65 replies to this topic

[eishiba]

What mechs are good missile boat options? I thought about the Maddog for a bit but then thought it probably isnt going be able to hold much ammo if i put as many missile hardpoints on it as i can. I would have to assume an assault mech would be best since it doesnt need to move.

[VonBruinwald]

LRM 100 Stalker should float your boat.

But seriously, give the Maddog Prime a go. +15 ST Armour and 20% Missile Cooldown are nothing to sneeze at, it also gets velocity and spread buffs and has a pretty high cockpit so there's minimal exposure when hill poking for locks:
2 of the biggest launchers, plenty of ammo and 4ERML is a pretty solid build (and of course, BAP).

Keep moving, keep shooting.

Edited by VonBruinwald, 01 May 2020 - 06:21 AM.

[Xiphias]

The idea that missile boats don't need to move is wrong and a bit part of why a lot of people don't like it when people bring boats.

The best missile boats if you really want to use that play style are mediums. They are fast enough to get close, and don't waste a bunch of the team's tonnage. You shouldn't be sitting in one spot lobbing missiles, that is completely the wrong mindset. You should be thinking about how you can be positioning to get angles on the enemy and to support your team. Plan on getting your own locks every match.

The some of the best missile mechs right now are the Vapor Eagle and the Huntsman. ATMs, JJs, and tag. This allows you to get your own locks and to poptart. Stay close and you can do exceptional damage. LRMs are the only missile boat option that's really viable, but it requires some degree of being active (as being good in any mech does).
Vapor Eagle
Huntsman

The Night Gyr is a heavy that can run lots of ATMs with JJs. Not exactly recommended, but it can put out a ton of damage. Supernova is probably the best assault to run ATMs, but again I don't recommend running assaults as missile boats.

If you must go LRMs, I'd recommend going IS and taking something like the TBT-7M (can't remember the exact one that has the best quirks) It can be a bit ammo light, but if you stay around 400m you can do significantly more effective damage so you won't waste as many missiles.

[RickySpanish]

Archer and Catapult spring to mind immediately, you can also run the infamous Vapor Eagle ATM build if you are sick minded. The Supernova can also boat missiles and for close range SRM bombing, you have the Marauder IIC Scorch, Dervish, Assassin and even the Marauder II 4HP. Oh I almost forgot, the Quickdraw IV-4 and Dervish 6M handle MRMs nicely.

Edited by RickySpanish, 01 May 2020 - 06:41 AM.

[Gagis]

The best LRM boats are AWS-8R and TBT-7M.

Not sure what the best MRM boat is, but IV-4 and Dervish 6M are up there.

The best ATM boat is VGL-3.

The best SRM boat is Cyclops Q

[Brauer]

Here are some of the better missile boats in the game. I just listed them in the order that they came to mind. I probably missed a couple that I am less familiar with, and I don't actually think that a couple of these are all that good (the IV4 is better for farming damage than kills/wins imo for example).

VGL-3 - ATMs
TBT-7M - LRMs, MRMs
AWS-8R - LRMs
ANH-MB - LRMs, MRMs
FNR-5E - LRMs
WVR-7K - SRMs (Scout Derek special)
IV4 - MRMs
SNV-A - LRMs, ATMs
WHM-IIC-2 or WHM-IIC-4 - LRMs, ATMs
KTO-18 - SRMs
HMN-PA - SRMs (can also do ATMs, but Veagle does it better)
JR7-IIC - SRMs
JVN-10P - SRM2s
DV-FR (or whatever the Frenzy's designation is) - SRMs

[VeeOt Dragon]

i will always stand by my LRM-40 Catapult-C4 (i use 4 LRM-10 to keep the grouping lower). as has been said a good LRMer will stay with the team. stick to second or third line but not to far back behind the team that you can't get support when the inevitable light arrives. (oh and always, always have some energy backup though this goes for any ammo dependent build, you don't want to be left useless if you run out of ammo. (even in my Catapult with lots of ammo i have on occasion run out, i know its padded a bit by the fact i'm using a scatter weapon but that 2,000+ damage feels so nice.) also be ready for tons of salt the second your team sees what your running, the metta try hard cry babies love hating on them. so satisfying when you murder them with LRM (thats why i have the Laughing pumpkin war horn on my LRM boats.)

as as long as you having fun you do you. don't car what someone is running as long as they are halfway effective with it.

[Teenage Mutant Ninja Urbie]

https://leaderboard....earch?u=eishiba

2367 games, you play since Oct.2017 and ~now~ ..
doesn't add up. sorry.

Edited by Teenage Mutant Ninja Urbie, 01 May 2020 - 07:48 AM.

[Willard Phule]

As a newer player, the first thing that you have to remember is that if you rely on lock on weapons, people that can aim are going to call you names and think less of you. That being said, as long as you can accept that, here are some "new guy missile boat guidelines:"

1. Weight. Go for the heaviest chassis you can find with the most missile hardpoints possible. Then load it down with as many LRM20s and LRM15s as you can.

2. Remember that your team is there to provide targets for you. Don't listen when they tell you to "share armor," your job is to stay in the rear where it's safe and to provide high explosive rain that doesn't discriminate between red or blue.

3. And this is the MOST important.....don't worry about getting better. Getting to the higher tiers has nothing to do with skill. It's all about hours logged. Just fill the air with "skill" until you hit T1.

[Snowhawk]

eishiba, on 01 May 2020 - 06:02 AM, said:

I would have to assume an assault mech would be best since it doesnt need to move.

So your Lurm-mech doesn't Need to move? Good luck, the Piranhas and commandos will love you and eat you alive…..

By the way: Lrms are much better if you take the following Upgrades: Artemis (clan-lrms have a really low weight so you can easily upgrade them), a Tag-Laser and last but not least Target Decay in the skill tree.

If you like an lrm assault I suggest the Warhammer IIc 4. This mech has an cockpit-Slot for the Tag laser. A highmounted Tag will help you to mark your targets over obstacles and you can stay in cover if needed.

If you like heavies: Sunspider (with ecm), Ebon Jaguar, Night Gyr (also Ecm) and Nova Cat, Hellfire and Mad Dog. Orion IIc is also an Option.

Medium Mechs: Hunchback IIc b, Vapor Eagle

[JediPanther]

Get a Catapult C1 or C4. As a lrmer you'll want a tag laser,uav and bap to get your own locks. They can get about easily with lfe or xl. Put most your skills into sensors for locks. They also have decent quirks for the 15s-20s but most important are the energy slots for your tag and a few back up lasers. My skill tree usually goes sensors for target decay and retention,survival for most the armor then the rest into fire power or shorter laser duration and the missile nodes. Left over points to cool down or range.

When you get tired of lrms you can use the cats in other roles. They are very tanky and made more so with the armor skill nodes. Torso twist and let your enemy hit the ears.

[Gagis]

Catapults are just bad for this. Why do people keep suggesting them? The Archer is strictly better, and Awesome or Trebuchet even more so.

[JediPanther]

Gagis, on 01 May 2020 - 11:12 AM, said:

Catapults are just bad for this. Why do people keep suggesting them? The Archer is strictly better, and Awesome or Trebuchet even more so.

Because they work and stack their quirks with the skills nodes quite well. Unlike the awes they are harder to hit. Trebs are meh. Cats also make great tanks for brawling in srm and mrm builds. Haven't used the archer and I see cats used far more that those mechs used as lrm and mrm builds.

60 into fire power gets you 15% velocity and range,12% cool down and 10-11% more heat gen. 24 into sensors gets everything but the ecm. Use the left over points however. I guess if you don't like the cats you can use those other things.

https://kitlaan.gitlab.io/mwoskill/

[Teenage Mutant Ninja Urbie]

fist off: people, pls read; srsly.

the OP is in the game for 3,5 years, and certainly isnt new .. and hasn't tried to use a missile-boat in that time...?
c'mon.

JediPanther, on 01 May 2020 - 01:16 PM, said:

Because they work and stack their quirks with the skills nodes quite well. Unlike the awes they are harder to hit. Trebs are meh. Cats also make great tanks for brawling in srm and mrm builds. Haven't used the archer and I see cats used far more that those mechs used as lrm and mrm builds.

60 into fire power gets you 15% velocity and range,12% cool down and 10-11% more heat gen. 24 into sensors gets everything but the ecm. Use the left over points however. I guess if you don't like the cats you can use those other things.

https://kitlaan.gitlab.io/mwoskill/

sorry, but you should have a look into the Awesomes and Trebs again. especially the treb works SEVERAL MILES better in QP than the cats, cause quirked to hell-and-back.

the cats are fun, very small etc - sure. and the K2 (?) is a blast, literally; laughing my *** off nearly each time I pilot it.
the rest of the cats aren't bad either - but treb and awesome still trump it in the missile-delivery-department, sorry.

[Konril]

Okay, seriously...

As much as I want to love the Inner Sphere LRM carriers, I still have to say that it's better to go Clan for missiles. In spite the small disadvantages they Clan launchers have, they have the one huge advantage of being half the weight of the Inner Sphere versions, so the Clans can easily make up in quantity what they lack in quality.

Regardless of IS or Clan, LRM carriers are notoriously bad at defending themselves against close range fast attackers. So if you use one then your best defense is your teammates. And that unfortunately means being able to keep up with said teammates. For that reason I do not recommend using assault LRM boats until you at least really know what you're doing or alternatively have solid friends who know how to work with the slow fatties. Assault hybrids are a different story, but for now I'll just talk about the LRM specialists.

The Stormcrow SCR-5D has been one of my most successful mechs ever, even though I was slightly late in picking it up. A fast speed, 5 missile hardpoints, and the ability to swap 1 arm and missile hardpoint to get more energy hardpoints than you'll ever need makes this one strong as is. But it also has a ridiculous torso twist range which allows the arms, and therefore your locks, to get almost directly behind you. You can lock and shoot while running away full speed when you need to.

The Summoner SMN-B also features 5 missile hardpoints. It's a bit slower, but has jump jets and is properly a heavy mech with heavy mech armor. Perfect for spatting, but not bad for LRM boating either.

Timber Wolf variants can get up to 4 missile hardpoints, which is enough for a respectable missile loadout. However, it's more of a hybrid than anything since the torsos have all the missile hardpoints and only 5 space each side to fit launchers in. I would probably be using 3 LRM 10s and a NARC, or 4 Artemis LRM 10s. Anything else just takes up too much space.

From the newer mechs, the Mad Dog MDD-A looks great. Max armor, a NARC, and 5 LRM 10s will still leave you 11.5 tons for ammo, support equipment (active probe or TAG?), and backup weapons. That's plenty. Chain fire the LRM 10s to avoid ghost heat.

The Nova Cat NCT-B is a ready made LRM boat with 3 LRM 15s on each arm. I would strongly recommend dropping the 15s to 10s so you can add Artemis to the thing. Also, drop a ton of ammo for an active probe.

The Sun Spider SNS-C is another ready made LRM boat. No backup weapons, unlike the NCT-B. However you have the option of swapping the left torso missile point for an ECM (SNS-D part), which is a rather unique combination for the Clans. A Narc, 1 Artemis LRM 20, and 3 Artemis LRM 10s is a fun combination. (Keep the 20 and the set of 10s on separate triggers so you don't get heat spikes.)

If you really want an assault recommendation. Try the Supernova SNV-A. You can shoehorn 4 Artemis LRM 20s and an XL engine into that torso. The ammo will have to take up space in the arms and legs and some extra heatsinks will need to go in to keep all those LRMs relatively cool. But it's guaranteed to get people hating you something fierce for some odd reason.

Yes I use LRM 10s instead of 15s. The weird thing is the difference in the spread between the LRM 15 and 10 is enough to almost guarantee the extra DPS of the 15 misses the torso or misses entirely, so the 15 pack really doesn't kill any faster than the 10 pack. LRM 20s are fine since the spread doesn't get any worse than the 15s. (And LRM 5s are bad since the spread doesn't get any better than the 10s.) So when hardpoints are scarcer than weight or space then the 20s are worth using. Just be aware.

[eishiba]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Urbie, on 01 May 2020 - 07:48 AM, said:

https://leaderboard....earch?u=eishiba

2367 games, you play since Oct.2017 and ~now~ ..
doesn't add up. sorry.

Ive never been a fan of lrm boats and almost never used them until a few days ago using my old summoner with 3 lrm 15's. I'm actually scoring kills so I thought I might try something a bit more reliable.

[Warning incoming Humble Dexterer]

LRM boat : Use dropship to throw it at the enemy's side of the planet.

Edited by Warning incoming Humble Dexterer, 01 May 2020 - 05:15 PM.

[Swamp Ass MkII]

Mad Dog MDD-Prime, ATM-9's and Quad Medium Pulse. 81kph base, decent handling, and buffs to move. Add Cold Downs -10%? and Veloctiy or is it Spread at 5%? Either way, all arround decent LRM boat... Key t othis specific mech, is don't get caught alone, find and stick with the assaults, as this makes a great support mech, not the pusher even though I keep trying. On average I can dish out 600 points without too much issue in a round with dual atm-9's. It can also be versitile through the omnipods, what I tend to do is mix it op a bit, losing the maneuverability bonuses, Say, and H Right Torso with Dual SRM'6 with Artemis, and a ATM 12, Quad Pulse lasers. Yes, I like my pulse lasers.

I have and had fun with, a Mad Cat MCII-4 with straight Quad ATM-9's. Nothing else... Sucks when stuff gets close, but, damn at the 200m range, it packs a serious punch on a alpha strike or 5... Fire twist, fire twist, fire dead in many cases.

A tip about LRM's with Artemis, and ATM's, get Line of Sight, you'll do alot more damage overall!

Edited by Swamp Ass MkII, 01 May 2020 - 06:00 PM.

[Brauer]

JediPanther, on 01 May 2020 - 01:16 PM, said:

Because they work and stack their quirks with the skills nodes quite well. Unlike the awes they are harder to hit. Trebs are meh. Cats also make great tanks for brawling in srm and mrm builds. Haven't used the archer and I see cats used far more that those mechs used as lrm and mrm builds.

60 into fire power gets you 15% velocity and range,12% cool down and 10-11% more heat gen. 24 into sensors gets everything but the ecm. Use the left over points however. I guess if you don't like the cats you can use those other things.

https://kitlaan.gitlab.io/mwoskill/

You're wrong about this. The catapults can have a niche in specific situations, but they are not better all around missile boats that the options I listed. They're also not terribly verastile at this point as they really only boat LRMs or MRMs particularly well, and in both cases there are better options in most situations. They do get useful quirks, but they also are exceedingly easy to disarm, and by the way many other IS missile boats get really strong quirks. Let's go through a few.

TBT-7M: LRM 15 Cooldown -5%, Missile Cooldown -20%, Missile Heat -20%, Missile Velocity +10% (Killer quirks eh? They're actually better than the Catapult quirks overall. You get all that on a reasonably agile medium with structure quirks, JJs, and the potential to carry its own TAG and/or NARC)
AWS-8R: LRM15 cooldown -10%, Missile Cooldown -10%, Missile Heat -5%, Missile Velocity +10%, another super well quirked IS missile boat. Probably more useful quirks than the C1 on a platform that's less likely to get it's main guns shot off extremely quickly. The C4 has slightly better quirks, but it still has that pesky ear problem.
ANH-MB: -10% missile heat, but really this mech is all about boating high mounted LRM80 on a fairly durable platform that carries a ton of ammo and a tag in the head or an arm.
FNR-5E: Heat -10%, LRM Velocity +10%, Range +10%, this one is less durable than the ANH but trades that durability better range and velocity as well as the ability to take an XL and boat even more ammo. A great mech to lurm NARCed targets from a ditch in FW.

[Brain Cancer]

eishiba, on 01 May 2020 - 06:02 AM, said:

What mechs are good missile boat options? I thought about the Maddog for a bit but then thought it probably isnt going be able to hold much ammo if i put as many missile hardpoints on it as i can. I would have to assume an assault mech would be best since it doesnt need to move.

If you think of a missile boat as an immobile turret, you've already failed at missile boating.

Even an assault boat needs to keep moving, setting up it's locks, clearing it's lines of fire for direct shots and/or bypassing cover, sharing some of the incoming fire on your armor. Contrary to meme builds that try to stuff a gajillion tubes on a 'Mech, the ideal is being able to fire as many as you can without constantly boiling your ride trying, and having some tonnage to spare for at least basic defense.

You know what I suggest for learning to missile boat?

Orions, both the IS and Clan IIC versions. Durable, capable of carrying a respectable (or even ridiculous) amount of missiles, but also capable of mounting secondaries. They're good learners, and afterwards you can easily turn them towards brawler builds using SRMs instead (and frequently ACs).

Edited by Brain Cancer, 01 May 2020 - 09:32 PM.