"How I learned to stop worrying and support my heavies" (3 ML, 2 ER SL, 1 R AC2, XL 170)

Thread in 'K9' started by Buldinn, Nov 29, 2020.

  1. Buldinn

    Buldinn New Member

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    TL;DR: This build is fantastic,I know what I'm talking about but open to conversation.
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    Originally I had run 5 MED lasers instead of the 3 and 2 ER small but by changing it out I could fit another half a ton of ammo and a jump jet, as well as a very useful IS Targeting Computer I, which buffs our AC/2 and lasers.... overall I feel the tradeoff was fair, as firing 5 medium lasers is quite taxing on your heat sinks and a little bit of mobility and information gathering as well as crit chance is pretty valuable.

    If you feel as if 3 ER MED lasers is more your thing, go for it. I, myself, prefer to stay in medium range if at all possible and the extra heat cost simply isnt worth it when you get to close combat.

    Out of dozens of different builds I've tried, this is the best. Very often giving me the most damage in the game, well over 500-700 on average.

    I'll play three games in a row and post the results of each one, no matter how well or badly I do, I will also post my skill tree I use, which prioritizes energy weapon cooldown and heat reduction. I originally specc'd into the mobility tree but found it just simply isnt worth it. You do not need to be the fastest mech, we already reach over 90+ and most of our gameplay is waiting for assaults/heavies to do the facetanking for us.

    I will say, however, that the Urbanmech is mostly pilot skill and a small percentage of weapon loadout.

    Pretend you're an extra arm and shield of an assault/heavy mech. Make sure you let it go in first, give them support. Stick close and suppress whatever is firing at it, keep it alive at all costs but try to stay out of the direct fighting yourself.

    The only times you should be taking damage is at the end of the match when everyone is dead, or to "share" armor with your assault/heavy buddy so they dont get cored at the start of the match... being one of, if not the tankiest light mechs in the game, you should be willing to sacrifice a small percentage of that armor for a valuable heavy or assault to survive.... just don't die! You're always more valuable alive than dead.

    The only essential part of the loadout is the x2 Artillery or Air Strike. This damage is invaluable and greatly overshadows the UAV, as you are not looking to be on the front lines at any time, more of a small guardian angel, overlooking the heavies and assaults on the front lines, slightly behind them.

    That being said, use situational awareness. If you can soak some damage to let your big-bois advance on a location, turn your mech around to let your legs face the retreating direction, then walk backwards in front of your big bois until you take an alpha strike, then stay back and give fire support. You walking backwards is still faster than most heavy/assault mechs walking forward.

    You're able to retreat faster than any mech while still keeping your weapons trained on the enemy with your 360 torso twist, so use that to your advantage for peeking and firing over hills.

    When engaging many enemies at once, fire your AC/2 rotary at the easiest to hit target until you notice them begin to retreat, as soon as they take one step to move to cover, change your fire to the next easiest to hit and so on. If you are trying nothing more but to get the enemy to stop firing at your buddy, shoot at the cockpit. It will disrupt the players vision and give the illusion they are taking more damage than they actually are.... otherwise, aim for the weakest limb.

    The most important thing is to stay out of direct fire. You are a very powerful and overlooked asset on the battlefield as long as you play with a support mindset, in fact, if the enemies have multiple targets to choose from, seldom will they fire on the Urbanmech first... though don't feel as if this makes you invincible, some will choose to fire on the urbanmech over any other, out of a deep-seeded grudge against it.

    Damage is not your main priority, making sure your heavies and assaults live is. The damage will come with correct gameplay.

    In my opinion, the Urbanmech is one of the best suited for protecting heavies/assaults, both for suppression on the battlefield and from pesky ankle biters who want to backstab.... that annoying Locust or Piranha will quickly retreat after getting opened up on by that rotary and figuring out they can't get to your backside with your 360 degree twist.

    If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please leave one, I'm always looking to improve my Urbie gameplay and after 3 years of maining one I am still open to ideas and criticism.

    Thank you for reading my guide/build, have a wonderful day and all hail the trash can <3

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    Last edited: Nov 29, 2020
  2. CarloArmato

    CarloArmato Professional Potato Carrier

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    Interesting build. It looks a bit hot, but it should be manageable with max coolrun

    My personal fine tuning would be to drop TC1 in favor of +1 JJ and +0.5 ton of ammo ...


    Or simply go straight for an XL180 (you should also remove an external DHS, but the total DHS count will still be 10)


    About your skill tree, I've noticed you are lacking ammo skills and a 2nd airstrike: ammo skills are a must (free ammo tonnage FTW), and IMHO you should skill into artilleries/airstrikes only if you are willing to get the 2nd artillery attack, otherwise they are just a one-shot used nodes.
    So this would be my edit: https://kitlaan.gitlab.io/mwoskill/...f000000000000002871c60e000080820103#s=Weapons


    For sh*t and giggles, but mostly for maximum alpha strike, I would definitely try a 5xML version with only one ton of ammo and no JJs. It will be a lot less flexible, but I should be able to pack a bigger punch. If ammo count is too low, drop a DHS in favor of another ton / half ton of ammo + JJ


    As for the skill tree, I would try something like this: https://kitlaan.gitlab.io/mwoskill/...c00000000000000e877c65ea7df76000000#s=Weapons
    Almost maxed heatgen, max ammo, max laser duration, good armor, max seismic sensor and radar deprivation (being able to give a giant finger to lock-on builds with a light is always a must).

    The only big downside in my skill tree is the lack of artillery / air strike and you are definitively going to achieve lower damage in the short term, but IMHO artillery / airstrikes don't deal significant damage for the final killing blow unless you are hitting a light / medium mech; instead, in the long term you will experience slightly better cooling despite the bigger alpha strike.
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2020
    Remover of Obstacles and Buldinn like this.
  3. Buldinn

    Buldinn New Member

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    Thanks for your input, I do have the second arty strike though, I do agree that it's pointless without both of them.

    I'll for sure tinker around with your build and try to improve mine even more, it's been years and it's still not perfect :)

    Thanks again!
     
  4. I concur.
     
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  5. Buldinn

    Buldinn New Member

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    I tried to take your advice but removing the TC1 yields only 1 slot of dynamic armor left on the mech.... thus leaving me unable to add more than that one slot. Though I could probably put another half a ton of ammo instead or another JJ and bump up my armor to 100%, it's got about .4 tonnage left before I'm max'd out

    I feel like this is why I squeezed the TC1 in there, because I rarely go through my entire stock of ammo how it is and it does slightly buff our lasers and AC/2

    I used to use the XL 180 but I feel like the speed is superfluous if you're not trying to be in direct combat, as most of your gameplay is waiting for a heavy/assault to peek or facetank for you

    I greatly appreciate all tips, advice, criticism and whatever so please tell me if you think I'm doing something wrong :)

    Though overall, I feel as if this is a very strong build.
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2020
  6. Did you change the 1/2 ton of ammo to 1 ton of RAC ammo?
     
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