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[Mupod]

Haha yeah my group was talking about it on Mumble last night and it does seem kind of ridiculous.

As others have said I would ignore most of the forum complaints though. You get a lot of people getting cored and then come on complaining about some imagined bug because they thought they were cheated.

There was a long thread after this patch about how internal damage was bugged and you would always lose a part to even a single machine gun bullet.

I honestly didn't even lose my armor in a single match last night but everyone else said that definitely wasn't happening to them.

The internal hp thing was bullshit and a bunch of forum trolls got caught up in it. I've been playing nothing but Jenners since the patch and trust me if people were dying in one hit to internals I'd know. I still need to wail on stripped Atlases for a while and there are a lot of Atlases now.

Anyways, I spotted for some LRM users last night. I hate using LRMs but playing a TAG Jenner was oddly entertaining even though it was nearly impossible to actually fight straight up until half the enemy team was dead. It was just a game of spotting targets and finding the few pieces of cover on the map that would stop the missiles, then once the scouts were down I got to close in and torment some now-helpless LRM boats. The skies were constantly full of missiles.

Still can't say I'll miss it very much after the hotfix, assuming that deals with the problem.

Well, after finally getting a video card that lets me play this, I've spent several days grinding in trial mechs I didn't like to finally buy a Cicada that's almost completely worthless in practice.

Btw, how does spotting work? Do I have to stay locked on to a mech for the rest of my team to be able to target it, do I need to stay in visual range, or just find the enemies and run?

I can't help you much with the Cicada thing, but on a lightly armored mech don't fall into the trap of sacrificing speed for power. Although strapping a Gauss to the little bastard might be effective.

You need to hold the lock. You can spot the enemies and cycle targets quickly to give your teammates an idea of where they are (and annoy them with beep beep beep beep). But if you want LRM support you gotta stare at them for a while. You can tell if you've got incoming fire support if 'SPOT TARGET' shows up on your screen - you get c-bills for it too. I was making up to 40,000 a match just from that last night.

fake edit: I just realized they don't even have Houses to choose... what's going on here?
So... they do have stuff planned? I seem to recall hearing something about it, but all I'm seeing is them playing with team deathmatch balance.

It's been planned for as long as the game has existed but don't expect it any time soon. I honestly thought it was a priority to have it done before open beta, but that sure didn't happen. There's going to be another game mode added soon which involves capturing points or something.

 

[BattleMonkey]

So trying to get back in more time with this using my Founder Catapult just to maximize my xp and cbills while they are giving away that free premium time for Founders.... regret getting the Cat but whatever so I'm doing the missle boat thing and just not used to it. Even with locks and launching all my LRM's it seems my damage done score can often be next to nothing. Is there some tricks to playing missile boat other than just locking on and going pew?

Really just want to get my light and go all speedy pew pew recon again.

 

[Sax Russel]

So trying to get back in more time with this using my Founder Catapult just to maximize my xp and cbills while they are giving away that free premium time for Founders.... regret getting the Cat but whatever so I'm doing the missle boat thing and just not used to it. Even with locks and launching all my LRM's it seems my damage done score can often be next to nothing. Is there some tricks to playing missile boat other than just locking on and going pew?

Really just want to get my light and go all speedy pew pew recon again.

Are you maintaining lock on your target until the missiles hit? You should be able to tell by your reticle flashing red, but if you break lock early chances are they're going to miss unless your target is standing still.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Are you maintaining lock on your target until the missiles hit? You should be able to tell by your reticle flashing red, but if you break lock early chances are they're going to miss unless your target is standing still.

Yea I try too as much as possible. Course on many maps and distance it's hard to say how well your hitting until end of the match and you find out you got a shitty score. Really not liking doing the whole missile boat thing cause it feels like it's so random how well I am actually helping at all.

 

[Nickiepoo]

Even with locks and launching all my LRM's it seems my damage done score can often be next to nothing.

Missle damage on the score screen seems to be bugged at the moment.

Also, use Artemis.

 

[Llyranor]

Well, after finally getting a video card that lets me play this, I've spent several days grinding in trial mechs I didn't like to finally buy a Cicada that's almost completely worthless in practice.

The Cicada is an amazing mech in capable hands (but I think you need a lot of expensive upgrades to really make it shine). Which one did you buy?

 

[androvsky]

The Cicada is an amazing mech in capable hands (but I think you need a lot of expensive upgrades to really make it shine). Which one did you buy?

It's the one with the PPC and two machine guns. I thought it'd be fun to drop the machine guns and put an AMS on it, to help me live longer while spotting missile boats and snipe them too. In practice stationary catapults are about the only thing I can hit with the PPC because of lag in firing, and the AMS doesn't seem to do much about keeping me alive very long in the face of three or four heavy mechs all targeting me with multiple LRM salvos at once.

It's only got one energy hardpoint and there's not enough spare weight left over to do anything interesting with ballistics (I forgot how heavy even the AC/2 is). I tried switching to ferro-fibrous armor to free up some weight, since it has at least 28 critical slots left and the upgrade only takes 14. Problem is the upgrade took only slots starting from the left side and I couldn't move them, so I lost my energy hardpoint, leaving the other side completely open slot-wise. And of course I had to play another match in a trial mech to be able to afford to switch back to the regular armor.

My favorite thing about the Mechwarrior games was playing around with crazy builds, but it feels like it's going to take a very long time before I can really have fun with it.

You need to hold the lock. You can spot the enemies and cycle targets quickly to give your teammates an idea of where they are (and annoy them with beep beep beep beep). But if you want LRM support you gotta stare at them for a while. You can tell if you've got incoming fire support if 'SPOT TARGET' shows up on your screen - you get c-bills for it too. I was making up to 40,000 a match just from that last night.

That's very helpful, thanks. Can I switch targets after I get the "Spot Target" notification, or will the missiles lose their lock?

 

[Llyranor]

It's the one with the PPC and two machine guns.

Ha, that's the one I'm playing with right now, actually! I have an XL300 engine on it, with endo-steel, ferro-fibrous and double heat sinks. It is an expensive build, but I think the Cicada every extra space it can get. I only have an ERPPC and an AC2 (this build works with the 3M Cicada as well) as weapons, actually. Going at 120kph, I can sniper at up to 700-800m. So I break behind the enemy line and snipe them in the back, doing good damage with the PPC, as well as constantly shaking their screen with the AC2 (screen shake every 0.5 sec makes them turn around, exposing them to the team's main lines. If they do turn around, going 120 kph I'm already out of sight and moving to another advantageous position. I love it. Its main weakness is light mechs, but with my speed I try to break off and run from them before they actually close in on me.

Problem is the upgrade took only slots starting from the left side and I couldn't move them, so I lost my energy hardpoint, leaving the other side completely open slot-wise. And of course I had to play another match in a trial mech to be able to afford to switch back to the regular armor.

The upgrade critical spaces are flexible. Just click on them and put your energy weapon in the torso you want, and the upgrade slot will move to another free spot on the mech.

Also, if you take only one upgrade, go for endo-steel; it always frees up more space than FF. FF is only for if you're broke or as a 2nd upgrade after endo.

That's very helpful, thanks. Can I switch targets after I get the "Spot Target" notification, or will the missiles lose their lock?

As long as someone in the team has the enemy targetted, the missile will home in. If no one has a lock before the missiles hit, they will just head to the last known location of the enemy. If you lose a lock and find it again before the missiles hit, they will home in again.

 

[androvsky]

Ha, that's the one I'm playing with right now, actually! I have an XL300 engine on it, with endo-steel, ferro-fibrous and double heat sinks. It is an expensive build, but I think the Cicada every extra space it can get. I only have an ERPPC and an AC2 (this build works with the 3M Cicada as well) as weapons, actually. Going at 120kph, I can sniper at up to 700-800m. So I break behind the enemy line and snipe them in the back, doing good damage with the PPC, as well as constantly shaking their screen with the AC2 (screen shake every 0.5 sec makes them turn around, exposing them to the team's main lines. If they do turn around, going 120 kph I'm already out of sight and moving to another advantageous position. I love it. Its main weakness is light mechs, but with my speed I try to break off and run from them before they actually close in on me.

Yeah, I've noticed. >_< There's always a Jenner...

The upgrade critical spaces are flexible. Just click on them and put your energy weapon in the torso you want, and the upgrade slot will move to another free spot on the mech.

Also, if you take only one upgrade, go for endo-steel; it always frees up more space than FF. FF is only for if you're broke or as a 2nd upgrade after endo.

Awesome, thanks. I recall trying to add a weapon and failing so I'm not sure in what way I was doing it wrong, but it worked this time so I'm happy. Got endo-steel and ferro-fibrous, I was able to put the machine guns back in. At least now I can feel like I'm doing something while I watch my PPC beams clip through enemy mechs. Gonna be a while before I can afford an XL engine, but the good news is even with the high-tech armor and structure I still make money on a losing team where my mech gets destroyed. Which is pretty much every match.

As long as someone in the team has the enemy targetted, the missile will home in. If no one has a lock before the missiles hit, they will just head to the last known location of the enemy. If you lose a lock and find it again before the missiles hit, they will home in again.

Assuming that includes the person firing them, I'm not going to worry about holding targets after getting the spotting notification.

 

[Nickiepoo]

Just confirming that I've seen good Cidadas in action and they can be a great force on their team.

But also that most Cicadas are not being piloted correctly and little more than an annoyance as a result.

It's the fastest mech in the game and needs to be treated as such.

 

[Mupod]

Just confirming that I've seen good Cidadas in action and they can be a great force on their team.

But also that most Cicadas are not being piloted correctly and little more than an annoyance as a result.

It's the fastest mech in the game and needs to be treated as such.

The problem with Cicadas is that picking one usually gives the opposition a Hunchback or Centurion, assuming matchmaking decides to work the way it's meant to. I personally don't see much point to the mech, but some people swear by them. I guess you could find a use for long range weapons on fast mechs but in my experience it doesn't work out well.

I just really hate scouts without JJs, especially on River City. And the Jenner is extremely good at its job, so it makes the other 'fast' mechs look worse.

 

[Llyranor]

Cataphract November 20th, YEAH!

Assuming that includes the person firing them, I'm not going to worry about holding targets after getting the spotting notification.

Well, yeah. Of course, if you're behind enemy lines and the only one who can see the target, try to maintain the lock. Though, obviously the priority is in not getting yourself too badly damaged in the process, and running away if need be.

Cicadas are great. 5 tons more than the Jenner (you can make very Jenner-like builds, with extra space to improve it), and some with ballistic slots. Let me tell you, running around at 120kph + LBX-10 shotgunning everything is an incredible feeling.

The problem with Cicadas is that picking one usually gives the opposition a Hunchback or Centurion, assuming matchmaking decides to work the way it's meant to. I personally don't see much point to the mech, but some people swear by them. I guess you could find a use for long range weapons on fast mechs but in my experience it doesn't work out well.

I just really hate scouts without JJs, especially on River City. And the Jenner is extremely good at its job, so it makes the other 'fast' mechs look worse.

If the enemy has an extra hunch of cent, YOUR team has an extra fast 'light' mech. This is incredibly useful. In games where there was only one light mech per side, me (as a cicada) + the light proceeded to quickly kill the enemy one, then went to cap. Since there was nothing remotely close in speed to us, we wasted a whole bunch of the enemy's time and firepower while the rest of the team destroyed the weakened enemy frontlines.

I love JJ, but River City is the only map where it's really 'essential'. I agree that Jenner completely outclasses commando and raven (but that's unfair given the lack of ECM/BAP - also depends on the devs will implement those; will they allow all mechs to carry it, etc?), but I think I actually prefer the cicada (though the Jenner's JJ/arm-aiming are its advantages).

I think we'll see a lot of suicidal cicadas this week (last week = raven) because it's one of the trials.

 

[ColonelSkills]

The problem with Cicadas is that picking one usually gives the opposition a Hunchback or Centurion, assuming matchmaking decides to work the way it's meant to. I personally don't see much point to the mech, but some people swear by them.

The 3C is a 120 km/h shotgun. I would take a 3C player over some knob in a Centurion who gets his heavy AC arm ripped off after 3 seconds any day of the week.

Also I am one of those scouts without JJs. I think I do well for myself, River City or not. Not worth the weight for the very, VERY few instances where they would make a tactical difference.

 

[Nickiepoo]

The 3C is a 120 km/h shotgun. I would take a 3C player over some knob in a Centurion who gets his heavy AC arm ripped off after 3 seconds any day of the week.

Truth. Hunchies fill a role, but most of the time I'd rather a cicada on my team. When I know the pilot knows what he's doing of course.

Also I am one of those scouts without JJs. I think I do well for myself, River City or not. Not worth the weight for the very, VERY few instances where they would make a tactical difference.

I used to feel this way too, but the half ton commitment really can pay for itself.

Totally situational, but mid-air turning shots with streaks make them worthwhile alone.

 

[ColonelSkills]

Totally situational, but mid-air turning shots with streaks make them worthwhile alone.

I can see this, but my playstyle involves a lot of hit and run with energy weaponry. I tend not to rock streaks in general. I guess with their CT targetting as we discussed a few days ago though I probably would be better off trying it.

I've got a few million spare C-Bills, I'll buy another Jenner platform and give it a shot.

 

[Zaptruder]

I'm so sad that my aussie lag essentially makes playing a scout impossible for me.

Basically, in any mech going over say... 80 km/h, my mech will start warping around, usually to my detriment. The faster it goes, the worst it gets.

I'm pretty sure it has everything to do with terrible terrible netcode.

I got stuck in a tunnel with a commando that streaked me to death because I couldn't navigate out of it; because I kept warping back into the tunnel, even though it looked like I had escaped out of several times over.

This is after I've spent millions fully upgrading my jenner and cicada

 

[BattleMonkey]

Any good tutorials out there for mechbuilding and all the little details of it? Haven't really tried much with any of these new armor types and heat sinks. Also never figured out how important heat sink placement is. Putting them where your weapons has most effect no outside of the popular heat sinks in feet for water dissipation thing?

 

[Mupod]

Any good tutorials out there for mechbuilding and all the little details of it? Haven't really tried much with any of these new armor types and heat sinks. Also never figured out how important heat sink placement is. Putting them where your weapons has most effect no outside of the popular heat sinks in feet for water dissipation thing?

As far as I know heatsinks can get destroyed along with sections so be wary of putting them in arms. They have no additional effect if they are in the same area as your weapons, but yes they provide a bit of additonal cooling when submerged, although you can't fit doubles in your legs.

As of right now though, double heatsinks are working at 2.0 for the 10 you get free with your engine and 1.4 for all others. This makes DHS absolutely amazing for light mechs - I was getting 3-5 kills every match with my 2ML + 4xSL Jenner last night. I even managed to make one with 4MPL almost viable, heh.

But yeah a general rule to follow is that the upgrades are more effective if you have lots of free critical slots and limitations on tonnage - it's rare that you'll have room for endo/FF on an assault mech. Endo steel is always better than FF. Light mechs absolutely need the biggest XL engine you can cram in there - XL are expensive, but you can offset the cost by selling your standard engines and just dropping the XL into whatever variant you're playing at the moment.

Make sure you use your armor points, and keep in mind that it's shared between front and back. Awesomes for example come with WAY too much rear CT armor, so I always shift some of it to the front. If you're desperate for a little more tonnage, you can strip out armor from arms you don't need at the cost of not being able to said arm as a shield. Beware stripping legs - you don't usually need more than 50 armor in them, but since trial mechs have weak leg armor I'm in the habit to always aim for that on certain chassis.

 

[androvsky]

Thought about switching out my PPC for an ER Large Laser so I'd have better luck hitting mechs at short range, so I looked them up to check to see if the range would be about the same...

Apparently normal PPCs have a minimum range? No wonder I couldn't hit stuff close up, I thought it was lag that made the beams appear to go through mechs sometimes.

 

[Nickiepoo]

Thought about switching out my PPC for an ER Large Laser so I'd have better luck hitting mechs at short range, so I looked them up to check to see if the range would be about the same...

Apparently normal PPCs have a minimum range? No wonder I couldn't hit stuff close up, I thought it was lag that made the beams appear to go through mechs sometimes.

90 meters. I'm not sure if shots closer than 90 will do zero damage or simply falloff damage, but either way that's one of the big advantages of ERPPCs, no minimum range.

 

[Lime]

Haven't had the time to play the game the last week, but finally squeezed an hour in today. I like the lighting on the new snowy Forest map. Also, I was looking at some of my old MW2 screenshots and it's incredible what has happened since back then:

From

to

 

[BattleMonkey]

When you upgrade armor or whatever and it says it takes up 14 critical slots or so, where do these slots come from? Do you choose which slots you give up or something? I would like to play around with this but it looks like to even try it you got to buy it in the mechlab? Cause normally seems like you can play around with your creations and just cancel to no pay anything, but I don't want to buy the armor upgrades or such if I can't cancel to just see how they work.

 

[androvsky]

When you upgrade armor or whatever and it says it takes up 14 critical slots or so, where do these slots come from? Do you choose which slots you give up or something? I would like to play around with this but it looks like to even try it you got to buy it in the mechlab? Cause normally seems like you can play around with your creations and just cancel to no pay anything, but I don't want to buy the armor upgrades or such if I can't cancel to just see how they work.

It just auto-fills empty slots, you can't move them. The good news is that they'll move automatically when you try to put in something in a specific spot. I couldn't get that to work the first time I tried it, but I haven't had any problems since.

 

[BattleMonkey]

It just auto-fills empty slots, you can't move them. The good news is that they'll move automatically when you try to put in something in a specific spot. I couldn't get that to work the first time I tried it, but I haven't had any problems since.

Ah ok thats cool then

 

[Woorloog]

Well well. Fuck ZoneAlarm.
It stopped MWO from working. It stopped Thunderbird from working. It stopped Chrome from working.
Never again using it.
And now i need a new free Firewall... My friend advices agaisnt Windows Firewall.

Maybe i'll finally play MWO again, tomorrow. Or maybe not. Tomorrow is goind to be a shitty day...

Were ECM/Beagle added yet? I want to run around with electronics loaded Raven.

 

[Nickiepoo]

Were ECM/Beagle added yet? I want to run around with electronics loaded Raven.

Alas not. We're getting the Cataphract on the 20th, maybe some other stuff with it.

 

[kairotic]

MWO @ 6060x1080 is incredible...

Really starting to get into this game. Still haven't bought a mech yet, though. Thinking about getting a Jenner as my first mech. Need to do some more research.

 

[PjotrStroganov]

Well well. Fuck ZoneAlarm.
It stopped MWO from working. It stopped Thunderbird from working. It stopped Chrome from working.
Never again using it.
And now i need a new free Firewall... My friend advices agaisnt Windows Firewall.

Maybe i'll finally play MWO again, tomorrow. Or maybe not. Tomorrow is goind to be a shitty day...

Were ECM/Beagle added yet? I want to run around with electronics loaded Raven.

Don't you have a modem firewall?

 

[Woorloog]

Don't you have a modem firewall?

No idea really, the documentation is awful (ISP provides that). Probably not though, don't see any direct referrences to one.

 

[Mupod]

MWO @ 6060x1080 is incredible...

Really starting to get into this game. Still haven't bought a mech yet, though. Thinking about getting a Jenner as my first mech. Need to do some more research.

Jenners are amazing but you really need a 300XL engine (expensive) if you want to use them properly. From there your best upgrade would be Double Heatsinks because (for now) you'll get the equivalent of 20 just from that engine and another 1.4 heatsinks for each one you add. That engine itself can hold two without taking up extra crit space in your mech. Go for the D variant with 2xSRM4 or the F version with whatever combination of lasers you want. I like 2ML and 4SL, but 6SL is good too.

Hunchbacks are all pretty good out of the box and it's imo the best beginner mech. I'm a big fan of the 4SP and 4P variants.

 

[Nickiepoo]

Jenners are amazing but you really need a 300XL engine (expensive) if you want to use them properly.

XL is an upgrade but they're fine without. Get endosteel and DHSs for sure. I like the D with 4 smalls and 2 streak SRM2s for light murdering.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

So for a while I was challenging myself with the Centurion builds. It was a lot of fun but they are handicapped compared to other mechs in a lot of ways. the only thing they seem to have over hunchies is a smaller target for example.

Last night I finally made my first Dragon build. I dont even think it is a great build but i had a ton of fun with it. Gauss in one arm and ER ppc in the other. A double hit from those seem to make most PUGs panic.

My brother also made a 3x ac2 build. Going to be fun rolling together.

 

[Mupod]

So 15 million c-bills later I built this monstrosity:

AS7-RS
350 standard
Endosteel
DHS (7, engine holds 4 of those + the default 10 operating at 2.0)
Gauss rifle w/3 tons ammo
2xArtemis SRM6 w/3 tons ammo (it's even MORE accurate on this mech than my hunchback/awesome since they all come out of the same area at once)
4xMedium Laser

I hadn't piloted an Atlas since July and I broke 950 damage in my first match...and the second. Can't wait to see how insane this thing gets with efficiencies unlocked...I would've chewed up a close range brawler AS7-D and his large laser K2 buddy before I even hit red armor if I'd had the heat capacity/dissipation ones. Even so I made it out with yellow CT internals and the gauss torso missing, and I survived the match.

Only thing that sucks I'll need a lot more cash to get two more Atlases. Fortunately I can probably get away with not buying them any upgrades, maybe Artemis for the DC.

 

[PjotrStroganov]

For some reason I keep spending money and only have one mech. I do have a lot of weapons and a 300xl engine though.

I keep switching between different configs for my Atlas. A constant is DHS and at least an AC. My current setup is
4 medium lasers
Normal engine
Gaus canon
AC2

Often I switch to
3 Large lasers
double AC5

Dual AC2 is also fun but I'd rather use a lighter mech for that.

 

[Mupod]

It's worth it to save up for two more, even though Atlases are expensive. 2x basic efficiencies and Speed Tweak are a huge benefit to any mech.

I will most likely end up running my Swayback for a couple hours tonight to make money though. Only at around 2.5 million and I don't think I'll have enough for an AS7-D by the time I finish off the basic efficiencies on the RS.

 

[Lime]

Cataphract screenshot:

 

[El'Kharn]

MWO @ 6060x1080 is incredible...

Really starting to get into this game. Still haven't bought a mech yet, though. Thinking about getting a Jenner as my first mech. Need to do some more research.

Try to hold out for a centurion or a hunchback.
Jenners, jenners everywhere.......

 

[ColonelSkills]

Why would you take a Centurion over a Jenner as your first mech? It's more specialized and takes a much finer pilot to implement and be an asset to the team properly.

Besides, AS a Jenner, my first priority is usually taking the heavy arm off of any Cents I see.

 

[El'Kharn]

Why would you take a Centurion over a Jenner as your first mech? It's more specialized and takes a much finer pilot to implement and be an asset to the team properly.

Besides, AS a Jenner, my first priority is usually taking the heavy arm off of any Cents I see.

Due to the 3 streak launchers you can mount on one variant. Combine those with pulse lasers in the torso = bye bye jenner. That stupid arm is only really good for mounting an AC2 imo so you got something to keep the pressure on (the bigger mechs) as you close in.
I drive hunchbacks tho so i dont really have much of a problem with lights as i fit for scout hunting mostly.

 

[ColonelSkills]

An interesting build, for certain. I've never run across anyone playing a Centurion like that. Sounds like a fun tangent for a chassis normally doing the exact opposite.

Sounds like a high heat build though.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Did they add the frozen city map? Didn't see it in the patch notes yet it was mentioned in the update article on joystick? Is it a new map or just a snow varient of river city? Or is this something not yet in?

 

[Mupod]

SSRM2s are pretty nuts now. Oddly enough my Jenner had a higher survival rate against streak cats than my Cataphract, with the new sensor range module + BAP I was able to identify them from far out of their range and just avoid them. Combining them seems to provide a targeting range of about 1100M, the BAP makes you gather info faster and has the neat side effect of letting you target shutdown mechs with streaks.

Still annoying as a Light when everybody with a missile hardpoint is packing streaks now though (including me). They would have been perfectly fine if they had just fixed the problem of them missing but I have no idea why they buffed the damage too.

As for the Cataphract, first thing I tried was the 3D (jump capable variant) with two gauss rifles. Didn't like it - dealing with convergence issues on separate weapons mounted on arm/torso sections is way too annoying. Had far more success with LLs in the arms, MLs in the side torsos and one gauss rifle in the torso. Dropped down to a standard engine for more survivability too.

The main weakness of the Cataphract is its HUGE cockpit, which surprises me because Catapults and Awesomes used to have this problem and they eventually got the hitboxes drastically reduced. Those were my primary mechs long before that happened so I'm still in the habit of protecting my face...most people driving Cataphracts right now aren't. I got an impressive headshot count last night with mech above.

I really want to try the 2xUAC5 + AC5 + AC2 cataphract 4X I've seen running around once or twice. That is a horrifying amount of dakka. 4xAC5 was what I was originally going to try, but I only had just enough time last night to make enough dosh for the mech so I haven't done any customization on it yet.

Did they add the frozen city map? Didn't see it in the patch notes yet it was mentioned in the update article on joystick? Is it a new map or just a snow varient of river city? Or is this something not yet in?

It's been in since...July, I think? Maybe you were just unlucky and never saw it. They did change it a bit this patch though - I love that you can hide in the crashed dropship now. I want to try and shove my Atlas in there and scare someone to death.

 

[ColonelSkills]

Hmm, I didn't see it.

Cataphract has a huge head hit box. Hope that's tweaked soon.

The 360 degree lock sensor lock has the potential to be a gamechanger, but I'm not entirely certain how it works since I don't have 1500 space GXP. I imagine it'll still require a line of sight, just not a line of sight from your viewing angle and instead just from center mass in any direction.

SSRM2s are pretty nuts now. Oddly enough my Jenner had a higher survival rate against streak cats than my Cataphract, with the new sensor range module + BAP I was able to identify them from far out of their range and just avoid them. Combining them seems to provide a targeting range of about 1100M, the BAP makes you gather info faster and has the neat side effect of letting you target shutdown mechs with streaks.

Oh shit, do BAPs work properly now?

Dammit, gonna have to find the tonnage for that somewhere.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Actually looking at the article, it says it "Frozen City and Night" environment. Have yet to see it, is this actually in yet?

 

[Mupod]

The 360 degree lock sensor lock has the potential to be a gamechanger, but I'm not entirely certain how it works since I don't have 1500 space GXP. I imagine it'll still require a line of sight, just not a line of sight from your viewing angle and instead just from center mass in any direction.

I bought that module, but pretty much only because there's nothing else worthwhile and I have tons of GXP. I guess it's kind of a subtle benefit...might be more noticeable if people were even bothering with LRMs now. I'll give it a try on my Atlas tonight maybe, but I've rarely had problems with things staying behind me even on that mech.

Actually looking at the article, it says it "Frozen City and Night" environment. Have yet to see it, is this actually in yet?

Not sure what you mean, but River City is supposed to have a nighttime version added soon.

Fake edit: read the article and Joystiq is drunk or something.

 

[ColonelSkills]

I bought that module, but pretty much only because there's nothing else worthwhile and I have tons of GXP. I guess it's kind of a subtle benefit...might be more noticeable if people were even bothering with LRMs now. I'll give it a try on my Atlas tonight maybe, but I've rarely had problems with things staying behind me even on that mech.

I figure I'll have a use for it as a Jenner, being able to lock up something at least for my LRM-sporting, support-playing friends and not have to worry about perfect LOS maintenance could be non-trivial benefit for me.

Anyone have a chance to try the command console yet?

 

[Mupod]

The command console's been in the game for a while but as far as I know it doesn't work yet - I got one for 'free' with my DC atlas and kept it since it's expensive and I might use it one day. It's supposed to keep you alive after a headshot, I think? Or maybe it is related to some upcoming revamp of the commander functions?

And yeah, being able to hold a lock on something behind you would be great for me if my team used LRMs (even when they were OP, there were only like 2 guys who bothered). I don't have problems tracking my targets and I'm very protective of my CT/cockpit so I tend to twist away from enemy fire causing me to briefly lose my locks. So it could be useful in that kind of situation.

 

[Sax Russel]

Actually looking at the article, it says it "Frozen City and Night" environment. Have yet to see it, is this actually in yet?

I think they got that from this http://mwomercs.com/game/maps/frozen-city-night but I have no idea if that's new or if that page has been up for a long time already.

So Streaks have gone from... all hitting the CT to spread but some miss to spread, all hit, and damage buff? I don't think they needed that damage buff, I was perfectly fine with a spread as long as they all hit instead of the joke missing of last patch.

 

[ColonelSkills]

And yeah, being able to hold a lock on something behind you would be great for me if my team used LRMs (even when they were OP, there were only like 2 guys who bothered). I don't have problems tracking my targets and I'm very protective of my CT/cockpit so I tend to twist away from enemy fire causing me to briefly lose my locks. So it could be useful in that kind of situation.

Yeah, this is exactly what I do and I know that it sometimes costs my extreme range LRM friends grief.

That's basically the situation I imagine it remedies. I just have that situation happen on a relatively common enough basis.

I'd still say LRM support is extremely useful. If not necessarily the highest consistent damage thing but it freaks people out and still forces a change in tactics if they know that a quarter of the map is under a missile blanket.

 

[Llyranor]

Oh man, the Cataphract is so much fun.

<3 ballistics