Basic, I know, but for some beginners (like myself) I'm finding myself having some fun with this mech. Gutted it, slapped some LLAS and an AMS (LLAS may as well be a big arrow broadcasting your position). Ran out of spaces after loading it with DHS and then took the free weight and pumped it into the CT. This build tends to lead with its face. Not exactly a front line brawler mech, but it will get the attention of anything you can alpha strike. I can get 3 alphas in before running into heat issues, also have all 4 in chain fire for when I'm on the move and i get twitchy with my mouse. I was running 2PPC and 2LLAS which was a great sniper-ish build. Ran hot, but it was more a stick and move kind of mech that thrived in the city maps. (First submission, be gentle)
I have this similar build but I find the larger engine/higher speed lets me change flanking positions for more effectiveness. Since this is a laser spam build and is highly accurate it is essential to target weak areas of the enemy mech. I've had great success flanking and punching through a heavy or assault mech's already stripped torso armor for the kill.
With the recent nerf to LRMs, I find AMS to be largely superfluous. I ran a 4xLL build on my Flame for a long while, and currently have a 4xLL build on my DGN-1C. These builds run hot, but they do a lot of damage every alpha, and IMO are the best flyswatters in the game.
Hola, I tried this build and it is surprisingly good, averaging 400-600 damage per match. The Laser intersect and if you are a good aim you can really chew stuff up !!
If you bump the engine to a 315XL, you can hit speeds of 78/86 kph (speed tweak/sans speed tweak). Sure, it makes you more vulnerable, but in this rig, you need more mobility to become a huge PITA to the OpFor. Max out the armor, add 1 more ton of AMS ammo and you're golden. It mimics my LaserMeister Jagermech. The only difference is the fact that the Catapult has much narrower side torsos, so it isn't as vulnerable to engine hits.
Essentially I took the Punchy variant (designed by Red_Febtober) and upgraded it giving it near max armor and a little bit of speed. zBear requested a build using 4x LLas and this is what I came up with.
If you have the XL-engine, I would run the following instead. Either build, I really enjoy this loadout.
Here's another variant of the same great loadout: XL is a great fit for Catapults, as the side torsos have tiny hitboxes. I also chose *not* to put Endo as it gives you room for one more heat sink, bumping the sustained DPS to 4.24. On a laser boat like this, one additional heat sink can really make a difference. Because it has no Endo, I bought some tonnage from leg armor. Nobody aims for the legs of a Catapult these days anyway... Also, I think the XL300 is the sweet spot here, as the XL310 is *two tons* heavier just for a 3 km/h increase. Don't forget to lock arms when firing alpha to get all that 36 damage on the same component.
I used to run 4 LLs in the K2 but I really didn't like it. Switched to 2xERLLs and 2xLLs and still hated it. Really struggling to find a decent build for my K2 that my firebrand can't do.
I personally use Mythweavers build on my K2 and love it. When hit detection works it is a beast but it does run hot and you need to be careful with that aspect of its operation.
I run with something very similar to this; Only I have just over 2 tonnes of wasted free space because I can't afford to upgrade my 300XL =[. Slightly off-topic but how do I link the picture overview that you guys are using?
