18 replies to this topic

[Meadowlion]

Currently my build consists of 2 ER Large Lasers in Chain Fire. 1 Large Pulse Laser 1 Medium laser 4 LRM 5s in chain fire. LRM ammo with Case on my left and right torso. Im not doing very good with this build and I feel like I overheat very fast. What changes should I make to this mech I have 6 million c-bills.

[letir]

First: chain fire OFF. You never shoot in chainfire. Stagger weapons manually if needed, and 2 Large Lasers dosen't need stagger - ghost heat penalty for IS large lasers starting on 3 laser.

Second: Don't use different weapons. Weapon GROUPS called that for a reason. Use same weapons in the group. Don't group weapons with different range, projectile speed and so on. Perfect build for a newbie including combination of two weapon groups, no more.

Third: LRM 5 on Assault? They belong to the harassing mediums only. If you go for real LRM boat, you must shoot 30 and more missiles per salvo. Don't waste 85 tons on that ****.

Fourth: Don't put ammo in side torsos and never use CASE, ever.


Now to the actual building.

Stalker H is primary missile boat, with LRM 20 quirks. That means you should go with LRM 20 or MRM boat.

MRM build: https://mech.nav-alp...32690a42_STK-3H
LRM build: https://mech.nav-alp...ec69fff0_STK-3H

In both cases you should go with your team and use your height to fire over their heads, because Stalker have bad mobility, but good durability. You also must utilise skill tree to achieve maximum effectivness - improve durability to the maximum, take nods in Operations/Firepower to resolve heat problems and mandatory Target Decay for LRM builds.

[Void Angel]

To reiterate some of Ietir's advice above, you want to focus your 'mechs on what thing you want them to do. Do not take a lot of weapons with different ranges and engagement profiles. For example, never pair LRMs with an AC/20. Why? Because an AC/20 is a high-damage, long cooldown weapon that's ideal for twisting your damaged components away from the enemy (a vital skill in MWO,) while LRMs require you to stare at your enemy in order to maintain the lock. If that weren't enough, those weapons are at the absolute opposite ends of the range scale; LRMs on an Inner Sphere 'mech will do no damage under 180m, and that AC/20 by itself isn't sufficient to justify an Assault chassis on the field. Basically what I'm getting at here is that if you try to deck out your assault with a weapon for all ranges, you'll just end up being armed like a Medium at any given range - you've felt how inefficient that is for yourself. =)

This doesn't mean you can't "splash" wepons into a build, but those weapons should still work with your primary focus, to give the build flexibility. Examples include adding Medium Lasers to an LRM boat to keep Lights from harassing you with total impunity, splashing a Large Laser onto a Battlemaster Medium Laser boat, or the AC/10 on my personal Favorite Shadowhawk Build. You want to focus your builds.

One additional thing: Shift your torso armor forward, and always run max armor (rounded down to the nearest half ton, and you can cut a half-ton or so if you need that extra bit of tonnage.) I'd start at about 7 armor on your rear torsos to start - most builds recommended by high-level players will run around 2.

Edited by Void Angel, 09 April 2020 - 08:27 PM.

[Meadowlion]

Thank you guys a lot I was putting way too many heatsinks on my mechs too judging by those builds. I play this game off and on again but i feel like i never really know whats going on. I have maxed out the skills on a catapult with lrm 20s and wanted to move up to an assault build.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

If you want to mix laser types, LL and LPL pair well with ERML (LPL in particular has almost identical range to ERML)- ERLL doesn't pair well with anything; if you're running ERLLs at all they should be the entire focus of your build, as a rule. However, with only four laser points you aren't going to be running MLs and LLs of any kind together. The MLs would be wasted potential. If you want lasers as a main weapon, go for 4xLPL, fire 2+2, and boat DHS. It can work with those high mounts the Stalkers have in the arms. It's not optimal for the variant, but it can work.

3H is a missile variant, though; laser builds are better on the 3F, 3FB, and 4N (all of which can run the classic 6xLL vomit build- fired in 2+2+2 groups, and maxed out on sinks, they can sustain some crazy DPS for an energy boat). As advised above, run it with big LRM launchers or big MRM launchers; if you run lasers, they should be MLs or SPLs for close defense only. If you go with LRMs, bring a TAG and a BAP because you do not want to be that guy who can't acquire their own locks through ECM.

You could even run MRMs exclusively; you have the tonnage for pure MRM-spam with a decent engine. 2x30+40, for instance (fire the 40 half a second after the dual 30s to avoid ghost heat). 2x40+30 can work too, but it will run very hot (2x40 incurs a penalty, but it isn't awful; just fire the paired 40s then stagger the 30 a half second later like you would with the 2x30+40 build). Pure MRM builds have the virtue of consistency; you only need to account for one type of weapon's lead dynamics. Plus, you get to yell "ALL THE MISSILES!" at whichever unlucky sod enters your crosshairs, and that's always fun.

Don't bother with CASE on any build. Just stack ammo in your legs, head and CT; ammo kabooms are very rare, CASE only protects your CT (the critted side will still be lost), and since the ammo use order prioritizes your CT, by the time you've got exposed sections the ammo in your torso should be depleted anyway. It's a waste of tonnage and slots (the only, ahem, case where it might be justifiable is for HGR builds where a weapon kaboom is all but assured if the gun torso is breached).

[Void Angel]

Meadowlion, on 11 April 2020 - 05:16 PM, said:

Thank you guys a lot I was putting way too many heatsinks on my mechs too judging by those builds. I play this game off and on again but i feel like i never really know whats going on. I have maxed out the skills on a catapult with lrm 20s and wanted to move up to an assault build.

Run hot, or die. In general, you want to be able to push your 'mech into overheat if you need to, while still being able to maintain respectable dps for a sufficient period of time. How long a period of time depends on what you want to do; brawler builds need to be able to sustain combat before cooling for longer than a fire support or poke build. Check out GrimMechs's tier list builds, and use their mechlab to theorycraft builds before you put them together - but remember that many of those competitive builds rely on the pilot not missing in order to kill people before they're crippled by heat. Your mileage may vary, but the design principles they use are solid, even if you personally need to run a little less hot.

[Ignatius Audene]

Choose a role then a mech. Otherwise u are wasting hours of grind in mechs u dont like.
Watch the quirks!!!! and placement of the weapons!!!!!

[letir]

Meadowlion, on 11 April 2020 - 05:16 PM, said:

Thank you guys a lot I was putting way too many heatsinks on my mechs too judging by those builds. I play this game off and on again but i feel like i never really know whats going on. I have maxed out the skills on a catapult with lrm 20s and wanted to move up to an assault build.

You should read guides for newbies here and on Steam, maybe look for some videos for help. No need to go in blindly, game have a lot of small things like Ghost Heat system, Lock On interactions with Sensors tree, and so on. This isn't CoD where you can simply pick a gun and go into battle, even with previous FPS experience.

Small thing of the day: when you get locked on or locked out by someone, system providing you with distinctive sound clue, so you can react and even find hidden enemies near you.

As far as MWO goes assault 'Mechs are NOT better or easer to play. Big size and slow speed making them primary targets for enemy fire. Especially if you compare medium-sized Catapult with huge watchtower Stalker. Wiht help of advanced engines you can put quite a lot of firepower on heavy and end up with faster, smaller and more agile unit which only marginally weaker. Mediums and heavies are best weight classes to play.

Edited by letir, 12 April 2020 - 12:14 PM.

[justcallme A S H]

Meadowlion, on 09 April 2020 - 10:22 AM, said:

Currently my build consists of 2 ER Large Lasers in Chain Fire. 1 Large Pulse Laser 1 Medium laser 4 LRM 5s in chain fire. LRM ammo with Case on my left and right torso. Im not doing very good with this build and I feel like I overheat very fast. What changes should I make to this mech I have 6 million c-bills.

• Never chainfire
  
• Never mix ranged of lasters
  
• Never LRM5
  
• Never use CASE

So yeah I can see why you are not doing well with the build.

Anyway use STK-3H - NEVER fire the rockets. They are purely there to give misslebay doors, which reduce damage by 20%.

Or try this STK-3H

[Void Angel]

letir, on 12 April 2020 - 12:07 PM, said:

Small thing of the day: when you get locked on or locked out by someone, system providing you with distinctive sound clue, so you can react and even find hidden enemies near you.

I bet you have Radar Deprivation on your skill build.

I say this because I've heard similar things from a lot of Radar Deprivation users. As a Radar Dep fan myself, I have to point out that you're slightly incorrect here.

Radar Deprivation (in addition to its stated effect of reducing the time you stay locked after breaking line of sight) is what produces that sound when someone else loses lock on you. To the best of my knowledge, you don't get that noise without Radar Deprivation.

There is actually no sound when someone locks on. However, there is a sound when an enemy pops up within sensor range, whether from your 'mech seeing him, or from shared data from your teammates.

None of which contradicts your overall point: Radar Deprivation is an excellent tool to maintain situational awareness (and deny it to the enemy,) and you should definitely pay attention to the audio cues in the game.

[CFC Conky]

justcallme A S H, on 12 April 2020 - 09:16 PM, said:

• ...

Anyway use STK-3H - NEVER fire the rockets. They are purely there to give misslebay doors, which reduce damage by 20%.

...

Really? In the mechlab the doors are always there.

[justcallme A S H]

The doors don't count unless there is some type of missile launcher contained within it.

Same for the Kintaro etc. Best thing is to use a RL10 for the KTO-18 as well and just never fire it. The thing is a monster tank.

[Void Angel]

Does the bonus go away if you expend the rocket launcher, then?

[justcallme A S H]

Yep. That's what I've been told by the super sleuths who science this stuff.

I actually have the RLs not set to a weapon group for that reason.

Edited by justcallme A S H, 14 April 2020 - 11:50 PM.

[Void Angel]

Huh. Learn something new every day - thanks!

[Jay Z]

I recommend the Grimmechs builds.

https://grimmechs.is...uides?c=Stalker

Edited by Jay Z, 16 April 2020 - 06:07 PM.

[Mr D One]

Jay Z, on 16 April 2020 - 06:06 PM, said:

I recommend the Grimmechs builds.

https://grimmechs.is...uides?c=Stalker

^ This guy is the definitive Stalker pilot, if anyone knows how to handle a walking penis, it's Jay Z.

[Void Angel]

Grimmechs also has a well-done mechlab for theorycrafting - a godsend, particularly now that Smurfy's has been abandoned (last login was June 2018.)

[chiller2k3]

If new, you should check out Baradul on Youtube.
Should give you a pretty good start into building you own Mechs. Also for finding different style Mechs you might like.

https://www.youtube....pFQjKhsoscKoodg

There are other youtuber, if you don't like the German Mechviking


I also recommend to play play faster Mechs, Medium or faster Heavys. These Mechs are more forgiving when positioning wrong.
You will also learn that these Mechs need the Assaults upfront and not in the back line with LRMs.

I know it's personal preferences, so if you like playing Assault, do it!