4 replies to this topic

[Grandexeno]

So hello there: I read (i swear) everything I could, but I still really need some info about a couple of things

1- Destroying a mech:
WHEN is a mech destroyed? Like, tearing down a limb and continuing to fire on the "exposed part"? Headshotting? For how many "damage points"? Something like this, im confused...

2- HEAT DISSIPATION:

leaving aside SHS and DHS, what i'd like to know is this.

let's take a Small Laser and say it needs (EHS) 6 Heat Sinks to cool down properly. But as many said, the SHS cool down the laser in 10 seconds, while the laser (in this case) can be fired 3 times in the meanwhile.

So, do I need to multiply EHS*(Cooldown+Beamtime)? If this was the case, i'd need 6*3=18 heat sinks to be cooled down perfectly, wouldn't I?

And If I want to mount let's' say, 4 small lasers, do I need 18*4 Heat Sinks, or is still 18? As you can see, I'm pretty confused (also because 72 HS for 4 small lasers to be cooled off seems a bit of a big number, considering the other big weapons out there and some Mech's hard points with 9 (NINE!) Laser Hard points.

Addendum:

-I was wondering a lot about MACHINE GUNS: what do they do? Damage? Seems very little to me (looked at recent charts).


Thanks to any kind user that will take some of his time to explain these points to me

Edited by Grandexeno, 07 November 2012 - 12:30 AM.

[Spectre999]

The only thing machine guns are good for is the infernal chatter they make.
They have trouble defeating any kind of armor, and even when it's gone they aren't that stellar.

1 - mech is destroyed when the following components are blown up - the cockpit 'head', the central torso (and side torsos if an XL engine is fitted), and both legs. To see if the component is good to go, watch how it changes color, when it loses the framing, in means the armor is gone, when it turns red, it means you're almost there.

2 - The best advice I can give you here is go out there and find the value that's comfortable for you. Doing the math beforehand is fine, but when it comes to heat management, I think it's more up to personal preference and getting the timing between shots right.
Another big thing is how you group your weapons. Chain fire vs. linked fire vs. linked fire but broken into 4 separate groups makes a whole lot of difference for the way you accumulate heat and the rhythm of your shots.
Also, remember that the exp pilot upgrades can really make a difference here.

Experiment and watch your heat efficiency, I find it to be a pretty good gauge of how the whole thing will behave.
Do keep in mind that you cannot build it perfectly, there will always be a compromise between firepower and heat buildup, and its up to you to find the sweet spot you're comfortable with.

For the record, I run two separate loadouts at the moment, both utilize the same combo 2x MPLAS + LRM (in various package sizes) combo, one has heat efficiency of 1.22, the other is 0.98 . I can't really say if either one is better, they simply have a different pacing and fulfill slightly different roles.
One the less heat efficient one, I have to watch the gauge very closely on the hot map which name always eludes me, but generally it behaves ok as long as I keep the Mplas firing separately. The other build can get away with firing both Mplas linked for quite a while at the very same map.

Edited by Spectre999, 07 November 2012 - 02:08 AM.

[Grayzzur]

Spectre999, on 07 November 2012 - 02:05 AM, said:

1 - mech is destroyed when the following components are blown up - the cockpit 'head', the central torso (and side torsos if an XL engine is fitted), and both legs. To see if the component is good to go, watch how it changes color, when it loses the framing, in means the armor is gone, when it turns red, it means you're almost there.

He meant "or," not "and."

Destroy the Head, or the Center Torso, or both Legs. if they have an XL engine, add Left Torso or Right Torso to that list.

[nungunz]

Grandexeno, on 07 November 2012 - 12:29 AM, said:

So hello there: I read (i swear) everything I could, but I still really need some info about a couple of things

1- Destroying a mech:
WHEN is a mech destroyed? Like, tearing down a limb and continuing to fire on the "exposed part"? Headshotting? For how many "damage points"? Something like this, im confused...

There are 4 ways to kill a mech:

• Destroy the Center Torse
  
• Destroy the Cockpit
  
• Destroy both Legs
  
• Destroy the Right or Left Torso (only works if an XL Engine is being used).

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2- HEAT DISSIPATION:

leaving aside SHS and DHS, what i'd like to know is this.

let's take a Small Laser and say it needs (EHS) 6 Heat Sinks to cool down properly. But as many said, the SHS cool down the laser in 10 seconds, while the laser (in this case) can be fired 3 times in the meanwhile.

So, do I need to multiply EHS*(Cooldown+Beamtime)? If this was the case, i'd need 6*3=18 heat sinks to be cooled down perfectly, wouldn't I?

And If I want to mount let's' say, 4 small lasers, do I need 18*4 Heat Sinks, or is still 18? As you can see, I'm pretty confused (also because 72 HS for 4 small lasers to be cooled off seems a bit of a big number, considering the other big weapons out there and some Mech's hard points with 9 (NINE!) Laser Hard points.

When trying to figure out how to dissipate heat, it's not really how much heat a weapon generates (well it does when alpha striking, but this is assuming a pilot is shooting off all his weapons with no plan). The thing that matters is the heat-per-second generation of the weapon.

Please note, I don't know if the following values as still accurate after the patch.

For example a small laser generates 2 heat over 3 seconds (cooldown+beam duration). This means they generate .667 heat-per-second (HPS).

So in your example with 4 small lasers, you are generating 2.667 HPS (assuming you are just holding down the fire button and not letting go).

Single Heat Sinks (SHS) dissipate .1 HPS and Double Heat Sinks (DHS) dissipate .14 heat HPS. So in order to be heat neutral (almost impossible to do in this game), you will need 27 SHS or 19 DHS.

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Addendum:

-I was wondering a lot about MACHINE GUNS: what do they do? Damage? Seems very little to me (looked at recent charts).

They really don't do a thing. They are supposed to be used to cause critical hits on internal components once armor is stripped away, but the critical hit percentage doesn't really do much as it is (unless you get a lucky crit on ammo). Most people just go for weapons that do damage rather than crits.

[Grandexeno]

Thank you all for your feedback:now I know more, it was much appreciated