Here I post a fine sniper platform. The basic principle behind this build is that the velocities of the particles are very close. AC5 is 1500 and PPC is 1300, shooting them in the same group gives you a 30 damage shot and quite a shake to the victim. Build is hot so you need to learn to use it. You can get 2 or maybe 3 consecutive shots. However, since you are using it at long range you will be shifting and won't be using too many shots in succession. I have never needed speed for this purpose so the engine is a slow but efficient engine. The small lasers are used only when close combat ensues and need to rest the big guns to lower the heat. Also when you get your arms shot out and decide to handle it with an infinite ammo laser. Many variants can be branched out of this mech depending on your style and needs. I sometimes lower the engine and take more ammo, sometimes i increase the number of lasers but the basic pattern of ac5 and ppc is kept. I group weapons in the following fashion: Group 1 = 2x ERPPC + 2x AC5 Group 2 = 2x AC5 , Chain Fire Group 3 = 2x SLas (or any lasers you choose) I like to use standard engines on my builds because I hate getting killed because the torso is blown up and I have experienced longer life with standard engines than XL engines. Depending on your playing style you may need higher speed and thus need an XL engine. The least damage for a game of this mech is 270, that is except on those games when the other team suddenly sneaks up on me and gangbang the crap out of me. Even then if i get a few shots off they really count.
Welcome to the forums! Right off the bat there are quite some key problems with your build: 1. Way too little AC5 ammo. My shadowhawk 5M uses 210 for 2xAC5, and ive got at least 5 tons (150 shots) in my own ppc+ac5 sniper firebrand. 2. Way too hot! A cooling efficiency of 19%! dual ERPPC is extremely heatsink intensive and you haven't equipped any beyond the minimum of 10. even one ERPPC would be debatable in heat efficiency. 3. The small lasers are purposeless. The good thing about ERPPCs is that you can use them close range unlike regular PPCs, so they're much better off being a heatsink or ammo. Besides, you simply don't want to get close range enough for these to be in damage range. If you get ganged up on/get too close, you need to work on positioning! The majority of the problems comes from the fact that the STD engine + this weapon loadout just weigh too much together. You need an XL, or another loadout (or become as slow as an atlas) to make it work. Instead, Try going with the stock XL280 on the firebrand. Here's a nice example on how to build a PPC+AC5 sniper on this chassis. (Though in my opinion the ammo is still a bit too low. the XL255 build down the line is debatable) I thought PPCs had a velocity of 2000 by the way. Good luck on your other builds!
My mistake, PPC speed is 1500 and AC5 speed is 1300. If the PPC speed was 2000 then the perfect combo would be with AC2's. Thing is XL engine in my opinion is a huge weakness since those side torsos are a magnet to hits. The small lasers are just a backup when they blow off your arms and need to increase the rate of fire in a close fight. All in all an above 200 damage is certain for all battles i go into. If using as a sniper you should not need too much ammo and after two hits with 2ERPPC's and 2AC5's the other mech will move so such a hot mech is effective at this role. No mech is gonna stay still while you shoot him with such a hard punching combo, so after 2 shots you move and look for another shot (positioning you mentioned). By the points you mentioned I think you would like this build, even left you a free ton for your amusement:
Basically what's currently on my FB since Gauss nerf. I'll go between XL and cool, XL and fast, or STD and tanky on the platform, but I love the combo. Also see this thread: http://www.mechspecs.com/forum/index.php?topic=1706.0
Good to see you going into active discussion, I like that! XL indeed provides a huge weakness in side torsos, but as I've said in various threads here already, jagers are meant as weapon platforms. They're designed to do heavy damage instead of taking heavy damage, at least in my eyes. This is due to the fact that they can't really zombie: once you lose a side torso, half of your firepower is gone and you have no hardpoints in the center. Hunchbacks for example also have an easy to hit side torso, but at least you can use your other side as a shield, AND you have the center torso hardpoint. That is what makes hunchbacks exceptionally good with a standard engine for survivability. So, I suggest to mount an XL engine, even though the side torsos are easy to hit. It gives you more room to load a loadout up to par with many assault mechs and if you do the ballistics boating right, even better than assaults. Besides, at long range I've seen people mostly aim at my CT. the CT is a larger target than the side torsos from the front. While one mech may be moving back into cover after you hit him twice with each weapon, a match has 12 mechs. While one goes back another could pop up and you will need to cooldown for at least 15 seconds (five times longer than it takes to shoot) to be able to do your combo again. Unable to lay down similar suppressive pinpoint long range fire as the other PPC+AC5 build I linked to makes you a bad asset to the team and to yourself once your team is no longer around to support you. The ammo is enough for only 30 shots at a 1.5 second cooldown, and that really isn't enough to get through a match with 45 seconds of sustained fire. Your ERPPCs will need to cooldown and at that time you can only use your AC5s once they come around. I have a video for demonstration of this build (though it's on a JM6-A, it can be directly transferred). It used the regular PPCs and on alpine so the heat generation isn't really up to scale. ERPPCs would work as well, but I keep my builds cooler, in fear of Terra Therma. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l56VgxvFajY&list=PL7fUnCuU5bPxd5B9QH5fH8dZy1_6vMN7M&index=19 I guess each argument is made from experience, but I've gotten quite a few 600dmg+ rounds simply because I was able to keep dealing pain and position by my own judgment instead of being forced to go into cover due to the amount of generated heat. Regarding the build you made: I don't like unreliable UAC5s as main weapons as you let chance decide when you take cover, instead of keeping control in your own hands., and it's a completely different concept from the original of this thread so it should probably not be mentioned here The builds I'm running currently are: JM6-A: XL255 / 2LBX10 / 4SSRM JM6-DD: XL280 / 2AC10 / 2ML / 4MG JM6-S: XL280 / 2AC5 / 1UAC5 / 2ML JM6-FB: XL280 / 2PPC / 2AC5
I think the developers are getting it wrong with the UAC5, you would think that in the 31st century jamming would not be a problem with a gatling gun. Second if there should be a problem it should have a jamming factor after firing a few rounds, not right away. After a few rounds the factor should start presenting itself rather a small factor, then as the weapon heats up jamming should be a factor and increasing in terms of time spent and heat buildup. One thing that should have been is that the jamming factors be very small but the heat produced should be high and a danger of ammo exploding when it reaches the gun due to its localized heat. Well what i mean is that they got it right on mechwarrior 4. And sorry to be so direct but didn't mean to offend or talk directly, but this is how forums teach me stuff, by reading on the discussion and ideas of others. think these few entries help a lot to many people searching for ideas and builds. I am going to degrade back to regular armor and experiment on survivability on the firebrand, the first months i had it my scores where the least impressive. Will try the XL as per your suggestion and see if it is much more powerful.
Haha, wishful thinking about the UACs, a jam rate that ramps up would be awesome though probably a bit powerful. Don't worry about being direct, I meant it in a positive way. Besides, I'm often pretty direct as well. I hope the build changes work out for you!
