We've all seen 4xLLAS Cataphracts. 1Xs, 3Ds, various engines. This one holds a special place in my heart because this is the config that I used to master my 3D. Shaved off 2 JJ. It's enough to keep the 'mech pretty nimble, but not too much that it encourages pop-tarting. This 'mech's place is in the brawl, switching the expensive, fragile XL300 engine and a few heatsinks out for Endo made all the difference in my survivability.
Totally run this with a coolshot. I found that the lowest level (10k) one works fine if you don't spam.
Adding Ferro-Fibrous and taking out a couple of heatsinks allows 4 JJ's and an AMS. Nice build, I'll probably end up using this :3
So, I finally ran BindMind's build and it works pretty well. I'm still not convinced that the tradeoff is worth is, but it does provide an interesting alternative. I do have to select my shots much more carefully with BindMind's build, the .5 drop in DPS is noticeable.
I would absolutely recommend this build over Multipass if you are not skilled enough in survival/torso twisting/positioning. The STD is obviously much more forgiving.
Actually I find the STD engine is a bigger survivability upgrade if you know how to torso twist. If you don't, you'll get cored CT every time. If you do, you'll get cored CT most of the time. (This is observed through my getting CT cored a lot and my CT coring a lot, due to a combination of patient aim and CT-seeking missiles). I think I'd like Blindmind's take on it better. 14 DHS is what I run in my Blue Flame, and this allows you to pick up AMS, which is actually useful now.
Now I eat my words. BlindMind's just plain works. I just dropped in this 'mech after over a month without playing, got first on my team. 3 kills, 496 damage. The AMS is needed to soak LRMs (which feel dangerous, but not OP right now), all 4 JJs are a necessity given the new slope mechanics. The only thing I might--just might--consider doing is swapping the high-hats out for ER versions to deal with 'mechs on their perches. In short, BlindMind's build brings pain where you want it, when you want it and with enough staying power to deal with almost anything you face.
I made a xl version, but its a totally different playstyle I would not say this is a brawler nor a poptart sniper (allthough you can play like one if you like) it is a hit and run mech, which works best on maps with a lot of cover, like the city maps. Overall I found the difference between running a standard engine and a xl not too problematic, as long as you run whenever you encounter opposition.Never go head on with anything bigger than a medium, just run away and hit them from behind. It runs a lot cooler than the versions with a standard engine Basically you trade survivability for more speed and more dps which creates a nice ambush mech. With this build i usually play like a medium following up the lights. Nothing more funny than surprising a couple ravens trying to cap a point. However it shares the weakness of all large laser builds; it lacks pinpoint power (meaning ppcs, which are a bit imba imo but thats another topic)
It does look pretty awesome. If any of you out there happen to have an XL340 sitting around, go for it.
Turns out that the heat tax isn't so bad for this build. Alpha-strike if you have to (it'll put you to around 60% heat), but using the torso LLases for long range and the arm ones for short range keeps you honest.
More and more I've thought about the role of the 3d lately in competitive, which is an increasingly smaller window in meta, this build can fill (slot into tonnage for certain drop weight decks) a variety of roles from a conservative standpoint. The original build I think is decent at the moment, especially if you remove 1 JJ for another DHS. XL versions I would refer to my original Multipass build - the builds been around forever in various forms. The 340xl quad ll build is great, if I had to do a tourny quad LL build that's the one, but again, it doesn't fill a viable roll due to less survival given all the pointed alpha of competitive [8s, 12s]... so... But given the meta and how brawling is a utility that this mech (again, the ORIGINAL one posted up top) can fill in a pinch, particularly defensive or conservative situational stuff. This build is close to viable. The only issue is the heat scale changes, but again, some of the roles of this mech doesn't make it just stare at people and alpha over and over given all the pinpoint that supercedes what this mech would do damage wise in first place... [think 2 and 2 shots, chainf, etc] In other words, it's not the best, but the OP build is actually pretty close to the most viable competitive form of this type of mech design. At one point it was much stronger, it's been very weak lately, but with brawling coming back into the fold it might hang around in a rogue status rather than fall back into a full casual status mech. It's not the best thing you can do with a 3d in casual or competitive, and it's not the worst in either.
I agree with everything you've said. The original build was my go-to 'mech for 8-man drops, I'd take a wingman with an identical build and our leader would dispatch us to hunt the current cheese build. We ate AC/40 'mechs and jump snipers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The big reason--as you all but said in your post--is because nobody expected us. The heat tax as hurt this build when running against heavier machines (even more so for the Blind Mind's leaner build). The STD engine allows you go get away with that .5 second beat between 2xLLas volleys, but the pilot still has to come in as a flanker or attack at an oblique angle (just because you can survive a side torso loss doesn't mean you should take one). I'm strongly considering building my 4SP or Blackjack into a 4xLLas machine in order to pack the firepower into a smaller, faster frame.
