31 replies to this topic

[FRAGTAST1C]

I was looking at my mech collection and realized that my IS mechs are mostly brawling or for QP matches.

I have the Bounty Hunter that I currently have AC20 and MLs or switch things around for a HGR.

Catapult C2 (S) has 2 LBX10s and 4 SRM2s for fast firing engagements.

Champion 1N2 has LBX10 + 2 SRM6+A and 5 ERSL

Champion 1NB with a triple RAC 2

Legend Killer with 2 LBX10s and ERSLs

Dao Breaker (just take it to the Testing grounds often but never played an actual match)

Warhammer 9D(s) has 2 HPPC and some MLs with an XL engine and JJs

Warhammer Black Widow initially had 1 UAC10 and 2 UAC5s but I switched it to 2 LBX10s and Snubnose (or MLs) to stop the frustration of QP

Bushwhacker X1 with Triple RAC 2

Griffin Ares with MPLs and SRM6s

Hellspawn Paralyzer runs Stealth with SPLs and 2 SRM6s

So, as you can see, I lack IS mechs that can engage at LR energy trading matches. As I was going through the list of Heavies that can do this, it seems like the IS mechs are ok doing side-ways peeking 'cause of the low mounts and decent armour quirks. What are the good mechs in this bracket? I guess the usual suspect is the Grasshopper for its JJ but if you'd go with Heavies, Black Knight and Thunderbolts do well I suppose? But compared to what the Clans can do, should I go with ERPPCs or something? Or pick Assaults like the Awesomes and Battlemasters?

[Chortles]

ER Large Grasshopper is still potent.
ERPPC Thunderbolt used to be a thing, but I haven't seen any in a long time.
ERPPC Blackjack has been used in comp recently.
Although it isn't energy, I have seen some players run well with 4 AC2s on a Champion and Griffin..

Edited by Chortles, 05 August 2019 - 08:49 PM.

[Bowelhacker]

Chortles, on 05 August 2019 - 08:40 PM, said:

ER Large Grasshopper is still potent.
ERPPC Thunderbolt used to be a thing, but I haven't seen any in a long time.
ERPPC Blackjack has been used in comp recently.
Although it isn't energy, I have seen some players run well with 4 AC2s on a Champion and Griffin..

The idea of an AC2x4 Enforcer appeals too...

[Gagis]

4ERLL Roughneck is a thing. Lacks a range quirk, but gets a significant advantage in armour, structure and hardpoint height.

[FRAGTAST1C]

I am looking at a possible IS Drop deck such as this...

Mauler MX 90 (c) - 6 AC2 (I ran LBXs and SRM6s for QP after trying several loadouts)

Marauder 9M(s) - 4 ERLL + ECM + LRM 15 (I forgot I had this 'cause for QP, I used 5 ML + MRM 60 and ECM). This thing can alpha strike 4 LL without ghost heat but the weapons are low slung

Warhammer 9D(s) - switch the HPPCs and JJs to ERLL or something.

Javelin 11B - Stealth 2 SRM2 + 2 SRM4 or Javelin 10P - 6 SRM 2

That is the best that I can put together for now from what I have. Any suggestions to tweaks for the loadouts and some additional "meta" mechs to buy are very welcome

I have the Marauder II 4A that can do 6 ERLL easily as well though for QP, I went with 3 LPL and some MLs. It was bad 'cause of the mobility. Marauder II 4HP than can do an insane amount of LRMs (for QP I used SRM6s and SRM2s to avoid ghost heat). ECM Hatamoto is an option as well but again, arm mounted weapons are low slung but could work with sideways peeking. Atlas Kraken is a pure brawler as well as the Nightstar 9S and King Crab 001(s). So, I'm leaving them out for FW for now unless some brawl-y maps and modes pop up.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

Without even going 'Mech shopping, you already have two heavies that'd be pretty decent at mid to long range energy trading:

Dao Breaker. The advantage here is that you're running all high mounts at cockpit level, and two of them are in an arm so you can hit UAVs and fight on hills. DB also gets a small heat dissipation quirk. You also mentioned that your DB is just sitting idle, so you'd lose nothing by trying it.

Champion CHP-1NB. The advantages here are great armor quirks, and an incredibly tight mount cluster that puts all four beams on the same point at any range even without a target lock. It's basically the energy counterpart to the same variant's 4xAC2 and 3xRAC2 builds, but if you're already liking this variant with ballistics I'd say stick with those because the sustained DPS is way better than with LLs.

Both are virtually identical 4xLL builds; fire 2+2 groups for sustained damage. From a cold start you can alpha twice while just eating the ghost heat, if you need a quick burst or two. Neither 'Mech is quirked for lasers in particular, but quirks aren't make-or-break here. Not for quickplay, anyway. Minor re-arrangements would yield one or two more sinks, or a larger engine (or, since both 'Mechs are overwhelmingly left-sided, switched for a STD250 for deadside tankiness). It'd be trivial to just swap the LLs for ERLLs if you want an extreme range sniper, although you'd be better off with a smaller engine and more sinks in that case.

[FRAGTAST1C]

WrathOfDeadguy, on 05 August 2019 - 10:25 PM, said:

Without even going 'Mech shopping, you already have two heavies that'd be pretty decent at mid to long range energy trading:

Dao Breaker. The advantage here is that you're running all high mounts at cockpit level, and two of them are in an arm so you can hit UAVs and fight on hills. DB also gets a small heat dissipation quirk. You also mentioned that your DB is just sitting idle, so you'd lose nothing by trying it.

Heh, I never thought about using the laser mounts on that thing. Not only does it have that small Heat quirk, but it has an universal Range quirk of 10% as well as Cooldown.

[Tatula]

You can try the Thanatos 4P. High mounted 4x energy hardpoints on the torsos and you have ECM. Put 4xerLL for long-range sniping.

[Teenage Mutant Ninja Urbie]

Aloha, on 05 August 2019 - 10:44 PM, said:

You can try the Thanatos 4P. High mounted 4x energy hardpoints on the torsos and you have ECM. Put 4xerLL for long-range sniping.

could be worse - can be better, so: no
just 2 examples for IS-side: both the energy-whammer and every grashopper are better for that job.
thanny suffers quite a few problems, and with trading mechs, what do you really need the ecm for anyway..

[Gristle Missile]

You can do some stuff with a thunderbolt and they are pretty underused.
Thunderbolt 5S/5SS/9S

has good left side peeking and 3 energy in left torso. Quirks in the form of energy heat, range, cooldown, laser duration. - The 5SS can do 5 ERLL like grasshopper and warhammer while being 5 tons less, but with sacrifices

9S is more ERPPC due to quirks and 2 very high hardpoints in the right torso which lets you peek over hills with the most minimal of exposure

Edited by Gristle Missile, 06 August 2019 - 01:36 PM.

[Vxheous]

Grasshopper 5P (and 5H) and Warhammer 6D are your traditional 5 ERLL boating IS heavies.

If you're looking for a long range IS trade deck:

2x Battlemaster 1G with 6x ERLL (170 tons total) + 1x 70 ton (Grasshopper or Warhammer) 5xERLL (70 tons) + 25 tons left over for a light mech (Commando or Flea)

Alternatively

1x Battlemaser 1G, 2x70 tonners, + 40 tons left over for a Vulcan or Assassin.

Battlemaster can be subbed with a Stalker as well, one of them has a +10% energy range quirk, along with 5 ERLL and a large TC can reach up to 900m+.

These two decks are probably your most optimized IS ERLL decks, most other combinations will be inferior

Edited by Vxheous, 06 August 2019 - 12:20 PM.

[C H E E K I E Z]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 100%. Dont listen to anything else.

Battle master 1g 6erll, comp 1. Nothing out trades this mech. Aside a ppc shadowcat.

The Ecm stalker is another very good Erll boat. Very good high mounts.

The hard point location can be tricky to new players with the grasshopper, and its giant ct. The war hammer 6D is a much better learning mech since you already play it.

Blackjack/uziel with 2erppc is also very very good.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Cool. Do you put an XL in those mechs? The Warhammer 9D(s) that I'm currently using as a HPPC mech runs an XL. I do die cheaply at times but when the team has a good dynamic going, I can twist effectively and pump out enough damage to get the kills in QP.

I'm guessing it is quite different when engaging in LR trading matches. So, XL in some of those mechs where CT is very big doesn't really matter. I'm starved for slots though 'cause for e.g., the Battlemaster 1G with 6 ERLL with a LFE 325 can get filled up really quickly and barely reach 35% heat efficiency whereas with an XL325, I'm mostly starved for slots and increasing the engine rating to XL 350 covers the tonnage but can't reach 40% cooling. I guess I'm doing it wrong atm lol.

At the very least, once I'm done leveling up the pesky light mechs, I can buy the Grasshopper and the Battlemaster and try it out.

[Vxheous]

FRAGTAST1C, on 06 August 2019 - 08:04 PM, said:

Cool. Do you put an XL in those mechs? The Warhammer 9D(s) that I'm currently using as a HPPC mech runs an XL. I do die cheaply at times but when the team has a good dynamic going, I can twist effectively and pump out enough damage to get the kills in QP.

I'm guessing it is quite different when engaging in LR trading matches. So, XL in some of those mechs where CT is very big doesn't really matter. I'm starved for slots though 'cause for e.g., the Battlemaster 1G with 6 ERLL with a LFE 325 can get filled up really quickly and barely reach 35% heat efficiency whereas with an XL325, I'm mostly starved for slots and increasing the engine rating to XL 350 covers the tonnage but can't reach 40% cooling. I guess I'm doing it wrong atm lol.

At the very least, once I'm done leveling up the pesky light mechs, I can buy the Grasshopper and the Battlemaster and try it out.

No, they all run LFE now (they used to run XL before LFE's came out). I'll link you the builds here. They are hot(ter) running builds, but that's fine when you're trading at 900m-1100m:



This one you have to mount 2 ER small lasers first to push the ER Large Lasers into the higher laser mounts.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Oh, ok. I was under the impression that I'd need to get the laser boats to around 45% heat efficiency minimum BEFORE the Heat Gen nodes and Cool Run nodes were taken into consideration. Thanks for the builds.

[Gagis]

I have swapped my versions of BLR and GHR builds back to using XL engines since both mechs are pretty safe with it and I really really like to go fast. WHM and Roughneck are less safe to XL.

[Prototelis]

Don't XL your trademaster.

Peeps be always going for a ST anyways; less health and you're functionally out of the fight even with a light engine. Atleast with a light engine you can sometimes get a few more trades before you eat it.

Bonus points if you chris them and they just pop because heat spike.

Edited by Prototelis, 07 August 2019 - 01:25 AM.

[MeiSooHaityu]

I always liked the Catapult K2 & Jester as an IS energy mech. It has 2 arm mounted, high mounted energy hardpoints, and the two lower hardpoints are still about cockpit level so in general, if you see it, you can hit it. The mech is compact and it had a good engine cap. It is also relatively XL friendly for hill cresting.

I think it is worth a try if you are looking for a long range IS mech for energy.

[MechaBattler]

I miss when the 9S was OP. Just firing off ERPPCs every time they were on cooldown without worry about heat. Good times.

I haven't playing for a few months. But are PPCs weaker because of the shift toward DPS thanks to heat changes?

[Gristle Missile]

MechaBattler, on 07 August 2019 - 09:52 AM, said:

I miss when the 9S was OP. Just firing off ERPPCs every time they were on cooldown without worry about heat. Good times.

I haven't playing for a few months. But are PPCs weaker because of the shift toward DPS thanks to heat changes?

They are still pretty cold for ERPPCs with a low CD
I would say PPCs are in a good spot - ammoless long range PPFLD is still great
If anything, the buff to dissipation on heat sinks helped them, but its probably more useful to lasers since with lasers you can slap on however many and throw out more damage in a shorter time for more heat, then just wait for the heat to dissipate while hiding. PPCs you have to keep waiting for the CD and slam them repeatedly to deal damage and build a heat gauge slower

Edited by Gristle Missile, 07 August 2019 - 01:12 PM.