36 replies to this topic

[ShadowbaneX]

CarnifexMaximus, on 31 July 2013 - 09:12 AM, said:

I love the UAC/5, it is my bread and butter.

Don't chain fire it. Please. It's like poring beer into a wine glass. Never hold down the fire button, just tickle it a bit. Be prepared to duck out if you do get a jam.

Firing off single shots is completely understandable if you're at long range. If you're at 300 meters hold down the trigger. Even if it jams you're still doing good DPS...and if it doesn't jam, well, you're doing more DPS than anything on the battlefield and will drop even Atlai in a hurry.

Three uAC/5s does seem to be the sweet spot though. I haven't bought a single Hero mech, but the Ilya is tempting me with it's potential for three ultras. I can tear things apart with my K2, having three to play with? Well, like I said, it's tempting.

[Pastor Priest]

ShadowbaneX, on 31 July 2013 - 09:33 AM, said:

Firing off single shots is completely understandable if you're at long range. If you're at 300 meters hold down the trigger. Even if it jams you're still doing good DPS...and if it doesn't jam, well, you're doing more DPS than anything on the battlefield and will drop even Atlai in a hurry.

Three uAC/5s does seem to be the sweet spot though. I haven't bought a single Hero mech, but the Ilya is tempting me with it's potential for three ultras. I can tear things apart with my K2, having three to play with? Well, like I said, it's tempting.

Do it! Hands down, it is one of my favorite mechs.

[ShadowbaneX]

Pastor Priest, on 31 July 2013 - 09:50 AM, said:

Do it! Hands down, it is one of my favorite mechs.

The next $20 I get is going to get me a Shadow Hawk...it's mah favourite. After that I might consider it since I've already got the 4X done, but that's a ways down the road and after I've gotten my Victors done...and there's always the Battlemaster as well.

[CarnifexMaximus]

ShadowbaneX, on 31 July 2013 - 09:33 AM, said:

the Ilya is tempting me with it's potential for three ultras. I can tear things apart with my K2, having three to play with? Well, like I said, it's tempting.

I could very well be in a minority opinion here but I'm not crazy about the CTF-IM as a triple UAC5 carrier. The muromets low slung guns requires me to expose myself way more to get in a position where all three are hitting on target. When I suffer a catastrophic jam I am more exposed and need to move further to cover. With the Jagermech I usually am firing from a spot where the muromets would be digging a ditch.

Granted the muromets has other things going for it. It likely is faster, mounting a 300 XL. It has 3 medium lasers and 12 DHS vs the 10 engine dubs I run on my JM6 with a 265xl. Both my jäger and Muromets pack 7 tons of ammo and both have 12.5 tons of armor. I feel like the high arms on the jager trump what the IM has goin for it. Just my 2 cents.

I have been running my CTF-3D with 2 uac5s and 4 mlas with a xl325... I fully endorse that build though.

edit: fat fingers + iPhone = mistakes

Edited by CarnifexMaximus, 31 July 2013 - 11:38 AM.

[Royalewithcheese]

I think the 3xUAC5 Jager is pretty solid, but I think I still prefer the AC40 build (even after heat scale) just because the Jager is so fragile if it doesn't keep moving.

[ShadowbaneX]

Well, my uAC platform at the moment is a CPLT-K2 (300XL, 2 uAC/5s, 4 MLs, 14 DHS, 82.2 kph) which has much lower firing spots on it, so that's not entirely my concern atm. Just having a third ultra for chain firing would be interesting and the additional FP when you need to hose someone would seem to be awesome. For the CTF-IM, I'd probably keep the XL280, 3 ultras but go with, 2 MLs, 8 tons of ammo and 12 DHS and 13.5 tons of armour. It'd be slower than the K2, but the extra uAC would be worth it.

[UAC5]

Click and hold mate. Just click and hold.

[ShadowbaneX]

UAC5, on 02 August 2013 - 06:43 PM, said:

Click and hold mate. Just click and hold.

There's not much like that feeling you get when an Atlas in good condition comes barreling down on you, and, by some miracle, the Ultras just don't stop firing. I still remember the first time it happened to me on Forest Colony. On the shore side of the boat and from around one of the rocks an Atlas appears. I slam full reverse to give myself as much range as possible from the AC/20 and just held down the trigger in near panic...and they just kept on firing.

[Alaskan Nobody]

ShadowbaneX, on 03 August 2013 - 06:35 AM, said:

There's not much like that feeling you get when an Atlas in good condition comes barreling down on you, and, by some miracle, the Ultras just don't stop firing.

Finally broke down and tried the 3xUAC Ilya... makes me want a Jager just for the higher arms (seriously not looking forward to the weight drop though)

Had a match Friday where I blew through two atlas on that ridge in Frozen City - one in front of the other so they couldn't double team me.

UAC didn't jam - both went from 100% to dead.

IT WAS AWESOME.

Edit: typo and addition:
I came out of that fight with 70-some-odd-%, then went on to down 2 other mechs. and assist with a 5th.

Other matches though.... Hit or miss, when they jam you are in trouble
You get into a hill-humping fight with a Jager... you are in trouble (considering turning my 2 Medlas into a large or something to help with that)

Also - with hill-humping... do not do it, walk around it instead, if you do not mind giving up some ammo, use your high-mounted torso lasers to shoot over what low hills you can.

Edited by Shar Wolf, 05 August 2013 - 04:54 PM.

[dal10]

uac 5s, only weapon i have ever used where i consider 11 tons of ammo to be not enough.

[ShinVector]

Hmmm... I have only recently started using the triple UAC5 Jaager. The last time I used it was months ago.
Is it just me or is it really easy to fire without jamming now ?
Even chain fire 3 UAC5s doesn't seem to jam.

I guess they fixed that jam on first shot bug ? I remember they used to jam a whole lot more for me in the past and that's why I didn't use them.

[Victor Morson]

The trick with Ultras is burst damage: The more you have, the longer you can still burst firepower. That's why I'm not a fan of 2 (even if they can do alright on some builds), but think 3 is a good minimum. 4 would be outstanding if we ever get a design that can (effectively) mount that many, like a Mauler or the like.

You generally want to expose yourself, fire until at least 2 guns are jammed and then return to cover or start evading, then repeat the whole process. It's a very damaging weapon.

It's not good in the competitive brackets in general because it requires you to be "on target" for too long, making you focus fire bait, but it's a very fun PUG weapon that's capable of delivering ludicrous amounts of damaged if you're not primed.

[Rabid Monkey]

ShadowbaneX, on 31 July 2013 - 10:47 AM, said:

Well, my uAC platform at the moment is a CPLT-K2 (300XL, 2 uAC/5s, 4 MLs, 14 DHS, 82.2 kph) which has much lower firing spots on it, so that's not entirely my concern atm. Just having a third ultra for chain firing would be interesting and the additional FP when you need to hose someone would seem to be awesome. For the CTF-IM, I'd probably keep the XL280, 3 ultras but go with, 2 MLs, 8 tons of ammo and 12 DHS and 13.5 tons of armour. It'd be slower than the K2, but the extra uAC would be worth it.

My main mech is identical to your K2, do well with it! But lately me and a buddy have been testing the waters with 4 UAC Jager builds......and they are devestating! Chew through ammo like nothing though, and it's all I can do to cram enough ammo and a decent engine in...can't remember what engine I use, but I have a top speed of ~58kph...if you can call that decent haha. The secret....zero armor on back, almost nothing on legs and head. Doesn't really matter though, not a brawler. And anything in front of you is going to die anyway.

[ShadowbaneX]

Victor Morson, on 05 August 2013 - 05:35 PM, said:

The trick with Ultras is burst damage: The more you have, the longer you can still burst firepower. That's why I'm not a fan of 2 (even if they can do alright on some builds), but think 3 is a good minimum. 4 would be outstanding if we ever get a design that can (effectively) mount that many, like a Mauler or the like.

And that's why the only way we'll ever see mechs that can mount 4 are Jagers or similar...speaking of which:

Rabid Monkey, on 05 August 2013 - 06:14 PM, said:

My main mech is identical to your K2, do well with it! But lately me and a buddy have been testing the waters with 4 UAC Jager builds......and they are devestating! Chew through ammo like nothing though, and it's all I can do to cram enough ammo and a decent engine in...can't remember what engine I use, but I have a top speed of ~58kph...if you can call that decent haha. The secret....zero armor on back, almost nothing on legs and head. Doesn't really matter though, not a brawler. And anything in front of you is going to die anyway.

It's a solid build for the K2. Those 4 Ultra builds, yeah, would decimate anything and everything in their path. I mean 2 can down an Atlas in quicker than most would think possible if they don't jam. With 4, even if 2 jam, you're still going to be able to chew up Atlai and ask for more.

This is why the only mechs that we'll likely see capable of doing this are things like the Jagers, because you need to have such a severe handicap, such as stripping most of your armour off to get it to work and have enough ammo to keep it running.

If they were to ever give us 90+ ton Assault mechs that could run 4 ultras those builds would become the new meta very quickly.

[Punk Oblivion]

So since this thread is current. I have a question. Not sure if this is how it works or if I am just crazy, but I notice when I chain fire 2 UAC5's (each fires .1 seconds before the full cooldown) the jam chance seems to be significantly lower then firing as fast as possible. so like re-firing at .5 seconds is 33% jam chance, but re-firing at 1 second is only about 10% jam chance.

Is this something that others have noticed at all?

Otherwise I like the UAC5 for versatilty. Puts out good steady damage and annoyance when chain firing (I really should get macros) and can have devastating burst damage when the alpha button is mashed.

Edited by Punk Oblivion, 05 August 2013 - 08:23 PM.

[Mirenheart]

I've found that the Ultra also works as a nice support Ballistic for larges ones like the Gauss Rifle or the A/C 20.

I run a Gauss Rifle, an Ultra, and 4 medium lasers on my Katapult, and I can average 300-400 damage a match.

[Victor Morson]

Mirenderp, on 16 August 2013 - 05:08 PM, said:

I've found that the Ultra also works as a nice support Ballistic for larges ones like the Gauss Rifle or the A/C 20.

I run a Gauss Rifle, an Ultra, and 4 medium lasers on my Katapult, and I can average 300-400 damage a match.

This is really bad advice. The Ultra's needs (on-target rapid firepower) is at total odds with the other guns (Big punch & travel time + hitscan).

The result? You're likely to fire one alpha and then hang around with your nose pointed at the other guy, begging to be killed, over a single gun's worth of DPS. It's a bad mix.

If you're going rapid-fire, go all the way with it. If you're going Gauss & Laser (hit & fade), do that, so at least you can evade between shots.

Blending the two is bad news.