47 replies to this topic

[Gagis]

Guardian Soul, on 06 February 2021 - 03:16 PM, said:

The build looks solid! Only major thing would be to take the ton of MRM ammo out of the CT, it'll be vulnerable to critical hits once your CT armor is gone and if it gets crit it may explode, which will pretty much instant kill your 'mech. I'd stick it in your right torso, or your left arm if you're using the right side as a shield. It'll get used before the ammo in your legs, at which point it won't explode if it gets crit. Honestly four stacks of MRM ammo should be plenty, but see how much you end each match with and adjust as needed. Besides, the ammo skills help a lot. Remember ammo you never use is wasted tonnage (and can explode) so don't bring too much.

Thats how it goes in the board game and HBSTech but ammo crits are rare enough in MWO that you actually want to stuff ammo into your CT, Head and Legs that are unlikely to be blown off until close to the end of a fight. Arms and side torsos are a lot more likely to get shot off, losing your ammo with them. By the time you start getting crits into your CT, your ammo should be spent from there already.

[Guardian Soul]

Gagis, on 06 February 2021 - 03:32 PM, said:

Thats how it goes in the board game and HBSTech but ammo crits are rare enough in MWO that you actually want to stuff ammo into your CT, Head and Legs that are unlikely to be blown off until close to the end of a fight. Arms and side torsos are a lot more likely to get shot off, losing your ammo with them. By the time you start getting crits into your CT, your ammo should be spent from there already.

Very fair, I think I've seen less than ten ammo explosions in all my time playing. The legs and head are the best places to hide your ammo by far, but I still am a little leery of putting any in the CT. Maybe I've just run into too many MG boat piranhas, haha.

Edited by Guardian Soul, 06 February 2021 - 03:58 PM.

[NiceDad]

Guardian Soul, on 06 February 2021 - 03:16 PM, said:

You could also swap the MRM30s for a MRM40 and 20. It'll give you the same damage per volley, but the cooldown won't be synched up. That's not necessarily a major problem if you're poking over hills anyway, and having the 40 and 20 mix generates slightly less heat and is a ton lighter. I'd consider it a good trade for the staggered cooldowns, but that's up to your preference.

As a (probably) last note, you could put Light Ferro-Fibrous armor on to free up a bit more tonnage. Could go into a bigger engine or just more armor on the arms, depending on what you do with the rest of the build.

Your suggestion of swapping 2xMRM30 to MRM40+MRM20 really helps me to save some tonnage. In order not to incurred the ghost heat, I have to use stagger the firing of MRM40 & MRM20.

Also switching to Light Ferro-Fibrous armor is also something I didn't notice that with my simple configuration can make us of it instead of standard armor.

[B L O O D W I T C H]

Guardian Soul, on 06 February 2021 - 03:57 PM, said:

Very fair, I think I've seen less than ten ammo explosions in all my time playing. The legs and head are the best places to hide your ammo by far, but I still am a little leery of putting any in the CT. Maybe I've just run into too many MG boat piranhas, haha.

If you push for it, you'll see it more often.
Most commonly i see CT and Cockpit ammo explosion. I'm trying to push for really early imbalance. As in getting first kill or a severe red open CT at the least first thing in most games. (this really helps snowballing towards victory).
It also helps if you're able to identify Mechs and builds.
For CT crits it's paramount to go for it as early as possible as these ammo slots are used first and are depleted within the first 1-3 minutes of the game.
IMO, it's also paramount to use frontloaded pinpoint damage with 10 or more damage as ammo has 10 health (5 for half ton). I've found laser ticks to be unreliable for critseeking.
Try using double AC20 for Headshots (worst case you hit the CT) and you'll see an awful lot of ammo explosions. Be aware tho, If the explosion kills, it comes with a delay of several seconds.

Fyi, ammo consumption goes as follow: CT, RT, LT, LA, RA, LL, RL, CP.
Therefor, storing ammo in the CT is fairly safe considering it has the most armor protection, is depleted first and is generally the part of a mech which is trained to be protected the most.
Storing ammo in the CP is fairly safe as well as you're unlikely to get shot. Also the added benefit that it's last in order for ammo consumption so whatever component you lose you've always have your spare ton of ammo in reserve.
Losing your last ton of ammo duo to component destruction doesn't show in your HUD unless you actually try to fire you weapon
So if you have ammo in your cockpit you never run into a surprise of not having any actual ammo despite your HUD convincing you otherwise.

Oh, btw, going for ammo explosions in CT or CP components or even "Headshots" is by no means an efficient way to kill mechs, if you don't have enough damage to headshot someone in one go (dual 20's, dual heavy gauss, 40+ Laser damage) you're likely delaying a kill as the damage is better on the CT itself, since it's unlikely to get another headshot in a row.
I'm personally just doing it because getting a headshot is extremely rewarding IMO and i'm also working on the Headshot achievement and title.
It also helps to go for certain mechs which have easier to hit cockpits such as hunchies, shadowhawks, atlas and the likes. Or just overheated and shutdown mechs in general.
It really don't help to try and get a headshot on a Hellbringer for example, that usually only helps the Hellbringer in tanking an extra shot tbh.

Edited by B L O O D W I T C H, 07 February 2021 - 02:09 AM.

[ImperialKnight]

NiceDad, on 06 February 2021 - 07:32 PM, said:

Your suggestion of swapping 2xMRM30 to MRM40+MRM20 really helps me to save some tonnage. In order not to incurred the ghost heat, I have to use stagger the firing of MRM40 & MRM20.

Also switching to Light Ferro-Fibrous armor is also something I didn't notice that with my simple configuration can make us of it instead of standard armor.

The best loadout, IMO, for the WVR and IV-Four are

https://mech.nav-alp...a9c04eb0_WVR-6R

https://mech.nav-alp...33f54f6_QKD-IV4

Speed, JJ mobility, heat management are key for MRM brawlers. And you want to alpha your MRM launchers. a 60-salvo is the most you can do without ghost heat, so do that on the IV-Four. 2 X 40-salvo sounds good on paper, until you realise you give enemies twice the amount of time to shoot back at you. And you want to salvo as many missiles at one go, because of AMS. If the AMS chews up 10 missiles per salvo, you lose a lot more missiles if you do multiple salvos

The WVR doesn't have enough weight to do what the IV does, so a 50-salvo is the best balance between speed, firepower, and heat. With this build, you will almost be constantly firing without worrying about heat that much. I average 600-700 damage on this build

[Guardian Soul]

ImperialKnight, on 07 February 2021 - 02:12 AM, said:

JJ mobility

Not to derail, but how do you make good use of jump jets? I get being able to get to high ground and poking over some cover, but is that all there is to them?

[Lithology]

With regard to the original topic, the easiest weapons system for a new player to equip is AMS. Yes, I know that wasn't a choice... but, you only have to equip ammo or watch your heat, and you as a player provide benefits to both you and your team, under many conditions.

Since that wasn't a real choice offered, though, lasers (well, energy weapons) are probably the easiest to understand, play, and offer contribution to the overall team effort. Once you start talking about flamers, though... oy.