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Ok so since they seem to have fixed the enormous cockpit target on the 70 ton Cataphract, it is a very tough mech and lasts in a fight.
I have only the one chassis, the 3D, and my favorite, most kills so far is 2 UltraAC5s and 4 med lasers.
CT: 68/20 Xl295 engine. (68KPH) 1 double heat sink. Beagle Active Probe.
RT: 45/15 Med laser, Ultra AC5, (2) ammo NO case.
LT: 45/15 Med Laser, 2 double heat sinks. AMS, AMS ammo (1).
RA 44 Med Laser, UltraAC5, (2) ammo.
LA 44 Med laser 1 Double Heat sink
LL 60 (1) Jump Jets
RL 60 empty

Face it, with this build you do NOT turn your back to the enemy. Most armor is in the front where the guns are aiming. Fire the UltraAC 5 till they jam, then use the med lasers until they unjam.

Bron

I just got my 3rd HBK variant which will allow me to break into the next tier of pilot/mech skills. So for my next mech I think i'm going to go with a Heavy and for that heavy I've been debating on the 'phract. Going up against them, it always seem to me they present a broad, easy to hit target. In every instance, with out knowing the loadouts, i always seem to go for the arms.

That being said, I HATE going up against a 'phract! All I hear are AC blasting away and stuff flying off my mech. Granted i'm taking a medium against a heavy, but they just tare me up if i'm not careful. Sooo unless something else comes out before I have my CBs saved back up, I'll in all probability be adding a 'phract to my remaining mech bay.

i like it as well, just from appearance.

but i think i am going to try getting master on mediums before i move to heavy's.

Yup ... thats exactly what i've been working towards and i'm getting closer! Bought my 3rd variant Wed. night and i've got two skills to unlock yet on it before I can break into the next set of skills.

I got the catapults up first, I was told a gaus cat with zoom bonus is a force to be reckoned with. I wish I was better hitting with it hehheh. That's a long row to hoe in exp, and that last 2M cbills...sheesh.
My next line will be the Raven. The one I've been running wins more times than looses. But what a difference between playing a light and a heavy. Speed is your best weapon, but my favorite tactic is to not go full throttle when there are other scouts on my team. I hang around the heavies, and run around shooting at and confusing their targets, or flushing scouts from their legs. I kind of wish there was a way to remove one Exp bonus, and that would be Kinetic Burst'. It speeds up way too fast, and so it's hard NOT to run at full speed. I bet a Joystick would be better for throttle control.
My goal is to hit 10M cbills this weekend. Then I can outfit two new Ravens. Any suggestions which two? I have the 3L and 4X.

Ok grin, there are only three.

once I get my desktop going I will post my cent builds that I have refined.

I have a photobucket account set up. I uploaded a catapult K2 picture to it, but I can't seem to link it to my profile. Can someone help? Slayer you got yours up there, what's the trick?
Thanks
Brin

I took a screeny of my MWO client, cropped the thumb and made it my avatar. If you're looking to set an avatar picture you gotta dig around in your "user control panel". The setting is in there.

I'm going to have to try it out a few more times to see if this 'Phract will be a keeper. It has a higher alpha than the dual Uac5 version I'm replacing. But DPS is lower go figure.
The new build of the 'Phract, 2 ER large and 2 large Pulse lasers. Jumping with one JJ still the same, so one in a leg. Pulse lasers in torso. Tons of DHS. Still gets hot after a couple alphas. What doesn't lol.
I DFAed a Catapult by jumping up and alphaing down on its left torso. Heart shot kill, or I landed on it, either one. I like to think the reason it was laying there cold and gray was because 70 tons of mech just landed on it after an atlas had just lit into him !
Nov 27 Patch includes..... Bitchin Betty! ( ) She still talks too damn slow. AND the sound quality in the game is laggy overall. More on that later.
Streak missile will scramble her voice into radio static. Interesting. She'll tell you 'target destroyed'.



Bron

no DFA right now. they took collisions out a couple patches back until they fix it. i never really sawissues with it, but apparently a lot of people complained. probably all the light mechs that got knocked around. there was the only advantage the heavier mechs had over the lights - you could knock them down for a couple seconds and pound them.

Was there collision damage along with knock downs? I don't recall, I had just started playing.
I am not getting great results from this Laser build. It may not be a reflection of the mech. PUGs are so random. Some matches go bad fast, others last a while and then it does well.
Having JJs on this thing is a must.
In this mech the best map is Frozen City Night time. looks and sounds crispy. . . I was running fraps hoping to get a screen shot of another Phract, and I luckily recorded a kill with it running. A couple screenshots are up on photobucket if you want the view from inside the cockpit. The video is like 5G. It's not up. I just took SS from it.
The armor and jjs helped this Phract stay alive through a 15 minute win in the caustic valley. Still manageable heat as long as you chain fire it. No fraps on that one. No kills but a win. 350ish damage. Patience paid off on a good team that stayed behind cover, AND the enemy didn't have squirrels, er jenners to chase around. So slow fight with a few kills at the end, half our team still standing, maybe 2 or 3 enemy left. Jump sniping with lasers mostly.

yeah - there was a few patches ago. try medium pulse lasers if you will, or a mix of medium pulse lasers and regular (large or medium) lasers.

As I suspected, the laser built was kinda crappy.
New build is much more of a threat.
Head: Empty...
CT: 68/20 Xl280 engine. (65KPH) 1.
RT: 45/15 Med laser, AC10.
LT: 45/15 Med Laser, 1 DHS. 1 AC10 ammo. AMS.
RA 44 Med Laser, AC10.
LA 44 Med laser AC10 ammo
LL 60 (1) Jump Jets AMS ammo
RL 60 AC!0 ammo (2 tons)
So, dual AC10s, and 4 med lasers, still one JJ. A little slower, but man do people run away from it now!

i don't know the hard points on that, but something i like to do is put the ammo in the same place as the weapon. i do not know if it is a good idea or not, but my thoughts are that if the weapon or ammo goes i do not need the other one of the pair. then i would put the two med lasers in the same spot.

do you have CASE on that thing?

Since the 12/18 patch, the build is different.

Phract 3D same 2 ac10s, but with 3 tons of ammo in the arms.
Same engine, but JJs x2 in each leg.
Dropped medpulse for med lasers. Added a heat sink. Less ammo so more reliance on lasers... I tried it with same loadout no JJs, and its too vulnerable.

No Case.
I found I died way to fast when a lucky shot that detonates ammo in a torso will take you out, so ammo is in the arms and legs. 1 ton of ammo in each leg, 2 tons in the right arm for 60 rounds total. I have never been 'legged' in this mech. With 60 armor, the lights don't even bother trying for the legs.
The latest build has the JJs in 4 places, 1 in each leg, and 1 in each left and right torso.
The JJs are absolutely necessary to this build. Without them, it doesn't seem to survive as long.
WITH the JJs, it adds a lot more value to the team, since it can stay behind cover, jump over the cover to spot and snipe enemies, and drop back to safety without risking the walk up and back down method used by most heavy and assault mech builds without JJs.
Now if only Slamhammer would stop stealing my kills lol!

I gotta review my build when I get home tonight, but I based it off our conversation Bron. AC10 X 2, MLs X 4, DHS, 2JJs in the legs and I believe 2JJs in CT. I have 45 rnds / AC10 (90 total rounds), the XL245 engine and AMS with AMS ammo in the legs. I haven't altered armor at all. My only complaint is it's a slow build, but the JJs I believe will make up for the difference. I just need to spend more time in it to get the feel for them. Really seems to work nice though as support. Might do ok in a brawl, but with the lack of speed, until I get decent with the JJs i'll be at a disadvantage. I did take notice right away though how much nicer it is to JJ over instead of the "walk up and back down" method.

these are my 2 main high speed money making brawlers

FLAME dragon

got to do my mod to Flame last night and test it once and got in 2 rounds this morning.

280 engine 75.6 kph (droped from 81 for the 300 engine but you gain 3 tons from this)
FF,
endo steel,
12 double heat sinks,
4 ML's,
ac20 with 3 tons ammo (light ammo load doh).
And MAXED armor at 402.

Actually got 0.2 tons to spare. I could get back 0.8 tons as that's not much armor for a extra ton of ammo but with endo and FF you are maxed on usable slots. If I remove FF as its only 1.2 tons then I am out the armor and still don't have tonnage to put in that extra ton of ammo. But 21 shots with ac20 so far has been enough. Really did I ever use 28 shots and they have talked about increasing the ammo per ton for the ac20. But this mech has 40 damage points, and a 1.1 heat scale. So it can run hot at times but overall I have found it to be quite durable and stressful. But so far this is a fun build, faster then assaults and generally faster then most heavy s and some mediums even. Already taken on some atles and once they realize in one alpha there CT armor is having issues they panic.

Wang build Cent

ac20 4 tons ammo
2 ml's
ams 1 ton ammo
endo steel
double heat sinks
stock engine so running 70
little tweaks to armor but its higher then stock.


this is one of the most durable mechs out there as you can be literally 1 leg, a ct and head and still kill with 2 ML's. and trust me I have actually done it. I know others are not fond of this build but I have had some amazing success with this. I have gotten dam good at taking out lights especially as its fast enough to get a good shot on them and I have gotten dam good with that ac20. This mech is best used in the pack. Ie let the atles start taking damage and then pop whatever is shooting him. If you can land shots on one torso spot you can can open mechs fast with this build. The best trick is to meek your gun arm out of harms way, the other arm is just armor good for taking hits. but it has a build in shield making it bigger so some careful piloting and you kee the arm. to be honest I really lose that arm any more. Also the ams helps keep you and the big guys you protect alive longer.



Here is my can opener mech.
CTF-2X

this is from memory so may need a tweek

endo
double HS
AC20 2 tons ammo
srm6 with artimes (2 tons ammo)
2 mpl
1 ml
Stock engine


this has something like a 52 damage potential so its a heavy hitter running at 65 kph. But it makes me faster then assaults and generally fast enough to turn with lights and get off a boom stick shot. this mech got me a 5 kill game the first test ride I had in it with buff. The first and last mechs in that where lights to my boomstick. Yes if you have not noticed I favor a ac20 for some reason. but there is something so satisfying to one shooting a light with a alpha.




I have a A and AH cents tricked out, and a founders atles (never used ocne and has no weapons yet, need to figure out a fun config) and a dragon 5n (again work in progress when i get cash). I want to start trying out some Gauss long range build's with my cents and see how I do with that and maybe the same goes for a dragon. Make a long range sniper with speed but the close range ability to take down anything that coems close. Gauss is also a good close in weapon.

I think most of you have seen this build as it is my go to mech.
Cataphract 3D



2 AC10, 4 tons ammo... 1 in each leg, 2 in the left arm.
4JJs 1 in each leg, 2 in CT.
4Med Lasers.
10 dbl heatsinks
XL245 engine
1 AMS 1 ton ammo in the left torso.

I broke down and bought a Stalker



For now, its a missile platform.
2 LRM20s and 6 med lasers... I tried just a laser boat with 5 ER large lasers but it ran WAY too hot.
More info after I have done some test drops.
edit: Dropped into a couple missions with Hammer RLG, and did very well.

edit: Ok this seems like a useful load out. Just dropped into a PUG, Forest Valley day, got 3 kills, and survived a toe to toe fight with a 'Phract with LBX10s... I let him shoot my arms with lots of torso twisting just as he fired... got lucky in the timing, and spread out the damage, no crits!
I had help from an Atlas that took him down while he fired at me. The 6 Med lasers in chain fire mode can fire continuously without overheating with just a slight delay between shots... 270 meter reach is just enough for doing added damage if your LRM target tries to close inside the LRM's 180M. So right around 200 to 250m this thing deals the full 102 Damage!

LRMs in the left and right torso. Ammo = 2 tons in each leg, 1 Ton in each arm. Total of 720 missiles. I do run out though, so I might try to add another ton.
BAP in center torso.
All the heat sinks are in the torsos.

<S> Bron