WHM-IIC-ML "Boomhammer IIC" (2x cLB20, 2x cSRM6, cXL 370) + Alts

Thread in 'Maul' started by Ghastly, Apr 26, 2019.

  1. Ghastly

    Ghastly New Member

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    WHM-IIC-ML "Boomhammer IIC" (2x cLB20, 2x cSRM6, cXL 370) + Alts



    Description:
    The Boomhammer has always been my favourite build in MWO, quite simply a Warhammer with two LB20x autocannons. It's considered by many to be a meme build, but it has been one of the consistently best brawlers I've ever run. When I played as Clan in Faction Warfare, I looked for a suitable Clan version that accomplishes the same goal, eventually trying it on a Sun Spider and a Nova Cat. While they had their own perks (higher top speed and ECM on the Sun Spider, or a set of heavy mediums on the Nova Cat, for example), they both felt way too squishy compared to the Warhammer, mostly because I would lose the weapons much faster. Both the Sun Spider and Nova Cat have to take the LB20s on the arms, while the Warhammer's are torso mounted. This gives you two whole components you can throw away to enemy fire before.

    With the release of the Warhammer IIC, we can now run a proper Clan version of the Boomhammer on the Maul. The main idea for the build is to push on a target with your surprisingly high top speed, dump alphas into your opponent, while twisting to spread damage across your torso and to your dead arms. Your weapons do have some spread, but at close range or against certain mechs your LBx fire will all hit the same component. Many higher-alpha or higher-DPS builds, like lasers and UACs, are very easily to spread damage against, or much less heat efficient, and if you can leverage the advantages of this build in a brawl, you can pretty easily win against many meta builds.

    Video:

    (Disclaimer: The video is before it had armor quirks, so it's actually even more survivable now.)

    Build:
    [​IMG]
    Code:
    A6<D40L1|l^|l^|@f|l^|l^|NR|NRpl0|cB|<Cql0|cB|<Cr^0s^0t41|XR|NRu41|XR|NRv@0|NRw808080
    Ironically enough, despite the big tonnage advantage the Maul has over the Warhammer 6R (Clan weapons, Clan XL engines, and 10 extra tons), this kind of build doesn't have very much wiggle room if you want to leave the arms as ablative armor. You can shave the arms down to increase the engine size and even to add another heat sink if the SRMs are a little too hot, but I think having the extra armor is more important than 1kph extra top speed. You can also run two Medium Pulse Lasers instead of SRM6s, but I don't like how much hotter those run (it's still hotter if you get a fifth heat sink in your engine), the burn time means you're staring at your target a little longer, and I feel like it wastes the Maul's -10% SRM spread quirk.

    This has three big advantages over the Warhammer 6R Boomhammer; armor, alpha and top speed. Not only do you have the higher base armor values for being an 80-tonner compared to a 70-tonner, but the Warhammer IIC has fairly respectable armor quirks. The SRM6s give you an extra 24 damage added to your alpha strike; while it's more spread out than your LB20s, it can often help finish targets that would require an extra shot. The massive engine cap, more tonnage and ability to run a Clan XL gives you a much larger top speed, though.

    The downside compared to the 6R Boomhammer, though, is the rest of your mobility stats. The Victor, Zeus and Gargoyle, for example, are very agile, but the Warhammer IIC has only base 80-tonner acceleration, deceleration, turning speed and torso speed. It makes it tricky to leverage your top speed, some of the time, but it also can make it more difficult to spread damage.

    Two tips I've found to help, though, turn your legs as you're twisting, and to keep your throttle low when you're already close in and brawling someone. Without skills, the Warhammer IIC has a torso turn speed of 72 degrees per second, but also a turn rate of almost 38 degrees per second. So if you turn as you twist, you have an effective twist speed of almost 110 degrees per second. Secondly, the higher your throttle is, the more the game reduces your turn speed, so if you're running fast, you're closer to 72 degrees per second than to 110. These are tips that help with the Warhammer 6R as well, and actually for brawling in general, but especially important for brawling in more sluggish mechs like the Maul.

    [​IMG]
    Code:
    A=<D40L1|l^|NR|l^|l^|l^|NR|@fpl0|<Cql0|<Crd0|cBsd0|cBtn0|NR|XRun0|NR|XRv@0|NRw808080
    If you don't want a hero mech, a similar build can be done on the Warhammer IIC A. The trade-off is you lose the shield arms, as the LB20s have to be arm-mounted. It's a nice, cheap alternative to the version of the build on the Maul, but in my opinion it loses quite a bit of durability, since it's missing the extra 91 hit points on each side that you can sacrifice for free.

    You can also take advantage of the extra missile hardpoint, though you have to drop the engine rating compared to the Maul's build. I think there is a bit more reason to run this version than the previous build for the A, but I believe a Maul that's twisting properly will likely win a 1v1.


    [​IMG]
    Code:
    A=<E50L1|NR|l^|l^|NR|l^|8fpl0|?C|YRql0|?C|?Crd0|cBsd0|cBt^0|NR|YRu^0|NR|YRv@0|NRw808080
    And finally, the A does have the ability to run Artemis, which the Maul's version does not have the critical slots for. This treads perilously close to Scorch territory, however, and while this does run a little faster and has a little bit more armor than the Scorch, I think the Marauder IIC hero does the build better, as the five extra tons of pod space and extra missile hardpoint let you front-load a lot more damage, and the lower engine cap doesn't tempt you to spend more tonnage on top speed. That said, this version of the A is a nice budget option, being a CBill mech.

    I've spent more time in this post talking about the versions of the build for the WHM-IIC-A, but I think if you want to do a Boomhammer build, the Maul is the best choice. The Boomhammer has always been about getting in close, firing a quick alpha, twisting to spread as much damage as you can to the dead arms, and repeating until the target is dead. This lets you take an absurd amount of alphas from an opponent brawler or striker while still keeping all of your weapons, and I think the IIC-A versions lose that aspect.


    Skills:
    Code:
    a5f6b3267d8de7099b1efefffff1d86068604000000000030218230000000
    (Kitlaan isn't generating permalinks for me right now, will add one later)

    In the Firepower tree, both the Missile and Ballistic sides of the tree give you plenty of Cooldown to pick up. The build runs pretty cool, so I tended to avoid Heat Gen in favor of more Cooldown nodes.

    Secondly, I picked up the whole Survival tree, minus AMS and a single Reinforced Casing. Survivability is important to brawlers, and especially the left side of the tree, as Armor Hardening multiplies the mech's own armor quirks.

    In Mobility, I went down the left side to pick up Torso Speed nodes, to beef up the sluggish twisting on this chassis. Speed Tweak is pretty unnecessary on this build, in my opinion, because it already goes 75kph.

    As always, I pick up a single node of Seismic Sensor and Radar Deprivation, because I like the extra information these give me. If you don't care about these, I recommend putting these points on the right side of the Mobility tree to beef up the mech's turning speed, acceleration and deceleration.
     
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2019
  2. ShooterMcGavin80

    ShooterMcGavin80 MechSpecs Addict

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    Interesting. I enjoyed the Slap Hammer IIC. It swaps the 2xSRM6's for 4xMPL. This is hotter but gives you a much more focused alpha out to 350 meters.

    I like builds that use the quirks, but I think the SRM6's makes the build more of a point-blank kamikaze face hugger. Which is all well and good but having a 4xMPL punch to reach out and touch people precisely gives you better engagement options. Spread on clan SRM6's is pretty terrible, making their effective range usually under 100 meters. The Maul has the nice 10% SRM spread quirk, so I'd be curious if that stacked with the missile spread nodes gives your SRM6's a reasonable spread performance.

    Looks like a decent build. When running hot I would recommend dispensing with shooting the missiles and just fire the LB20X's.

    The WHM-IIC-A with 2xLB20X, 3xSRM6A is also a niiiice brawling option I enjoyed, and the WHM-IIC-2 with 5xSRM6A + 2xMPL makes another really mean brawler. The Wham-IIC really is a pretty nice mech.
     
  3. ShooterMcGavin80

    ShooterMcGavin80 MechSpecs Addict

    519
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    Another interesting possibility for the Boomhammer....



    Faster, better heat management, get an arm mount ERPPC able to hit lights and UAV's.

    <edit> oh god, I took the 2xLB20X, 1xERPPC load out for a spin, and it is AWESOME.
     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2019
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