5 replies to this topic

[Flak Kannon]

Hi all.

First post, first week.

So far, liking the game, and am humbled by the experienced Mech Pilots out there with great builds and map know how.. I'll get there, just going through the early hard knocks.

With my cadet bonus C-Bill, I made the mistake of buying a:

CAT CTX 4X.

I do not like it all much, but am going to put some time into it over the next couple weeks and see.

Help me build a great CAT CTX 4X.

I removed the the (2) AC/5 and the LRM5.

All I have added was a SSRM2. So as of now she has a LLAS and SSRM2.

Still has the 210 engine.

Thanks!

Flak Kannon

[1453 R]

One thing you can do if you really hate that Cataphract is to start a new account. Earn the cadet bonus all over again, spend it on something other than Cataphracts. That, however, would be admitting defeat, and even Cataphract pilots can do better than that

Alright...4X. Let's see...

The maximum engine rating on that sucker will largely force you to play as a ranged fire support 'Mech - you don't have the speed for much of anything else. There's a few ways you can do that, but in the end they boil down to those cannon slots on your arms - your missile and energy hardpoints are too space-restricted to make primary weapons. Hmm...I'm thinking something like this, at least at first: Cheap.

Those AC2s actually have shockingly high DPS, and have it out to seven hundred meters. You don't tend to see them because folks in this game are overconcerned with alpha damage rather than sustained strikes, but this set-up gives you enough distance dakka to provide very real direct fire support. Find an enemy heavy or assault that's fighting another of your teammates and pound him with the cannons. You'll help more than you realize. It also helps that you can upgrade into that loadout for barely 2.3 mil over the stock price of the 'Mech.

Remember, those medium lasers in your torso are desperation options only - ideally you should never have to fire them at all. That said...you'll have to fire them. Be careful with your heat - when all your weapons are going, you will have heat issues.

A more advanced loadout might look vaguely like this: Expensive. Might, mind - most folks around here would argue for two Gauss rifles and to hell with the mixed autocannons. I disagree - I personally being put under continuous autocannon fire a lot more aggravating/rattling than taking a single large hit from Gauss weapons, however devastating the hit is. Combining the two gives you a nice set of options for picking enemies apart, on top of giving you noticeably better mid-range performance than Gauss rifles alone.

The XL engine is a problem (XL engines drastically increase the chance of losing your engine and dying since they butt out into the side torsos and will die when they do), but you need the tonnage and in this case, I figured that a primarily long-range fire support 'Mech can stand the vulnerability. I put on an extra SRM-4 to stiffen up your close quarters defense, but you could just as easily drop the last external heat sink to switch the SRMs back to the default LRM-5. You'd be amazed how many people run in abject terror from any "Incoming Missiles" warning, whether from eighty LRMs or five.

Above all? Stay away from the enemy. The 4X, regardless of configuration, is a dirt-poor brawler and will get itself torn apart in a close-range (300m or less) fight. Build for long range battles and stick to areas where you can see the enemy coming, and hope like hell that the new Alpine Peaks map later this month is everything they promise it'll be.

Edited by 1453 R, 06 February 2013 - 03:53 PM.

[Hex Pallett]

^ in short, get the largest XL engine 4X can fit, boat quad-AC2, stand far, and shoot.

[1453 R]

He can do that with the default ST engine, as I showed, and for a good five million less C-bills. What's he going to do with the rest of that tonnage? And even with the largest possible engine, he'd need Speed Tweak to break sixty. Don't really see the point - I only dumped a 250 in there to get all his mandatory heat sinks in the engine. Otherwise all he needs are double sinks and he can boat AC2s just fine.

[UnseenFury]

4X is only good for dual Gauss or 2UAC5s&2AC5s. 3D (Gauss, 2 PPCs, 2MLas), 1X (5LL) or Muromets (3UAC5s3MLas) are much much better mechs.

[nungunz]

Depending on if you want to risk the XL engine (not a great choice for brawling, but my Muromets has convinced me otherwise). I either run x2 AC/2 + x2 AC/5 or x4 AC/5s. Medium lasers in the torso as backup weapons in case I run into trouble.

Don't use the medium lasers unless you have to.