17 replies to this topic

[Monroe the Pinhead]

Hello
i'm in the process of buying my second mech and i want it to be a medium. ive read the forums thoroughly and have thought about it a lot, a lot of people recommended the shadow-hawk and i know its a good mech but for some reason i keep getting drawn to the Cicada variants. so i need to know if it is a good mech for me.
i currently play as a Cataphract 3d and i love it.
i really like energy and ballistic loadouts and hate missiles and ppc loadouts, but i can change if i have too.
i;m wanting a mobile mech and the ability to take some hits( my 3d has an aweful time with that),but i don't expect a tank i just want to get around safely.
The Cicada variant i am thinking of buying is the Cicada CDA-3C.
so please tell me your thoughts on the Cicada, if it matches what i want and is worth it in the long run and what your experiences with this mech were like.

Thanks, A Pinhead.

[Spheroid]

Do not buy the 3C. It is a total piece of junk. You can't do anything with only one energy hardpoint. The developers have classified it as tier 5 mech, which more or less means it is objectively bad.

Either get the 2A or 3M.

You should also consider the BJ-1X which could handle your 280XL no problem.

Edited by Spheroid, 19 October 2014 - 10:25 PM.

[Mobile Ordnance Platform]

definately get 3 cicadas so you can unlock elite skills for the one u like ! its totally worth it in everyway
3M > 2A/X-5 or just whatever is fun for you

[Rushin Roulette]

Before you buy a Medium Mech, Id recommend you to buy 2 more (different) Cataphract mechs. If you master all 3 mechs of the same chassie, then you get better bonuses for them. That way your beloved 3D will be even better .

For your intterrests, a Cicada would not be advisable. The Cicada is more like a overweight Light mech than a typical Medium. If you want to play with Balistics and Energy loadouts, then Id recomend trying for Blackjack, Hunchback and Shadowhawk. All 3 mechs have variants which relly heavily on Energy and Balistic hardpoints.

[Tarogato]

Have you considered the Blackjack? All of its variants are energy and ballistics. It's mobile, and has nice hitboxes, so it can take a beating if you play it well.

The Cicada should be considered a light mech - it's just a Locust that's bigger and easier to hit but has more armour to compensate. You can have fun with the 2A/2B, but most people would rather bring the ECM and honestly I do better with 2x LPLas on the 3M then I ever did with MLas on the 2A.

The 3C is useless, honestly. You can put two AC2's on it and plink away all day without scaring anybody or doing damage, or you can fit it with machine guns and play it as a bad Locust 1V. You can put an AC5 on the 3M, but it won't amount to much.

That said, the Cicada is one of my favourite 'mechs, but I'm primarily a light pilot, so it fits me. =]

Edited by Tarogato, 19 October 2014 - 11:09 PM.

[MrEdweird]

While the 3M is excellent at several roles - the important bit being the ECM - I found my X-5 to be the most fun out of them all.
I use this:
Linky!

It's a version of Garth Erlam's build from way back when. Stick a Radar Deprivation / Target Info Gathering / MLas Range/Cooldown / SSRM2 Range/Cooldown mod setup in it and it becomes one of the better skirmisher/brawler/scout hybrids for me. (And a sneaky Artemis in there too for those who know what it does to SSRM lock times...)

It's just too much fun.

Edited by Edweird, 20 October 2014 - 03:22 AM.

[InspectorG]

Start think of buying mechs as a Chassis and not specific variant.

When you dont bother to elite the Chassis, you REALLY miss out on BONUSES that make any mech run better. Night and day difference. Movement, cooling, cooldown, heatcap, torsotwist are ALL AFFECTED!!!!

So finish the Cataphracts first.

Now, about the Cicada...

The Cicada is a medium that is an overweight Light. It is not meant for brawling. Speed and its high mounted hadpoints are its selling points...as well as an ECM variant.

You have to be good with either sniping with a PPC/Gauss or strike/fade. This medium CAN wolfpack with some lights should the opportunity and desire arise.

You will want an XL300 to go with the chassis, an extra cost if you dont own one. The M variant comes with an XL320...i think.

A and B are similar except the B has arm mounted energy points. Generally not that good because you usually use the 'arms' as shield arms. But the increased vertical reach can be worth it if it fits your style.

The C is the tier 5 scrub of the chassis. 1E and 4B. Screams large laser/ppc and mg's. CAN be used as a Gauss sniper. Avoid lbx AC...you want pinpoint damage and you dont really want to be close enough to make that happen in a Cicada.

X-5 is the Hero with some missile points. Worth 15$? Nah, i want one but will wait for a sale. With the Conquest reward buff it may be a worthwhile C-bill farmer. Im weighing this or the Myst Lynx for C-bill farming on Conquest.

Cicadas are good if you are good with lights. If you try to brawl like a normal medium you will likely get frustrated.
That being said i do well in a A/M with 2 LPL. Simple and quick 20 damage alphas at .6 seconds. Almost like front loaded damage. Very good peeking over a hill, or around a corner. The enemy should feel me but not see me.

Otherwise, 2ppc sniping/fire support
6 ml (fat Jenner)
2 LL, 2Er LL

3-4 ml, 1LL

Gauss, 1ml.

AC20 builds are out there but, they seem trollish.

[TygerLily]

Monroe the Pinhead, on 19 October 2014 - 08:05 PM, said:

Hello
i'm in the process of buying my second mech and i want it to be a medium. ive read the forums thoroughly and have thought about it a lot, a lot of people recommended the shadow-hawk and i know its a good mech but for some reason i keep getting drawn to the Cicada variants. so i need to know if it is a good mech for me.
i currently play as a Cataphract 3d and i love it.
i really like energy and ballistic loadouts and hate missiles and ppc loadouts, but i can change if i have too.
i;m wanting a mobile mech and the ability to take some hits( my 3d has an aweful time with that),but i don't expect a tank i just want to get around safely.
The Cicada variant i am thinking of buying is the Cicada CDA-3C.
so please tell me your thoughts on the Cicada, if it matches what i want and is worth it in the long run and what your experiences with this mech were like.

Thanks, A Pinhead.

If you like Phracts, I would have to back recommendation for the Shadow Hawk. The Cicada is okay but it relies on speed and with it's smaller tonnage for a Medium you'll have trouble playing it as anything but a big Light, IMO. Also, look in to Cent and Hunchies! They are the brawly Mediums too!

[Pirate2Ninja]

The 3M is one of my favorite mechs, but favorite mechs are a matter of preference. As mentioned above Cicadas tend to play like heavy lights, you're slightly slower on the draw but you can also take a little more damage. Focus on scouting, harassing and tagging; if all goes well with rewards 2.0 in todays update this will all earn more CBs/XP. You should totally level max your 'phracts but it's also fun to be able to switch up styles so you don't get bored. Plus, choosing a weight class that is underrepresented in the pool will help put games together and get you in game quicker. But if you want to be able to hit real hard, probably not for you.

[Monroe the Pinhead]

i want to thank every one for their advice on this problem of mine every post helped me out. the wierd thing though is through these comments i started to think about the cicada being a heavy light. In the past i have scorned lights because what a nuisance they are to me in my cata but i found myself wondering what is a light mech really like? (i had never previvously tried a light mech for more than a few matches thanks to some poorly spent cadet bonus cbills) so i started looking at the trial mechs found the Firestarter mech and immediately the mobility got me along with other things. i played a number of matches and i bought my first light, well second really... NOW I'M THE NUISANCE . so for now im having fun in a light talk about a 360, although the cicadas are still on my list.
SO thanks again and im sorry for the run on sentencing - A Pinhead

[Alaskan Nobody]

Monroe the Pinhead, on 21 October 2014 - 06:11 PM, said:

NOW I'M THE NUISANCE

Before long we will have you in Locusts.

[IllCaesar]

The Cicada is very much a mix between a Light and a Medium. I love mediums, they're easily my favourite weight class in MWO, but I hated my Cicada. Its the only medium mech I've played with that I've had negative feelings about. If you're attempting to drop to a Light from a Heavy, using the Cicada as a pseudo-light isn't a buffer to help you adjust, but its not like other mediums.

Given that you like energy and ballistics, I recommend the Blackjacks instead. Centurions aren't bad in that regard either, and you can easily make a good Centurion build while ignoring the missile hardpoints (except for maybe the AH).

If you want a light though, Cicada is not a bad way to go. Pick up the 3M, definitely. The Ballistic Cicada is the one I owned, I couldn't use the ballistics for anything but MGs, but that was just my experience.

Edited by MarsAtlas, 22 October 2014 - 06:55 AM.

[JC Daxion]

I recently got into cicada's. I own HBK's and centurions and wolverines, so you could say i like mediums. They are a ton of fun, but play a bit more like a heavy light, than a medium, which to me is a good thing. Nothing like shredding up a light in one of these things.. The light comes in to hit and run, and next thing they know they are toast, as you can keep up enough to blast um to pieces, or at least damage them enough that they are blinking bright red and won't be back any time soon unless they have a death wish.

I actually really enjoy the cicada 3C which is a pretty un-popular mech among the power gamers, But it is a very unique mech. You can use it as a sniper with an ERPPC, with 4 machine guns, and that is fun, It is like a slightly slower spider, but more armor in that set up. But i play it with 3 machine guns, and an AC-10, and it is a total blast. Shred up someones armor with the AC-10, and then wreck their weapons with your machine guns and they are toast.

While it might be a tier 5 mech now, in 2 weeks i think people are going to be rethinking it, when it gets a ton of buffs under the new quirk system. I know i can't wait!

To me they basically play a lot like the Ravens, only with a bit more fire power, and a bit more armor. Over all i would highly recommend them. I think they are very under-estimated as for how effective they can be.

When you can rack up 500 damage in one of these you are certainly pulling over your weight class. even in the 3C, nothing like sneaking up behind someone, and racking them with an AC-10, and pounding on them with machine guns.. by the time the AC-10 recharges, they are finished.. Take down heavies or even low armor assaults in 5 seconds..


the 3M, with ECM, an AC-5, and 4ML's is another mech that rocks.. and actually is my highest KDR mech., the others are slightly behind, but when the quirks come, i really think that will change. It is really hard to go wrong with Cicada's

Edited by JC Daxion, 24 October 2014 - 08:51 AM.

[Rando Slim]

I will second what JC daxion said: the Cicada 3M with an AC/5 and 4 medium lasers, xl-300 and ECM is THE ****. I bring it to 12 man semi-competitive team drops and tournaments. The other Cicadas are all a tier down from that at least. the 3C is as bad as the 3m is good. The 2A is basically a fat Jenner that cant jump so really the Jenner is better. The X-5 is really the only other interesting one but it only can shoot out 2 missiles out of its missile tubes per volley which really sucks so basically you can only do streaks with it for missiles.....or NARC.........it makes an excellent NARCer with 4 medium pulses and an xl-320.

Edited by Scrotacus 42, 28 October 2014 - 03:57 AM.

[Samziel]

The 3C is the worst at the moment, but when the quirks come it will definetly be worth trying. Faster firing ERPPC that can reach 2000 m with less heatgen. I sold it after I mastered my X-5 and 3M but I might just buy it back.

[Jon Gotham]

Monroe the Pinhead, on 21 October 2014 - 06:11 PM, said:

i want to thank every one for their advice on this problem of mine every post helped me out. the wierd thing though is through these comments i started to think about the cicada being a heavy light. In the past i have scorned lights because what a nuisance they are to me in my cata but i found myself wondering what is a light mech really like? (i had never previvously tried a light mech for more than a few matches thanks to some poorly spent cadet bonus cbills) so i started looking at the trial mechs found the Firestarter mech and immediately the mobility got me along with other things. i played a number of matches and i bought my first light, well second really... NOW I'M THE NUISANCE . so for now im having fun in a light talk about a 360, although the cicadas are still on my list.
SO thanks again and im sorry for the run on sentencing - A Pinhead

Personally, mobility is king. Especially so in solo queue, you have the speed to get away when your team leaves you hanging....


*EDIT*
JC Daxion has the right thinking! All the meta pros saying "3C is teh badz hurr hurr" really might get a shock soon...it's FAR from bad now-IF you know what you are doing in it...

Edited by kamiko kross, 01 November 2014 - 04:48 AM.

[jper4]

my personal silly but kills stuff build for the 3C. AC 20, ML 3.5 tons of ammo, std 160ish engine (hits 71kph). stay with all the heavies/assaults and watch everyone look around for the big mech that keeps hitting them with an ac20 until they figure out it's you. true i usually die but always take at least 1 mech with me. might do better but there;s something about dire whales that draws my aim to them

funniest match was in forest colony, foillowed an atlas out of the cave to the mining village, cent up on the hill getting shot by the atlas,tries to circle it and in doing so presenting it's back to me, ac20 to the rear and dead cent. ecm raven runs by me to shoot the atlas in the back. one ac20 to rear and no more ecm raven. turn around and there's an ac20 hunchy shooting a friendly spider. ac20 to the back, he looks around, another ac20 to the back almost dead. hunchy flees and ducked behind the dire whale just before i could get the finishing ac20 round to it. then i ran the other way with the atlas and the call of the dire whale led me to my death, from the nearby victor, cause you know the atlas was in full retreat as soon as i walked past it.

don;t think i;ll change it to the erppc quirk- it's too fun as it is, went through all 55 or so of my mechs and i found i had 1 (cent A) that was actually built to the same loadout that the quirk bonuses affected. most weren;t even remotely close

[Jon Gotham]

Monroe, how are you getting along?
I have picked up the 2B recently to make it a x5 wubber-and by crikey is it fun!