 6 + 5 SRM 2 + 4 ML + LFE 360 + 20 DHS + 6.5 tonnes of ammo + AMS with 1 ton of ammo

You can Alpha strike without ghost heat and the cycling time of the SRM 2s is shorter so you can either wait for all the missiles to cool down together or fire the SRM 2s on their own again faster than SRM 6s.

60% Radar Deprivation, Cool shots, Cool Runs and Survival tree is a must. Then invest into the missile nodes while picking up Heat Gen. nodes mainly.

Again, this is NOT a frontliner. It's a "Hide, Wait, Rush in, Kill and then Die" mech. In some games, you'll get 5 kills or so but in others, you'll get to do 300 damage and get a solo kill before one of your side torsos melt.

MAD II 5A :- I haven't played this one a whole lot. I've tried double LBX 10 + 6 ML as well as Heavy Gauss + 6 ML. It just feels like a Bounty Hunter but easily killable. Maybe Heavy Gauss + 6 MPL is the way to go for this one?

[Y E O N N E]

MAD-4A: 4x LPL and 4x ERML, 22 DHS. I'd even say 6x LL and 2x ERML with 21 DHS.

52 alpha is just not worth wasting a 100 ton 'Mech on.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Y E O N N E, on 21 April 2019 - 01:08 AM, said:

MAD-4A: 4x LPL and 4x ERML, 22 DHS. I'd even say 6x LL and 2x ERML with 21 DHS.

52 alpha is just not worth wasting a 100 ton 'Mech on.

I've tried the 4 LPL build. The heat was unbearable for me.

[thievingmagpi]

Anjian, on 20 April 2019 - 10:20 PM, said:

Two sub 100 damage games with the Marauder II back to back and I'm off. Hop back to my old Marauder IIC Scorch and immediately scored a 600+ damage 3 kill game. I think I am temporarily done for now, turn my attention and work on the Corsairs more a bit.

I have seen people who did well on MADIIs but I suspect they are already exceptional assault pilots that could do even better with another assault.

yeah I was really hoping for some kinda Scorch IS equivalent before we saw the hardpoints.


I also don't really see the point in bringing the 2LB10x, ML version over the Heavy version which is smaller and faster.

[Y E O N N E]

The MAD-4HP is way stronger than the Scorch, so we got that.

What we didn't get are credible IS alternatives to the base MAD-IIC and its dakka variants, all because the MAD-4A us missing an energy and has no heat gen quirks and because IS ballistics are lol huge and can't stack well in a single ST.

Edited by Y E O N N E, 21 April 2019 - 09:44 AM.

[RickySpanish]

Y E O N N E, on 21 April 2019 - 09:42 AM, said:

The MAD-4HP is way stronger than the Scorch, so we got that.

What we didn't get are credible IS alternatives to the base MAD-IIC and its dakka variants, all because the MAD-4A us missing an energy and has no heat gen quirks and because IS ballistics are lol huge and can't stack well in a single ST.

Is it actually though? I'd think they would be equivalent fire power wise, but the Scorch is more agile.

[Lumihiisi]

Why not try 3lpl & 5mpl, light engine 350 and 12 double heat sinks?

[Y E O N N E]

RickySpanish, on 21 April 2019 - 09:52 AM, said:

Is it actually though? I'd think they would be equivalent fire power wise, but the Scorch is more agile.

MAD-4HP trashes it on firepower and cooling, matches it on speed, and can gain the agility by spending 8 points on the upper left of the mobility tree.

Lumihiisi, on 21 April 2019 - 10:01 AM, said:

Why not try 3lpl & 5mpl, light engine 350 and 12 double heat sinks?

Because, at that range, the SRMs are superior.

Edited by Y E O N N E, 21 April 2019 - 10:20 AM.

[RickySpanish]

Y E O N N E, on 21 April 2019 - 10:20 AM, said:

MAD-4HP trashes it on firepower and cooling, matches it on speed, and can gain the agility by spending 8 points on the upper left of the mobility tree.



Because, at that range, the SRMs are superior.

It most certainly will not match a 4 asrm 6 2 lb20x Scorch on speed or agility. The Scorch is an 85 tonner, it's easily capable of 64 kph. The MAD II struggles to hit 55. 10 kph might seem like splitting hairs, but that and the agility do matter. The Scorch also has very similar cooling thanks to clan dhs taking up less critical slots and the equivalent engine being an XL is lighter. The MAD II would have better armour and maybe better firepower, but the nice thing anout Scorch is there's no face time with missiles and ballistics.

Edit: see Yeonne's post below, I was incorrect so anyone reading this, look below.

Edited by RickySpanish, 21 April 2019 - 04:21 PM.

[Y E O N N E]

RickySpanish, on 21 April 2019 - 12:53 PM, said:

It most certainly will not match a 4 asrm 6 2 lb20x Scorch on speed or agility.

The Scorch is an 85 tonner, it's easily capable of 64 kph. The MAD II struggles to hit 55. 10 kph might seem like splitting hairs, but that and the agility do matter. The Scorch also has very similar cooling thanks to clan dhs taking up less critical slots and the equivalent engine being an XL is lighter. The MAD II would have better armour and maybe better firepower, but the nice thing anout Scorch is there's no face time with missiles and ballistics.

Uh, yes it will, if you want to have comparable ammo, sustainable output, and have Artemis (which the IS one doesn't necessarily require because of inherently superior SRM spread).

The MAD-4HP runs just 3.3 kph shy of 60 kph without speed-tweak. The Scorch runs at 3 kph shy using an XL 300, and not even quite 2 kph faster than 60 with a 325. If you have a bigger engine than a 325, you either don't have enough heat dissipation to out-sustain a 4HP or you don't have enough ammo to carry like a 4HP. Regardless, the 4HP has more precise weapons.

Don't believe me?

Scorch + Artemis vs. similar-playing MAD-4HP

Scorch w/o Artemis

MAD-4HP with MPLs instead of SN-PPCs

SRM48+Artemis MAD-4HP

The Scorch's agility is also almost exactly the same as the other MAD IIs, and you can fix the MAD II with the top left nodes in the agility tree while still being more durable than the Scorch.

[RickySpanish]

Y E O N N E, on 21 April 2019 - 02:40 PM, said:

Uh, yes it will, if you want to have comparable ammo, sustainable output, and have Artemis (which the IS one doesn't necessarily require because of inherently superior SRM spread).

The MAD-4HP runs just 3.3 kph shy of 60 kph without speed-tweak. The Scorch runs at 3 kph shy using an XL 300, and not even quite 2 kph faster than 60 with a 325. If you have a bigger engine than a 325, you either don't have enough heat dissipation to out-sustain a 4HP or you don't have enough ammo to carry like a 4HP. Regardless, the 4HP has more precise weapons.

Don't believe me?

Scorch + Artemis vs. similar-playing MAD-4HP

Scorch w/o Artemis

MAD-4HP with MPLs instead of SN-PPCs

SRM48+Artemis MAD-4HP

The Scorch's agility is also almost exactly the same as the other MAD IIs, and you can fix the MAD II with the top left nodes in the agility tree while still being more durable than the Scorch.

You know, I never considered snub nosed ppcs, I always assumed those arms needed pulse lasers which had a duration. However there is that quirk, and you are right the spread is better on IS SRMs which I also forgot about. The durability is of course better on the MAD II which as you said, frees up SP for other things. The agility is also very close, I think you've convinced me with those builds. I shall need to give the 4HP another shot, cheers for that!

[CFC Conky]

Hello all,

I have tried all the variants this weekend, solo QP only, no skill points (I try to do ~20 matches in a particular variant beforehand), and no consumables.

Overall, I'm finding the unskilled mech a bit squishy, along the lines of the Corsair. Energy-focused builds are pretty hot, and the lower mobility typical of 100-tonners means I often have to chain-fire my weapons if I can't get to cover quickly. The high-mounted torso hardpoints are great for shooting over obstacles/canyon rims/platform edges but the inability to not have that head-mounted hardpoint populated when using torso weapons puts a big bullseye on you. Mobility is about average for a 100-tonner. Firepower is a bit skinny except for the -4HP, but I'm hoping that filling out the survival tree will compensate for that.

My matches have been feast-or-famine, I either do ~500+ damage with 2-3 kills, or sub-150. So far my best performer is the -5A wiith 2xLBX10 and 6xMPL. At the moment my most vulnerable variant is the -4L; if I can go unnoticed I can get some good numbers but when pushed things usually end very badly for me .

I'm wondering if the MAD II might be more effective in fw, those high torso hardpoints are really good for slinging PPC and Gauss rounds downrange.

Good hunting,
CFC Conky

[Ken Harkin]

The Marauder is my favorite mech! The Marauder II is... not.

It maneuvers like a pig, can't fit enough heat sinks to really load up on energy weapons, had both ballistics in the same frigging torso ruining dual AC/UAC 10 or 20 builds, other than an SRM boat, which needs to be in your face to work, you can go with a MRM build but those really spread the damage and to be frank, my Archer Hero does a better job with twin MRM30, 6ML, and ECM. It also doesn't attrack fire like the 100 tonners standing next to it.

The energy build needs better energy heat dissipation to be worth running. So far I have had moderate luck with 2 HPPC in the torso and MPLs elsewhere. Stuff the rest with engine and HS. Having a single UAC20 in my regular Marauder is fine, only having that in 100 tons is vastly underperforming.

[Mycroft Sandoval-Davion]

MAD2 is laughably inferior to KGCs. I find the mobility OK, but the CT is squishy AF. 120 armor CT on a mech that can't effectively twist is insane. Torso HPs are suicide except for the MAD-4HP, which relegates you to knuckle dragging arm HPs. I run a few missions in it a day until I get tired of it's BS and switch to other mechs. Even the MAD-4HP seems to under-perform compared to my CP-11P, which is 10 tons lighter. To be fair, I haven't been spending as much time on the cheese grater as on the other variants, so it might redeem itself with some more quirks. All in all I find it disappointing. I really wanted to like this mech, but it needs a lot of work. That dorsal HP in particular needs attention. Effing that up this badly makes me wonder about the level of quality we will see in MW5