18 replies to this topic

[Mar-X-maN]

Please post good beginners mechs here and maybe give some hints about usage. I think the best beginners mech is the HUNCHBACK HBK-4P

Here is the build:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...23c011405ec62ec

I think it is quite afordable at 7 million upgraded, has striking distance of up to 500 meters which is optimal for most encounters or if not, has at least a good speed to get there. It also has good armor.

I would make a weapon group for the arm mounted lasers, a second group for the six lasers in the
side torso and a third group for the laser in the head as a backup for when either or both side torsos are destroyed. A cool mech of this type can do two alpha strikes (fire all weapons, doing 90 damage) before it needs to cool down, which is reasonably fast. Relying on the arm lasers and only shooting the six torso lasers when sufficiently cool should get you a decent damage output.
Of course before going to exploit this cheese build (lol, its almost stock) you might still want to stick with your teammates. I come to believe that this mech will get you earn C-Bills nicely and should amortize itself pretty quickly.

However, whoever has better recommendations for good afordable beginners mechs please post them here.

[ExplodedZombie]

I found that the Hunchback 4-SP is also a great mech for beginners. Standard build. It gives you practice with 2 types of weapons in a very survivable mech.

[Captain Pee Sheets]

4SP is a great beginner mech. The Catapult K2 is also a great beginner mech: versatile, powerful, and easy to use.

[Wildstreak]

This is a great HBK-4H.

I would say the Hunchback series is all good.

[Blue Frog]

I like the hunchies---I just Elite'd on them this weekend. Now I need to decide which one to keep and what to buy next...

Merchant, on 31 March 2013 - 06:44 PM, said:

This is a great HBK-4H.

I would say the Hunchback series is all good.

I noticed you still have AC10 ammo instead of LBX-10. I'm sure you swapped before you dropped...or at least you figured it out quick!!!

[Corvus Antaka]

the hunchback 4SP

The jenner D

The catapult, pick one.

And the Atlas.

[Jay Z]

I would agree with all of the above, the hunchbacks and catapults are probably the easiest to drive however can be tough to master which gives plenty of room pilot improvement. I started on Jenners which are cheaper and stuck with them all the way to master. I still haven't tried a medium or heavy yet.

[Tahribator]

Get a medium laser heavy mech except the Cicada. They are great for being survivable and doing respectable damage.

[slayerkdm]

HBK's or Phracts.

I love HBK's, but I have been frustrated lately, even as much as I play them. Phracts are a more forgiving, poewerfull mech in my opinion.

[Ser Barristan]

All the HBKs are pretty good, I have a barber shop quartet I vetted through elite this weekend. I think the SP would probably be the easiest to learn with though. It can mount some heavy firepower for the chassis and the weaponry is spread out. Even with half of it blown away you still potentially have 3 energy hard points and a missile rack left. The HBKs also teach good tactics. The medium chassis is "forgiving" but if you decide to run out in front of the OpFor you'll get smoked double quick. Once you figure out sticking with the assaults and "hit without being seen" in a brawl you can really start to be successful. The G and H are good for learning about ballistics, when you can consistently hit a mech down range with an AC-20 then your golden as far as aiming. Once you have a handle on good medium brawler tactics and heat management the P is absolutely punishing.

Coupled with Helmstif's HBK guide even as a rookie you can put together a competitive Hunchie and learn the game.

[Royalewithcheese]

3-L or DDC if you can afford them.

[Hawker]

So my wife said she wants to play, of course I take that with a grain of salt and a chagrin, but here is what I am going to let her try.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...4be45fa7c17b41e

This loadout can be done in any Hunchback, and I used it in 3 of the 4 that I mastered. It is really good a leggin' lights even back in the days of lagshield, so nowadays (I haven't run it in a couple of months) I can imagine it would be quite deadly.

[Ewigan]

Hawker, your build looks a bit under gunned for me. Not using the hunch at all?

[PapaN0X]

The best beginner mech is a cheese mech. A Centurion Zombie will get someone into the game and not destroy their hopes so quickly by getting killed by the better pilots out there.

Here is what I would recommend:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c4b1e8944fb939d

It's just a bit over 9 million c-bills but it will give you a medium speed mech with good firepower and strong durability. Plus with the two lasers in the center torso you can keep on firing until you die. This is the kind of mech a beginner would appreciate. It will give them time to build a skill-set that will then transfer to better mechs.

[Blackadder]

You guys are completely off base here, most of the mech builds linked in this thread are not starter mechs at all, and are prohibitive to the new player in terms of cost & basic understanding of the game. Your expectation with the linked builds, or statements about atlas or 3l, is that a new player is going to have 3-5 million cbills to buy a mech, then upgrade that said mech with another 2-3.5 million worth of heatsinks,structure, armor & artemis, and potentially another 1.5-5 million worth of engines.And yes i realize it does not have to be all at once, however a new player is at most going to be making 50-100K per match at most, until they learn the game, and this excludes the new player bonus cbill income.

If you want to talk beginner mechs, you need to look at the mechs that are relatively good out of the box, in terms of weapon damage, and type, as well as ability to let a new payer learn the game. a 4P is a horrible starter mech, as a new player is going to spend all his time overheating, and have a frustrating experience. Light mechs are basically going to be pointless, as a new player will not have the skill level needed to drive them, given they will be driving them at stock speeds, A raven 3L is a pretty bad mech unless its running at 130KPH or higher, same with the jenner. Mechs with XL engines will be toast, as a new player really wont understand how to torso twist, or use portions of a mechs body to protect the vulnerable areas.

The following mechs would be what i recommend, as they come out of the box with some decent loadouts, and have upgrade potential: HBK SP, HBK J or H, CN9- A or AL, CTF 1X or 2X, Cat C1/K2.

The listed mechs basically start out well, and have room for growth once the player learns the game, via chassis upgrades, or changing weapon loadouts, while still allowing the stock variants to not be useless, and offer a variety of play styles.

[TruePoindexter]

Blackadder, on 04 April 2013 - 12:59 PM, said:

You guys are completely off base here, most of the mech builds linked in this thread are not starter mechs at all, and are prohibitive to the new player in terms of cost & basic understanding of the game. Your expectation with the linked builds, or statements about atlas or 3l, is that a new player is going to have 3-5 million cbills to buy a mech, then upgrade that said mech with another 2-3.5 million worth of heatsinks,structure, armor & artemis, and potentially another 1.5-5 million worth of engines.And yes i realize it does not have to be all at once, however a new player is at most going to be making 50-100K per match at most, until they learn the game, and this excludes the new player bonus cbill income.

If you want to talk beginner mechs, you need to look at the mechs that are relatively good out of the box, in terms of weapon damage, and type, as well as ability to let a new payer learn the game. a 4P is a horrible starter mech, as a new player is going to spend all his time overheating, and have a frustrating experience. Light mechs are basically going to be pointless, as a new player will not have the skill level needed to drive them, given they will be driving them at stock speeds, A raven 3L is a pretty bad mech unless its running at 130KPH or higher, same with the jenner. Mechs with XL engines will be toast, as a new player really wont understand how to torso twist, or use portions of a mechs body to protect the vulnerable areas.

The following mechs would be what i recommend, as they come out of the box with some decent loadouts, and have upgrade potential: HBK SP, HBK J or H, CN9- A or AL, CTF 1X or 2X, Cat C1/K2.

The listed mechs basically start out well, and have room for growth once the player learns the game, via chassis upgrades, or changing weapon loadouts, while still allowing the stock variants to not be useless, and offer a variety of play styles.

I like your line of thought. Along those lines I would recommend this progression on the Hunchback 4SP:

First start off with the stock one shifting the ammo to a less explody spot:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b12ed9edd5b11a3

The first upgrade you should make is to switch to double heatsinks and replace the head SL with another ML:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...eb45f1b8e6a9204

Following that we can upgrade the engine to shift some of those DHS into the engine and equiping ES:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...ffd1042234a2756

I think that's a good progression. Pay attention to the armor values.

[Goregrimm]

I love that Centurion, Noxon. Makes me a little sad I sold all of mine. Not too sad though. Heavies are where it's at.

If I were to recommend anything it would be a Cataphract 1X or 2X. Cataphracts are my favorite mech all around.

[Hawker]

I would have to agree with BlackAdder in that they have to start out with a stock varient first and then like TruePoindexter pointed out progress from there.

Ewigan: I guess you didn't read that I mastered 3 or my 4 Hunchbacks mostly with that build, the SP being the exception even though I could have done it there as well. It fits on any of the Hunchback chassis. Undergunned... depends on what you are doing with it. 2 LPLs can leg a light in two shots if you can hit it. Pulse lasers are good for that in my opinion and the large gives you extra range because after all you are going around 90kph and the lights you are chasing if they realize they maybe should run are going 130+kph, so that might give you an extra shot coming and going. Anyway, if you don't like it no big deal, it worked pretty good for me. It isn't a brawler though, but it can dish out ~ AC20 hits repeatedly.

[SchwarzerPeter]

I would say that the HBK 4SP is a verry good and cheep beginner mech. One of the best standard loadouts i have seen. I only would install Endo Steel, switch the SM for a medium one and put some more Heatsinks in there. HBK-4SP
Heat is even without Double Heatsinks not a problem.
One of the cheapest builds i have seen, 4,1 mio with everything.

But i think money is not a real problem for the first mech, i got myself a Dragon C1 with an XL 300. And just the engine is 4,9 mio (~.~)'
Definitive  not a beginner mech, but it looked so cool ^^

Edited by SchwarzerPeter, 05 April 2013 - 07:50 AM.