50 replies to this topic

[martian]

Will Hawker, on 07 December 2021 - 01:20 PM, said:

I can use them and I have the occasional good game, it's just I don't get as much enjoyment out of using them, like I did all the event missions with them easily.

All right.

[Richard Hazen]

martian, on 07 December 2021 - 01:52 PM, said:

All right.

I was wondering which clan assault do you think is the "easiest" to use, I kind of thinking I went in at the deep end with the Mad Cat II, and I tried the Supernova and it's good but it's so slow.

[martian]

Will Hawker, on 07 December 2021 - 05:36 PM, said:

I was wondering which clan assault do you think is the "easiest" to use, I kind of thinking I went in at the deep end with the Mad Cat II, and I tried the Supernova and it's good but it's so slow.

Well, I do not know if "easiest to use", but the Blood Asp has some strong suits:

• fixed speed 64 km/h
  
• swappable OmniPods
  
• ECM hardpoint on some configurations

But of course, different players favour different 'Mechs.

[Teenage Mutant Ninja Urbie]

Will Hawker, on 07 December 2021 - 05:36 PM, said:

I was wondering which clan assault do you think is the "easiest" to use, I kind of thinking I went in at the deep end with the Mad Cat II, and I tried the Supernova and it's good but it's so slow.

*all written with beginner-friendlyness in mind

with the MadCat II you've got one of the better ones, srsly. the IIB is 'probably' the easiest/most rewarding to use, but the rest is also really good.
Bloodasps the same; they trade in some of the MadCats flexibility for 'other stuff' (high mounts on torsi and an ecm, for one).

I'd stay away from the supernova. good mech, can be very good, but 'more difficult' to use all around.
except for the superlurma; with that thing you can dish out damage, but unlearn the basics of this game. "It's a trap", to quote Admiral Ackbar.

rest of the clan-assaults are all good too, but "more specialised" and less all-round; so they're situational and more difficult to use, which is NOT what you want for QP, especially if you're beginning and still learning.

Edited by Teenage Mutant Ninja Urbie, 08 December 2021 - 05:34 AM.

[Richard Hazen]

Yeah I think my problem is I get in over my head with assaults and I'm used to being able to get out but due to size and speed thats not possible.

[pbiggz]

Will Hawker, on 08 December 2021 - 06:22 AM, said:

Yeah I think my problem is I get in over my head with assaults and I'm used to being able to get out but due to size and speed thats not possible.

Different assaults definitely behave differently. 80 tonners have much more in common with heavies than they do with their 100 ton cousins, despite both being assault mechs. I rarely run 100 tonners alone, I almost always run them in group settings where I know my friends will back me up, but to an extent, even 90 and 80 tonners have that assault mech feast or famine experience. Either you position well and perform well, or you don't position well, and you die.

I suggest you keep practicing. Assault mechs need to be positioned well because its hard for them to reposition if you make a mistake, but if you can learn to do it with an assault, you'll be able to do it with anything.

[Richard Hazen]

I think I am going to get the Predator pack so I'll get a Blood Asp in that, may buy one before it comes to, to check it out, been sticking to mostly Clan Diamond Shark used mechs atm, but willing to be less strict on it.

[pbiggz]

Will Hawker, on 08 December 2021 - 11:15 AM, said:

I think I am going to get the Predator pack so I'll get a Blood Asp in that, may buy one before it comes to, to check it out, been sticking to mostly Clan Diamond Shark used mechs atm, but willing to be less strict on it.

The Highlander IIC plays a similar role to the Madcat MKII but draws less return fire. It's fairly durable and can be armed pretty heavily, and un-nerfed jumpjets make it pretty nimble for a 90 tonner.

The Warhammer IIC and Marauder IIC are both pretty impressive clan assault battlemechs. The executioner builds and handles like a big heavy mech despite being 95 tons. The Blood Asp can be a bit delicate. If you want to run it, I suggest double UAC10 double ERPPC on the ECM variant. You can get all the weapons into the ear mounts and make both arms sacrificial with the right omnipods. I haven't seen many supernovas lately, but they might be worth running, do some research.

On the IS side, the Victor 9A1 can be built with full BLAP, though its slow and wont jump, the Nightstar, Stalker, Cyclops, and Corsair are all fairly formidable. I'm leaving out hundred tonners because they deserve a category all their own.

[Richard Hazen]

pbiggz, on 08 December 2021 - 11:45 AM, said:

The Highlander IIC plays a similar role to the Madcat MKII but draws less return fire. It's fairly durable and can be armed pretty heavily, and un-nerfed jumpjets make it pretty nimble for a 90 tonner.

The Warhammer IIC and Marauder IIC are both pretty impressive clan assault battlemechs. The executioner builds and handles like a big heavy mech despite being 95 tons. The Blood Asp can be a bit delicate. If you want to run it, I suggest double UAC10 double ERPPC on the ECM variant. You can get all the weapons into the ear mounts and make both arms sacrificial with the right omnipods. I haven't seen many supernovas lately, but they might be worth running, do some research.

On the IS side, the Victor 9A1 can be built with full BLAP, though its slow and wont jump, the Nightstar, Stalker, Cyclops, and Corsair are all fairly formidable. I'm leaving out hundred tonners because they deserve a category all their own.

Which variant of the Highlander and Warhammer should I be looking at?

[panzer1b]

For the MCII, the best builds are the 2uac10+2uac5 on the B, and on the -1 that you have i suggest 2GR2HLL2ERML for a very respectable 79 damahge per exposure, good range synergy, and the gausses allow you to snipe to a degree, just dont try to deal with 100% dedicated snipers in that loadout.

that said, if you want to know what i consider the best clam assault, try the blood asp (BAS-A or B specifically). The BAS-A can run the rather common dakka build (3uac51uac10), and the B can run 2uac102uac5 with some ammo issues but its still solid. Also, its not a build i actually see anywhere besides myself, but 1GR2LPL5ERML is an absolute beast provided you dont get the gauss shot off early game, its basically a hellbringer with 1 more heatsink and a free gauss rifle strapped onto it, as well as JJ capability...

[pbiggz]

Will Hawker, on 08 December 2021 - 12:18 PM, said:

Which variant of the Highlander and Warhammer should I be looking at?

The warhammer IIC and highlander IIC can both run double uac10 double cerppc. For the highlander its the IIC-C. Im not sure which one it is for the whammy. check mechdb.

[Richard Hazen]

pbiggz, on 08 December 2021 - 12:44 PM, said:

The warhammer IIC and highlander IIC can both run double uac10 double cerppc. For the highlander its the IIC-C. Im not sure which one it is for the whammy. check mechdb.

Is UAC and PPC the way to go atm are they just better than laser vomit? I was considering getting the warhammer IIC 3.

Also I keep overheating quite a bit despite having points in cooling and a 1.5 or something heat efficiency, do I have to stagger the shots with them between UAC and ERRPC.

Edited by Will Hawker, 08 December 2021 - 01:44 PM.

[pbiggz]

Will Hawker, on 08 December 2021 - 01:18 PM, said:

Is UAC and PPC the way to go atm are they just better than laser vomit? I was considering getting the warhammer IIC 3.

Also I keep overheating quite a bit despite having points in cooling and a 1.5 or something heat efficiency, do I have to stagger the shots with them between UAC and ERRPC.

Alot of "meta" builds will be quite hot. This is because more skilled players don't just practice their aim, but their trigger discipline. Knowing when not to fire is almost as important as knowing when to fire.

That said, double PPC double UAC10 is my go to. I like it. You have other options. The executioner for example is an excellent triple PPC microlaser-vomit mech. The hero highlander IIC (keeper) can be a quad srm6 double lbx20 brawler (though i might not recommend that for someone getting into assaults at first), clan laser vomit is always fun if that's what you like. You have alot of room to experiment and find out what it is you enjoy.

[Aidan Crenshaw]

Do not go for the WHM-IIC-3. It's the ugly stepchild that's been locked away under the stairs. Compared to the WHM-IIC it has a) less hardpoints (well ok, nobody uses the single missile launcher) and worse quirks.
If not a merciful cauldron member takes care of the quirks or pulls some othe magic trick (dual AMS, maybe? Or better agility?), this guy will always be standing in the shadow of the WHM-IIC.

[Moldur]

I have one with 4xLPL. Works pretty well considering the amount of cooling you get on an assault. Still stays pretty quick. The other is a dual lb-20x splat that also works pretty well even though it's not super optimized. It has 2xerppc for backups and every minmax fiber may scream to not do that, but hey it also works pretty well.

[justcallme A S H]

panzer1b, on 08 December 2021 - 12:41 PM, said:

For the MCII, the best builds are the 2uac10+2uac5 on the B, and on the -1 that you have i suggest 2GR2HLL2ERML for a very respectable 79 damahge per exposure, good range synergy, and the gausses allow you to snipe to a degree, just dont try to deal with 100% dedicated snipers in that loadout.

Gauss with the added range don't really sync well with HLL/ERML.

You want to mix cLPL for a little less damage yet better range/duration like this mcii-1

Or just cERL it which syncs perfectly with Gauss for range and you can alpha all 4 ERL if you really want mcii-1 which is almost the same as HLL but greater increased range.

[Richard Hazen]

I dunno why I just feel more comfortable with lasers.

[pbiggz]

Will Hawker, on 09 December 2021 - 05:02 AM, said:

I dunno why I just feel more comfortable with lasers.

Nothing wrong with that at all. You have lots of options there.

[panzer1b]

justcallme A S H, on 08 December 2021 - 10:06 PM, said:

Gauss with the added range don't really sync well with HLL/ERML.

You want to mix cLPL for a little less damage yet better range/duration like this mcii-1

Or just cERL it which syncs perfectly with Gauss for range and you can alpha all 4 ERL if you really want mcii-1 which is almost the same as HLL but greater increased range.

I can see your point of view, but in my experience ERLLs are weak weapons at least in QP. ERLLs (and pretty much every other truly sniper weapon) snhines when the team works together and denies the enemy the ability to get near the sniper. I NEVER see that happening outside of groups (and even then its very rare), so if you pick a sniper mech you are either going to stick with the pack and thus not be at the long ranges you benefit from. Most players dont run sniper builds so they will naturally gravitate to sub 600m distances, and that forces you to either underrun your optimal range by sticking with em, or hang near the edges of the map and thus open yourself up to getting leaft behind by the too often seen potatoscar or just get backstabbed by a skilled light.

Now what i see in the gausses isnt the range, but the rather decent heat free DPS of 3 per rifle, and the fact that their cooldown tends to sync somewhat well with the ERML/HLL combo (its not exactly the same as the HLL, but its close enuff to let you alpha once all guns are reloaded without sacrificing much of the gausses sustained DPS. Thats what makes builds like the aids-strike so powerful, you are looking at 92 damage per click, over 11 sustained DPS (bear in mind not even the popular 2xuac10+2xuac5 builds can sustain that much DPS once they heatcap), and enough range to be useful in 95% of maps/team compositions. Its a bit of a meme build, but numerical stats (and my own experience in it) does show that the 2GR2HLL4ERML combo on the MCII-DS (and BAS-B with 1 less sustain due to less DHS) is just insanely powerful provided the pilot is skilled enough to juggle the charge up and limitations of the long burn time (and most of all make sure every burn counts cause it is a bit roasty nomatter how you go about playing it).

Ofc everyone has different playstyles and preferences, but id say the GR isnt so much about range, but about being able to dish out very solid sustain, and being near hitscan PPFLD at the ranges that you would engage in when using mid range lasers. The range does let you harass early game ofc, but its not the reason i bring gausses on my mechs, rather to provide a solid amount of base damage before smacking something hard with the laser burn and not making the thing hotter then it already is.

As for the LPLs, the biggest flaw of the weapon is the fact that its 2 more DHS you cant bring weight wise. For that a good example is the hellbringer, 2HLL+5ERML is generally superior to 2LPL+5ERML as you do more damage per exposure which means less likely to get return fire and killed. Range is more or less the same as its just 70 more on the LPL which is meaningless in the grand scheme of things since you need to get into ERML range to be useful in both of these builds. The 4 more DHS gives a boost to DPS when you consider all 7 guns fired in alpha, while the LPL build has a teensy bit better DPS with just the 2LPLs alone. In general, my thinking is that a HLL+2DHS is superior to a LPL, which is suoperior to a ERLL.

I tend to use the LPLs mostly when i have a situation where there is too much tonnge and not enough slots since a LPL is superior to either of the other 2 large laser choices if and only if i cant add more heatsinks by swapping to the HLL. Probably the best example of this is my TBR-C, i have 1LPL+1HLL+6ERML which sounds stupid and weird, but its more alpha then the 2LPL+6ERML build, it has 1 more DHS and it has a TC-1 and it uses every single critical slot in the mech to pull this off. Overall i like this build better since you are almost always exposing once then cooling off, and its sustain is just a teensy bit better due to that extra DHS. Its not meta since the reload doesnt sync, but i have better results with this build then the 2LPL+6ERML that most timbers run in QP (and the TC is nice as it gives just a bit more range to the ERML which is the limiting weapon range wise).

Ofc feel free to prove me wrong, and i dont exactly play compt tier or anything of that sort (where burn time is a huge detriment), but thats my experience and ill stick with it solong as nothing is buffed/nerfed in the coming future.

[Richard Hazen]

If I were to go with laser vomit assaults what would be the best for clan? I do like playing the supernova but it does have a big *** and is slow, both like me lol