Bay 12 Games Forum

Honestly? My preference is to go all-in and not try to stopgap for brawling.

This is the Raven 3L build I run. Once you get your skills you top out at ~147kph going forward and ~100kph in reverse, and reach that in less than four seconds from a standing start. You turn on a dime and can twist your torso about as quickly as you can move your mouse. You can alpha those ERLLas eight or nine times in a row before heat starts being a concern, which is about the maximum amount of times you ever want to fire from the same general location (assuming you're being responsible and shifting after every shot). Obviously there's no point running a 3L if you don't take ECM.

Ofc. you run ERLLas CDR and Range modules, as well as the usual Radar Deprivation. The second 'Mech module could reasonably be either Seismic Sensor (defensive) or Advanced Zoom (offensive).

But yeah. You can reach out and touch someone from up to 1500m (more importantly, you can alpha from ~700m out for 18 damage every ~3 seconds), run away from literally anything else in the game while dodging fire via serpentine movements because you turn and run fast enough for that to be viable, and are basically impossible for the average PuG team to focus down, since that requires another ECM mech catching you in counter-ECM long enough for them to pay attention and shoot you. I tested it once on Crimson Strait, sniping at my maximum range from the island--I still managed around 100 damage even though I had to have been doing just about the lowest possible damage per shot in the game.

There's a reason why Raven 3Ls are probably the single most likely 'Mech to be last man standing in a Quick Battle, and it's certainly not because only good players use it. It's survivable as fuck. The extreme speed build is also important for your score, because you absolutely have to relocate frequently, since anything at all that can hit back at your ideal range will probably core you or almost do so; the less time you spend running between positions, the more time you spend putting lasers downrange.

The other reason why I generally avoid putting missiles on my 3L (apart from the utter lack of tonnage for them and the even greater potential for being one-shotted by something nasty) is because they flat-out don't compare to the ERLLas when it comes to damage potential. A SRM-4 or two SSRM-2s do less than half the alpha of the ERLLas and in return make you slower and less heat-efficient, all for the sake of trying to cover for a situation that you can generally avoid with good positioning or escape with quick reactions. The only light that really scares me when I'm in my 3L is an Arctic Cheater, since they're fast as fuck, studded with low-heat low-CD weapons, and can ECM-cancel. Most others you can play the "Oh, I saw you coming when you were 400 meters out and moved a few hundred meters back to a new position, have fun getting legged while you're too far to fire back," game with. 

Acquire Proposals:
A.3: Bofors 37 mm gun - An anti-tank gun, not the strongest gun, but will due fine for home defense.
A.4: Bofors 40 mm gun- An anti-aircraft/multi-purpose autocannon; everyone uses these, might as well make Sweden richer.
Q: Why?
A: See if we can buy some artillary from our local Swedish drug arms dealer and hope every little umph and kaboom in the hands of our military will will help retake our homeland.

Spoiler: Votes list (click to show/hide)

D.1 POIT Infantry Tank (5)
tryrar, Maegil , Funk, 3_14159, StrawBarrel
D.2 HT1938 Badger (Heavy Tank)

D.3 350hp tank engine (4)
tryrar, Maegil, 3_14159, StrawBarrel
D.4 Rapid Carbine (3)
Funk, Tryrar, 3_14159
D.5 Firestorm Mk. II (1)
Funk
D.6 Albatross Patrol Bomber (4)
tryrar, Maegil, 3_14159, StrawBarrel
D.7 Air-launched Rocket (1)
tryrar
D.8 Cavity Magnetron (3)
tryrar, 3_14159, StrawBarrel
D.9 SDE M1934 engine improvements (2)
Maegil, Funk
D.10:CG1938 - 240mm long range coastal gun (3)
tryrar, Funk, StrawBarrel


C.1: Retool Naval Factory to Landing Crafts (5)
Maegil, tryrar, Funk, 3_14159, StrawBarrel
C.2: 4-line vehicle engine factory for SPE-1938 engine (4)
tryrar, Funk, 3_14159, StrawBarrel
C.3: More gun emplacements (5)
Maegil, tryrar, Funk, 3_14159, StrawBarrel
C.4: Refit Destroyers to 130mm guns (3)
Maegil, tryrar, Funk
C.5: Two more aircraft + engine lines (3)
Funk, 3_14159, StrawBarrel
C.6: University (1)
Maegil

A.1: Dogs and Dog Trainers (5)
Maegil, Funk, Tryrar, 3_14159, StrawBarrel
A.2: Acquire license for the M2 Browning (3)
3_14159, StrawBarrel, Funk
A.3: Bofors 37 mm guns & shells (1)
StrawBarrel
A.4: Bofors 40 mm gun & shells (1)
StrawBarrel

Added 5 D votes, 4 C votes, and 2 new A's.

"This one believes it would be better suited to the festival.  Dar'yajira is not suitable for using shovels."  The cat raises a front paw, and flexes his claws.

Festival, if I can get in.  Adorable kitties are wonderful for riot control!  And not very good for digging.

Also, I think a natural armory progression would work best.  We've got several people who wouldn't even be able to use most armory equipment.