Generally confused how to play any weapons on Clan Heavies

Hey all,

I've been posting here off and on, and I've recently come to a block, and that's that I really don't understand how to use any weapons on Clan heavies.

Any ballistic weapons are either better done on mediums (UAC/10s, UAC/5 and laser hybrids) solely because they are lighter and faster and can generally carry the same amount of guns. The rare exceptions are very specific ala the 3x UAC/5 TBR builds, which usually require me to brawl, which frustrates me as below.

Any energy weapons I try necessitate so many heat sinks to run cool that I may as well be running a smaller mech with fewer weapons, thus generating less heat; due to ghost heat, energy weapons do not generate heat linearly, but rather exponentially; boating larger weapons just makes me overheat immediately, and reducing my firepower is pointless when I could run the same "2 big guns plus some 4 little ones" variation on any given medium.

Any missile weapons don't seem to work; LRMs shouldn't be on a heavy, really, and any heavies I play are so sluggish that brawling gets me instantly murdered, so SRMs are out. I'm garbage at brawling in general, but at least in a smaller mech I can dictate my engagements a lot better.

I know this is basically a post about me whining about "git gud", but it's really driving me up a wall; I cant' seem to justify playing a heavy over a medium or assault. I know the idea is "heavies have more armor", but the lower mobility seems like a worse trade-off. I'd really like to make them work. I'm trying to do hybrid builds, but that essentially reduces to me.... nothing, because SRMs/LRMs don't work all that well, especially when split, and ballistics are so heavy as to negate the possibility of any meaningful hybrid build that isn't something I could run on a huntsman more effectively.

Thank you to anyone who responds, I have spent too much money on this game to hate it this much.

My one caveat is I have NOT played a Night Gyr. That -might- help, given how much extra tonnage they have versus a TBR or an EBJ, but then there's the whole 64.8 kph thing.

 

TL;DR Be patient (because you are still kinda squishy), stick with your team/co-operate (focus the same targets) and poke or help your team mates moving back to cover if caught in the open. If you have a hi-DPS long face time build (like dakka builds), ALWAYS move with a shelter / cover next to you to avoid getting wrecked by either focus fire or LRMs.

Sorry bro, but it is false that they are meant for brawling. UAC5 have very good DPS for that range (630 meter pre-skills and quirks), but they are NOT meant to brawl: anything below 300-400 will likely ruin your day. Keep your distance while using this kind of dakka builds.

That's why you will never try to fire more than 3xERLL simultaneously, despite someone claims that the ghost heat generated by 3xERLL is manageable. I personally always fire my weapons to avoid ghost heat to always be the most heat efficent possible, because I'm very trigger happy: 4xERLL builds are always binded 2+2 ERLL and you can fire the second group 0.5s after the first group fired AND while the first one is still "beaming out" the laser.

Why not? If you fit LRMs on a heavy and stick with your team, most of the times you will have enough speed to keep up and maybe even additional backup weapons to defend yourselves or help with some "direct fire". And I'm not even talking about 2xATM12 Timberwolf with JJ to murder anything upclose.

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TBF, I hate mediums. Most of them are not fast enough to outrun a heavy (so you will get wrecked by heavies) and some of them will still be easily outranged by sniping lights (and you can't kill them or at least core them with one alfa) or approached by brawling lights (which is the most common build and again, you will get wrecked). I definitely love heavies, but lately I've mainly played IS mechs, not clanners.

As far as I can tell, since most of them are quite squishy and, as you have seen, could be very hot, they are mostly meant for poking... BUT most clan Mediums (like the nova) are smaller AND moves at the same speed of a Ebon Jaguar and a TimberWolf, which is something I extremely dislike, especially when fighting another clanner.

I think the whole point of your issue is that you are mainly using mediums which tend to drag a lot less attention than heavies (except for few "one-shot-360-no-scope" builds like the 12 lasers nova), so you won't get focused as much and you will probably have an easier time to hide behind cover or drag the attention to a bigger brother. Since clan mechs tend to be squishy compared to IS mechs, every heavy clanner must poke if it is not meant to brawl or to be a "dakka boat" with high DPS and, in the latter case, you would still need to have a cover next to you so you can find shelter from incoming fire / focus.

I don't know in which tier you are playing, but highest tiers either heavily focus on meta builds (like DPS dakka / poking vomit lasers / brawl with any combination you can come up with between SRM, AC20, LBXs, SNPPCs...) or LRMs. LOTS of LRMs.

As far as I can tell, the most common builds (which are actually meta) favors poking.

• 2xcHLL, NxcERML (e.g. Hellbringer 2xHLL, 4xERML, ECM)
• 2xcERLL, NxcERML (e.g. any vomit laser build)
• 4xERLL (e.g. Hellbringer w/ ECM)
• 2xL(P?)L, 1/2 x cGauss (e.g. Ebon Jaguar 2xLPL-1xGauss or Night Gyr 1(2?)xGauss 2xERLL... The first one is actually an old meta not very optimal, but could still be valid)
• 2xcERPPC + backup weapons (e.g. summoner with 2xPPC nipples + 3/4xERSL. You can do it with another medium mech like a hunchback or a huntsman, but I guess you will be hotter, shorter and can't jump as high as a summoner... Plus, you will have lesser armor and structure, which means you will be more suscepible to other pinpoint-snipers like yourselves)

As you can see, most of them are high-alfa low Rate of Fire, which means they favor (and they are meant) for poking or, if they can, shield with an arm while waiting for the cooldown. Since most IS mechs have armor or structure quirks, most of the times you have a squisher mech compared to your opponent.

BUT, like always, there are some exceptions, namely the Orion-IIC which is excelent for brawling thanks to both speed and armor quirks (e.g. 1xUAC20, 4xSRM6+A) and any other variant capable of mounting 2+ UACs, like the TimberWolf (e.g. 2xUAC10, 5xERSL, old but fun build, kinda no more used but stiable viable in PUGs).

As far as I can tell:

• if you fit any laser, you must poke
• if you fit only dakka, you will attract a lot of attention and you have to hide when focused
• if you fit brawl, be prepared to wreck if you manage to get close without taking a lot of damage.

Last but not least, with the incoming patch, small and medium lasers are going to be nerfed a lot due a 30% (or so) increase in cooldown, which means that lasers boat will be defensless for an extended time AND will increasingly have to poke and will become even more "situational".

 

The problem is I look at that and think "well why am I bringing more than 2 of these then?" I cant' fire them together, and firing them in groups means I have to stay exposed twice as long, which is a problem with Clans' relative squishiness. I'm trying to do a 4x HLL build (actually 3xHLL and 1 LPL) on my TBR-S, but I constantly run into the "well, here I am for 3.1 seconds" thing and I get focus-fired and murdered.

I would never bring LRMs on a heavy; I'm essentially robbing my team of my armor and health by sitting the back, which is allegedly why I take a heavy. I also lack the mobility of a light or medium, which is super important because I cannot fight one-on-one when most of my weapons are LRMs; I LRM on my Kitfox.

The problem is like I look at these and think "yeah, I can do these on my huntsman. Why did I buy a Timberwolf again?" I can't see anything here that says "this is why you have a heavy." The only thing I can see is the Gauss builds, and I can't handle gauss at all; that charge mechanic is the single most infuriating thing in the whole damn game. The only thing I'm thinking at this point is "sell that Timber at get a Night Gyr" because then I can justify bringing a 75-tonner. I understand the idea that heavies have more armor, but in practice it just doesn't seem to matter; my offensive output is essentially the same, and I can duck into cover much faster, so I'm in fact safer. I suppose I would be hotter on a medium, but if my modus operandi is "shoot, duck," then it doesn't matter if I'm a little hotter; I'll just hide a little longer.

 

Summarising my answer:
Yes and no.
Some heavies can't boat more weapons or fit utility, while others can. Timberwolf right now is the most underwhelming heavy,that's why the Ebon jaguar is the best all around clan heavy (with omnipods) while some other heavies have better niche roles compared to mediums thanks to either weapons layout or utilities available (e.g.: Hellbringer with ECM and 4xcERLL. ECM is a game changer).

They work well in niche roles or have some game changers, which makes them even more reliable in faction play. E.G.: 4xcERLL in boreal vault. Hellbringer vs Hunchback or Huntsman.

• Hellbringer has ECM (huge advantage: you can't be spotted or target unless under at least 540 meters, 270 meters if you skilled into ECM)
• You move at 81 km/h (same as huntsman, only hunchback can move faster)
• Has more DHS (more sustained DPS)
• Has more armor (simpler to use, more forgivable if you get focues or hit by other snipers)

Without the help of an ECM, it's harder to flank which is the main purpose of a hellbringer: either outrange or flank and add pressure from another angle, even better if you manage to backstab. This is very hard in small or medium maps, but works very well in huge maps when 900 meters optimal range matters OR reposition without being spotted or shot.

Abouth the 3.1 seconds, I'm sorry to tell you this but you are doing it wrong: you can start firing the 2nd group while the first one is still dealing damage right after those 0.5s seconds ghost-heat threshold, which means:

• 0s: you fire the first group
• 0.6s: you fire the second group (0.6s and not 0.5s assuming you have "human" reflexes)
• 1.35s: first group beam stops
• 1.95s: second group beam stops

And this is before the -10% laser duration skill tree: it would be around 1.8s with skills.
With HLL, it is 2.15s (previous skills) or around 1.9s with skills.

The main issue with medium mech is that they can't take hits like a heavy does. If a heavy can return fire at you every time you poke (even with the same weapons) you are gonna lose the fight no matter what you do: he will be cooler and thougher. This is one of the reasons I don't like mediums: they are too much a crystal cannon for my taste.

Spoiler: OFF Topic on why LRM on lights are bad (IMHO)

Spoiler: My reaction to a LRM kit fox

Any LRM boat is trading their ability to flank or backstab properly for indirect fire support. Lights can be used (and IMHO best used) to be a decoy, or to flank or backstab whenever they can.

About the "share you armor" part, they are the best mechs in the game to dodge autocannons and missiles by either using maneuverability or by moving from cover to cover. If you dodge the shots and get the focus of multiple enemy mechs you are preventing them from focusing fire (and attention) on one or more slower bros. If they ignore you, you can back stab them or focus on their most important component (like the right torso on an IS marauder). If more than one will chase you, it means that you are doing your work properly because you are splitting the guys who are chasing you from the main group and increase the chance of your team mates main group of deathballing the remaining enemy team.

Back stabbing is actually hard on a kit fox due to its low speed, but an ECM will help greatly and you can fit more weapons than an Arctic Cheetah. Shooting the right component or flanking properly is hard and require experience, but when you master this kind of gameplay on lights, you can master any other chassis, because you will ultimately know how/when/where to engage and make the best use of the little armor and weapons you have.

Spoiler: 1000+ damage ECM purifier

IMHO you are giving up this niche role (which can be very effective depending on map and fit) for a generic LRM boat. Boating LRMs will make you last longer, but you are trading the peculiar role of a light (be fast, be a pain in the back, distract the enemy from the main group) for a generic role with little firepower (and I'm talking about lights: of course a 40-80 LRM clanner could be more effective in the right maps, but it will actually have the firepower to solo-kill or suppress indefinitely someone).

This is exactly why I say that medium are better LRM boats because they have better firepower but not always enough speed or maneuverability to flank (e.g.: the stormcrow was often used as a SSRM boat or an LRM boat. I actually used it for the latter for some time) and few tank to actually take heavy shots (like a quad HLL drill, like I said earlier). My best example is the 2xATM12 hunchback poptart: it can both be used to poptart those approaching the main group or to kill the lights swarming the fatties. Best used in FP with an organized group though (or when you can make use and shoot from the rooftop of a building).

If you can't fit more weapons, yes: heavies are bulkier and have less maneuverability, but they tend to have similar or slower speed compared to mediums. The only exception is the linebacker, which is even faster than mediums. More armor also means that you are somewhat "more protected" versus machine guns, LBXs and other weapons with bonus to crits. Most people stops poking right after you open them a side torso and will resume poking only when they are sure they won't get returing fire.

"Thanks" to the new tech (especially heavy lasers) mediums can now pack a hell of a punch with the low tonnage they have.
This is the main reason why the Timberwolf is (even more) the most underwhelming of all the heavies. Its most powerfull omnipods has been nerfed too much with negative quirks, plus the new tech, plus the new mechs, plus bad hardpoint on the right torso and arms, plus being popular and so much "scary" that most people knows that the fastest way to deal with a timberwolf is to focus side torsoes and you will now understand why is no more popular in tier 1 or for competitive games / Faction Play. It's still a decent brawler, and hybrid dakka boat, but that's it.

That's the reason why the Ebon Jaguar is the "new" Timber wolf while Night Gyr / Orion-IIC / Line Backer / Hellbringer are still more popular than the good old TimberWolf.

So leave TimberWolf alone (semi-quote).

 

I don't think lights are especially good at LRMs; I just prefer LRMs on a light to LRMs on a heavy; there's less tonnage sitting in the back doing nothing. I know that lights are best at flanking and hitting backs, as you say, but I'm very, very bad at it, and I don't really want to spend 80 hrs to learn to be good at it; it's a very hard playstyle that is no better than any other well-supported skill (eg. brawling with a brawling heavy, sniping with a sniping assault), but it does require you to try to learn it for a long, long frustrating time. So, I'm fine just LRMing with them.

The problem is I cant' see using other Clan heavies. The Timberwolf has jumpjets and a lot of tonnage and an 81kph base speed; other mechs lach at least one of those. No jets is a pass, no 81 kph is a pass, less than 70 tons is a pass, and the summoner lacks endosteel so it's just a big medium: pointless.

 

And this is one of the ways that makes this game balanced: clan mech are specialised in a single role and it's up to you figure out how to play the match given the map and circumstances.

A 75 tonner with 81+ km/h speed and jump jets and no tonnage or layout restriction would be OP: no IS mech can achieve that speed with similar firepower or range. That's why (as far as I know) the timberwolf has been hit multiple times by the nerf bat and fell in the "misused" area due to negative quirks at the most OP omnipods. BTW, don't be fooled by the weight: a Gargoyle is an assault mech (80 tons), but is still capable of moving at 81 km/h like a timberwolf, that's why the Gargoyle it's the fastest assault in game (or at least I haven't found another assault mech as fast as it) but has very little room for weapons (19.63 tons).

To be completely honest, I was sceptical too about the Ebon Jaguar due to the lower tonnage, but with maxed armor, Ebon jaguar has 28.51 tons free, while the Timberwolf A (which has NO jump jets) has 27.46 tons free. If you don't mind the lack of jump jets and you keep on trying to use those hi-mounted lasers / gauss to hill-hump (is that how it is called poking from the top of a hill?), you won't need the jump jets.

The most common issue the Night Gyr has is the horrible pitch degree: you won't be able to aim up or down that much (at least that is what I've heard from my unit mates).

 

I guess I'm just a pessimist, then. I don't see them as balanced so much as "pick how you want to be endlessly frustrated" in the same way I dislike all the weapon types. I like the Hellbringer just fine, but I don't play it like a heavy; it's a huge medium to me that acts more like a utility boat. I'm still trying to get a real heavy I like, and as far as I can tell they're just... all handicapped. And I can't get around seeing them and the weapons this way. I understand it's in the capacity of trying to see them as all filling a role, but none of those roles appeal to me; the "can't jump" role, the "slow like molasses" role, the "no weapon space" role and the "Timberwolves are supposed to be good but apparently aren't" role are all equally unappealing to me, which is so frustrating because they seem pretty cool.

And even accepting that, okay, this mech has a role and I have to fill it, I still don't see -how- to fill that role, pursuant to my frustration with weapons.

That being said, I don't need a mech that has a ton of pod space, jumps well, and goes 81 kph. If the Summoner had endo-steel I'd be all over it, even with its limited hardpoints. If the Night Gyr went even 70 kph base I would be all over it, which is honestly what I'm considering. The Night Gyr looks like it has all the tonnage and jumps, but what's holding me back is the general thought of "it moves like an assault, so why not just have a Kodiak?" I really dont' want the pressure of being an assault mech, and a win/loss being on me; I really like my heavies to move like heavies.

 

Mediums are faster, but they also are squishier. Also there is a difference which specific Mechs you compare to each other. I personally only like the Stormcrow from the "Mediums", but with 55t it almost counts as a Heavy. The other ones have several Flaws which you really must know how to handle, either you only have one B-HP (with limited Weight/Slots for biggest Gunz), or the Clan Medium is too slow due to fixed Engine to avoid good Shooters. On a Heavy you can do more serious Screenshake-Dakka -> Double-UAC10/LBX10 (Orion/Night Gyr/Mad Cat), or you have a powerful Combo of Sniping and CQC-Brawl-Firepower. It is the Firepower and Tankiness that a Heavy has over a Medium. Mediums are faster and have a smaller Hitbox so to avoid Damage better. But if someone can sneak upon a Medium, it is often not fast enough to avoid a critical Hit somewhere (in my experience).
Mediums are really for Players who like to stay behind and Snipe or play Ninja/Suicide Squad. But personally i find it not much better than Heavies, just a different Playstyle. And because i like to do High Damage Output, i always play my Mediums not the right way (Me -> dumb Suicide Ninja). On the other Hand i had very good Experience with almost every Clan Heavy (except the Summoner, which is a Frankenstein to me).

Therefor you usually use Weapongroups to avoid Ghost Heat, for different Ranges e.g. 2xERPPC, 2xLPL, 4xSPLs. Also, with more HPs distributed over the Hitbox, you will lose less Firepower when losing any Bodyparts. But Lasers are the best way to load Mediums, because they have limited Weight & Slot-Space. 2xERLL and some lighter Backup Lasers are the way to go. Ballistics and Missiles have serious drawbacks -> Ammo Explosions.. Unless you like to play Suicide-Bombers.

Ow you never met a tanky Quad-SRM6+A Mad Cat before @85+kph, did you? Quad LRM15s with plenty of Ammo is another strong Setup. Add some Lasers for selfdefense and you can easily go for 700+ Damage every second Match. It's one of the easiest Loadouts to play with (just a bit too boring on longterm). On a Medium you cant load enough Ammo to make LRMs serious, the only way is to play Suicide-Bomber with multiple SRMs -> sneak in like a Ninja, and then go in for a Kickass-Kill and if you can't kill instantly Jump back into the Shadows. Playstyle like a SRM-Oxide, just with a bit more Armor and more Space/Weight for more Ammo and some Backup Lasers.

The Night Gyr and the Timberwolf have same Tonnage, and yes, 64.8kph AND fixed JJs (aargh!) is really annoying. Don't waste your money, unless you like to play Multiple UAC2/5 Loadouts. Any other Weapon-Mix can be done better on the other Heavy Clan Mechs. It doesnt mean it is a bad Mech, you can do good Scores with it. Just not very special when compared.

 

Maybe, and I say maybe, if you are really getting tired of the current meta, you should try out a IS heavy.
Fit a Light Engine, maybe fit on a heavy a new tech weapon like the MRM (or even boat MRMs if you want to play a full "just4fun" build) and go on spamming damage in face of the enemy.
I actually have a couple of build that could interest you: they are slower than expected, but can pack a punch or disrupt the enemy quite well in non-top tier games.

Spoiler: Build list

WHM-6R "Salty FunHammer" (6xERML, 1xMRM30, 1xAMS, TC1, LE325)
WHM-7S "6R-meta try harder" (2xMRM30, 4xML, LE325)
ARC-5W "Marcher" (2xMRM30, 3xMRM10, LE285)

If you want to go for pure fun and you love the medium manevureability and speed, you should absolutely try out the 2xRotaryAutoCannon5 Bushwacker or the 2xMRM30 Trebuchet.

 

Hey there; honestly what I really want to do is play a midrange role because I play a lot of solo queue random matches. I can't brawl, and I don't have the reaction time or observation skill to snipe. I really want to do something on my Timberwolf-S with my 3JJs that lets me do midrange support that isnt' something I can do on a Huntsman or Hunchback IIC, and isnt' impossible to use like a gauss/ppc build. It's confounding me because every weapon type I try on it seems to be crippled in various, creative ways like a tragic funhouse.

I understand the concept of weapon groups, but even if I groups them, I essentially get to fire 3 groups and then I'm a 95% heat, and therefor down to one group unless I have 20 seconds to sit and cool down. So, essentially my mech effectively has one weapon group, except for the opening play of any engagement.

I have played that, and I consistently get murdered in it.

IS heavies I do okay in; the durability quirks are fun to make up for the slower speed. But, I really want to make a clan heavy with jump jets work, hence my frustration.

I can do dual UAC/10s on my huntsman or a hunchback IIC with better maneuverability, as a smaller target, and taking up less tonnage; the speed of the mediums just seems hands-down better to me.

 

I can bring 1200 ammo on my huntsman with 3 LRM10s w/Artemis, and do just fine with it.

 

Out for curiosity, I've checked out how much you could fit on any Heavy Clan mech with JJ and maxed armor.

Timberwolf (S): 22.46 (5xJJ)
Summoner: 20.69 tons (5xJJ)
Night Gyr: 37.46 (4xJJ)

Huntsman: 23.69 (5xJJ)
Hunchback (cXL250): 23.43 (2xJJ) (endo-steel only)

You are asking for something impossible: you either go for speed and brawl or fast and tanky but with medium mech's weapons, or slow and heavy hitter like the Night gyr. You simply can't have both if you are not willing to sacrifice jump jets.

Ebon Jaguar: 28.51
Mad Dog: 26.03
Orion-IIC (cXL350 + 4 DHS): 32.96 (endo-steel and ferrofibrous)

I can now see why the Ebon Jaguard is the most prefered heavy mech: good hardpoints, fast and overall 28 tons to play with maxed armor.

 

Well what I'm looking at is the following:

I don't need 5 JJets on a TBR; I like 3; so that gives me 2 more tons.

Further, the Timber has 15 DHS's in its engine that the Huntsman has 10, as does the Hunchback. So, really the TBR has more tonnage, but it MUST spend them on those 5 DHS's.

So, what I've been -trying- to do is make builds where that matters; the timber gets those 5 extra DHS's for no loss of critical space, and with 3 JJets has 24.46 tons, a little more than the Hunch and Huntsman. So I'm grappling with using the weapons systems to try to take advantage of that so I feel justified in using a TBR. If I have a build that -needs- those heat sinks to work, it's -not- a build one could run on a Hunchback or a Huntsman. It also wouldn't be a build you could run on a Night Gyr, which are very crit space starved regarding heat-heavy weapons.

In a further point to why the Summoner really needs to get Endo, it only has 14 DHS's, so it's 1 DHS worse yet than the timber.

 

Why? I never had that Experience on the TBR.. Just annoyed by the fixed JJs, which i really want to drop sometimes, just to have some more Slot Space in the Sidetorsos..

Let's compare the Huntsman and the Timberwolf with almost the same Loadout:




Which one do you prefer? I'd say Timberwolf all day long over the Huntsman. Same Speed/Maneuverability/Agility, but a lot of Armor Difference, bit more Firepower, some more Heatsinks. Besides the Timberwolf has some more Hardpoints to play with, if you ever want to try out some other Loadouts.

Well, you dont group Weapons to fire them alltogether on every occasion. You have 1 Group for Extreme Long Range, 1 for Midrange, 1 for CQC-Backup.. Usually you'd never fire them alltogether, unless you are forced to CQC and you get panicking and fire everything away. Just try to use Weapon Groups smartly. If you can fire the Groups asynchronously, you'd even avoid Ghost Heating. Just try out some things on the Training Grounds before real Match. It helps.

Ok, i understand that you have problems playing that Brawler Build. But i asked if you ever Met some Enemy Guys on the Battlefield, which attacked you with that Build? I mean, Guys who actually knows how to Brawl... ;-3

Actually the Huntsman is same fixed Speed @81kph (w/o Speed Tweaks) (see above comparison), and Hunchback IIC needs Engine Upgrade from XL200 to XL250, which means you can't have enough Weight to match the Firepower of the Timberwolf.

I mean, i understand your Problems with Brawling, but you should not blame the Heavy Mechs for that. Objectively the Timberwolf is considered as one of the very best Mechs ingame with great Balance of Armor, Speed, Agility, HPs. So i'm wondering why you have so much trouble with that Mech.

.. yeah sure, but you can also do 4 LRM10s/same Ammo plus up to 4 Backup cERML/cHML and some more Heatsinks on the TBR. 3 LRM10s is a bit weak for my taste, i usually pack minimum LRM40 if i ever play LRM Boats.. Anything less is too weak nowadays with all the ammo-independent LaserAMS.

 

The Timberwolf is definitely more armored. It's also 25 tons heavier, though, and while this is a build that actually has noticeably higher DPS, most builds I try to run are just barely better on the TBR, which is a shame when it's literally 50% heavier.

That is absolutely not how I would equip my mechs, though; I build to do one range to exclusivity, with the exception of LRMs because you cant' use them without a lock. If I try to build to multiple ranges, I get a mech that is terrible at all ranges. The exception being on an assault mech like a Dire Wolf where you can just carry every gun ever if you want to.

Yes. But I've been equally destroyed by brawling mediums just as fast.

For the above reasons, really: I see its firepower as nearly identical to much lighter mechs in most cases, and I see all of those groups as either too heavy to bring they effectively because they are quantized at 9 tons each in the case of ballistics, so hot as to make it pointless to bring more than 2 big lasers in the case of energy weapons, or inclined to fighting styles that I can't do in the case of missiles.

 

Which ones? Some Examples? I just dont remember, that i had enough Weight on my Huntsmen or other Clan Mediums to get Firepower/DPS like on the TBR. I mean, 25tons is a big Difference to play! The best way to get similar Firepower is either with plenty of Medium Lasers or SMRs.

Well, maybe you should try instead complaining but resistent to advices? ;-3 Trust me, i play PUGs/Heavies/Assaults so often with mentioned Combos.. Lately i have plenty of Fun with the Mad Cat MK2. It feels rather like a Heavy and its HPs suggest to mix Ballistics, Lasers and Missiles for every kind of Range. It does serious Scores if you really train to play with your Team AS A TEAM. (Check up my highscores: https://www.mechspecs.com/threads/mcii-club-of-1000.12507/)

As said - don't blame the Mechs, try to improve your Communication/Teamplay. Communicate, move in Formation and never let Enemies catch you solo. Push and Brawl like a Pack of Wolf and unless the Enemy Team does better, you should not get murdered.

 

I mean if you want to go ezpz cheesy. SSRM fired in two groups will usually net low effort damage and ruin a light mech's day. Mad Dog's are also very good at this.


But on a more serious note, the real only way to "git gud" at using clan mechs is practice. Nearly all of them will require precise aim of some level and heat management skills. My first clan mech was a Stormcrow and I had no idea how to use it properly at the time but once I stuck with it longer and got used to the mechanics. I would advise against LRMs as with the current strength of AMS and the amount of people using it, the clan LRMs are getting eaten due to their stream of fire instead of one large volley like IS. Brawling with Clan has become a bit more difficult with how much armor and structure buffs the IS mechs have gotten but it is still possible, you just need to learn the maps enough to close distance. I would honestly recommend poking mechs if you are new to at least get used to the laser duration and whatnot. Hellbringers actually pull it off quite well, same agility of a TBR, but with ECM so you don't get noticed as quickly as well as somewhat better weapon mounts to understand where you are going to be shooting. They also can be quite adaptable to many different builds, except missiles unless you have the Virago.

A cool running pokey laservomit.

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Ballistic and laser mid-range build, requires a little more heat management.

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Quad ERLL sniper.

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If you ever played a Hunchback 4P, this is somewhat similar. You could even drop two heatsinks and put another medium pulse on the arm.

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Virago SRM build(missile mounting points not that optimal)

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This one actually looks really nasty. I like it.

 

That's what I'm looking at; SMR builds and UAC/10 builds are very close in power, ala a huntsman with 6x SRMs versus a timberwolf with 4x SRM 6s. Ex. also a Hunchback with 2x UAC/10s and 2 ERMLs versus a Timber with 2x UAC/10s and 4x ERSLs.

Yeah, I felt bad about being so dogmatic after I posted that. How exactly would one go about building a mech like that that isn't spread too thin? I look at those kinds of builds and get the distinct feel that, because of how ammunition and heatsinks work, splitting your mech into ranges weakens it dramatically.

I've looked at a similar build on my Timber but it feels very limited; 15 DHS's doesnt' give you enough heat to work with to make that many lasers work well, at least for me.