3 replies to this topic

[Quxudica]

Been experimenting with the K2 the last day or so, gone through a few builds with it trying to find something I enjoyed. I've been focusing on long range sniper play - builds I've tried have been: Quad Large Lasers, Quad PPCs, 2xPPC 2xLarge Laser, 2xGauss (the last one I tried, didn't have much interest in returning to it after extensive use in Closed Beta.)

They mostly worked well enough, Quad PPCs were nasty but had such severe downsides that I just didn't enjoy it that much. Almost no defense in close, major heat problems, slow - it pretty much relied on being left alone. 2xPPC 2xLL seemed quite effective if a bit hot.

I really wanted a pure projectile build though instead of beams. It may have been posted before but this is what I've come up with:

P.P.G. K2

• Standard Armor: 368/422
• Endo-Steel Internals
• Double Heat Sinks: 12 (counting engine internal)
• XL 295 Engine: 73.5 KPH (80ish KPH with Speed Tweak)
• 2x PPCs: One in each arm
• 1x Gauss Rifle: Side Torso
• 4 Tons Gauss Ammo


I've had some pretty decent success with this unit so far. It sports 5 more damage then a pure G-Cat, does not rely on pure ammo, can fit a bigger engine and thus can more easily maintain distance, has the GR for close in damage (admittedly it's not much damage by itself), Only has heat issues after many alphas and can fall back on GR firing to cool off. While this build should be 1 point short of single Alpha headshot kills, I have still gotten some on undamaged mechs, could be ammo storage in the cockpit but I swear one was a pure G-Cat.

There's a lot of room for tweaking, and it obviously has some downsides shared with other LR Direct Damage builds (lights are roughly and you generally need help) but it can be quite mean. The projectile speed differences between the GR and PPC rounds have so far not seemed to make it excessively difficult to land alphas at range (even for an average marksmen like me). The PPCs can also squeeze in a burst between GR shots if you want the added sustained damage.

If you wanted you could reduce the armor shaving by adding FF to it, but it would become much much more expensive obviously - you likely would end in the red for all losses and maybe some wins. Heat Sink and Ammo count can be tailored a bit to taste, though there are only enough spare slots for 13 DHS I believe. I may drop my engine size a ton to squeeze in more ammo, but so far I have not run out (come very close though).


Thoughts, tweaks and opinions and welcome.

Edited by Quxudica, 19 November 2012 - 12:02 PM.

[SniperCzar]

Headshot kills are always 27 damage AFAIK (18 armor + 9 HP)

If you want to go all the way down the rabbit hole you can fit dual ERPPC and dual Gauss with 3 tons of ammo. No need to maintain distance if you can easily kill everything you see. Here's a video my friend made of an average match.

[Quxudica]

SniperCzar, on 20 November 2012 - 08:02 AM, said:

Headshot kills are always 27 damage AFAIK (18 armor + 9 HP)

If you want to go all the way down the rabbit hole you can fit dual ERPPC and dual Gauss with 3 tons of ammo. No need to maintain distance if you can easily kill everything you see. Here's a video my friend made of an average match.

I was under the impression you need 36 damage, 18 armor and 18 internal. Anyway, that's a powerful build to be sure but it's very slow and has major heat issues. Part of the reason I built the hybrid the way I have is because I PuG 100% of the time, thus I don't have the option of really relying on teammates. Swapping the PPcs for ERPPCs might be worthwhile though if I can tinker out how. Going dual gauss will also have the disadvantage of both side torsos being vulnerable to getting them knocked out and exploded - especially with the major nerf today, With only one I can torso twist to protect my GR.

In a group though it certainly looks like quite the beast.

[SniperCzar]

Quxudica, on 20 November 2012 - 08:40 AM, said:

I was under the impression you need 36 damage, 18 armor and 18 internal. Anyway, that's a powerful build to be sure but it's very slow and has major heat issues. Part of the reason I built the hybrid the way I have is because I PuG 100% of the time, thus I don't have the option of really relying on teammates. Swapping the PPcs for ERPPCs might be worthwhile though if I can tinker out how. Going dual gauss will also have the disadvantage of both side torsos being vulnerable to getting them knocked out and exploded - especially with the major nerf today, With only one I can torso twist to protect my GR.

In a group though it certainly looks like quite the beast.

Bear in mind, that was on Caustic. Usually I can eke out 3-4 50 damage alphas before I drop into thermal naptime. I've actually PUGged in this build before and gotten 2-3 kills, but there's obviously nobody to call for help when you get jumped by a Dragon (lights are no problem as they die in one hit to the CT or on medium Cicadas, LT/RT). Worth playing with if you like one-shotting missileboats in the head at 1100m but don't expect to play mobile/close support with it. I may try your build next time I run the PUG circuit.