Whats the best Clan mech with ballistics?

[Jesse Burson]

Looking for a clan mech to use in faction play that has good ballistic hardpoints. Rather use something heavy or assualt.

[Solahmi]

Well, DWF can effectively boat the most ballistic weapons, but it's a rather bad choice for CW.

It really depends on what ballistic you want to take. TBR and EBJ are both great for large ballistics like dual UAC10 or dual Gauss. There are some good UAC5 builds for them as well. SMN and HBR are okay with UAC5s or single Gauss+ERPPC. Other than those, Perhaps a WHK with 2x UAC10 and backup lasers. UAC10 is probably the best fit for the WHK because you can pack it with a good amount of ammo. It's no longer great with Gauss because of the gauss cooldown nerf PLUS they cut the WHK's ballistic cooldown quirk in half.

I did run a 5x UAC2 DWF with a max Targeting Computer and A LOT of ammo. It was good fun as a mobile turret. Just don't get yourself isolated and take your time with it. It's pretty horrible in terms of working with your team, but it can hold a firing lane well.

[cianukai]

Direwolf with 5 x UAC5 and some medium lasers is still good (I think, not played it for a while) although personally I don't use Direwolf's in Community Warfare as they are slow and easily singled out. The thing can put out obscene damage though!

Similar is a DWF with 4 x UAC10 (fire in pairs to avoid ghost heat) or 6 x UAC5.

I enjoy the Ebon Jaguar with 2 x UAC10 and either medum lasers or small pulse lasers if you like getting up close. But be aware that the EBJ chassis is not that good for brawling.

A Timberwolf can also do much the same thing, slightly less free tonnage therefore ammo issues/less damage potential but it has a better chassis for spreading damage. Or a TBR with 3 x UAC5 could be decent too.

Be aware that clan ballistics require a lot of face time which means you can get shot back at easily. They can put out crazy amounts of damage though, victory through suppression or just kill the mech facing off with you quicker than it kills you. And don't forget to double tap when optimal.

[Zeleglok]

Since you're going to use it in CW, i'd like to make a couple notices first.
Ballistics is only decent choice when you play in a big enough group so you can push together having a fireline at ~400-500 meters.
Slow mechs of big size and weight are generally not the best idea for CW, at least when you play solo - a desired target, easy to focus down, consumes a lot of tonnage.

1) Ignore any assaults.
2) Timber Wolf/ Ebon Jaguar/Hellbringer are all rather good, all with their pros and cons. Ebon has most tonnage and is the only one that fits 3 uac-5 with enough ammo, but most fragile. Hellbringer has least tonnage, but carries ecm and has best hardpoint position ( yep, Ebon's are too high so you can expose yourself without even seeing the enemy ). Timber is most tanky due to armor and JJs, but has worst hardpoint position.

[Jesse Burson]

Hmm...maybe I'll try something other than ballistic for CW. How are the 12 energy hardpoint Novas? Also, as Im somewhat new, what is double tap? I havent learned much about weapon grouping except how to group so I don't over heat.

[Jesse Burson]

Also, I built a Jagermech DD with UAC and AC5 combo and it annihilates. easy 800-1k damage 3kills per match. Full armor but run out of ammo a lot. But can't use inner sphere mech in jade falcon cw's. :(

[cianukai]

Originally posted by RCFdeth1981:

...Also, as Im somewhat new, what is double tap?

Ultra Autocannons (UAC) can fire a second round before the weapons cool-down, recharge period is finished.

To do this click to fire your weapon(s) again before your UAC is recharged.

In other words your DPS is doubled.

There is a downside however, every time you fire the weapon before the recharge is complete it has a chance to jam, this will render the weapon useless for about 5 seconds(ish).

This isn't such a problem with the 5 and 6 x UAC5 Dire Wolf because there are enough UAC's to cover one another when one jams.

The less UAC's a mech has, the more prone it is to having all its weapons jam at once and being defenceless.

Originally posted by RCFdeth1981:

...How are the 12 energy hardpoint Novas?

Nova's can put out a lot of damage very quickly in short range with 10-12 Small lasers or Small pulse lasers. Just make sure not to fire more than 6 at a time or ghost heat will roast your insides ;)

As always there are pro's and con's. The Nova is not a particularly fast medium which makes makes manuvering into close range harder and evading fire more difficult than with a fast medium brawler/CQB mech. It's ability to tank damage is also diminished also having most or all its weapons in its arms.

It does have a lot of jump jets which means you can get to some places to make sneaky attacks (Blue sun map on top of buildings for example), and the fire power if you can get in close is very good for a 50 ton mech. Just don't Alpha or you will overheat super fast.

Nova's can also use 2 x PPC's or ERLL for pop tart sniper / ranged play.

[Solahmi]

Thing is, InnerSphere AC5/UAC5 works well because of the front-loaded-damage. Each hit is 5 points whereas the Clan UAC5 each hit is 2.5 damage with the burst mechanic.

Regardless, others are correct. Due to the nature of CW, ballistic mechs are not ideal. However, if you have FUN playing them I would say don't hesitate. The best way to play Ballistic mechs is to be VERY conscious of your ammo dependency. Like taking only guaranteed shots. Or the opposite. Capitalize on your situation and use as much ammo as possible before going down. Nice thing about Ballistic mechs is their sustainable DPS by running cool. You can take advantage of an Energy-boat opponent by charging him and using that heat advantage.

You have to either be a really good aim, or make very good decisions in your gameplay to make ballistic-only mechs work in CW. There will definitely be situations where you're happy you took one, but the majority of engagements are ideal for energy boats trading from med-long distance.

Also, a word of caution about the Nova with 12 energy hardpoints. DON'T shoot them all at once. All of the small-to-medium clan weapons have "Ghost Heat" where each weapon fired past 6 will generate more heat than normal. It's exponential. In short: firing 12 energy at the same time is like firing 24 in terms of heat. Smurfy has an easy reference for these heat penalties: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/equipment

The mech itself is over-sized and gets shot more than other mechs of similar weight. It's alright. Maybe 6x ERML and a lot of heat sinks. Maybe put 2x ERLL in each arm then 1 in each torso. This way you have 2 ERLL you can fire from higher hardpoints and 4 you can shoot with arm actuation. Otherwise, you can run 2x ERPPC (1 in each torso with "A" variant arm onmipods) or even 2x LPL in the torsos. For up-close, you can boat ~10-12 Small Pulse Lasers well (again make sure NOT to fire them all at once)

[Jesse Burson]

lol yeah would insta-core shooting them all off at once. Hmm im at a loss. I may just break contract and go to inner sphere faction. I enjoy thier mechs better

[cianukai]

Originally posted by RCFdeth1981:

lol yeah would insta-core shooting them all off at once. Hmm im at a loss. I may just break contract and go to inner sphere faction. I enjoy thier mechs better

There are pro's and con's to most mechs to be honest. Only a very few are able to do everything well.

Working with your mechs strengths and learning ways around its weakness is the key to being a good player IMHO.

If you only have a 7 or 14 day contract then perhaps better to stick it out and get as many Cbills as you can before making that new purchase.

[stickninja]

Try a Warhawk. I've been playing them with 2 UAC10s + 2 SRM-6s w/Artemis IV. Even in CW it does well, one of the only mechs to out-DPS IS mechs in a brawl. Killed 2 King Crabs yesterday with it. The critical thing is the Warhawk-A right arm omnipod gives a B point and a -30% UAC jam chance quirk. My current drop deck is 1 Nova, 1 Warhawk, and 2 Stormcrows.

[Super Arthritis ⁧⁧ ⁧⁧Man]

Good replies. I was wondering this too, thanks guys.

[Jesse Burson]

Id like to see the smurf build on that warhawk

[stickninja]

Ask and ye shall receive.

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=191&l=c25f6564df930924f0befa84b68301a66748ac8b

[Jesse Burson]

Thank you kindly