Yep. And a single LL does enough damage to destroy the head of any mech. So a 5 LL alpha is 5 chances to headshot.
LL now the best laser weapon in BT?
Well, LL+++. I don’t know about base LL.
I set up a 1 PPC ++, 4 LL ++ Awesome to check it out. We’ll see.
Ran into two Victors on my very next mission. Looks ok, but not something I’d trade a Highlander, King Crab or Atlas for. What I want is the finale piece for an Awesome.
edit: just got awesome completed on last mission, go to load it out, discovered it has zero missile hardpoints, sigh
Well now you have a chance to rock a 5 LL awesome with 1240 armor after heat sinks and jump jets. Go Assassin mech!
There is a special pleasure in headshotting a knocked down Highlander for full salvage. Now running 2 Highlanders, mission and salvaged, an Awesome and a Battlemaster. I <3 Assaults.
Having full assaults is a pleasure, but it is a different game. It’s now just about putting everyone at optimum range.
I just got one, but it meant replacing my Highlander Missile Boat. Slightly more tonnage, but fewer LRMs.
I love Highlanders. And i recently picked up an Awesome that has missile hard points! Plus I’ve got two king crabs, just using one as the missile boat. Wish I could find some double heat sinks somewhere.
The last mission I just completed was 4.5 skulls and it was probably one of the hardest I’ve run across. There were 8 assaults and 4 heavies. No matter how I approached it I couldn’t get enough of the initial lance dead before the other two showed up and it turned into a nightmare where they’d take at least half a dozen turns shooting the same mech (because of course one of them invariably gets singled out). I had to run it a couple times to get through it w/o losing Lostech, they love trying to shoot that off of you.
I’m ok with 12 on 4 odds but I usually try to maneuver to avoid having them all come at me at once, but this map didn’t really allow for that (in fact that’s one of my minor issues with the game, the maps are so small that maneuvering is often not much of an option) or I’d like to see them start with some armor missing (these guys were ALL armor’d up).
Really? Never heard of it. And now I must have one. What’s the designation?
The name is Awesome AWS-8T Assault.
This thing really would be awesome if I could just find some double heat sinks…haha
As it is though with missiles it’s still pretty cool, I put four ML+++ on it, one PPC+++, jump jets, and two SRM6+++, the rest was taken up with 1,400 armor and regular heat sinks. With some double heat sinks I could max the armor and fill the other laser point I left open.
Really though at this point it’s just messing about to see what you can find and to see how hard 4.5’s are, which if they’re all like that last one is pretty hard and makes me wonder what I’d have to field to handle a 5, guess I’ll take one on soon enough and see for myself.
It’s seems every 4 to 5 star mission just happens to be between 4 and 8 assault mechs / tanks. It’s got me a lot of mechs, but not a lot of cool stuff. I am looking for more LRM 15+++, and AC 5/10 +++
The last mission was 3 King Crabs and a tank, but they came in piece meal, so, I just brought them down one at a time.
So, after touring Taurian space, I am heading back to finish the campaign.
I would say that you can beat 5 star missions with good pilots and at least three assaults but will usually lose a pilot and have some major repairs headed your way. I guess it depends if you feel that is still a win.
I really maxed out on tonnage. 2 Atlas, 1 King Crab and my Highlander B, with a few new King Crabs in reserve.
By the way, I am allied with house Davion and have 4 stars on the Merc board, and I have 2 missions blocked off. Is it the rating, or is it that I can’t do missions in other regions yet because I haven’t beat the campaign?
I remember reading that some five skull missions were mistakenly five and a half skulls. So they are bugged. Was this fixed?
Edit: So I added a Highlander 433P to my lineup and retired my Battlemaster. The 5LL +++ Awesome lives up to its name again. 4 headshot kills on that mission. 3 being Highlanders. I could only salvage one. :P
I thought I read that the skulls is an estimate and can vary by 1 skull either way. I think that it may be possible to technically have a 6 skull mission then. I know that I have faced a couple of brutally difficult 5 skull missions where even a lance of a lostech Atlas, lostech Highlander and two other decked out Highlanders did not stand much of a chance and had to retreat.
I just finished up. I had one 5 star mission, where they had 3 waves of bad guys all heavy and assault. After taking out the first 2 groups and peel off 2 of the last group but by the end of that my Gauss gun and all other ammo was out that wasn’t lasers. Which I run missile heavy. I was so tempted to abort, but was annoyed I might lose all this loot!
I said screw it and charged the last two. Did 2 Death from above attacks and 3 mechs dedicated to brawling and 1 mech with mostly lasers blasting away. I lost a few arms and legs and one of the large heat sinks, BUT I took them down! Most satisfying gamble I made in the game! LOL
Always fun when gambles like that pay off!!
So 5 skull mission. Occupy a rally point for a convoy. Steal the convoy. Wait for our dropship. Then hit the exit.
First two lances, simple. Convoy gets on dropship, fine. On the way to the exit, more reinforcements, including a Highlander, King Crab, Thunderbolt and Quickdraw. Save fast. So now I really want that KC, I have 2 pieces. My lance is a bit beat up. Nothing bad, armor missing. I do not want to lose my gauss gun. Wish me luck.
Edit: And I have my first King Crab! Yet again the 5LL assassin Awesome headshot a trophy. So I have a KC and 2/3s. Any ideas for KC loadouts?