GRF-3M "All Rounder" (1x ERPPC, 4x SRM4 , 7xJJ, XL300)

5/5,

2 ratings

First let me tell you, I don't like brawling. Not my stuff. I'm more of a fire support guy. Stick with the team, use my firepower to support bigger guys. Pure brawlers are short ranged meaning the support fire isn't there when the ranges are beyond 270m, specially with only 2 energy mounts.

I'm a strong proponent of exploiting the strong points of a mech too, which means that if I have 4 missile slots and 7 possible jumpjets, I want to use the 4 missile slots AND the 7 jumpjets. If I'm interested in only one or two jumjets, I'll take my Shadowhawk out for a ride instead of this mech.

Finally, I'm demanding on my armor needs. I always use full torso armor, and quite high leg armoring.

So my conditions when putting this thing together were:
-7 jumpjets. Not one less ,period.
-Use all the missile slots
-Enable me to provide fire support at any range.
-Remain very mobile to take flanking positions, hit and run, etc.

Long range fire support demands a long range weapon. ERLLs or ERPCCs. The mech comes with an ERPPC on it's own and uses jumpjets in this configuration (so immediate damage trumps damage over time). Obvious choice right there. Placement is a matter of compromise. Torso means a higher firing position (better for jumpshots, and again, we have 7 JJs so we'll do a lot of those), at a cost of less flexibility of aiming. But the ERPPC is a sniping/long range weapon and usually having them in the torso will mean no trouble. Also, it's not just that losing the arm won't mean losing our weapon, is that leaving the hand free means we can freely dispose of the armor there, as the arm will be nothing but a shield for us.

Using all the missile slots meant either LRM5s or SRM4/6s. LRM10s start putting a tax on the engine I didn't want. The LRM5s were attractive, but lately ECM presence in the battlefield has multiplied and you risk having most of your battery rendered useless if the other team has a couple of smart Ravens or KFs. So LRMS=Ruled out.

Which lets us with SRMs. While SRM6s offer the highest damage potential your engine size will again take a hit. Also 4xSRM6s take 4 extra tons and at ranges over 150m aren't really that much better than the SRM4s unless using artemis (which means again more weight and more restricton). Finally SRM6s eat ammo much quicker - 8 more rockets per salvo, making the ammo needs much bigger than with 4s. 4.5 tons of SRM ammo can last for a whole game with 4xSRM4s. They definitely won't with 4xSRM6s.


So weapons chosen: ERPPC in the left torso, 4xSRM4x in the right torso. Now we have to define the engine. XL280 is a bare minimum, but I think XL300 is much better and hits the sweetspot between giving great mobility while not hindering your weight considerations. It's also a very commonly used engine most people will have around so it just makes sense using it.

Armorwise, we have two shield arms that have nothing on them (right one has a DHS but we can allow ourselfs to lose it), so I lowered the armor on them. Full torso armors, somewhat lower cockpit armor (I rarely if ever get hit there anyway), and a respectable 45 armor on the legs to boot.

Finally, heatsinks. Those SRM4s probably you'll want to use in full salvoes rather than holding back and using sequential firing. At least I do know that when the chance to use them comes up, I want to unleash them in a single volley for maximum effect, and to immediately start torso twisting to spread any incoming damage. So, this build will run hot after some salvos (and if you throw in an ERPPC shot, even more). 14DHS take care of that pretty well.

And the rest? the rest is ammo. We'll have room for 450 rounds which is enough for 28 full salvoes.

And what we got is this:


...and let me tell you, this thing is just great. You never feel useless thank to the ERPPC reach, if the fight comes to close quarters you just murder enemies at an alarming rate. Your 7 JJs allow you to essentially fly when you need to and to pop up from cover and unleash a murderous alpha on the unsuspecting guy on the other side.

My first game ever with this mech was a 580 damage, 5 kill, 7 assist game. In ALPINE, of any maps, and obviously with no unlocked skills whatsoever.
It's grown on me so much I honestly think this mech totally obsoletes my SRM build for the SHD-2D2 (so I guess I'll run a SSRM build on that one from now on).

 

Very nice build, I'd make one small adjustment though; move one jumpjet to the center torso and the arm heatsink to the right torso, that way you don't lose the heatsink from shielding.

like so:

 

This build is legit.

 

Think maybe LPL or vanilla PPC would work better.

 

I would have to agree, especially since after the December quirk pass, it lost the ER PPC quirks (+20% Velocity) in exchange for missile velocity (+10%). I'd go with the LPL for this build as it will be more efficient heat wise and you won't have to worry about leading targets or min range issues of a PPC.

 

Indeed, the LPL works quite nicely, made a thread on it here. https://www.mechspecs.com/threads/grf-3m-more-dots-4x-srm4-1x-lpl-4x-jj-xl300.10418/