53 replies to this topic

[UnseenFury]

3M + 4MPLas and xl300 is legit. Of course these 3L's streaks + lagshields f4gs can get at your nerves. All you can do is wait for lagshield to become less and less.

[TheFlyingScotsman]

Steemship, on 19 February 2013 - 05:50 PM, said:

...and I regret it. I bought the ECM variant and either I'm ***** or the Rvn 3L just kicks my *** one. Any ideas for how to enjoy this cicada and the others (I was thinking the 3C to try and maximize the crit system and the 2A {I buy in threes}) or should I just sell it and pick up a Jenner or Spider? It may also be important to know that I generally play heavy or assault mechs, but am trying to branch out. I also already have the Ravens mastered, but I don't enjoy them as much. I may try them to find out if it is my piloting skills or the cicada that are lacking.

Cicadas are a little tough to play. In order to be successful, they need to have a full sized XL engine. I personally find that the 1B slots is a bit of a waste, as equipping an AC is almost always going to throw off your weight balancing. Personally, I find the 4ML 1MG build to be enjoyable, but some people prefer other weapons. Personally, I pilot the Cicada 2A, with a 6ML setup. The 3M is good, but it is more of a support than a light replacement or a brawler. Try to stay with your group and let the bigger 'Mechs take the dakka.

[Wildstreak]

CDA-3M


Depends on if you want Serious or Fun.

Serious.
Fun. You name this one Dirty Harry's Gun.

[UnseenFury]

Merchant, on 23 February 2013 - 11:24 AM, said:

CDA-3M


Depends on if you want Serious or Fun.

Serious.
Fun. You name this one Dirty Harry's Gun.

Your magnum revolver won't even be able to join a match with 7 heatsinks only.

[Stringburka]

Important note on cicadas is that they're generally not light-hunters; they're quite bad at it with neither arms nor missiles. They're sneak attackers.

Merchant, on 23 February 2013 - 11:24 AM, said:

CDA-3M


Depends on if you want Serious or Fun.

Serious.
Fun. You name this one Dirty Harry's Gun.

"Fun" is the AC-40 cicada.
Yes, it's possible. Yes, it sucks. But ******* is it a cool concept.

[Jetdrag]

I love the 3M. Jumped right into it and never looked back. I only added endo-steel, ECM and some extra armour. I find it's best not to play it as a scout, I stick with the team to share the ECM, then when the heavy mechs engage, I use it to hit on the flanks and counter enemy ECM whenever it presents itself.

It's great at hitting and fading due to its speed and it's very survivable as a result. The UAC5 is terrific if you are a good shot and really adds a lot of punch.

Some of the builds I saw posted here look fun to try. While I love the default, I'm going to have to try some. Thanks. Good to see that others favour the Cicada. It's easily my favourite mech whatever the variant.

[Tahribator]

Stringburka, on 23 February 2013 - 03:25 PM, said:

Important note on cicadas is that they're generally not light-hunters; they're quite bad at it with neither arms nor missiles. They're sneak attackers.

Can't stress this enough. Cicada is an excellent Medium/Heavy/Assault backstabber. You can core their rear armor before they understand what's happening and outmanuever them to finish the job. I find hunchbacks, cataphracts and stalkers especially easy to kill. It's also great at cutting some Catapult ears.

Cicadas just melt to ECM+Streak+Light mech combo however, especially this weekend this chassis is pretty much unplayable. They deal you constant damage without even breaking a sweat, while there's no way for you to deal constant damage because of their speed and lagshield(yes, it's still here). Running away is also not an option with 270m range.

Just avoid lights at all costs.

Edited by Tahribator, 24 February 2013 - 02:06 AM.

[Stringburka]

Tahribator, on 24 February 2013 - 02:06 AM, said:

Can't stress this enough. Cicada is an excellent Medium/Heavy/Assault backstabber. You can core their rear armor before they understand what's happening and outmanuever them to finish the job. I find hunchbacks, cataphracts and stalkers especially easy to kill. It's also great at cutting some Catapult ears.

Cicadas just melt to ECM+Streak+Light mech combo however, especially this weekend this chassis is pretty much unplayable. They deal you constant damage without even breaking a sweat, while there's no way for you to deal constant damage because of their speed and lagshield(yes, it's still here). Running away is also not an option with 270m range.

This is also why I tend to make my Cicadas a _bit_ slower; running 110-120 kph is enough by far if my goal is to keep in the vicinity of the heavies to poke a hole in what they're fighting and to disrupt mid-range snipers/artillery towards them.

That's why I find XL280 with 4ML+UAC5, or XL255 with 4ML+LBX+AMS far preferable to the 320 with 4 MPL; having capabilities up to mid-range and quite heavy firepower seems more useful than saving that .25 duration on the lasers. Often when I actually fire I'm not near full speed anyway.

I feel a cicada built as a raven will just be a worse raven.

EDIT: And that's one strength that hasn't been said much about yet in this thread - being able to carry mid-to-long range fire capabilites to lay down fire support. Whenever I'm in my raven and see an LRM boat down in the water in forest colony, I have to consider what others there are there and are maaaybe able to run up and disturb it. With my cicada, I can just lay down that mighty UAC-5 barrage (okay it isn't that mighty but it SOUNDS mighty and it does scare people a lot for some reason) and some half-power 4ML. That makes them usually run for cover or shift target to me.

Edited by Stringburka, 24 February 2013 - 04:18 AM.

[Flapdrol]

xl300, endo, ferro, dhs, ecm, 3ML, 1LPL, max armor except on the arms.

does about the DPS of the 4 mpl build, only with more range, 4mpl gets you a few more sinks but this one does more damage/heat, so it evens out reasonably.

[Devil Fox]

I finally found a 3M build I love... it involves a 295XL, an ERPPC, 3 ML and 14DHS... I pinned down a lone LRM boat ddc with ppc fire just so my team knew where he was. I've 2 shot light's in the back with the alpha, and I've run circles around anything and everything to core from the rear.

But Light mechs and streak's... just too much cheese...

[MonkeyCheese]

My 3m build that I am obsessed with is 2 large pulse lasers, 2 medium lasers and a 295xl engine, grinded the 2a 2b and 3m this way

[SrgFlip]

This thread is gold! Thank you everybody.

I just got into cicadas (currently grinding the 3M) and I love the flexibility of it, depending on my team I can run it as support or scout (that's why I kept the big engine).

Currently I'm running with the default 320XL, ES, 10xDH, FF, 4ML, AC2 (1t), ECM and 246 Armor which sounds quite hot at first but if you split the 4ML into 2 different weapon groups its manageable. The AC2 is there to annoy enemies at range and give me a damage burst (it has the same DPS as the LBX10 or AC10) when I managed to sneak up on somebody.

One tip I haven't seen here yet is to use your ECM intelligently, counter mode can be your best friend.


I have also a question to the more experienced pilots here.

Recently I've started redistributing my armor based on which part of my mech was destroyed when I got killed, do the areas lit in mechlab when I click a specific part of the mech match the hit boxes?

And could you post your armor distribution?

CDA-3M:
16 - Head
32 - Center Torso
16 - Center Torso Rear
22 - Right & Left Torso
18 - Right & Left Torso Rear
11 - Right & Left Arm
40 - Right & Left Leg


PS. Some videos of me running my 3M in different loadouts, nothing fancy just me playing MWO.

Edited by SrgFlip, 24 February 2013 - 08:18 AM.

[Jetdrag]

I think it's absolutely important to counter ECM when it presents itself. I do it all the time, it's a good chassis to do it with.

[Kingsryche]

I find playing the 3M delivers a great mix of game play gratification:

- Scout: Hard to argue with a mech that has ECM and can travel at over 151 KPH with pilot skills and an 340XL engine. It also works as a cap specialist for the same reasons. Throw on the sensor mods, Beagle, or a Tag and your teammates will thank you.
- Missile Boat buster: Show me a missile boat hiding in the back of the pack, and watch the 3M carve it up.
- Back breaker: The 3M has just enough armament capability to leap into the fray behind a heavy mech in combat and punch holes or blast off limbs with minimal response.
- Leg Sweeper: There's something satisfying about watching a target mech collapse to the ground when their under armored leg is seperated from the rest of their Chasis. *KerThump*
- Missile\sniper bait: When you hear "incoming missiles" or receive the "You've just been targeted by a guy with a Gause Rifle from the next map," use it to your advantage. Find the biggest enemy mech in the area and hide behind them. While there, see "Back Breaker" above for further options.
- Use the terrain: know how to turn, start and stop your mech in each map to the best of your ability. Use weapon speeds against enemy mechs, dart in and out of cover timing your profile shots to their weapon timers. Heavy mechs won't track you for long, so if you make a pass and aren't being chased, spin back and hit'em again. Remember, you are faily short and can hide behind a lot of terrain types leaving a minimal profile for resonse.
- AC20's = Bad, pick your targets wisely