UltraAC/5 No-Jam Macro Tool Guide for Mechwarrior Online

Of all the weapons in Mechwarrior Online, only the UltraAC/5 have the unique mechanic of random jamming. Whenever you hold down the firing button or double click, the UAC/5 will release two shots resulting in double damage bursts. However, with a 20% chance, it will jam, rendering the weapon useless for 5 seconds.

Holding down the button (aka allowing double-shots and jamming) is actually a decrease in average damage per second (about 25% lower). But (very big but) if you are only fighting for less than 5 seconds, the potential burst and DPS is much higher.

Another advantage, besides increased sustained damage per second, is ammo conservation and reliability. Both excellent things to have on a weapon whose ammo is very heavy and has a random built-in jamming mechanic. The Ultra AC/5 is now much closer to the AC/5 in almost every respect. The additional ton and slot just buy you the ability to potentially burst. Especially your first shot becomes more powerful. This is useful for sniping, but the difference between the two weapons is not as big as it used to be.

If you don’t want your UltraAC/5s to jam, you have to restrain your trigger finger and only click precisely every 1.5 seconds. With a little practice, this is possible. However, there are also macros and tools which can help you with that. The remainder of this guide will show you where to get such a macro and how to set it up.

Macro Tool Installation and Setup

For this UltraAC/5 jamming macro guide we’ll be using ADHD – Fire Control by Clive (pilot name: evilC). It is a small tool which is already partially preconfigured for Mechwarrior Online. Check out his official page here and drop him a like. After all, he is providing free software for you. The tool is not that hard to set up, but if you are lazy or can’t get it to work, check out these few simple steps to get it all working.

1) Download the tool

Download the tool from his official site (direct link).

2) Unpack the zip file to a folder

Move it somewhere on your hard drive and create a desktop shortcut (right-click on the .exe-file and select Send to Desktop).

3) Start the program

Confirm any dialogues.

4) On the main-tab set the options as indicated in the screenshot

• Enter the weapon group containing all of your UltraAC/5s under Fire Sequence.
• Enter Fire Rate: 1500. If you have unlocked the Fast Fire efficiency, experiment with values around 1350.
• Side notes: You may need to add 4-5 to these values to account for lag. Keep in mind that the efficiency does not work while running Testing Grounds!
• Tick Limit Fire Rate.
• Ensure Weapon Toggle is set to None.

5) Set up bindings on the bindings-tab

• Tick Program Mode to be able to change settings.
• I would recommend setting all you UltraAC/5s to weapon group 1 in-game and then setting the Fire action to left mouse button (LButton).
• Ensure that Limit to Application is enabled and set to CryENGINE. This way, this tool will only work while Mechwarrior Online is running.
• Important: Untick Program Mode once you are done.

6) Own face!

If you have done everything right, you should be able to hold-down your mouse button and fire all your Ultra/AC5s without them ever jamming. You must have the tool running in order to work. Be careful if you are changing to a Mech which has something different set to its first weapon group. You might have to close the program (or set up an empty profile in Fire Control) to not mess with your ability to fire properly.

With Fire Control running, you can still click again to trigger the double-shot. If you are simply holding down the button, the macro tool will ensure that your weapons will not jam.

Credits

This tool was made by Clive aka evilC. If you like what you see here, go check out his official page and official forums thread and drop him a like or comment. The tool is free to use for every pilot, however, if you want to make a donation you can do so on his project page (side note: I do not know evilC personally and I don’t get any money from him).

Fire Control can handle many more things and has a lot more features which are not covered here. This guide is just meant to provide a quick-start into single-firing UltraAC/5s without any extra stuff messing up the guide. Check the project’s page or the official forums thread for more information on how to setup a TAG toggle button, work with chain-fire groups, change fire rate with the press of a button, and many more.

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What is Alpha Strike, Fire Power, and Damage Per Second?

This guide will explain the important difference between fire power and damage per second. There are a lot of misconceptions about these terms. Many people consider only one of many values or give them no thought at all. The truth, in my humble opinion, is that different weapons excel at different jobs. Somehow, all these three terms refer to the damage of a Mech. On the other hand, their importance is often distorted by players, and they are mixed up frequently. The following short explanations will shed some light on the confusion.

Alpha Strike

An Alpha Strike in Mechwarrior Online is the act of firing all your weapons at the same time. Since the matches in MWO favoured (and in part still favours) bursty builds, this term became very popular. If all weapons on a Mech are very similar, it makes sense to fire them in one huge Alpha Strike. Those builds play very boringly, but can be insanely effective. Popular examples include the Splat-Cat (Catapult stuffed with SRMs) or PPC boats.

Fire Power

This term is one of the stats shown in the in-game mechlab. The number is the theoretical maximum damage dealt by an Alpha Strike with his Mech. Theoretical, because there are several things you have to consider when analyzing this value: If the Mech was weapons with different effective ranges, you won’t be able to fire all of them at the same time. If the chassis has weapons with very different aiming mechanisms, then you probably won’t hit all your weapons on the same target in the same salvo (for example, Lasers need you to stay on target; a Gauss Rifle requires the pilot to lead but hit only one bullet). In addition, the fire power value does not take into consideration how heat efficient a build is or how much ammo is available for all weapons.
Fire Power alone does not make for a very good indicator of how good a build really is. However, if most weapons (or all of the most powerful ones) have similar ranges, than fire power can be an indicator of how bursty a build is. For random PUG games, it is nice to have at least some burst potential. Numbers will change with patches, but at the moment the following rough outline can help with judging these numbers:

• 0-30  No relevant burst potential. Probably a lighter Mech with a very sane armament.
• 30-50  Some burst potential. Many builds, which are not centered around powerful Alpha Strikes, will probably be in this range.
• 50-60  Above the average firepower. Usually found on Heavy and Assault Mechs. A well placed hit will cause serious problems.
• 60+  Insane burst potential. Splat-Cats, Assault SRM+AC/20 brawlers and outdated PPC boats fall into this category. One direct hit and you are toast!

Damage Per Second (DPS) and Sustained DPS

Most people think that they understand what damage per second is and what exactly it means. In my experience as a gamer, this is only partially true...

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