ACV Opal

[Mechadon]

Opal

 

Frame

Head: Heracles HD226

Core: UCR-10/A

Arms: UAM-23/l

Legs: ULG-30/L

 

Internals

FCS: KU-2T2

Generator: UGN-70/Ho Vital

Booster: Orkan BT200

Recon: STK-16 Okitsu

 

Armaments

R-Arm: Berufkraut SG54

L-Arm: Distel GT22

Shoulder: KO-8C4/Shkiper

UW: -/-

R-Bay: Oxeye HG25

L-Bay: Bluet PG12

 

Color Scheme

All Frame/All Unit

--------Main: 87/129/143

--------Sub1: 207/39/59

--------Sub2: 30/30/30

--------Glow: 0/14/51

Head

--------Main: 207/39/59

--------Sub1: 87/129/143

--------Sub2: 30/30/30

--------Glow: 41/87/207

 

 

Well it's been years since I last posted a design. I haven't seriously made something since...probably Last Raven I guess. I recently finished up the story/order missions and bought most of the parts (I guess there are more I have to unlock from collecting scraps) and this was one design I was messing with while completing missions. I was having a lot of fun messing around with the heavy RL legs jumping off of buildings in missions so I thought I'd try to make a lightweight RJ-centered design.

 

Right now the armament is centered around mid-to-close range combat. I can switch out to Oxeye/Distel if I need some mid-range peppering orBerufkraut/Bluet for some quite satisfying close-range destruction. Did I mention how fun pulse guns are? They're pretty beastly at close range and they work pretty well in unison with shotguns, I've found. I don't know if there's a better combination of shotgun/pulse gun yet as I'm not familar with the part set yet. I'm still experimenting around though.

 

Initially I wanted to fit some AS or Short-range missile on this, but I couldn't without changing the frame or the weapons. I've come to really like rockets in this game though. They still take some skill to use against anything that moves faster than a tank (for me anyways) but they can wreck some havoc at close range if you time the shots right.

 

I tried to build the frame around speed with decent defense. I don't have the numbers off-hand but I think CD/TE defense is hovering around 500-600~ish. The lightweight RJ legs work really well for filling in a distance gap so long as you've got structures to propell yourself forward/backward with. Out in the open they lose some of their effectiveness I think. In such cases I usually resort to jumping a lot to keep the high ground. I'm not sure about the recon units I chose though. For most of the game I've been using the hovering type that follow you around but on a core with a low recon capacity. The UCR-10/A has a pretty decent capacity so I thought I'd give the sticky-type recon units a try.

 

Anyways, there ya go. I have no idea how this thing would fair in an online environment since I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. So any input would definitely be great

[Accursed]

Hey Mechadon. Let me start off by saying, this is the only light reverse joint I've liked in this game so far. In terms of your weapon loadout, it's diverse, I must say I enjoyed the rockets the most (being able to rapidly spam those against anything that isn't moving at light speed = great and the quickest way for you to do your damage, not to mention, it counts as your long range weapon on this!) Berufkraut and Distel seem to be a nice lead-throwing combination [maintaining height advantage over the opponent is absolutely key though], while bluet makes for a heavy punch paired with Oxeye for stunning (although short of a point blank shot with bluet, nothing comes close to the damage of the rockets).

 

With your configuration, I was able to overboost for a very long time, even repeated quickboosts hardly put any drain on the generator, and the energy recovery of this AC even without scan mode (although scan mode is mega useful!) is fantastic.

 

In terms of online play; in a 1v1 I'm not necessarily sure this would be what I'd consider strong, or atleast not without a couple changes at the moment for 1.01 (i.e. add in a second pulse gun for damage purposes). However, I think *team* play is where this design would shine - 4v4, 5v5 (yay for operators. In terms of my suggestions for changes in general though, here they are:

 

Swap Heracles with Perseus (you lose a tiny bit of defense, but you gain better stats otherwise [mostly stability and scanning]). Swap UCR-10/A with Surt CR114, this trade-off hurts a bit more but is lighter, less drainy, and gives you 70 recons instead of 40. Arms and legs are fine. FCS is fine. Booster... from my experiences in online play, if you are slow, you are as good as destroyed, especially with a lightweight AC. Being able to OB for nearly forever is fine, but if that's still a slow speed it doesn't benefit much when the bullets are flying your way. Simple solution: UBT-25 Gale, it'll fit within the constraints and still allows you a pretty nice OB, makes you somewhat faster, and will make your quickboosts much more meaningful. The biggest change here is likely the next part, recons. Swap Okitsu for El Hetsu; the range is the same, but you are able to deploy 5 instead of 3, and they last twice as long [this is really best when you have an operator who can take advantage of you covering a wide area with these]; and because you changed to the Surt core, you have 70 of these and can throw them out like candy. Again, these are basically team-play suggestions for this build; for anything 1v1 you probably just want a tracking type recon (though stickies are still useful if used right, or if you can frequently place one on an enemy [doing that is fun and rewarding]).

 

Anyway, no matter if you keep it the way it is or try out my changes (which I believe still maintain the style/usefulness of the bot and don't detract from its theme), it's a good, solidly performing lightweight RJ and the best one I've tried yet. Thanks for posting it!

[Mechadon]

Thanks a ton for the critique and reply Accursed! That was very detailed and I'm glad you took the time to write it all out. In my experience from past AC games, the best way to learn more about the game is from people like you

 

I sorta found out by accident how awesome rockets are in this game. I was never a fan of them in previous interations because of how difficult they were to use (at least in a PvP environment...well, ok, PvCPU in my case ). But in this game, they are just so much fun to use. And they make a lot more sense in this game as opposed to previous titles. After playing around with them more, I'm sort of glad I couldn't fit missiles on this thing.

 

At times like this, I wish I had a PS3 and not a 360. I'm not sure when I'll be able to try out online gameplay so I don't have feel for loadouts in relation to teamplay or PvP. Again, this is where outside input really helps. So far in offline, I've been able to wreck just about all of the AI ACs without too much trouble with this design. Actually I finished the last story mission with this loadout and got S-Rank with 2/3 subquests completed. I found that interesting as the pulsegun/shotgun/rocket combo at CQC range totally raped Exusia whereas my general purpose midweight biped was getting raped instead.

 

I'll give all of your part suggestions a try . The only one I'm second-guessing right now is the switch to Surt CR114. I really liked the great AP and defense stats of the UCR-10/A, which is why I went for it. Lightweights seem to have very little room for punishment and I'm not the best dodger. But I might enjoy the extra wiggle room with the additional weight. And the 70-count recon capacity would be really fantastic.

 

Thanks again and I'll come back with my thoughts and any potential part changes soon

[Accursed]

Hey, I'm glad if I was able to help. I've been spending mancave amounts of time playing this game (practically non-stop), and it's a waste if I don't try and offer whatever findings I discover. I'm still learning the mechanics and trying out different playstyles and whatnot each day. Never ending process!

 

Anyway, on a more technical note: The damage on this particular AC, while being a Lightweight, is not really lightweight at all - it punches well above its weightclass and I'd honestly consider using it in pvp after having had a little bit more time using LW RJs. In terms of the reason for the Surt change, it was to allow for better recons (mostly) and a few other stats. Between most of the KE cores, short of Jotun, you can practically use anything and it's more of a style choice; in other words, since the defense between said KE cores is usually so minimal (or the losses between using one over another are minimal), it doesn't hurt if you shave off 50 KE here, 25 KE there. Large gains in the hundreds make differences, but I don't sweat it too much.

 

I'm not in the game at the moment so I can't be entirely certain, but even if you wanted to go slightly overweight by having UCR-10/A with the other changes I suggested, you should still be fine. Most of my suggestions were aimed at increasing its potency and effectiveness as a support AC in teamplay. For 1v1 on freeplay, stick with your's and about the only thing I'd change then is the boosters. The recons/boosters were the most significant changes.

 

Happy hunting!