31 replies to this topic

[Vechs]

Cicada 3M

-ECM
- 4 Medium Lasers
- LB10X (2 tons ammo)
- 255 XL
- Endo Steel
- 10 DHS
The full build on Smurfy.

Notes:

- LB10X has been very useful for killing light mechs.
- Not as fast as other CIcada builds, but still speedy, and still fast enough to give you lots of trigger time on light mechs.
- Reasonable heat profile, LB10X is great to use while cooling off.
- Best played like the other medium mechs -- stay with your main force and help take down enemies.
- Gets your main group some ECM coverage without giving the enemy team a Raven 3L. >__>

I ran this build for a few matches tonight, and most games looked like this one:




Alternate build:

Use 3 Medium Lasers and add an extra box of shotgun shells.

- Even better heat profile (can still overheat)
- Shotgun shells to last for really long missions
- Less laser burst damage

Tried a game with it, had to carry hard -- I like the extra 15 ammo:

Edited by Vechs, 17 February 2013 - 07:21 PM.

[Stringburka]

looks good, i'll test one as soon as I've elited my ravens. an alternate setup is to drop the engine to 245, add the heatsink back on and max head armor and get 15 each in the arms. A little more armor, 4 less top speeds (and you can use the top engine that raven2x/4x use if you have one over).

[One Medic Army]

Dropping the engine to 245 reduces your effective number of heatsinks by .6
The first 10 double heatsinks inside an Engine are 2.0 heat/10s.
Double heatsinks exterior to an engine are 1.4 heat/10s.

20 SHS equivalent vs 19.4 SHS equivalent in this case.

Edited by One Medic Army, 31 January 2013 - 06:34 PM.

[Vechs]

One Medic Army, on 31 January 2013 - 06:34 PM, said:

Dropping the engine to 245 reduces your effective number of heatsinks by .6
The first 10 double heatsinks inside an Engine are 2.0 heat/10s.
Double heatsinks exterior to an engine are 1.4 heat/10s.

20 SHS equivalent vs 19.4 SHS equivalent in this case.

Actually engine sinks and externals are identical. (I tested exactly what you describe last patch, like a 225 engine + 1 sink, or just a 250 engine, and both configurations resulted in the same heat efficiency).

Engine-mounted DHS are indeed 2.0.

Edited by Vechs, 18 February 2013 - 02:41 PM.

[One Medic Army]

Vechs, on 31 January 2013 - 10:18 PM, said:

Actually engine sinks and externals are identical. (I tested exactly what you describe last patch, like a 225 engine + 1 sink, or just a 250 engine, and both configurations resulted in the same heat efficiency).

Odd, but good to know I suppose.

[Shade4x]

I played that with a bigger engine, less medium lasers. It's alot of fun. Another fun variant is UAC/5 2 tons of ammo, 4 small lasers. You can go around 133 kph speed tweaked on it.

[DegeneratePervert]

This thing absolutely destroys light mechs. Lovin' it.

[MasterBLB]

Actually,that's the 1st Cicada build I like.I run similar configuration on my HBK-4H once,it was quite potent.

The only one what I'd change is LBX10->AC10,after maany hours spent in MWO I found it better.But in your circumstances (very fast mech,often fighting lights) perhaps it is LBX what works better due to no requirement to exact aiming,which could be hard because of Cicada's run speed.
Anyway,another 1t of LBX ammo would be welcome ^^

[Phlyk]

One Medic Army, on 31 January 2013 - 10:47 PM, said:

Odd, but good to know I suppose.

This explanation from the Devs says otherwise. First 10 DHS in Engine (up to engine size 250) are 2.0. Any other DHS are 1.4.

http://mwomercs.com/...14#entry1474814

[Ravennus]

Phlyk, on 31 January 2013 - 11:38 PM, said:

This explanation from the Devs says otherwise. First 10 DHS in Engine (up to engine size 250) are 2.0. Any other DHS are 1.4.

http://mwomercs.com/...14#entry1474814

Indeed., you have it right and so did One Man Army.

The problem, which I believe confused Vechs, was that there used to be a bug in MWO Mechlab which wouldn't properly report your actual heat efficiency. It considered in-engine heat sinks to be 1.4, when they were actually 2.0.

This was fixed last patch and you should see the proper heat efficiency values now.
DHS included with an engine are still definitely worth 2.0.

[Ursh]

I run with an uac5 4 medlasers, and 280xl. I stay with the main force providing ecm, and snipe a bit. Really loving this role, rather than twitch scout.

[MasterBLB]

Well,by adding FerroFibrous Armor and halving armor on unused arms I managed to free one tone.That design allows you to either put LBX10 with 3t of ammo or AC10 with 2t of ammo,or add a heatsink or redistribute armor (max head and legs,12 on arms),or increase engine to XL270:
Cicada 3M draft

Edited by MasterBLB, 01 February 2013 - 01:55 AM.

[Critical Fumble]

I think I saw one of these recently. Its worth noting that solo charging a mass of players who have an aware ECM user is a bad idea. I hit J and he died in 30-60 seconds.

Otherwise, interesting build.

[Avardo]

This build interests me. I like the idea that it increases the likelihood of a team ECM advantage (3 Variants in Light weight class vs 1 underplayed variant in Medium weight class) - If I were ever to make an ECM Mech, I think something like this is what I would persue.

However I don't have a lot of Cidada experience (Or light/light-hunters in general) and usually play slower brawler types so was wondering - Would swapping the 4MLs for 4 SLs, and increasing the engine size & heatsink count be advantageous, or detrimental to the playstyle? SLs give you a higher sustained DPS on Smurfy's site due to cooldown and heat, however we then have the range in question, and whether you'll have enough time on a light mech's back for that to be worthwhile/for heat to be an issue with mediums anyway?

What's everyone else's input on that?

Edit: Something like CDA-3M is what I was looking at.

Edited by Avardo, 01 February 2013 - 03:33 AM.

[Wrenchfarm]

Not a bad build. I ran something close to it early on in my 3M days. Didn't like how hot it got, but it was fun to hit things with the shotgun while cooling down.

With the lag shield significantly curtailed, an LBX on the 3M might not be a bad idea again. Maybe I'll give it a try.

Vechs, on 31 January 2013 - 10:18 PM, said:

Actually engine sinks and externals are identical. (I tested exactly what you describe last patch, like a 225 engine + 1 sink, or just a 250 engine, and both configurations resulted in the same heat efficiency).

Fairly certain you are wrong on this one. It is always beneficial to take a 250+ engine to take advantage of the 10 internal "true" 2.0 sinks. Perhaps you are confusing it with engine slots where you can add another sink (275 and one more for every 25 points after.) Those only offer the 1.4 DHS value (but save on crit slots)

[Raso]

I frequently get headshots on Cicadas with my 4SP's dual SRM6s and quad medium lasers. I don't know if this is something that should be going up close and personal. I mean the thing's entire front seems to be all head. Not to say that the build is bad, though. I am a huge fan of the LBX and am all for any build which tries to incorporate one into it's design.

[Vechs]

Avardo, on 01 February 2013 - 03:32 AM, said:

This build interests me. I like the idea that it increases the likelihood of a team ECM advantage (3 Variants in Light weight class vs 1 underplayed variant in Medium weight class) - If I were ever to make an ECM Mech, I think something like this is what I would persue.

However I don't have a lot of Cidada experience (Or light/light-hunters in general) and usually play slower brawler types so was wondering - Would swapping the 4MLs for 4 SLs, and increasing the engine size & heatsink count be advantageous, or detrimental to the playstyle? SLs give you a higher sustained DPS on Smurfy's site due to cooldown and heat, however we then have the range in question, and whether you'll have enough time on a light mech's back for that to be worthwhile/for heat to be an issue with mediums anyway?

What's everyone else's input on that?

Edit: Something like CDA-3M is what I was looking at.

I would say small lasers are a bad idea. You really need that extra range, because while you're not some 140khp light mech, you're still fast, you still need to keep moving, and a 90m range weapon would be awkward to use.

As for the 30 shots of LB10X ammo, it's been enough for me every fight. I'm down to 2 or 3 shots at the end of most matches, and I take potshots with the LB10X every time I can. The thing is, even if you do run out and the match is going on forever, you still have 4 medium lasers to back you up, which puts out respectable damage.

[Vechs]

Oh okay, I see what you mean about the doubles. Wow, that's kinda cool. That makes DHS pretty much required on almost all mechs now.

Hunchback with 230 engine + 1 DHS = 1.15 efficiency
Same thing with 255 engine = 1.16 efficiency

So the internal engine sinks are different.

[Vechs]

MasterBLB, on 31 January 2013 - 11:28 PM, said:

Actually,that's the 1st Cicada build I like.I run similar configuration on my HBK-4H once,it was quite potent.

The only one what I'd change is LBX10->AC10,after maany hours spent in MWO I found it better.But in your circumstances (very fast mech,often fighting lights) perhaps it is LBX what works better due to no requirement to exact aiming,which could be hard because of Cicada's run speed.
Anyway,another 1t of LBX ammo would be welcome ^^

You could totally swap a Medium Laser for an extra box of shotgun shells. The heat profile at that point would be even easier to manage, although you'd give up some of your burst capacity.

[Ravennus]

Vechs, on 01 February 2013 - 07:45 AM, said:

Oh okay, I see what you mean about the doubles. Wow, that's kinda cool. That makes DHS pretty much required on almost all mechs now.

Hunchback with 230 engine + 1 DHS = 1.15 efficiency
Same thing with 255 engine = 1.16 efficiency

So the internal engine sinks are different.

Yup! It makes a 250 engine the "magic number", so to say.
Not only do you get the 10 required heatsinks minimum to field the mech, but you also get the equivalent of 20 single heat sinks free of charge. They don't take any extra tonnage or crit spaces..... you just need to pay for the DHS upgrade and you are done.

That's one of the reasons that a 250 engine is my absolute minimum on my Hunchbacks. That, and the fact that speed and agility is life for the Mediums, otherwise you should just be playing a Heavy or Assault IMHO.