A team is as fast as the slowest mech. Therefore, the slowest mech should not be an atlas with a STD300. This atlas is critslot optimized and uses the left arm for shielding (of course when you modify to run AMS, you can switch to shielding with the right side). The high engine allows for good torso twist, and the MPL in the torso are very effective on big mechs such as this, because their low duration means that it matters less when your torso can't keep up with targets. The obvious downside of this build is the lack of range. Downgrade the AMS version to an STD335 and run an LPL instead of the arm MPL. Gives some extra range and poke. The SRM6s are not very accurate, but that's good when you need to clip speedy lights. You can go towards SRM4 and eventually add artemis, though that's not necessary due to the lower spread. Because of their lower ammo usage as well, you can then use the extra free tonnage to try and put an LPL in the arm at little cost. Don't remove too many heat sinks, the ability to keep sustained damage is what makes this build do better than most weapon platform atlai. Base version: AMS version:
1) I think when doing an asymmetric build on any Atlas it's important to consider most people will (still!) usually go for your ballistic torso first. Loosing that torso means the RA and all equipment on it will be gone as well. For this reason I usually mount any asymmetric weapons on the LA. 2) While I think the MPL are fine on their own I don't like them here for two reasons: weight & range. As the D Atlas struggles a bit damage wise anyway if you want a certain speed and still retain sufficient cooling, the weight consumed by them can be used better for other weapons. Range wise they aren't working very nicely in conjunction with AC20 and SRMs, all of which have a base range of 270 m. This is what I would do. It looks quite different on paper, but I guess it's pretty much the effect you were looking for when doing the D the way you did: - asymmetric build - +A on the SRMs, increasing their effective range by reducing the spread - ammo for the SRMs is still sufficient for about 500 damage from the missiles alone - increased damage from the energy weapons - (limited) range capabilities due to mounting a LL - sufficient armor for shielding left considering the massive structure quirks on the AS7s What do you think?
Nice, though I especially mounted MPLs in the torso because of the shorter duration (even if it kinda limits the operational range, the damage decrease vs regular ML is not that much at 270m). For longer range I'd mount an LPL or LL, probably by running the tonnage efficient STD 335 or downgrading to SRM4s which have inherently better spread and allow for a little bit of ammo savings.
I like the second just for the increased heat efficiency, though I think you're light on SRM ammo. You could drop 1 DHS to get to 2 full tons of SRM ammo and bump the leg armor a bit
I'm light on ammo indeed, I figured the AC20 has priority and there's not enough heat efficiency to continually use them, only in initial burst. The AS7-S has enough hardpoints to really have missiles as its main weapon but here they're mainly support. I value the heat efficiency for the energy+AC20. Leg armor is a bit light, but still above CT total value so I think it's fine. Your modifications seem like a good personal preferred variation though!
