Ilya Muromets (Cataphract Hero Mech) Dual Gauss Sniper Build

With the recent patch discouraging PPC and AC/20 boats, Cataphracts have been struggling to find new builds. If you are running you a 2X, you can build a brawler following this Cataphract 2X brawler guide. A more popular variant is the Ilya Muromets, the Hero Mech. A friend of mine at the Hell’s Black Aces Merc Corp showed me a build which has quickly become popular amongst competitive gamers. An Ilya Muromets build which is equipped with dual Gauss Rifles, Medium Lasers, and a Machine Gun. High alpha strikes, way above average dps and no heat issues what so ever make this Mech a fearsome opponent.

AMS + Machine Gun for critical hits and survivability

Higher movement speed version with AMS

Higher movement speed version without AMS but 3rd Medium Laser

•  Cataphract plus XL-engine makes you very susceptible to frontal damage. If you come under heavy LRM, AC or PPC fire from the front, take cover immediately or you will die in seconds.
• Always use your Gauss Rifles together. The pinpoint damage will make short work of what ever component you are targeting.
• When at close range, keep those Medium Lasers and the Machine Gun fire buttons held down! It is almost impossible to overheat with this build.
• Your damage output is easily focused on one point, and the damage per second at close surpasses most other builds currently in the game. If you are entangled in a brawl, keep firing all the time. Your enemies will most likely underestimate your firepower and only turn around, when it is already to late.

This build was brought to my attention by Smeg of the Hell’s Black Aces Merc Corp. Check out their web page!

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Premium Time vs Hero Mech

What do Premium Time and Hero Mechs have in common?

Premium Time and Hero Mechs have two things in common: 1) They will cost you Mechwarrior Credits ( or simply “mc”). 2) They will provide you with a bonus to your c-bills earned from each match played. The bonus is really huge, and you will see up to 250,000 c-bills in a great match being pushed to your account. The bonuses even stack if you have both active at the same time resulting in close to double c-bills earned.

Where do Premium Time and Hero Mechs differ?

Apart from the 50% vs 30% c-bill bonus, there are some other differences which cannot be compared as easily. Everybody has to decide for themselves, which of these things he/she cares more about.

Premium Time	Hero Mech
Lasts a fixed amount of days.	Lasts forever.
Will expire, whether you play or not.	Does not care if you play or not.
50% c-bill bonus.	30% c-bill bonus.
50% more xp and GXP gained.	No bonus to xp or GXP.
No Mech or other items provided.	Unique variant.
No cosmetic bonuses.	Unique skin.
Works on all Mechs you play.	Works only on the Hero variant.

The following graph illustrates when the smaller, but permanent, Hero Mech bonus surpasses a 30 day premium time package. Assuming you are playing almost every day of your 30 day premium time, the Hero Mech will surpass the Premium Time package after roughly 50 days. However, this also requires, that you played your Hero Mech variant only. The amount of XP and GXP gained during 30-50 days of continuous play with premium time active is also quite significant. Using premium time will boost your GXP quite heavily and unlocking upgrades on your new chassis was never that easy.

Which Premium Time Package is the best?

 Premium Time vs Hero Mech is a very personal decision. If you don’t care about the Mech itself and play MWO constantly, getting Premium Time is usually the better choice when looking at time frames of a few months. The most practical (and arguably best) Premium Time package is the one for 30 days.

If you want to play hardcore for a weekend or so, get the 3 days pack. Its value is better than the one for only 1 day. If you want to go crazy on your free week, get the 7 days package. The 7 days package is worth more if you play at least 6 of the 7 days. On to the 30 days package: This package is so awesome because you only need to play 15 out of the 30 days to make it worth your money. The bigger packs 180 and 360 days are not worth it in my opinion. You would need to play 163/180 or 288/360 days respectively in order to achieve the same C-Bills to MC ratio as the 30 days pack. If you are actually considering getting the 180 or 360 days pack, consider buying a Hero Mech instead or at least purchase the time in multiple 30 days packages. You will have the same effect, but with more flexibility and more value. Maybe PGI will adjust the larger packages at some time in the future.

TL/DR

What premium time to get? 30 days premium time is the best value for almost all situations.

I don’t want premium time, I want a Hero Mech! All things considered, the Dragon (C), The X-5 and Pretty Baby have the best values.

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Get Connected!

If you know of an excellent build, resource, or guide, submit it and maybe it will be featured on mwo-builds.net and seen by thousands of players. You can submit builds by sending us an e-mail, post it in the official looking-for-builds thread, or send us a private message via the official forums. You can also submit guides and builds via Facebook or Twitter (see below). Join hundreds of other Mechwarrior enthusiasts and like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Receive the latest guides and the best MWO builds directly to your favourite social platform!

Follow @mwobuildsnet

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