20 replies to this topic

[TheFourthAlly]

Greetings more experienced stomping robot riders.

Congrats on a forum with a very supportive new player section. I’ve been reading quite a bit apart from playing the game. I’m having fun and becoming moderately less bewildered over time too, which helps.

My start in this game was a tad wonky. Misreading the interface and misunderstanding the number of trial mechs available resulted in my playing lights for a good 15 games into my cadet bonus run. Thankfully I kinda enjoyed those speedy little buggers. The advantage there was they got me out of trouble quickly when needed. They also got me into trouble quite fast of course, there’s that.

I did the tutorials though and a few other things hidden in that section, so I collected all the extra cbills available, that was good. I’m now at the point where I reached 47M, certainly time to buy some mechs of my own I guess. Also seriously looking at some Masterypacks.
So far I seem to be enjoying both heavies and mediums just fine. I like the mad rush of the light brigade, but I’m not very effective as of yet (if ever), nor staying alive enough to be making much game cash there. I really enjoyed the speed of the Locust, but it lacks jump jets and that gets me in trouble. Same with the Jenner if I recall correctly, that was one I really enjoyed when I was too daft to recognise there were more trials than the lights. Recently the Cheetah and the Myst(?) Lynx seem to be where I/m at. For lights I can stick with the trials for now I think.

I think I noticed most of the time it’s easier to get a match with mediums, so I’d be happy to pick up a pack of those. Now, I’ve done some homework (this game has homework, I’ve been out of formal education for a good decade dammit. I had to make notes!) and I think I narrowed it down to two I liked as trials and seem to come with a reasonable variety of hardpoints to muck about with.

So currently I’m trying to decide between is the Hunchback or the Centurion. As such, other suggestions are welcome, but those two seem to suit my lack of coherent playstyle just fine and allow for a few different weapons to mess about with.


Thanks for all the info I’ve found so far. Let me know what you think.

[Anunknownlurker]

I think the Centurion vs Hunchback discussion is as much one of taste as anything else; they are both strong in their own ways. Personally, I went down the Hunchback route:

1. I like the look
2. Every variant offers a distinctly different playstyle
3. 4G, 4J and 4P arguably being the best at what they do; AC20 "punch in the face", LRM10 boat and laser scalpel (in that order)

I tried the Centurions and didn't like the "shield arm" aspect or weapon placement very much.

Regarding the mastery packs however, I think the argument goes the other way:

Hunchback
The Grid Iron is, in my opinion, one of the weaker heroes and I can't really recommend that - I have all the Hunchbacks and that is by far my least played mech. The 4SP is very hard to do well in as the game is at the moment (there are better SRM carriers out there) and the only really good chassis you get is the 4P (which I would recommend getting anyway!).

Centurion
The Yen Lo Wang is a far stronger hero than Grid iron and the two other variants are comparable to the 4SP but, probably, not as powerful as the 4P.

One thing that is worth looking at is, as you quite enjoyed playing it, the Locust mastery pack is very cheap in comparison to the others and the Pirate's Bane is a reasonably good hero which is well worth keeping (ECM is very helpful and it comes with the very expensive max engine for Locusts so you wouldn't have to buy that to level the other variants). The base chassis are very, very cheap so you can sell them and re-buy them when you want to level that mech. So, that would leave you with a good hero, 2 spare mech bays and 30 days premium time for 2/3 of the cost of either medium pack. Just a thought

At the end of the day, you have to make your own mind up regarding what you spend your hard-earned cash on but I have consistently found, over a year of playing MWO, that I do better in mechs I actually like (either aesthetically or the in-game "feel" of them) than I do in the current meta.

[Bud Crue]

OP,

I may have missed it but just to be clear master bundles are MC or real money purchase only so your 47mil in c-bills won't help there. That said, you will probably blow through a good chunk of the 47mil on engine upgrades, endo, and double heat sinks, etc. regardless of which pack you purchase (assuming that you do).

As to your choice between Hunch and Cent: Hunch has smaller profile and many consider it the standard by which all other mediums are measured. The cent offers similar play but it is a much larger mech (visually) and does require you to learn the alpha/twist play style in order to use that shield arm effectively (good thing to learn regardless of mech). In the end, flip a coin. (also for my money if I was buying a medium mastery pack I would go with a Griffin or BlackJack).

[Audacious Aubergine]

Welcome to the madness!
First off, if you're considering Mastery packs then you could also consider some of the other packs available. Marauders (75 tonne heavy mech) and Warhammers (70? tonne heavy) are $20 each for three variants and the mech bays you need, and a month of premium time as an added bonus. These two chassis are generally regarded as quite good, both having a reasonable range of weapon options (with the possible exception of missiles)
As for your choices of mediums, Hunchbacks and Centurions are pretty solid picks as well, so there's not much I can add there.

[JC Daxion]

anyone that knows me knows i will say HBK's for new players all the time.. BUT I honestly don't recomend them for starter packs, they are just to cheep, and the pack really doesn't give you anything that is that much of a great deal. Sure it is a short cut, but the grid iron, is basically a one trick pony, the gauss. Sure it is a great trick, but not to flexible as far as quirks go. (but it also can be used as sorta as the c-bill boosting 4G aka ac-20+3 ML build) The other mechs in the pack are good, don't get me wrong, but again you could get 3 HBK's and get um set up for your cadet bonus..

the 4SP is a great mech, but you need to buy a bigger engine for it, but it is a great tanky medium. The 4P is the HBK's energy boat. This pack, you can run many different types of mechs, but i just don't see the value in buying the pack, especially with the sale going on now. If you really want the grid iron, or the yen-lo, grab um for 50% off heck grab both and use your cadet bonus to get the others for c-bills.

(FYI, doesn't mater what you run for your cadet bonus, it is a set bonus, so you can basically die doing 50 damage, and still get max bonus, sure getting more c-bills is nice if you do better, but at this point it doesn't mater)

Centurion's are great mechs, But the mastery pack i think is a bit underwhelming. The Yen-lo is a great mech, don't get me wrong, but really needs a a big XL, the Cent D which it does come with at least has an XL-300 which is the typical engine for it at least. But the mechs are also not flexible, and kinda fall into grid iron category of one trick pony. Great mechs, don't get me wrong, but they are stuck in their boxes so to speak



On to what i recommend..

Cicada, One of the best values in a mastery pack. the hero is pretty nice, and the 3m Is a great mech, (i use the 3M in my CW drop deck) and the 2A is a nice energy boat. They are fast like lights, but carry more firepower, and heavier armor. Basically they play like ilghts that are a bit tankier, and a bit more fire power. But the best part of this pack, outside of just being solid mechs are the engines. this pack comes with 3 XL's, an XL-320, XL-330, and XL-340.. Just the engines alone are worth around 15m.. You can buy 3 HBK's and set um up for less money than just buying the 3 engines. They are engines that can be used in so many builds, and the mechs are very solid. So from a value point, to me the cicada pack is really the best pack there is from an MC value stand point IMO.


Shadow Hawk, they play kinda like the HBK's but a bit less tanky for armor values, but they have really nice hitboxes. They also can carry large XL engines so they can be faster, and have JJ's to make them more maneuverable. In reality, they kinda are like the HBK's step brother. Both are great mechs, but the pack value is just higher.

the 2D2, is a great mech, that can run many builds, ac5+PPC, missile load outs, dual large pulse ext. It is just a great all around mech. for a long time it was consider one of the best mechs in the game, but now it is just a very solid mech.

2H Champion, this to me is where the value really boosts. This mech comes with an XL-265, and to me, one of the best XL's in the game for tons of mechs. I use this engine in raven builds, catapults, and centurions just to name a few off the top of my head. It is an engine that weight and speed trade off is in such a sweet spot. To me, it is a must have engine, right up there with the XL-275, XL-380, XL-300, XL-320, and XL-340. The mech also has great load outs, from triple ac2, to missile builds, dual Ac5's and others. Again another great mech that is flexible, with a great engine.

Grey death, This hero is just another solid hero. It's not a top mech, but it certainly is no slouch, and again comes with a very nice engine in the way of the XL-275. Yes the XL-280 gets a bit more speed, and weights the same, BUT the XL-275 is a cap engine for a bunch of chassis.. like the HBK, (people run it in the 4SP, and 4J often, though some put in the XL-265) it is also a cap engine for some ravens. Perhaps others just i can't recall off the top of my head. Builds are a bit more limited than the other shadow hawks, but it does have solid SRM4 builds, and AC+energy. all in all it is a very good mech.



So to recap,

cicada's if you want something faster, that kinda plays like a light but packs a punch with great armor, and one of the most expensive engine sets in the game. I comes with engines that are used in some lights and mediums for the most part, but also some heavy builds and even a few assaults. The engine pack alone is worth it, and the mechs just make it great..

shadow hawks, just solid all around flexible mechs, with 2 XL's that can be used in tons of builds, and great c-bill grinders for the most part.


Buy If you really have your heart set on HBK's and Cents, grab the shadow hawk pack as the engines will help you with them. (one of the cents has an XL-300, so that can help with lights down the road as well)

Get the cicada pack, if down the road you think you might wanna try griffins or jester comes to mind. those engines really can be used in many mechs, just not so much lights..and you are saving huge bank..



That's my advice.. and good luck!

Edited by JC Daxion, 29 May 2016 - 05:33 AM.

[Rogue Jedi]

Between Hunchbacks and Centurions I would recommend Hunchbacks but as has already been said get them with Cbills, you can buy and outfit 3 HBKs for about 22 million cbills, some popular CN9 Builds use XL engines and you will likely want diferant sized XLs depending on the variant, that means the CN9s will likely cost closer to 30 million to buy and outfit 3 variants.

if you want suggestions for a medium Mastery pack, the Cicada is probably the highest cbill value with 3 large XL engines, the only other one I think is worthwhile is the Blackjack, mostly the Medium Mastery Packs are Mechs I am not crazy about or are missing ^{(in my opinion)} the best variants

[Wintersdark]

Yeah, I'll chime in with an agreement here: if you're going to spend real money, get one of the $20 mech packs from the web store, like the Marauder, Warhammer, Kodiak, etc - these mechs are far more expensive to buy and equip with cbills.

Hunchbacks and centurions both are truely excellent starter mechs, but (particularly with the hunchback) they are extremely cheap to buy with cbills and equip. The hunchback will be almost entirely using smallish standard engines, for example - that saves millions.

[TooDumbToQuit]

47 MILLION C-Bills!

[TheFourthAlly]

Blimey, that's a wealth of info there I had not thought of at all. Thanks a bunch all.

I'm definitely aware the master Pack buy is real money, thanks for the heads up though.

I will have a look at all the other suggested packs and much over those. Not in a hurry to buy anything, I'm having plenty fun mucking about with the trails, but want to own a few and don't mind putting a bit of real money into a game to give myself a leg up and the devs something too. I have felt a bit burned with (small) investments in other online games, so being a bit picky now.

I like the thinking along the lines of value for money as well. I didn't really think of the expense of engines and investing in those. Will have to learn that dynamic too I guess. I guess it's easy to swap out engines? I haven't experimented with the mechbuilding of course, so what do I know?

I'll check back in tonight, I'll have a bit more time to respond more coherent.

[jss78]

Hunchies -- I'm also of the school of thought that it's a great starter 'mech. Great builds centred around different weapons, good way to pick get experience. Now that said, I don't particularly like the MASTERY 'pack. For some strange, strange reason it doesn't include the "base" variant 4G for the classic AC/20 builds, or the 4J possibly the best LRM 'mech in the game. You'll be paying for the Grid Iron which is to me probably the least interesting hunchie. Hunchies I might simply get for c-bills -- they're cheap to buy and build anyway.

I agree with JC Daxion above the Cicada mastery pack is a GREAT value however. You get three huge XL engines (saves you a ton of c-bills), and it includes possibly the three best Cicada variants. The X-5 hero is solid with ML's + SRM's, the 2A champion build is great as is, and you get the ECM variant 3M.

The Shadow Hawk mastery bundle is also nice (the Gray Death is great for running a big ballistic + lasers, e.g. AC/10 + 4 ML's with a big XL engine), although you'll probably want to buy the arguably best variant 2K with c-bills.

[Rhavin]

Warhammer, and Maurader packs are great deals IF you are considering Clan warfare, sure the base packs don't have a hero mech, but for a small investment in MC as well you can currently grab the hero at less than the 15 dollar upgrade.

Now the clan kodiak pack is also a great deal at 20 dollars, but the hero mech is not as fearsome as the Warhammer Black Widow or Maurader Bounty Hunter II IMHO. The Kodiak is a good solo play investment, but not as good if you are wanting a mech to build a faction dropdeck with because its weight at 100 tons limits you to one.

Light mech mastery packs get the best cbills to dollar investment in my opinion. Especially because of the xl engines and upgrades that lights have to have to be effective in this game. Jenner, firestarter, locust, raven, all great mechs that can be used along with mauraders and warhammers to make a good FW deck.

The only 2 medium mastery packs that are worth it are the cicada, and the blackjack. The xl engines you get with the cicadas are useful as all get out, and they are great little mechs. The blackjack is stupid good as well with great high hardpoints. Both heros are excellent and see play quite often.

Good luck mechwarrior.

[Leone]

Personally, I'd suggest nabbing some MC, and grabbing mechbays and a few light heroes. The locust's Pirate's Bane and the Jenner's Oxide. There is a sale on, and they're dirt cheap.

As for Packs, again, I'd suggest looking into the Rifleman, Warhammer, Marauder or Archer. Warning, they are all heavies, but it'd let you spend your cbills on the cheaper lighter mediums (and/or lights!). Also, no heroes for the base 20$ packs. Still, good stuff.

As you've noted, lights let you get into an outta trouble real fast. On the flip side, assaults require decent positioning to use well since once you commit to something, they're a bit slow to change your mind, so we can leave those for later, but once you get into the game they can be just as fun as dancing madly inna light..

Wait, do you use Smurfy? I'm not sure if you've used Smurfy.

"It's Dangerous to go Alone. Take This."

~Leone

Edited by Leone, 29 May 2016 - 10:55 PM.

[TheFourthAlly]

I have looked at Smurfy a few times already. Still a learning curve to ride there, but will def use that to practice upgrading/rebuilding mechs. I've seen the warning it's easy to waste cbills making mistakes in the ingame builder.

Many thanks for all the suggestions. More homework!

So it seems it would be much wiser to use the real money to buy ingame expensive stuff (a reg series of heavies or a cicada pack) and get a set of hunchies on the side perhaps, with cbills.

Edited by TheFourthAlly, 30 May 2016 - 02:15 AM.

[p4r4g0n]

TheFourthAlly, on 30 May 2016 - 02:14 AM, said:

I have looked at Smurfy a few times already. Still a learning curve to ride there, but will def use that to practice upgrading/rebuilding mechs. I've seen the warning it's easy to waste cbills making mistakes in the ingame builder.

Many thanks for all the suggestions. More homework!

So it seems it would be much wiser to use the real money to buy ingame expensive stuff (a reg series of heavies or a cicada pack) and get a set of hunchies on the side perhaps, with cbills.

Do not forget to get mechbays for your C-Bill purchased mechs

4 is never enough. However, just buy enough to tide you over and wait for a mechbay sale to stock up.

[TheFourthAlly]

Heh. Roger roger. I'm a very slow and methodical buyer these days, so that might work out ok.

[JC Daxion]

TheFourthAlly, on 30 May 2016 - 02:14 AM, said:

So it seems it would be much wiser to use the real money to buy ingame expensive stuff (a reg series of heavies or a cicada pack) and get a set of hunchies on the side perhaps, with cbills.

Yes, pretty much.. Often i will just pick up a hero, or a champion to save c-bills, and heroes help make c-bills. for example i just picked up 2 champion lights a Locust 350 MC, and Commando 442 MC, So about 800 MC, got me 2 mechs, one XL-190, and STD 200 which i can sell if i want for around 500k C-bills, But they both have full upgrades, Endo, double heat sinks and ferro, which is a bit over 2m worth of upgrades on lights,, (endo and ferro is more expensive on larger mechs)

Basically i ended up getting over 6m worth of c-bill value, for about 4 bucks. From my end that is about a day of grinding. I also picked up a couple of heroes, a medium and a light, i had a 642 Banked MC, picked up a 15 dollar pack, So i basically got 4 mechs for 15 bucks. (the 642 i earned over events last year)


But you don't have to do tons of homework, just ask the friendly folks in the new player forums, they typically can help you get the most bang for your buck.. Helping you i almost bought the grey death,,, but as i was about to pull the trigger i decided to go with the "sparky" It is another 55 ton mech, Griffin... the energy boat was calling me. I almost bought the 30 dollar MC pack to grab both, but instead i picked up the tournament pack, Didn't wanna blow 40 bucks after i already spent 80 bucks on other computer stuff this week.. I got a budget to keep in instead i just spent 25, and now have 8 MC left.


You might wanna grab that though, For 10 bucks you get a 10% C-bill and XP booster, that also stacks with premium time and hero or champion boosters. It is a boost that will last till december 3rd, for any mech, and also gives you a badge and some bonus cockpit items.. to me the real deal is the little booster though.. Figure every 10m you earn, you get a free mill.. If you play a decent amount for the next 7 months, you could earn as 10-20m easy.. if you play a lot, well you get the idea..

You can also buy day pass boosters for 250 MC, which is great for the casual players that don't play often, but when you got 8-10 hours+ that you can jam out in a day, that earns you a 50% gain on cbills and XP.. the value is not what a month long booster is, as you can get a full 30 days for 2500, but if you can't play much, you can buy the day pass 10 times for that cost, plus events can often give you day passes as well.

also events you can earn some MC, and after a few you can get a mech bay, or use them to buy camo one shots for 75 or 125 MC which is nice. Also there are some Basic colors you can get for c-bills as well. I personally really like them, combine with a one shot camo, you can get some color to your mechs for very little cost.

[Metus regem]

Between Hunchback and Centurion, both are excellent mechs, that both teach very important skill for survival in MWO, note these are different than skill tree skills...


Hunchback:

These blighters really drive home the skill of Gunnery, specifically the 4G with it's AC/20. Due to the fact that she is a 50t mech with such a big gun, it means she will have few shots, so best to make them count. The other skill that Hunchbacks teach, very well, is the "Sword and Board" style of longevity, as most of your hard points are located on one side of your mech, you are left with a side that can be sacrificed to keep you alive longer.


Centurion:

This one for me was the better mech, she is a jack of all trades mech. This means she does a little bit of everything, but truly stands out at nothing. She is a force multiplier, shoot what your buddies are shooting at for best effect. The Centurion's basic layout gives you an AC/10 on the RA, lasers in the CT and Missiles on the LT, this means that you can do the "Sword and Board" style with it, but you will be giving something up either the AC or the Missiles. How ever the skill that the Centurion family really drives home, it torso twisting, as due to the hit-box layout, she is very friendly to XL engines or Standard engines, she makes it very easy to roll damage across the mech. I have lived through games with my CN9-A that I really shouldn't have, meaning I was down to a CT, head and one leg, even won the match for my team with the two CT lasers.

[TheFourthAlly]

I sure like the look of the Marauder, that looks like one mean mother. And named after a staple unit in Starcraft 2.

My homework now consists of looking at the non-hero packs of heavies that were recommended by people. 20 USD for a stack of those sounds decent enough, but I liked the look of the Cicada too and as I understand it, the bonuses of Heroes and Champions are reasonable. Am I right about that?

And I guess picking up some MC on the side comes recommended considering the occasional hero and mechbay sales. Although reg price mechbay looks doable anyway. Just have to watch the number of transactions a tad, exchange rate with the AUSD can be painful.

[JC Daxion]

Heroes are great for the C-bill boost, especially if it is one you like.. For me i play my Jester anytime i get 1 day premium boosters from PGI give aways just to help with my bank, and i just load it up to have fun as well. It is my most played mech. Say ya play 500 matches, and average around 120k per match (not premium average) You will have banked an extra 12m.. sure not a huge amount, but when you stack it with other bonuses.. you can go from making say 100-120k a match, to matches that you pull in 300-400k So in the end it really can add up.


as far as champions go, the GXP boost is the best part.. it will help you unlock tons of modules if it is a mech you really enjoy playing. My Clan account for example, i grabbed a timber C (champion) It is my most played timber, with an energy build, so it is lots of fun, and i gain lots of GXP with it, kinda win/win

[Metus regem]

TheFourthAlly, on 01 June 2016 - 12:42 AM, said:

I sure like the look of the Marauder, that looks like one mean mother. And named after a staple unit in Starcraft 2.

My homework now consists of looking at the non-hero packs of heavies that were recommended by people. 20 USD for a stack of those sounds decent enough, but I liked the look of the Cicada too and as I understand it, the bonuses of Heroes and Champions are reasonable. Am I right about that?

And I guess picking up some MC on the side comes recommended considering the occasional hero and mechbay sales. Although reg price mechbay looks doable anyway. Just have to watch the number of transactions a tad, exchange rate with the AUSD can be painful.

Erm... the Marauder is not named after a unit from Starcraft II... the Marauder mech predates Starcraft II by a good 25-30 years.....

As for the Marauder, I don't own them, as I never had any affinity for them in Table Top (TT), but I have fought them in both TT and MWO, in TT they are often under armoured and run very hot. In MWO, they can be right tanky blighters when fitted with a Standard engine, not too powerful in terms of fire power. If I were to get one it would be set up like this, MAD-3R.

I do how ever own the Warhammer Collerctor+hero set, having had an affinity from them in TT, they live up to their TT reputation of punching above their weight class. That being said, they are tough, with decent hit boxes and decent weapon positions. My personal Warhammer of choice is my WHM-6R(S). I use the PPC's till around 100m, then switch to the CIWS of small pulse lasers, machine guns and Artemis short range missiles 4. She has a tendency to rake up 550-ish damage with 4 KMDD in my hands, and I am by no means a T1 Ubercomp player.