This is IMO a great setup for any of the Jagers. Fantastic range, formidable DPS and firing speed, superb heat management, and good maneuverability make this a well rounded killing machine at any range. I went with the name "Carbine" for its firing speed, effectiveness at any range, and its ability to get in and get out quickly for some surgical guerrilla tactics. An FYI, this is the only setup I run an XL in on the Jagers. I personally load both ac/2 in the right arm and use the left as a shield. If you have any experience running Thunderbolts or Hunchies then you are probably proficient at this tactic. But by all means, if splitting them up or moving them to the left arm benefits you more then don't hesitate! I use a 5 button mouse, #5 being the wheel that I use for zoom so the other four being used for weapon groups. I have this mech set up as: 1. A/C2's chain fire 2. A/C2's link fire 3. Large Pulse Lasers link fire 4. Large Pulse Lasers chain fire The DPS and heat management in this thing is beast. Mastered out, I run: 1. Advanced zoom 2. Increased sensor range 3. Target info gathering Also, most of the builds I post either use a lot of stock equipment/engine, or use something pulled from another stock mech to help use credits efficiently so you may find a more optimal setup for this mech using the same armament. But if you just bought a Jager-DD and you want a competitive build ASAP and on the cheap, look no further. I hope the public enjoys this build as much as I have. Happy Hunting! - brainkill
Don't Chainfire AC2s!!!! With a macro, the game will think you're alphaing a number of them and the ghost heat will get ridiculous. Without a macro, you're firing one shot every 0.5 sec, the cooldown of each cannon is 0.67 sec, so your DPS goes down immensely. Just fire them linked but only for short periods of time. This mech is a bit of an odd duck, exchanging the long range capabilities of ERLL+AC5 or PPC+AC5 for two hotter weapons, and partially closer range too. The fact that they're hotter means that you have to mount an XL and a boatload of DHS, and I don't think that is really worth it, or that it will compare to the other 'closer range' jagers like the 2xAC10+4xML build. If it works for you, thats great, but I think the build is inferior to many other options. Mounting 2x AC2 in the same arm is good, I'd only really change it in the Firebrand and mount everything in the arms. However, since you have them in the right arm and Jagermech have not very good shield arms, I highly suggest moving some of the left arm armor to your weak legs. Capable lights should tear you up.
I rarely chain fire the AC/2's, but sometimes on the hotter maps it is needed. Also, please understand that there is a lot to this mech that is not on paper. Chain firing the AC/2's will also shake the shit out of someones screen so you can move in close and use your ammoless ac/20. And you talk about the build being inferior to PPC+ac/5 and then say that a good light would tear me up? Yeah right. A good light will tear YOU up when he sees half of your weaponry doesn't even work when he's standing right next to you. A good light just gets dual LPL to the face and doesn't come back to this mech. The chain fire ac/2 trick works wonders for them too. They don't know they're not taking much dmg, they just know they're getting pummeled to death and their screen is shaking and they need to GTFO. Like anyone posting "what about PPC?" and then immediately saying "good lights will tear you up". This is a support mech, obviously. Not the first one to move in. You should never be too far from help, and your solid speed will always allow you to be where you need. I've run this setup on the -DD and the -S so have a few hundred games in it and have maybe been legged once? MAYBE twice. 1% does not warrant moving armor from your top half, which is where you should be taking all of your damage. Your high mounted arms should be used to your advantage, your legs should not be exposed, and when you finally push in after wearing everybody out (torso twist! duh!) the LPL and ac/2 combo work well together to mop up nicely. Good armor melting, good crit finding. Effective at damn near every range. I just got over 900 dmg in this yesterday. Try it out before you bash it, please and thank you!
I know, most of my builds are odd ducks. But if you weren't aware, AC/2 has better range than ERLL, AC/5, AND PPC, so the only exchange is FOR the lights you speak of. Better close burst with LPL, and no lead time either so much easier to hit with. So better dps, better hit chance, better heat management, NO minimum range. And two of the fastest firing guns in the game with extremely good range. Win. Edit: messed up the quote =P
I have tried this loadout in my earlier days, my bashing is justified 'Better Heat Management' is only because you put all the tonnage into heatsinks. 2x 1.39 HPS (AC2) + 2x 2.08 HPS (LPL) = 6.94 HPS 2x 0.60 HPS (AC5) + 2x 2.00 HPS (ERLL) or 2.50 HPS (PPC) = 5.20 or 6.20 HPS PPC+AC5 weighs more though so yeah, less heat sinks -> your build has better management (excluding the variables such as engagement time, TTK, and the fact that AC5s are basically heat neutral: You'll never overheat if you only fire AC5s at near-overheat). But the ERLL variant straight up pwns that heat management. It has longer burn time so I understand the choice for LPL in close range, but I thought the difference between 620m and 720m was the AC2s selling point for you. AC2 and AC5 ranges are fairly similar, 720 vs 620. The projectile speed is the most crippling difference. However, for the rest the AC2 is just a hotter, less pinpoint (having to hit 3 shots in the same place instead of just 1 for the same damage), same DPS alternative to the AC5. Weighs a less and has less slots though so sometimes it could be worth it. I figured you chain-fired a lot since it's on the primary weapon group. Still, on hotter maps you can fire in small bursts linked for faster DPS (and ending the fight sooner). Screenshake is negligible for AC2s, and it gets reduced if you have less of them hitting the mech. Giving up 33% DPS for more frequent, less powerful shakes is still just bad, and you can get the same effect with aiming at the head and visually blocking your opponent with explosions. I was talking specifically about the leg armor at the point I mentioned lights. LPL are obviously better than ERLL and PPCs at close quarter leg hunting (though I've had so nice PPC shots on mechs that dipped just outside of 90m). Teammates are (supposed to be) even better than LPL though, and the less armor you have on your legs, the less time small mechs will need to strip them down. Thus gives the teammates less chance to save you. It is true that Jagers have very high arms, and the giant fins on the side torsos are juicy distractions for poptarts. However your main power is put in the extremely low mounted lasers, so you're bound to expose your legs at some time, and from my own experience (maybe different playing styles and/or opponents), those legs are juicy targets too. Jagers are expected to carry a lot of ammo there, so as long as it isn't dual gauss, I aim there too. Besides, the legs are always easy to hit no matter how much you torso twist. The left arm has no weapons so it is nothing but a little knob on your mech. The side torso fins are easy to hit when you torso twist, so the armor there is unnecessary. Even if it has long guns that could potentially protect your side torso, it's like blocking a bullet with a sword, so I run like 32 armor on arms that have weapons equipped to get at LEAST 36, preferably 41 in the legs. TL;DR: Move armor from left arm to legs, so you can use them longer.
I must agree with Seven, for the same tonnage AC/5 is currently way superior to AC/2 + 2 DHS. Better punch, heat neutral (nice when you pair it with hot LPLas), similar range. And it really hurts me to say this because I used to be the biggest AC/2 lover on this forum. I had AC/2s on all my mechs, even on my Locust. Then the nerf happened and made this once powerful and fun cannon almost useless.
