15 replies to this topic

[Battle Tron]

Greetings mechwarriors, I am very new to mechwarrior online, but i have spent a good amount of time learning the basics of the game. I know understand how important piloting your mech is, more important than shooting, using cover, predicting others movements, not fragging allies, not walking in line of fire, etc...

the very basics I hold my own, I've tried a jenners mech with lasers, a hunchback with ac20, a catapult with ppcs as well as the trial mechs.

I think I want some kind of "sniper" style mech, something that can hit at good range, faily hard, but I don't really like lrm.

Do you have any advice on a mech that has good manuverabilty, wont die in 2 volleys of fire, with descent firepower. basicly a sniper, something i can shoot things with at range. I don't like mechs like the awesome for example due to the fact that a skilled pilot in a raven or jenners can simply stay behind you and smoke you.

so yes if you have any advice on a "all around" mech that can be made into a "sniper" I would greatly appreciate any advice, links or even a detailed build if you would be kind enough to write out.

I will keep reading on the forums and striving to teach myself, but I will admit I need help a bit of advice. thanks!!!

[TygerLily]

Catapult K2 is 60 tons and can get good speed plus has energy and balistics in the left and right torsos. Thus, dual gauss rifles or dual ERPPC's might work for you.

Build here! http://mwo.smurfy.de/

[Bleys295]

The heavy Cataphract has Ballistic hardpoint that you could mount a gauss rifle for sniping. It's got enough armor to stand up to a fight. It's also able to be switched up by swapping primary weapons.

[Ryvucz]

Battle Tron, on 01 February 2013 - 07:24 PM, said:

Greetings mechwarriors, I am very new to mechwarrior online, but i have spent a good amount of time learning the basics of the game. I know understand how important piloting your mech is, more important than shooting, using cover, predicting others movements, not fragging allies, not walking in line of fire, etc...

the very basics I hold my own, I've tried a jenners mech with lasers, a hunchback with ac20, a catapult with ppcs as well as the trial mechs.

I think I want some kind of "sniper" style mech, something that can hit at good range, faily hard, but I don't really like lrm.

Do you have any advice on a mech that has good manuverabilty, wont die in 2 volleys of fire, with descent firepower. basicly a sniper, something i can shoot things with at range. I don't like mechs like the awesome for example due to the fact that a skilled pilot in a raven or jenners can simply stay behind you and smoke you.

so yes if you have any advice on a "all around" mech that can be made into a "sniper" I would greatly appreciate any advice, links or even a detailed build if you would be kind enough to write out.

I will keep reading on the forums and striving to teach myself, but I will admit I need help a bit of advice. thanks!!!

An Atlas -

The reason I say this is because it has ballistic harpoints to fit a Gauss Rifle for sniping.

It also has energy hardpoints you can fit PPCs or large lasers into, also for sniping.

And still have enough tonnage to fit weapons in for support and close range.

Albeit it is limited in maneuverability, it does have the armor to allow you to get a better feel for what you are looking for.

[Loc Nar]

Cataphracts with twin shoulder mounted ERPPC's makes an excellent sniping platform. The high mounting position allows firing from near total cover and the convergence is excellent. The arms can mount smaller weapons to defend yourself once closed in on. The 3D is more agile with JJ, and if you don't skimp on it's engine (300xl or or 325xl) it moves rather quickly. I've found little difference in survivability in my Phracts between std and xl engines, and speed is armor(!) so my nod goes to large xl's for them.

Of course you can always go the ninja sniper route and make one of those 5D spiders with ERPPC x1/SLas x2, or a 3L or 2D, but the spider would be the most annoying of the lot if you made use of it's jumpys...

[Mechteric]

if you want a highly mobile sniper platform, the CN9-AL with 2 ER large lasers, or 2 PPC's is also a great one (along with some supporting weapons)

[SPencil]

Stalkers are good platforms for PPC. You could fit 6 PPCs on it, but I think that's slightly excessive

and if you want to fill the sniper roll, LRMs would never be the first choice...just felt I needed to say that =>

Edited by SPencil, 01 February 2013 - 10:52 PM.

[h00n]

Battle Tron, on 01 February 2013 - 07:24 PM, said:

Greetings mechwarriors, I am very new to mechwarrior online, but i have spent a good amount of time learning the basics of the game. I know understand how important piloting your mech is, more important than shooting, using cover, predicting others movements, not fragging allies, not walking in line of fire, etc...

the very basics I hold my own, I've tried a jenners mech with lasers, a hunchback with ac20, a catapult with ppcs as well as the trial mechs.

I think I want some kind of "sniper" style mech, something that can hit at good range, faily hard, but I don't really like lrm.

Do you have any advice on a mech that has good manuverabilty, wont die in 2 volleys of fire, with descent firepower. basicly a sniper, something i can shoot things with at range. I don't like mechs like the awesome for example due to the fact that a skilled pilot in a raven or jenners can simply stay behind you and smoke you.

so yes if you have any advice on a "all around" mech that can be made into a "sniper" I would greatly appreciate any advice, links or even a detailed build if you would be kind enough to write out.

I will keep reading on the forums and striving to teach myself, but I will admit I need help a bit of advice. thanks!!!

Atlas.

2 ER PPC, 1 Gauss rifle.

[Elizander]

Pretty much anything you can get to move at 80+ kph with Large Lasers/PPCs/Gauss Rifles will work.

[MonkeyCheese]

If a smaller faster sniper is what you have in mind then have a look into a Raven 4x (2 ballistic, 2 energy, 1 missile)

You can get a respectable speed of about 100kph (speed tweaked) with an xl 195 engine and with 5 jumpjets means you can easily scale most large objects for sniping reasons.
You will have plenty of space for a long range ballistic/ammo such as an AC2, AC5. Even a Gauss rifle if you are willing to drop the armor. The alternative is you can go the energy side and use a PPC, ERPPC, ER Large Laser. Then there is always the optional LRM5 for extra harassment.

The bonus is that the ECM Streak lights dont have jumpjets so they cant chase you vertically.

My sniping 4x raven is currently xl195 90.2kph (100ish speed tweaked)
5 jumpjets
6 DHS outside of the engine
ERPPC, 1 SRM2 (1 ton ammo) 2 Machine Guns (1 ton ammo, waitng for MG crit buffs)
Armor 212/238
Endo Steel

Alpha strike heat efficiency is 1.51 and 1.6 with just the ERPPC.

The other fast choice for a small sniper would be the 5D Spider with max jumpjets, ECM, and a PPC, ERPPC, ER Large Laser in the arm for example you could easily get a ER Large Laser with 126kph (xl235) max JJ, ECM with a heat efficiency of 1.77.


The other larger mechs above are great choices but if a smaller more agile sniper that can hit/hide/reposition is what you want then give one of these a try.

Edit: For a sniper mech I am waiting for the blackjack, 2 energy and 1 ballistic in each arm.
http://mwomercs.com/...ch-18-blackjack

Edited by MonkeyCheese, 01 February 2013 - 11:21 PM.

[Watchit]

Multiple UAC5's work pretty well at range. Also, Dragon with a gauss rifle, is a nice fast sniper.

[Nexx Valasek]

h00n, on 01 February 2013 - 11:11 PM, said:

Atlas.

2 ER PPC, 1 Gauss rifle.

^ this, but do it on a cataphract 3D- you are a smaller target, faster, more maneuverable and your damage per ton ratio is higher than the atlases just because you start on a smaller chassy

other good sniping builds i've found are:

dual gauss with two medium lasers, XL engineand DHS 5 to 7tons ammo- this is good because you have high spike damage with low heat requirements and just as much close up damage as at long range (provided you have good aim and low enough ping)
things to keep in mind- guass requires a good lead distance on moving targets that you will need to get used to and has a 4 sec refire rate. further more guass rounds do drop slightly at long ranges so at 750+ meters you may be aiming at someones CT and hitting their leggs. ppractice makes perfect so if you run this run it lots to get used to lead times and drop distances.
dowsides- if you run out of ammo you are screwed. guass rifles have a chance to explode when your internals are hit so either run them with CASE or be prepared to blow up every once in a while. you need to run an XL and DHS with this build to make it heat efficient enough and fast enough to survive
good frames to run this on- cataphact 3D- guass is set up on on one side preventing the shot from crossing infront of a target or behind it.
ilya muromets- extra cbills enough said
catapault k2- the original carefull of your side torso's, they're easeir to hit than most peeps think also less weight to play with than the cataphract but smaller profile.
cataphract 4x- room for a SRM4 to increase close up damage in case someone sneeks up on you.

another great build is the mini marauder- 2PPCor2ERPPC (based on preference), 1gauss, 2 med lasers (optional) xl engine and DHS
this is a great build because it is less reliant on ammo and has slightly higher puch value than 2gauss, aslo PPC shots move faster than gauss shots. if you use ERPPC's then you have great damage up close for finishing wounded mechs or stripping armor (don't use med lasers if you have ERPPC's) if you use PPC's you still have 2 med lasers and a gauss for close up damage. your weapon weight is less on this than on 2 gauss pluss less amo is needed so you can throw a faster engine in this which ups your survivability. PPC shots have no drop so where you aim is where your shot go's
dowsides- heat reliance, if you don't watch your heat then you can shut down in some horrible places, Xl engine is needed to keep you cool and maneuverable so watch your side torso's. light mechs can destroy you if you aren't a good shot so stick close to allais or get good at leading your shots. the projectile speed of PPC vs Gauss are different so you need to get used to two different lead distances.
good frames to run this on-
ilya muromets- extra cbills enough said
cataphract 3D- for ERPPC build
cataphract 1x- for PPC 2med lasers
its possible on dragons but i don't run them and not sure which frames work
hypothetically you can do it on a k2 but you don't have enough wieght for heat sinks or a big enough XL


hope this helps

[Redshift2k5]

There are no sniper style mechs per se.

There are sniper style weapons. (PPC, ERPPC, ERLL, Gauss rifle) and there are mechs well suited to these weapons but any mech can mount one or more of these weapons. You need to look at oyher considerations such as cost, speed, weight, and generally how exactly you plan to complete the mech loadout.

[KageRyuu]

We can throw suggestions at you all day, but ultimately only you can decide what you do. With that said to give the best suggestion possible more information is needed such as:

How you felt about the K2 and it's PPCs.

Are you interested in Ballistic, Energy or possibly both?

How mobile do you want to be?

Do you have a preferred mech already?

So far all we know is that you don't like the Awesome, so we can conclude you won't like any other Assault Sniper builds, and that you don't like LRMs, which aren't technically "sniper" weapons to begin with but are certainly long range. More information is required to better help you so if you provided us with more, then we can hopefully adequately supply you with the suggestion you requested,

[MrPotty]

I think it's important to have weapons that are more or less on the same line as the cockpit so that you don't have to expose yourself too much when peeking over a ridge.

All of the weapons of an Atlas for example are just above the hip (except some missile launchers), so you are a great target when you try to snipe.

I would recommend the Catapult K2, any Stalker you like or the Dragon 1C. For example, two shoulder mounted PPCs or Large Lasers on the 1C should give you the least exposure of all mechs when peeking over ridges.
PPCs should work best because they apply the damage to one area and you can back away to safety the moment you shoot. Also if fired together they work like an ERAC20 with unlimited ammo.

[EyeOne]

My favorite sniper is a Hunchback. I use a Gauss Rifle, 2 Medium Pulse Lasers and a Small Laser. It's mobile, tough, and the Gauss is mounted very high on the torso so I can easily peak over hills if I need to. (basically what MrPotty said