22 replies to this topic

[Malakith Alamahdi]

Heya dear pilots!

I was wondering which heavy mech is good to start with. So far i've only played medium mechs but i would like to give the heavy ones a try. The problem is, i don't know which one is nice to have/ to start with. One little sidenote, i'm not a big fan of guided missiles, so if it's possible i would like to avoid those. Any laser or balistic weapon (or inguided missiles for shorter range) will be good for me.

Please let me know your thoughts, i'm eager to learn and try out stuff!

[VirtualSmitty]

The Thunderbolt is a n excellent first heavy for laser builds and The Jagermech is great for ballistic builds. The Orion for when you want hard mode. If you don't mind spending real money, the Marauder is ,in my opinion, the best IS heavy out there. Tanky and can run a good variety of builds.

[Marcel Bekker]

Malakith Alamahdi, on 24 January 2016 - 07:24 AM, said:

Heya dear pilots!

I was wondering which heavy mech is good to start with. So far i've only played medium mechs but i would like to give the heavy ones a try. The problem is, i don't know which one is nice to have/ to start with. One little sidenote, i'm not a big fan of guided missiles, so if it's possible i would like to avoid those. Any laser or balistic weapon (or inguided missiles for shorter range) will be good for me.

Please let me know your thoughts, i'm eager to learn and try out stuff!

Clan or IS? Do you want a heavy that resembles your medium playstyle, to ease you into it, or do you want a full on heavy slugger?

[martian]

Malakith Alamahdi, on 24 January 2016 - 07:24 AM, said:

Heya dear pilots!

I was wondering which heavy mech is good to start with. So far i've only played medium mechs but i would like to give the heavy ones a try. The problem is, i don't know which one is nice to have/ to start with. One little sidenote, i'm not a big fan of guided missiles, so if it's possible i would like to avoid those. Any laser or balistic weapon (or inguided missiles for shorter range) will be good for me.

Please let me know your thoughts, i'm eager to learn and try out stuff!

The Timber Wolf.

[ice trey]

The Cataphract and Jagermech are popular choices for Davion. I'm not sure how the Black Knight plays, but it could be something worth looking into. As others have said, the Thunderbolt is also a very popular choice for the inner sphere due to broken laser quirks. They all have missile tubes, but you can just remove missiles for more lasers and ballistics.

Keep your ear to the ground for Riflemen, though. They'll be coming out shortly. I think you can still throw $20 at PGI for a set of them. Skip the "Collectors" version if you want to spend more, and just go for the hero mech add on with the basic set. the extra mech you get with the Collectors version is just a redundant 'mech with a C-bill boost.

[Malakith Alamahdi]

Marcel Bekker, on 24 January 2016 - 07:41 AM, said:

Clan or IS? Do you want a heavy that resembles your medium playstyle, to ease you into it, or do you want a full on heavy slugger?

I'm okay with either. I'm a fast learner. Just the one that can be effective on the battlefield. If it's faster i want it to be good for flanking. If it's slow i want a good tank to head on toast people!

[Malakith Alamahdi]

The Timber Wolf TBR-A, Thunderbold TDR-9S, Cataphract CTF-1X and Jagermech JM6-DD seem pretty good. The Cataphract is in sale now even, 3,8 mil for one seems like a good deal. Or is it better to save up as lottle more for one of the others? I currently have 8 mil to spend. But i can farm some more, i get roughly 1-2 mil an hour if luck is a little on my side.

[Marcel Bekker]

Malakith Alamahdi, on 24 January 2016 - 08:15 AM, said:

I'm okay with either. I'm a fast learner. Just the one that can be effective on the battlefield. If it's faster i want it to be good for flanking. If it's slow i want a good tank to head on toast people!

As others have said, the Clan Timberwolf can fill both these roles. I would suggest the D, or the S if you like jump jets. It is however often focused down because everyone and their mother knows them as dangerous and, from earlier, "OP"(blergh, this description)...

The Clan Ebon Jaguar is similar, but not as survivable when under fire, but lower profile and with more usable high mounted weapons.

Keep in mind that these are omnimechs... so you can mix and match their pods to your liking and are not forced into one hardpoint layout.

For IS mechs, I can not give you any practical advice, because I only play Clan Mechs. From what I have observed fighting against them though, the Grasshopper(on the faster side, slim but tall) or Black Knight(on the tougher side) would fit what you want. As would the Marauder(tough if you keep facing your enemy... goes down easily if fired at from the side.).

Edited by Marcel Bekker, 24 January 2016 - 08:44 AM.

[Shura1986]

Malakith Alamahdi, on 24 January 2016 - 08:15 AM, said:

I'm okay with either. I'm a fast learner. Just the one that can be effective on the battlefield. If it's faster i want it to be good for flanking. If it's slow i want a good tank to head on toast people!

Hello i recomend the hellbringer have ecm ,move fast and have a lot of options, 2uac5+4meds , 1gauss+4meds, 2lpl+3meds,
6mpl, and more...

[DrRedCoat]

All the suggestions so far are good. There are a lot of good heavy mechs in this game. My two personal favorites are the Black Knight and the Cataphract. The Black Knight packs a lot of laser power running at a decent clip with a good ability to distribute damage. The Cataphract (I prefer the 4x) is a good ballistic mech but is slow and kind of a glass cannon. For best results, let something beefier take the fire for you.

[Phra]

Thunderbolts are still the best IS heavies.

But if you looking for the single best IS heavy, that has to be the BL-6-KNT / 7L.

Best clan heavy is prolly still the T-wolf, altho I prefer the EBJs for now.

Edited by Phra, 30 January 2016 - 12:53 AM.

[Moldur]

Thunderbolt, or maybe Quickdraws.

Quickdraws might be subject to change more than the T-bolts though.

[Phra]

Russ just said that they gonna nerf all 10%+ range quirks, so yea, T-bolt > Q-draw.

65t is the perfect spot for CW as well.

Edited by Phra, 30 January 2016 - 03:13 AM.

[DavidStarr]

Precentor Martial Jarcaddy, on 24 January 2016 - 07:28 AM, said:

The Thunderbolt is a n excellent first heavy for laser builds

I'm a very new player, and I absolutely can't make Thunderbolt work. On the contrary, I have good success with the trial Ebon Jaguar, Catapult A1 and Timber Wolf. Just my 2 cents.

[VirtualSmitty]

DavidStarr, on 08 February 2016 - 02:40 AM, said:

I'm a very new player, and I absolutely can't make Thunderbolt work. On the contrary, I have good success with the trial Ebon Jaguar, Catapult A1 and Timber Wolf. Just my 2 cents.

Keep at it, the t-bolt is and has been one of the better IS heavies in the game for quite some time.

[invernomuto]

I do not know if they're the best for starting the game, but I'm also a novice and I bought the Cataphract CTF-1X as my starting mech and later the CTF-3D and they're very fun to play.

[Bud Crue]

If new to Heavies, I agree with those saying that for IS, the Thunderbolt is the way to go. Runs a std engine fine. Multiple variants with different quirks in each allows for ability to try different builds/styles of play. Variant with JJ allows you to retain some upward mobility and experiment there as well. Mech is tanky and forgiving.

Cataphract shares many of the benefits mentioned above. Biggest drawback here though is the gorilla arms. This is not an inconsequential draw back. Moreover I have never felt that the Cataphract tanks as well as a T-bolt. Good mech but unless the ECM variant is really important to you, the T-bolt is more new player friendly.

Black Knight, is an excellent mech as well. I don't call it new player friendly only because the XL variants will cost you a ton to build out properly and if you do go that route, torso twisting and timed alpha striking are two skills you will really need to have perfected. If you have these skills, then yes the BK rocks. If you are learning them with the build you will get frustrated pretty fast.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

Jager is GREAT mech for ballistics builds. Good ballistic quirks and very very high weapon mounts on the arms.
Not super tanky though, so they generally fit the fire support role better.

If you are not afraid to throw down a little cash, both the Marauder and Warhammer packs are very good. I feel the Marauder is slightly better and more versatile of the two, but the Warhammer (with the right build) is just as viable.

For clan mechs, Timber Wolf (IMO) is the pound for pound king. You can build one to do almost anything, and do it well. EBJ is pretty similar with a few trade offs. Hellbringer w/ ECM should not be overlooked. Fairly versatile as well, but best used in ways that take full advantage of ECM coverage.

[IraqiWalker]

One thing to keep in mind:CW. If you play CW, or want to play CW, you can't use IS mechs when playing as a clan pilot, or clan mech as an IS pilot.

[mogs01gt]

Malakith Alamahdi, on 24 January 2016 - 07:24 AM, said:

Heya dear pilots!
I was wondering which heavy mech is good to start with. So far i've only played medium mechs but i would like to give the heavy ones a try. The problem is, i don't know which one is nice to have/ to start with. One little sidenote, i'm not a big fan of guided missiles, so if it's possible i would like to avoid those. Any laser or balistic weapon (or inguided missiles for shorter range) will be good for me.
Please let me know your thoughts, i'm eager to learn and try out stuff!

Well first, how many Cbills do you want to spend? Clan heavies are pretty hard to beat.

To start off with, Phracts, Tbolts and Jagers good starter heavy mechs. Orions, Dragons, QDs or under performing mechs, aka "hardmode".

DavidStarr, on 08 February 2016 - 02:40 AM, said:

I'm a very new player, and I absolutely can't make Thunderbolt work. On the contrary, I have good success with the trial Ebon Jaguar, Catapult A1 and Timber Wolf. Just my 2 cents.

Tturds are pretty ****** mechs and you have to build to their quirks. Once elited, their ability to pop up on a hill-hump is hard to beat which is why they are great in CW. Without quirks though, Bolts are someone of the worst mechs in the game. They typically run way to hot.

IMO, Clan heavies are better as a whole than IS but are WAY more expensive.

Edited by mogs01gt, 11 February 2016 - 05:31 AM.