106 replies to this topic

[xengk]

I was running exclusively medium mech, but I have complete master on all my mediums.
Currently expanding my ride into heavy mech, and working on master of Orion.

The Blackjack have replace Hunchback as my favourite medium.
I also drop in my SRM brawler Griffin recently since better SRM hit defection.

[Impyrium]

And it's this silly mentality that places mediums such as the Hunchback in 'inferior' places that is my secret weapon.

For I am a medium pilot, with a few assaults thrown in for good measure. You think the 4G is useless? We'll see what you think when you cop a AC20 to the face. People have this thing where 'Mechs such as the Hunchie are apparentely great, easy targets; they come in the droves, over hills and through caves, to be the first to have a shot at my hump... frankly the only thing they shoot at.

They die. They all die. They underestimate that AC20 and dual medium lasers. I care not for your silly meta, or your optimized builds, or even the fact there's other 'Mechs that can run better builds. I have 'Mechs such as the Hunchback down to an art, and once you learn to pilot intelligently and keep your hunch safe, while luring silly 'Mechs, they all fall to you. A well placed AC20 is impossible to beat... except with maybe two AC20s. Real men only need to use one!

So no, in my opinion, mediums are more useful than ever because people underestimate them. I also run with a Griffin, which took some time to get right but now it's a deadly light/medium killer. Sure, you're not going to have much chance against the heavies and assaults. But a smart player knows his role, sticks with their team and engages when they see an opening.

[Karl Streiger]

AUSwarrior24, on 23 April 2014 - 03:03 AM, said:

They die. They all die. They underestimate that AC20 and dual medium lasers. I care not for your silly meta, or your optimized builds, or even the fact there's other 'Mechs that can run better builds. I have 'Mechs such as the Hunchback down to an art, and once you learn to pilot intelligently and keep your hunch safe, while luring silly 'Mechs, they all fall to you. A well placed AC20 is impossible to beat... except with maybe two AC20s. Real men only need to use one!

QFT....a single VHAC is all you need to ruin some ones day.
but the Hunchback....my dear... the hunchback...don't have the armor to go face to face armor to armor with a fresh heavy mech....or even an Assault...

its also stated in the Lore.... hunchbacks are perfect 2nd line brawler.... great to clean the mess up that is left when two front lines hit each other. (but maybe this is what you meant by "piloting intelligently"

Edited by Karl Streiger, 23 April 2014 - 03:25 AM.

[D34K]

My guess is that the higher your ELO, the fewer mediums you will see in pug games.

[Jacob Side]

No. Come the 29th every match will be forced to have 3

[Charons Little Helper]

Assuming that the upcoming patch finally fixes SRM HSR as PGI claims, I think that medium brawlers will come into their own. SRMs have far more efficient damage per ton than ACs, and while assaults have tonnage to burn, mediums don't, so they need the most efficient firepower they can get.

[IraqiWalker]

Octantis, on 22 April 2014 - 09:41 PM, said:

I love to play mediums. Yet I see less and less of them on the field. Of all the matches I played tonight the other team didn't have a single one. Every team is heavy and assault with each assault being a Dragon Slayer with 2 ppcs and 2 ac5s.

Having been in a medium I can see why no one plays them. Take the old weathered chassis of a Yen Lo Wang. A couple of flights of missiles and the arm is tossed off. Get stuck on terrain and you're cored out in a second. Truth be told the only mediums I see any more are Shadowhawks and Cicadas. Are the other chassis obsolete?

Cents used to have the luxury of being a real strong mech. Since the "fix" for hit boxes there just isn't much left for them to do.

Lately with my mediums I just hide for the first half of the match until someone on the other team gets impatient and I dog pile with everyone else. With an AC20 on your arm and 2 medium lasers you can't do much until the brawl starts. Even then everyone is gunning for you as you are the softest target.

I've been an ardent defender of playing mediums forever yet even I am losing my faith.

I guess with the launch module coming up there has to be some on the field or nobody will be dropping at all.

Thanks for letting pour out my sadness. I think I need to take a break until the 29th.

Mediums are there. At the moment with no weight restrictions (or the dreaded 3/3/3/3) people have no incentive to play anything less than heavies and assaults (well PuGs anyways, lance deployments have lots of uses for mechs of all weight classes).

Keep on trucking with your mediums, the light at the end of the tunnel is close at hand.

I used to have the same problem when people used to mention that lights are crap and no one should ever take them (even doubly so for being a commando pilot, and then a locust pilot) I just stick to what my mechs are good at and make my enemies' lives miserable. Especially if they decided to insult my mech at the beginning of the match. If teammates start the trash talking then I just ignore them and focus on getting the highest amount of damage possible. Nothing is more satisfying than having that snobby Misery pilot see my Commando 2D out-damaging him by a good 300 points. Brings a smile to my face every time.

[Monkey Lover]

People get bored and run some mediums every so often :)I know do, I even run a locust even though they die with one ppc+ppc+ac+ac hit.

Edited by Monkey Lover, 23 April 2014 - 04:39 AM.

[Troutmonkey]

I run a mix of all different classes, and my two Shadow Hawks would be the second most used mechs behind my Stalkers.
Currently running a Streak boat with MPL and a LB10X + SRMs build which is proving quite effective if played right.

Really have to be careful playing mediums, as you can't really tank in them. Their best asset is the combination of speed and firepower, letting you get to where your needed most and to actually have an impact when you get there.

3/3/3/3 should be good for the game.

[DarthPeanut]

My Hawks are some of my favorites to run, did a lot of grinding in a 2D2. I will be buying the new 2K variant when available for cbills. Probably a 2D as well at some point when it is available for cbills.

ETA: I have a 2D2, 2H, and a 5M. Need to finish skills on the 5M.

Edited by DarthPeanut, 23 April 2014 - 04:59 AM.

[mogs01gt]

Octantis, on 22 April 2014 - 09:41 PM, said:

I love to play mediums. Yet I see less and less of them on the field. Of all the matches I played tonight the other team didn't have a single one. Every team is heavy and assault with each assault being a Dragon Slayer with 2 ppcs and 2 ac5s.
Having been in a medium I can see why no one plays them. Take the old weathered chassis of a Yen Lo Wang. A couple of flights of missiles and the arm is tossed off. Get stuck on terrain and you're cored out in a second. Truth be told the only mediums I see any more are Shadowhawks and Cicadas. Are the other chassis obsolete?
Cents used to have the luxury of being a real strong mech. Since the "fix" for hit boxes there just isn't much left for them to do.
Lately with my mediums I just hide for the first half of the match until someone on the other team gets impatient and I dog pile with everyone else. With an AC20 on your arm and 2 medium lasers you can't do much until the brawl starts. Even then everyone is gunning for you as you are the softest target.
I've been an ardent defender of playing mediums forever yet even I am losing my faith.
I guess with the launch module coming up there has to be some on the field or nobody will be dropping at all.
Thanks for letting pour out my sadness. I think I need to take a break until the 29th.

I agree totally!
As a Med pilot, yes they are severely underpowered. Yes you can have good matches in them but it turns the game into work rather than fun. Their biggest downfall is lack of speed and damage out put.

The most frustrating matches I have are against Lights. They are soo hard to deal with without BAP. I switched from SSRM to SRM2's in an attempt to not be dependent on the over weight BAP and with 3xsrm2's, the missle speed is too slow to hit lights. I shut the game down after that.

I dont know if its ECM or just lights that drive me crazy!

[Creovex]

@OP

I know I run 6 different mediums almost daily.

• (2) Heroes HBK& CENT (Grid Iron & Yen-Lo-Wang)
  
• (1) Founder HBK
  
• (3) Other HBK

Honestly, I play better switching up sizes constantly. On an average week I would say I divide my time equally between light/medium/heavy.


Due to having maxed out all the Atlas variants and no intent on getting another assault because come on, why NOT take an Atlas??

Note: I try to keep 6 mechs of each weight class at all times, with the exception of the assault (only 5 Atlas variants. If mech bays weren't such a money sink, I would do more.

I wouldn't say I see less of them, I just see less people running Centurions, Cicadas or Shadow Hawks lately, but I see a lot more Hunchbacks, Griffins, Wolverines and Yen-Lo-Wang (thanks Hero sale for that) on the battlefield.

Edited by Creovex, 23 April 2014 - 05:03 AM.

[Dracol]

I love my mediums. Been rocking the Wolverines the past week. Have been surprised how well it has done at brawling... especially considering the state SRMs are in. Some how, it seems it takes more punishment then it should for a mech with an XL. I've had plenty of matches where I've survived at 30% or below. All torsos torn open and either dark orange or red.

Seen more Trebs since LRM patch then prior, but still rare. Kintos, both streak and LRM based I'll come across every so often. Blackjacks, Cicadas, Hunchbacks, and Shadowhawks I see on a regular basis. Griffins and other Wolverines.... not so much.

What I like most about mediums, they're great force multipliers. They got the speed to be were the action is and quickly move to another front when needed. They also do well playing the squirrel role.

Edited by Dracol, 23 April 2014 - 05:07 AM.

[Nicholas Carlyle]

I primarily run mediums.

Mostly my Shadow Hawks.

[Blood Rose]

Im not so sure that their a dying breed. I regularly see Centurions, Hunchbacks and the like. I even saw a TrenchBucket *coughs* sorry a Trebuchet last sunday night/monday morning.
I myself regularly run my Centurion, with an AC5, an LRM10 with Artemis and a pair of Medium Lasers.

[East Indy]

OP: Today, they're not seen as often because assault-heavy teams make mediums daunting to play.

Karl Streiger, on 22 April 2014 - 10:55 PM, said:

Maybe it will change with 3/3/3/3 because the number of one hit wonders will be removed.... but even than i don't see a place where the classical HBK-4G or CN9-A can exist

I've been wondering the same thing. If guaranteed lights provide sufficient speed/recon, and the limit of 70-plus-ton 'Mechs means lighter armor is not at as extreme risk, we may actually see the return of traditionally slower mediums where slots and hard points support additional firepower.

[El Bandito]

How about we lynch the mech designer for making many of the Mediums so big in size?

LRM Mediums are my preference right now. 2D2 has been my to go mech but Griffin-3M is equally good. Pretend you are piloting the Trenchbucket.

XL engine all the way, baby!

Edited by El Bandito, 23 April 2014 - 05:35 AM.

[mogs01gt]

East Indy, on 23 April 2014 - 05:25 AM, said:

OP: Today, they're not seen as often because assault-heavy teams make mediums daunting to play.


I've been wondering the same thing. If guaranteed lights provide sufficient speed/recon, and the limit of 70-plus-ton 'Mechs means lighter armor is not at as extreme risk, we may actually see the return of traditionally slower mediums where slots and hard points support additional firepower.

There lack of speed will still be their biggest downfall since lights can run circles around them.

[jper4]

i still play my mediums. working towards master on my cicadas so been focusing on them for the most part. will still dust off my blackjacks, hunchies and kintaros of the course of a playing period.do plan on picking up griffins next (or the vindicator rumor turns into reality first) , or finish up cents since i got the free one to start with on them. trebs i admit have been more or less mothballed unless i'm really in the mood to play something different, i use my shadowhawks only slightly more. kintaros are probably my favorite of the mediums though atm.

did discover i finally liked the Jager DD after all this time so been playing that more than before and figured since they've been rusting in my mech bays since i got them took my blunderbolts and battlesnails out for a slog a couple times. i do pop into my Locusts and jenners from time to time too.

bascially i just can't stay with the same mech for more than 2 or 3 games unless there's a contest going on. gotta launch'em all!

[Xarian]

They need to decrease the model size of the mediums to make them harder to hit. Hunchback, Jagermech, Victor, and Highlander are all about the same size...