This is the standard 3E build. It has high sustained damage and very good close in damage. The left arm is uparmored compared to the right arm to shield your AC/5's. The build plays almost identical to the old 4 PPC stalker for damage/alpha potential, however it does have a higher sustained fire rate AND you cannot crest with this build. If you can read terrain and get back shots with this mech, it is a devastator. Depending on your heat, you can chain fire the AC/5 to give your opponent the shakes. For green pilots its enough to make them back off while allowing you to damage them and taking no damage on your own. For firing groups: 1: All weaons (alpha/sniping) 2: 3 AC/5's chain fire (overheat/CC) 4. 2 PPC (firing at a fast moving target don't want to waste ammo) 5: 3 AC/5 (firing at lights that are in the 90M PPC dead zone)
I'd suggest mapping your groups to something more intuitive: left torso (ACs) on left mouse, right torso (PPCs) on right mouse, and either a chain fire toggle set to your AC's weapon group, or a separate pre-chained group if that's your style. Mash left and right for an alpha, natural left mouse/left torso and right mouse/right torso for corner shots, and with that AC5 barrel in your face, you'll never forget which button is your AC group.
I agree with tfun90. I run right mouse PPC, left mouse AC/5 on chain fire, center mouse on all three for a focused alpha hit.
I'm using a Razer Nagga. So: #1 = Left Mouse (Alpha) #2 = Right Mouse (Chain fire AC/5) #4 = 4 button on side of nagga and fires PPC's only #5 - 5 button on side of nagga and fire AC/5's only I typically run 4 firing groups when using a Naga and these tend to be the buttons I use. Using a keyboard is not that effectively in comparison to a lot of hardware options out there as a replacement.
I would add an MLas at the head, so you get to zombie if your ST got trashed. You don't have to fire it when your PPC are still around, but it is good backup up close. Oh for the similar heat, you can think of this also. I already took the extra ton out of the armor for ammo/MLas, you can put that armor back if you don't need these. Well, 3x AC5 takes quite a bit of ammo I recall.
The only other build I would recommend for the 3E is this: You have 30pt sniper alpha, and you have adequate close in fire. It is a shame that the game automatically places your AC/5's in the lower torso even with the 2 MG's that clearly bump your AC/5's up top, but thats the damn game engine. Then you could have an ok hill crester with 2 AC/5 and 1 LL, but that isn't allowed.
New quirk pass has made this build better. Standard PPCs now have a velocity of 1140m/s thus better than a single ERPPC for performance. Also, your build @enileph will work nicely with the changes to LL ghost heat triggering at 4+ at the moment.
Hm, yes, the PPCs did get a velocity quirk for this, which would have put them fairly well equal with the AC5s (1140 compared to 1150, minimal difference). HOWEVER, the AC5s also received a velocity increase of 15%, putting them at 1323; and that's a ways off from 1140. Why PGI decided they had to up the velocity of those Ballistics right when they were bringing the PPCs on par with them is beyond me . . . but it is what they did.
Would you guys mind to give some advice about piloting this build? I tried it for few battles, but without any success. I'll learn what I can from the video above, of course, but I'd appreciate any other information. Here are some mentions to ensure that my question will be heard: @Rhent as the author (btw, what did you mean by reading terrain?); @McMatt and @dranozir as 5-star givers; @Blagg Zear as always helpful adviser.
@dog_funtom we'll help you for sure. But first for clarifying - would you mind to describe the problems you got with the build? Is it the weapon (group) management, the attack range/power, the mobility, the general survivability, or something else? I'm sure we can give u tipps if we can get more infos.
@Blagg Zear, I figured it could be better to avoid specifics, so the tips would be helpful for anybody who happen to stumble on this thread, not just me. Anyway, my main problem is mobility, and it's a problem in two ways: Sometimes a team does very sudden change of position as a reaction to enemy pushing or as a retreat after an unsuccessful friendly push, and I'm one of a couple of sacrificed fatties. When sniping, return fire is huge. Many players are long-range and glad to each land a few shots on my CT because I can't back up and/or torso twist quickly.
Well, imo the two mentioned points are general problems one can have with Assaults. Best personal Tip: know your Mech - the Strengths and the Weaks and play it toward it's Strengths. The good things on the Banshee: Armor level like a 100Tonner Hitboxes are quite XL Engine friendly for an Assault High Engine Cap/Mobility Pretty high Hardpoints Most Hardpoints in the Torso = lose Arms keep Firepower Pretty good Shieldarms Decent Quirks The bads: Due to Hardpoints - not a very high Burstdamage in CQC and/or requires a high Heat Efficiency No Arms Hardpoints Means limited Aiming/Targeting Ability, especially against fast moving Targets in Short Range Due to Weapon Choice around Ballistics limitations to Engine Rating options General Tips for this Build: Situation/Environment Awareness is crucial to keep the Targets within the optimal range of the weapons amd to keep yourself undercoverw. Due to the current PPC Hitreg Issue focus on Dakka Suppression - addin PPC Shots when you have clear Shots at critical components and hope that the Hitreg God doesn't trick you. If you experience bad Luck too often maybe switch to LPLas. Shield whenever your weapons are on Cooldown, always. Try to keep out of the Main Brawl, play like a super heavy Support - Suppressor at Range Attacks. If Teammovement (PUGs) is chaotic try to communicate and give Calls. Dont be the Main Tank, but if Team needs you can be a decent Assist Tank aka Off-Tank - take pressure from the Main Tank(s). Team Up with the Heavies and gank your targets together. Use following Modules: AC5 CD, PPC Range (+CD)
@dog_funtom Good points @Blagg Zear . I use Target Info Gathering module. It shows paper doll faster and you can aim right where PPC hurt most. So that every shot counts. I also had some really bad games. But those happen in other slow mechs too. A moment of too much focus on target and you're alone. Some light comes around and you're done.
Thanks for your tips. I experienced a noticeable improvement in piloting it after following them, so I recommend anybody else trying this build to read them too. Frankly, I still find this build too slow, making it too dependent on team quality, making winning/losing in it very luck-based, which is very annoying for me. I guess I should climb to tier 2 first before trying builds like this.
