10 replies to this topic

[BertyBargo]

Hi guys. I know there are some silly derpy ones with commandos and spiders, but do you have any input on ER builds in general? I know the devs said that they were going to be adjusting ER weapons' heat ratings Soon™ but I wasn't sure if you guys had any nice, moderately successful sniper builds? I just want to try something different but I don't wanna be a total fail liability.

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http://mwo.smurfy-ne...6cea655590ecf41

I wanted to experiment with this at some point even though the heat levels are dreadful. I personally justify the XL because I intend to snipe from 700-800m and, if I'm chased down by a brawler or lose my ACs, then at least I can move on to a new game.

[Shade4x]

There is no reason to go ER unless it's a PPC. The idea of ER is you trade heat for more range. In essence it's suppose to be a snipers weapons. However, have you ever seen someone snipe with large lasers? It gives away their position, and they rarely keep the beam on the guy. Any direct fire weapon has 2 advantages over the ER large laser. 1, no one can locate you when your shooting it, and 2, it is pinpoint damage, meaning if you hit, all your damage is done (assuming your in range).

The ER PPC removes the min range problem of PPC's, and adds range at the trade for heat. So your getting a much better trade, and your getting pinpoint damage, meaning you will do more damage overall at range.

[Tolkien]

Shade4x, on 27 January 2013 - 09:53 PM, said:

There is no reason to go ER unless it's a PPC. The idea of ER is you trade heat for more range. In essence it's suppose to be a snipers weapons. However, have you ever seen someone snipe with large lasers? It gives away their position, and they rarely keep the beam on the guy. Any direct fire weapon has 2 advantages over the ER large laser. 1, no one can locate you when your shooting it, and 2, it is pinpoint damage, meaning if you hit, all your damage is done (assuming your in range).

The ER PPC removes the min range problem of PPC's, and adds range at the trade for heat. So your getting a much better trade, and your getting pinpoint damage, meaning you will do more damage overall at range.

I was under the impression that the PPC damage "splashed" on impact, also making them less compelling for sniping than the gauss or AC2/5

[Darwins Dog]

Tolkien, on 28 January 2013 - 04:36 AM, said:

I was under the impression that the PPC damage "splashed" on impact, also making them less compelling for sniping than the gauss or AC2/5

Nope, no splash damage at this point. There was talk of making the hit point a small circle (for the potential of hitting multiple locations), but nothing is in game yet afaik.

The ER PPC and Gauss rifle are the sniper weapons of choice. AC5/2 has the range, but not the damage for really good sniping (but they are good to make enemy snipers stop shooting and move).

ER large can be effective for the starting pot shots on either River City or Forest Colony where you can see the starting area (they should already know where you are at that point). It lets you get some damage in even if you miss initially. It helps to have a steady hand (or a mouse with adjustable sensitivity).

[Stingz]

ER weapons are better when they're your only long range weapon. Any more than 1-2 ER weapons, and you can feel the heat.

[MADSix]

If you switch the ML for a SL, you can dump 1 DHS and get an XL200 (that includes a 2.0 DHS) that will slightly help your heat dissipation do to getting the HS in the engine.

[Kommisar]

The other big issue with the ERs is that most of the maps don't really allow for you to see far enough to really take advantage of some of that extra range. Sure, there is always one or two spots. But, between cover, enviornmental effects, and artistic effects, sniping is tough. Especially when trying to justify the extra heat. The problem is, if they bring the heat down, then there will be no reason not to bring the ER weaponry, even if you don't use the extra range.

This is not a sniper friendly game. And I have a sniper mech. I use to have two and focus on sniping a lot more in earlier versions of the game. This was back when we could see MUCH further without all the haze and blur and particle effects. And no flimgrain and filters. Cockpits were also bigger, so a steady hand with the ability to anticipate and lead could score a heat shot from range. These were the days when the K2 GaussCats ruled the maps.

I can hit targets at ranges over 700 meters. I can even do it with ACs and leading. I'm a good shot. But, besides the challenge of hitting that far off, it is not very effective or efficient. In those terms, I am much better off using my aiming skills to put regular large lasers into specific locations on a target inside 400 meters. Outside of LRM swarms against non-ECM opponents, this just is not a long range game.

This is illustrated by the fact that almost everyone playing takes an ER PPC for the no-minimum range ability than for the extra long range.

As for builds that work. Assaults generally work best for the simple reason that you can pack them full of heat sinks. I had a hunchback build that I did not get to play around with for more than a day (and it had the old armor glitch... so, not a good test bed) that packed 2 ER Large Lasers. That was it. The rest went into endo, DHS and a big engine. Managed the heat okay, still could shut down quick if you really opened it up. And I could snipe some good hits. Problem was shooting into fur-balls; the beam duration made it hard to lay into a target without a circling friendly running through. Another reason why almost everyone loves PPCs, Gauss and AC/s for sniping.

My most effective sniper is a 2 ERPPC, 1 Gauss Atlas. But I still rack up most of my kills inside 400 meters.

The Devs will never had people rushing to use ER weaponry until the game changes such that there is a role for ER weaponry.

[Mechteric]

I have a CN9-AL that sports 2 ER Large + 1 Medium Pulse and it can handle the heat pretty well (since that is all it has along with like 17 double heat sinks). But to play it right your ideal thing to do is stay as far back as possible and snipe away. That means 700+ meters. Its very hard to do on many maps, and it certainly isn't as damaging as a pair of gausses, but it definitely won't run out of ammo!

But I would say until we get those larger maps we've been promised there's even less of a reason to use the ER's range benefit on current maps except in certain situations. Though at least with the speed of the Centurion you're at least more capable of keeping yourself at a longer range than if you were to try ER Large's on an assault or something.

[Hammerfinn]

I use an ER LLas as backup for my dual-gauss 4x sniper. It helps a lot, actually, to have something besides the gauss, and the range is actually about the same as most effective gauss, and because gauss generates no heat, the engine DHS take care of the ER heat. But yeah--usually it's not worth it.

[Valrock]

ER's aren't a terrible idea, but are best if used as a focused approach. The problem with that particular build you linked is that AC2's have to be lead much further in front of moving targets than a laser does, therefore only one weapon type or the other is realistic unless your target's standing still. Typically if I run long range ballistics I'll pack short range lasers, and vice versa.

[Shade4x]

If you want to snipe, you need to decide on range. Sure noone will hit you from 1k range, however there are only a few things that have that range, all but the ac/2. If you plan to snipe at 600 meters, i have played this build extensivly.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...598777934169e58

It gets you 25 damage snipes and a close ranged weapon that will keep you alive (UAC/5) that cuts up enemy's.