Can Someone Explain Clan Mediums
#1
Posted 29 December 2015 - 07:22 PM
The ice ferret, seams like it is sorta the cicada of the clan world.. a bit of energy, with some SRM builds maybe? I dunno, with out torso hard points, it seams like you could just break off its arms and leave it? (yes i saw the one torso missile launcher) But still.. yikes!
the shadow cat i am not sure, it is fast, But load outs look slim, is it more of a high damage weapon alpha mech? It is 45 tons, so it can't hold a lot, But has a ton of ballistic Hard points, but that stuff is heavy.. So i am really baffled by the whole thing. Is it just a gauss machine? it seems like that is what i see most using it for. Only 2 energy had points, would you use ERLL's? maybe a fat adder with ERPPC's? I am confused. this one is very different than the old shadow cat i am used too. Maybe because there are already enough energy boats clan side?
Stormcrow.. Ok.. this really has me puzzled, and i guess the reason why everyone uses it.. Load outs, you can boat just about anything in it.. and the thing is fast as a shadow cat, and even thought it is 5 tons heavier, it is loads faster than the nova .. which runs at the same speed as a timber? I am at the point that after getting the meta timber, do i really want a meta storm crow too? Be one of those dirty clanners i have hated for the last 2+ years???
So back to the nova.. what is up with this mech, It's kinda slow for a medium.. though i guess average for an IS medium.. I do wonder about the hight it can jump, seems like as high as most IS lights outside of spiders. Most timber builds i have been using have only had 3, and i dunno how high that is, as smurfy doesn't list um but does it jump lots higher than the timber? I am really curious about how it gets around. It also looks like it has insane alpha's but run really hot, Or run a bit cooler, and have mega DPS.
I really was leaning towards this,, But the speed of a timber, i dunno, i was kinda wanting a faster medium, but i do want JJ's.. So really what i am getting at.. can i get a little low down on the clan mediums.. and can anyone sell me on why i should get the nova over the Meta-Crow?
#2
Posted 29 December 2015 - 07:37 PM
The Nova is mediocre at best. It has terrible hitboxes, poor upgrade selection, and is slow. It's forced to invest a lot of very valuable tonnage (see: bad upgrades) into locked JJ's that aren't very helpful.
Quirks help it not be god-awful, but it isn't good either.
There are a couple decent ice fridge builds, but its definitely not a very good Clan Mech either. Has its role in specialist CW tactics though, given speed+JJ's.
The Stormcrow is excellent, of course, the only really good option.
The HBK-IIC is made of glass. Fun, decent mech, but way too fragile and poorly hitboxed to be a solid contender. Better than the other non-SCR options at least.
The sadcat is the most depressing though, IMHO. With +1-2E, it would be a great machine. Or removable MASC. Or removable JJ.
It's so very close to being a great mech, but instead is terrible.
#3
Posted 29 December 2015 - 07:43 PM
Even if you don't want to go meta, the Stormcrow can do pretty much anything, and well. Ballistics? Missiles? Lasers? Few, heavy energy for ranged play? Many SPL/srm for brawling? The Stormcrow does it all, with excellent hitboxed to boot.
There's really no comparison.
The Nova, on the other hand...well, it can be an acceptable poptart. Better than the SCR at least, as the SCR simply can't.
#4
Posted 29 December 2015 - 09:06 PM
https://vimeo.com/150313748
~Leone.
#5
Posted 29 December 2015 - 10:21 PM
#6
Posted 29 December 2015 - 10:49 PM
My two cents:
Ice Ferret is okayish. This one is fast and can serve as a scout because of its speed and lack of weaponry. Laser builds end up hot or very close ranged. Mixed builds tend to have little ammunition.
The Shadow Cat is quite good if you know what you can do with it. It is jump capable. Imho in MW:O the Shadow Cat is best as a sniper. In CW I play mine with a pair of large pulse lasers and ECM. Position your Mech right and mind the minimap so you do not get surrounded and make use of the Shaow Cats manoeuvrability. You could go with some small pulse lasers / ER meds and (a)SRM/SSRMs and brawl your way with some speed - but I think other Mechs do it better.
The Stormcrow is one of them. Yes, the reason it is everybodys darling is its allround viability. It can do literally anything except jumping. Pure missile boat, pure laser boat, they all work extremely good.
The Nova is the other. As you stated, it is the slowest of the mediums of the Clans. But it can pack a punch. Its speed makes it an ideal partner of all other Clan Mechs equally paced. Take out two lasers from the Prime and replace them with two DHS. You still need not be alphaing your way but this load out is pretty strong. Or replace all lasers with small pulse lasers. Nowadays you could even mix two missile slots in there (with the Nova-D right arm hardpoint):
NVA-PRIME
Did I mention that it can jump?
In short: try out the mediums, be it in PTS to save you CBills. I, for my part, do love my Novas at least as much as Leone does. My Clan drop deck has two of them in it permanently.
#7
Posted 30 December 2015 - 02:05 AM
I have been unable to make the Ice Ferret work,
I think the Shadow Cat is pretty good, admittedly not as good as I had expected based on past games but it Jumps high, can take a Gauss and ECM, can do a great machine gun build (6MG and 2LPL) if you get behind someone who is not paying attention you can take it down inside 5 seconds, regardless of what it is.
the Nova is too hot to do what it was designed for, and if you alpha strike in the stock Prime it lives up to its name (fires, shuts down, then usualy explodes before powering back up) the Nova is the poster child for problems with MWOs implementation of Omnitech (not that I have a problem with this implementation, it just seriously hurts a few Mechs, most notably Nova, Summoner and Mist Lynx) , Omnimechs cannot change the engine, have fixed equipment and cannot change armor or structure type, so the Nova needs Endo, Fero and the option to remove its Jump Jets to become more competitive, the problem is if those changes were made it would be rather similar to the Stormcrow, also if is much less tanky than the Crow.
Edited by Rogue Jedi, 30 December 2015 - 02:11 AM.
#8
Posted 30 December 2015 - 05:17 AM
I don't know the Nova very well. That said, they've been impressive whenever I've seen them under red doritos. Boating a crapload of ERSLs or SPLs will make it monstrous up close. It CAN poptart, too, I think. Haven't driven one yet (have the loyalty one around here somewhere), but I hear it's got TRAGIC ST hit boxes.
SCR is just stellar. That is, as long as you're not hooked on JJs or boating ballistics.
#9
Posted 30 December 2015 - 05:57 AM
#10
Posted 30 December 2015 - 06:04 AM
T Decker, on 30 December 2015 - 05:57 AM, said:
My LPL SHC has the -P LA and all three MGs. I prefer to keep the ECM, but I imagine you could run the twin LPL and 6x MG, as long as you don't need TOO much ammo. The MGs, nerfed as they are, are still fairly nasty in large numbers...
#11
Posted 30 December 2015 - 07:06 AM
#12
Posted 30 December 2015 - 08:06 AM
I wouldn't use it for poptarting. The weapons are too low, so you would have to expose your entire torso to shoot over a building or ridge. With the cruddy hitboxes, that is asking to get mauled.
The Nova is a finicky mech, but I love it. The JJs are especially good on maps like Alpine, where it lets you get a preposterously over-gunned medium up slopes that the enemy expects are only navigable by lights.
#13
Posted 30 December 2015 - 08:09 AM
Shadow Cat - Either stealth sniper or sneaky striker. Add 2-3 ranged weapons and move about with ECM cover to find spots to shoot people at long range. Load up 2-3 Energy and 2-3 SRMs then like the Ferret dash in for an Alpha then flee to strike again. A few have tried 1-2 LRM launchers. I also did one with 2 ERMLs and a Ultra10 but with limited ammo, you have to make the AC shots count, still good though.
Nova - More of a Fun Mech than serious. Most builds focus on Energy weapons, very few Missile mounts available, Ballistics are limited by space due to locked DHS.
Stormcrow - Popular due to weight, speed and weapons it can mount. Not as fast as the Shadow Cat MASC or not.
Not many Ballistic options at the Medium weight until the Hunchback IIC comes out for CB.
What do you want this for, just Quick Play or are you aiming for a CW drop Deck?
#14
Posted 30 December 2015 - 08:30 AM
Wildstreak, on 30 December 2015 - 08:09 AM, said:
Stormcrow - Popular due to weight, speed and weapons it can mount. Not as fast as the Shadow Cat MASC or not.
Minor correction: Without MASC, the SHC and SCR do EXACTLY the same speed (97.2 km/h before Speed Tweak). SHC, though, also has MASC and six JJs, so it is more mobile.
I'm not sure of the movement archetypes, but I SUSPECT the SHC to be a smaller one than the SCR, and therefore more mobile. Feels that way. The SHC FEELS quicker, if not outright FASTER, than the SCR, if only a little.
#15
Posted 30 December 2015 - 08:46 AM
#16
Posted 30 December 2015 - 10:21 AM
I do just like to have pug fun for the most part.. but i am at the point that i think CW is in my near future.. I dabble with it on IS side over the last year, My drop deck IS side a Cicada 3m, Wolverine, or other medium, TDR-5SS, and Misery. All mechs i play well in, and my CW drops vary as i've only run pug drops, so we all know how that goes.
But that is sorta why i went clan only account, the way the CW is, i wanted it separate as i don't know what i will do when i get rolling if ever in it. And the way the game is, you can only play one mech, so really it doesn't matter if you have 1 account or 10.. it's all the same once ya get your unlocks.. Which honestly are going much faster on this account. Already have full seismic, and half way to info gathering, and all i've done is play 3 timbers to master.
But i really want a medium, and really wanted the nova.. But the darn Meta-crow just seems so flexible that i could do anything in it.. I know the Nova's will need all 3 to unlock to really run right, but the crow i'd bet is more like the timber.. and can run nicely before elites.
So yea, play for fun, CW down the road i suppose.. You all helped a lot.. But at the same time, i'm still stuck.. It kinda just makes me want to get a ton more mechs.. you know like IS side, so i can rarely play most of um
#17
Posted 30 December 2015 - 05:12 PM
However, there's one thing the Blackhawk has always been better at.
Being an awesome Nova! Pew Pew, Dakka-dakka-dakka, Pew Pew.
~Leone.
#18
Posted 30 December 2015 - 05:51 PM
TheRAbbi, on 30 December 2015 - 08:30 AM, said:
I'm not sure of the movement archetypes, but I SUSPECT the SHC to be a smaller one than the SCR, and therefore more mobile. Feels that way. The SHC FEELS quicker, if not outright FASTER, than the SCR, if only a little.
Huh, never noticed but I don't have Crows, I just thought they were the same 81/87 as some other Mechs.
Ryokens leap, on 30 December 2015 - 08:46 AM, said:
Yeah but for CW, you need the 3MPL one, I also use 2 ASMR6 and make sure the shots count. This way when the SRMs run out or in certain times, I have 3MPL to shoot mid-range with.
Of my 3 Nova builds, I would only ever consider using the 4ERML/4SPL one in CW, I just don't because the Scats and now the Hunch IIC A does so much better, I even used the Hunch IIC A without any Elites unlocked, it is beautiful.
#19
Posted 30 December 2015 - 05:53 PM
Leone, on 30 December 2015 - 05:12 PM, said:
However, there's one thing the Blackhawk has always been better at.
Being an awesome Nova! Pew Pew, Dakka-dakka-dakka, Pew Pew.
~Leone.
That's my favorit Nova build as well, UAC10 with 6x ERSL, that is a mean little mech.
#20
Posted 30 December 2015 - 11:34 PM
Edited by Vlad Striker, 30 December 2015 - 11:35 PM.
1 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users