46 replies to this topic

[Horusv2]

Hello Mechwarriors,

I see a lot of Banshees in the last weeks and start to wonder if I should buy some for myself.
At this moment I already own several mastered Atlas, Stalker, Battlemaster, Direwolf and Masakari.
What is the unique selling point of the Banshee in which it could give my roster a new or interesting twist?

please share your experiences

Edited by Horusv2, 08 September 2014 - 04:40 AM.

[Chadamir Fitzkrieg]

Here's the thing. The banshee? Not a great mech. However..... I do have the 3S with 6 mediums and 2 larges running with a STD 300 engine with... wait for it... 40 standard heatsinks! Sounds like madness, right? Wrong. It is a gorgeous pinpoint alpha beast.

Edit: As Nazar24 stated, the brilliant build's creator is indeed FantasticTuesday. Not my intent on trying to play it off like it was my idea but here's some clarification.

Edited by Chadamir Fitzkrieg, 08 September 2014 - 02:11 PM.

[The Great Unwashed]

Ah, Verdi Requiem's Dies Irae.. Going DHS with a STD345 leaves room for an addional BAP and full amor and nearly the same heat efficiency. This BNC-3M is even blessed with the STD350... might help with all that twisting you are so fond of doing.

BTW, I worry more about Banshees than Altae as opponents. As a player I only mastered Battlemasters.

Edited by The Great Unwashed, 08 September 2014 - 04:59 AM.

[Selene Lunaris]

My two cents right here - Banshees are great Mechs... If you can think outside the box. If you want a straight up assault 'mech, go get a cookie cutter thing like a Highlander or Battlemaster. If you want fun and insane builds, go get a Banshee. Ridiculously large engines and hilarious hardpoint layouts define it, as well great mobility with large engines.

The Banshee 3E is a Jagermech turned sideways,and a deeps monster. Get dual AC/2 and dual UAC/5 in there and you'll be winning staring contests left and right.

The 3M is more difficult to figure out - I figure using a giant engine it could make a good MLAS boat.

The 3S is the true assault of the bunch, and can do a lot of fun things with all the weight.

Like I said, Banshees are good at doing the unorthodox. If you like stranger builds and having fun with them, go get one - you won't regret it.

[IraqiWalker]

The banshee is absolutely worth it. Most of the weapons are torso mounted, allowing for those giant ham-fisted arms to block a lot of damage when you torso twist, and it can mount a frightening amount of firepower. Try running one with an XL 400 and all the pulse lasers, see what that monster can do.

I don't have the build on me, but the BNC-3E (Nick-named the "Davionite" for obvious reasons), packs 2xUAC5s, and 2xAC2s. This allows it to rain lead on anything in sight, and win pretty much any staring contest.

[That Dawg]

Chrona, on 08 September 2014 - 04:44 AM, said:

you'll be winning staring contests left and right.

I made laff upon that.


Having owned ALL of the assaults (several for months). guess which one I still have?
Having experienced the horror of OP green money clan mechs, Guess which one sat in mothballs for fear of going below my 1.3 K to D ratio? Then I learned about "turn so you dont burn"
Owning a couple of clan mechs and just experienced the typical idiocy of PGI "balance", guess which mech is out on the battle fields again several times a night?
its the only one I've been able to break a 1000 damage in. It can be a battle turning dreadnought. You may die, but kill a couple, cripple a few more, allows the lights/mediums on your team to finish them off.

I named my E series "Bitchslap" 6-8 months ago. Cause it and Wayne Brady would choke a ***** need be, several times a battle.

I also ran the laser boat with an XL400 to great success, Think 95 ton, 75kph hunchback!
it was named the BNC 3M "melty" cause something was going to turn it a puddle of metal...me or them...I once missed an alpha on a raven charging into the tunnel, shut down, it ran into me and legged itself. Kill secured.

NOW if you come up against one, fiercely target the legs, too many banshee jocks still put ammo there, and have weak back armor (not me, its a brawler thru and thru...just takes for flipping ever to arrive)

[Nazar24]

The build mentioned by Chadamir, is actually viable, it gives you a decent mech, without having to buy the DHS upgrade (but i would give Fantastic Tuestay credit for making it).

For the unique flavour of the banshe,

All of them (minus the malinche) have the weapons point focused in the torso and that give you great convergence when tring to lead target.
It also mean that you definetly want to spread damage on the arm to keep your weapon safe, and that you are at disatvantage when fitghting someone on different terrain level.


The 3E is the only "is" assault with four balistic hardpoint.
It's unforunate that all four of them are in the side torso, with not much room to play with, but 2AC5/2AC2 combo is still possible with back up laser.

The 5s can go zombie as it have 2 energy hardpoint split between the CT and the head (3 slot total)

The 3m is the energy boat seen in the video.

I don't know about la malinche, but for what i can see from smurfy, it looks like an atlas k missing 5 tons and an ams.

[IraqiWalker]

That reminds me.

http://raksarmory.bl...00-banshee.html

[That Dawg]

raksarmory I found looking for something else, I had done just enough grinding the 3M sold it months ago keeping the E.
rebought it, had a blast with it

researched the modules to extend the ac and medium lasers, its quite the thrill to chase a timberwolf or direwhale back into the tunnel wailing away on one.

[Mercworks]

My biggest problem is with the Banshee is the lack of arm hardpoints. Most of the time, your builds only have torso weapons. That gets to be really difficult when you get into these Wheels of Death fights.

[That Dawg]

Mercworks, on 09 September 2014 - 07:54 AM, said:

My biggest problem is with the Banshee is the lack of arm hardpoints. Most of the time, your builds only have torso weapons. That gets to be really difficult when you get into these Wheels of Death fights.

I suspect those who love the banshee, also loved the centurion back in the day.
its basically a 95 ton zombie centurion...frightening really

[oldradagast]

The Banshee is reasonably tough, has large shield arms, and can mount impressive firepower. The lack (or near lack in the case of the S) of arm hard-points is a weakness in close quarters, and like most big assaults, they are rather slow (though not as slow as an Atlas.)

The E variant is obviously the most "meta" for it's ability to mount a pile of ballistics and energy weapons in various useful mixes. I've done very well with my Banshee E.

The S variant is a lot like an Atlas. Really, if you already have an Atlas, there's not much point to this mech, or, to turn it around, if you buy a Banshee S and like the other Banshees, you can probably skip the Atlas. It can pack an AC20, a pile of energy weapons, and 1 missile slot, be it an SRM or a big LRM. Overall, a good, flexible assault mech.

The M variant is, on an absolute scale, a total mess. Maybe if it had the same quirks as the Awesome's regarding heat and energy weapons, it would be tolerable. You can make some funny builds with it, such as the "super-Hunchback," but still... it tends to overheat and suffers a terrible lack of weapon variant for no real gains. Realistically, you can put almost as many energy weapons as you'd ever want on the other Banshees, so losing ballistics and missiles for more energy isn't a good deal. If this mech had a bunch of arm hardpoints, it would be the best Banshee vs. lights, but sadly, it even lacks that.

So, long story short: Banshee is a good mech, the E and S are quite good, and - for most people - the M is a grind that you sell when done.

Edited by oldradagast, 12 September 2014 - 01:54 PM.

[InspectorG]

Got an M the other day, and went with a similar build to the Fantastic Tuesday build because i ran out of Cbills.

SHS. 5ml 2LL 1mpl, std 320 engine.

Im new to assaults, lights beingmy main. I do way better with the Banshee than i do with the Victor K. I used to run Hunchbacks so maybe that explains why?

[Bloodweaver]

Absolutely YES. The Banshee is one of the strongest 'mechs in the game.

The 3E is a 95-ton Jagermech. So you can get the same ballistic firepower with enough armor, ammo, heatsinks, speed, and/or backup weapons to make it truly fearsome.

The 3M is just energy, and all in the side torsos. Not ideal. Probably the weakest Banshee of the bunch - even La Malinche at least has a couple of arm hardpoints. Even so, you get a max 400 engine. High engine sizes is one of the biggest advantages in the game. You can do Awesome 8Q builds with more armor and agility, as well as better hitboxes(although, as noted, you lose the heat dissipation quirks).

The 3S is everything an Atlas wishes it could be. Only the DDC is superior to the Banshee-3S, and that's only because ECM is so overpowered. Sure, both the Atlas-DDC and -D have dual ballistics, whereas the 3S only has one. The 3S also has eight energy hardpoints to the DDC's two and the D's four. I started off running AC20 + 2 MPL + 5 ML. Hot, yeah, but you're slow enough that you won't need to be firing them constantly, even in a brawl. The only downside to the 3S compared to the other Banshees is that it has a lower engine cap.

In short, Banshees are about one thing: unmitigated firepower. They tank pretty well with those giant vestigial arms, and they can move pretty fast with 400 engine caps. But their main focus is definitely firepower. The Atlas focuses on durability, the Highlander focuses on adaptability, the Awesome focuses on energy, the Victor focuses on being nerfed(but formerly on agility). The closest IS mechs to compare it to are the Stalker and Battlemaster, which each have their own benefits, but in the end weigh 10 tons less. The Stalker is tougher, but lacks ballistics and moves like a slug. The Battlemaster is more agile, but dies much more easily due to hitbox design. Banshees are absolute monsters of the battlefield. They are, for all intents and purposes, the Dire Wolves of the Inner Sphere.

[The Trumpet of Gabriel]

Banshees are a must have for an Inner Sphere assault pilot. INSANE dps potential. I actually kept the 3M and tossed the 3S mainly because of the lower engine cap. I run my 3M with 3 Lpl, 5 mL and the XL400...can be lots of fun. My 3E runs 3 Ac5's, 4 mL, and a std 360.

[That Dawg]

seismic, the level 5 MLaser module, advance sensor, may go and drop the extra gxp and research the erroneously named 'cool down' module for the medium lasers too, but likely get modules for AC5.
Seismic..can't say it enough...if you only get one module, that is the one.
This tug is slow, its a lifesaver knowing something is sneaking up on you, allowing to turn 3/4 to face "it"....

[That Dawg]

uhm.......I almost.........almost hesitate to post.
you know that excitement when you know something good, and it will benefit like minded players of a particular game....yeah...well, I'm having that, right......but I'm also thinking, I might face off this same goof I helped on the other side....
I like crushing my enemies under my boots and hearing the lamenting on their women as much as the next guy....so its with some trepidation I say..........the AC-5 module....level 5.....is soooooooo worth it.
I have rarely run out of ammo before I installed that module.....twice now ran out. Also broke 800 damage three times since...
its as tricky as ever, get caught by lights, you're dead. DEAD...get caught by 2-3 mediums........dead....last man standing, you may well cripple a few, and kill one..but yer dead. DEAD I TELL YOU
that said....bitchslap cheese build has served me well.
With the addition of the previous post modules and the new AC5 one...sweetbabyjesus, it will win more staring contests than not.

I got zombied this morning, just had the head laser left, LOL, got caught by a couple of nova's...

[IronLichRich]

I used to run a 3 ac5 2 large laser build on my banshee. Loved it

[oldradagast]

Running a Banshee-3E here with triple AC5's (with 4 medium lasers, too) with the level 5 cooldown module for the AC5's. It is cruel - 600+ damage is not that hard to reach, and I've broken 1,000 damage with it. The triple 5's hammering away, along with proper rolling of damage using the shield arms, can get a Dire Wolf to back down or die.

Edited by oldradagast, 18 September 2014 - 03:26 AM.

[deadmedo]

I just completed the basic on all 3 variants. I like the banshee's so far.
The variant I like the most so far is the 3E with 2AC2-2AC5 and 3 ML.
The 3M is a laser variant - 5ML - 2LL. Don't have such good k/d ratio so far (around 1) but its a nice feeling when you deliver 43 damage on enemy CT.
The 3S - I thought it'd be the worse one so i didn't bother upgrading it to double HS. Instead I'm using single HS, ac20, 5ml-1ll and surprisingly I'm doing really good so far(24/15 k/d).

I was planning to keep the 3E and 3M after mastering, but I might consider to keep also the 3S (and upgrading to double HS) if it keep killing enemies like so far