Building a variant, What are your most inportant considerations Options

[Bilirubin]

I've never been all that good at developing my own variants. Part of it is a lack of just doing it, because of time constraints. Part of it is that I suck anyway, so evaluating whether a variant is working or not or if its my usual degree of suck is difficult.

So, what do YOU do? Do you balance ranges with your weapons? Load up on the alpha strike? Build one dimensional role mechs for particular maps?

[Spiff]

I found it was very tough to build a variant that was effective at doing more than one thing. Specialization is what it takes online, because everyone else is specialized and will eat you up in their territory.

That said, here's a few of the variants I remember that were effective in a couple of roles.

Highlander
(1 or 2, don't remember) LL
1 HGauss
1 CLBX20
1 CLBX10
ECM

Good for both midrange and close up in the cities.

Loki
ERPPC
RAC2 or RAC5
CLBX20
Maybe some LRMs?
ECM, BAP

Pretty decent at strafing at long range, and still able to get close.

Otherwise, go all LRMs, all lasers, or all LBX. PPCs, Gauss, ERLL, and RAC2s can be mixed pretty well. HGauss and LL complement each other very well too.

Keep in mind that I stopped playing when MekTek started weirding the game up with new mechs and weapons, so I never really experimented with that stuff.

[No Guts No Glory]

Anni

Sweeper

4 CLBX20
CLBX10
2 HML
LAMS
47(?) KPH
reduced armor

Knocks down everything! And one shot kills everything too!

Wildcat

Ultima

4 HML
2 ERML
2 CLBX20
ECM
LAMS
80 KPH
heatsinks and armor to your liking

Beaker and Vic have been on the recieving end of this thing and have kissed dirt. Knocks down other heavies pretty consistently. Runs kinda hot, so if you have problems with heat build up you could remove speed for heatsinks I guess.


Tenchi

Jambon et Fromage

2 HML
CRAC10+2 tons of ammo
CUAC20+1 ton of ammo
ECM
FAST-like 97 KPH or so

One thing to know about CRACs; They jam. A lot.

[Kid Origami]

*Eyes the thread with some appreciation.*

Oooooh! I'm so going to keep an eye on this thread, so when I download MW4 from the free legal place, I'll have some variants to work with.

What are some ShadowCat configs? It's the only mech that has Thunder has played with that makes me think of my favorite 'mech from MW2: the Nova.

Fast, small (okay, she was 50 tons, but...), 10 medium lasers, all double heat sinks. I loved her. Then she was kicked out on her ear for MW4 with no adequate reason. I was stuck with the hulking, slow, small sun of heat that was the SuperNova. ShadCat is small, fast, and can carry a PPC. I want to pilot that one once I can.

[Bilirubin]

I've been finding possible variants all over the place. What I was really hoping to do is generate a discussion about approaches to creating them. Spiff suggests specialization or range specific loadouts. Check. Other thoughts?

[DeathStalker]

*Eyes the thread with some appreciation.*

Oooooh! I'm so going to keep an eye on this thread, so when I download MW4 from the free legal place, I'll have some variants to work with.

What are some ShadowCat configs? It's the only mech that has Thunder has played with that makes me think of my favorite 'mech from MW2: the Nova.

Fast, small (okay, she was 50 tons, but...), 10 medium lasers, all double heat sinks. I loved her. Then she was kicked out on her ear for MW4 with no adequate reason. I was stuck with the hulking, slow, small sun of heat that was the SuperNova. ShadCat is small, fast, and can carry a PPC. I want to pilot that one once I can.

KO- The Nova is in MW4 Mercs.. it comes with mp3.02a, but they are using the Inner Sphere name: Blackhawk

[Azrael]

Keeping in mind I stopped playing about the time Spiff did - so I don't know how heat had changed if at all.
Suggestion.
Dump heavy lasers, always seemed like they were way too hot, too short on range, maybe heavy for their use. ERMeds can double up and work fine.

Spiff is right on with the specialization, that's pretty much where you went. For a particular map or mood you generally had a tuned variant for it, generally having only one range or maybe two. Only concession I normally made was I always worked a couple tons in for some medium range energy armorment if I was running a ranged gunboat, esp if the long range was ballistic - always nice to have a last bit of fight.

How I would normally start a new mech variant.
Generally at start decide the tonnage and weapon fav of the mech (ballistic/energy) style you want and then search for a likely canidate.

strip the mech completely, armor, weaps, speed, electronics.

Now load out the mech to fit the task you are looking at and ranges you plan on fighting in, and ammo loads (gauss couple tons normally, shotgun couple tons, RAC no idea hate them, Missles again normally a couple tons. I normally use 2 for starters to see if one I use it all up and need more and two I die before I can use even the one tone. It's best to try and keep all long range weapons close in range and the same with med/shorts, so you have two mini alphas in a way. I also tie my long or med range energy to a button and my long or med range ballistic to a button, so I can cycle energy without wasting ballistc ammo and use ammo while I cool off. If I wanted to alpha both I mashed both buttons at once.

Now work the speed up to a range you feel comfortable with for the style of play of the mech. Med brawler - faster, long range sniper can be slower. Add JJs, heat sinks or electronics.

Now go back and dump everything else in armor. Fine tune the armor spread and try and decide if that tonnage seems like enough - never go low on the legs unless you are just poptarting.

Now I just take an overall look and fine tune it a bit. Do I need a bit more armor or speed? If so can I drop a ton of ammo here or a laser there? Will it run hot, can I balance that with ballistic while it cools or should I take more sinks? Do I need electronics really or can I dump them for ammo/armor. Stuff like that.

I normally don't have wildly different ammo configs/styles and most mechs that force you to do that will not be viable in the game, though Rat and I ran a Zeus loadout I did one night and were major pains. lol.

Bili, I would just look at some of the variants we have on the site for the older mechs to start and then try modifying them to your playstyle. You could also just look at some and try to analyze why people have loaded them the way they did to get a better feel for what the mechs purpose is.

hope that made some sense and the spelling isn't horrible, got a hell of a cold and bit zombified.

[DeathStalker]

Getting pretty good with a Blackjack II.. my new one is the "Crack-20" or the Tyrone Biggums
crac20AC 2t ammo
ER PPC
Boost the speed, jump jets

This thing is a killer. Lots of fun to play, I do believe I have found a 'daily driver'.. snipe em as you close, and blow 'em away with th crac20.. shoot four and count to 5 to avoid jammage, save that ER PPC for shots inbetween to keep 'em rocking. Circle around, torso twisting and firing. Watch out, she runs hot, so play near water or walls so you can cool off/ jump away. Be a nice city fighter, but yeah it runs hot... what doesn't?

[Siegfried]

I've been going a bit mad. My latest is a 2 plasma cannon crab.

With configs, i know what guns i like - lbx mainly and what compliments well SSRms, HML's)

[Bilirubin]

Keeping in mind I stopped playing about the time Spiff did - so I don't know how heat had changed if at all.
<snip>

great post, thanks Az.

[Didymus]

Keeping in mind I stopped playing about the time Spiff did - so I don't know how heat had changed if at all.
<snip>

great post, thanks Az.

I continue to play intermittently and played well into the evolution of the mechpaks, well past when these pansies quit.

When I build a mech I normally start by... choosing what mech I want to build.

1. Fix the stock armor; stock armor is terrible. I usually set up the armor as follows:
Arms with weapons: full armor
Arms without weapons: no armor
Side torsos with weapons: full armor
Side torsos without weapons: full armor unless I really need an extra ton and then ~85% armor
Center torso: full armor
Legs: ~85-90% armor unless you is going to fight bastage leggers
Head: no armor unless you are *extremely* slow
Back: no armor unless you are *extremely* slow and planning on walking into the middle of a firefight

2. Choose what range you want to fight at with the mech. Note that some mechs are inherently sturdier than others due to more special sections, smaller profile, weapons being more spread across different points of the mech, etc. - this should play into what range you decide to fight at. More fragile mechs should be kept further back from the action so as to avoid premature tragic dismemberment (for example, the Dragon). Sturdier mechs like the Tenchi are very survivable and therefore useful (in theory) at any range (I say in theory because I have yet to find a configuration for the Tenchi that actually appeals to me enough to make me want to drive it).

The next thing I do is look at the weapon slots and electronics and decide what kinds of weapons I can effectively group together on this mech; I usually group them as follows:

Extra long range (800+ meter engagement distance):
A. Thunderbolt missiles (both cluster and regular). (If I put one on an Uller...)
B. Clan LRMs or ATM-Es (I prefer the ATMs so that even if someone drops out of visual distance my missiles keep going).
C. Light Gauss, light caliber ballistics, *maybe* erppc if you think you'll get that close.

You may have luck mixing the missiles up; I tend not to but I think it may be out of habit. I don't recommend mixing up the travel time weapons with the missiles, because then you have to drop your reticle off of your target to lead it. I also strongly recommend ECM here, even over BAP, because if you are able to find targets at this range, if you don't have ECM, they will have an even easier time finding you, especially since you have to be radar active to get a lock. BAP can be useful if you have light gauss, but ECM is still more important at this range.

Always add one extra ton of ammo on the missiles, two if you're a ninja.

Long range (650-800 meters):
A. Clan gauss rifle, ER large lasers, ERPPC (usually ER since it's lighter and at this range the reduced heat and recycle time shouldn't prove to be that useful anyway), PPC+CAP, maybe a light ppc, light gauss, or minigauss to round it out. Also feel free to boat any of these, it seems to work pretty well.
B. Rotary autocannon 2s in large quantities, sometimes with an er large pulse laser or large x-pulse laser to round it out.

Option A is the glorious realm of the much maligned poptart/jumpsniper, though depending on exactly what your weapons are, you may make something more like ye olde laserwhore. I really like ECM here again, but BAP is also quite useful, as it lets you see everyone else using ECM who is within your weapon range. I more strongly recommend BAP for the greater hunting ability and for teaching you to properly run passive and keep an eye on your surroundings without sensors, but if you have both you should definitely go for it. I rarely find myself lacking for ammo, but if you play more conservatively be sure to bring some extra.

Option B is messy; make sure you are reasonably fast, because you're going to get shot at a lot.

Medium range (350-650 meters):
A. Heavy gauss rifles and large lasers, maybe add a clan gauss or heavy large laser or ppc (yes, they're hot, but for the weight you can't beat the damage; add a couple heat sinks).
B. Rotary AC5s. You don't really need a pulse laser now, since they have more than enough knock on their own to throw people's aims off.

For me this range basically revolves around the heavy gauss and large lasers. ECM is nice, as well as enough speed to get to this range. I always bring an extra ton of heavy gauss ammo; this is not brawling.

Close range (<350 meters):
A. Clan LBX20 and heavy medium lasers (or heavy large lasers if you can take the heat). The 20 is always greater than the 10 if you have the slots for it; if you have the slots but not the tonnage, rearrange something to make the 20 fit. That said, the 10 can round out a design centering around 20s very well, and boating 10s will make light mechs despise you forever and ever. You shouldn't need ammo with this design; if you do, you should either switch to a medium range configuration or stop playing against bots.
B. Clan ultra AC20. Same deal with the lasers. Since Mektek lowered the weight to only 16 tons, this weapon is very worthwhile, though you will need to allot an extra ton for ammo. Since the Inner Sphere version got bumped down to 18 tons and has a faster recycle time at (I believe) 5.3 seconds, it's a good alternative, and actually some of my favorite configurations use that instead.

If I have extra tonnage left over, I usually put that all into either the engine or into specialty armor, usually reactive, unless I'm out to make ye olde laserwhore cry. Also, if I have the option of jumpjets at this range I almost *always* go for it, because I am always watching for an opportunity to DFA someone.

3. Grouping: For extra long range configurations, I usually just group up an alpha button, and then I can also hit shift+c to chainfire. Sometimes I'll set it so I can fire off a couple volleys of two or three missile racks at a time, as well. With rotary autocannon boats, I split them all into 2 or 3 groups to alternate fire with so that I don't lock them up as quickly (in theory; I usually jam them all up anyway). I group lasers separately from weapons with lead times, and I split weapons up into separate groups as much as possible so that I can fire exactly what I want exactly when I want it (useful for throwing off someone else's aim and controlling heat).

4. Camo.

5. A name - I used to actually name every variant something unique, but eventually I had so many that I couldn't remember what was what, so instead I made a shorthand for what weapons were on a mech instead (I had around 2000 variants on my old install).

6. Shoehorning - figuring out what to do with those last couple tons. In general, you want your weapon combination to be such that you're having to scrape a bit of armor off here and there to make it all fit. The exceptions are for when you really need speed on a particular configuration (have to get close) or you really need extra specialty armor or when you need jumpjets (yes, those can be very important). Your weapons are far and away the most important part of your configuration - you don't kill things with engines or armor. That said...

Don't skimp on your speed. Position and cover are critical. If you can get to an advantageous position before your target gets to an advantageous position, you're golden. Also, buildings and hills can take infinitely more bullets than your armor ever will.

But as important as speed is, unless you only use longtoms you will at some point need to expose yourself to take a shot, and in that time you are vulnerable. Unless you are very very very fast and sneaky, you should have armor protecting the most important parts of your mech.

So in general, when shoehorning those last bits of your mech together, weapons>speed>armor.

Besides ECM/BAP/Jumpjets the other electronics are almost useless compared to the alternatives you can get for ~1 ton, like more armor. And if you don't need more armor, then you should strip a bit more armor and add another laser or more speed or something (as described above). LAMS is only useful if you're a missile boat; otherwise you should have cover to dodge behind when missiles approach anyway. Advanced gyro is only useful if you're on an NHUA server and you expect that your brawling Wildcat would be knocked over by the massive alphas otherwise. IFF Jammer and Enhanced Optics are just not worth it in almost every case. And actually, ECM and BAP do not add to your firepower in any direct sense, so if you learn to run without them you can squeeze an extra ton or two out of a mech for something better.

7. Above all else, make it fun. My favorite Thor configuration, after countless matches and endless experimentation, has 2 clan lbx20s, a heavy medium laser and jumpjets, and it goes 97 kph. Yes, I could drop down the speed by 20 kph and add specialty armor or an lbx10; I have done that and those are great configurations too. But they aren't as much fun.

[Rat]

Didy and I spent countless drops with Thors that had almost the same config as yours T. 2 CLBX20, HvyMed, and Clan Streak 6. Jump Jets and electronics. As long as you weren't out in the open you could have a lot of fun. If there's two of you it's even more fun.

[Spiff]

Besides ECM/BAP/Jumpjets the other electronics are almost useless compared to the alternatives you can get for ~1 ton, like more armor. And if you don't need more armor, then you should strip a bit more armor and add another laser or more speed or something (as described above). LAMS is only useful if you're a missile boat; otherwise you should have cover to dodge behind when missiles approach anyway. Advanced gyro is only useful if you're on an NHUA server and you expect that your brawling Wildcat would be knocked over by the massive alphas otherwise. IFF Jammer and Enhanced Optics are just not worth it in almost every case. And actually, ECM and BAP do not add to your firepower in any direct sense, so if you learn to run without them you can squeeze an extra ton or two out of a mech for something better.

I completely disagree here. ECM and BAP went on my mechs at least 95% of the time, and only didn't get installed if I couldn't strip enough armor for the weapons I wanted. Knowledge is power, and hiding = good. But I know there are any number of ways to solve a problem in MW, and these are simply differences in preference and ways of thinking. And Deedlemoose was pretty good back in the day, from what I remember.

[Spiff]

Didy and I spent countless drops with Thors that had almost the same config as yours T. 2 CLBX20, HvyMed, and Clan Streak 6. Jump Jets and electronics. As long as you weren't out in the open you could have a lot of fun. If there's two of you it's even more fun.

The close range Thor is a time honored Banzai tradition...I prefer the 2 CLBX20, 1 CLBX10 flavor meself.

[Kid Origami]

KO- The Nova is in MW4 Mercs.. it comes with mp3.02a, but they are using the Inner Sphere name: Blackhawk

... Why was I not informed of this before!? RARGH! MUST BECOME MASTER OF THE BLACKHAWK!!! And they actually gave it a fairly cool name. That is sooooooo awesome!! What do they rest of you think of the Blackhawk? Any good? Am I insane for liking it in previous games? Should I give up my love for the former Nova? Suggestions for using it in MW4?

[Bilirubin]

<snip huge wall of text>

Awesome, thanks!

And I have a similar Thor (2 clbx20, 1 hml, 1 ml, jj)

[No Guts No Glory]

Dump heavy lasers, always seemed like they were way too hot, too short on range, maybe heavy for their use. ERMeds can double up and work fine.

I'd like to point out that a single heavy med does the same damage and builds the same heat as two ERmeds. So if you can take the 100m drop in range heavy meds can save you tonnage for more heatsinks or other jazz. On something like a light, where you're gonna be bloody close anyway I can't see why wouldn't use them over ERML, or even ML for that matter.

Heavy large lasers are HOT. If you are gonna use it, it's probably best as a single laser. Two are fine if they're your only laser weaponry so you can cool off with ballistics. They shoot 500m so you can stay outta the fray with them. I usually stick one on a UAC or LBX Brawler as my finisher so I don't waste ammo. They do heavy damage (16 points) but with high heat (18). Heavy large lasers are usually a better choice than the Assault Laser.

Heavy small lasers are usually a waste. They're too short ranged (150m) and too hot. The extra damage over the other small lasers is usually pretty negligible, you're usually better off with an ERSL or standard small laser.

The Assault laser like the HLL is HOT, but has a better damage to heat ratio (20d/19h). The range matches the Heavy Meds and Standard meds at 300m. It weighs one ton more than the HLL but the extra damage can be worth it on something like an LBX boat where you're gonna be under 300m anyway. I really don't use these, the ranges are too short, and it generates too much heat. I prefer the HLL for the range mostly.

Anyway, with that spiel outta the way this is how I go about making variants.

Step 1: Choose a mech to build and what role it will have- Sniper, Brawler, Skirmisher, Annoyance, whatever. I build anything except a Gargoyle.

Step 2: Strip weapons, Electronics, Speed and Heatsinks and max armor to nearest half ton. I usually remove all the head armor. Headshots are so rare, and it's protected from one shot kills anyway.

Step 3: Adjust speed-I adjust it based on weight and weaponry. Direct Fire Long Range Heavy and Assault mechs go slow. Longe range missile mechs go at a decent clip. Brawlers go fast! Heavy brawlers HAVE to do 80 KPH minimum. Assaults do 60 KPH minimum with 70 being the prefered speed. Lights and Meds go as fast as possible

Step 4: Mount Electronics-If ECM is available it goes on without question. BAP usually only if it can be combined with ECM however if you run passive most of the time BAP can be quite useful. LAMS goes on slow heavies and Assaults. Advanced Gyro goes on lights and mediums. Enhanced optics and IFF I never use. Though EO can be somewhat useful I imangine.

Step 5: Mount weapons. Snipers get PPCs, ERLL, Guass, and HVACs. Long Range Missile mechs get CLRMs, LRMs with Artemis, Thunderbolts, and ATMEs. Brawling missile mechs get Streaks, SMRMs, ATM12Ms and Rocket launchers. Brawlers, Get AC10/20, LBX10/20, UAC10/20, RAC5s, CRAC10/20s, HVAC20, HGR, Heavy lasers, standard IS lasers and Streaks. Brawlers also usually get a Long/Medium range weapon to use while closing.

Step 6: Mount Heatsinks.-Mechs that attack from long range can run hotter. Brawlers with lots of Ballistics with a couple high heat weapons can also run hotter. Heat intensive mechs, like Laser brawlers get as much as possible.

Step 7: Compromise.-Strip amor from here or there, remove a weapon system, heatsinks, and/or electronics to make a fairly decent mech. When making a variant you will ALWAYS have to make a compromise. On a lot of my mechs I go from having max armor to 80% coverage or less. On something like a 5 AC10 (or 5 RAC5 ) Anni, you can chain fire them all day and knock your target so much so often that they will almost never hit you.



Keep in mind though that I suck, as do most of my mechs...so...you know....

[DeathStalker]

What's wrong with Gargoyles, Guts? Are they super cheap or do they suck bad?

[No Guts No Glory]

They go too fast. They take damage weird. They have too much armor. They look horrendous!

[DeathStalker]

Well, as long as looks are involved..

In the boardgame, it was one of my favorite clan mechs, so I was just curious.

[No Guts No Glory]

I think they tried to make it fast like in the board game but forgot that it had little pod space and thinner armor than other assault mechs. So we end up with an 80 ton clan mech goin 80KPH mounting lotsa shortrange weapons with good armor that never seems to die >_<

[Didymus]

I think they tried to make it fast like in the board game but forgot that it had little pod space and thinner armor than other assault mechs. So we end up with an 80 ton clan mech goin 80KPH mounting lotsa shortrange weapons with good armor that never seems to die >_<

they fixed the garg ages ago besides, it was mostly entertaining while it lasted and the victims that suffered the most were overloaded assaults that couldn't get away fast enough.

[No Guts No Glory]

they fixed the garg ages ago besides, it was mostly entertaining while it lasted and the victims that suffered the most were overloaded assaults that couldn't get away fast enough.

O Rly?

[Rat]

Ahh the Gargoyle. Brawled around many McRugby flagpoles with that little beastie. Way too much power on an assault that was faster than most heavies.

[Victor Davion]

Wildcat

Ultima

4 HML
2 ERML
2 CLBX20
ECM
LAMS
80 KPH
heatsinks and armor to your liking

Beaker and Vic have been on the recieving end of this thing and have kissed dirt. Knocks down other heavies pretty consistently. Runs kinda hot, so if you have problems with heat build up you could remove speed for heatsinks I guess.

I've learned something that night. If you run with that "beer leftovers" mech in a city, I let you cross the streets first, then shoot you.

Besides that, the CB with 2LBX20, 1 LBX10 and 1 HML is a good match against mech. Well, that's if you got the mechpacks

[No Guts No Glory]

I've learned something that night. If you run with that "beer leftovers" mech in a city, I let you cross the streets first, then shoot you.

it was awesome when I had no CT left and killed your fresh mech!

[Sliverthorn]

Now go back and dump everything else in armor. Fine tune the armor spread and try and decide if that tonnage seems like enough - never go low on the legs unless you are just poptarting.

NEVER EVER EVER..... Else someone like me or tbolt will two shot you and laugh. A lot.

[Wildcard]

What I was really hoping to do is generate a discussion about approaches to creating them.

In military lingo, 'Mechs are 'platforms', just like aircraft, tanks, ships, and every other combat vehicle is a platform.

A platform in its purest sense is simply a weapon mount, therefore the lingo indicates the fact that to the military a vehicle (or a 'Mech, or whatever) is a platform for putting a weapon into the correct position to be utilized at maximum effectiveness against the enemy, and keeping it there as long as possible. Every other consideration is secondary, at best.

Therefore, philosophy of 'Mech design is simple. Choose a primary weapon system first. The big gun, or the big guns. Then choose a tactic in which that weapon will be effective. Then choose a 'Mech that will support the successful prosecution of that tactic. Then choose secondary weapons or systems as space allows that will support the tactic.

That's really about it.

Your weapon determines your tactics. Your tactics determine your 'Mech. Your 'Mech determines your secondary systems.
When the equation is so simple and correct, dominance is inevitable.

>bows<

[Thunderbolt]

What I was really hoping to do is generate a discussion about approaches to creating them.

In military lingo, 'Mechs are 'platforms', just like aircraft, tanks, ships, and every other combat vehicle is a platform.

A platform in its purest sense is simply a weapon mount, therefore the lingo indicates the fact that to the military a vehicle (or a 'Mech, or whatever) is a platform for putting a weapon into the correct position to be utilized at maximum effectiveness against the enemy, and keeping it there as long as possible. Every other consideration is secondary, at best.

Therefore, philosophy of 'Mech design is simple. Choose a primary weapon system first. The big gun, or the big guns. Then choose a tactic in which that weapon will be effective. Then choose a 'Mech that will support the successful prosecution of that tactic. Then choose secondary weapons or systems as space allows that will support the tactic.

That's really about it.

Your weapon determines your tactics. Your tactics determine your 'Mech. Your 'Mech determines your secondary systems.
When the equation is so simple and correct, dominance is inevitable.

>bows<

Well...that was EXACTLY what I was gonna say...uhm...more or less.


Actually that reads like a page out of the New Avalon Military Tech school first year Engineer handbook. That does NOT, however, make it any less true. We've all played this game long enough to be at least generally familiar with the available weapons systems, and what they are used for. So essentially it really does come down to what weapon you want to build the Mech around. Remember in the old Battletech games the mechs came prebuilt, usually designed around some sort of main weapon system, with supporting weapons that help it fulfill its designed role. My friends and I would spend hours trying to improve on the designs that came with the game, only to realize that in the end the stock mechs were generally better built and more effective, and that all were were doing was duplicating the efforts of the original game creators and slapping our own name labels on them. This isn't necessarily true in Mercs, as I don't know of anyone who chooses to use stock mechs (except Maestro and his freakin Solitaire, but whaddya gonna do, it's MAESTRO), since the online version of this game has always been about killing the other mech in as few shots as possible, even as a harasser. So Card's assessment still stands.

So, the question becomes, which weapon system is the best all around mech killing system, and which chassis is capable of carrying enough of them to be effective?

[DeathStalker]

Not too many mentions on speed, though. I like speed, and speed alone kills. (Right Guts, Mr. Uller?) Sometimes a choice has to be made on how much speed you want versus how much weaponry you can carry. The Black Knight, for instance, has so much weapon space it is practically impossible to use it all unless it is slow. (And then, the heat..)
I like it because of its jump jet ability, but I REALLY like it because I can mount a couple of LB20x and a couple of ERPPC on it. I am a short-range/long range guy... I want to be able to shoot at them the whole time I close, preferably with a weapon that can stagger. So kick in the jams, chain the ER ppcs and close for the 2 LB20x kill. At least thats my theory, I know a lot of folks use the BK to poptart.

Personally, I am finding a lot of use for speed more than guns. I have been using a shadowcat, and its pretty darn fast and jumps, totes 2lightmg, 2 hvymed lasers, and an LB20x... the mgs give me 600 meters to pepper you while I approach, than the heavies and the lb are the knockout. I just keep the mg button pressed as long as I am in range... those pinpricks will find the weakness for sure. Plus running by and slamming a slow mech with your weapons and jumpng or running away is fun. So I guess I build my mechs based on mobility as much as firepower.

[Thunderbolt]

I see your point, Deathy, and speed is a consideration, but only after I figure out the weapons sys I want to build the mech around.

[Rat]

I see your point, Deathy, and speed is a consideration, but only after I figure out the weapons sys I want to build the mech around.

I do it in the opposite at times. I'll set the speed and then see what weapons, based on short, medium, or long range, that I can fit on.

[Siegfried]

I've learned something that night. If you run with that "beer leftovers" mech in a city, I let you cross the streets first, then shoot you.

Besides that, the CB with 2LBX20, 1 LBX10 and 1 HML is a good match against mech. Well, that's if you got the mechpacks

That's MY CB !!

It's even better if you take all the speed out and switch to reactive. You have to fineagle to get an acceptable spread but it's worth it.

[Abbo]

Heh i wanted to remake that big Al Atlas from the mechwarrior 3 intro, with pulselasers and a heavy ballistic weapon, it turned out well....It's one of my favourites and some people dislike it with a passion.