59 replies to this topic

[Floppy waffles]

Just looking after my first couple matches last night I saw the locust cheap and fast, is it good for a first mech?

[Kryton77]

Personally I would say, no. Would be better saving for a Jenner or Firestarter if you like Lights.

[5LeafClover]

I think most would say no. Most would probably say its no good for anyone, but it does have its fans.

Perhaps it will be quirked to the point of usefulness come 4th Nov, but it still won't be a novice mech.

If you're willing to put down real gold and are set on lights, perhaps checkout the Firestarter or Jenner Mastery bundles, they are very good value.

Edited by 5LeafClover, 17 October 2014 - 08:51 AM.

[xeromynd]

Put simply, imo:
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooope.

Most fragile mech in the game, and arguably the worst light mech in the game at that. Limited firepower, low armor, don't let the cost entice you.

Most players will recommend a Hunchback or Shadowhawk for a first mech, both can do a wide variety of things, and Hunchbacks will be getting some very nice buffs on November 4th. If you're really hooked on lights (or just 'going fast' in general) try out the Firestarter, Jenner, or [medium] Cicada.

Edited by xeromynd, 17 October 2014 - 08:51 AM.

[990Dreams]

No.

The Locust has barely any tonnage for weapons, has almost no armor, etc. A Firestarter or Spider are good choices for Lights.

Edited by DavidHurricane, 17 October 2014 - 08:51 AM.

[DEMAX51]

It's one of the most easily-killed 'Mechs in the game, and requires a great deal of skill to perform well in. Also, keep in mind that it may be a "cheap" 'Mech to buy, but to get it fully kitted-out you're going to want an XL engine and Double Heatsinks, which'll cost an extra 5 Million C-bills easy.

[HlynkaCG]

Floppy waffles, on 17 October 2014 - 08:40 AM, said:

Just looking after my first couple matches last night I saw the locust cheap and fast, is it good for a first mech?

Not as a first mech no, and I say that as a fan.

The Locust is very fragile, and consider to be one of the "lower tier" mechs. Piloting one when you're just getting started, before you've learned the maps and the most common tactics, would most likely be an exercise in frustration. You will die early, you will die often.

That said, they can also be a huge amount of fun. They are tiny, often ignored, can get into spots that other mechs can't, and pack seriously silly firepower for something so small.

Edited by HlynkaCG, 17 October 2014 - 09:13 AM.

[Turist0AT]

No. If you want a light get Firestarter (FS9)

The locust is worthless. You wont able to do enough damage and rack up points in it. Making it very hard to grind(lvl) for and for what? that litle pos mech? Nah get a good mech instead.



Let me explain a litle bit as this is new player section.

In FS9 i can actually get kills and do good damage, not only that. I can kill a mech from behind 1-2 alphas. Locust on the other hand is running around hiding, spotting and hoping you hava a friendly lrm boat noticing it. I dont want to rely on other ppl to do good and im sure you dont too.

Edited by Turist0AT, 17 October 2014 - 09:12 AM.

[xeromynd]

Also should be noted that, on November 4th (a patch day), a LOT of band new bonuses and benefits that we've never had before will be added to a lot of Inner Sphere mechs in the game. If you buy a mech before then that you really don't like, I'd wait until after November 4th to see if you still like that mech after the new 'quirks' (as they're called) are implemented.

Also a few tips on first mechs:

• Your first 25 matches will net you plenty more CBills than normal play, this is the Cadet Bonus. Basically it puts you on the fast track to owning your first mech.
  
• If you end up making a purchase that you don't like, I'd highly recommend NOT selling the mech until you own 3 variants of it, and have the mech fully "Elited" Then you'll know if you really like it or not. (Mechs have 'skills' that you can upgrade via the 'Skills' tab up top.)
  
• Again, if you end up making a purchase that you don't like, wait until the November 4th patch to see if the mech gets any better.

In the following post is a recently compiled table of all the current Inner Sphere mechs, sorted by 'Tier'.
Tier 1 = great, and used by many players.
Tier 5 = not very usable at the moment.

Now the whole Tier thing is subjective, yes. Some players do very well in mechs that are Tier 5, but I'd certainly pick something from a higher Tier (1/2/3) for your first purchase, and experiment with Tier 4 & 5 mechs later in the game when you've more CBills to burn.


http://mwomercs.com/...00#entry3827000 (It's the second post in this thread)

Edited by xeromynd, 17 October 2014 - 09:06 AM.

[IllCaesar]

Nope nope nope nope nope. Not a bad mech chassis at all, as it can perform quite admirably, but absolutely not what you want to start off with. If you want to start your first chassis with a light, pick the Jenner or Firestarter.

[Bigbacon]

let me tell you a story.....

when I first started playing, I used some of the cbills from the first like 10 rounds and bought one. was SUPER disappointed because I didn't know any better, didn't know I would get more free cbills and just overall didn't know enough about the game yet. Sold it.

fast forward to now....I love the little things.

Definitely NOT a good mech to learn the game on, or lights for that matter. I would go Firestarter and then at some point come back to the locust. It takes a lot of patience and time to understand the locusts and how to use it best, more so than any other mech I've used.

If you take it as a first buy then you need to be with it for the long haul and you will probably be greatly disappointed.

Edited by Bigbacon, 17 October 2014 - 09:13 AM.

[TercieI]

No! If you want to start with light, either Jenners or Firestarters (if you're willing to spend $ for an Ember). Both have 3+ good variants and a single great one (JR7-F/Ember) so you'll be able to get to mastery without the frustration of bad variants (a problem for Spiders and Ravens) and end up with a great mech.

[Ruccus]

I have fun with my Locusts, but it's not an easy mech to pilot. I think most lights need an XL engine and a lot of c-bills to make into something that won't take a dirt nap after a few seconds of an enemy heavy shooting at it.

For a first mech you might want something that's slower and has more firepower, where you'd just act as wingman for a heavy or assault mech and get an idea of how battles tend to progress and how the maps can be used to your advantage. The first mechs I mastered were the Blackjack and Jagermech.

[HlynkaCG]

Turist0AT, on 17 October 2014 - 09:01 AM, said:

The locust is worthless. You wont able to do enough damage and rack up points in it. Making it very hard to grind(lvl) for and for what? that litle pos mech? Nah get a good mech instead.

The Locust is a true Pro's mech.

Mad Cats are a crutch for low skill players.

[Ertur]

Light mechs aren't all that cheap, and the Locust is no exception. You can't just look at the cbill price for the chassis, you have to figure in the cost for all of the upgrades.

You'll need DHS (maybe not for the machine gun Locust): 1.5 million cbills.
EndoSteel frame (all): 200-350 thousand cbills.
FerroFibrous armor (most): 100-195 thousand cbills. Plus another 10-20k for additional armor.
You may want to change the default weapons load out, so whatever that costs.
And the most expensive thing, usually more expensive than the original cost for the mech --
an XL engine: 2.7-4.9 million cbills. This depends on weight. Jenner, Raven, and Firestarter need engines in the high 200's (4-4.9 million cbills); Spiders need engines in the mid 200's (3.6-4.4 million); Commandos and Locusts only need engines in the high 100's to low 200's (2.7-3.4 million). This is what gives lights their speed, go with a cheaper engine and you don't get the speed.

It is very easy, and quite likely, that you will triple the original cost of the mech before you are done with it.

I also don't recommend a Locust for anyone's first light mech. Jenner, Firestarter, or Spider is a better first choice as they are more forgiving of mistakes. The Locust will die with any mistake that you make. For that reason the Locust IS a great mech to have for anyone who wants to specialize in driving light mechs, just maybe not to start with.
That's my 2 cents.

Edited by Ertur, 17 October 2014 - 09:19 AM.

[Turist0AT]

Ertur, on 17 October 2014 - 09:16 AM, said:

My two cents:

wait a minute, thats no cents at all!

[TercieI]

Ertur, on 17 October 2014 - 09:16 AM, said:

My two cents:

Love it. Of course, I love your sig...

[Turist0AT]

Yeah, lights are hard mechs to start with. One shot kills, need a very good map and situational awarness. Tho they can easily turn the tie of a battle just by getting enemy teams attention when you know your team is pummeling their backs. Or if you have ecm light, thats even esier. (im playing only conquest, i dont know how it is in other game modes.)

Edited by Turist0AT, 17 October 2014 - 09:25 AM.

[Ertur]

Sorry, I can't type in the "reply to topic" box without half of my keystrokes going missing, nor can I paste into the box, so I have to put in a placeholder post, and then use the "edit" box to paste in my post from notepad. Also, the "quote" feature doesn't work. Some kind of Windows "feature not a bug," I'm sure.

While the placeholder did work, due to my sig, I wasn't clever enough to see that.

[DEMAX51]

Ertur, on 17 October 2014 - 09:29 AM, said:

Sorry, I can't type in the "reply to topic" box without half of my keystrokes going missing, nor can I paste into the box, so I have to put in a placeholder post, and then use the "edit" box to paste in my post from notepad. Also, the "quote" feature doesn't work. Some kind of Windows "feature not a bug," I'm sure.

While the placeholder did work, due to my sig, I wasn't clever enough to see that.

This is a common issue for people using Internet Explorer. Is that the browser you're using? If so, you should probably switch to Chrome or Firefox. Chrome is way better than IE anyway.