Serious Bracket Builds, Inc. – Super Thunderbolt Edition

Tuesday is coming, ladies and gentlemen, and along with the Sabre Pack dropping, the Thunderbolt is becoming available for purchase with C-Bills! In an effort to inspire players looking for fun builds, I spent most of last week working on perfecting a pair of builds for each chassis. Attached are screenshots of the results for each! I also attempted to keep in mind that not everyone will have a ton of Cbills to dump on these Mechs, so I attempted to make use of Engines that should be fairly common. The STD 275 used by some are easy to attain via Shadow Hawks, if you’ve already purchased them!

A bit of a confession, first. I had the least amount of fun in the TDR-5SS, and had previously sold it. As such, I don’t have any of the screenshots for these two builds. But I can personally vouch for their effectiveness, as they were the most effective, but still bracket, builds I had when I previously owned the variants.

First up, is the TDR-5S. The chassis comes with 4 Energy hard points (1 RA, 3 LT), 2 Missile hardpoints (2 RT), and 2 Ballistics (2 LA). You’ll find builds that will generally fit in a Catapult C1 (and sometimes K2) will generally fit in the Thunderbolt with some tweaking, including some nice missile or ballistic carrying capacity. However, due to the placement of the ballistics and the arm actuator, you won’t be fitting double of anything bigger than an AC/5. Here are two builds I use:

BUILD 1 – SMURFY

The premise of this build is long-range harassment, with the AC/2s and the Large Lasers. The AC/2s themselves have a good play-with-your-head mentality that will knock mechs around and force them behind cover, or shake their cockpit, and subsequently their aims, if they decide to engage. The Pulse Lasers should only be used when in close-proximity, due to their heat.

WEAPON GROUPS:

1) AC/2s

2) Large Laser

3) Medium Pulse Lasers

4) Medium Pulse Lasers (Chain Fire)

THE MECH RUNS HOT. But only if you’re not smart with how you use your heat. The AC/2s generate a good bit of heat, along with the Large Laser, but careful cycling will keep you pumping out damage for a very long time. If it gets in close, consider foregoing the Large Laser to make use of the Pulses. Alternatively, spend some Cbills on some on Cool Shots, and make use of your full compliment in the brawl. Due to the XL300, however, try to stay out of a big brawl you can’t get out of.

THE RESULT –

BUILD 2 – SMURFY

This, to me, is an absolute classic. It’s my favorite way to run the 5S, is able to engage at any range, gets better as it gets closer, and is just flat out tanky-as-fuck. I get the most consistent results on this Mech, and think you’ll all enjoy it.

WEAPON GROUPS

1) Machine Guns

2) Large Laser

3) Medium Lasers

4) SRMs

5) (Optional) Medium Lasers (Chain Fired)

The heat is VERY manageable, the armor is very high, the speed is a nice middle ground for the chassis… It’s hard to go wrong with this one, in my opinion. Definitely my baby Thunderbolt.

THE RESULT –

Secondly is the TDR-5SS. If there was ever a reason to call this mech the “Thunderbolt”, this would be it. With SEVEN energy Hardpoints (2 RA, 2 RT, 3 LT) and a singular missile hardpoint (1 LT), it’s hard not to run extremely hot in this Mech. However, it does have one advantage over the other Thunderbolts. The Right Torso mounts are actually very high on the shoulder, at about cockpit level. This gives the mech the unique advantage of being able to ridge-peek very well without exposing much of your vehicle to enemy fire. With that in mind, here’s two builds that take advantage of that idea.

BUILD 1 – SMURFY

Five medium lasers, two larges, a Standard 300, and Heatsinks out the wazoo ensures that this build runs relatively cool. The range on the Large Lasers gives you a nice punch at some nice ranges, and gets more effective as things get in close. The sheer size of the engine is going to ensure that you can pick and choose your battles, get in to help in a tussle, and get out to take better advantage of your range, while giving you some extreme survival capability.

WEAPON GROUPS –

1) Medium lasers (Left Torso)

2) Medium Lasers (Right Arm)

3) Large Lasers

Be wary of Alpha striking too often consecutively. Sure, 43 points of damage is blistering, but you won’t be able to get a lot of those off in a row before forcing yourself to shut down. Heat management is critical, but less difficult than other builds. Of the two builds, I had the most success with this one, as well as enjoyment.

BUILD 2 – SMURFY

“But Table,” you might say, “This is the same thing as before, just with PPCs instead of Large Lasers!” And you would be right! But the playstyle itself is pretty different.

The first thing anyone is likely to notice is “Whoa, heat efficiency lacking,” which is one of the biggest weaknesses of this Mech. However, the range on the PPCs will ensure that you’re really only engaging with those two at a time until you get within range of your Medium Lasers, at which point you should swap.

WEAPON GROUPS –

1) Medium lasers (Left Torso)

2) Medium lasers (Right Arm)

3) PPCs

Play more as a medium range support Mech. You don’t want to get into a brawl if you can avoid it, as while your Medium Lasers are going to hurt when they fire, half your arsenal’s going to be waiting for you to get out of minimum range, which is bad news for you.

And finally, the TDR-9SE. This mech stands out from the rest of its Thunderbolt brethren by bringing along 4 Jump Jets for added mobility, versatility, and loadout options. 5 Energy hardpoints (2 RA, 3 LT) and 2 Missile hardpoints (2 LT) gives some interesting ideas to the bracket-minded Mechwarrior.

BUILD 1 – SMURFY

If I had to choose between this Thunderbolt and my TDR-5S build, I’d be hardpressed to choose, and if it weren’t for the Cbill bonus on the 5S(P), I might run this Mech almost non-stop!

Similar to BUILD 2 for the TDR-5S, it trades in its Machine Guns and associated ammo for jump jets. It also trades in a rather hefty chunk of heat efficiency in order to fit a second Large Laser in its arm, which works very well with the 2 Jump Jets for attacking from cover. An enterprising (or perhaps cheap) Mechwarrior looking for better heat management might trade down the engine to a STD260 and use the weight gains for more heatsinks; it’s doable, but you’ll be almost entirely out of slots by the time you’re done.

WEAPON GROUPS –

1) Medium Lasers

2) Large Lasers

3) SRMs

4) Medium Lasers (Chain Fire)

Your MAIN source of damage dealing is going to be those Larges in conjunction with the SRMs, but make smart use of the Medium Lasers when the opportunity presents itself. Their heat is fairly manageable, and 15 points of damage to polish off a target is hard to ignore.

THE RESULT –

BUILD 2 – SMURFY

Taking a similar idea from the TDR-5SS, we’ve slapped a pair of PPCs in the 9SE’s arms. The general use of these is for either approach or for some good jump-sniping utility at range. The Large Laser in the Torso helps at that same range, though it’s a bit harder to apply due to the need to focus the beam on your target. Use the two weapons together as ranges close around 300-400m. The SRM 6s pack a hell of a punch once things finally close, as a good finisher with the Large Laser.

WEAPON GROUPS –

1) Large Laser

2) PPCs

3) SRM6s

Be wary, however; you’re packing an XL300 in this Mech, which means you’ve less survivability. On the flipside, you’ve got plenty of speed to be able to maintain range. The Mech also runs a bit hot, if you’re not careful. The number of heatsinks ensures you’ve got plenty of room to fire and plenty of cooling efficiency, but a shutdown can take you by surprise on hotter maps.

THE RESULT –

CONCLUSION –

I love the Thunderbolt. I really do. The combination of tank and versatility in loadouts keeps me coming back to this 65 tonner again and again. For anyone who enjoys playing with builds, the Thunderbolt will be Cbills well spent.