G'Day All, With 12v12, me needing a change from my UAC5s and liking playing the new trial catapult the last couple of days, what LRM build would you recommend? CPLTs (except the K2), STK-3H, AWS-8R?? Follow up question, what weapons would you consider for secondaries? I see that med lasers and SSRMs are popular. How about ERPPCs? Additional range firepower but no min range, no duration (arguably easier to land on the pesky lights). Any other tips for using LRMs? Are TAGs and BAPs required? Cheers!
Even if with the new heat penalties he can't wooof all its missiles in one volley any more, I still think the AWS-8R with 4xLRM15 (fire two by two, or chain fire) is the most massive (viable) LRM boat. But it's an awesome, it's fragile. Stalkers are less vulnerable, with great firepower and multiple backup weapon options. STK-3H is a good choice, since it can fire 50 missiles (2xLRM20 + 2xLRM5) in one volley without heat penalty (please someone confirm; it should not generate penalty but who knows if it isn't bugged)(or if I missed something!). I also liked to use the STK-5S because of the 2 AMS. I had 2xLRM20 and 2xLRM10, so the launchers unload in 2 volleys, I wonder if it's not pissing to much now that in addition you need to trigger them 2 by 2. Catapults carry less firepower (most of the time), but are very mobile. And they are great for mixed weapon support (for example I run my C1 with 2 large lasers, 2 LRM15 and a TAG) For backup weapons I use ML. It's ihmo obvious: it's a very efficient weapon, and don't take a lot of tonnage. (ER)PPC is an interesting choice, mostly because you can disable enemy's ECM with it, but it's heavy and forces you to lower your LRM firepower. TAG and BAP are ihmo required. The BAP especially really help at not being jammed by ECM lights harassing you (if you don't have BAP or counter ECM you simply can't acquire your targets). The target decay module helps too, you'll keep your lock longer. Finally, the best thing you can have is a friendly spotter with TAG or NARC, counter-ECM, etc. I find it difficult to drop solo with LRMs, you never can rely on a lock your teammates are giving to you and ending wasting a lot of ammo, as well as firing opportunities since you don't easily detect the steady locks. But if you have a friend on voice communication telling you "Bravo locked! Missiles are hitting, continue! He's retreating behind a building, stop firing. I'm switching to Charly, he's in the middle of water it's piece of cake!", well, it works hear: One final tip I can give you is: don't believe you can stay behind. Stay with your pack (not in the front line of course ^^), they will protect you and you'll be more responsive. Also don't be afraid to expose yourself a little and take some fire (if needed you'll be able to hide and keep firing, but in the meantime you'll share damage with your teammates).
Epikt said it all and well and his answer doesn't leave anything special to add. The choice between AWS-8R, STK-3H and one of the CPLTs should be one of preference and / or CBills available. Catapults are nice mechs or starters, while Awesomes require more experience because of their increased fragility caused by their barn door wide torsos. Stalkers are considered monsters on the battlefield, but are usually slow and pretty sedate, especially when picked by one ore more lights. There are good builds to be found in this forum's subsection for each Chassis and variant mentioned above, so feel free and pick the one you like best. Again, in the end it all depends on personal preference... and CBills.
I like CPLT for the simple fact that you can focus on doing your LRM boating while being relatively lower on tonnage. I always think that the assault slot should be filled by mechs that are tanking and not staying behind raining LRMs. CPLT would work well in that role.
Catapults: A1: 2x LRM15s + Artemis along with 4x Streaks as well as BAP. A very good Light deterrent, you can carry around 1080 LRM Rounds 200-300 Streak rounds and a good XL Engine with almost full armour (usually shaved off of the legs). Artemis also helps with the Streaks log-on time. C1: 2x LRM15s + Artemis, 1 TAG and 3 Med-Lasers + BAP. You can carry 1080-1260 LRM rounds, can TAG yourself and you can do some nasty damage in the backline with the Medium Lasers, but you have to look out for the heat some more. At around 300 meters range for a target, you can use both LRMs and MLas to full effect, so the heat control is a bit more needed. C4: Don't have this chassis yet, but I would say: 2x LRM20s + Artemis and 2 Streaks, then BAP, ammo and a good engine. If you want to make use of TAG and a laser, you can consider downgraded the LRM 20s to LRM 15s as the additional 10 Missiles may cost you too many sacrifices in secondary payload, speed, armour and/or heat and thus DPS. All in all the Catapults make decent starter LRM carriers (I don't consider them boats because they carry decent secondary weapons). Awesomes: 8R: The best missile boat. I run mine with 2x LRM 15s, 2x LRM 10s + Artemis, 1x TAG, 2x MPLas and XL 300 Engine with 1620 rounds of LRM ammo as well as BAP. A monster for support, when/if the LRMs hits. It may be fragile but with an XL 300, you are pretty nimble for an Assault and it rocks. 8V: Makes also a decent LRM carrier and might be what you want. 1 ERPPC in the arm, 3 LRMs in the side torso of any combo so you can squeeze an XL Engine in there (or ignore Artemis to make it fit) as well as a BAP and TAG. No idea about the tonnage as I don't have the chassis, but it might be a good idea. Or you can make it even work with a Standard Engine. Jager: A: Really, a Jager? Yup. Look at the A, it has 15 missile tubes x 2 on each arm, you can make this a nice missile carrier, or even a boat, with some ballistic backing. A possible build: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=66&l=4d27f920af37ad8bdf1500a6be9e61bbdc35fa80 Stalkers: They make most likely good Missile Boats but personally, the two standard chassis which I have (the 5M and 3F) are for me a lot more fun in brawls with SRMs/Streaks. LRMs eat a lot of tonnage and when you build the chassis around LRMs, you want to get more oomph than a Catapult has... but this leaves you with either a few hardpoints ignored/neglected or with an XL Engine and XL Engines and Stalkers don't mesh well. I have yet to lose an ear/arm on a Stalker but my side torsi go out so often it is not pretty, a lot sooner and more so than getting cored from start. On that note, Highlanders run well enough with XL Engines and have nice missile bays in the sides. You could make some nice well-rounded builds with them, incorporating LRMs, SRMs, energy weapons and ballistics. If you want to be a bit lighter, always changing your position rather quickly, maybe look into the Trebuchets. BAP definitely is very good to have and if you can fit it, so is TAG for the instances when an Atlas DDC has his ECM bubble up and you see him 500 Meters infront of you but can't target him. TAG negates ECM then for you. And with BAP, if/when you use a few Streak-Launchers as secondary weapons, you don't have to worry about a lone ECM Mech blocking you in a brawl, as you can still lock on with Streaks, hence why it is a must-have in the Catapult A1 chassis.
Could not agree more about that. I also think support mechs should be fast and mobile: their teammates are taking the bigger risk engaging the enemy and taking fire, the least the support mech can do is to be ready to fire immediately.
I have never really gone PURE missile boat. I always do Hybrids myself. http://www.mechspecs.com/forum/index.php?topic=1416.0 That is the main missile boat I use and I have won matches by using either missiles OR the MLas. Plus I can jump around a bit.
To toss in my c-bill, I agree with Epikt and Enileph completely. IMHO, leave the assault class to do tanking, taking the fight to the foe with heavy weapons. The Catapult and it's brothers can do the job, this will be even more important once we have weight class restrictions. Mechs work by function, what the build is oriented to do. Some are multirole, some are exceptional at just one thing. If the primary weapon is LRM's, it's a support mech. Is it a boat? Maybe, a boat implies he's doing it to excess and sacrificing other things to enable more punch. Michaels C1 build in my classification is a excellent LRM support build that can move with the pack and ward off lights, even support with lasers in the brawl if necessary. The Catapults A1 and C4 can make boats but they don't have the tonnage really to become effective. The AWS and STK chassi is excellent for boat builds. In the end, it's your build and your choice, whatever works for you will rock the battleground.
If you want straight LRM boats, you may want to consider the advanced sensor range, target decay and/or info gathering modules. All of them are handy modules for any mech but they shine just a little brighter when you require missile lock. And speaking of missile lock, you will NEED some form of anti-ecm like a Tag,NARC, or continual PPC shots. Nothing like bringing in massive missiles just to never be able to use em. TAG in this case i believe would be your best bet.
I've always liked the JM6-A. It can function very well as an LRM boat firing off 40 rounds in a single volley; http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=66&l=c2d2af99e491398adc4f7225f5cf6cf51579ea2a Nothing I hate more than LRMs coming out in waves. I just want one massive cloud of death. But the chassis also gives you the options to have an SRM striker, PPC or Ballistic sniper or a great all-around ballistic/energy DPS machine!
Thanks guys, really appreciate the feedback. Now I initially brought a Ilya when starting the game (UAC5s still rule, hero mech for cbills, and a way to put some money in the game), but the lack of LRM options on the other chassis turn me off, hence looking for option 2 on a mech! Jagers are interesting, as I can get my shootyness with them as well, and well as the afore mentioned LRMs, it may be my first mech to master, only trouble is I'm yet to play one!
Jagers are a very popular and fun mech to use. Cant really go wrong with any of them, just gotta find your flavor.
