54 replies to this topic

[Saiphas Cain]

Voivode, on 30 October 2014 - 09:38 AM, said:

Spiders are OK, the JJ's open a lot of possibilities as always, but the Commando is just better armed. Locusts are a good time every once in a while. All of these mechs can be one shot killed, but the Locust will more often be one shot killed than the other two.

This much is true, though if you up-armor enough you can throw people for a loop. I once took an Gauss shot dead in the face in a Com-2D from a dying target. It was a snap-shot at range that made me wonder if they weren't somehow botting, but I survived it, which must have irritated them greatly.

The only time you're definitely going to be 1 shotted is if you stop moving and let a quad-dire-whale take a shot at you. Happened to me.

[JC Daxion]

John1352, on 28 October 2014 - 08:31 PM, said:

I have Jenners mastered (my first mech) and firestarters coming along. I'm not so keen on spiders considering how horrible the hardpoints are on the fast variants (I don't like MGs much), but the options don't seem great either. Maybe the drawbacks of being that fast outweigh the benefits?

spiders are probably the most mobile mechs in the game... they practically have wings and are very, very fast... Besides, running at top speed is not aways the best thing, even in a light, going a little slower at times can be a life saver. Your aim improves, your turning radius tightens, You stay behind slower mechs.. ect... Don't be so stuck on running everywhere are 170...


as for the cost of the TDK, on a sale, it costs under 5 bucks... 3 mech bays, or a TDK.. you could make a lot worse choices. it is worth it

Edited by JC Daxion, 02 November 2014 - 06:41 PM.

[Sadistic Savior]

Saiphas Cain, on 31 October 2014 - 06:54 AM, said:

This much is true, though if you up-armor enough you can throw people for a loop. I once took an Gauss shot dead in the face in a Com-2D from a dying target. It was a snap-shot at range that made me wonder if they weren't somehow botting, but I survived it, which must have irritated them greatly.

The only time you're definitely going to be 1 shotted is if you stop moving and let a quad-dire-whale take a shot at you. Happened to me.

Last week, I 1-shotted a teammate in the back (I think it was a Cicada) with an AC/20. It was completely by accident. I was aiming for an enemy Atlas and he darted in front of me.

It was actually pretty funny to watch, but I did feel bad. There was nothing I could do to stop it. I had already fired by the time I saw him.

[Takashi Uchida]

I've probably been back-cored by friendlies more in the Commando than any other mech I have. You think surviving in a tiny Mech is a challenge, well it gets even more fun when you start the game off with red CT lol

[DrSlamastika]

Take a LOCUST, it will teach you about cruelty of this world.
This little devil will make you great pilot after all that pain and suffer . . .

This mech is about pure skill.

[Rando Slim]

So now that quirks are here I started in order on my mechs.....Commandos are first up, I will say first off that for me at least, ECM allows me the luxury of not having to be quite as fast, I play my COm-2d to provide ecm for my team and to chase stuff that gets in our midst, or to BRIEFLY chase something that's trying to run away. I use the XL-190 in the COM-2d as its the only way to get any appreciable firepower on it (a 195 is slightly better but I don't care to spend the money for such a niche engine), plus IS streaks are just garbage now, too weak, you need to be able to put your srms where you want them. With the quirk pass, I have created probably the strangest damn mech in my whole hangar of 67 mechs.,

XL-190 engine, ECM, endo-steel structure, ferro-fibrous armor, standard heat sinks, 3 srm 4s, one small laser, two tons of ammo, and 160 armor (strip most of it from the head maybe a point or two from each leg or left arm, whatever you feel is best). Basically, you need the small laser for when you invariably run out of ammo, you need standard heat sinks so you have the crit slots to put ferro fibrous armor on AND get the laser plus the 2 tons of ammo. With double-heat sinks AND ferro, you run out of crit slots thanks to the 3 useless heatsinks it forces you to put on there to get to the minimum of 10. Believe it or not the heat isn't as horrendous as it will read in the mechlab, you shouldn't ever get into a protracted fight or be dueling firestarters in a commando anyway, but when the time comes where you have an opportunity or are forced to fight, you need to be able to hurt them a little. This build does that. Before today I would have never driven such a thing......but those srm4s are mean now that they fire so quick and with a IS srm 4 range mod level 5 on there, your srms now go out to about 340 meters!.

Edited by Scrotacus 42, 04 November 2014 - 10:15 PM.

[Spheroid]

The Locusts are pretty incredible now. Those small laser buffs bring effective weapon range beyond 200 meters.

[Inveramsay]

The commando was a mech I could never get on with and ended up selling pretty quickly. This was though when ECM just came out and was the best thing since sliced bread. How is the commando to run now with the buffs and nerfs since then? Does it have any reason to buy a set compared to a firestarter which is likely my next mech purchase after getting a third cent to complete the set?

[TercieI]

Inveramsay, on 05 November 2014 - 10:44 AM, said:

The commando was a mech I could never get on with and ended up selling pretty quickly. This was though when ECM just came out and was the best thing since sliced bread. How is the commando to run now with the buffs and nerfs since then? Does it have any reason to buy a set compared to a firestarter which is likely my next mech purchase after getting a third cent to complete the set?

Compared to FS9s? No. COMs are still "light enthusiast specials."

[Mercules]

Pezzer, on 28 October 2014 - 08:48 PM, said:

The difference between a Locust/Commando and Firestarter/Jenner is around 20kph. It sounds like a lot, but when you have JJs and double the firepower/armor you don't really notice the speed difference.

You do notice the speed difference. A Firestarter can keep up with me... if I am dodging and weaving all over the place making him miss shots. I can keep on a Firestarter's back unless he spin-jumps and even then I can duck past him and be shooting him again and he has to hop up and spin again. During his spin-jump he is a stationary target and I dump my lasers into his legs.

[Saiphas Cain]

Sadistic Savior, on 03 November 2014 - 01:29 PM, said:

Last week, I 1-shotted a teammate in the back (I think it was a Cicada) with an AC/20. It was completely by accident. I was aiming for an enemy Atlas and he darted in front of me.

It was actually pretty funny to watch, but I did feel bad. There was nothing I could do to stop it. I had already fired by the time I saw him.

Early on, with the triple AC/5 Ilya Muromets I had a similar situation with a friendly Commando running past me in the front. Granted, I was chain firing so it should have been obvious it was a bad idea, and the commando isn't THAT short. It reminded me of that cartoon where the elves are working on shoes and the one keeps butting his head down on the nail between each hammer blow, until...

On the subject of quirks, the Com-2D got bonuses to SRM 4 rather than the SRM 6 I used but the improvements were good enough for me to downgrade to a CT SRM 4 and add a ton of ammo. I no longer run out of ammo even in protracted fights. I'd still stick with a MPLAS though, the single small laser just has no appreciable kick. The Commando might be considered a light mech enthusiasts mech but with such heavy medium usage lately why not become one? You can get into matches almost instantly. Just last night I killed two Locusts and I forget what else in the span of 3 salvo's with rear shots. They had been focusing on a friendly heavy allowing me to intermix and keep hitting rears until I had opened holes large enough to core them in rapid succession. The biggest draw of the 2D is still the ECM module though. Treat yourself as a team asset until you find an extended front with thinner numbers you can swarm and they're great fun.

On the Locust, the 3M just became exceedingly nasty when stocked up with 5SPL's. 20 damage just under every half second with little appreciable heat buildup. You can really hammer people with it. I daresay the quirks made the humble locust serious business.

[Zelumbras]

From the edit on your OP i assume that you have already decided but i too would vouch for the Commando. It was my first mech to pilot and although the non ecm variants have a very steep learning curve, they are still some of my favourite mechs, especially th TDk which just got even more fun with its ML quirks. Besides the sheer speed and the pretty much unmatched agility on ground as well as the ability to run up nearly vertical slopes, the COM's also have the best arms of all the mechs in the game. With 2x basics they respond nearly instantly so you can aim those lasers exactly where they need to hit - but this takes some practice. The TDK is still my best farming machine because all the spottings, assists, component destructions and kills add up to some nice amounts of CB/XP and the 1st match of the day often yields 4-5k exp. Just don't expect to do more than 800 dmg often unless you pack arty/air strikes or the matches go on for very long. Still, no other mech gives me the feeling of being able to influence a battle as much as my TDK (although closely followed by my Blackjacks ). Whenever you run a Commando just remember this rule: If they know where you are - be somewhere else!

[Rogue Jedi]

I cannot play the locust effectively (I have yet to elite any of my Phoenix pack locusts) I think the problem is the poor visibility afforded by the cockpit combined with the fragility, and have never piloted the Commando.

When I first tried the Spider (back when 1 thread in 3 on the forums seemed to be complaining about its hitboxes) I could not figure it out and died fast every time I used it, after I mastered the Firestarters I returned to the Spider, it has since became my favorite Mech.

With any Light I (if possible) ensure I can survive an AC20 hit to any important component, I learned that the hard way (many 1 hit deaths)

[White Bear 84]

Spheroid, on 05 November 2014 - 08:51 AM, said:

The Locusts are pretty incredible now. Those small laser buffs bring effective weapon range beyond 200 meters.

Yeah, had the random luck of forming a lance of locusts last night - we got around 300 damage each and the first three kills of the match. It all went south when the entire enemy team realised what was happening, converged on us while our team had tea at the tunnel entrance (Crimson Strait) and we got rekt hardcore.

In the end we lost 7-12 but the real victory (for our lance at least) was the fact that a lance of locusts got more damage than the other lances and indivdually we got more damage than any other player.. ..even our direwhales.

We also coined the term 'ninja legging'. (Ironically in homage to Ninja Tom or whatever his name was who was one of our locust brethren.. ..ill have to check the screenie ) It's what happens when you get legged by a bunch of locusts that came out of nowhere.

Edited by White Bear 84, 06 November 2014 - 03:51 PM.

[InspectorG]

The Spider V with the MLP modules is respectable.

I dropped some JJ for a BAP, helps get the xp, xl255 engine. NOT 170kph, but you do fly fast!

Been averaging 2-300 damage with 2mpl.

Mining Collective the the V's home.