Hello Mechmans, Working on an LRM hybrid that I actually like, tell me what you think: The plan is to play the LRMs as a mid-range weapon system to support the lasers as opposed to sitting in back and just lurming. It looks hot, and it is, but running it with just the lasers and ignoring the LRMs gives it a much higher heat efficiency, so I can switch on and off. Using the LRM5s up top ensures that I don't have the giant bunny ears that the larger LRMs force on you.
First thing, if you are using a wepons which needs a lock to be use properly, always try to fit an Active Probe or at least the Light Active Probe because they will speed up the lock process and counter ECMs close range (not needed in most scenarios except for Streaks). Since you are half of a LRM boat (in the end you fire 20-25 missiles at a time) maybe it can overlooked, but it will still help getting a lock (especially versus not-countered ECMs) and fight versus pokers. Your lasers have an optimal range of 400-450 meters, are low mounted (which means you can only poke with one side and you can't hill-hump properly with lasers) but often you will probably need to fire at shorter ranges because the enemies are closing in or your team is approaching your targets, unless both yours and the enemy team have mostly long range weapons... So why not use ATMs? With 2xATM6 you can deal 36 damage up to 270 meters (plus skills) and 24 damage up to 500 meters (like the optimal range of your lasers), so if you want to engange at the optimal range of your lasers (and you should do, since those are the main heavy hitters on this build), IMHO there are more reasons to use ATMs over LRMs. ATMs also have slightly better speed than LRMs and spread: as for now they heavily focus on centers torso and legs, a nightmare for lights and mediums. The only downside are that more than often you can't fire them without a Line of Sight, but you have Jump Jets to compensate and poptart those ATMs over an obstacle if needed. P.S.: I've also added one lower arm actuator (which will apply to both arms ) so you will have an easier time to track lights close, maintain lock and fire at them. About ammunition, without skills you have enough ammo to fire 15 alfa strikes or 18 with ammo skills. With a Cooldown of 5 seconds, it means that you can fire your ATMs non stop from 1:15 to 1:30, more than enough in most pubblic games.
cAP only counters ECM and speeds up target INFO (like a targeting computer does), not target TIME. But it also increases sensor range which could be useful in extreme long range cases. The only things speeding targeting TIME are Artemis, NARC, and TAG. On a hybrid LRM build which will often be engaging in direct-fire engagements (with line of sight), I find the boost from Artemis to be invaluable. Here are some TBR-S set-of-8 builds on your principle: and an ATM one for good measure: And one with the pods you have now ^^
Then I misremembered the reason why I found a cAP in every homing missiles build I found some time ago. Thanks for the info and correction
How exactly do you go about designing builds for a Timberwolf? I'm finding that they really frustrate me; every build I can put on them it feels like I can put it on a Hunchback II-C or a Huntsman, and it's really irritating; I have no idea how to get real potential out of this guy. Every build that I try to do bigger feels like it's 3 tons short or something, even if I drop to 1 JJ. I guess, in general, how do you guys approach building a heavy clan mech?
It depends on the mech. Specially a varied chassis like the TBR which has many (different) hardpoints. BattleMechs like the IIC variants and the kodiak are easier, but with omnimechs it's always a decision between having quirks that enhance your weapons, or weapons that surpass the quirks. There are three ways I build mine: 1. Quirks! My TBR prime consists of only Prime parts to get the missile cooldown quirks. With that I mounted 5mpl, 2mg and 2lrm15 (the lrm15 because they look good, atm6 would be better as a build) 2. Synchronized hardpoints! If a base variant omnimechs does not suit my needs, I swap things around until i have the best hardpoints I'd want. One of my TBRs has been changed to 8E hardpoints, for thr filthy 8mpl build. 3. Aesthetic. Touched on this subject earlier a bit, sometimes it's just important that it feels and looks good. Having a mech that feels right to play helps you focus on the game. I used to skip the tbr-prime quirks with a left torso that gave me symmetrical machine guna in the torso, lasers only in the arms. Having dedicated locations like that made it easy to predict if you'd get a good shot off. Oh and one particular thing about the tbr: you have few tons and slots to work with compared to a hellbringer for example, and a fixed 375 engine. The huntsman has a 250 and the hbk-iic can change on your preference. They will have a similar 'effective tonnage' that can be put into the tbr, but the tbr will be tankier in general, while running at similar speeds.
