Before the tlc pass it wasn't a good twisty brawler because the CT protruded so far out that from the side and the small arms you still took CT damage when twisted out, but was also very xl friendly. The TLC rework helped the CT and it got some decent armor and structure quirks across the variants.
In 4v4 scouting the 18 and Golden Boy really shined boating 4-5 streak 6 and a tag if you were good at heat management.
Pre LOS lock change the 5 lrm5 and ERLL 18 and GB where the ultimate IS lrm harasser.
You rarely see a Kintaro now and when you do it's usually the 18 or GB and almost always in support or 2nd line load out.
I take breaks from the game and coming back this time to the game where its just NASCAR all the time and I've been looking for mechs suited to the play and have hit on a KTO-20 build that does quite well.
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XL360, 4x smpl, 3x SRM6, 3x tons of ammo, 3x double heatsinks, Ferro Fibrous and Endo Steel.
The skill tree build
Firepower, I went minimal to get all the missile nodes and half the laser duration.
Armor, everything but ams.
Mobility, minimal to get all speed tweak
Operations, grabbed the first 3 heat containment.
What you get
Speed 114kph
Firepower 52.7
Range 291m on the missiles and 129m on the smpl
Ammo 420 which equals 23.33 full alphas (potential 901.7 damage from just the missiles).
Armor totals CT 101 (I run it 97 front 4 back) ST 75 (72 3) arms 53 (52) legs 67 (60) and head 18 (4)
Cooldown srm6 3.52 sec, smpl 1.8 sec
I have considered dropping the 4x smpl for 2x mpl for the extra range but you do less damage with more heat and duration=spread. Erml would definitely cook you and regular ml would still be hotter, less DPS and more duration=spread.
Tactic, tip of the spear nascaring catching mechs trying to run away and blow their backs out. When you have their attention on you you have the option to trade or maneuver to cover. The missiles wreck armor and then the lasers pinpoint components. The basic idea is to strip weapons off the enemy before he is forced to turn and face you, if you don't just catch him with low back armor and outright kill him.
It is extremely heat efficient for a Kintaro and almost never have to back out due to heat, only after several alphas on the hottest maps.
The average match is 400-600 damage with 2-4 kills, 2-4 KMDD with out dropping arty. The KMDD are the real story here as it tells you its not getting clean up kills but actually the damage dealer.
As for what to avoid nothing special here just the same common things that apply to all mechs. Even when you screw up it will deal out a healthy amount of damage before it goes down.
Edited by Johny Rocket, 17 November 2019 - 10:36 AM.