King Crab KGC-0000

King Crab KGC-0000 is a Assault-class 'Mech in Battletech.

Description
One of the most heavily armed and armored Assault 'Mechs ever constructed, the King Crab 0000 is capable of going toe to toe with an Atlas and surviving. A pair of AC/20s form its primary weaponry, backed up by an LRM-15 rack and one Large Laser. With a proper pilot and weaponry, it can destroy most smaller mechs' in a single salvo.

Loadouts

 * One of the simplest swaps is AC/10s and 2 tons of ammo for the AC/20s. You triple your ammo and extend your range significantly, and the leftover 2 tons can be put to use however you see fit.
 * Even better, swap in two UAC/10s. The damage potential outclasses the AC/20s and if you load a couple of SRM-6's and run with those four weapons you can annihilate anything that looks in your general direction. Just watch out for the recoil.
 * Dump the LRM-15 for a pair of SRM-6's and upgrade the LL to a PPC. Just DO NOT fire your PPC with your other weapons once you close, you will overheat yourself rapidly. Either use the PPC when out of range of your main systems OR use your 2x AC/20 and 2x SRM-6. But don't worry, you won't need the PPC in close quarters, not with that sort of loadout. The ultimate close-quarters brawler. Dump the Jump Jets if you need more heat sinks or want to max out the armor.
 * Alternatively, for clarity of purpose, remove the secondary weapons entirely for additional armor, ammo, and jump jets. In the campaign, the jump jets can be replaced with targeting computers if they can be found.
 * A custom build I came up with I find extremely effective is swap out the AC-20's for AC-5 tactical cannons (preferably the 4 acc 20 stability if you can find) Swap out the LRM 15 for an LRM 20, stick a SRM 6 alongside that, 2 medium lasers and 4 machine guns. 2 tons of LRM ammo and 1 ton of SRM ammo and 2 tons of AC-5 ammo is plenty. Add the remaining 5 tons of weight into all armor for a total of 1720. It is versatile at both short and long range and more heat efficient and durable than the stock version. Crab is slow and you do not want it being useless at long range while it is closing distance and you do want it being the toughest mech' on the battlefield when it does.
 * 4 x SRM6 + 4 x ML's provide a very high Alpha-Strike damage as a Close-Range Brawler. This loadout provides a lot of spare tonnage, which allows you to add armor, mount Jump Jets, and load up on Heat-sinks. MG's can be used in lieu of, or in addition to, ML's.
 * My favorite loadout has the 4 x SRM6 + 4 x ML as well as a single AC/20 for extreme close combat firepower and very high stability damage. Adding jump jets and focusing armor on the most important locations can be useful if done correctly and used wisely.
 * A similar build to the above is to remove the 4 ML, leaving just one AC-20 and 4 SRM6 add three tons of ammo for each, add three jump jets and put the rest into armor and heatsinks. This will allow you to retain max armor and when combined with a pilot with bulwark this loadout can withstand more punishment than any other in the game. If you wish, you can add better Gyros, Arm mods and Cockpit mods to help in combat. A priority should be to find upgraded versions of the SRM6s, as this will increase your damage capacity by a large margin, possibly even out-damaging the stock loadout.
 * 500+ damage close range assault - 4 x SRM6, 4 M L, 4 S L, everything else to heat sinks, no jump jets saves tonnage.
 * If you swap the 4x SL to MG++ (+5 shots, -0.5 ton), you can use one ton of MG ammo and basically get 120 (4x30) free (no heat, 1 ton) damage at close range. MG and SL have the same range, and with that upgrade version of the MG they have the same damage too, but MGs generate no heat.


 * If you are using a King Crab, your best bet is to close the distance between you and your enemies whilst not getting overly damaged during approach. A good way to prevent this is to use natural cover, such as rocks or cliffs, to prevent enemy mechs' from being able to target you. Jump jets are helpful with this.
 * If you are unlucky enough to have to fight a King Crab, the only reliable way to avoid destruction is to keep out of range of the twin AC-20s the crab packs. Target the crab from the sides (or better yet, the back), to disable the weaponry. Once the AC-20s (and possibly the LRM-15, if your mechs' are lightly armored), you can get closer to finish it off. It is still wise to stay out of melee range, however, as the Crab's monstrous arms pack a serious punch. (Of course, if you're packing a lance of assault 'mechs you might not have to do this.)
 * The highest damage loadouts require you to use close range attacks. This can allow you crab to sprint toward enemies and stop in cover, revealing enemies and reducing damage toward yourself.  Since the King Crab has so much armor, it is possible to soak up damage, given you stay in cover, maintain high evasion and utilize the Bulwark skill of pilots to give yourself 40% damage reduction while in cover.  With a 20% max sprint distance from the piloting skill you can give several evasion pips, further reducing incoming damage.  By the time you close in to enemies, whom usually stay within proximity of each other, you'll be able to unload alpha strikes repeatedly.  Having a pilot with the Coolant Vent skill helps in arid climates and when your heat sinks are not sufficient to dissipate all heat.
 * The highest damage loadouts require you to use close range attacks. This can allow you crab to sprint toward enemies and stop in cover, revealing enemies and reducing damage toward yourself.  Since the King Crab has so much armor, it is possible to soak up damage, given you stay in cover, maintain high evasion and utilize the Bulwark skill of pilots to give yourself 40% damage reduction while in cover.  With a 20% max sprint distance from the piloting skill you can give several evasion pips, further reducing incoming damage.  By the time you close in to enemies, whom usually stay within proximity of each other, you'll be able to unload alpha strikes repeatedly.  Having a pilot with the Coolant Vent skill helps in arid climates and when your heat sinks are not sufficient to dissipate all heat.