24 replies to this topic

[Finbar Cryan]

I am a huge fan of ballistic weapons in this game.

My dream mech is a Medium to Heavy that can take 2 AC/20's and 4 MG. Is this possible? Are there any mechs that can support this?

What are you're favorite ballistic centered Mechs/loadouts?

[The6thMessenger]

KDK-3 with it's highmount 4 ballistics, or if you're just in for sheer firepower Direwolf Ultra-violet has 8.

[Finbar Cryan]

That does look good, but I'm a Steiner man, so I guess I'd be looking for an IS Mech...

[The6thMessenger]

Finbar Cryan, on 16 December 2016 - 07:45 PM, said:

That does look good, but I'm a Steiner man, so I guess I'd be looking for an IS Mech...

Mediums and Heavies don't have that enough tonnage to do so.

Go either King Crab or Mauler. Mauler has side-torso oriented mounts that can be easily defended via arm-shielding. King Crab has arm mounts, that can mount double AC20, AC10s and LB10X, you can have 2x LB10X and 2x AC5, or 4x AC5 or 4x UAC5 or 6x AC2 or crazy 2x AC2 + 2x UAC5 + 2x AC5.

2x AC20 + 4x MG is kind of possible but realistically stupid. 2x AC20 + 4x MG MAULER

MGs require immense face time, and is generally not a good idea. But whatever gives you your kicks.

Edited by The6thMessenger, 16 December 2016 - 08:07 PM.

[Jay Leon Hart]

For Ballistic IS Mediums, I would recommend the Hunchback and Shadow Hawk as top choices. Both have high Ballistic mounts in the torso, though don't allow you to take 2 or 3 of anything larger than UAC5, due to size constraints. The Hunchback lends itself well to a STD engine, due to the low engine cap, whereas the Shadow Hawk can pull off an XL rather well, giving it more speed and with Jump Jets it can be a great harasser or flanker.

Other solid options include the Centurion and Enforcers, especially the ENF-5P for the ability to just about run 2x AC10. The Blackjacks do twin AC2 and AC5 well, but lack the tonnage to mount 2x AC10 or AC20 and the Hero version is a good Machine Gun platform.

For Ballistic IS Heavies, the Rifleman, Jagermech, Warhammer and Marauder are great options. The Rifleman and Jagermech have their Ballistic mounts in the arms so aiming is made easier and both can pull off 2x AC20 decently, though the Jagermech has an easier time with the extra 5 tons.

The Warhammer has torso Ballistic mounts - 2 on the WHM-6R and 4 on the Black Widow Hero 'mech. You can cram almost anything into the Hero (space limits aside, so no 4x AC10 like our Clan friends ). The Marauder is more like the Hunchback or Shadow Hawk, with all the Ballistic mount in one high torso. Is you want to run 3x AC5 in a Heavy, this is the 'mech for you.

As mentioned, for Ballistic IS Assaults the Mauler and King Crab are excellent choices. The Cyclops is (or looks, I haven't played one yet) like a solid option especially the Hero, Sleipner, with it's 4 torso Ballistic mounts.

[NRP]

So many good IS ballistics mechs. You should be able to find something close to what you want. Just play around in Smufys before you commit space bucks.

[Spheroid]

SRM10 + AC-20 on the Centurion-AH is an AC-40 for all practical purposes at close range.

True AC-40 is rather obsolete and bad in my opinion. You might enjoy LBX40 on something like the Mauler.

The Jager-A makes a good cheap brawler combining a single AC-20 with 2x SRM4/6 + 2x mlas/mplas. The loadout is again essentially an AC-40 but unlike the Centurion it has backup weapons and a standard engine.

Edited by Spheroid, 17 December 2016 - 12:37 PM.

[B L O O D W I T C H]

Finbar Cryan, on 16 December 2016 - 07:17 PM, said:

I am a huge fan of ballistic weapons in this game.

My dream mech is a Medium to Heavy that can take 2 AC/20's and 4 MG. Is this possible? Are there any mechs that can support this?

What are you're favorite ballistic centered Mechs/loadouts?

Mediums can not effectively wield dual 20s (obvious jokebuilds like the ac40 cicada aside)
As far as heavies you can pick:

Inner Sphere

Catapult K2
Jagermech any
Warhammer 6R and Black Widow

Jokebuilds on Rifleman 3C 3N and Legend Killer


Clans

Night Gyr any

To a degree

Ebon Jaguar

Almost jokebuilds
Maddog

Jokebuilds
Hellbringer
Timberwolf
Summoner

Although, some assaults can handle dual 20s quite well too.

Kingcrabs any
Cyclops Sleipnir
Mauler any

Direwolf any
Warhawk any
Marauder IIC D (not available imo) and Scorch

Hate to admit it but your best choice would be the Kodiak 3 (currently ez mode),

Edited by Toha Heavy Industries, 17 December 2016 - 12:47 PM.

[Kimberm1911]

If you're looking for an IS ballistic boat, the Mauler is the way to go. It's significantly better than the King Crab in the current meta game. For me, personally, I find the King Crab to be much tankier, but its low mounted ballistic hard points make it pretty susceptible to damage while peeking in the current PPFLD meta we are playing in, and so it seems squishier. The Mauler just has much nicer high mounts, and the convergence is significantly better. In addition, the Mauler also has slightly more build variety, and can actually boat missiles if you want to spice things up (Do not recommend, I hate LRMs, but I am practicing being less biased.) The king crab however, can run Gauss without worrying about the side torsos blowing up if the Gauss crits. The Cyclops is also an okay choice for a ballistic boat, but it suffers from slight hard point anemia. However, it is tankier than the mauler, and the mounts are actually significantly as they are very close to the cockpit.

If I were you I'd pick the Mauler or Cyclops. I don't have any experience with the cyclops, but I own the Maulers, and they are a very nice ballistic boat.

To actually answer your question, the Jagermech and Warhammer can both run dual AC 20 builds fairly effectively. No IS medium will be able to run dual AC 20's, there just isn't the hardpoint space. If you like ballistics as much as you do, I would definitely recommend the Jager mech. You can mount all kinds of ballistic load outs on it, and its peaking profile lends it a little more relevance to the meta game then some other alternatives.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...6dafbf62bb59cdc

Here is a Dual 20 Jagermech build. It's viable with speed tweak. Without speed tweak it's a bit slow.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...77487e8c355b8db

Here is a warhammer build. I was lazy and didn't properly armor it up. It's not great..... Well..... It's probably barely workable, but you can do it.

(Truly speaking, the King Crab can run a somewhat viable Dual AC 20 build, but only because one variant has a 30% cool down for the AC 20's after modules.)

[Finbar Cryan]

Nice!

All great suggestions. I will definitely be looking to these. Right now I have an Ilya and a Hunchback with AC20's on both. It gets the job done, but I have the fever for more BOOM!, I think.

[Trollfeed]

Get enforcer ENF-4R and run it with AC10 + 5 medium lasers, probably one of the strongest ballistic builds for IS mediums besides HBK-4G with AC20. Shadow hawk has some fun ballistic options too, SHD-2D2 with AC10 + SRMs and SHD-5M with dual UAC5.

Triple UAC5 jagermechs is lightest IS mech you will start feeling the dakka but you have ilya so it's a little redundant. Warhammer is probably best choice for IS dakka heavy because with dual AC10 it's quite good.

For assaults besides mauler there's cyclops, banshee and king crab for multiple ballistics but MAL-MX90 is your best bet for effectiveness and maximum dakka.

Edited by Trollfeed, 18 December 2016 - 07:30 AM.

[Tordin]

The6thMessenger, on 16 December 2016 - 07:58 PM, said:

2x AC20 + 4x MG is kind of possible but realistically stupid. 2x AC20 + 4x MG MAULER

I use that one seriously, kinda situational but wreck things in short range once given that opportunity. And the improved MG helps even more now.

[Bassie]

Clan, but the hunchback IIc can probably have 2ac20& 2 mg. I think ghost heat is a thing.

Issue with the IIC though is that it comes with wet cardboard for armour, not ideal for brawling. But at least if you lose 1 torso, you'll till have an ac 20.

[hordes1ayer2]

My all time favorite IS mech is the Jager DD. Can run 2 ac20s with 2 smL on an XL260. 6 MGs with 2 LPL STD 300 engine and 4 DBL heatsinks.

[BigFatGator]

For the love of god, just get a JM6-DD and run the 3uac5 build on it. Dakka dakka dakka all night long.

The mauler 4uac5 build or black widow 2uac5, 2ac5 builds are dakka fun too. But for the dakka/ton ratio the DD is the bestest.

[Steel Raven]

Mauler and King Crab are the only two mechs I can think of that can use 2X AC/20s without becoming a glass cannon.

2X AC/10 or 2X Ultra AC/5s or more popular on heavies, ballistic cool down will make up the difference in DPS.

The Mad 3R with 2X UAC/5s or 3X AC/5s is popular for good reason.

[VonBruinwald]

Urbie.

[SlightlyMobileTurret]

Steel Raven, on 01 February 2017 - 01:26 PM, said:

Mauler and King Crab are the only two mechs I can think of that can use 2X AC/20s without becoming a glass cannon.

Interestingly, the WHM-6R can run AC40 with a STD engine, but I'm not sure that it's tanky enough to run something that close range now after the durability nerfs. Pre-rescale and nerf, this would have easily been the most bang for buck AC40 IS side being absurdly tanky (size+quirks) and solid firepower.

[Sunstruck]

I have seen a dual AC20 Warhammer running around once, so in theory you could do something like that with a Black Widow with 2 MGs on it, but it would be really slow if you wanted any kind of decent amount of ammo. The only IS heavy with 6 ballistics is the Jagermech (pretty sure), but its 5 tons less to work with than the Warhammer and the arms only have enough crit slots for one AC20 (pretty sure).

[Boulangerie]

Sunstruck, on 05 February 2017 - 06:45 AM, said:

I have seen a dual AC20 Warhammer running around once, so in theory you could do something like that with a Black Widow with 2 MGs on it, but it would be really slow if you wanted any kind of decent amount of ammo. The only IS heavy with 6 ballistics is the Jagermech (pretty sure), but its 5 tons less to work with than the Warhammer and the arms only have enough crit slots for one AC20 (pretty sure).

Yes, the arms just barely fit the AC20, due to the lack of a Lower Arm actuator (what allows you to aim side to side past your torso twist. Thankfully, the Jager has great torso twist. The advantage here is that they can bring an XL for added tonnage for ammo/Heatsinks or ML. The reason Heatsinks on a double AC20 are good is that it actually runs really hot. Ghost heat kicks in with two 20s, so alternating fire is the way to go unless you really need that alpha.

Fun fact: Double AC20 can headshot any mech with a direct hit to the cockpit, even if they run full armor. Watch out for that bullet drop though!