There is conflicting information available online on some issues. Is only Gauss ammo and AMS ammo immune to explosion? What about NARC and MG ammo? Is ammo in the Head component used first or last? If a component is destroyed, does each ammo box in that component get an explosion roll or do they explode automatically, or unless an ammo box is individually critically hit and destroyed, it does not receive an explosion roll? Does active Stealth armor affect Heat dissipation?
It has been a long time since I've played MWO (maybe a year...?) but I'm guessing most of this stuff hasn't been changed (which is one of the reasons why I've abandoned this game). Anyway... Gauss ammo does not explode. AMS ammo should not explode thanks to a patch applied some time ago. NARC ammo (if it is capable of exploding in the first place) shouldn't deal any damage at because ammo explosion is the game way of saying "any undealt damage from this stored ammo is applied internally to your mech". Since NARC does not deal any damage, it shouldn't damage your mech. MG ammo should deal damage like any other AC / missile ammo. I'm not sure myself. By googling around... CENTER TORSO, RIGHT TORSO, LEFT TORSO, LEFT ARM, RIGHT ARM, LEFT LEG, RIGHT LEG, HEAD If I remember correctly, the latter. A slot can be critted as long as the component exists, but once destroyed it is "almost" like it is permanently lost. That "almost" is due to the fact you ain't really losing that component, it simply stops receiving damage. There is a very small chance an ammo slot gets critted, it triggers an ammo explosion, but while the ammo explosion is cooking (all ammo explosions take some time before actually dealing damage) you lose the component where said ammo resides, resulting in a very unrealistic death caused by an ammo explosion in a component you no longer have. E.g.: you have unspent AC20 ammo in an arm (or leg). A piranha hammers your arm with MGs and triggers an ammo explosion. While the ammo is cooking, you lose your arm because enough damage has been dealt. Despite your arm is no more, once the ammo explodes, it fully transfers the damage to your side torso. Yes. Some time ago it completely denied heat dissipation, but nowadays it applies a very strong heat dissipation malus: you can be very slightly heat positive despite said malus.
Wiki says Head is used last: Weapons - MWO Wiki (mwomercs.com) "Yes. Before a patch, it completely denied heat dissipation, nowadays it applies a very strong heat dissipation malus, but you can be very slightly heat positive despite said malus." - I use stealth armor on the new free Atlas that came with an event and I don't feel any difference in heat dissipation with or without stealth turned on. EDIT: I just checked in mechlab and there IS a difference, but it is so small you barely can notice. You maybe lose 25% of your heat dissipation on turmaline desert. "If I remember correctly, the latter. A slot can be critted as long as the component exists, but once destroyed it is "almost" like it is permanently lost. That "almost" is due to the fact you ain't really losing that component, it simply stops receiving damage. There is a very small chance an ammo slot gets critted, it triggers an ammo explosion, but while the ammo explosion is cooking (all ammo explosions take some time before actually dealing damage) you lose the component where said ammo resides, resulting in a very unrealistic death caused by an ammo explosion in a component you no longer have." That is unfortunately not an answer to my question. I wonder if there is an ammo box detonation roll on every unused ammo box in a destroyed component upon component destruction, independently of critical hits, like in Battletech.
Stuff has been added and reworked a couple times over the years, but rarely well-documented. In the guides section we've tried to make a few helpful guides, but it's likely those are outdated too. I don't think ammo gets a roll from the component being destroyed. Ammo explosion deaths have always propagated from an initial critical hit for me. It may be possible that unused ammo in an component destroyed by ammo explosion does gets added to the ongoing ammo explosion damage, but that's also not what you asked
Thanks for the info, that really helps with designing mechs for IS, as taking some risk of explosion is not that bad.
That's good news, because stealth armor was almost completely useless on most mechs: proper distance and ECM protection with skills was enough for most scenarios. Nope, I don't think it's the case in MWO (pun intended). Also, speaking of CASE, please note that after patch in 2021 CASE is weightless and can be placed in both arms and legs... Very, very convenient.
As a side note, IS C.A.S.E. no longer weighs anything. It takes up a single slot though. It helps to mitigate ammo cook off and damage to other components.
I mean, fair, but if you are super worried about ammo cook off C.A.S.E. helps...I rarely use it anyhow.
