5 replies to this topic

[SafeScanner]

So i am back, i see there are new weapons they any good? i have tried the new magshot it seems alright so far

[VeeOt Dragon]

i am really enjoying the Thunderbolts myself and the Light AC/5 makes for some interesting builds. haven't messed around with magshot much as i am more of a mid range player and rarely use close in weapons. not sure how long you have been gone but the S.B. Guass is fun and can fire brutally fast with the right quirks (the Hunchback-Gridiron is especially nasty.) can't say much about the clan weapons since i don't play clan mechs but the HAGs are broken in how good they seem to be.

[1453 R]

Magshot and AP Gauss are good to the point of being commonly held to be overpowered. A small number of small fast 'Mechs are excellent with the new weapons, and the occasional larger 'Mechs likes them as supplemental weapons. They only really work in batteries of four or more, with six or up being preferable, but if you can do that they're phenomenal value for the weight.

Light and ProtoMech Autocannons are a mixed bag. IS light autocannons are, I believe, generally held to be 'meh' though I personally have had pretty fantastic luck with LAC/5 builds on larger 'Mechs. LAC/2s are a tough sell, and ProtoMech autocannons are very niche since Clan basic autocannons are already pretty lightweight. The weight savings is less important on them, and the range penalties are pretty severe. There's a few builds which can pop off with them, but they're usually pretty specific.

Plasma cannons are Clan light PPCs, and do all the same things light peeps do on the Sphere side. They have the best A/V design of all MWO weapons, though. Plasma cannon skirmishers are a tougher sell on the Clan side where you have access to some pretty intense laservomit even at very low weight, but the option for lightweight, midrange pinpoint fire exists on the Clan side now and people make use of it. Weapon is, I believe, held to be pretty good but not stellar.

Beam Lasers are both a menace and a meme. They have brutally high DPS for hitscan weaponry, but they require the most facetime humanly possible to work and they also require more aim than people think to try and hold a continuous beam on specific components for long enough to work. In lower tier play they can be oppressive as they're extremely simple to use and a pair of beam lasers dealing 12 DPS hitscan out to 600+ meters ain't no joke, but in higher-level play good players will punish the face stare. They do tend to be a gold standard for hillpeek, high-mount builds now though, which help minimize their otherwise significant drawbacks.

Thunderbolt missiles are often held to be a meme, but they're notably more dangerous than many people give them credit for. They're usable if not awesome within their minimum range, which means a Thunderbolt boat can defend itself to a degree even without backup weapons, and the warheads themselves tend to deal much higher effective damage than LRMs do. I tend to treat them like lock-on AC/5 batteries, in a sense. They devour light 'Mechs alive, far more so than Streak missiles do, and they can really sneak up on you if you pay them no heed. They used to also inflict egregious cockpit shake and could make returning fire effectively impossible, but this has been toned down. Using them effectively is as tricky as lock-on missiles ever are, and their weight is dumb even by chonky pigboy IS gear standards, but if you can get enough of them on a mobile enough platform to use them, they will put up numbers.

Silver Bullet gauss rifles are ridiculously good. They have very fast charge-up, far shorter than the standard charge time of a normal Gauss rifle, and they cycle quite quickly. They are quite potent brawling weapons at least in lower tiers, with solid performance at medium range and the ability to ding people even at normal Gauss range, though by that point the spread is hurting you badly. Unlike an AC/20 however, you CAN wing people for actual damage at 800+ meters with a Silver Bullet, and they have the same minimal heat profile as regular Gauss. An excellent alternative to AC/20s for some builds, if you can tolerate the Gauss firing mechanics.

I think that's everything from the latest weapons update? Hope so. Somebody'll tell me if I missed something, at any rate.

[SafeScanner]

i am yet to see someone use those thunderbolts or i have not noticed yet i would assume they get eaten by AMS (unless its got extra health) and i am conflicted with the magshot i feel mgs are better thanks to having more ammo to burn for the drawn out games and i assume magshots/ap don't get bonuses to internal crits

[VeeOt Dragon]

i use them all the time, my go to mech for them is the Nightstar hero (Wolf Phoenix). i can always get at least 1 kill every match with a couple of KMDDs. unless i get a truly terrible team i can almost always pull 500+ damage. play wise you treat them like shorter range LRMs (mind even before the mega nerf to LRM velocity you usually wanted to stick to under 700m for most effective use.) it takes all the skill and frustration as any lock-on weapon but they have their advantages. use any lock you can get don't be afraid of IDF damage is damage. AMS doesn't seem to effect them as much as it does LRM since they move faster and have more health. still a Corsair-7A can really blunt them if not eliminate them as usual.

here is the build i use.

NSR-WP (2 TB-15s, 2 TB-5s (8t ammo), 4 MLs, 1 AMS (1/2t ammo) running an LE-330 with 5 DHS, BAP, and Endo)

build code

A]9820^1|i^|i^|i^|aO|\gp61|i^|QP|j@|h@q61|i^|f?|QP|j@|h@r01|QP|Y?|Y?s01|QP|Y?|Y?t31|QP|QPu31|QP|QPvB0|Z<2w:0:0:0

[Ttly]

TBs are just overweight and you'd basically use them like you would ATMs, it can do some indirect fire but not as well as LRMs, could really destroy CTs and STs with its pinpoint damage though, unlike LRMs that just drizzles all over the limbs.
L/PACs are technically the more weight (and DPS per ton) efficient alternative to an STD AC a step up above their class (an L/PAC2 basically shoots like an AC5 with similar cd and velocity, L/PAC5 shoots like an AC10, PAC8 shoots like an AC20) without the damage unless you mount at least two-three of them and slightly more heat (though not significantly more) you could also squeeze in PPCs+L/PACs on vehicles that otherwise couldn't before, they're not overwhelmingly great (because why use 2-3L/PACs over an UAC right? Also hardpoints are limited) but they are an additional option.
SBGs are pretty whatever, easy to use due to fast charge time and better cooldown LB Gauss, but it's just awkward in general from being a spread (even if it's minimal) weapon if you try to snipe with it and on lower ranges you might as well just use 2LB5/2AC5 hardpoint count permitting.

Beam lasers are extremely easy to use, you need to stare at something for 2 seconds for it to do more damage than C-ERLL does within its 1.35 seconds laser duration though and even longer to beat a shot from HLLs and C-LPLs and anything with laser duration quirks, but hey at least it has more range than those two. Pretty heat efficient too.
Plasma cannons are just Clan LPPC except just kind of underwhelming because clan mechs don't have as much hardpoints/quirks but hey, it has some uses like putting them on the same weapon group as ACs. The heat damage is so insignificant that it's only there for flavour though.

APG/Magshots are only worthwhile at some vehicles like the Warthog (basically turning it into a faster 35t Hunchback with bad hitboxes, weapon placement, and not as durable), Flea-19 (that barely has 700 damage worth of ammo so it has to be accurate, probably the worst legitimate offender for claims of these weapons being too strong), or the Crael (2LPPC+6Magshot, hardly worth it over the raw DPS of ERML+LMGs+MRM at similar range) and a lot of lower tier players just can't deal with hit and run attacks so it gets its cooldown nerfed.

Edited by Ttly, 18 November 2024 - 02:12 PM.