69 replies to this topic

[Djinnhammer]

FriedIV, on 08 March 2024 - 03:35 PM, said:

The maps are made for brawling.

You lost me at that.
Only one map is.
The rest? Every player trying to lolsnipe at max range as much as they can

[pattonesque]

So I would say that while there are maps which are more favorable to certain playstyles, all of them can be played well with a focus on any range

take HPG, for example. people like to complain about it being a sniper's paradise, and it's true that the wall can be a strong position. but, crucially, it's a predictable position, with the snipers only able to operate out of a limited number of cover spots. If you know where they are, you can use the center easily to deny them firing lanes. I play brawler builds all the time on HPG to great success.

The issue comes when people go "oh no there are snipers, time to play mindlessly" and take four or five free trades from said snipers.

[foamyesque]

Hell, the wall isn't even the strongest sniper position IMO, the wing ramps are, especially if you're a ridge-peeker machine. Better lines of retreat; the wall is super vulnerable to having lights just blast up from the enemy spawn and end you.

[Void Angel]

FriedIV, on 10 April 2024 - 01:47 PM, said:

"First: ATMs are best if you can poptart with them. They can put out a lot of damage but you have to stare with them too much and the fact that they're not really indirect fire means you have to expose yourself to the enemy. So your best bet is to hover, get a quick lock, fire, and drop back into cover. "

This is why I lead with a ppc or las or ac. By the time the ppc is away the atm is locked and fired. And due to the cool down rate of atm3s I often end up firing 2 salvos to one ppc when heat starts creeping in. Hey thx. It's fun to talk to someone. Not just haters. I'm actually gonna take a break from heavies and give my lites and meds a run thru.

The drawbacks of mixing projectile weapons and lock-on weapons are that each weapon type's firing characteristics fight the other's. You can't lead a target with a cAC/10 at the same time you gain or maintain a lock for your ATMs. So pairing direct-fire and lock-on weapons can be synergistic, but generally just with lasers. This isn't exactly an argument not to ATMs with direct-fire weapons - it's an argument not to use those weapons with ATMs.

To explain: Using The Awesome MechDB Reference Site, we can see that ATM3s yield 2.0dps for 2.73 dph (damage per heat.) A cAC/10 will do 4.42dps at 5.0dph. This is proper, because that AC takes a lot more space and tonnage. But if you're fighting within the optimum range of that cAC/10, the ATMs are a side-show - and you can't use them both together against anything that moves side-to-side, which happens a lot. Given that you need at least 2 tons of ammo per weapon (often more,) the ATM costs you 3.5 tons and the cAC costs 12. So, doing the math, you could mount about the same dps if you swapped the tonnage and space for the cAC to just run ATMs - in fact, using your total tonnage as a rough maximum, you could achieve 9 dps with 5 tons of ammo by boating ATM6s. Yes, you do have more aim-able damage with the AC, but your guns also fight each other that way. Plus any lock-on weapon makes you a target, so you want to be focusing on trading from cover - preferably with jump jets or a lot of speed (e.g. the Vapor Eagle or Howl respectively.)

Alternatively, you can pair the ATMs with lasers. This will tank your heat efficiency a bit, but a single cERML will deal the same damage as one of your ATM3s within your desired engagement range - and you won't have to lose lock to use them on an evading target. You'll need to devote some tonnage to heat sinks to avoid being unduly heat-capped on your damage, but it's an option you can use, and having guns with no minimum range may server you well in the Tier5/4 free-for-all.

But all that's just analysis for the good of the order, as they say. I understand if you're tired of getting smacked around in Clantech glass cannons - there is nothing wrong in going Inner Sphere, and if you want us to help you tune your builds, just start a topic in the New Player forums! It's really the "help and advice" section, but they wanted new players to funnel there.