An idea I came up with recently while running a quad UAC5 build. While setting up weapon groups, I considered chain-firing them, to reduce the jamming incidence. But obviously, (and as has been mentioned recently in another thread), when you chain fire UACs, you essentially waste some of their potential DPS. I always saw this to be a waste, and so never bothered chain-firing my quad-UAC5s. However, this build is designed to provide the same effect as chain-firing 2 pairs of UAC5s. By replacing one of the UACs in each pair with a standard AC5, it gives the same constant fire, without wasting the potential fourth shot that the Ultras are capable of. And as an additional bonus, the extra tonnage and slots allow for 2 extra tons of ammo. Armor is obviously low, as it is with most any quad-UAC5 build. But the firepower of this thing is pretty awesome, and the max potential damage is a shining 1500! Suggested weapon groups: M1 - UAC5 and AC5 in left arm (chain-fired) M2 - UAC5 and AC5 in right arm (chain fired) M3 - Alpha of all four ballistics (linked) M4 - Both standard AC5s (linked) for when the UACs jam
Man, that's what I call a shaker... Here is a build with slower engine but a little more armor. Standard heatsinks mandatory, but who cares about heat when boating AC/5s... (but it means you need to pay if you switch from another build)
So as I told you ingame I made several test drops on this build (XL225, one less ton of AC/5 ammo for more armor). It's not easy at first, because of the low armor rate. You're very vulnerable to missiles and arties. You're losing the arms quickly too. And I haven't encountered a light mech yet, but I'm pretty sure it's a death sentence. In a word, special care is required, as well as some time to get used to the build : I noticed my last games where way better than my first ones. To be honest, but no real need of actual field test to know that, I'm afraid that in a pure min/max spirit the classic chainsaw build is better. Same burst damage, highest jam rate but backup lasers, faster engine and more armor. Seven more tons in the autocanon system is pretty costly for less jam (and more disruption power). That being said, the build is hell fun to play! Seriously, here's what you do of your enemies, this is ridiculous: I press the keys with a small delay between the two, in order to stagger the shots even more. Thus even if the burst damage is the same as the chainsaw, the target feels twice many impacts and the stopping power is insane. I remember encountering a Banshee at a bottleneck on Terra-Therma, the poor guy retreated right away. If only he knew I had no armor he could have crush me in no time but I guess he panicked under the pressure. Well, that's the idea: not a min/max champion but really fun and quite aggressive. PS: one last thing, I notice that sometimes the chainfire did not work as intended, making the UAC only shot once per cycle. I have absolutely no idea why.
Yeah, epikt, I ran it a few times tonight as well, and I noticed the same thing. At random times, the UACs will simply fire only once in the cycle, which is really annoying, since in that case you might as well just bring 4 AC5s. Still, when it works right, it's awesome crazy fun! Tears things up in no time at all.
Ok, I gave it only 4 stars because of low armor rating and slow engine, but damn I love this build! (6 kills, 4 assists, 1082dmg, not bad!)
Hell Yeah! This is definitely one of the funniest mechs in my garage, and the one with the best dakka feeling.
I know right?! It's an insane hard-hitting dakka, and something which hurts to be on the receiving end of! If only the chain-fire didn't mess up the UAC the way it does . . . still, alot of fun when it works the way it should.
The best way to do it is, after initiating the staggered fire with two chain-fired groups, continue the fire with an alpha-strike key. That way, even if the first ultra shots didn't trigger the following cycles will shoot at maximum rate of fire. To illustrate with the weapon groups you set up in the OP: Press M1 (left AC), then press M2 0.5s later (right AC), keep both press so left UAC and right UAC both shoot, and once the four initial shots are done press M3 to fire the ultra shots and continue the sequence. The goal is a perfectly smooth continuous fire like in my video. Though, most of the time (99% of the time ) the stagger delay is totally random and the rhythm chaotic. The DPS is the same, but it's not as beautiful. I wanted to write a script, but since I'm so bad at those things it might take some time.
Ran a few matches with this build tonight, for pure dakka enjoyment. As always, it was hilariously effective! Out of all the matches I played with the build, my best score was on a loss.
Better if you want to shoot the rock. I think lot of us prefer the Jager over the Phract despite the tonnage advantage because of the weapon placement.
Quite right, epikt. For myself, I actually never even bought the 4X Cataphract, simply on account of its being a Jagger with insanely low-mounted arms. Yes, it's true you can pull an extra 4-5 tons out of it, which is great; but I hate low arm mounts, especially in a 'Mech without JJs. Still, for those who can stand the low mounts in the Cataphract, it does tend to allow more weight capacity for ammo/armor/firepower.
The 4X is a GREAAAAT mech to bring if a couple of your friends want to bring Atlas and you don't have one... That's about it. It can be fun, it's amusing as hell, but, it truly is difficult to play most maps with those low arms. (ESP. Mordor and Tourmaline) I've put up some great numbers in a 4xAC5 4X, but, it's not a very well rounded mech. I like this build, Falc. I just don't know about the speed. I guess I'll have to test it before I can really speak to that notion, but, I've run 1xAC/5, 2x UAC w/ 2xMLas and it is truly destructive! So, I understand the concept of the 2xAC5, 2xUAC combo, it ruin's people's day! I just worry about running at 60KPH with less armor than a light...
It is strictly and purely for trolling fun, Chatt, and in that respect, it works perfectly! I do recommend trying it out, as it is a very enjoyable setup. But I would NEVER bring it to any sort of competitive drop, as the speed and armor values are way too low. If you do try it out, here's two tips that may come in handy: avoid Strikes, and avoid LRMs. In most cases, an Arty- or Air-Strike will head-shot you immediately. If you are lucky enough to survive a Strike, you'll probably have lost at least one if not both of your arms, and even one of your legs. So yeah, run from red smoke as fast as 60 kph will allow you to! Also, LRMs: the 1000+ damage match I posted previously was going great for me, as I was bunked down in the city near the upper-tunnel-entrance, just blasting anything that dared to come at me. But then, the enemy's LRM Stalker got a bead on me when one of his buddies ran in, and after two LRM bursts, I was dead. So yeah, avoid getting LRMed whenever possible.