NSR-WP "Mass-MRM" (2xMRM20, 2xMRM30, LE345) + Alts

5/5,

1 rating

Description:​

A very good close-fire-support mech and line-holder, the mass-MRM Nightstar has a very large, very consistent damage output, and despite having the mobility of a 95-ton assault, its shape allows it to spread damage very nicely making the chassis tankier than it feels like it should be. The sheer volume of fire it can output will either kill a target very quickly, or force a torso twist.

This can also be done on a Cyclops 10-Q, but I think the shape and torso-twist speed of the Cyclops lends itself better to SRM-brawling, and the Nightstar's high mounts and damage-spreading shape fit a close-support role better. The loss of five tons makes the build a little more awkward on the Cyclops as well.

Builds:​

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This is the basic build, and in my opinion the version that performs the most consistently well. 100-point alpha, cool-running enough that you don't have to worry about it for a little while. There's some wiggle-room as well, letting you drop a heat sink for an extra ton of ammo, or for AMS. Despite the ghost heat, if you have to, you can still reasonably alpha strike everything at once. For example, if you sneak behind a fresh Banshee that you think could start twisting as soon as he starts taking damage. The full alpha after skills and with this build will only put you up to about 65% heat, and you cool down enough to do your usual one-two volleys once or twice afterward before you have to start worrying about heat.

I will note, I don't agree with shaving any head armor on this chassis. It's got a larger head hitbox compared to some other assaults. Doesn't matter if you're getting domed by heavy gauss, but you will take more incidental damage to your head than most other assaults would. To roll damage effectively in this chassis, you will want to pitch up as you twist, as it hides the "wing" bits that stick out, and also gives a harder shot at the plate on top of the mech (which counts as center torso). You typically also don't want to fight targets that are above you, as the flat plate on top is center torso.

Code:

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Another version taking advantage of the space saved from running MRM10s and 40s as opposed to 20s and 30s. Unfortunately, the build can't really take advantage of the four tons saved by the change in weapons. The biggest benefit to this build is the ability to run a Standard engine (which you have to shave some armor to get up to a Standard 345), so you don't lose heat capacity and dissipation after losing a side torso. The downside is that your alpha becomes much more awkward in trying to avoid ghost heat, and the cooldowns for the MRM10s and 40s don't match up.

All that said, however, I would run this version on the Cyclops 10-Q, because the higher engine cap on the Cyclops lets you really take advantage of the saved tonnage and run a big light engine.

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Another variation, this one runs quad-MRM30s. I've seen some people running this version. The 20-point extra alpha is truly withering fire, but you lose a lot of flexibility in fitting and some speed, and the build runs MUCH hotter, losing you consistent DPS. I think the MRM100 version performs more consistently, and this build is relegated to more back-line fire support.

Code:

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Then there's this version which I think is actually the most reasonable of the quad-30s build. It's quite a bit slower, nearly 10kph slower than the 20-30 build, and has to strip some ammo and armor to make it fit with a reasonable number of heat sinks, but it doesn't run as unbearably hot as the other version.

You can also run 40s and 20s to save some tonnage and either up the engine or put back some armor or ammo, but like the 40-10 build above, you have some problems getting your alpha out if you're avoiding ghost heat and the cooldowns don't sync up.

Skills:​

Code:

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https://kitlaan.gitlab.io/mwoskill/?p=jsonbin1.5c2d53f805d34b26f200d5e9
For skills, I ran the left side of the Firepower tree for all the various missile skills. I also picked up some Heat Gen; the build doesn't run incredibly hot, but the reduction in generated heat does help. If you have some leftover points, you can pick up some extra Cooldown nodes (1, 3, 4, and 6) pretty easily.

The Nightstar is a target, so I run full Survival tree. Especially if you're running this as a line-holder, I wouldn't skimp on this skill tree. If you're running AMS, you should pick up the two AMS Overload nodes instead of Shock Absorbance 1 and 3. Especially in quick-play, I don't like running anything particularly slow, so I run full Speed Tweak on my slow assaults. I also picked up two extra Anchor Turn, so I can track light mechs and maneuver a little better.

As always, I pick up a node of Seismic Sensor and Radar Deprivation, for the information they give me. If you have some extra points, you should consider the easily-acquired Radar Deprivation 1 and 2 nodes, as it could cut down on the amount of indirect LRM fire you take. That's a judgement call, though, as a lot of the time you're taking indirect LRM fire it will be because of a spotter. I had a point leftover from what I wanted to take, so I picked up an extra consumable slot for a CoolShot.

If you're running the hotter quad-30s build, you may want to cut some other trees for some Cool Run in the Operations tree as well, and maybe put a few more points in Auxiliary to skill up the CoolShots a bit.

 

You could move the MRM30 to one side and the MRM20 to the other:

This way you could fit one arm's DHS in the side torso and move some armor to the MRM30 arm to protect the other DHS a bit more. Optionally remove even more armor from the empty arm in case you want to add more ammo.

 

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