30 replies to this topic

[wickwire]

Your opinions please. Thanks!

[Von Claussen]

Lose the small lasers, get more ammo

[Vincent Lynch]

that build any good? you serious?

before the gauss was nerfed regarding it's health, 80% of all Cat-2K had two Gauss!
It's still a good build, although many players switched back to PPCs after the last patch gave large energy weapons some love.
Definitely worth trying.

EDIT: but remember that the catapult is one of those mechs where XL engine actually makes sense, due to small side torso hitboxes.
And yes, you should take more ammo.

Edited by Vincent Lynch, 15 February 2013 - 04:45 PM.

[wickwire]

thanks guys. something like this? undefined put the extra ammo into the arms. hope that's right?

i know ppc/ac20 would prolly be better, but that's what everyone's using, seems boring to me... so as long as the dual gauss isn't a total fail i'll try that.

[Nikoliy]

You want to have at least 60 rounds and with 2 medium lasers you have enough to kill someone at medium to close range with a head shot in one alpha strike. (18 armor+ 18 structure = 36 points to make a HS kill)

Here is the mech that will work a lot better....
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f7dc2eab8a52072

[wickwire]

Nikoliy, on 15 February 2013 - 04:58 PM, said:

You want to have at least 60 rounds and with 2 medium lasers you have enough to kill someone at medium to close range with a head shot in one alpha strike. (18 armor+ 18 structure = 36 points to make a HS kill)

Here is the mech that will work a lot better....
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f7dc2eab8a52072

that looks like the right build! thank you

[Hex Pallett]

If you're not carrying two PPCs/ERPPCs on a K2 then you're doing it wrong. No space for argument, end of story. WRONG.

[p00k]

you're gonna want at least 6 tons of ammo
it's dangerous, but xl engines are still the way to go
most people use a pair of med las for backup weapons. putting them on the arms gives you more up/down ability, but putting them on the torsos means you can strip out the arms of armor

http://mechromancer....7D8,7D8,1,0,1,0

[Von Claussen]

Helmstif, on 15 February 2013 - 09:19 PM, said:

If you're not carrying two PPCs/ERPPCs on a K2 then you're doing it wrong. No space for argument, end of story. WRONG.

You must be a pug. Otherwise, you're trolling.

[TwentyOne]

Get double heat sinks. Get XL engine. You can get 8 tons of ammo and a XL 280 or 6 Tons and 2 med lasers.
But yea a slow gausscat is a dead Gausscat. Now that they explode when you even touch them wrong mobility is the only
way to survive

[chriskam]

Stripping the armor off the arms is a terrible idea. The Catapult can twist its torso so far that you can shield your squishy sidetorsos very effectively with your arms - an absolutely crucial maneuver when brawling! (No, this is not a brawler build, but more likely than not you will end up in a close fight, even if your positioning is perfect).

I'm running this atm, very good for pugs http://mwo.smurfy-ne...646c905e76ed163

Speed is good enough and the 4 Mlas give you enough punch to finish off components damaged by your Gauss. It runs quite hot, so only use those Mlas if you can afford it.

...and of course, pick your targets wisely. 25 Clicks isn't that much.

[wickwire]

thanks guys!

[arghmace]

Speed is life so I use XL300 in all my Catapults. XL engine is almost a no-brainer for Catapults with miniscule side torsos but it rules out AC20's of course. And you cannot really make dual Gauss build with that engine unless you strip down lots of armor to carry enough ammo.

Also you can fit 12 DHS in that engine and it seems a waste not using them. Pure gauss build wastes good heat sinks. So here's an option if you wanna snipe: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...677bed47e589ccb

I prefer this med to short range -build though. It just rips everything to pieces. You can drill through even an Atlas center torso in a matter of seconds. Unless the UAC's jam all the time of course, it's a bit of a random build. But those med lasers still do decent damage when UAC's are jammed.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...61fb1a4df091774

Edited by arghmace, 16 February 2013 - 08:41 AM.

[chriskam]

Sorry, but both of these are terrible. The second one in particular. I mean, with the UAC5 you have to keep on target the whole time, in a mech with the most exposed side torsos AND an XL engine? That is not smart mechbuilding I'm sorry to say.

[arghmace]

Since when do Catapults have exposed side torsos? 95% of times I die due to cockpit or center torso blowing up.

The first build sacrifices a bit of range compared to dual gauss but does way better damage and moves faster.

The latter build completely annihilates most Cataphracts for instance. And when played well can also take down lights very well. I remember one battle when I killed 3 ECM lights along with a couple of heavies. You get your aim right and lights just melt. Mainly I play it like a medium so let own assaults go first and then flank the enemies starting to pour on them incredible and consistent dpm. Far from terrible, easily gives me a couple of kills and 500+ dmg in any given battle.

EDIT: Besides, you don't have to keep the UAC5's on the enemy all the time. Double shoot them and med lasers for 40 alpha and then hide especially if they jam. That's 10 more alpha than a dual gauss. Not as pin-point dmg of course, but still.

But maybe most importantly your build goes 60km/h (even though having XL engine), both of mine go 82km/h.

Edited by arghmace, 16 February 2013 - 09:27 AM.

[arghmace]

Mind ye, if you wanna build heavies that are as slow as assaults, be my quest. Personally I prefer heavies that are as fast as mediums and thus more versatile. It's not all about firepower and min-max munchkin, especially if you wanna have fun.

[Phoenix Gray]

One thing to keep in mind about the Gauss rifle. When the Clans start showing up, the Gauss is the only 3050 tech that can match them in range and hitting power.

[chriskam]

Well I'd always aim for the side torsos are you kidding? Those things are HUGE on a catapult. Besides, virtually all cats that are not dual AC20 K2s run XL engines.

I'm sorry, but against any half competent light pilot this build would not do "very well". I have played Dual UAC/5 a lot when they could not jam but I'd still prefer dual Gauss with all its drawbacks, even for hunting scouts. The opportunity to reliably (!) deliver big holes when there is a good shot lined up (as in when a light runs in a straight line or runs into a building) makes all the difference here. Yes your cat could outmaneuver Phracts quite nicely in a run-by-fight as they happen so often in Pugs (usually accompanied by something usually called a mech ball) due to its much better torso twist and the panic the UAC/5 hits bring.

And btw: 500 dmg is the very bare minimum of what you should get in a pug with that kind of advantage in experience (judging from the fact that you are a founder as well). If you came at me with this UAC5 Cat, I'd just shoot, twist my torso away, shoot again, getting a perfect target every time. Your alpha calculation does not quite add up as well; I'd consider an alpha something that strikes reliable at a relatively small target.

Don't get me wrong, your build looks fun and I'll give a shot right now, but I don't expect much.

[arghmace]

chriskam, on 16 February 2013 - 02:44 PM, said:

I'm sorry, but against any half competent light pilot this build would not do "very well". I have played Dual UAC/5 a lot when they could not jam but I'd still prefer dual Gauss with all its drawbacks, even for hunting scouts.

It is not just a question of dual gauss or dual UAC5. Both our builds carry 4 med lasers, so no difference there. I agree that gauss is a better weapon than UAC5 but when lights circle around you, the extra mobility you get from having a 300 engine instead of a 220 is huge. Much easier to dog fight with them when you're not as slow and cumbersome as a tortoise.

[chriskam]

wow this build is a lot of fun. I must retract some bits of my statement above - running a K2 at A1 (splattercat) Speeds is really great. I did not get into any serious brawls though. But I *could* imagine that in really really close quarters, this build is superior to most Atlais, Phracts, Stalkers and other mechs that are slow with bad torso twist. I dont think this build is quite reliable or "conservative" enough for 8v8s, for the reasons I listed above.