15 replies to this topic

[king0pa1n]

I need somebody to recommend me a BattleMech or a specific Mech Variant / Loadout based on my playstyle. Alternatively, if anybody wants to recommend any changes to my Mech loadouts, that would be of help as well.

My current BattleMechs:

Hunchback HBK-4J - 4x Medium Lasers, 1x AMS + 1x AMS ammo, 1x LRM 15 + 1x LRM ammo, 1x SRM 6 + 1x SRM 6 ammo, 17 Standard Heat Sinks, and the (Stock) STD Engine 200. Endo-Steel Internal Structure.

Awesome AWS-8Q - 4x Large Lasers, 1x AMS + 1x AMS ammo, 32 Standard Heat Sinks, and the (Stock) STD Engine 240. Endo-Steel Internal Structure.

Atlas AS7-D - 2x Medium Pulse Lasers, 1x Large Laser, 1x AMS + 2x AMS ammo, 1x Gauss Rifle + 3x Gauss Ammo, 1x LRM 15 + 1x LRM 5 + 2x LRM ammo, 2x C.A.S.E., 20 Standard Heat Sinks, and the (Stock) STD Engine 300. Endo-Steel Internal Structure.

My Playstyle:

I find that I favor providing support more than I like to just out-right brawl, and I get killed quickly if I'm not backed up by teammates or I'm not supporting them. Out of all my current BattleMechs, I tend to do best with the Awesome AWS-8Q, the 4x Large Lasers hit really hard and tear through the opponents, and do a great job with firing support more than simply getting kills. I would probably favor a Heavy mech because I don't feel like my Hunchback has enough tonnage to pack a punch, yet my Atlas feels very, very heavy and not able to maneuver easily.

I have about 3 million C-Bills right now, and If I don't have any Mech that I want to buy, then I think I'm just going to go ahead and try to get the ELITE Efficiencies for the Hunchback Mech.

[Regrets]

You would maybe like a stalker. Can be fully upgraded no heromech, has lots of lasers and missiles. Viable brawler and lrmboat/sniper builds. Only thing is the torso twist is terrible. I was getting my ***kicked by a raven earlier today with my lrmboat (4 ml) lol.

Then again, I wish I was running ECM Atlas.

Edited by Regrets, 30 December 2012 - 11:13 PM.

[VagabondHT]

You might get this given to you alot, but the Stalker might be your mech you can pretty much build it as a Laser sniper or a missile support mech. I am not going to lie to you its as slow as a Atlas and its torso twist is a pain to deal with the 3F and the 5S are the two best of the verients for laser play since it has 6 laser hardpoints and 4 Missile points.

I have seen 6 LLs been put on it with DHS. just have some common sense with firing them and the heat would not be that bad.

I ran more LRM builds of the 5S 4 Medium lasers, 1 tag, 2 LRM10's and 2 LRM 20s 1440 missiles and 1 ams with 1 ton of ammo. Steer clear of Endo steel on a Stalker unless you are going pure lasers.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...e11d8a23a6eaa9b > just something i quickly drew up the 6 LL 5S sharing the stock 300 engine from the atlas with 2 ASM and 2 tons of ammo and 19 DHS.

but try the standard 3F trial with its standard loadout. and see if its the chassis for you first.

Edited by VagabondHT, 30 December 2012 - 11:35 PM.

[p00k]

if he thinks the atlas is slow and plodding, the stalker is unlikely a good choice. still while one is a trial, take advantage of it

don't know enough about what OP likes to really say much. beyond just "support" do you like missiles? indirect fire? direct fire? DOT vs front loaded damage? pinpoint damage vs just a bigger scattered whack? taking shots and then ducking away vs suppressing fire? etc etc

one thing i will say though, already too late with your atlas/awesome OP, but DHS > ES. more expensive, but totally worth it. few assault builds can you afford to run both, and now it'll cost you to take ES off as well as put DHS on. if you feel like truly optimizing either of those. or just leave them as is and go to a diff mech

a word of warning for the upgrades, in general
get DHS first. all but a handful of niche builds do better with DHS
if your heat is good and you still have >14 crits left, ES is your next best bargain
if you have DHS, and ES, and STILL have >14 crits open (basically only lights and some mediums) then FF
for the most part don't bother with artemis. its benefits are too easily nullified to be worth it.

[Hammerfinn]

Honestly, I'd just go ahead and max out the Hunchbacks. The basic 2x and Elite bonuses really can move your mech from good to awesome, and hunchies are relatively cheap and offer a lot of different options for setup.

[Eisenhorne]

I'm going to recommend the DRG-1C. It can fill the same role as your awesome (with 4 large lasers) but at 20 tons lighter, and much faster. Every dragon build I would play with it will require substantial investment, however... you'd need:

4.7 mil chassis
4.9 mil engine (XL300)
1.5 mil Double Heatsink upgrade
1 mil endo steel upgrade

to get it in fighting shape your looking at 12.1 million c-bills. But it is fast and sexy

2 builds I run often with my DRG-FLAME (you can do the same builds in a DRG-1C)

PPC fire support (1.08 heat efficiency)-
XL300, Endo Steel, 17 DHS, 384/402 armor
2x PPC
2x Medium Pulse Lasers
SRM 4 w/ 1 ton ammo
AMS w/ 1 ton ammo

Large Laser fire support (1.24 heat efficiency)-
XL300, Endo Steel, 19 DHS, 400/402 armor
4x Large Lasers


I've been having a lot of fun with the PPC variant. I know the heat efficiency is a bit low, but your not firing the PPC's and medium pulses at the same time most of the time, so its not too bad. Basically just chill back behind the main assault force, pumping PPC rounds into the enemy. You can fire a good 6-7 times (both PPC's at once) before having to back off to cool down, which is enough to vaporize even the toughest mechs. If you want to be faster in the PPC mech, you can drop the AMS, SRM's, swap the medium pulses for medium lasers, and put in an XL350. You go 104 KPH that way, but you lose a lot of close in firepower, and I don't think the 15 KPH gain is really worth it.

[king0pa1n]

p00k, on 30 December 2012 - 11:48 PM, said:

if he thinks the atlas is slow and plodding, the stalker is unlikely a good choice. still while one is a trial, take advantage of it

don't know enough about what OP likes to really say much. beyond just "support" do you like missiles? indirect fire? direct fire? DOT vs front loaded damage? pinpoint damage vs just a bigger scattered whack? taking shots and then ducking away vs suppressing fire? etc etc

I do agree that it's unlikely that I will go with the Stalker, but if it fits my loadout / needs I might just ignore it's heavy feel.
To clarify, I mostly like direct fire support, although firing LRMs indirectly is useful. I try to pinpoint hit specific parts of a Mech. I usually do take shots then duck away, but I do sometimes all-out brawl when I know I'm likely to kill an enemy.

Eisenhorne, on 30 December 2012 - 11:56 PM, said:

I'm going to recommend the DRG-1C. It can fill the same role as your awesome (with 4 large lasers) but at 20 tons lighter, and much faster. Every dragon build I would play with it will require substantial investment, however... you'd need:

4.7 mil chassis
4.9 mil engine (XL300)
1.5 mil Double Heatsink upgrade
1 mil endo steel upgrade

to get it in fighting shape your looking at 12.1 million c-bills. But it is fast and sexy

2 builds I run often with my DRG-FLAME (you can do the same builds in a DRG-1C)

PPC fire support (1.08 heat efficiency)-
XL300, Endo Steel, 17 DHS, 384/402 armor
2x PPC
2x Medium Pulse Lasers
SRM 4 w/ 1 ton ammo
AMS w/ 1 ton ammo

Large Laser fire support (1.24 heat efficiency)-
XL300, Endo Steel, 19 DHS, 400/402 armor
4x Large Lasers


I've been having a lot of fun with the PPC variant. I know the heat efficiency is a bit low, but your not firing the PPC's and medium pulses at the same time most of the time, so its not too bad. Basically just chill back behind the main assault force, pumping PPC rounds into the enemy. You can fire a good 6-7 times (both PPC's at once) before having to back off to cool down, which is enough to vaporize even the toughest mechs. If you want to be faster in the PPC mech, you can drop the AMS, SRM's, swap the medium pulses for medium lasers, and put in an XL350. You go 104 KPH that way, but you lose a lot of close in firepower, and I don't think the 15 KPH gain is really worth it.

I like the sound of this fast Dragon PPC support build. I might just go with it

[Riktor Voshek]

A Catapult K2 might be another good option for you. You could try out pretty much any combination of ballistic or energy direct fire support with the slots it has, and the hardpoints are pretty well placed for peeking over / around cover.

I was having a lot of fun with a 2xUAC-5 build, mostly playing as second line direct fire support.

XL300, Endo Steel, 15 DHS, 368/422 armour
2x UAC-5 w/ 6 tons ammo
4x Medium Laser
AMS w/ 1 ton ammo

The UAC's take some getting used to, but I find that for every time they both jam instantly, there'll also be a time when the jam-gods smile on you and you rip someones head off The four mediums are always a good backup whatever happens.

[Budor]

You seem to be a stalker guy. 3F has more torso twist than all other STK variants and you can do nice laser, missile or mixed loadouts.

[Wrenchfarm]

You wanna talk support? You need a CN9-AL with -
Endo
DHS
250STD engine
2 MLAS in CT
1 MLAS + TAG in RA
LRM15/LRM5 in LT
3 tons ammo in the legs.

You're fast, you're versatile, you're a lethal addition to any Lance. Stay outside the main furball, try to keep enemies in the 300-500m sweetspot

With TAG you help every LRM user on your team, you can penetrate ECM, add damage to anyone out in the open by firing missiles at them from non-static positions. You're own locks happen fast and you can rain down a considerable amount of missiles. You aren't a Catapult or Atlas with LRM20 boxes out the wazoo, but your missiles might actually hit since you are firing at people from mid range you can actually see.

You have three lasers you can fire with impunity and accuracy. You are fast enough to chase after lights and have great torso twist/arm tracking to make them think twice about tangling with you or your Assault buddies. You got their back right?

You are in every-way a mech that doesn't personal excel at anything, but makes every aspect of a team better. That's support.

(oh yeah, and you can make the same build but better on a HBK-4SP with 4MLAS, TAG in the head, and 2xLRM10s. But I get tired of constantly pimping that mech. Damn thing is too good!)

[Stingz]

Wrenchfarm, on 31 December 2012 - 04:36 AM, said:

You wanna talk support? You need a CN9-AL with -
Endo
DHS
250STD engine
2 MLAS in CT
1 MLAS + TAG in RA
LRM15/LRM5 in LT
3 tons ammo in the legs.

Centurions have max 10 shots per salvo, it only has 10 missile tubes. x2 LRM-5, and swapping the arm M.Las for a L.Las would probably be better.

Edited by Stingz, 31 December 2012 - 05:56 AM.

[Wrenchfarm]

Stingz, on 31 December 2012 - 05:56 AM, said:

Centurions have max 10 shots per salvo, it only has 10 missile tubes. x2 LRM-5, and swapping the arm M.Las for a L.Las would probably be better.

Yup. That's another reason the 4SP does the build better, it gets the missiles off quicker because it has more tubes.
Still I don't find the staggered launching of the CN9-AL to be too much of a prob unless the AMS is VERY thick (Atlas-K, STK-4S, multiple AMS in a huddle)

[I WildCard I]

Start saving your cbills.....

• Get a Cataphract 3D
  
• Throw on 2 gauss Rifles 4 medium lasers with stock 280 Xl Engine
  
• 4-5 Tons of Gauss ammo
  
• 1-2 jump jets (To be able to swing around and line up a shot)
  
• Get advanced zoom eventually
  
• Practice gauss lead time
  
• Send me a Christmas card next year.

[Pariah Devalis]

To mimic your awesome, but with much greater mobility and a smaller profile, I would nominate the Dragon, as well. The 1C or Flame is a blast, with the Flame having the added benefit of pure arm mounted lasers. This allows you to dogfight extremely easily and put pinpoint accurate laser fire when you want it. My Flame sits at 18 DHS, 4LLas, and an SSRM2, powered by a 300 XL which lets you have the freedom to either snipe from afar or function as an anti-light mech. Extremely versatile.

Alternatively, you can go another route with direct fire support, going with Gauss based mechs like the Gaussaphract (IM or 4X variants) or the Gaussapult (K2 with gauss in the torsos). Very cold running, very hard hitting, but ammunition dependent. K2 also allows for PPC loads and IM and the 4X allow for AC 2/5 boating for long range suppressive fire.

As far as LRM boats, the Catapult and Stalker both fill this role extremely well.

[p00k]

as some have mentioned, i think the k2 is probably closest to what OP will like. the cataphract while nice on paper suffers from low arm mounts, requiring you to expose more of your torso, as well as limited arm mobility and torso twisting. its giant front profile makes for an easy target. and jumpjets on the 3d have lost much of their utility with the last patch.

so yeah, i'd go with the k2. plus, whenever OP finally decides to move on to getting elite skills, the other variants are pretty solid choices too.

[Flagrant]

As previously mentioned, a Dragon 1C is a good recommendation. Maneuvers like the hunchback and good energy weaponable.