48 replies to this topic

[Protection]

PsychoJosh, on 12 November 2012 - 02:25 PM, said:

Here's my situation, I've been playing for a long time now and I've really grown accustomed to the Trial Atlas and Catapult. I feel that these mechs serve my playstyle quite well, I love being a combat powerhouse with the Atlas. I've saved up nearly enough for an Awesome 9M but I'm wondering if I should get it? Does the Honey Badger suit my playstyle? Because I like to be a formidable force in close brawls.

Honey Badger is a strange beast: it is actually a lot more aggressive than the Atlas or Catapult, but absolutely requires you to make good use of the high speed. It's not so much a front line mech, like the Atlas, as it is a fat, angry, aggressive hit-and-run machine - used for instantly shredding LRM boats, and mediums. Usually, you want to be part of a one or two man flank attack, and come in as the enemy is already engaged, and just start tearing into one specific section of an enemy. If you start to take hits, you run away around a building or corner, cool off a little, then come about for more.

It does not soak damage anywhere near as well as the Atlas does, but the key is in the speed. Dragons are the only large mech that can keep up in speed, and no Dragon can outgun this beast. Watch out for talented snipers, though - it can be pretty vulnerable to K2s at long range.

So, in short, it is a combat powerhouse, but not in the same way as an Atlas. The real strenth of the Atlas is the ability to soak up a lot of damage and 'grind' through the front lines. The Honey Badger is more aggressive, but also more fragile. It plays more like a 4SP or 4P Hunchback than an Atlas.

[PsychoJosh]

In that case maybe I should go for the DDC Grinder? I'm looking at it and it seems to be mighty tempting except for the MPLs. Can they be replaced with normal MLs?.

[Protection]

PsychoJosh, on 12 November 2012 - 03:09 PM, said:

In that case maybe I should go for the DDC Grinder? I'm looking at it and it seems to be mighty tempting except for the MPLs. Can they be replaced with normal MLs?.

Yeah absolutely. The builds are not set in stone, and anyone can tweak them around as they see fit, and swapping out lasers, adjusting armour or engine, etc are never bad ways to experiment.

Also, you might like this build from Josef Nader - it's a lot like the stock Atlas, but runs a little faster. You can always substitute out the AC/20 for a Gauss if it gets too hot (might even go with 2 medium lasers instead of pulses and 2 more Double Heatsinks):

Edited by Protection, 12 November 2012 - 03:15 PM.

[PsychoJosh]

I like this, although I'm not entirely sure what the advantage of AC20 is over Gauss.

[Wigglez]

I read somebody saying, you need to grind to get the xl engine. Curious, isn't the game type the same regardless?

[Protection]

Wigglez, on 12 November 2012 - 09:16 PM, said:

I read somebody saying, you need to grind to get the xl engine. Curious, isn't the game type the same regardless?

The game is the same, and XL engines are usually optional, but offer some rather significant benefits (with a risk attached).

The advantage of an XL is that it is half of the weight of a regular engine, meaning you have several tons to spend on armour, heatsinks, more weapons, bigger weapons, or even just a bigger engine. The risk is that if you lose a side torso, you die, not just the centre torso, so you are far more vulnerable. Also, they are expensive, and it takes a few dozen games to save the money.

Light mechs - XL engines are almost a requirement. Light mechs really need to go fast to survive in the current builds of the game, and they just dont have the spare tonnage to go with regular engines.

Mediums have a tough choice. Most Hunchbacks (except the versatile 4SP) will run the XL, because if a hunchback loses the big hunch, it is pretty much useless anyhow. Centurions can lose their side torsos very easily, so it is a difficult risk. Cicada's are basically light mechs, and need the big XL to go fast and still afford armour (since the stock version has so little).

Heavies usually run XL right now - the Dragon's only real advantage over the Catapult is that it is capable of going much faster, but it needs an XL to do so. Catapult side torsos are very hard to hit, so running an XL is usually a safe bet, regardless of speed. It will be a tough choice for the Cataphract when it comes out.

Assaults is a really tough question, since they are usually the most durable mechs, and an XL makes them much less so. On the other hand, the engines are usually quite big, so there is a lot of tonnage to be gained, but it's a big big risk.

[Vechs]

Having seen a lot of Atlas K's in this current rotation, I have to say XL's in an assault (or at least an Atlas) is a very, very bad idea.

The gun rack on the Atlas has a terrible hit box, and is so easy to kill. Atlas K's go down hilariously fast.

Maybe the Stalker will have a more favorable hitbox, but for now I would say an XL in an Atlas is suicide. No comment for the Awesome.

[Squarefox]

PsychoJosh, on 12 November 2012 - 03:21 PM, said:

I like this, although I'm not entirely sure what the advantage of AC20 is over Gauss.

An AC20 does more damage (20) compared to the gauss (15). But it's raises more heat and has shorter range. But I think it's good for short range brawling.

[Protection]

Vechs, on 13 November 2012 - 01:28 AM, said:

Having seen a lot of Atlas K's in this current rotation, I have to say XL's in an assault (or at least an Atlas) is a very, very bad idea.

The gun rack on the Atlas has a terrible hit box, and is so easy to kill. Atlas K's go down hilariously fast.

Maybe the Stalker will have a more favorable hitbox, but for now I would say an XL in an Atlas is suicide. No comment for the Awesome.

Atlas K is a death trap for new players for a variety of reasons, and the 300XL sure doesn't help.

Generally for XLs on assaults, you need to do it in one of two ways:

1) High Speed: Atlas with a 350 or 360XL can be a nasty surprise and can turn sharper and take cover easier than normal Atlai, while the 375-385 XL Awesome can be almost match the Hunchback's maximum speed, and is a real hit and run machine. With a good top speed, you may be able to escape situations where a slower mech would be forced to take damage.

2) Long Range: At long range, damage is much harder to focus, so landing repeated hits on the same torso is rather difficult, ensuring a larger spread of damage, while you retaliate at a distance with LRMs, Large Lasers, PPCs, or Gauss. The original Steel Jaguar Atlas ran a 300XL to hold more heatsinks (before Endo Steel, Double Heatsinks, and Ferro Fibrous) - it didn't do will at point blank with a Grinder, but did quite well at 500m away.

[Wigglez]

The pictures show different colored mechs.

I can't change the colors, I just get the plain green.

[Ingward Hock]

cool topic thx Protection

Edited by Kimihiro, 15 November 2012 - 09:56 PM.

[Nanertot]

Why you gotta be hatin on the Raven bro?

[Protection]

Wigglez, on 14 November 2012 - 04:51 PM, said:

The pictures show different colored mechs.

I can't change the colors, I just get the plain green.

Red PC Gamer skin and Blue Founders Mechs. There should be more coming at some point.

[JudgeDeathCZ]

I personaly like my LLas cat k2 and i think its realy usable for noobs.36DMG alpha with pinpoint acuracy and range 1-900m

Chassis Name: Catapult
Model Name: CPLT-K2
Variant Name: x-wingcat
Engine: 260 Reg Engine
Internal Type: Endo Steel
Armor Type: Std Armor
Heat Sinks: 17 (10) Double Heat Sinks
Tonnage: 65,00
Speed: 64,8 kph
Armor Total: 368
Alpha Strike Damage: 36,08
Alpha Strike Heat: 28,00
Firepower: 8,63 dps
Heat Efficiency: 36,13%
Effective Range of Loadout: 450m
Head: 18/18
Right Torso: 42/60
Right Rear Torso: 18/60
Center Torso: 53/84
Center Rear Torso: 25/84
Left Torso: 42/60
Left Rear Torso: 18/60
Right Arm: 36/40
Left Arm: 36/40
Right Leg: 40/60
Left Leg: 40/60
Right Arm:
Large Laser
Double Heat Sink
Endo Steel
Endo Steel
Endo Steel
Endo Steel
Endo Steel
Left Arm:
Large Laser
Double Heat Sink
Endo Steel
Endo Steel
Endo Steel
Endo Steel
Right Torso:
AMS
Machine Gun
Large Laser
Double Heat Sink
Double Heat Sink
Endo Steel
Endo Steel
Left Torso:
Large Laser
Machine Gun
Double Heat Sink
Double Heat Sink
Double Heat Sink
Center Torso:
Head:
Endo Steel
Right Leg:
MG Ammo
Endo Steel
Left Leg:
AMS Ammo
Endo Steel
File created using MWO Mechbay

possible change MGuns and ammo for more AMS ammo or armor

Edited by JudgeDeathCZ, 15 November 2012 - 11:33 PM.

[RumRunner151]

OP: Definitley a solid choice of mechs, but I think some people are confused with the wording in the title and intro. The following hits the nail on the head (I added bold):

Bagheera, on 11 November 2012 - 09:32 AM, said:

The builds aren't intended to be "first builds." They're design goals, competitive min/maxxed builds posted up so new players will have a target build to work towards (saving FakeSpaceBucks for that XL or DHS upgrade) without wasting time and FakeSpaceBucks with failed experimentation.

Think of it as a public service. Folks who've been at this a while and had the luxury of closed beta resets to experiment with sharing their knowledge with the masses.

[Gidonihah]

So this is what we call the Gravity Jenner on our forums. Its a strange little beast that does significantly better vs larger mechs than a typical Jenner in trade for Light dueling ability.

The biggest draw of this Jenner is the 260XL is also usable on Hunchback builds saving you cbills.

It can either be kept as is and upgraded to a 265xl (strictly better but cant be used on a hunchback) or drop a few heatsinks add a 300xl add ferous and drop a little bit of armor for a end result of more speed and 1 less DHS. (the 300xl can hold 2 extra DHS)

This Jenner is for hit and running large targets, with a AlphaStrike more damaging than many Medium,heavys and all smalls.

The reason for the name is it was designed as a Training Mech, with 0 Headarmor. Some simple modifications make it a fully serviceable and intriguing Light design.

[Protection]

[Seijin Dinger]

I figured I would throw in my own personal Gaussapult since it differs slightly from Protection's build. I carry less ammo and move considerably slower, but have extra armor as well as AMS.

[Damien Matashy]

a lot of good ideas in this post, vote for a stickey

[Deathbringer ad]

Thanks a bunch for the Jen D build, I was always using 4 ml and didn't really utilize the srms.