26 replies to this topic

[Darwins Dog]

So I'm looking at getting a cicada, and wondering if there is a reason for getting the 2B. Do the lasers in the arms really give enough advantage to have 5 hardpoints instead of 6?

Or should I just forget the laser boats and go for one of the others?

[jtyotJOTJIPAEFVJ]

The 3C (or the one with 4 energy and 1 ballistic points, I'm not sure of the number) will have ECM so I'd say get that. ECM will be cool. And to answer your question, no, I don't think the arms are that good. Sure, you won't be able to shoot at enemies with a big elevation difference to you but you're so fast it rarely matters anyways. Whereas the arms on the 2A are excellent shields against enemy fire and make you last quite a bit longer, especially with an XL engine. And the extra medium laser granted by more hardpoints doesn't hurt either.

[Trauglodyte]

As a Cicada master, I'd first ask why you want to run the Cicada? The Jenner is lighter, slightly faster, has JJs, and better weapon layouts. BUT, if you're deadset on running the "bug" and wanting to master it, buy the 2A, 2B, and 3M and enjoy. Skip the 3C as it has the worst weapon hardpoints of any mech in the game. Anyway, you'll end up settling with the 3M as it allows you to carry ECM to avoid missile locks and shake people's cockpits when they wanna brawl. It is going to be a glorious thing.

[Blyn]

I ran the A/B the same. 5 medium lasers, XL300, endosteel structure, DHS, full armor (minus a couple points from the arms/legs). Don't bother with an AMS or anything fancy in those. I was running at 120 (130 with elite skills) with a 25 point alpha doing about 600 damage a match with a kill or two. Use it as a scouting brawler getting behind enemy lines and bugging out when you take too much heat. Your legs are big so try not to get legged!

[TruePoindexter]

Darwins Dog, on 03 December 2012 - 12:47 PM, said:

So I'm looking at getting a cicada, and wondering if there is a reason for getting the 2B. Do the lasers in the arms really give enough advantage to have 5 hardpoints instead of 6?

Or should I just forget the laser boats and go for one of the others?

I went with the 2A, 2B, and 3M.

All of them have DHS/ES/FF

My 2A has 6ML and a 340XL.
My 2B has 5ML and a 340XL.

The main difference is that the ton of weight saved from the lost laser goes to armor in the arms.

My 3M is kinda fluctuating. I had been running 3ML and an UAC5 w/ 280XL but have recently swapped out the UAC5 for an LBX10. I might change it again.

[Icebound]

Whichever one gets ECM will be superior I'm guessing.

[TruePoindexter]

Icebound, on 03 December 2012 - 01:31 PM, said:

Whichever one gets ECM will be superior I'm guessing.

The 3M will be but you need 3 variants to get them to elite. I think the only real bad choice is the Cicada 3C... 4 ballistic slots on a 40 ton mech is pretty bad when machine guns deal next to no damage.

[Jacmac]

It Was A, B, & M for me.

[Zeke Steiner]

I run a 2B with a smaller XL engine and a heavier weapons loadout. I have about 17.5 tons for weapons and still run at about 99kph. I prefer the 2B as the arms can allow for more flexibility in fight, but I wouldn't recommend it if you plan on harrassing at road runner speeds.

[TruePoindexter]

Zeke Steiner, on 03 December 2012 - 01:47 PM, said:

I run a 2B with a smaller XL engine and a heavier weapons loadout. I have about 17.5 tons for weapons and still run at about 99kph. I prefer the 2B as the arms can allow for more flexibility in fight, but I wouldn't recommend it if you plan on harrassing at road runner speeds.

I've noticed on my 2B the arms are actually slower in rotating than the torso. Very strange.

[Trauglodyte]

As I said, 3C sucks *** so don't use it. Whether you go ER PPC solo with ES or go a Lrg Laser with trip MGs (bad, btw), it still sucks.

2A/2B run pretty much the same. ES, 272 points of armor (2 short of max), 13 DHSs, 5 Md Lasers and 1 Sm Laser does the job just fine. I also ran it with the above but 3 Md Lasers and 3 Sm Lasers to test out the BAP and it worked well too. Granted, I ran that with the 280 standard engine from the 3C. The drop in speed wasn't a huge issue except for the tims when I had a pimped out Jenner on my butt. You can put in an XL but your armor is so thin that you've got to play awfully carefully to prevent getting exploded in a hurry. I personally wouldn't push it until you've hit master level.

[Nuggales]

If you're use to piloting a jenner, the 2b will be the most familiar because of the 2 laser hard points per arm. I got the 2A first after focusing on getting my jenners up to master and never realized how much i depended on the extra vertical range due to the arms. I personally run my 2b with 2 med lasers per arm with 1 large laser in the torso. i like to option of bothering those long range targets a bit to keep their heads down

[Tuhalu]

2B is definitely better than 2A.

Most Cicadas can chain fire 4 MPL with 17 double heat sinks for about 20 seconds. If you go 6 MPL all that happens is you overheat faster and die shutdown. If you go 6 medium lasers, it's a similar story (takes a little longer to shut down), but you also have to keep your lasers on target for a lot longer to get the full output. Finally, you wind up with all these weapons in your torso, that can't handle a mech above or below you (on a steep slope or using Jump Jets). Which is bad when you are dealing with something like a Streakcat or Jenner JR7-D.

[Galaxy Drifter]

Trauglodyte, on 03 December 2012 - 12:51 PM, said:

As a Cicada master, I'd first ask why you want to run the Cicada? The Jenner is lighter, slightly faster, has JJs, and better weapon layouts. BUT, if you're deadset on running the "bug" and wanting to master it, buy the 2A, 2B, and 3M and enjoy. Skip the 3C as it has the worst weapon hardpoints of any mech in the game. Anyway, you'll end up settling with the 3M as it allows you to carry ECM to avoid missile locks and shake people's cockpits when they wanna brawl. It is going to be a glorious thing.

While I agree the 3C is of limited use currently, you may want to revisit it in the future.

Two changes are coming that may make it a fun mech, if not effective.

1. MG's are getting a damage boost - 4xMG's will be fun, IF they can actually do some damage

2. PPC are getting some kind of EMP type of effect (I suspect it will be some kind of short term stun effect)

Putting all of this together on a 3C might make it worth a consideration. Harassment level will be high with this one.

Edited by Elddar, 04 December 2012 - 04:50 AM.

[Mithos]

Why all of you are so fixated on MG's for 3C? AC/2 is top-grade ballistic weapon, and you can install 2 of 'em and still have some free weight for XL engine, heatsinks and a secondary laser.

[Galaxy Drifter]

Mithos, on 04 December 2012 - 06:31 AM, said:

Why all of you are so fixated on MG's for 3C? AC/2 is top-grade ballistic weapon, and you can install 2 of 'em and still have some free weight for XL engine, heatsinks and a secondary laser.

The point was improved damage MG's + new PPC w/stun effect.

No practical way to use AC/2 and PPC.

2xAC/2 = 12t vs 4xMG=2t

Also you will see the popularity of AC/2's drop rapidly without the debilitating screen shake.

Edited by Elddar, 04 December 2012 - 02:35 PM.

[TerebNeerg]

Either one works fine. Occasionally I'll take a dual gauss or something big like that to my arm in the 2A and I'm glad. Sometimes an enemy with a weak leg is super-close and I wish I was in a 2B.

Either way I run 300XL, 4ML, 1ERLL, DHS, and endosteel.

Edited by TerebNeerg, 05 December 2012 - 12:36 AM.

[ImIooImI]

I like my Cicada 2A! using 2 variants...
1. for close combat use variant with 6 MedLasers
2. for ranged combat using variant with 2 ER PPC

why I prefer to 2A? because the weapon is located in the torso and has more armor )) (in the case of 2B weapons in the hands and can beat rapidly lost)

IMHO

[Warge]

TruePoindexter, on 03 December 2012 - 01:41 PM, said:

The 3M will be but you need 3 variants to get them to elite. I think the only real bad choice is the Cicada 3C... 4 ballistic slots on a 40 ton mech is pretty bad when machine guns deal next to no damage.

2 AC/2 + 1 ML. I like CDA-3C!

Edited by Warge, 07 February 2013 - 06:28 PM.

[Warge]

Today's example:
My CDA-3C got 1 leg destroyed and enemy Cataphract pursuing me. I turned on face-to-face last stand and got the picture: enemy has left shoulder severely damaged. Enemy fires at me, I fire back. I destroyed enemy's shoulder and... he had XL engine in mech.

Edited by Warge, 09 February 2013 - 03:47 PM.