54 replies to this topic

[John1352]

I'm not exactly new, but I don't know where this is supposed to go, so it is here.

I'm looking to buy a 169/171 km/h mech, but am having trouble choosing between the three options. I'd rather only buy one new XL engine for this, and I have a 280 already. Are there any big pros/cons that I'm missing or have wrong?

Locust:
Pros:

Tiny target

High hardpoints (I like Jenner for this reason)

Lots of hardpoints (5/6E)

Only need 1 190XL

Cons:

Really low armor, especially on the legs

Only 7 engine heatsinks, lower heat efficiency

Cockpit obstructs view a lot

Very limited tonnage for missile variants

No jumpjets

Commando:
Pros:

Cockpit seems nice, good view

Goes a little bit faster than the others

Has enough tonnage for weapons

Cons:

Need a 240XL and a 210XL

ECM variant is slow

Hardpoints are low (i think?)

Too few energy hardpoints

No jumpjets

Spider:
Pros:

Good armor for it's size, hard to kill

Plenty of tonnage for weapons

Lots of jumpjets

Cons:

Need a 255XL (I'll use my 280 on the other ones, but won't get max speed)

ECM variant is slow

Hardpoints are low

Not enough hardpoints

Cockpit could be better

Anyone have recommendations on which I should get?

EDIT: The quirks on the test server have been posted here: https://docs.google....&pli=1&sle=true

They are interesting, if anything the commando looks a bit better considering the quirks, as they aren't for small lasers like the energy locust's. I'm still quite undecided though.

----------------------------------

So I did a bit of a tally of people's recommendations, and found that the Commando was the most popular by far. Looking at some videos, the cockpit also seems really nice, basically a whole clear screen. I'm going to give them a shot starting with the 1B, which I plan to put 1 LL and 2 ML on, to suit the quirks.

Edited by John1352, 05 November 2014 - 05:43 AM.

[TercieI]

The best Commando goes 170.

The best Spider only goes 150.

The best Locust is still a Locust.

As long as you're willing to shell out $ for something, I'd say COM and get a TDK if what you want is 170kph. If you want the best mech of the three, it's probably the SDR-5D, but it only goes 150.

[John1352]

I'm not willing to spend money on mechs, mechbays cost enough for me. Would this be a decent alternative to TDK? COM-1B

Also, is the commando's cockpit good enough to count as an advantage over the other two?

[salkeee]

John1352, on 28 October 2014 - 07:27 PM, said:

I'm not willing to spend money on mechs, mechbays cost enough for me. Would this be a decent alternative to TDK? COM-1B

Also, is the commando's cockpit good enough to count as an advantage over the other two?

Not sure about spider I have 1 locust and 3 comandos and Locust have great cockpit its easy to spot uav even if its right above U.And looking left and right(with CTRL) without torso turning U can see more than stalkers(all but 3F) when they torso move.
Comando have prety limited cocpit viev but nothing too harsh.Well it sucks if U want to compare it to Locust that is sure.

Puting max XLengine on a comando or in a locust with equiped HeatSinks and max armor Commando have 0.25 tons more for weapons so no big diference but commando is also faster few KPH not big diference either.But in armor diference is huge Locust really dies fast Comando feels so so much more durable.I was able to solo from 100% to kill few Timberwolfs well only few times other times well most times I died I liked that chalenge I did it with com 2d

IDK really about spiders never piloted tham somwhere I readed that Comando beats Spider in 1on1 my own experience is 50/50 but my experience is not of a pro light pilot.

Out of 2 that I piloted I would really really recomend U Comando unless U want to play this game on higher dificulty than Locust is best hands down it is higest dificulty level U can put in this game.

But than do not forget JJs that spiders have it is big advantage becouze without JJs U will have a lot of fails untill U learn every biger stone on maps.

[TercieI]

John1352, on 28 October 2014 - 07:27 PM, said:

I'm not willing to spend money on mechs, mechbays cost enough for me. Would this be a decent alternative to TDK? COM-1B

Also, is the commando's cockpit good enough to count as an advantage over the other two?

Not bad, but TDK is far and away better with 4ML, IMO. If you're not willing to spend $, I'm not sure I'd bother with Commandos (and I like them).

Do you have other lights mastered? If not, you'll have a tough grind in the SDR-5V if you go Spiders. Locusts...are what they are.

[John1352]

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?

[Pezzer]

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

Maybe the drawbacks of being that fast outweigh the benefits?

They honestly do. The size difference between a 35 ton mech and a 25 ton mech is minimal, which is sad. While the Commando/Locust are faster, they are much less durable and have little room for weapons. 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.

If you're a Light pilot that wants to be competent on the battlefield and have ECM, pick the Spider. If you want firepower choose the Jenner or Firestarter. If you wanna poke around at long range, choose the Raven. If you would like a fun challenge, pick the Commando or Locust. While they are fun mechs, the Commando and Locust are definitely outclassed atm. in CW that may be another story, because saving 10 tons in the Light category may bump you up to an Atlas or Cataphract. Until tonnage matters, all that a 20-25 ton player is doing is practicing their art.

Long story short, if you wanna make C-Bills then I would go with a 30 or 35 ton mech.

Edited by Pezzer, 28 October 2014 - 08:49 PM.

[Fuggles]

well lets just see how the quirk pass goes on these mechs.

from what your asking, the commando is the best choice, it has 3 variants that can go 170 with the same engine, none of them however are the best variants of the chassis. less hardpoints than the locust however.

the spider V and K can be a tad on the painfull side to level. really the D is by far the best and 150 is plenty fast enough.

the locust would be the hands down winner on paper, it will feel the most like a jenner for sure. its still hardmode to actually play one even comared to the other t4/t5 light mechs.

[DrRedCoat]

As others have said, TDK is a great mech and is my personal favorite Commando. My favorite free Commando is the 2D. It only goes ~150 after speed tweak. Using a max engine, max armor, and ECM doesn't leave much room for weapons. I have 3 SRM2s and a medium laser. The fast recycle time on the SRMs means you can get a couple volleys off before assaults will turn around.

I've never been interested in spiders but my Locust 1V has the four machine guns and a mpl. It's a fun little harasser at top speed but you'll have a lot of matches that you'll just tank and die. The Locust 1E has great potential. Mine has 6 spl. While your range is short, your speed is great and your alpha strike is over 20. It's a great mech to blast out Atlas and Daishi backs. I've gotten up to 6 kills and 600 damage in it so don't write the Locust off completely.

[John1352]

The quirks might have just eliminated locusts from the discussion, small laser bonuses really don't interest me, same with SPL ones. Hopefully it is changed to full bonus for everything or medium lasers.

Edit: With all the speedy commandos at tier 5, they could be quite solid options if the quirks are focused on good weapons. We will have to see.

Edited by John1352, 28 October 2014 - 10:56 PM.

[SnagaDance]

John1352, on 28 October 2014 - 06:59 PM, said:

Locust:

Cons:

Only 7 engine heatsinks, lower heat efficiency

You've already been playing so you probably know this already, but all mech require 10 heatsinks minimum. Which in the case of small engines means that you must use your 'free' tonnage to bring up the difference between what the engine contains and the minimum 10 HS. So for the Locust it's not really a matter of heat efficiency, but reduced tonnage as you basically have 3 whole tons hardwired for HS use.

[Golrar]

I got the Locust with the Phoenix pack, and I sold the two regulars. Only reason I have the (p) variant is it won't let me sell it. I think the Locusts are terrible and are outclassed by any other light currently in the game. No matter what you do, without a class role or like it has been said lance tonnage limits, its only real benefit is to learn to dodge ballistics and circle Atlai.

I had fun leveling my Commandos, but the lack of JJ made me give them up after eliting them. The ECM on the 2D was nice, but it wasn't as beneficial as it is for other ECM capable mechs in my opinion.

I LOVE my Spiders. I really only run the 5D nowadays, but it is far and away the best light for me. 148Kph with tweak and full jump jets. Nothing that goes 170 can catch me because they can't jump. Plus anything that goes 170 I wouldn't run from anyway. Usually run a med pulse in the chest and two med in the arm with two weapon groups. I shoot till the heat gets bad then jump out, circle, rinse and repeat.

If you really want fun, run a JR7-F with 6 SPLs on chain fire, 2 lasers at a time. You can run around and chew the ankles off anything slow and they will never hit you. Near continuous firing. Think it takes like 3 minutes to overheat.

But 170Kph is not the end all of light mechs. Usually 145-150 is enough.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Go with Commando or go with a different chassis all together such as a Raven or Cicada. Not as fast, but really I don't think there's a difference between 150 kph or 170 kph. And you can manage the differences from 120 kph to 150 kph.

[Brizna]

Locust cockpit is terrible, it is definitely a drawback. CMD and SDR's cockpits are both good.

In terms of firepower surprisingly the energy boating locusts win commandos and spiders.

Size is better for the locust, but as other have said it is a marginal difference

Locust has an special weakness in the armor and structure, it is very weak compared to commando, more than the 5 tons difference should mean.

CMD and SDR have real arms, this helps with precission strikes at fast speed, you can also lose them easier than in locust wich is a two edged sword: on one side you can lose weapons, on the other side they act as shields making SDR and CMD more durable than LCT (add that to previous point)

Speed is the same for LCT and CMD, 1.x kph isn't noticeable, spider is SLOWER.

Edited by Brizna, 29 October 2014 - 01:36 AM.

[Tim East]

Terciel1976, on 28 October 2014 - 07:07 PM, said:

The best Locust is still a Locust.

And yet I love them. Won a duel with a Cicada on Caustic yesterday. Made me very happy as mediums usually kill me.

TDK is probably your best bet though. It has a little bit of speed advantage, a lot of tonnage advantage even though 5t doesn't seem like a lot, and fully articulate arms. It's probably the only hero mech I'm going to get in the short term. Unless they make a Locust hero.

[dragnier1]

Spiders and mgs do work, if everything goes well. I once owned the battlefield running the trial spider. Most ppl stopped to shoot me, which made them easy pickings for all.

Edited by dragnier1, 29 October 2014 - 03:50 AM.

[John1352]

Lots of good advice here, thanks. I was really leaning towards locust before this, but I had the expectation that it's smaller size would give it durability compared to commandos, it seems the reality is different. With all the things people have said about commandos, they're now in my sights, although I won't be getting a death's knell, so I would have to make do with the other variants. I guess it will come down to quirks.

There really isn't much choice other than energy weapon bonuses on the tier 5 Com-1B, so that should be a pretty strong mech. (unless it gets a PPC/LRM bonus or something) http://mwomercs.com/...tober-road-map/

[Lucky Noob]

Okay, i woud recomend the Comando.

He has the fasterst Turn rate, and thats at this Speed and real Life Safer.

He has Arm Mounted Weapons, again, at that Speed its hard to keep on target with not fully Arms.

He has Missles, and ... you guess it.. at this Speed Missles are King, you see Enemy... Click -> Missles fly while youre already away again.

[Saiphas Cain]

I would get a Raven-3L, which comes with an XL210 - the largest engine that a COM-2D can run. This way you can see if the 2D is your flavor or not, and is fast enough or not, without shelling out for a separate engine. The Raven 3L can also run ECM, and 2 ERLL's with an XL210 engine so you'll use that engine for at least 2 mechs that way.

The 2D's hardpoints and especially tonnage are severely limited but it runs well with a medium pulse laser, ECM, and single SRM 6. Despite not being the fastest you can easily sneak up on lone heavies and assaults and actually stay behind them as long as there aren't others near.
You can back up maneuver left and right faster than a direwhale can turn to face you even at 150Km/h, as long as there isn't a nearby wall for the whale to scratch it's back on. That center torso's rear armor won't last too long.

[Rogue Jedi]

the Spiders are my favorite Mechs,

the 5D makes a great scout or can provide a useful antiLRM umbrella for the rest of the team thanks to the ECM,

the 5K is the best damage dealer, and can quickly decimate any damaged enemy Mech with 4MGs + a laser,

and the 5V while being far too lightly armed (only has 2 CT laser hard-points) with the 12 Jump Jets is the absolute most fun Mech to pilot in the game (in my opinion) and another great scout as the 12 JJs mean you can go through areas no other Mech can