3 AC5s on chain-fire turns the JMech into a mobile turret. On my first run with this build I scored 650+ damage and tore through a Highlander in seconds. 4 tons of AC5 ammo over 3 guns is a little restrictive, but I only ever survive long enough to empty the reserves. At medium-long range you can keep a heavy or an assault shaking too hard to get off an accurate shot.
Hello, Gaflar, and, welcome to MechSpecs! First and foremost, you should read This Thread about how to title posts. It is an enforced rule here meant to help users more easily search a uniform system of Labeling. Great build. I am a HUGE fan of AC/5s. In fact, the AC/5 and UAC are my favorite weapons in the game, showing up on most of my builds. Moreover, on a Jag, I think three is the perfect combination to take advantage of weight to DPS and speed. Especially with a STD engine foregoing those massive Side Torsos! Great build. I have also been using the LPLs a lot since the boost, however, have not tried the MPLas. Even with the boost, though, I would take the range from MLas personally. This affords you more ammo to sit back and ridge snipe till your heart's content! Once again, welcome to MechSpecs and I look forward to another player to see more discussion and sharing. Chatt. Edit: After a second look, I noticed how the armor was taken away from the CT and STs. To me, this is a no-go. Must have that armor maxed even if you have to peel it away from arms or legs. So, I would drop to MLas instead of MPLs, add one ton of ammo, one half ton of armor and that gives you an extra half ton for maxing armor or upping the engine.
Looks like a STD engine version of The Compromiser build with MPLS to boot! Very nice, even though I've moved on from having backup lasers I personally find the weight of MPLS not entirely worth it, especially if they're support weapons anyway and you'll try to be fighting from a larger distance than where they're effective. Therefore, I'd drop them to 2 ML and add 2 tons of ammo instead, as 40 shots in total is simply not enough. I use 7 tons of ammo in my 2xAC5 shadowhawk even, so I'll personally stick to a variant of the Compromiser build if I go back to having backup lasers.
I agree from an alpha standpoint that the ammo is low, but I prefer to fire mainly full-auto, and I don't run out doing that. I only use the alpha as a killshot.
I had a full-auto chain fire once, but I ditched it. Firing full auto is ineffective. Where you might fire 4 rounds with full auto before going back into cover, you fire 6 shots in alphastriking mode. The vision harassment is nice but the psychological idea of seeing a component turning red every 1.5 seconds is just as good. And where alphastriking kinda guarantees to hit one point of a mech, full auto will likely spread your damage over the entire enemy mech. Especially the frontloaded damage though can be crucial.
I think the choice between full-auto and alpha depends on the situation. I've since switched to chain-firing the two left guns and firing the right gun with every other shot. I find the constant hits are more effective at staggering an enemy and causing them to reverse while a teammate and I can move forward and constantly lay down high DPS, usually enough to kill the enemy in one push if they're alone. So with this method I get a 10-damage first hit with a 5-damage follow up, or all three at once if I'm playing peekaboo.
I've found that instead a constant stream of bullets attracts a lot of fire from someone's teammates. once they see 'hey he's firing a lot of bullets' they're bound to focus you down as fast as they can. Besides that the average DPS over short engagement times (such as the 4 shots vs 6 in the same amount of time) increases greatly with firing alpha. What I'm doing as of now is to fire 2xAC5s as alpha, and use a single UAC5 for more alpha and the ability to harass with extra shots in between like you are, as long as it doesn't jam. It certainly works, but the high alphastrike is really what keeps it running during winning fights.
Basically a weaker Catapract-LM then. This one don't nearly have enough ammo. I barely have enough ammo on a 2xAC5 build with 150 ammo.
