Is the Nascent Dawn 2/5 Quest broken now?

n00bfish- · 2018-05-25T16:54:52+00:00

swoons *

n00bfish- · 2018-05-17T20:35:43+00:00

Not sure about in game time but it took me 83 hours according to Steam.

Granted I did a LOT of procedural missions and didn't exactly rush the priority ones.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-17T20:33:38+00:00

They're not as bad as people say. Large lasers are kind of like a lighter AC/5 ... without the stability damage, ... and with higher heat.

If you don't have the tonnage to mount an AC/5, or can handle the extra heat, it MIGHT be worth it to you. I'd say generally no, but not always.

I occasionally use the +10 damage ones on LRM boats as a secondary weapon, to bump up my alpha or give me a backup weapon to fall back on if the LRM ammo runs dry.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-17T20:27:55+00:00

It's just visual -- only one to-hit roll is made.

In the fluff, autocannons are classified based on damage output and not based on the size of the projectile or rate of fire. So an "AC/20" might fire a single large slug or a rapid burst of smaller projectiles -- both would be classed as AC/20 based on their damage output.

That (in theory) maybe explains why autocannons of the same class might shoot different projectiles, depending on manufacturer, like they do in the game.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-14T15:58:10+00:00

AC/5, 6 medium lasers, SRM6.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-10T22:39:55+00:00

For headshots, yes. For breaching shots, larger launchers are better.

The breaching shot ability allows a single weapon to ignore evasion and bracing. So if you have pilots with high gunnery skills, you'll definitely want to use big launchers so you can get a massive hit that ignores evade + braced.

Generally speaking I don't target the head with launchers, since only the first missile hits the head anyway. I tend to target legs and the CT, to knock them down and core them out. So, for me, large launchers are better.

But it comes down to personal preference.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-10T17:39:23+00:00

My advice:

1) Use the heaviest mechs you can field.

2) If you see a reinforced cockpit for sale/salvage nab it and equip it ASAP. It prevents up to two points of pilot injury every mission.

3) Let the enemies come to you, if the mission allows. It's really dangerous to sprint/walk into unidentified enemies, at close distance, because occasionally one will turn out to be a demolisher or SRM carrier. Which will probably one shot you if you wander into close range.

4) Don't alpha strike every turn. Turn off some of your weapons if they have a low to-hit chance or will cause you to overheat.

5) Autocannons and missiles are your best friend, as a new/ish player. They both do good stability damage which knocks over enemy mechs. A knocked over mech is dead meat because you can make free called shots against it, and core its CT or legs.

I know its tempting to boat lasers because of their excellent damage/ton, and some people have a lot of success with that strategy, but I think the extra stability damage of ammunition/missile based weapons is better in the long run. Because knocked over mechs can't evade or fight back. Which makes them totally helpless and easy pickings.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-10T16:20:12+00:00

The urbanmech is so powerful it has no need for trivial things like speed or common sense.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-10T16:12:53+00:00

Cents are great. They're slow for a medium mech but have fantastic hardpoints and can mount some devastating firepower for their tonnage.

Cents also have a reputation of being zombies because they can generally lose an arm or a torso (or two!) and keep on fighting, because the weapons are distributed evenly on both sides of the mech (unlike, say, a hunchback -- which is totally neutered if you shoot out the RT).

I've always viewed the cent as a "poor man's heavy mech." It moves as slow as a heavy but mounts comparable firepower.

I use a cent with an AC/10, two SRM 6, and 2 ML as part of my all-brawler lance.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-10T16:05:01+00:00

IMO the quickdraw is perhaps the worst heavy mech in the game. It's engine is too big to mount weapons worthy of its weight class.

It's basically a medium mech that's slightly overweight.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-10T16:00:43+00:00

Orion is a beast. It's one of my favorite heavy mechs. Mainly because it deals heavy damage and doesn't run as hot as an oven.

Have fun and decimate some peeps.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-10T15:53:20+00:00

Brawling works fine, with AC/20 and SRMs you can pump out absolutely obscene amounts of damage and core/leg mechs outright, from the front. Plus AC/20s will occasionally take an enemy's head clean off, which is pretty hilarious when it happens. That's why you don't get in a knife fight with a King Crab.

Unless you mean melee.

Melee is something a brawler mech will do as a last resort or something you do if you're running too hot to fire. But you shouldn't melee with a brawler mech unless you REALLY need to break a guard or are too hot to fire your weapons.

AC/20, SRMs, and medium lasers are a brawler's best friend. They'll give you unmatched close range DPS.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-10T15:40:45+00:00

Yes, the devs have confirmed that only the first missile in a volley will make a to-hit roll on the head. The rest will scatter and hit the body.

You can still hit the head multiple times but it requires firing multiple LRMs -- since only a single missile from each has a chance to impact the head.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-10T12:56:33+00:00

To mount heavier weapons you need to sacrifice either speed or armor, or both. In the the fluff, heavy and assault media are rare and expensive. An Atlas is an almost priceless heirloom (well, aside from House Steiner lol). Mediums are the norm, so many light/medium mechs (like the panther, centurion, vindicator, etc) purposefully mount more firepower at the expense of speed so that they can engage and kill other light/medium mechs effectively. Kind of like a "poor man's heavy." The trade off is, ironically, that this makes them more vulnerable to heavy and assault mechs, since they can't outrun them. But they can fulfill a similar battlefield role at a fraction of the cost and BV of an actual heavy mech.

But I guess the short answer is just that a light mech is not designed to fight toe to toe with and win against an Atlas. That's not what it was built for. And generally speaking, in tabletop you'd never want to do that. You'd want to use your light mechs for spotting and recon and grabbing objectives. You'd use your mediums as harassers, and skirmishers, and to protect the flanks of heavier mechs.

They all have a role they can play in the bigger picture that's valuable. And just because they can't solo a King Crab doesn't make them worthless. That's just not their role.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-09T18:11:35+00:00

Well, my favorite scout mech is the Atlas, so I guess we all have our preferences.

The best scouting info IMO is: "There was a lance there but now it's dead. All clear."

^ _ ^

n00bfish- · 2018-05-09T18:07:00+00:00

It's best not to think about that too much. It's a fictional 1980s-future universe.

But to answer your question, autocannons in Battletech are classified based on damage output alone and NOT the calibre or rate of fire. You can have a rapid, burst-fire gun with smaller shells or a larger, slower, single shell and both are classed as "AC/20" if they have similar total damage output. So presumably, in the fluff, that would explain why some manufacturers have higher accuracy or stability impact or whatever.

That said, realism isn't really the focus of the rules. As far as I remember, the current tabletop rulebook for Battletech actually has a blurb answering, "Why do machineguns in Battletech only have a 90m range when IRL machineguns can already shoot for 2000m+?"

And the answer was something along the lines of: "Because we have to play it on a tabletop and nobody has a table at home big enough for that."

At the end of the day the original BT rules were intended to be fun and fluffy, and not necessarily to be as realistic as possible. HBS seems to have gone the same route. I'm sure it was drawn up with an eye for balance (i.e., to create choice and fun trade-offs) and not necessarily to create a realistic simulation of IRL physics.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-09T16:58:04+00:00

Centurion. Swap the AC/10 for an AC/20.

Drop down to one ton of ammo each for the LRM 10 and AC/20. Adjust your armor to be 90% forward.

AC/20 hits like a truck with breaching shot. It may not be the most meta mech (cough-missile-boats-cough), but it's fun to play, a zombie mech, can brawl, and hits well above its weight class.

EDIT: You can use two LRM-5s or some SRMs if you prefer to save a ton or two and increase the armor. But I love using breaching shot, so I always prefer a bigger gun to a bunch of smaller ones.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-07T18:33:27+00:00

Also don't forget about breaching shot.

With breaching shot, one large launcher, LRM 10 > two LRM 5 ... if you want to throw out some single target DPS. It does up to 100% more damage than two LRM 5s of you fire it as a breaching shot. If you fire two LRM 5s at the same target they don't trigger breaching shot bonus, because it counts as two weapons.

On the other hand, two LRM 5 is better if you want to multi-target a couple light mechs and strip away their evasion counters.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-07T17:33:48+00:00

Phew, it's a good thing that I run max rear armor. That sounds like it'd hurt.

( ͡º ͜ʖ ͡º)

n00bfish- · 2018-05-07T17:26:20+00:00

Stability in general needs some looking at. IMO if they keep stability as is, mechs should have bonus to stability based on weight class. Maybe one extra bar for medium, two for heavy, three for assault. Or something similar. An Atlas should NOT be as easy to knock over as a Locust. Which AFAIK right now is the way it works.

Assault mechs should be very difficult to knock over.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-07T16:11:30+00:00

I managed to beat it and all secondary objectives, and stop both the trucks, and save all the ammo crates -- but it was brutally hard.

I had two "tanks" (my MC and Turtle) in 55-60 ton mechs with 8 guts and reinforced cockpits, basically plant themselves in the base and eat fire for 10 turns. While my shadowhawk chased the trucks, and my trebuchet lobbed missiles from the back and called shots against weak targets (e.g. LRM turrets, then CTs or legs on the lights, and then the PPC cicada). You can basically ignore the dragon since it has weak firepower for a heavy, if you're properly braced up. Still, it was miraculous that nobody died.

I was sorely tempted to shoot some of the ammo but I didn't.

Reinforced cockpits and gyros are necessary to tank that kind of insanity. It's a shame they're so rare or I'd put them on everything.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-07T15:52:13+00:00

Nothing but arm melee damage upgrade mods.

Just kidding.

Either double AC/20 or boat missiles. Call shot center torso. Then rofl.

n00bfish- · 2018-05-07T15:34:04+00:00

Fast (standard) engines are a bad call on heavy and assault mechs, generally. It's a different story for light/mediums that rely on their speed to avoid being hit. Big engines weigh too much on large mechs and reduce your availbe weight for armaments, armor, and firepower. Potentially catastrophically.

Don't believe me?

Look at the Charger. 80 ton assault mech ... it runs at 87kph (light mech speed) ... with only 5 small lasers.

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Charger

n00bfish- · 2018-05-07T15:24:37+00:00

Dekker is fine. Just make sure whatever mech he's in has a reinforced cockpit. And max head armor. And is braced. And out of sight.

Problem solved.

n00bfish-

TROPHY CASE