Ultimate "Momomo Monster Kill" Version Alternate "Armor+" Version Alternate "Ultimatum" Version Guide Table of Contents - Introduction - Pros & Cons - Weaponloadout - Gameplay - Synopsis - Records Introduction Hello fearsome Mechwarrior Welcome to my latest Missile Boat build for the STK-5M. It is the one build i used on the last WE Fraction Challenge and positioned Top3. It is imo one of the best and most fearsome LRM Builds for the Stalker 5M, simply because it has so many good points to run it like this, which i present you in the section "Weaponloadout". The Issues, which you need to focus on, if you want to build the best out of your Missile Boat Build, are the following: 1. Minimize Volley Counts at Max Volley Size equals Strike-Power 2. Minimize Heat Penalty equals true sustained DPS 3. Maximize Ammo Count equals Endurance I already had some older+similar attempts for all the Stalkers, which worked very well in the last two years, but since the Heat Penalties since summer 2013, you need to work against it by avoiding it! That's why the awesome LRM60+A.Build on the AWS-8R post-Heat-Penalty is broken - still works but very broken and not the best anymore. In the STK-5M i ran the 2x LRM15 + 2x LRM10 combo from my other Stalker build for the 3F, which is still very cruel, but since the 5M is the only Variant, which has 5(!) Missile Launchers, i tried something else, something that really uses the maximum benefits out of it's individual hardpoints. This is what came out and it is freaking awesome. This Build is dedicated to all f***ing LURMAGEDDON Lovers and especially to you Member of mechspecs.com! Have fun reading+testing this and enjoy causing true cataclysmic havoc on your enemies. hear: Pros+Cons Pros: [*]Strong Indirect Long Range Firepower + high DPS (Either Linked or Chainfire Mode) [*]NO HEAT PENALTY, Improved Cooling compared to builds with all big Launchers, with 15 Double Heatsinks for nonstop-Screenshaking [*]Megatons of Ammo for extremely long epic Battles to break 1.5K Damagescores (if your enemies just don't die too fast) [*]All the extra Stuff: TAG, BAP, AMS [*]Cheap and safe Standard Engine at good Speed [*]A true Stalking Bastard (i love it when i drive it, but i hate it, if i had to fight it Cons: [*]Not the fastest Mech, but as a Missile Boat it's usually not a big problem since your attack range is 180 - 1000m and so you can fire&hit even if you are far behind your mates [*]Lower Armor on Arms and Legs, but the only way to use up all Critslots for all the extra stuff [*]Mountains of Ammo could lead to Ammo Explosions, if you get hit by Poptards badly, so try to stay behind walls, hills or obstacles to avoid direct visual line for enemies Weaponloadout [size=10pt]Analysis of the Missile Tubes:The 5M has 2x 10 Tubes in the Arms-Hardpoints and 3x 6 Tubes in the Sidetorso-Hardpoints. If we look at the 4x LRM15+A STK-3F(C)build, we quickly find out that the limited Tubesizes lead to a Stream of 3 Volleys of 32+18+10. The first two Volleys are great, but the last one will almost completely be obliterated by AMS, making you waste a lot of Missiles over the whole match. So in fact it is a waste using all big Launchers on the Stalkers. Then the 2x LRM15 + 2x LRM10 fires in two Volleys of 32+18, very great. But it's still somehow a waste, not to use the 5th Launcher. Ok, so i tried 2x LRM10 + 3x LRM5, making all Launchers fire in one Blow together, equals a Firepower of 35 Missiles. Compared to the 2x LRM15 + 2x LRM10 you have 1 less Volley, making you have less Firepower while you attack. But as it is always a trade you do, when exchanging Weapons, you get some positive effects, namely: [list type=decimal] [*]A lot more free critslots+tons to play with [*]A faster Recycle Time of the Launchers [*]A lower Heatproduction [*]A more consistent Streampattern of powerful Volleys if you simply hold down the Firebutton: 20 Missiles (Arms-Launchers) 15 Missiles (Torso-Launchers) [/list] Analysis of the Heat Penalty:Since the Heat Penalty of last summer, with 4x LRM15 you have a Heat Production of 26.72 instead of 20 (without Heat Penaly), equals 33% extra Heat. With 2x LRM15 + 2x LRM10 you have a Heat Production of 10 + 8 = 18 (NO HEAT PENALTY!). With 2x LRM10 + 3x LRM5 you have a Heat Production of 10 + 6 = 16 (Absolutely NO HEAT PENALTY!) Analysis of Artemis IV:What does it do? Increases LRM and SRM Accuracy, right. Practically the Missiles are kept closer together, not spreading as usual. What does it do in the 5M with 2x LRM10 + 3x LRM? Imo not enough to waste 4-5 tons of Weight for it. Reason: the Missiles are fired from small Launchers, and so the Spread is not that big as firing from big Launchers. Don't waste Weight on this Mech, which needs all the Critslots and Tonnage for what? -> MOUNTAINS OF AMMO! Analysis of Ammo-Count:The STF-3F(C) Stock build has 1260 Missiles. That's not bad. But simply divide it by 4 LRM15 Launchers = LRM60 and you get: 21 Volley(stream)s. Out of my experience half of your Missile Launches will have a Miss, because you lose Targetlock or the Enemy succeeds to take cover, whatever. So finally you can expect to hit with 10-11 Volleys ~ 630 Missiles (disregarding the Misses from AMS). LRM Missiles do each 1.1 Damage atm, that means you can expect average 700 Damagescore only by your missiles, IF you can fire everything away. It's still very ok, and you might even get 5+ Kills. Theorycrafting you think? Not really. I played enough Missile Boats since im playing MWO with different Ammo-Counts and i practically have this score area, but most times i had average 500 @1260-1440 Missiles, because the match was over before i could unload everything or i fired away all my missiles but in the end i had too many misses. The first case is the major reason. Of course i usually have good scores here and there, when i don't fire my missiles like an idiot on every locked enemy at 800+ meters, which have enough time to get out. So now to get higher scores you need 1.to improve your Targetlock+Hit Skill and 2. a lot more Missiles. This build here gives you 4 extra Tons of Ammo, making a whole Count of 2160 Missiles. Average half of the Missiles miss, making it 1080 Missile hit. Equals average 1190 Damagescore. Subtract 20% because of AMS, equals 950+ Damagescore. If you can use your QuadMLas sometimes, great! Easy Game for breaking 1K-Damagescore on many many rounds. Believe me. It works. I made it #3 at the last Weekend Faction Challenge (only 10 best matches counting) with only this kind of Sh*t! Theorycrafting with Maths still works on the Battlefield! Analysis of DPS Power:Important for infinite LRM Spamming is the maximum sustained DPS Value. Get it above 5 and you are insanely deadly. Getting rid of small extra Volleys, Heat Penalties and rising the DPS Value additionally, will make you kill like an unstoppable eternal Spamgod unloading the ultimate LURMAGEDDON 2.0. With all the free critslots+tons by using all small Launchers you can load up to 15 Heatsinks, which lets you fire very very long without reaching the climax of the Thermometer. This is very very important in long epic battles. [hr] Gameplay Drop Prep In this section i tell you only some general things about playing LRM.Boats, because there is nothing special about this build. It IS a simple Targetlock and Hit the Win Button at safe range through the whole game. You don't need to be very skilled. Just a bit good luck, not to be counterattacked too fast. So if you are familiar with playing LRM.Boats, simply skip this section. All other dudes, who are playing this role for first time or having problem to play properly should take a look at least. Weapon Grouping 1. MLas (Linked) 2. LRMs (Linked) 3. Tag 4. LRMs (Chainfire@high heatlevel) 5. MLas (Chainfire@high heatlevel) Keep in Mind that you a fragile with the large Torso.Hitbox in the Stalker, even with a Standard Engine! Gameplay is as always with LRM.Boats - you stay in the third/back line of your Mob supporting the first line Mechs against incoming enemies with primarly Alpha Missile Strikes or sustained Chainfire but ONLY IF you have a Hard-Lock (someone of your mates sticking to the target) OR having someone, who uses NARC for you. Whenever you have the feeling, that you can't hard-lock on someone, don't waste Missiles! Your Role: Indirect Firesupport In the Early Game Phase you should tell your mates, that you play LRM.Boat and they should support you with TAG/Locks. The first enemies you will encounter are scouting Lights. Some of them will try to TAG your Team for their own LRM.Boats. If you see them, DON'T fire your Missiles at them, not yet! They are fast enough to get back to cover and usually you lose the Lock on them very quickly. I don't have to tell you, that you should NOT hunt the Lights, whenever they try to provoke you in close encounters in the Early Game Phase. Just scare them away with your MLas and stay with your Group. Primarly spot the more dangerous & slow Heavy/Assault Enemies, but also be patient enough to get the opportunity for a Hard-Lock. In most cases this will be when your mates are encountering the enemies in Brawls and having visual contact - this is your chance to start your Support! If you get enough opportunities to fire your missiles, you should use up the Ammo at CT very quickly. The arms with some tons of explosive Ammo can be a weakpoint if you get hit unluckily. So try to avoid damage there by hiding behind Obstacles or if not possible by TorsoTwisting! In the Mid Game Phase when both Mobs are clashing against each other, you still aim for the Heavies/Assaults to disrupt their Attacks with non-stop screen-shakes. While you are attacking with your Missiles, you should not let your own's guard down - with the visible stream of missiles you will attract some foes, who are aiming for killing off LRM.Boats. Always stay near environmental objects to quickly get behind cover, whenever you get counterfire. Torsotwisting for spreading incoming damage is a must to keep the damage at your big torso as low as possible. If everything goes properly in teamfights, you should be able to take out several fools or at least could deal enough damage so that your mates could kill most of the enemies. My tip for you: Initially fire Alphavolleys and then switch to Chainfire Mode, when the CT of your Targets is going orange-reddish. Why you do this? -> Don't let anyone kill the Steal! In the End Game Phase usually the Lights are the only left survivors. It is important that you still stay with at least one other mate, when you hunt the Lights, because smart Lights-Pilots would quickly find out that you are weak below 180m. Synopsis Your Role: Ultimate Indirect Firesupporter Gameplay: Safe Attacks from third line, waiting for opportunities for sustained Heavy Missile Rains Getting your Kills by switching to Chainfire Mode when Target's CT is getting orange-reddish avoid incoming fire by using the environment for quick covering Other Matters: communicate with your mates for LOCK-Support stick to your mates to have yourself protected against Attackers below 180m Records Some recent games i have played on the last WE Faction Challenge: http://i61.tinypic.com/xldv77.jpg[/img] http://i59.tinypic.com/25u7gux.jpg[/img] http://i58.tinypic.com/9jd9ph.jpg[/img] http://i62.tinypic.com/aaws5l.jpg[/img] http://i58.tinypic.com/xptptw.jpg[/img] http://i62.tinypic.com/15rk0ty.jpg[/img] http://i57.tinypic.com/1601n9x.jpg[/img] http://i58.tinypic.com/1gf48.jpg[/img] For further information about gameplay in Missile Boats, i recommend you to read this http://www.mechspecs.com/forum/index.php?topic=3356.0 It is an option to drop 1 ton of Ammo for something else, like another Heatsink especially for hot maps, but personally i prefer to have more Ammo and try to be good on Heatmanagement. 15 Heatsinks are really enough to keep your Mech cool at a extremely high DPS Value. Ok, now get your STK-5M ready and slaughter some entire enemy teams. My best killscore: 7, but i know some of you can make it even up to 12, because this build is also a f***ing good Killstealer itself! Honestly. That's why i don't play this build on regular matches, because it is no real challenge, simple press Fire2Win. If you want to grind some C-Bills or XPs - go for it. If you don't want to be hated by both your enemies and your mates, don't run it. It is just a very very mean build since the latest LRM Buff. For any questions or feedback simply post me here. Blagg p.s. some last words: Never load LRM.Launchers of too different sizes, because the very different Recycle Times will confuse you, e.g. 2x LRM20 + 2x LRM5. Try to load Launchers of similar sizes. Great are combo of LRM5s with LRM10s, LRM10s with LRM15s or LRM15s with LRM20s.
I see I'm not the only one who still has the Stalker Missile Boat sickness! Dude, you got it bad! Thanks for the props on the BattleMech Roles post. Glad its still proving useful. I really like this post. Very detailed. Perfectly laid out. You clearly know your Missile Boats. If I ever get round to getting into MWO, I hope I never run into you in opposition, or I'll be screwed! Had a doodle on MechSpecs and came up with this: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=46&l=e7506258886f923f40a0193446ebf7b50b62a6ef Its an XL version of my Missile Support build. Same speed, more ammo, more armour. I loathe to use an XL engine, but I have filled all of the side torso critical slots, which might help.
Basically my third variant, but with Artemis.. hmmm 5tons of Missiles fewer. If you find 1620 Missiles are enough, ok. In my matches i often run out of Ammo, even with 2160 Missiles, because 5 Launchers at rapid Recycle Time is firing extremely fast.
I had an XL300 so I tried the Ultimatum version. 3 to 5 kills each round. Wicked fun! I was almost ready to sell my 5M but not now. Thanks!
Blagg, This build is great. I can't believe how successful it's been in PUG even without any efficiencies unlocked. After grinding through Jenners and Ravens this thing is a nice change. The missle output is good and the 4MLs usually kill at least one attacker if we lose and the swarm comes for me and mine. I frequently get 3 kills and 800 damage in this beast and do even better if I pay close attention to my positioning relative to the rest of my team. The XL300 version is totally viable and has a lots of ammo. Once its unlocked and elited I may put in a standard and try one of the brawler builds. Until then, this guy will quickly rack up the XP and C-bills. Thanks for the build! 5 out of 5.
glad that it works for you too! Well i was suprised myself when i tried this.. never thought that LRM35 could be good enough for a Missile Boat.. But i pretty quickly realized that the Recycle Time of the small Launchers and the non-existent Heatpenalty let's you fire rapid storms of missiles. The XL Engine Version is for all who like ultimate much of Missiles, but could be your greatest foe, if you got shot unluckily. Personally i like the STD build more, it can keep on fighting, even if someone takes out one or both STs (what happens me too often in the Stalker). Nevertheless, have fun with the Lurmageddon! lol
I'm looking for an assalut mech that can run well without elites (I'm kind of new, playing since 2-3 months, and so far I mastered 2 lights a medium and an heavy). This could be the solution.Seems that on this the efficiency won't be as crucial as other assaults. Since I have the XL300 I'd will run a version with a LLas instead of a Mlas, as I think I'll hardly fire all that LRM ammo as PUG(not dropping in groups yet). also no need for upgrades since it comes with DHS.
Blagg thanks for this amazing spec. Like others I've been amazed at how effective the LRM35 are compared to other boats carrying bigger launchers. I did have a few questions regarding how best to use this beast. First I'm wondering when to use my MLAS. Should I just use them to fend off enemies inside my LRM range? Or should I cycle them in along with my Lurm stream when in range? Basically is their added heat worth their damage or would it be more efficient to just keep streaming the Lurm? Second, I was a bit sad to see a single module slot on the 5M, I've been using Adv. Sensor Range, is there a better choice? What would be best once I get it mastered and open a second module? Finally, this is my first serious effort using TAG, whats your method for keeping it locked on when you want it? Thanks again for the great design and thanks for any advice.
Hi Martel66, thx for the feedback. Well, to answer your question, i would ask you back, at which range you play your Stalker? In my case my Missile Boat Stalker stays behind all the other mates, stay in cover from enemy fire. So i rarely get the chance to use the Lasers. There are some few situations, where some enemies break through the lines, e.g. Lights, and the Lasers are nice backup, when you can't fire your missiles. But in usual games, i try to concentrate on nonstop Heavy Rain at Enemies getting close to the Brawlers of my team. Targets which i am sure that they are too far or i might lose Lock very fast (no mate close enough at them to keep the lock), i usually leave them alone. Finally if Missiles Ammo is almost gone and most enemy targets are dead, i usually go in to assist in Brawls with my Lasers for the rest of the pack. For the Modules i recommend Target Decay. Most times you will lose the Lock when Targets get out of your sight. TAG Laser is a nice2have and good if you have straight visual line to your target. As i usually try to fire from cover i rarely get the chance to use TAG. It`s a good counter against ECM though! When i have TAG i always have it on. Good Luck & Have fun with your 5M!!!
for the tournie I ran a version with 2880 missiles that did quite good, I prefer the BAP not to be in the arm since you can still drop that with XL engine, and simmetrical ammo placement might not launch the most at once, but can spam till the end even in longest matches, basically picking any possible pot shot that can still hit (you are still causing the terror factor of incoming missile message)
While LRM boating without the ability to jump spot is far from ideal, I threw this together for this Stalker variant. If you don't bring a spotter, expect to have some very subpar rounds. Pros: *Fast for a STD LRMboat *Doesn't skimp on armor *68% cooling efficiency on LRMs only *Plenty of ammo to make a difference *Tight spread and high DPS on the LRM5/10+A's Cons: *Spotter reliant, no jump spotting or maneuverability *Weak CQC
tfun90, lets say 62 is NOT fast for an LRM boat my AWS boat is faster with lrm 60 i modded my 5M for this (minus BAP, more speed slightly less ammo): alternatively you could replace AMS with BAP
