34 replies to this topic

[Mack1]

I read through a few 9M threads but none of the builds look brilliant, heat seems to be the killer for this mech atm.

Am toying with the idea of getting one and was looking for a good erppc build with a few more lazers but heat will probably make this a totally gimped build.

[Thirdrail]

Sweet spice of the space princess, the 9M gives me fits! This mech is the epitome of everything that's currently wrong with DHS and PPCs. It is so freaking broken when it comes to heat. I could almost have a pair of atlases for what I've spent trying to get it to actually be "awesome".

The way it's slotted, you can't get any more DHS into it without removing PPCs, which pretty much defeats the whole point. You can make it go, kind of, with large lasers, but good luck getting a PPC or ER PPC build that doesn't drive you crazy overheating. At best, you can create a decent sniper mech, but, again, why even bother with an awesome that will always be a subpar brawler?

You're better off just building a particle cat if you want that warhammer feeling.

Edited by Thirdrail, 13 November 2012 - 01:31 PM.

[Golden Sentinel]

I got a 9M last night, and I'm liking it quite a bit with my simple build.

All I did was take out the XL engine and replace it with a stock 300. That way I avoid the potential for high repair bills on the XL, and the speed it's terribly off of that of a medium mech. Then I went with 3 large lasers and 3 streaks. Then crammed in heat sinks all over. The removal of the XL also frees up some room for more heat sinks. It's a pretty effective build. I use the arm large laser for hitting stuff beyond my torso (when running behind cover, etc), and have my torso lasers on chain fire. And then the 3 streak son group fire for a nice smack in the face for my target.

I don't have access to my gaming PC at the moment, but later I can post my exact build in detail.

[Kiiyor]

I adore my 9M. The only trouble with it is that it's so... craptacular out of the box. To me, what makes the 9M come alive is the addition of a horrifyingly expensive XL385. With the speed tweak you plod along at over 80kph, and torso twist like a medium. At first I thought the XL would be a liability, but that speed actually makes you fairly survivable.

Pre nerf, I had 3 streak launchers and MPL's in it. Now, I have 1LL, 5 MPL spread into in 2 fire groups, AMS, and a crapload of DHS. You can fit 5 of those DHS in the engine. Runs cool, throws out nice damage at short -> med range, and I love it.

If you can get used to the 2 pipe missile launchers, 2 SRM4s in the CT and a 4 or 6 in the arm, a LL and a couple of MPLs is very nice also. High speed brawl with the lasers, SRM's when you've got time to toss the missiles at a more stationary target.

I've experimented with endo steel, but prefer the crit space for DHS, so i've moved away from that now.

The XL means you have to be a little more conservative, but the speed more than makes up for this, imo. If you want, you can downgrade to a standard engine for more survivability also.

[Dan Grommel]

I bought one too with a setup like this in mind. A 80kph assault that has alpha punch over heat stability. Basically a super heavy flanker I intend to run in groups with Atlas buddies around. Now I just need to save money for that engine...

[Hayashi]

I'd go LT+RT+Head Medium Pulse Lasers, 3 SSRM2 in LA and CT, then a single ERPPC in the RA. AMS in its slot. Put 3 tons SSRM2 ammo in the legs, 1 ton AMS ammo. Throw in an XL 375, DHS all remaining crit slots and max out remaining armour. Don't get ES or FF as you'll need crit slots for DHS.

Use the single ERPPC long range. When targets close in use the SSRM2 and MPLAS almost exclusively, unless you have a clear shot (shutdown, etc) in which case the ERPPC will also fire. If confronted by a good light pilot, put your back to the wall and you can MPLAS/SSRM2 the guy to death.

It's a theoretical build though. I haven't actually played an Awesome yet.

[Rylant]

I am also interested in more options involving 9Ms with fast XLs. Keep 'em coming.

Rylant

[Mack1]

Some very interesting builds here, hopefully the devs will move the slots around a bit better for this Mech.

[Laniarty]

Hayashi, on 14 November 2012 - 01:17 AM, said:

I'd go LT+RT+Head Medium Pulse Lasers, 3 SSRM2 in LA and CT, then a single ERPPC in the RA. AMS in its slot. Put 3 tons SSRM2 ammo in the legs, 1 ton AMS ammo. Throw in an XL 375, DHS all remaining crit slots and max out remaining armour. Don't get ES or FF as you'll need crit slots for DHS.

Use the single ERPPC long range. When targets close in use the SSRM2 and MPLAS almost exclusively, unless you have a clear shot (shutdown, etc) in which case the ERPPC will also fire. If confronted by a good light pilot, put your back to the wall and you can MPLAS/SSRM2 the guy to death.

It's a theoretical build though. I haven't actually played an Awesome yet.

I played this tonight to test it. Everything exactly the same except I bumped up the armor and didn't use AMS (the current state of LRM's means I can get away with it). Heat was fine, but I felt like I lacked punch. Maybe if SSRMs played like they did last patch it would have been a beast, but now they spread too much to be dependable. I really don't like brawling in an Awesome, it's fine when not focused, but that torso is massive and the XL means it goes down like a shack of ****. And it's not fast enough to get away from Centurions or Hunchbacks. I did lay some smackdown on anything heavier though.

I love the speed, but I still prefer using the Awesome in a direct fire support role. I had more success staying back at the start of a match and sniping with the ERPPC, and then engaging after the main brawl had started.

Edited by Laniarty, 14 November 2012 - 03:24 AM.

[Hayashi]

Laniarty, on 14 November 2012 - 03:21 AM, said:

I played this tonight to test it. Everything exactly the same except I bumped up the armor and didn't use AMS (the current state of LRM's means I can get away with it). Heat was fine, but I felt like I lacked punch. Maybe if SSRMs played like they did last patch it would have been a beast, but now they spread too much to be dependable. I really don't like brawling in an Awesome, it's fine when not focused, but that torso is massive and the XL means it goes down like a shack of ****. And it's not fast enough to get away from Centurions or Hunchbacks. I did lay some smackdown on anything heavier though. I love the speed, but I still prefer using the Awesome in a direct fire support role. I had more success staying back at the start of a match and sniping with the ERPPC, and then engaging after the main brawl had started.

Perhaps in that case it might be better to use a smaller standard engine (Does 300 fit, or is it too heavy?), if you're doing fire support you won't need speed. Put one ERPPC in each side torso, and mount 3 MPLAS in the centre torso and head. Double heat sink everything else. The SSRM consideration is more or less for anti-light duties, but if you're good at aiming the MPLAS you can use that instead. 2 ERPPC seems to be the max, more or less - anything more than that overheats you regardless of how many DHS you try to mount.

[Dan Grommel]

Ok up untill I can afford the XL385 I came up with this which works rather nicely:

RA: LPL
LA: SRM 6
Torso: 5 ML, AMS
Legs: 2t SRM ammo, 2t AMS ammo

300 Std Engine (from my atlas), Max Armor, as many double heatsinks as fit.

This gives 50 Damage almost all to the point (the SRMs fire in 2er volleys with almost no spread, mind the extra shaking effect they cause on your target is very useful!) and is very manageable heat wise.
Once I got a high-end XL i'll just drop two heatsinks and a bit of ammo and it should fit. This setup will then be more or less what I was looking for - a superheavy hunchback, cruising around the battlefield at 80kph that can take an Atlas frontally too if it has to.

[Lerzpftz]

I had alot of fun with
3 ERPPC,
XL 300 to 350 (don't remember exactly),
3 Streak Srms to scare away light mechs (only 2t of ammo)
somewhat reduced armor
as many DHS as you can fit.

It's hot, yes ... but cools down after some seconds and you can fire 3 salvos from out of range into an lrm boat for
a nice 90 damage, before you have to cool down. A little difficult to play, but fun ... especially since nobody believes ER-PPCs
are usable until they die.

Edited by Lerzpftz, 14 November 2012 - 08:31 AM.

[Lauranis]

Having finished getting master on the Atlases I have turned my attention to mastering the different Variants of the Awesome. I started with the 9M, as the only version of the Chassis I haven't already played extensively. Bare in mind with the builds I am about to post that I play extensively with friends, so can rely on having lights or mediums to scrub enemy light mech's off me should I need them to.

The first build was an attempt to build a functional PPC boat in the vein of the classic 8Q, but with a better heat curve. I found originally that the XL engine prevented me from fitting enough heatsinks onto the mech, forcing me to use the centre torso, head and arm slots simply to hit the weight limit of the chassis. In the end I opted for a build somewhat like this:

Awesome-9M "Dagon" - ERPPC Direct Fire Support and Sniper Suppression

Standard 300 engine (stolen from atlas) allows for approx 60kph speed.
3 x ER PPC
AMS + 1 ton ammo (ammo in leg)
Every free space possible filled with double heat sinks.

Frankly the heat dissipation is insane, as is the heat-ceiling. The build can double alpha with the PPC's quite happily, and the discipline required to chain fire the ER PPC's is trivial (each ppc is in its own fire group). Even on caustic, the mech's heat level drops rapidly, allowing for a near continuous barrage of PPC fire. Play-style wise I sit towards the back of the front line, use heat vision to engage and suppress other snipers and missile boats at extreme range with chained volley's from the PPC's. As the distance closes I target slow moving mechs, or faster mechs moving in straight lines and poor fire into them. Once the brawl really gets going I am fast enough to disengage from most assault class mechs, and have enough cooling to apply fire as alpha strikes on targets of opportunity whenever they appear.

Of course I know that PPC's are less than ideal weapons, I think they have become much more viable with the introduction of double heat sinks, and will improve in effectiveness once the "emp" effect is introduced. The build has a tendency to fall apart in close combat when unsupported, I have had several games where I have been mugged by a competent slaserback pilot and torn apart. On the other side of things my record was an 800 + damage match where every salvo was dead on target and I tore medium mechs apart with impunity. This build has also had the ancillary effect of forcing me to improve my aim with high-speed ballistic weapons, considerably improving my accuracy with the Gauss rifle on other mechs (particularly against moving targets).

Tweaks I have considered:

downgrading the ER PPC's to standard PPC's and using the weight to mount either SSRM's or medium laser on the centre torso, left arm and head hardpoints for some better close in protection. However this considerably lowers the builds long range damage potential, and makes it much less threatening to LRM boats and gauss snipers sitting at 1k or so downrange.

[Elizander]

Using one with 3 normal PPCs and 3 SSRM2s. Kept the engine and added DHS. No endo I think. Having fun with it so far. As long as the PPCs aren't ER you should be okay even with an Alpha Strike. SSRMs for lights and anything under 90m.

[Child3k]

I was just wondering - isn't it a bit pointless to put a std 300 engine in the 9M Chassis? I mean - u could just use an 8T or 8Q Chassis and put a std 290 in. That would only be a kph difference of 2.

[Redoxin]

In my opinion the 9M is by far the best Awesome, because it can go really fast. But you have to forget about mass PPC / only energy builds.

Just get a really good engine and 3 SRM6. A few medium lasers to back it up. And then do tons of damage.

[ThePieMaker]

Two build I have found to be good.

Direct-fire support platform:
XL325
3xPPC's (way better than ERPPC's because you can put more damage down range without overheating)
3xSSRM 2's (2 tons of ammo)
21 DHS.
Slightly reduced armor on the legs and arms.

Brawler:
Standard 300
2xLL
2xML
2xSRM4
1xSRM6(3 tons ammo)
1xAMS(1 ton ammo)
20 DHS.
Slightly reduced armor on the legs.

[Kiiyor]

Child3k, on 17 November 2012 - 04:55 PM, said:

I was just wondering - isn't it a bit pointless to put a std 300 engine in the 9M Chassis? I mean - u could just use an 8T or 8Q Chassis and put a std 290 in. That would only be a kph difference of 2.

You can cram an extra heat sink into a 300 rated engine though.

[Lauranis]

Child3k, on 17 November 2012 - 04:55 PM, said:

I was just wondering - isn't it a bit pointless to put a std 300 engine in the 9M Chassis? I mean - u could just use an 8T or 8Q Chassis and put a std 290 in. That would only be a kph difference of 2.

You absolutely could use an 8Q and put in a 290, however you would have to find space for an additional double heat sink outside the engine, and certainly in the build I was using, that is not actually possible.

[Child3k]

Redoxin, on 17 November 2012 - 05:10 PM, said:

In my opinion the 9M is by far the best Awesome, because it can go really fast. But you have to forget about mass PPC / only energy builds. Just get a really good engine and 3 SRM6. A few medium lasers to back it up. And then do tons of damage.

You can't fit 3 SRM6 in the 9M chassis ...