50 replies to this topic

[Lajur Kas]

Stab Wound, on 05 May 2022 - 01:57 PM, said:

Also, I seriously don't know what a "Blakist" is.

Whooo buddy, you are in for a treat! A brutal and heartbreaking treat...

Take a trip on over to the BEST wiki on all of the internet and look up "Blakist" to have a look at the next era in BattleTech lore after the FedCom Civil War.

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page

War fighting technology 'bout to get crazy!

If you're not up on the immense body of earlier lore, and don't have the time to live on the Sarna page...there are great videos on the internet.

The Black Pants Legion stuff on YouTube is hilarious and informative!

[The6thMessenger]

Urbie.

It's a 30 ton heavy, with an ECM.

[sosegado]

Ok. 1st up was the Night Gear.
My numbers are low because I'm a solo player that loves to hunt with the team on my own terms.
I found this mech to be a weaker assault wannabe.
Not enough firepower and the ECM and JJ don't really seem like a natural fit here.
Speed was mediocre.
Maybe it was my build.
I'll drop it a few more times tonight but I'm honestly not impressed.

Edited by Stab Wound, 06 May 2022 - 05:36 PM.

[sosegado]

The6thMessenger, on 05 May 2022 - 05:05 PM, said:

Urbie.

It's a 30 ton heavy, with an ECM.

This is so far the funniest thing posted here.

Now I have to make an Urbie build!

Lajur Kas, on 05 May 2022 - 04:51 PM, said:

Whooo buddy, you are in for a treat! A brutal and heartbreaking treat...

Take a trip on over to the BEST wiki on all of the internet and look up "Blakist" to have a look at the next era in BattleTech lore after the FedCom Civil War.

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page

War fighting technology 'bout to get crazy!

If you're not up on the immense body of earlier lore, and don't have the time to live on the Sarna page...there are great videos on the internet.

The Black Pants Legion stuff on YouTube is hilarious and informative!

I have absolutely no knowledge of any of the lore for this game.
I am going to check out the stuff you recommended, though.
I'm not a completely uncultured swine!

Edited by Stab Wound, 06 May 2022 - 05:45 PM.

[Kanil]

Stab Wound, on 06 May 2022 - 05:26 PM, said:

Maybe it was my build.

I mean, it's entirely possible the Night Gyr just isn't the 'mech for you... ... but when you've got 12 tons of ammo, enough to do nearly 3,000 damage, it's definitely "your build" at least a little bit.

[Mark Yore]

Stab Wound, on 06 May 2022 - 05:40 PM, said:

This is so far the funniest thing posted here.

Now I have to make an Urbie build!

Just a reminder that Urbies are half-price at the moment. I took the opportunity to fill the last gaps I had to complete my Urbie set. :-)

[Mark Yore]

Stab Wound, on 03 May 2022 - 01:59 PM, said:

There are specific criteria I'm looking for though:

1) AMS (dual if available)
2) ECM
3) Speed (80kph or faster if available)

Dakka or Face melters please, Missile boats need not apply.

Thanks!

Can I suggest the Marauder 9M? It has ECM, single AMS, 4 energy hardpoints and 2 missile hardpoints with a speed of 73.4. I run mine with 4 ERLL and 2 MRM10 as a sniper with a good closing range for annoying lights.

A good alternate build is to replace the ERLLs with 3 SNPPCs, change the MRMs for SRMs and upgrade the engine - the maximum speed without quirks is 77.76. You can also run Stealth armour on this one as well.

[sosegado]

Kanil, on 06 May 2022 - 05:47 PM, said:

I mean, it's entirely possible the Night Gyr just isn't the 'mech for you... ... but when you've got 12 tons of ammo, enough to do nearly 3,000 damage, it's definitely "your build" at least a little bit.

I am not the best at building mechs so yeah I'll admit that this build may suck.
Honestly I can't list the number of scraps I've been in that 12 tons of ammo still wasn't enough!

Mark Yore, on 06 May 2022 - 07:06 PM, said:

Can I suggest the Marauder 9M? It has ECM, single AMS, 4 energy hardpoints and 2 missile hardpoints with a speed of 73.4. I run mine with 4 ERLL and 2 MRM10 as a sniper with a good closing range for annoying lights.

A good alternate build is to replace the ERLLs with 3 SNPPCs, change the MRMs for SRMs and upgrade the engine - the maximum speed without quirks is 77.76. You can also run Stealth armour on this one as well.

Absolutely! I'm wide open to all suggestions when it comes to the Heavy chassis.
Thanks for contributing!
Most of you have probably noticed that my speed requirement has turned out to be pure fantasy. Oh well, you can't have it all!


This is my last status update for the mechs I chose to play this weekend.
Most of you probably don't care anyway.

Ok next up was the Grasshopper.
I really like the feel of this mech if you can understand that.
It didn't move or play like an assault but more like a slow medium.
Low damage again, very hot, it will take some getting used to but I was playing more of a support because of the dual ams.
Overall I liked this mech and would love to see better builds of it if anyone is willing to show me?

Edited by Stab Wound, 06 May 2022 - 07:23 PM.

[Kanil]

For the Night Gyr, you could try two gauss, two ERLL, ECM. It even gets the NTG-H's 10% cooldown set of 8 quirk, which is pretty neat. 6xUAC/2's also a thing you could try, but you'd either lose the ECM, or have to get the hero omnipods -- wouldn't recommend the latter if you're not so sure about the 'mech in general.

As for the Grasshopper, if it's hot then drop the LAMS for regular AMS. Swapping the LFF/STD engine for a LFE 300 would free up some tonnage and some slots for more heatsinks, too.

[sosegado]

Kanil, on 06 May 2022 - 07:43 PM, said:

For the Night Gyr, you could try two gauss, two ERLL, ECM. It even gets the NTG-H's 10% cooldown set of 8 quirk, which is pretty neat. 6xUAC/2's also a thing you could try, but you'd either lose the ECM, or have to get the hero omnipods -- wouldn't recommend the latter if you're not so sure about the 'mech in general.

As for the Grasshopper, if it's hot then drop the LAMS for regular AMS. Swapping the LFF/STD engine for a LFE 300 would free up some tonnage and some slots for more heatsinks, too.

Thanks for the great advice!

I wanted to like the Night Gyr but it just moved really clumsily.
I may have expected too much from it because it has a really sleek design and the symmetry is cool.
Maybe it is a gauss type build that isn't meant to dance in a brawl.
I'll rebuild it that way and see if it plays better.
Thanks again.

[ScrapIron Prime]

Oh, and for inner sphere, ALWAYS take AMS over LAMS. Same weight, zero heat, can split the crit slots, and the ammo does not explode. It’s a rare game you run out of ammo at 1t per AMS.

And I second Kanil’s suggestion for the build. This one here would lose a jump jet, but it would be faster and pack 3 additional heat sinks…

https://mwo.nav-alph...12c95fbc_GHR-5J

Edited by ScrapIron Prime, 06 May 2022 - 08:41 PM.

[Mark Yore]

Stab Wound, on 06 May 2022 - 07:11 PM, said:

Absolutely! I'm wide open to all suggestions when it comes to the Heavy chassis.
Thanks for contributing!
Most of you have probably noticed that my speed requirement has turned out to be pure fantasy. Oh well, you can't have it all!

It's been a while since I tweaked this mech so I've got a variation if you get the MAD-9M.

I've put 2 SNPPC in each of the arms, an ML in the head, and SRM2 in the each of the torsos. These all have an optimum range (for me) of 290-304 m. I like 2 button firing, so I've set up the left and right buttons to fire 2 SNPPC each with the other weapons fired by both buttons.

I could make it one button firing but I run into heat issues with 4 SNPPC. This gives me an alpha of 47.6.

Another option is to mix in ERPPCs and LPPCs, upgrade the engine and change the SRMs. This would give you more options at range while still allowing you to brawl. When the skill tree changes come in the ability to dump some skills will make this a much better performer.

The Marauder is quite nimble for a heavy and the ECM quirk means you could drop AMS entirely. If they can't lock on then they can't LRM you. I've added a TC2 for the PPC speed and crit increase instead of another heat sink.

It runs a little toasty but not unplayably so.

[Bassault]

Hellbringer, Sun Spider, Timberwolf. If you want that criteria you're really limiting yourself to clan mechs.

[sosegado]

ScrapIron Prime, on 06 May 2022 - 08:31 PM, said:

https://mwo.nav-alph...12c95fbc_GHR-5J

Ok, you guys got me..seriously..am I being punked right now.

I look at some of your builds and although I'm extremely impressed by the offense, I am stupefied by the lack of defense!

A back armor of 4?

You're literally playing a different game then me.

If I put together a mech in the mech lab with a back armor of 4 I can guarantee that a stealth light would sneak into my mech lab and assassinate my mech as I tried!!

So what gives? Do you invest all in offense and neglect defense or please tell me what I'm missing here?!?

[foamyesque]

Stab Wound, on 06 May 2022 - 10:07 PM, said:

Ok, you guys got me..seriously..am I being punked right now.

I look at some of your builds and although I'm extremely impressed by the offense, I am stupefied by the lack of defense!

A back armor of 4?

You're literally playing a different game then me.

If I put together a mech in the mech lab with a back armor of 4 I can guarantee that a stealth light would sneak into my mech lab and assassinate my mech as I tried!!

So what gives? Do you invest all in offense and neglect defense or please tell me what I'm missing here?!?

Point face towards enemy, basically. Investing in at least one rank of seismic sensors (two is better but requires a pretty deep investment in sensors ATM) is also really useful at countering stealth lights. Otherwise, keep your eyes open and move with the team, which as a heavy mech pilot you ought to be doing anyway; you can't anchor a firing line in quite the same way an assault can, but you're still a key piece of one.

For myself I usually run a back armour of 2. Some mechs get a touch more: lights, to put torsos over certain breakpoints e.g. a dual PPC shot, and *really* beefy assaults like an Atlas, who both have the armour to spare and which people like to try to backshot. Or which eat accidental team fire because they're always leading pushes

Getting those twenty extra points of armour on the front side of your mech will make a huge difference to your survival. You get shot there far, far more commonly than you ever do from behind. It doesn't save you tonnage, per se, because you're always armouring your torsos as much as possible, but it puts your armour where it needs to be, which gives you more time to shoot back. Right now, you're playing heavies with as much frontal armour as your opposing mediums are going to have, which is putting you at a really hefty disadvantage.

For a So8 Night Gyr-H, with the limited hardpoints, the widely accepted best build is 2x Gauss 2x ERLL. The weapons rangematch well, the gauss run really cool so you don't need to carry many sinks for the ERLLs, and long range sniping (and gauss particularly) pair very well with the ECM + JJ combination the Night Gyr H has. The gauss, in particular, can be annoyingly difficult to trace back to source if you shoot & fade without firing the lasers, but if you've got clean shots the pinpoint fire can ruin a 'mech's whole day from 900m.


As for the Grasshopper, I like poke & fade: https://mwo.nav-alph...fa7cb725_GHR-5J

You can also do a pulseboat build as you currently have, but personally I dislike the short range of Sphere medium pulses.

[foamyesque]

Oh, and my Catapult build that I mentioned before: https://mwo.nav-alph...cb94bce_CPLT-C1

I've found it kind of deceptively powerful. Don't tend to put up spectacular numbers -- 700 is an unusually good match -- but I always feel like I'm contributing, and not with lazy LRM damage, either.

People don't expect a machine with LRMs to be both willing and able to fight someone at 200m if it has to. Lost count of the number of times I've been first-one-in on a push with that guy -- or, for that matter, holding a line and buying time if that's what's required. And because you can move at ~75kph and have JJs you can often manage a firing retreat or keeping your range where you want it.

There's a certain very special joy in frying someone with your lasers at 175m, watching them back up into cover, and then dropping LRMs on their head from 185m.

You don't want to be that close -- your ideal range is more 450m or so, where (once skilled) you get full damage from your lasers but brawler weapons are significantly less effective -- but if you are, you can still fight.

Edited by foamyesque, 07 May 2022 - 01:47 AM.

[Mark Yore]

foamyesque, on 07 May 2022 - 01:45 AM, said:

Oh, and my Catapult build that I mentioned before: https://mwo.nav-alph...cb94bce_CPLT-C1

I'm a huge fan of the outlier Catapult - the K2. Two AC5s, 2 SNPPCs all in the torso. LAMS, an XL280 and a TC3 and I'm good to go. It runs fairly cool and the range sweet spot is around 500m before it starts dropping off.

[Kanil]

Stab Wound, on 06 May 2022 - 10:07 PM, said:

I look at some of your builds and although I'm extremely impressed by the offense, I am stupefied by the lack of defense!

A back armor of 4?

Every point of armor you put on your rear is a point of armor you're not putting on the front. A low rear armor is maximizing your defense, not neglecting it.

If you struggle to keep track of your enemies and end up getting shot in the back a lot, then adding some more armor to the rear makes sense. But ideally you want to just not give the enemy the opportunity to shoot you in the back, so you can maximize your front armor and live longer.

Basically you're gonna see a lot of builds with very little rear armor. It's okay to adjust them to something you're more comfortable with, but there's a good reason why they're like that.

Edited by Kanil, 07 May 2022 - 10:27 AM.

[foamyesque]

Mark Yore, on 07 May 2022 - 09:14 AM, said:

I'm a huge fan of the outlier Catapult - the K2. Two AC5s, 2 SNPPCs all in the torso. LAMS, an XL280 and a TC3 and I'm good to go. It runs fairly cool and the range sweet spot is around 500m before it starts dropping off.

The K2's lots of fun, yeah. I run it with dual standard PPCs in the arms and dual AC5s; you get better range and better velocity sync, and while the arm mounts are vulnerable they're also really high up and useful for swatting UAVs and whatnot.

[Vonbach]

Stab Wound, on 06 May 2022 - 10:07 PM, said:

Ok, you guys got me..seriously..am I being punked right now.

I look at some of your builds and although I'm extremely impressed by the offense, I am stupefied by the lack of defense!

A back armor of 4?

You're literally playing a different game then me.

If I put together a mech in the mech lab with a back armor of 4 I can guarantee that a stealth light would sneak into my mech lab and assassinate my mech as I tried!!

So what gives? Do you invest all in offense and neglect defense or please tell me what I'm missing here?!?

Get yourself a roughneck. Its a ridiculously tanky Inner sphere heavy. Its a good beginner heavy.