22 replies to this topic

[B3taCentauri]

I put together what is probably an awful Marauder build, which is almost entirely based around my need for pretty lights and the sound of the gauss cannon.

I will also admit to having designed this while listening to Pacific Rim, and therefore potentially having made suboptimal design choices while headbanging.

Associated skill tree: abf1b830d600df656be0d87c3bc7ff60200000000e80e137039c3a0000000

General thoughts with this build:

• Big guns are the same range for ease of use.
  
• 3R boosts PPC velocity almost to the same as that of the gauss, making it easier to sync the hits.
  
• Less investment in operations because the heat sink setup is fairly efficient as-is, and the gauss can be fired for basically no heat.
  
• Typical IS durability makes this more forgiving for a low-skill player.
  
• LFE because the XL scares me. Maybe when I get good I'll switch to an XL and bump up the arm weapons a bit to HPPC (if that's possible).
  
• Good investment in the mobility tree for better target tracking at closer ranges at +15% torso speed, but I'm not sure if it'd just be better beelining for speed tweaks and acceleration for better peeking.
  
• Advanced zoom for better long-range work.
  
• The Marauder looks awesome.

Any thoughts on how to improve this?

Edit: Realised I was missing a bunch of torso armour. Oops.

Edited by B3taCentauri, 27 May 2021 - 12:31 PM.

[Gagis]

Gauss + 2ERPPC is just 35 points of alpha so its a bit undergunned, and suffers from Ghost Heat. MAD-BH2 has quirks for it though.

I'd do something like this instead: https://mech.nav-alp...1e41b2bf_MAD-3R
one-sided so you can try to shield with your empty left side

[Leone]

So, I feel an XL on an InnerSphere heavy would be a bad choice, so good call on the light Fusion engine. The Marauder's also fairly decent at spreading damage from the front, so a good chance you'll lose a side torso before the center.

Skill tree wise, reasons for going laser duration instead of gauss charge and magazine? I feel the gauss and not the two mediums are more core to the build.

And personally, I'd go with an ams and a half tonne of ammo rather'n that extra heat sink, but as you may've noticed, I tend to be rather survival focused. (Consider ams extra armour against missiles.)

But yeah, looks fun!

~Leone

Edited by Leone, 27 May 2021 - 12:53 PM.

[B3taCentauri]

Gagis, on 27 May 2021 - 12:29 PM, said:

Gauss + 2ERPPC is just 35 points of alpha so its a bit undergunned, and suffers from Ghost Heat. MAD-BH2 has quirks for it though.

I'd do something like this instead: https://mech.nav-alp...1e41b2bf_MAD-3R
one-sided so you can try to shield with your empty left side

I'd get the BH2 but unfortunately I don't have the MC for it, so the 3R seemed like a good compromise for C-Bills only.

I thought ERPPCs only suffer GH on 3 or more simultaneous shots? I could be mistaken, though. Also, iirc, PPCs have an extra 5 physical damage not shown in the menu, so it's closer to a 45 alpha than a 35, right? I could also change out the MLs for ERMLs to get that improved midrange performance for a 45/55 damage alpha?

Edit: Oh, if you fire 3 PPCs and/or Gauss at the same time you incur GH. I suppose I'll have to get around it by timing.

I'll... also admit to wanting the arm symmetry because it looks better, but deadsiding would be much better, as you've pointed out. I'll give it a try and see how I fare with just the one arm.

Leone, on 27 May 2021 - 12:44 PM, said:

So, I feel an XL on an InnerSphere heavy would be a bad choice, so good call on the light Fusion engine. The Marauder's also fairly decent at spreading damage from the front, so a good chance you'll lose a side torso before the center.

Skill tree wise, reasons for going laser duration instead of gauss charge and magazine? I feel the gauss and not the two mediums are more core to the build.

But yeah, looks fun!

~Leone

So, with the Gauss Charge I figured I'd pass, since I think (from a bit of playing around with them) they seem to increase the time you can hold the charge before it dissipates. I don't consider that to be a big advantage when I can mitigate this by learning to charge my gauss at the right time, so while it might be a bit harder at first, I think I can overcome that with time.

I've got the weapon grouping set up so that the gauss and the ppcs are mapped to the left mouse button and a button on the side, where my thumb rests, so by just clenching a bit I can fire all 3 off. To get them going at the same time, I just have to exert a bit of thumb pressure, then release as I click.

Valid point on the magazine size, though. I've altered the firepower tree a bit to replace the duration nodes with more cooldown and heat gen: a454307cf60de5447bb0d87c3bc7ff6a200000000e80e137039c3a0000000

Edited by B3taCentauri, 27 May 2021 - 01:23 PM.

[Horseman]

B3taCentauri, on 27 May 2021 - 01:10 PM, said:

Also, iirc, PPCs have an extra 5 physical damage not shown in the menu, so it's closer to a 45 alpha than a 35, right?

No, only Clan ERPPCs and IS Snub PPCs work like that.

For alternative loadouts, you could try 3xRAC2, AC20+Snubs or UAC20+MLs

[ScrapIron Prime]

My go-to Marauder has a similar layout. https://mech.nav-alp...13880bff_MAD-3R

It uses 2 standard PPCs paired with 2 AC/5's, and the range and velocity sync up perfectly. the firing pattern is PPC+AC, AC, PPC+AC, AC... The two ER Smalls are for when people under-run the Peeps, and the AC/5's do just fine at that range too.

A half ton of AMS ammo is sufficient as of the last patch, if you think its still too slim, drop another half ton of armor someplace.

[B3taCentauri]

Horseman, on 28 May 2021 - 06:43 AM, said:

No, only Clan ERPPCs and IS Snub PPCs work like that.

For alternative loadouts, you could try 3xRAC2, AC20+Snubs or UAC20+MLs

Good to know, thanks. I've built an alternate brawler layout with a UAC20 and snubs in addition to the lasers which I hope to try out.

ScrapIron Prime, on 28 May 2021 - 10:50 AM, said:

My go-to Marauder has a similar layout. https://mech.nav-alp...13880bff_MAD-3R

It uses 2 standard PPCs paired with 2 AC/5's, and the range and velocity sync up perfectly. the firing pattern is PPC+AC, AC, PPC+AC, AC... The two ER Smalls are for when people under-run the Peeps, and the AC/5's do just fine at that range too.

A half ton of AMS ammo is sufficient as of the last patch, if you think its still too slim, drop another half ton of armor someplace.

At Leone's advice I've dropped the ERPPCs for regular PPCs for better heat management, which should give better sustain at medium range. Is it worth running AMS on both, given I have full radar deprivation on the midrange-focused build? I like the twin AC/5s and ERSLs, though, so I'll add that as an alternate build.

New builds are as follows.

Brawler
Skill Tree: a454307ce00de7051d9198ecffd7df6c31e000000e86f023021c320000000

Mid-range
Skill Tree: a5f5bc7ce30de4443b90986c3bc7f260200000000e86f0230a7c766000000
Optional: switch 1 DHS with AMS and 0.5 tons of ammo for it, move a shock absorbance and cooldown over to both AMS overloads in survival.

Side note: I can afford a BH2 now. Is it generally better than the 3R? I see it doesn't have lower arm actuators, which is a bit annoying, and the lack of the PPC velocity and heat gen is a minor downside, but the extra range and medium laser performance seem to make it a fantastic candidate for 6ML/HGauss.

Edited by B3taCentauri, 28 May 2021 - 12:39 PM.

[Leone]

Also, half the point of hero mechs is the cbill bonus. Do you like the marauder chassis? Can you see yourself playing the Bounty Hunter alot? If so every two matches you get paid for three. it's a way to buy more mechs and mech accessories. I mean, sure, if you don't armlock and you feel it'll be an issue, don't get it.

Okay, so, brawling suggestions. How often do you get your head armour stripped? I always put a tonne of ammo there if'n it's not holding a weapon or some such. Next, legs. As a brawler, how often do you get shot in the legs? Most folk are shooting my torso unless I'm a hoppy mech or a light or medium. Hence I put ammo in the legs. Also good for peeking and poking builds.

For the midrange, I like it. Unlike ACs you do want the gauss ammo to pad out the gauss for crits. Also no issues with the skill tree. One you've fully skilled out a mech, I'd suggest playing around with tweaking the tree, figuring out what effects you feel more so you know where to focus on future builds.

~Leone.

[B3taCentauri]

Leone, on 28 May 2021 - 02:25 PM, said:

Also, half the point of hero mechs is the cbill bonus. Do you like the marauder chassis? Can you see yourself playing the Bounty Hunter alot? If so every two matches you get paid for three. it's a way to buy more mechs and mech accessories. I mean, sure, if you don't armlock and you feel it'll be an issue, don't get it.

Okay, so, brawling suggestions. How often do you get your head armour stripped? I always put a tonne of ammo there if'n it's not holding a weapon or some such. Next, legs. As a brawler, how often do you get shot in the legs? Most folk are shooting my torso unless I'm a hoppy mech or a light or medium. Hence I put ammo in the legs. Also good for peeking and poking builds.

For the midrange, I like it. Unlike ACs you do want the gauss ammo to pad out the gauss for crits. Also no issues with the skill tree. One you've fully skilled out a mech, I'd suggest playing around with tweaking the tree, figuring out what effects you feel more so you know where to focus on future builds.

~Leone.

I am a fan of the Marauder chassis, and the BH2 has some good quirks, so I may pick it up later and go for a 6ML/HGauss for fun and profit.

How often do you get your head armour stripped?
Rarely, I've got the hang of wiggling my torso and the torso speed quirks really help distribute the damage a bit.

As a brawler, how often do you get shot in the legs?
Generally never, unless it's an irritating little light that's trying to hamstring me. I'll shift my 3 tons of ammo so there's one in each leg and one in the cockpit for good distribution; if I lose my LT, all I lose is the AMS rather than all the ammo with it too.

I also managed to fit a UAC/20 in there instead of a regular AC/20. A bit harder to use, and I had to drop a heatsink, but it let me put in 2 MPLs as well and the heat management is good enough that it's capable of 2 back-to-back alpha strikes for a sum total of 136 damage up front. It's actually kind of terrifying to witness, and I'll admit to giggling a little when I tried it.

[ScrapIron Prime]

AMS is always worth it, even with full radar derp. It's free match score and cBills and it helps your team. If most of your team has one, your team has a significant advantage.

[B3taCentauri]

ScrapIron Prime, on 28 May 2021 - 05:45 PM, said:

AMS is always worth it, even with full radar derp. It's free match score and cBills and it helps your team. If most of your team has one, your team has a significant advantage.

I threw one on just to see how it does and it's been remarkably helpful for my non radar deprivation teammates, who worry less about LRMs. The 1500 ammo does go quite a way, especially with both AMS Overload nodes increasing the damage. I might be able to shift some radar deprivation nodes off the sensor tree into other ones.

[ScrapIron Prime]

B3taCentauri, on 29 May 2021 - 08:09 AM, said:

I might be able to shift some radar deprivation nodes off the sensor tree into other ones.

You could, but 100% radar deprivation is useful for more than missiles. It drops you off an enemy’s HUD, not just the guy who was targeting you but all his team who may or may not have been looking your way. This makes it harder to factor you into their plans, resulting in less direct fire against you in a lot of cases. It’s very useful to survival.

[Gagis]

100 is very expensive though. 60 or 40 is plenty

[Horseman]

ScrapIron Prime, on 29 May 2021 - 04:49 PM, said:

You could, but 100% radar deprivation is useful for more than missiles. It drops you off an enemy’s HUD, not just the guy who was targeting you but all his team who may or may not have been looking your way. This makes it harder to factor you into their plans, resulting in less direct fire against you in a lot of cases. It’s very useful to survival.

Provided you're fast enough to actually get out of the enemy's LOS, of course. On a marauder... probably not fast enough.

[B3taCentauri]

It's only running an LFE 300 for a... 68.4 kph top speed? Either that or 64.8, would need to check but don't have access to my computer right now, so it's not super fast.

[martian]

B3taCentauri, on 28 May 2021 - 02:57 PM, said:

I am a fan of the Marauder chassis ...

Do not forget to try MAD-9M.

It is different from all other MWO Marauders because it has ECM.

[ScrapIron Prime]

Gagis, on 29 May 2021 - 11:11 PM, said:

100 is very expensive though. 60 or 40 is plenty

Yes, it’s quite expensive. But I always run full seismic sensor so I can “see” around corners and “see” the 15 micro-pulse piranhas coming before they fire. And when you’ve invested in full seismic, 100% radar derp is only 4 more points.

[B3taCentauri]

So, an update on this, I have found the build that suits me to a T.

Skill tree: a454307cf61ce3477ba0c83c3bc0d000000000000e86f775f23c3a022201c
And the build itself.

This thing has consistently netted me 500 or more damage per round, and the last one I played I successfully facetanked and murdered two Assault mechs. Perhaps they weren't great players and perhaps I got lucky but this thing has served me immensely well so far and I will be sticking with it going forward.

[martian]

B3taCentauri, on 19 June 2021 - 11:36 AM, said:

So, an update on this, I have found the build that suits me to a T.

If you like your build, then use it, of course.

B3taCentauri, on 19 June 2021 - 11:36 AM, said:

Skill tree: a454307cf61ce3477ba0c83c3bc0d000000000000e86f775f23c3a022201c
And the build itself.

This thing has consistently netted me 500 or more damage per round, and the last one I played I successfully facetanked and murdered two Assault mechs. Perhaps they weren't great players and perhaps I got lucky but this thing has served me immensely well so far and I will be sticking with it going forward.

I would remove those Small lasers. If you have somebody within the minimum range of your Heavy PPCs, then those Small lasers make no difference.

And the second thing: Your Heavy PPCs are good for firing and torso twisting or hiding behind some cover, while that RAC-5 requires you to keep the facing, i.e. it goes against the opportunities provided by those HPPCs. Perhaps using a different ballistic weapon would be a good idea.

[ScrapIron Prime]

martian, on 19 June 2021 - 12:03 PM, said:

And the second thing: Your Heavy PPCs are good for firing and torso twisting or hiding behind some cover, while that RAC-5 requires you to keep the facing, i.e. it goes against the opportunities provided by those HPPCs. Perhaps using a different ballistic weapon would be a good idea.

That would be my feedback as well. My Marauder 3R is one of my favorite mechs because the chassis has a wonderful ability to move its nose around to spread damage. Mounting a rotary AC lessens your ability to spread damage like that. So my take on the mech is like this: https://mech.nav-alp...28789ea2_MAD-3R

But again, if this build works for you, run it. There's no arguing with success!