Pirate's Bane "Quirkaboo" (4xSL, 2xMG, ECM, AMS, XL190)

4/5,

3 ratings

The Pirate's Bane is by far my favorite locust mech. I was running it with 4 ML and one machine gun as somebody else posted here, but I didn't like two things about it -- namely the long beam duration on such a small and fast mech, and the pretty quick heat buildup. Both of these things make fights vs other lights pretty difficult, and I have had too many missed assault whale kills because I was too hot and in danger of overheating.

I decided to take advantage of all the quirks on the PB. With modules and quirks, the SL has a max range of around 350, which isn't too shabby. The extra 10% CD quirk brings the small laser DPS to almost on par with the medium laser, but with a much shorter beam duration for a more concentrated damage (excellent for run by shootings and light vs light fights), and far far better heat efficiency.

The lesser weight of the SL lets you take out FF armor, which frees up enough space to add in the second machine gun -- this more than makes up for any lost dps from swapping ML -> SL. And I also crammed in an AMS with a half ton of ammo. No light pilot worth their salt should ever be hit by an LRM, but there are cases where it can save your booty from SSRMs (and providing some coverage for your allies can't hurt).

All in all, I prefer this over the 4 ML + 1 MG build. The ML build edges out in longer ranged harass, but I tend to be glued to the backs of enemy assaults or doing high speed drive bys where this build is slightly better.



edit:
Extra MG ammo version, which I have been using lately.



Screen shot proof of viability.

 

I don't agree with this build. An AMS on a ECM light is a complete waste of tonnage. Think of all the loadouts that you could have run to manage heat better. 3x mlas, 2x mlas + 2x slas, 2x slas + 2x splas, 4x mlas + 1 DHS, etc.

Nearly all PB loadouts are cool, the problem is the low heat dissipation . Disengage and cool off, don't build your mech around ultra cool, ultra wimpy slas.

Get a 1E if you want to boat slas or get a 3M if you want AMS, both are better than attempting to do everything on the PB

Also the beam duration difference is not that great between normal lasers, nor particularly important on designs incorporating machine guns.

 

Spheroid I don't agree with your analysis.

Beam Duration
This matters a lot to a fast moving light. The difference is .75s vs .90s. While .15s may seem like a very small amount of time (and it is), that small amount of time is very noticeable when you are running 169kph and making split second decisions as you weave through the enemy team. It takes me somewhere between a .25s and .50s to cross an alley in frozen city, for example, which is a place I very often do drive bys at full speed -- with medium lasers I would paint the surrounding buildings with laser fire just as much as the enemy, but with small lasers even running at full speed I can get about 75% of the beam on the enemy mech.

In light vs light duels, where you are both moving in excess of 150kph for the majority of the fight, often in different directions, the shorter beam duration is a key to success. SPL builds will still wreck you, but I haven't come across any medium laser light mech build that I didn't eat for breakfast in this PB build.

Trust me, that shorter beam duration is very noticeable. Just today I played peekaboo with a dire wolf around a metal beam under the bridge/saddle area, and he quite literally did not touch me despite his best efforts. I would never have been able to take him out without taking return fire if I had to keep exposing myself for the longer duration of the ML (plus it would have taken longer b/c heat issues).

"Disengage and cool off, don't build your mech around ultra cool, ultra wimpy slas."
I call shenanigans dude. The small laser on this mech has very close to the same damage as a medium laser, and the difference is made up with the extra machine gun you get by using SL instead of ML.
Base DPS
SL: 1.00, ML: 1.28

DPS after quirks from PB
SL (20%): 1.20, ML(10%): 1.40

Total Laser DPS (x4 slots)
SL: 4.8, ML 5.60

MG DPS: 0.80

The DPS of the SL + 2 MG and ML + 1 MG build are quite literally the same, if you ignore all other things. As I said in the OP, the tradeoffs are not about damage, they are extra range in the ML build vs better heat efficiency and shorter beam duration in the SL build. This is a trade I gladly make, as it means I can spend far more time weaving around causing havoc. It also means that I do almost double the damage before overheating, which has let me rip out the backs of many an assault mech.

My average damage in this guy is about 400, with a fair amount of kills (usually 1-2 crit-kill-steals, and 1-2 back kills).

AMS on ECM light mech is bogus
I more of less agree with you on this. Lately I've been using a slightly modified version of this build replacing the AMS for an extra ton of MG ammo, as 1/2 ton in the original left me dry in longer matches.


In Summary
Don't knock it till you try it. It requires a different mindset than a ML build (which for me usually devolves into mid range sniper that gets back behind cover really fast), and my primary goal is to cause as much constant disruption as possible more than to deal damage. My greatest contribution to the team is forcing multiple enemies to focus on me while my team rails on them -- if they don't I will eat their back as a snack. This build has the same DPS as ML builds, but due to much better heat efficiency lets you stay out with minimal heat breaks (and even then you have 2 MGs to fall back on instead of the ML 1), so you will be putting out more damage in a match assuming your trigger pulling uptime is high (for me it is almost 100% as soon as enemy contact is made).

I can't stress enough that I consistently put out more damage with this build than I did with the 4 ML 1 MG build.

 

Here are a couple of post-game screen shots for proof of viability. Note that these are the non-AMS, extra MG ammo variants.

 

I tried this one for a while, but had some issues with it. I will start by saying that the build is very viable, but it has one major limitation: the tiny cockpit means that firing the machine guns blinds you, filling the lower third of the screen with the firing effect of the guns. I found this particularly aggravating after having piloted mechs like the Ember, who handle MGs in a much less of an obstructionist way.

The lasers work fine (I work with SPLs a lot, so SLas was no real adjustment), but the blinding nature of the guns made me change the loadout after a while. It's even worse on night maps when you engage night/heat vision.

 

That is actually my only complaint about this mech. I sent a request in to PG about it actually, as it is so bad.

 

Set particle effects to low, muzzle flash issue is solved.

Great build(no ams version), I use with a beagle and half ton of ammo for scouting and ecm bubbling in addition to swooping in on exposed enemy bits.

 

His issue about the beam duration is solved with small pulse lasers. But yeah, this build is not really up there with the 11 DHS 4 Medium Laser build. Pirate's Bane plays very different than other Locusts. Rather than dueling and tearing backs apart (though 4 Medium Lasers SHRED back armor easily, and it can be done), the Medium Laser build is for poking at open and softened components. This build can simply not embody the damage that this Mech is capable of.