10 replies to this topic

[smokingsuasage]

I have now done all my 25 cadet games and have around 24,500,000 to spend . after playing most of the trial mechs i have come to the conclusion that an assualt mech is my preference. However not sure which one to go for. I would prefer something with mainky lasers but with some projectile weapons as well but not guass as i just couldnt get the hang of them.

Any advice or suggestions would be most gratefully received

[Tesunie]

smokingsuasage, on 11 August 2019 - 11:31 AM, said:

I have now done all my 25 cadet games and have around 24,500,000 to spend . after playing most of the trial mechs i have come to the conclusion that an assualt mech is my preference. However not sure which one to go for. I would prefer something with mainky lasers but with some projectile weapons as well but not guass as i just couldnt get the hang of them.

Any advice or suggestions would be most gratefully received

Depends upon what you are looking for. A Dire Wolf can provide hard point flexibility, but will always move at it's same slow speed as it's engine is locked. A Stalker can work well with lasers as well as a Battlemaster, but lack in decent ballistic hard points. A Super Nova is well known for it's laser configurations, but I also believe there are missile and ballistic variants.

For ballistics, a King Crab is a strong contender, but an Annihilator is probably more recommended. If you want something with a bit more balance and mobility, a Marauder IIC can be a reasonable ride but might lack in ballistics. I also know that there are several ballistic Mad Cat MkIIs that could do the job well. For IS, the Nightstar is a reasonable ride in my opinion, depending upon the loadout. Though it's not seen as much as it use to, the Kodiak is also another ballistic heavy option.

For assaults, there are many options. Any of them catch your attention at the moment? If one does, then we can start talking about possible loadout builds for the mech you might like. I can't make specific recommendations for builds without having a chassis to build around.


Off the top of my head though, a dual UAC10, dual AC2 with twin MLs as back up Nightstar comes as a recommended concept. A Direwolf/Annihilator with massed AC2s is also a typical build. A quad UAC5 King Crab could also be reasonable if you don't mind working with lower arm mounts. If you want something more close range, there are some LB20 with massed ERML Mad Cat MkIIs that could work...

[smokingsuasage]

Tesunie, on 11 August 2019 - 11:47 AM, said:

Depends upon what you are looking for. A Dire Wolf can provide hard point flexibility, but will always move at it's same slow speed as it's engine is locked. A Stalker can work well with lasers as well as a Battlemaster, but lack in decent ballistic hard points. A Super Nova is well known for it's laser configurations, but I also believe there are missile and ballistic variants.

For ballistics, a King Crab is a strong contender, but an Annihilator is probably more recommended. If you want something with a bit more balance and mobility, a Marauder IIC can be a reasonable ride but might lack in ballistics. I also know that there are several ballistic Mad Cat MkIIs that could do the job well. For IS, the Nightstar is a reasonable ride in my opinion, depending upon the loadout. Though it's not seen as much as it use to, the Kodiak is also another ballistic heavy option.

For assaults, there are many options. Any of them catch your attention at the moment? If one does, then we can start talking about possible loadout builds for the mech you might like. I can't make specific recommendations for builds without having a chassis to build around.


Off the top of my head though, a dual UAC10, dual AC2 with twin MLs as back up Nightstar comes as a recommended concept. A Direwolf/Annihilator with massed AC2s is also a typical build. A quad UAC5 King Crab could also be reasonable if you don't mind working with lower arm mounts. If you want something more close range, there are some LB20 with massed ERML Mad Cat MkIIs that could work...

I do have a leaning towards an annihilator 1p but i have heard that the RAC's tend to heat up pretty quick maybe i could drop them and try a fit in a couple of heavyier solid shots and maybe upgrade the medium lasers to pulse or er mediums. I have about 49.500 gxp to add some skills on.

[Tesunie]

smokingsuasage, on 11 August 2019 - 12:06 PM, said:

I do have a leaning towards an annihilator 1p but i have heard that the RAC's tend to heat up pretty quick maybe i could drop them and try a fit in a couple of heavyier solid shots and maybe upgrade the medium lasers to pulse or er mediums. I have about 49.500 gxp to add some skills on.

I personally don't like/use RACs, but I do know some people get good results from them. Most people use LBx10s or UAC5s on an Annihilator mixed with MLs. AC2 builds are also common on them and give you good DPS and range options. If you are using MLs, consider which types pair with your current weapons and your intended range engagements with them, as well as the heat production of the rest of your mech's builds.

What lasers you choose will depends upon what you want them to do. Just a brief overview of each laser type:
Normal lasers: These are standard lasers. They have moderate range compared to the other lasers, with moderate heat, beam duration and recharge times. They are the lasers all other types are compared to.
ER: These lasers gain increase to ranges they can deal damage at, but at the sacrifice of producing additional heat, longer beam duration and often longer recharge times. They are good when paired with weapons intended towards long range engagements. I often like to pair ERMLs with normal LLs or even LPLs (if I have the tonnage) because their ranges pair up nicely.
Pulse: These laser types suffer shorter damage ranges and cost more tonnage and produce more heat than standard (and ER) lasers most often. However, their offset is that their beam duration are shorter (meaning more damage to a single location) with faster recharge times. Best when used against faster targets to land more damage onto them, as well as to overcome "twisting" defense mechanics.

So, consider which types work best with the heat your mech builds us, role and ranges. Some types of lasers pair up better with other types of lasers because of similar ranges (ERMLs and LL/LPL example above). Find these "combos" and take advantage of them.

With ACs, MPLs and MLs might make for better choices than ERMLs, in part due to AC ballistic travel times are closer on target with shorter range weapons, which run counter to ER lasers. AC2s can often also push heat scale due to how fast they shoot (especially UAC2 or AC2s taken en mass), so despite the AC2s ranges, ER lasers may not pair well with them due to heat.

For a good example, my Nightstar with 2 UAC10s, 2 AC2s and 2 MLs works better with MLs than ERMLs due to heat. My girlfriend uses ERMLs, and when I tried that out I found it unbearably to hot. So on my own version, I adjusted and made the lasers normal, and found the heat a lot better. She still uses the ERMLs herself, as that's how she wanted it. (AKA: It's up to preference, and neither is necessarily wrong.)

Just something to keep in mind as you create your own little monster there.

[smokingsuasage]

Tesunie, on 11 August 2019 - 01:06 PM, said:

I personally don't like/use RACs, but I do know some people get good results from them. Most people use LBx10s or UAC5s on an Annihilator mixed with MLs. AC2 builds are also common on them and give you good DPS and range options. If you are using MLs, consider which types pair with your current weapons and your intended range engagements with them, as well as the heat production of the rest of your mech's builds.

What lasers you choose will depends upon what you want them to do. Just a brief overview of each laser type:
Normal lasers: These are standard lasers. They have moderate range compared to the other lasers, with moderate heat, beam duration and recharge times. They are the lasers all other types are compared to.
ER: These lasers gain increase to ranges they can deal damage at, but at the sacrifice of producing additional heat, longer beam duration and often longer recharge times. They are good when paired with weapons intended towards long range engagements. I often like to pair ERMLs with normal LLs or even LPLs (if I have the tonnage) because their ranges pair up nicely.
Pulse: These laser types suffer shorter damage ranges and cost more tonnage and produce more heat than standard (and ER) lasers most often. However, their offset is that their beam duration are shorter (meaning more damage to a single location) with faster recharge times. Best when used against faster targets to land more damage onto them, as well as to overcome "twisting" defense mechanics.

So, consider which types work best with the heat your mech builds us, role and ranges. Some types of lasers pair up better with other types of lasers because of similar ranges (ERMLs and LL/LPL example above). Find these "combos" and take advantage of them.

With ACs, MPLs and MLs might make for better choices than ERMLs, in part due to AC ballistic travel times are closer on target with shorter range weapons, which run counter to ER lasers. AC2s can often also push heat scale due to how fast they shoot (especially UAC2 or AC2s taken en mass), so despite the AC2s ranges, ER lasers may not pair well with them due to heat.

For a good example, my Nightstar with 2 UAC10s, 2 AC2s and 2 MLs works better with MLs than ERMLs due to heat. My girlfriend uses ERMLs, and when I tried that out I found it unbearably to hot. So on my own version, I adjusted and made the lasers normal, and found the heat a lot better. She still uses the ERMLs herself, as that's how she wanted it. (AKA: It's up to preference, and neither is necessarily wrong.)

Just something to keep in mind as you create your own little monster there.

Cheers for that given me some thing to think about may try a UAC10 ML build with an Anihlator chassis

[Gagis]

I'd like to recommend the Banshee 3M with 3LPL + 5ML. Its like the baseline laser assault that'll teach you the right lessons.

A Battlemaster 2C or Marauder IIC might perform better in the long run, but its hard to learn how to use them effectively by piloting them.

[CFC Conky]

Watch some youtube vids by the likes of Baradul, TTB, Snuggles Time, Blackhawk SC and Kanajashi. They have many featuring assault-class mechs with all kinds of builds. This might give you some more ideas and/choices.

Good hunting,
CFC Conky

[PhoenixFire55]

I wouldn't recommend choosng anything that is really slow (DireWolf, Annihilator etc.) or really fast (Gargoyle, Executioner) for an assault. For a beginner player my recommendations would be Battlemaster on IS side and Marauder IIC (don't confuse with IS Marauder heavy mech) on the clan side. Depending on a variant you choose to buy they both can pack plenty of lasers and some ballistics, both have high engine cap which means better chances of getting out of trouble caused by inevitable positioning errors of a new player.

A couple of build examples:

Battlemaster-1G

Marauder-IIC

These are laser-only builds. The combination of Large Pulse and ER Medium lasers is chosen for both due to the excellent range synergy between them for both IS and clan. The max number of each is dictated by the ghost-heat rule which gives additional heat per shot if you fire more than a certain number of weapons from the same group.

The linkes I've given are builds constructed in Smurfy's online mechlab, which is an old but trusty tool for experimenting with builds. It has most of the mechs in game as well as their quirks (permanent mech bonuses specific to each variant) and all of the weapon stats such as ranges, damages and generated heat as well as said ghost-heat rule groups.

These mechs are extremely different in what they excel at even tho their loadouts seem practically same. Battlemaster is really good at 350-450m ranges and delivers a relatively pinpoint damage due to shorter IS laser burn durations. However it has a wide frontal profile and requires clever torso-twisting and using empty arms as damage spounges. Marauder-IIC has a greater optimal range of about 450-600m, greater alpha strike damage, but spreads the damage more due to longer clan laser burns. However it has a relatively narrow frontal profile and allows for easier ranged trades. Some torso twisting will still be required, but don't overdo it as the more you turn the bigger target you become. The side profile of a Marauder is huge, so always try to keep the enemy in front of you.

Big engines in both should allow you to move around a map fairly fast, fast enough to keep with any kind of movement happening in solo-QP. Both mechs will survive a loss of one side torso, however both will also lose most of their firepower due to extremely poor heat dissipation after a torso loss in IS-LFE or clan-XL engine. If you are comfortable going slower but being more robust you can always downgrade to standart engines, which will limit your losses to just losing weaponry when one side is destroyed without losing much heat dissipation. However, in case of a Battlemaster the way to go is actually master the art of torso twisting and upgrading an LFE engine to a bigger XL engine for even greater speed and more heat sinks for more sustained DPS.

In any case, just my 2 cents. If you got any questions always feel free to ask.

Edited by PhoenixFire55, 12 August 2019 - 04:41 AM.

[Tesunie]

PhoenixFire55, on 12 August 2019 - 04:40 AM, said:

Battlemaster-1G

Marauder-IIC

Personally speaking, I never liked that Battlemaster build. I know it's not a bad build, but without any cool run skills on it, I found it to be far too hot. With cool run skills it's another matter, still warm but not unbearable. (Maybe I should try it again though.)

That Marauder IIC build looks good. I still have mine set to HLLs and ERMLs, which was effective before the heat scale changes. Haven't played it a lot since, so the LPLs might be the better option now.

Once it comes out for C-bills, I might start to recommend the Marauder II as a starter assault. The all energy one set up with LLs and ERMLs (I'd have to look at the build again before posting exacts) I find durable, cool(ish) and reasonably fast for a 100 ton mech. Of course, I know the meta involves the missile version of the Mad II...

[Horseman]

If you really want to make your first mech a dakka assault, Mad Cat Mk II B is the only reasonable option to pick.