15 replies to this topic

[MechLord71]

I am getting a bit bored with my existing mechs and want to try out something different. I was looking to go back to my Clan mechs for awhile and was hoping to get some advice on which chassis to purchase.

Overall, I would like a nimble fighter that can go in, cause some havoc and then is fast enough to escape. It would be nice if it could take some damage, but obviously do not expect this to tank. I consider this a mid range skirmisher (my nomenclature may not be correct). ECM and jump jet capability is a plus but not a requirement. I was considering the following mechs:

Shadowcat

Ice Ferret

Arctic Cheetah



Thanks!

[TimePeriod]

Shadow Cat is slowish, has very few hardpoints and is a very easy target to deal with.
Ice Ferret is a fridge on legs, has even fewer hardpoints and an overcapped engine, no JJ's to help it off the ground. Terrible mech.
Mist Lynx is - ugh.
Kitfox/adder - ugh.

The cheeseta and the Crow is the only two real contenders here. The rest of them is just garbage, has major drawbacks or other 'features' rendering them - Ugh.

As for the Jenner II, its super glass cannon.

[ImperialKnight]

Stormcrow
Arctic Cheetah
Jenner IIC (plays like a Jenner on steroids, just watch the heat)

[MechLord71]

Thanks guys. Have the Crow since the first day. Just got the cheetah. Very fun. Thanks!

[Mad Dog Morgan]

The Ice Box can perform quite well when played to its strengths. Have had a few matches where I'd done nearly 900 damage in the stupid things. They're hilarious.

Novas, when piloted as an ambusher are quite capable of melting enemy components faster than you'd expect, as well. Don't knock it until you've used 12 er smalls, 6 in each fist.

[Silverpain]

I could climb to the rooftops and shout it out to whole world STORMCROW.
Once you taste a clanner, there´s no turning back.
This baby kills everything that moves.
Medium with survability of heavy with similar or eaven better weapon loadout with 98km/h is godly playing experience.

[Mole]

The Shadowcat is not what you are looking for. I do okayish in mine with two large pulse lasers and an ER Medium laser but it ain't great. Just too starved for harpoints. The Ice Ferret, I enjoyed immensely. I loaded mine up with 5 ER Medium Lasers and played it the same way I played my beloved 6 Medium Laser Cicada. I did great in it. The Ice Ferret fits the bill of your "mid-range skirmisher" the best in my opinion. If you're wanting to run in and get up close and personal though the Arctic Cheetah simply can't be beat at the moment. I run mine with 6 Small Pulse Lasers. I've seen some people do resonably well in builds that incorporate ER Medium Lasers but the 6 Small Pulse Laser build is just a nasty thing to have chewing on your backside or to have running circles around you. It also has the ECM and the Jumpjets that you are after, while the Ice Ferret does not. Good luck out there.

[Mercworks]

I would certainly agree with the Stormcrow and the Arctic Cheetah. I like the Shadowcat. The double Large Pulse version is the best.

[Lupis Volk]

Vaskadar, on 21 February 2016 - 09:27 AM, said:

The Ice Box can perform quite well when played to its strengths. Have had a few matches where I'd done nearly 900 damage in the stupid things. They're hilarious.

what are it's strengths?

[Moldur]

Stormcrow is a tiny god disguised as a mech. Some might say it's boring, yada yada, but hey. It's fun being good at killing stuff, plus nobody is forcing you to make boring builds with it. It can outfit a pretty diverse range of loadouts with all of its omnipods in consideration.

Arctic Cheetah.

Shadowcat is not impossible, but I find it stressful to play in, since you really have to be pulling levers, watching masc, heat, ecm, etc. to take full advantage of it. Again, I've actually done pretty well in it most games, it's just a lot of work.

[DonGardenio]

Jenner IIC. Being not an omni, you need some investment to make it work. The XL315 it comes with is unnecessary, so you will want to bring it down to a 295 or 300. It also comes with almost no armour, so use some of that freed up tonnage to max out the armour short of a few points so you don't got some weird 0.2 tons or so left floating about.

IIC for SRM boating. IIC-A for laser boating. IIC-3 for doing both.

My favoured model is the IIC-3. My favoured build is 4SPLs, 2SRM6s with 3 tons of ammo and XL295. Near max armour, can't remember if I added extra DHS. Might be better with 2SRM4 and more DHS, but I like my raw point blank power.

My go to laser build is 4MPLs on an XL300, which both the A and 3 can run, which is why I lean to the 3.

I SRM boat with 6SRM4s. Its fun but I like the consistency of lasers, especially vs other lights. Running out of ammo also makes me sad.

It is a potential 48 damage alpha at 140+kph. No ECM but you got some serious speed and jets. People love to focus it and it can't take much of a beating, but when you learn to read the tide of battle and find your windows of opportunity, you will be performing ****** exams on so many Assaults that you lose count. It will also absolutely **** up any Locusts and Ravens who think they are hot ****.

The Arctic Cheetah has ECM and better hitboxes but it doesn't run as fast nor does it bite as hard.

Kitfox is a light pretending to be a medium. You can tell yourself that your AMS matters but seriously, bugger that. Don't got the durability of a medium nor the speed of a light.

[Tordin]

Try anything other than Stormcrows and Arctic Cheetas to be against the tide of "way too common sight, way to boring". I you want to stick out? Ill go for Ullers (Kit Foxes) and Shadow Cats. Yeah they have their downsides but I have had success in them. A tip, use long range weapons, like alot. And theres the Blackhawk/ Nova. Can boat an crazy amount of energy weapons like medium and small lasers. Not bad with ballistics either.

Oh and before I forget. Shadow Cat P variant with 7 machine guns and a crapload of ammo. Is any hurt mechs WORST nightmare. Got 3-4 kills that way (a few kill steals ), it was freaking glorious!

Edited by Tordin, 14 April 2016 - 10:26 AM.

[Dee Eight]

Kitfoxes have 16 tons of pod space, which is the most of any omnimechs smaller than a stormcrow, and ECM and JJ options. Few energy hardpoints but lots of ballistic and missile choices. My former death blossom build had a pair of MGs and JJ side torsos, and arms for quad SRM6s. Two well placed volleys were generally enough to kill most mechs, both by outright coring the structure away or ripping all the armor off and letting the MGs crit things. I have three currently. All employ the -C variant right arm with ECM. Gatchaman has the triple AMS, ERLL, 2xERSL, 2xMG, Active Probe, 2xJJ. Goldroak has active probe, TCOMP-1, 2xERLL, SPL, 2xMG, 4xJJ. Harlock has 2xERML, 4xMG, 2xSRM6-Artemis, 2xJJ, TCOMP-1 and 1 more heatsink.

[Mad Dog Morgan]

Lupis Volk, on 25 February 2016 - 07:04 PM, said:

what are it's strengths?

Sheer stupid speed and maneuverability.

[Fox With A Shotgun]

I like my Kit Fox. ASRM6x4, with 6 tons ammo and an extra DHS to shed all the excess heat.

Nobody thinks you're a threat. Nobody. And then you pull off a Spanish Inquisition on their backsides when you ram rapid-fire, high-accuracy SRM6x4 volleys up their rear CTs. It's like this mech has a permanent anti-taunt on. Maybe because it's so cute, nobody takes it seriously.

[ImperialKnight]

ACH
SCR
HBK-IIC