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Mech Sale? C-Bills?


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#1 CockneyNinja

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Posted 26 June 2015 - 05:14 AM

Hello all,

I remember there being a 30% sale for clan mechs when I started the game, and was wondering if there's going to be anything like that in the near future? Or if it's a regular thing...

I have just saved about 15mil C-Bill, and I am sort of torn between buying a new mech now or just concentrating on saving 30-40mil C-Bill and getting them when they are on sale.

>>

On another point, what would be the recommended heavy for quick (80kph+) flank/brawling roles? I've got Ilya when it was on sale, but have been really struggling to get to grips with it. I am sort of torn between Quickdraw or Dragon, but didn't exactly hear ringing endorsement of these two models...

#2 TercieI

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Posted 26 June 2015 - 05:21 AM

CB sales happen but are very very rare. You can't plan on them but they are a good chance to stock up on mechs when they come along.

#3 John1352

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Posted 26 June 2015 - 05:27 AM

If you want an 80km/h + heavy, go clan. I have no idea when the next c-bill sale will be, so i won't advise you whether to keep saving or buy now.

The Cataphract suffers from really low hardpoints, you really need to play around that if you want to make it work. Instead of looking over a ridge yourself, let the enemy do it. Those gorilla arms can shield you very well when twisted, but the Ilya is most often used with fast firing (AC5) ballistics, which you need to point at the enemy constantly to use.

#4 Redoxin

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Posted 26 June 2015 - 05:29 AM

Drg-1N is really strong because of AC5 quirks.
Else you could think about Hellbringer if you want to go clan.

No point in waiting for CB sales, very rare and maybe not for the mechs you want.

#5 Rogue Jedi

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Posted 26 June 2015 - 05:47 AM

for that sort of role you would probably be better with ether a Clan heavy of a 50/55 ton Medium, for a fast flanker/brawler I really like the Griffin (any) or Hunchback (any except the 4J), both can mount a decent amount of weapons with a standard engine and still go 80+, both also benefit from having the potential for asymmetrical builds, where you pack the majority of weaponry on one side and sacrifice the "shield side" to protect your firepower.

some of the Dragons have great quirks for a medium-long range fire support Mech but I would not recommend trying to brawl it it as all enemy fire almost always seems to hit the CT and I have never tried the Quickdraw so cannot comment on it.

cbill sales happen probably every 4-8 weeks, unfortunately for the free players PGI have to pay wages and to keep the servers running, so need money, hence the sales are mostly focused on bring in more money

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 26 June 2015 - 05:49 AM.


#6 SnagaDance

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Posted 26 June 2015 - 06:48 AM

I've actually bought a bunch of mechbays in last week's sale, specifically to fill these up during an upcoming C-bill sale. I've actually got 9 different mech (variants) on my wish list at the moment and I'm perfectly willing to wait a bit longer for a shot at grabbing them during a sale. I mean, it's not like I've still got to finish Mastering 22 mechs atm right? *cough*

#7 DoctorDetroit

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Posted 26 June 2015 - 07:56 AM

If you have enough mechs right now than save for the next c-bill sale. However if you are still setting up your first few chassis' then you will want to go ahead and make the purchase when you have the c-bills.

#8 ProfessorD

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Posted 26 June 2015 - 10:07 AM

Don't hold your breath waiting for CBill sales. The overwhelming majority of sales for a long time have been on MC values only.

Several folks already correctly recommended going Clan if you want fast heavies (which are a good idea in general). If you go that way, get Timberwolves and Hellbringers. If you strongly prefer to stay with Inner Sphere chassis, my recommendations:

1. Finish mastering your Cataphracts. Get the CTF-3D and CTF-2X. Always finish mastering your chassis; finishing the elite skills drastically boosts your mech's performance in a lot of ways. You should feel a big difference in handling, maneuverability, and heat management.

2. Get Thunderbolts. The TDR-5SS is one of the most heavily quirks variants around, and that Medium Pulse Laser build (the "ThunderWub") is one of the most elegant and effective builds in the game. The TDR-9SE also offers Jump Jets, and Thunderbolts generally offer a nice variety of hardpoints.

3. Get Dragons. The DRG-1N has excellent AC5 quirks that allow you to fire fast and deal QQ inducing levels of damage. And you can move at over 100kph with a big XL engine and speed tweak! Flank hard.

#9 TheCaptainJZ

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Posted 26 June 2015 - 01:36 PM

Sales are frequent, but what exactly will be on sale is fairly random and unpredictable.

#10 Leone

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Posted 26 June 2015 - 02:28 PM

Way I look at it, if you've got a mech of each chassis you like playing with, by all means, save for sales. Might not be a mech sale next even, cuz I hear there's been a module sale before. Who knows when you might want a stash of c-bills on hand.

However, if your not already stocked up on mechs, I'd suggest mastering a chassis in each weight class, so that when you do drop, it can always be in something fun that's in demand so you get matches faster.

Or, if you CW, I'd suggest make sure you have a drop deck you like first.

Save for sales if you can, but they are random, so don't waste an oppourtunity to get more out of your game play waiting for something that could take a month or two. As long as your playing, your always making more C-bills, and half the events that come along are ones anyone can join that might give even more cbills, so it's not like you can't rebuild that 15mil given some time.

Personally, I don't think there'll be a cbill mech sale too soon after a mechbay sale. Just doesn't make too much sense from the companies standpoint. I mean think about it. Mech sale first, everyone fills up mechbays, may spend MC on much needed bays. Mechbay sale after wards so people spend more MC. How does PGI benefit from following up with more cbill mech sales right after? Give it a few months, the player base will normalize, mech bays will fill up. Then we will be ripe for another Mech sale for cbills, because PGI only makes real people money offa mechbays during the cbill portion of mech sales.

~Leone, Raid leader of the Crimson Hand.

Edited by Leone, 26 June 2015 - 02:30 PM.


#11 CockneyNinja

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Posted 27 June 2015 - 04:00 AM

Thanks for all the replies, lads.

I currently have FS9s (Elited), RVN (3L & 4X Elited) & KTO (Mastered) and a lone Ilya in Heavy class. So, there isn't much to do with my current mechs. (Speaking of which, is the extra module slot really worth it? It's a big enough struggle to save C-Bills for new mechs, let alone a module. :huh: )

I think I will go clan and get a T-Wolf now. Do you have any suggestion as to which variants to get first?
And what's the viable build for mid-range peek-laser / brawler build?

@RogueJedi - I already have hunches (4J as well, I confess) and have loved using them. Griffin, I am not so sure, as I would really like to get a grip with some heavy mechs. But I will keep that in mind. (Especially that ECM Griff)

@SnagaDance - Believe I know the feeling! I guess I am trying to fill in the first of many empty Mechbays. :P

@ProfessorD - I think I will put a hold on mastering Cataphracts for a while. I need to get a foothold in Heavy chassis, and don't think Cataphracts will do for a while. As for T-Bolt, they probably will be the first IS Heavy that I will be looking to master. (Well, that or the Dragon)

@Leone - I think I will start mastering Heavy chassis (very very slowly) - starting with this T-Wolf. ;)

#12 Nightshade24

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Posted 27 June 2015 - 04:37 AM

View PostTheCaptainJZ, on 26 June 2015 - 01:36 PM, said:

Sales are frequent, but what exactly will be on sale is fairly random and unpredictable.

unless your a lunatic like me who actually predicted sales accordingly and successfully spent 50 mill c-bills on 100+ mill c-bills of content :ph34r:

#13 Koniving

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Posted 27 June 2015 - 05:03 AM

View PostCockneyNinja, on 26 June 2015 - 05:14 AM, said:

On another point, what would be the recommended heavy for quick (80kph+) flank/brawling roles? I've got Ilya when it was on sale, but have been really struggling to get to grips with it. I am sort of torn between Quickdraw or Dragon, but didn't exactly hear ringing endorsement of these two models...


I had a one on one confrontation against a Dragon in my Illya Muromets just yesterday and almost got killed. My immediate response in chat is "Dragons are getting to be as deadly as they used to be." (In closed beta, a Dragon could ram an Atlas and knock it to the ground; basically meaning they could ram anything and knock them over which made them incredibly dangerous. Carrying only a small laser with a 400 STD engine was totally worth it).

That said the thing to be aware of is that frequently Dragon pilots load themselves down with heavy ballistic weaponry to make maximum use of its quirks. This can lead them to not balancing this setup with adequate energy/missile weapons. At that point, lose the arm, become worthless. Balanced loadouts and non-boating builds are foreign concepts especially among newer to intermediate players. This leads to awful opinions on a challenging but highly effective chassis.

This build is pre-quirks and quite inferior to the current stuff people use for Dragons, yet you'll see it wreck things on here.


Another two matches with the same build.


At the time, the Dragon was more of a 'finisher', a 'kill stealer' or as they prefer to say Kill Secured. In essence though if you need to finish off wounded enemies quickly nothing is more voracious than a Dragon.

Far as Quickdraws, sadly my videos on them are limited. This is the one I have to share.

<.<

For more on them, they are essentially played very similarly to Dragons. You can usually get higher speed out of them due to lighter weaponry (no ballistic hardpoints means no mass tonnage invested in them). You do however need to be fairly proficient with either lasers or missiles. The decent missile pod and tube counts can allow for far more options. For example one Quickdraw I use on larger open maps with a speed in the 100+ kph range (after speed tweak) and a series of LRM-5s fired at the same time (acts like a 6 ton LRM-15 with 3 separate launchers rather than a 7 ton single launcher LRM-15. Mwahaha). The small tube counts makes Artemis near worthless. So instead I focus more on velocity and ammo. I do keep a few pulse lasers on the arms but not the torso. Makes for a great harassment mech.

More typically my other units use PPCs, whether a torso mounted ER PPC with underslung TAG (if I'm gonna fire this thing I'm gonna make sure it isn't gonna stop on an invisible wall. No easier way to counter this than with a TAG) or Large Pulse. If I go with twin PPCs or twin LPL it is usually on the arms to be more flexible. Though before all the speed demons I would use the twins on my chest and have mediums to medium pulses on my arms.

Lastly I sometimes use hunting builds, in which case if I'm hunting assaults/heavies I'll use medium lasers and three SRM-4s. If I'm hunting mediums and lights I'll pack on three Streaks and three medium pulses or twin large pulses with a TAG either way (accelerates Streak locks too as well as tacks on extra income for tagging enemies). On more ECM ridden days trade one streak launcher for a NARC.

Be sure to flesh out your Cataphracts. They'll shine a lot more in this rapid kill environment once they get speed tweak and fast fire.

Edited by Koniving, 27 June 2015 - 05:16 AM.






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