Hello, After seing in smurfy that this variant has a 20 tubes missile slot, I make the following build : And I have tested it on field : except limited ammo for LRM, the TAG on arm in really good, the punch of the LRM 30 is really effective, and the 3 Mlas can allow you to continue battle even with severe damage. I do not rate my own build, but I would have give it at least 4 stars
When I design this build, I was not sure about the viability of an XL engine in a thunderbolt. With the 3 MLas in Torso, I like to go in at end of round, thus a standard engine fit better my playstyle. But your version is great, even if I would prefer having an AMS if I put an XL.
With 3 MLas you don't have high Firepower for Direct Engagements, so if you make it to the end of the match there are usually two situations - either your team is winning and you are fighting with a bunch of teammates, where you still can stay back, OR your team fukked up already and you have to deal with several mechs hunting you, where you can't really survive long with 3 MLas. I really see this build more as a Missile Boat with some Backuplasers, just like a Catapult C1. So Speed and Ammunition is crucially important to reposition yourself fast enough + having durability for sustained Support for long Battles. Try it out with the XL300 and tell me, if you can get better scores. Alternatively you can upgrade one MLas to a LLas for more Direct+Range Firepower by dropping one Heatsink, Ammo and some Armor:
I prefer to have AMS on big target mechs that shoot from a distance: If I run XL (which I do to crank in some more DHS and speed) this means you'll have to go from a LRM 20 to an LRM 15 though, but an LRM 15 has better tonnage to missiles ratio than an LRM 20 anyway, basically gives you back .5 tons If you want to run the stock engine you also need to go back to an LRM15 for the tonnage:
I put one of the MLas in the arm as an anti-light mech weapon. Feel free to switch it around if that's easier for you.
http://www.mechspecs.com/forum/index.php?topic=4169.0 already been done, the only difference is being slower for more electronics. Please check 4 threads below before you post :/
I run mine exactly like Blagg's. Love it. Speed, crazy ammo, TAG to crack the ECM bubble, secondary weapons. This was my first and only config on this chassis. I agree with others, run this like a LRM boat. Thought about cramming a PPC on it, losing the TAG, but have to downgrade to 2xLRM10+A. Did that on the TDR-9SE (which maximizes the tubes), that's effective, but not here. I wanted maximum tubes firing on the TDR-5S.
I did a variant based on SubjectSeven's 300xl build, dropping two heat sinks to add BAP and another 0.5 of armor. It does run a bit hot, but overall, I really love this build and I've had some amazing matches in it. Initially I had dropped a ton of armor, down to 384 points of armor, and kept one of the heat sinks, but I've found that I prefer the additional armor over the heat sink. However, I could definitely see myself flipping back to the heat sink in the future.
All that armour is wasted on the arm. Maintain your LRM 30 and drop some of it. You won't miss it, trust me.
