91 replies to this topic

[Darwins Dog]

This is by no means a complete list of builds (though the thread may become that), nor do I consider myself to the ultimate expert on the Cicada. I do play them a lot. I've leveled all of them through elite level and three are well beyond mastered. I decided to share my experience with the community in the hopes that it will help someone out.

General role: I see the Cicada as a very dynamic mech. Most of the time you will be a scout, striker, or harasser , and many builds can freely switch between these. You can also make a great wingman for an assault mech (a Stalker or Atlas would surely appreciate having you around). You can be as fast as any light, and you can take enough punishment to forgive (small) pilot errors. You will have to be more focused on teamwork than some other mechs need to be. Cicadas really shouldn’t go toe-to-toe with anything. Lights can out maneuver you because the Cicada is heavier, and takes longer to speed up, slow down, and turn. Heavier mechs have more weapons and armor than you do (obviously). Stay with a friend to deal with lights, and run to your friends when dealing with bigger mechs.

Shadey99 said:
They make great flankers and rear strikers as well as base runners. They also can peek above a rise as their torso weapons are high up on their chest like a stalker.

Speed/Engine: With a maxed engine (340), they can move 137 kph (151 kph with speed tweak). That’s faster than a Commando, faster than a Raven, the same as a Spider, and slightly slower than a Jenner. In an actual game, the 3 kph spread between you and a light is not really noticeable, and as I mentioned you are heavier, so a little slower in maneuvering. The 340 can also hold 3 additional heatsinks, which is always a good thing. I always go with the XL engine as well. For one thing, the 340 STD weighs 34 tons (you do the math there), but another thing is that you are not a brawler. Speed is your best survival tool. The 340 XL is expensive (about 5.5 mil), which is why I currently only have one that I swap between mechs, but worth every cbill. I will admit that I die to side torso kills about as often as center torso kills, but the speed is worth it in my opinion. If you chose, the STD 270 has the same weight, and costs about 1.6 mil. You will run 109 kph (120 with speed tweak, but you have no room for extra heat sinks.

The thing about big engines is that they have a much lower speed to weight ratio than smaller ones. What that means for you is that if you shave a little bit of speed you gain a lot of weight. If you go with the full 340XL, ferro-fibrous armor (close to maximum), and endo-steel structure you will have about 10 tons to work with. Swapping the engine to a 325XL will give you 11.5 tons to work with and still run at 144.8 kph. Finally, if you go for a 300XL you hit a big jump in efficiency. With ES and near max FF you get 15 tons to work with while still moving 133.7 kph. This is the sweet spot for the Cicada. No other mech can move 15 tons of firepower that fast. At 4.9 million cbills it's still pricey, but it's really worth it. This is the stock engine from the AS7-K, DRG-5N ©, TBT-3C, CN9-D, JR7-F ©, and JR7-D (S) so they are relatively common.

Garth Erlam, on 17 July 2013 - 08:37 AM, said:

Remember to experiment though. It took a fight against an amazing opponent for me to realize that the 325/330XL can be a great addition to a Cicada build. It's not _all_ 300XL's

With the new movement speed changes the Cicada finds itself in the small mech category with the Raven. Your slowdown angle of 35 degrees means that Commandos, Jenners, and Spiders will be a little better on terrain than you, but everything bigger will have a herder time chasing you over hills. Use this to your advantage when trying to lose a pursuer.

Armor:For most of my mechs I use as close to full armor as I can get. On the 2A, 3C, and 3M you can free up a full ton (or more) by removing armor from the arms. I usually take off half a ton so they don't get blown off too easily, but that's up to you. I also move most of the torso armor to the front (usually keeping 10/12/10 in back) as I find it pretty easy to keep my front and side pointed at the enemy. Finally, keep your legs well protected. I usually don't get legged, but it happens often enough that I never have less than 36 armor on my legs.

Upgrades: I use endo-steel on all of my cicadas, without even a second thought. It gives you 2 more tons to play with, and you will never use enough critical slots for it to matter. I also use double heatsinks on all of my builds. I will share a few that don’t need them, but (as is the case for basically all mechs) all of them will be better with DHS. Ferro-fibrous armor is good for almost every build. I've run into a few cases where I don't have enough critical space, but it's rare.

AMS: I don’t personally use it, since you have the speed to avoid LRMs. If you want to be more of a team player it's nice to help cover your bigger and slower buddies, but you can find better uses for the weight.

Modules: I thought I'd give a brief list of the modules and how they fit in with the roles you can play. I don't own all of them, so these are just my thoughts.
-Advanced Zoom: Probably not useful for most builds. Anything with a sniper weapon (PPCs or Gauss) might find it helpful.
-Target Decay: Without missile hardpoints, you can't get the full use of this module. It could still be useful if you are spotting for an LRM boat, but it's better for the boat to have their own. The X-5 can make good use of this one with streak missiles.
-360 Target Retention: This is nice to have for light hunting, and dueling. You will find your target behind you quite often. Like the Target Decay module, this works best with streaks, but you can still get good use out of it without them.
-Capture Accelerator: I like this one for Conquest a lot. You will often be in a position to be taking the points for your team, so the extra little edge helps keep you moving.
-Sensor Range: This is a scout's best friend. Spot and ID targets from farther away, and give you more time to retreat if you are spotted.
-Target Info Gathering: Also great for scouts to bring. Let your team know which mechs are the most dangerous, so you can get to focus firing on them. Also helps to find weak spots during a fight.
-Seismic Sensor: With it's current implementation there is not a single mech that doesn't benefit from this module. It helps to avoid running into a group of enemies, and to chase down a light mech that is trying to shake you. Keep in mind that your enemies will also have this available.
-Consumables: It's really up to you. Most of the variants have a lot of energy weapons, so the cool shot can keep you fighting longer. The artillery and airstrikes are really a matter of personal preference. UAVs are great for scouts, especially when paired with an LRM boat.

Cons: I don’t want to discourage anyone from running a Cicada, but you need to know the good and bad of a mech before you buy it. The biggest thing that people will mention is that none of the cbill variants have missile hardpoints (the X-5 does, but it will cost you real money). If you want missiles, then the Cicada is probably not for you. The size of the mech makes hiding a little more difficult, since it’s simply taller than most light mechs. It has large legs that are probably the easiest thing on the mech to hit. None of the variants have jump jets, which is a bummer. Cicadas are flying insects after all. Finally, the arms are only useful as shields in everything except the 2B and X-5 variants.


Now for the builds:

CDA-2A

Spoiler

This one is my personal favorite variant. You simply can’t go wrong with lasers. All of the weapons are torso mounted which gives good convergence, and keeps them well protected. Your arms are empty, so they can make decent shields, if you can manage to twist them in front of incoming fire. This variant also has the fastest torso movement of any Cicada, making it great for dueling and high-speed firing.

This is how I started out with it.
6 small lasers can actually cook through another mech pretty quickly thanks to the fast recycle time. Be careful because you need to be right next to someone in order to use them. It runs a little hot, so I put the lasers into two groups of three. Firing three at a time will let you cool off while still doing damage.

With the upgrade to double heatsinks, you get CDA-2A little beast.
I dropped to 16 of them, and used the extra weight for more armor. Now you can fire all six lasers all day and not worry about it. Even in the caldera of Caustic Valley, you can fire off about 5 or 6 volleys before you get a heat warning. With a bit of practice you can surgically remove unwanted parts from enemy mechs.

With FF armor, and fewer heatsinks you can bump those smalls to medium lasers for this build.
You run a lot hotter, so it favors a more hit and run style of fighting, but you will have a much higher damage alpha strike.

A good mix of long and short ranges here here.
A little slower than I usually run (133 with speed tweak), but quite effective still. Save the ER PPC for long range sniping, and then switch to the ML when you get close. You really can only use one or the other most of the time (too much heat otherwise), however you still have the option for a respectable 30 point alpha.

Kaemon provided:
The Disco Bug.
LL for reach (group by itself, the other 5 MLs you can group together, also set them up for chain fire as your 3rd option). Runs a bit hot, gives you some range so you can mid range support, or allows you to run around and shoot some side torsos. It's a bit slow, so your best bet is to pilot fish an Assault, they won't bother to shoot you because the main damage is coming from somewhere else.

From Shadey99:
This CDA-2A is what I use.

• Paired Large Lasers
  
• Quad Medium Lasers
  
• 121 kph without tweak/133 kph with

I alternate between the LLs and MLs, doing a quick 1-2 punch. I've taken out Atlases with this technique, hitting them in the rear while they were hitting my allies. It also does fairly well hunting lights, though you have to watch the heat much more.


From Garth Erlam:
This is my current 2A build. A great alternative for some added ranged punch is this.

There are a lot of in between options that you can do with this variant. Add a TAG to help LRM boats and counter ECM. Use combinations of medium, large, small, and pulse lasers. Play around with the options and find what works for you.

CDA-2B

Spoiler

I have the least experience with this variant, so this section will be brief. You trade one center torso energy weapon to move the side torsos to the arms. You have better vertical reach, and fairly fast arm movement, but you don’t have any left or right movement. With the recent increase in maps that have lots of variation in elevation, the arm lasers make tracking your target

Basically any build that you use for the CDA-2A can work for the 2B. Just exchange one weapon for another heatsink, or more armor.

From knnniggett:
Since the Cicada is a smaller mech, I am often making use of the nearby terrain to avoid enemy fire. This includes running up or down hills, rather than fighting on a level field. As many of you have experienced, one often cannot fire back at the enemy, using torso mounted weapons, if the enemy is too high above or too far below you. You simply cannot angle your torso high or low enough to get them into your crosshairs. Well, the 2B doesn't have this problem with its arm mounted weapons. Since its arms are small, like a Jenner, they are rarely blown off.

This is another build that I've been playing around with.
The ER Large Laser is there for early in the match; taking pot shots at the enemy. Switch to the 4 mediums when they close in, and you are moving around more. It runs hot if you are spamming all of the weapons at once, but if you keep them separate, you should stay nice and cool.

khorazy added:
I run a 2B like this this
Endo and FF
15 DHS
XL 300
2x ML 1 on each arm
3x MPLs on the torso
AMS 2t ammo
28 firepower, 1.32 heat efficiency, 250 armor

BoPop added this one:

I just wanted a different color of laser, and those 3 large lasers are tightly packed. You can also move two of them up and down, very handy. Play it kind of sniper but you are still tough enough to dash through the middle of fight, zero'd in on someone's damaged component. Pretty nasty, surprisingly nasty. Give it a go and tell me if ya don't groove to it's simplicity.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This build runs three Large Lasers so it will suffer the additional heat penalty if it fires all three at once.

Here's a [new build I just came up with. The small pulse lasers are nice and cool, so you can keep them firing for a while before overheating. The pulse lasers are great for hit-and-run attacks, since you can focus you damage while moving quickly. If you have better heat management that I do, you can drop heatsinks for a bigger engine.

1453 R, on 03 May 2013 - 06:52 PM, said:

The CDA-2B has often been thought of as a somewhat-crappy 2A short a hardpoint...but at this stage I honestly think it's quite possibly the sleeper hit of the Cicada chassis. Maps like Alpine and Tourmaline have really punished torso-shooters with frequent vertical firefights; the extra vertical play of the 2B's arm-mounted lasers has become a nontrivial consideration when buying one's Cicadas, and I feel it will only become more so as new maps are released.

As well, the CDA-2B can very, very nearly match the firepower of the much more popular 6ML 2A, if not its speed. A CDA-2B running a 300XL engine and slimming a bit on armor can still move at 133.7 kph whilst carrying four arm-mounted, vertical-tracking medium lasers, a CT large laser for ranged poking, fifteen double heat sinks and a Beagle Active Probe in its last two crit slots for when the Beagle buffs go live. The result is a flexible and dangerous scout-striker which manages to not be helpless beyond four hundred meters, light off an alpha strike only one point of damage shy of the (relatively) feared 6ML Garthcada, and which can still threaten enemies that retreat up hills. And, of course, which can shortly go and nullify enemy ECM for the purposes of friendly missile batteries, if such things still exist.

CDA-3C

Spoiler

Ah, the ballistic boat. I’ve really only found two builds that I like with this one. I don’t think it’s as bad as some people say, but it’s probably the weakest one currently. Perhaps the machine guns will get enough of a buff to make them something worth boating.

This is the build that I like the best with it.
Two AC2s have a good rate of fire, and very long range. Put them on chain fire, and you can put out a constant stream of bullets that chew up armor, and have a lot of critical hit potential against internals. There’s also the psychological effects of the noise and smoke that your opponent experiences. You move at a respectable 122 kph with speed tweak, so you can find the best shooting positions. With only a medium laser back up, you will have problems with light mechs, but it’s actually really good fire support. I regularly do 200+ damage with it.

There’s also this option.
Use the Large Pulse Laser to strip off the armor from medium range, then use the four Machine Guns to shred the internals. MGs have been buffed to a point where they can actually do some damage. If you pay attention to where people are putting their ammo (like the legs) you can get some nice kills through ammo explosions. It also works with an ER PPC, or with an ER large and more armor and MG ammo. You can also run this with minimal upgrades (with only endosteel you can still fit the 330XL that comes with the X-5, or the 320XL from the CDA-3M). If you are just grinding through this one, then it at least saves you the 1.5 million cbills for DHS, and 300,000 for ferro-fibrous. With DHS this build is almost completely heat neutral.

Another build, that I've created but haven't played yet, uses an ERPPC and an AC/2.
You can use the AC/2 as a tracer of sorts for your PPC. They have the same projectile speed, so if you are hitting with the AC/2, then you can get them with the PPC.

You might also want to try a bigger ballistic weapon. You can try the UAC5 (with a 300XL you can take a ML backup and 5 tons of ammo), or an AC10 (only 4 tons of ammo and no backup with the 300XL). Both of those options are very ammo dependant and can quickly leave you nearly useless.

Sable Dove added:
Here is an effective, support-based AC20 Cicada: AC20-3C (named so due to almost literally being an AC20 with legs). SL backup (can be replaced with armour for defense, but you shouldn't be getting shot at in the first place); Also acts as crit-protection for the cannon. Find the biggest, toughest mech(s) on your team and follow them. When they get in a brawl, peek out and give them a hand; you are not going to kill anything on your own, don't try to.

Sable Dove added:
Gauss-3C. Basically a Gauss rifle with legs.

From Shadey99:
If I was to build a 3C, I might try this CDA-3C design. It's not a sniper, so it's better off as support with a group of faster heavies (a fast Cat K2 or Quickdraw for instance).

CDA-3M

Spoiler

Here you have the ECM variant. The first thing to do with the 3M is to add that little magic box. At this time there’s no better use for 1.5 tons. This variant has a slower turning rate, less torso twist, and slower acceleration compared to the other Cicadas, so you're better off hanging back with the bigger mechs and providing ECM coverage rather than trying to go Raven hunting. That's not to say that you can't go toe to toe with a light mech that shows up, just make sure that you have backup if you do. Note that the ECM hardpoint in the left torso means that if you want EMC and an XL engine, then you can't mount a Gauss Rifle or AC/20.

This is the first loadout that I tried with it.
Two ML and two MPL means that it runs pretty heat efficient, and has decent firepower. You can fire just one set or the other if you need to cool down.

This one is more team oriented.
Swapping out for three MPL and a TAG to help your LRM boats. It has a little less firepower, but it is designed for more of a support role.

I've tried it with four MPL, but I found that it just runs too hot, and can't sustain much of a fight.

StalaggtIKE added:
Here's my CDA-3M build. It includes UAC5 and 4x mlasers. It's not so much of a killer as it is a supporter. However, the UAC5 gives it the capacity to up dps if necessary. It has a lot of diversity: I am able to scout, snipe or skirmish.

Shade4x added:
Ninja Sniper
2x PPC's
121.5 kph (133.7)
ECM
My other build was designed as a sniper. I'm sick of seeing 4-6 PPC snipers waste 85 tons of weight in a match, while shutting down every time they fire. Gauss explodes, and I figured I wanted a design that could snipe well on a light mech. The funny thing is that you can very easily run behind enemy lines, setup and snipe back cores with this. Oh yea, it's also ECM, and it doesn't overheat.

Shadey99 provided:
This CDA-3M is my take on the ninja sniper build

• Paired PPCs
  
• Single Medium Laser
  
• 121 kph without tweak/133 kph with

The PPCs are the main weapons, the Medium Laser is just to augment the firepower up close. I rarely need the medium laser and often think of switching it for a extra heatsink, but I don't really overheat. The goal with this is to keep out of the range they can cancel the ECM, hit and move, strike them in the rear if you can. I've done a 4 kill/8 assist game with this with near 800 damage.


3M:
Rapid Sniper
* AC2 (with 225 rounds)
* 4 Medium Lasers
* 133 kph (with speed tweak)
I'm not a huge Ballistics fan, but after mastering highlanders for my Heavy Metal I decided to give them another shot in my 3M. I first tried a UAC5 build, but I didn't find it any better than it was originally. So I tossed in an AC2. The range of the AC2 fares pretty well against the PPC or ER LL with very fast firing (sub .5 seconds since I have the 3M mastered). It's crazy to dash in from over 900m away firing the AC2 into someones cockpit so it's harder for them to aim and deliver 2 barrages of Medium lasers, then dashing back out again still plinking away at them. I've successfully dashed in and out of Terra Therma while held by enemy forces and made it out again. However the low torso placement of the AC2 (or UAC5) means it's worthless under about 60m, shots will not hit near the crosshairs.

Phoenix Gray added:
This is an all-the-bells-and-whistles model. It has max armor and enough speed to let it get in close enough to the enemy to neutralize their ECM with ECM or TAG, and the ranged firepower to engage them within that envelope:

Tahribator added:
I've been doing great with my 3M with 2ML+AC5. AC5 has 5 tons of ammo so you can spam it as much as you want and if you're a good shot it absolutely devastates any medium/light. I finally decided on AC5 over UAC5 because of the jamming, it is extremely frustrating when you can't dictate your weapon when to fire.

Sable Dove contributed:
The other variants: you probably want an ERPPC and 1-3 ML/3-5SL, given how overpowered the ERPPC currently is.
CDA-3M (ERPPC+3ML)

EDITOR'S NOTE: The link for this build was lost so I recreated it to the best of my ability.

BoPop added [slight modification by myself]:
Play this one vulture style. Run around the enemy shooting and distracting them. Focus more on terrain and hiding than on damage.

1453 R added:
Hunter-Killer CDA-3M

Garth Erlam added:
My 3M looks like this. You have wiggle room with the extra armour in the arms, but with only 2 slots left it's tough to find something to add.


I've recently revisited the AC/5 on this chassis and I'm actually enjoying it. With the recent buff to range and cooldown it is quite effective at making enemies keep their heads down. When they can't see where shots are coming from they tend to retreat.

X-5

Spoiler

What's not to love about the hero cicada? You will hear a lot of people griping about how the JR7-D can do all of the same things, but there's one major difference: the Jenner doesn't have the 30% c-bill bonus. The thing to note is that the missile launchers only have two tubes each, so anything more than SRM2/SSRM2 will fire in volleys. It also has lasers in the arms as well as the torso, so it helps to keep those in a separate group. The arm mounted lasers give you great vertical tracking ability for maps with a lot of elevation changes.

The stock version is actually really good. At this point it's the only hero mech that I can see running with no changes at all. It's got all of the upgrades you might be looking for in a Cicada. Endo-steel, ferro-fibrous, and an XL 330 engine. You top out at 147 kph (only 4 less than the max engine), and you have pretty respectable heat efficiency.

I made a few minor adjustments to mine.

I replaced the SRM 2s with SSRM 2s and took only one ton of ammo (which rarely runs out during a game) and dropped one heatsink to make room for the bigger engine. As long as you avoid ECM you are golden, and if you do run into a RVN-3L you still have lasers (and hopefully a friend or two).

With the change to Beagle Active Probe to counter ECM I downgraded the engine to a 325 XL to make room for my BAP. It looks something like this. Sure you can do the same build in a JR7-D, but the X-5 looks cooler and gets a cbill bonus.

The other way that I've gone to drop the engine to a 300XL and run SRM6s. It will take a while to get used to the missiles firing in three volleys, but once you do it can do some serious damage. The missiles seem to be more accurate as well from what I can tell.. You are better off using this against larger, slower mechs, but it works quite well.

1453 R provided this build this build.
Less of an issue than one might think is the lack of Beagle Active Probe to provide ECM penetration for the Streaks. I've found in games with my X-5 here that most of the time, either the enemy doesn't have ECM or someone on my team is already applying their small-breed hound to the issue. It's not for everyone - the heat efficiency is lower than I'd like and I tend to go for hotter 'Mechs than most folks already - but it's also surprisingly well armed for a 'Mech of its size and can do some real damage in the hands of a canny pilot willing to wait for the right chance.

Shadey99 provided:
This X-5 is what I use.

• SIngle Large Laser
  
• Triplet Medium lasers
  
• 121 kph without tweak/133 kph with

Unlike the 2A, this one I often fire all four lasers together if they are within range and the maximum range of a medium laser is around 500m so the ranges overlap ok even if the mediums don't do much at that range. I played with a 4 MPL build with extra heatsinks, but this has done better for me. The streaks are most helpful hunting lights, though even a bigger mech does well to avoid a 4 pack of streaks while I'm not even looking at them.


X-5:
Mini-Archer
* 2xLRM15s
* 4 Small Lasers
* ~90 kph (so the speed drops to around that of most other mediums)
This is purely a fire support build, but one that can run just behind the lights in a conquest or assault map and perform flanking. The 2x2 missile ports makes the missile spread home in on the CT of the enemy mech better than Artemis and if one of your light buddies runs a Tag it will cut through ECM. Or if you want your own Tag: Mini-Archer atl.

For the lulz:

Spoiler

There are plenty of Cicada builds that are just plain fun. I will keep a list of those here.

For those who haven't seen it here's the video for the noisy cricket. It's worth a watch.

Johnny Reb added:
Here is my current lolz Cicada 3M build:

Only goes 81k/h, 89k/h with speed tweak. I just hang with the slow mechs and unload my 14 rounds of ac20 under my ecm umbrella.

This is my first attempt at writing a guide, so I welcome any suggestions or constructive criticism. Please feel free to critique my builds, and add your own. Let’s make this the place to go for current and future pilots of "the Bug".

Also please keep this on topic. I would like to avoid discussions about whether mediums are worth taking, or ECM, or streak SRMs. There are plenty of other places for that.

Thanks to: 1453 R, BoPop, Garth Erlam, Johnny Reb, Kaemon, khorazy, knnniggett, Phoenix Gray, Sable Dove, Shade4x, Shadey99, StalaggtIKE, Tahribator, and Warrax the Chaos Warrior for their contributions. Lets keep the ideas coming!

Special thanks to Shadey 99 for starting this thread and giving me the motivation to dust off and update my own guide.

Edited by Darwins Dog, 24 August 2013 - 03:19 PM.

[knight-of-ni]

Nice guide.

I just posted something similar in another thread. The 2B was the last variant I purchased, but it has become my personal favorite.

Since the Cicada is a smaller mech, I am often making use of the nearby terrain to avoid enemy fire. This includes running up or down hills, rather than fighting on a level field. As many of you have experienced, one often cannot fire back at the enemy, using torso mounted weapons, if the enemy is too high above or too far below you. You simply cannot angle your torso high or low enough to get them into your crosshairs. Well, the 2B doesn't have this problem with its arm mounted weapons. Since its arms are small, like a Jenner, they are rarely blown off.


CDA-2B
320XL (142kph w/ speed tweak)
ES
268 pts of FF
two LL
two ML
10 DHS

[Wrenchfarm]

Lovely guide. I actually enjoy running around in my 3M as well (and had some laughs over the double XP weekend getting the basic tree done on the MG-boat. Silly me, I expected those MG buffs they were talking about to actually be in the next patch and wanted to be ahead of the curve ) I'll be picking up another one soon to get the elite skills. Probably the 2A. I'll try the 6xMLAS build you posted and let you know how it goes.

The Cicada is definitely a solid little mech and a great way to get another fast mover on the field without giving the other team a potential ECM light.

[Darwins Dog]

Thanks knnniggett, I've updated the section with your input. I hadn't considered the terrain game when looking at the 2B. I may have to try that one out a bit more.

[StalaggtIKE]

Nice guide. Here's my CDA-3M build: here. It includes UAC5 and 4x mlasers. It's not so much of a killer as it is a supporter. However, the UAC5 gives it the capacity to up dps if necessary. It has a lot of diversity: I am able to scout, snipe or skirmish.

Edited by StalaggtIKE, 25 January 2013 - 05:39 PM.

[Warrax the Chaos Warrior]

I run the XL325 in my cicadas, it has the max number of engine sinks (3) and only loses 6kph compared to the 340. The saved weight allows you to use medium lasers instead of smalls on the 2A. It's the same 16DHS, so you have to watch your heat, but the extra range and damage is well worth it IMO.

[Johnny Reb]

Here is my current lolz Cicada 3M build:

standard 200 engine
2 dhs
endo and FF
ecm
2 sl
1 ac20
2 ton ac20 ammo

Only goes 81k/h, 89k/h with speed tweak. I just hang with the slow mechs and unload my 14 rounds of ac20 under my ecm umbrella.

Edited by Johnny Reb, 25 January 2013 - 01:13 PM.

[Darwins Dog]

Thanks for the ideas and info. Please keep it coming.

[joedawg39s]

I got the ecm variant so I would have another mech to use the 340xl I bought for my cataphract. I run it with 4 MPLS on chain fire, you can keep a constant laser stream on a light you are trying to chase off your heavies and then alpha strike for a hit and run on a slower mech you are harrassing.

[StalaggtIKE]

Now that I am home I was able to look up my exact specs. I updated my link with the correct configurations. It's actually packing a XL280 and 3 tons of UAC5 ammo. New link: here.

Edited by StalaggtIKE, 25 January 2013 - 05:39 PM.

[Lege]

I went with a 300XL, medium pulse lasers, 15-17 DHS, endo, no ferro.
The little extra tonnage to go to a 325 or 340 didn't seem worth it, it just took too much firepower away.
With speed tweak you still do 132 kph.
They don't maneuver like a light, but you can get on the six of any 50 ton+ mech and rear core them.

[Shade4x]

I've been enjoying the Cicada after playing around with a ton of other mech's. I like mech's that have a clear role personally, and i'm not a fan of making a build that i believe another mech would be better at (ie why make a 60 kph ecm ac20 when you can just play an atlas?) That being said, i found 2 builds i absolutely love on the cicada.

Thief
6x med lasers
137.7 (151.5 kph
This guy beats most of the raven build's i have fought, and is one of the best harassers and backstabbers in the game. Your running at max speed, with 6 medium lasers and essentially 2 arm shields. It's very basic and simple, however very effective. Simply flank, and either do drive by's or park behind an enemy LRM boat, and core it from the back.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...ef30ceab6254701


Ninja Sniper
2x PPC's
121.5 kph (133.7)
ECM
My other build was designed as a sniper. I'm sick of seeing 4-6 PPC snipers waste 85 tons of weight in a match, while shutting down every time they fire. Gauss explodes, and i figured i wanted a design that could snipe well on a light mech. The funny thing is that you can very easily run behind enemy lines, setup and snipe back cores with this. Oh yea, it's also ECM.and it doesn't overheat.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...e771e8e781a7f33

[BerryChunks]

I like a good LPL with 2 medium laser Cic, or a 2 ERLL Cic. Was able to get a Dragon's CT down to red while he was trying to run from far away. I just stick to certain design philosophies like 3 Heat sinks per ML, 4 per LL, 7 per ERLL, 5 per PPC, etc. That tends to be effective.

[Darwins Dog]

Added a fun 2A/2B PPC ML build.

EDIT: accidentally hit quote.

Edited by Darwins Dog, 27 January 2013 - 06:24 PM.

[Warrax the Chaos Warrior]

Shade4x, on 25 January 2013 - 07:04 PM, said:

Thief
6x med lasers
137.7 (151.5 kph
This guy beats most of the raven build's i have fought, and is one of the best harassers and backstabbers in the game. Your running at max speed, with 6 medium lasers and essentially 2 arm shields. It's very basic and simple, however very effective. Simply flank, and either do drive by's or park behind an enemy LRM boat, and core it from the back.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...ef30ceab6254701

Good build. I use a 325XL (only ~-6kph) with a couple more heatsinks and I think a little less arm armor. I've had 900+ damage games and been accused of hacking in a 2A, no one expects to get pwned by a Cicada

[ElLocoMarko]

Thanks for all the tips. I might play around with this bug a little more.
I dropped in with the "Gauss Bug" last week and when I chatted that I was in a gauss bug someone started quizzing me on what bugs there were with the gauss cannon...

[Phoenix Gray]

I'm bumping this from the older Cicada builds thread down-forum...

The first is an all-the-bells-and-whistles model. It has max armor and enough speed to let it get in close enough to the enemy to neutralize their ECM with ECM or TAG, and the ranged firepower to engage them within that envelope:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...ef21ad7a3e3be6c

• Endosteel
  
• Engine XL ENGINE 265
  
• Speed 107.3 kph 118.1 kph
  
• Heatsinks (DHS) 15
  
• MEDIUM LASER 2
  
• TAG 1
  
• LRG PULSE LASER 1
  
• GUARDIAN ECM 1

Building this one will take a lot of C-Bill grinding or winning the Capellan Lottery I keep getting those HPG's about.



The second is a no-frills, low-cost grunt. It utilizes no advanced tech, and is best suited for an escort, fast enough to stay close to a high-value heavy and still maneuver intercept enemy lights or give an enemy heavy something else to worry about . On its own its comparatively low speed and short-range weapons leave it vulnerable to faster lights:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...dc0294735ce3eb3

• Engine STD ENGINE 245
  
• Speed 99.2 kph 109.1 kph
  
• Heatsinks 17
  
• MEDIUM LASER 4

Call it a 3025 build... *g*


May I say this forum seems unusually polite and well-run?

Edited by Phoenix Gray, 29 January 2013 - 07:26 PM.

[Darwins Dog]

Updated with new builds, and a section about modules.

[1453 R]

Heh...interesting note, Phoenix - your low-cost grunt runs nearly ten million C-Bills

The 3M comes standard equipped with an XL engine and double heat sinks, and costs just over seven million C-bills to pick up because of it. It's not something you really can build a low-cost Cicada out of. Instead, try this: Line Grunt

The 2A is cheap to buy at just over three million C, and it's easy to upgrade later on. I picked a STD300 because I happen to have a spare sitting around from a Dragon I've spent too much money on, but most any engine in the 280 and up range would be sufficient. I don't particularly like the thought of going much slower than 120, but the idea is to put something together that can take most any standard engine you've got sitting around and let you try a Cicada out for chump change. That particular 2A could give someone the idea for barely three million C, if they already have the engine.

[Cybermech]

Had a nice read there, thanks for that.

I would not recommend small laser fit cicada's to anyone.
only reason for this is to go with the jenner-d with 2xsrm4's to get extra srm ammo.
small lasers require point blank range which is not good for the cicada.