178 replies to this topic

[no one]

So did the bad 'mechs eat Koniving?

The Shadow Cat's a 'Mech I've been at odds with for a long time. The MASC doesn't do as much for it as I'd like and the fact that it offsets your aim makes it less than useless for fleeing battles. The jump-jets can get you to high spots... slowly. Sometimes. Most of the time you brush a wall and stick to it, or slip off the top of whatever you landed on, or clip a ledge and float off up and away from it like a deranged balloon before falling to your leg-crushing death.

I bought one a long time ago, got basics on it and then didn't bother getting another. Recently though I got a second Shadow Cat in the faction loyalty Scouting challenge, so I decided to master one and... bears. Bears everywhere. The Shadow Cat is vapor if you get anywhere near a Kodiak (or most other assaults, let's be fair), the 2 LPL ran too hot for me and the separation of the hard points between arm and shoulder was awkward.

So I glared at the Shadow Cat for a while and noticed something. That shoulder energy hardpoint is actually really well placed. If you're going to be sniping from cover, that's the hardpoint to build around. So I put a CerPPC in it and found you can expose a lot less of yourself using only that one gun, and a single cLPL or erPPC is hot, but manageable.

The arms use the remaining tonnage for the bread and butter mid and close range weapons.

So basically I've made peace with the Shadow Cat by mostly forgetting that it wastes tonnage on float jets and using MASC mostly to re-position between sniping spots.

GREEBO(C)

It's still not my favorite 'Mech, and it's damage output is low enough that it's only going to shine in a drawn-out game, but it's much more manageable.

Edited by no one, 22 May 2016 - 12:55 PM.

[Appogee]

I tried the trial Vindicator out last week.

Its primary weapons seem to fire out of somewhere in the vicinity of its kneecaps.

Much scenery would have been damaged that day ... had MWO any destructible scenery.

[Koniving]

Appogee, on 22 May 2016 - 02:00 PM, said:

I tried the trial Vindicator out last week.

Its primary weapons seem to fire out of somewhere in the vicinity of its kneecaps.

Much scenery would have been damaged that day ... had MWO any destructible scenery.

Remember the vindicator is very tall with low slung arms. The arms are meant to make use of water to speed up cooling.

http://pre10.deviant...ohx-d8dahj9.png

On Android so will have to just provide the link of a screen for now.
Problem is...it's also as tall as the centurion minus the fin.
http://i.makeagif.co...2014/8HJqKB.gif

So yeah. We need deeper water but if you can find really deep water and submerge the arms with the lowest slots filled with Dhs on both arms and side torsos...
Holy. ****.

Try it. (Edit how does autocorrect come up with crime from slots?)

Edited by Koniving, 23 May 2016 - 07:51 AM.

[Koniving]

Anyway I know I'm overdo for some helpful tips and feedback to give. Remodeling a house and extra work to afford it can really eat time. So can Silent Hill (game) binges at the request of the misses.

Will write when I can sit down and really analyze a Tech's issues. Makes for good practice for my hopeful career path.

[Koniving]

no one, on 22 May 2016 - 12:54 PM, said:

So did the bad 'mechs eat Koniving?

The Shadow Cat's a 'Mech I've been at odds with for a long time. The MASC doesn't do as much for it as I'd like and the fact that it offsets your aim makes it less than useless for fleeing battles. The jump-jets can get you to high spots... slowly. Sometimes. Most of the time you brush a wall and stick to it, or slip off the top of whatever you landed on, or clip a ledge and float off up and away from it like a deranged balloon before falling to your leg-crushing death.

I'm still here. Just been busy. Unlike most new player help there is a lot more time investment in analyzing mechs with their issues and workarounds.

I have been using a shadow cat because I saw one of mine had 6 machine guns and I was like..."YES!!!! YES!!!!"

So. First rig was uac/20 and 5 mgs. Did okay. Killed one mech while having a conversation in text with an enemy on the other team, was telling a story when this Hunchback iic appears in front of me. Rat-tat-tat-tat Pow Pow Pow Pow!! Dead. "Don't interrupt a story.". Then treaded along. Face to face with two Kodiaks and a QuickDraw. Oh ****. I engaged masc, jumped and made it on top of a communications dish with only one leg gone and CT critical. There I stood briefly showering 3 mgs down at a Kodiak who couldn't do a thing to me. But this had so many issues. So I leapt, intending to land on him. I missed. He didn't notice. So when my guys pushed I lined up and shot them from behind. Mgs ran out and uac/20 jammed right then.
http://i.imgur.com/VqJHCdv.jpg
Since then changed to uac/10 and 6 mgs with more ammo.
Works much better but very situational. You should treat this more as a ranged harasser though.

[Kimberm1911]

How about the Ice Ferret? I don't think I've seen one on the battlefield since they came out. They appear, on paper, to be absolutely dreadful. Low armor, low speed, massive hit boxes, and the inability to mount even a reasonable amount of firepower makes this mech appear to be terribad. I'd say that would be a good challangr to try and make that work.

[Koniving]

oldradagast, on 14 May 2016 - 08:59 AM, said:

Awesome. No doubt already stated, but as my favorite non-competitive mech, I had to mention it. Poor hitboxes, too big for its tonnage, lacking in high Immediately, and limited in weapon options (no ballistics) and engine cap, the Awesome is anything but Awesome.

That being said, I still like them (but I'm nuts, so there you go! ) and I've seen Koniving do Awesome videos back in the day, so I know he can rock them.

I also nominate the Cicada. 40 tons of oversized, steaming garbage, it packs all the firepower and armor of a light mech into a MUCH larger frame. Great for losing legs and center torsos, with arms that may as well shield nothing, were it not for the ECM variant and the freebie one, nobody would ever play this mech, ever.

I agree it seems oversized. But you may be surprised. This mech does pretty well. You need to do a few things though. High forward armor. Nearly remove cockpit armor. Remember that you cannot brawl and enemies must stay in front. Twist left and right only 20 degrees when fired at. Immediately duck behind buildings or other obstacles. Never should you take firepower for too long.

Once used an awesome to instantly kill a cicada trial in a single blow of four ppcs (ignore ghost heat it is a joke!)

But for how to play one I cannot point out a better example than this match.
https://youtu.be/UyDYAgK9XTk
On the fly switching from reg fire to chainfire in emergencies can do wonders. Edited in battle computer voices also helps tell the story.

[Koniving]

Kimberm1911, on 23 May 2016 - 07:33 AM, said:

How about the Ice Ferret? I don't think I've seen one on the battlefield since they came out. They appear, on paper, to be absolutely dreadful. Low armor, low speed, massive hit boxes, and the inability to mount even a reasonable amount of firepower makes this mech appear to be terribad. I'd say that would be a good challangr to try and make that work.

Funny thing is the ice ferret is one of the fastest mediums in all of battle tech history. Gotta love how developer choices can screw with that, huh?

It is an ugly thing. It is blackjack height but has a little more bulk. From experience I can tell you that you don't need a lot of weapons or even heavy ones to do amazing things. Just good judgement, awareness and timing.

This said, the mech is horrible with a dedicated (one button) load out. You need options for most situations. I find that a few MPLs and an er ppc or LPL works wonders. MPLs can be swapped for SRMS as desired if the big gun is dropped to an ER LL or several ER MLs.

This mech is best played like a commando or locust. Funny enough it's just as fast as a stock locust, too.

[Blind Baku]

Vlad Striker, on 03 May 2016 - 08:45 AM, said:

Also Nova and Panther.

Hrett, on 11 May 2016 - 06:58 AM, said:

I dont have it in front of me right now, but the 10K® Panther from the Resistance pack is by far my best light... ...Obviously, it runs hot as hell and it was painful until I got it double basic, but it is my favorite light by far. Yes, everything is in one arm, but it has a good hitbox and I think I have only lost it twice.

PNT-10k was my favorite for a long time, it may have gotten surpassed by the 9R (4 mpl, 1 SRM 4) With an XL 245-250 they run close over 120, have JJ's (usually 2) and are more agile than many other lights because the combination of quirks, (9r and 8z have them), JJ's and weapon flexibility. Having your primary weapon on a fully articulated arm allows you to take impossible snap shots, or shoot the UAV your team is ignoring because PUGs.

Maybe I am just one of those few who gets them, but I think the PNT has a bad reputation because it looks like it suffers irredeemable from speed and low, limited mounts, but I found that when you play them right (shield that arm with twists, etc, think vertically when you can) you will find them to be much more top tier, no arctic cheetah or oxide, but worth the investment. If you want a visual example of how to play PNT 10k go watch "How to Train Your Dragon", the end of the movie, where the dragon is doing his thing and [spoilers]ing the [spoilers] by [spoilers] [spoilers] [spoilers].

For ref, my builds are:
PNT-10k: Standard 2PPC
PNT-9R: MPLs and SRM (You QUICKLY run out of SRMS and will loose both arms if you try to hang out and brawl, play more zoom and boom, pounce-retreat-pounce-etc...)
PNT-8Z: This one was painful, until I settled on this build, then it just clicked.

"Panther, more fun than an Urban Mech"

My vote for worst mech... VND. Tried to run that trial like I run a 10k because hey, arm weapon, JJ's, it's like a big PNT... yeah nope, that and LRM Mist Lynx.

EDIT: Also the PNT-10P - never used it, not sure I will ever get it because... What in the lore breaking non-canon design is that? (that said I actually will probably get one just to AC2 snipe at peoples cockpits for the troll factor, but it really looks like a fail mech on paper)

Edited by Blind Baku, 23 May 2016 - 09:52 AM.

[Old Mechdonald]

Audacious Aubergine, on 03 May 2016 - 03:21 AM, said:

I'm shocked no one has mentioned the Gargoyle. Moves like an IS medium, has the weapons of an IS medium, is the size of an Atlas, with all noteworthy weapons in deceptively low mounted arm hardpoints. Though I've somehow done alright with 2 ERLL and 2 Artemis LRM15s

oh god the Gargoyle is the worst.... absolute zero....crap in paradigma..... perfect abysmality.

[Koniving]

The gargoyle definitely is on the bad end of the spectrum. Speed, weight, height, width, lack of weapon space, lack of hard points... if any mech desperately needed quirks it is the gargoyle.

[TercieI]

Old Mechdonald, on 26 May 2016 - 11:38 AM, said:

oh god the Gargoyle is the worst.... absolute zero....crap in paradigma..... perfect abysmality.

Koniving, on 26 May 2016 - 11:54 AM, said:

The gargoyle definitely is on the bad end of the spectrum. Speed, weight, height, width, lack of weapon space, lack of hard points... if any mech desperately needed quirks it is the gargoyle.

Lots and lots of small pulser lasers, maybe an LBX20. It can't dominate but if it can be around in the back half of a match, it's the last thing beat up mechs want to see. That's all I ever figured out semi-worthwhile to do with it. Having leveled three, I feel no interest in leveling the other two.

Edited by TercieI, 26 May 2016 - 12:03 PM.

[ZeProme]

Here's some of mine that I dislike.

Panther. All of the Energy hardpoints on one arm. Come on man! Relatively low Engine cap compared to other lights.
Griffin. Uneven distribution of energy hardpoints. Mostly on the right arm.
Dragon. No one plays it anymore.
Quickdraw. Don't see it on the battlefield much. Also somewhat too large.
Thunderbolt. Nice amounts of hardpoints but they are distributed so weirdly! Cockpit makes it look kind of ugly but that's what makes it unique.
Awesome. LRM-boat, PPC boating. Nothing interesting and I don't see awesomes on the battlefield much now. I guess they aren't... awesome anymore. *boo me*
Victor. Do people still play this? I hardly see even any meta Dragon Slayers on the battlefield now.
Highlander. Once the king of pop-tarts, no longer see it. Even if the meta isn't pop-tarting anymore, still don't see it.

Edited by ZeProme, 26 May 2016 - 02:06 PM.

[TercieI]

ZeProme, on 26 May 2016 - 02:05 PM, said:

Here's some of mine that I dislike.

Panther. All of the Energy hardpoints on one arm. Come on man! Relatively low Engine cap compared to other lights.
Griffin. Uneven distribution of energy hardpoints. Mostly on the right arm.
Dragon. No one plays it anymore.
Quickdraw. Don't see it on the battlefield much. Also somewhat too large.
Thunderbolt. Nice amounts of hardpoints but they are distributed so weirdly! Cockpit makes it look kind of ugly but that's what makes it unique.
Awesome. LRM-boat, PPC boating. Nothing interesting and I don't see awesomes on the battlefield much now. I guess they aren't... awesome anymore. *boo me*
Victor. Do people still play this? I hardly see even any meta Dragon Slayers on the battlefield now.
Highlander. Once the king of pop-tarts, no longer see it. Even if the meta isn't pop-tarting anymore, still don't see it.

Solid list except GRF and QKD. The QKD was very meta until the range nerfs to IS energy and its own quirks being pulled back. Mostly been replaced by the GHR now but still seen some, especially in tonnage drops. And the GRF-2N/3M are staples of comp brawls and Sparky is a solid energy choice. I also like the Panther a great deal but that's a The Few, The Proud, The Daft sort of thing.

[Koniving]

TercieI, on 26 May 2016 - 12:03 PM, said:

Lots and lots of small pulser lasers, maybe an LBX20. It can't dominate but if it can be around in the back half of a match, it's the last thing beat up mechs want to see. That's all I ever figured out semi-worthwhile to do with it. Having leveled three, I feel no interest in leveling the other two.

I'm gonna have to check but last I thought the limit on the energy weapons was 6, 4 left arm and 2 right arm.

Lemme look into this, might have missed something.

Not sure if gar-c was available at the time.
4 left Gar A, 6 right Gar C. Chainfire or 4 and 6. That would be pretty nasty. Alternatively Gar C right arm and some ballistic or missile combination might be neat. Mkay I'm willing to tinker with it again now.
It's perfectly even hitboxes aren't particularly useful and hard to spread damage on.

Edited by Koniving, 27 May 2016 - 01:58 AM.

[TercieI]

Koniving, on 27 May 2016 - 01:52 AM, said:

I'm gonna have to check but last I thought the limit on the energy weapons was 6, 4 left arm and 2 right arm.

Lemme look into this, might have missed something.

Not sure if gar-c was available at the time.
4 left Gar A, 6 right Gar C. Chainfire or 4 and 6. That would be pretty nasty. Alternatively Gar C right arm and some ballistic or missile combination might be neat. Mkay I'm willing to tinker with it again now.
It's perfectly even hitboxes aren't particularly useful and hard to spread damage on.

Can get 12 on the D. I enjoyed that and the LBX20/SPL combo. It's tight on tonnage, tough to do much with.

Edited by TercieI, 27 May 2016 - 07:04 AM.

[Toothman]

plodder, on 02 May 2016 - 11:45 PM, said:

Sumoner seems to be on my list. I see guys do well, but those fellas are beyond my skill level. I want to use them but.....

I like the summoner. 1 UAC 5 4 medium lasers. I take mechs I like. Don't care what others think.

[WANTED]

Just cause of this thread, I took out my victors couple nights back. Been so long that it wasn't as bad as I remembered but they still don't put out the damage like my atlas or even heavies. I did forget how much I liked the maneuverability. Also someone made a comment that victors still exist??!! Made me lol.

[Requiemking]

Toothman, on 28 May 2016 - 05:21 PM, said:

I like the summoner. 1 UAC 5 4 medium lasers. I take mechs I like. Don't care what others think.

Then you and I will get along just fine. I run the ERPPC sniper Lynx build and that thing is severely underrated. Mist Lynx as a whole is underrated, due to people trying to shove them into roles they don't belong in. Make it a long-range direct fire support mech (SNIPER) and you will work wonders my friend.

[plodder]

Requiemking, on 28 May 2016 - 05:49 PM, said:

Then you and I will get along just fine. I run the ERPPC sniper Lynx build and that thing is severely underrated. Mist Lynx as a whole is underrated, due to people trying to shove them into roles they don't belong in. Make it a long-range direct fire support mech (SNIPER) and you will work wonders my friend.

Higher skill level mech.
I know a few fellas, give them a small laser and a club and they will find a way to get the Ace of Spades
;o(

Using that ER PPC Lynx will make one a better shot while moving while teaching one self preservation tactics and skill, and or die trying