1 Question & a Sitrep

[SubtleAsAHammer]

My 'Phract 4X is slow as molasses flowing up hill in January in Fairbanks Alaska(still faster than my Misery).

I unlocked SpeedTweek and I'm still sloooooooooooooooow, what gives I thought I'd be able to hit 60+KPH not 57KPH.

I tried Medium range sniping on that mountainous desert map, lined up 2 different Mechs in 2 different spots by using ridge lines or debris for a total of 331 damage(this is a 1st).

The 1st 'mech was being wolf packed by a Spider and Raven in an Impact Crater. It never saw me as it twisted and dodged, my twin AC-5s & Large Lasers opened holes the smaller 'mechs used to down it( I got a Kill Assist of course).

The second was a Highlander on over watch on ridge line, I hid in some debris and kept hitting it in the back and sides. A few of his buddies hit me hard but I evaded and used an expendable to cool down. When I returned a Stalker, Atlas and the very damaged Highlander killed me before I could kill my target. A Locust got the Highlander and darn near downed the Atlas at the end of the game. We lost 10 to 12.

[martian]

Okay, nice sitrep.

And now - what's your question?   :)

[Fatebringer]

I think he wants people to understand his pain. ;)

I know I do, the Cataphract 4X was one of the first mechs I got with C-Bills after I bought the Atlas and was highly disappointed with it's lack of mobility and low slung arms. It's why when I do get around to training up another Cataphract, it will be the 2X and when I'm done training it, I'll sell it for the 3D so I can have some speed and jump.

The 4X is the "Cheap" option, which is why I grabbed it. Speed should still be determined by Engine Rating and Tonnage, but unlike regular battletech, you can do it Incrementally allowing you to optomize your engines. But the 4X is only Cataphract capped at a top engine rating of 255 versus 340 like the others.

[martian]

I agree that CTF-4X Cataphract is not a fastest 'Mech around.

But if you take your time and spare no effort to master it - and now I am not talking about just unlocking those efficiencies - then it can be very effective.

[IAMCLANWOLF]

But if you take your time and spare no effort to master it - and now I am not talking about just unlocking those efficiencies - then it can be very effective.

Yes, however the very same thing can be said of just about any mech in MWO. No?

Martian, you will be happy to hear that I'm giving basic PPCs a solid go tonight on my DS.
I will report back if my results are better than embarrassing. 

[martian]

Yes, however the very same thing can be said of just about any mech in MWO. No?

Yeah, sure.   O0

But actually I meant is as encouragement for SubtleAsAHammer.

When I bought CTF-4X, after the first mission I felt exactly as how he feels now. "WTF is this 'Mech? It's so horribly slow! And I can't make it go faster! All weapons must go in arms and those damned arms are so low! This'Mech is unusable!"

Dozen times I wanted to sell that rusty pile of bolts, even for a half of what it has cost me. But one day I just thought: "If that damned -4X works for everyone else, then it W-I-L-L! work for me too!!!"     :))

Highest Match Score, best Kills and Assist ratio, highest Damage of all players.


Even those two following pictures show that correctly used CTF-4X can be used to crush the enemy. Check those stats:

[martian]

Martian, you will be happy to hear that I'm giving basic PPCs a solid go tonight on my DS.
I will report back if my results are better than embarrassing.

I am sure it will be okay!

Don't forget to post some screenshots!

[SubtleAsAHammer]

Thanks guys, mastering this 'Mech is taking awhile but I am getting there but nowhere near these guys.
  O0  :-[
I just bought a 240 Std Engine which drops top speed to a wait for it feverish 55.5KPH.

However I have way more weapons at my disposable now; 3 AC-2s,1 Ultra AC-5, and 2 Medium Lasers.

I got another Kill on the HPG Manifold + an assist from a Jager. }:)

[Wrayth]

I managed to shoehorn 2 UAC/5's and 2 AC/5's onto the 4X with enough ammo to use them.  Thing maxes at 39.5 kph before speed tweak, though, so it's VERY difficult to use.

EDIT:  I refit to a standard 215, added endo-steel, 2 additional double heatsinks, 2 medium lasers, CASE in both torsos (though ammo is in the arms for crit padding with the autocannons), 2 AC/2 with 3 tons of ammo, and 2 AC/5 with 4 tons of ammo.  On its first outing, I got 638 damage and 6 kills (only 1 assist).  This thing is a BEAST.

[SubtleAsAHammer]

I would like to know more about both configurations. O0 }:)

[Wrayth]

I would like to know more about both configurations. O0 }:)

For the dual UAC/5 dual AC/5 fitting, I can't recall exactly how it was configured aside from the fact that it had a UAC/5 and an AC/5 in each arm, had an XL engine that maxed at 39.5kph before speed tweak, had two double heat sinks in each torso (total of 10 DHS), no CASE, and no endo-steel.  To make everything fit, I had to thin the armor on the legs and the arms somewhat, probably dropping one or two tons of armor.  As far as ammo, I think I had...3 or 4 tons of AC/5 ammo, and 5 or 6 tons of UAC/5 ammo (ammo was shoehorned in wherever I could fit it).

Because it was so slow, this build had trouble bringing enemies to action and was very vulnerable to enemy fire.  However, on those occasions where it could get an enemy in range it dished out massive damage.

For the latter build, it's pretty much as described.  Locations of equipment were as follows: 2 med lasers in the CT, 1 DHS in each torso (total: 10), CASE in each torso, 1 AC/5 and 1 AC/2 in each arm, 2 tons of AC/5 ammo in each arm, 2 tons of AC/2 ammo in the right arm, and 1 ton of AC/2 ammo in the left.  Endo-steel locations are auto-allocated, and armor is half a ton less than max, taken from the legs.

Speed for this maxes at 54.3kph with speed tweak, IIRC, which is a marked improvement over the other fit.  That said, I believe there are enough free slots to swap to an XL engine if you're willing to sacrifice survivability for speed.  If you go XL, drop the CASE as it won't provide any benefit.

EDIT: There are enough slots and tonnage to fit an XL 255, the largest engine the chassis will take.  This should allow you to move 1 DHS into the engine and remove the CASE.  This will leave you with 4 extra tons to play with, which you can use to fit BAP, AMS and 1 ton of AMS ammo if you want.  Alternately, you can just throw in more autocannon ammo.  For an even more radical shift, that extra tonnage will allow you to update the AC/2's to AC/5's.  You'll lose some range and will have to manually manage your fire (i.e. use multiple weapons groups and stagger your first shots) if you want to cause continuous impacts that make it hard for your opponent to fire back, but it will increase the single-volley impact to match an AC/20...that fires much faster.

[Fatebringer]

I don't think you get a Heat Sink in the engine until 275

[martian]

I don't think you get a Heat Sink in the engine until 275

That's correct.

[Wrayth]

I don't think you get a Heat Sink in the engine until 275

I stand corrected.

[rlbell]

My 'Phract 4X is slow as molasses flowing up hill in January in Fairbanks Alaska(still faster than my Misery).

As a Stalker pilot, I take mild offense at this.  Any Stalker with the biggest allowed engine is a tenth of a kph faster than a CTF-4X with the largest allowed engine.  I freely admit that a 300 is usually the largest engine plunked into a stalker as the gyro goes from three tons to four tons when the engine goes from a 300 rating to a 305, and there are a lot of stalkers with only a 275.  That being said, if your Misery is slower than your CTF-4X, it is because you like it that way.

useful trivia:  to make life simpler, all heat sinks not internal to the engine mass a ton, and the mass of engines below a 250 rating are discounted by one ton for each heat sink less than ten.  However, the smallest engines have to have a mass of at least one, so the engines in MWO include the mass of the engine, the cockpit, and the gyro.  This is why the AS7-D can have the TT load out, despite the 300 rated engine being listed with a mass of 25 tons.