14 replies to this topic

[Henry Avery]

I was eyeing the hero 'Mechs thinking of investing my bounty in something fun.
Pretty baby very much caught my eyes: one hell of a paint job, it looks like it spawned directly from Hell!

Unfortunately I got a better look on alpine peaks as one of my team mates had one, and I was disappointed, you need to be really close to apretiate or even recognize the work. In my view Pretty Baby should be visible on fire, now that would be a nice gimmick!

And why did the devs name it Pretty Baby when they could have chosen Pretty Hate Machine?

Will have to buy it anyway for the flames.

Keep talking...

[Appogee]

Your Mech purchasing criteria are ''interesting''.

I am going to show you a series of ink blots, and I want you to tell me what you see...

[SmoothCriminal]

too bad the hardpoint layout is worse than the 9M, especially with all this ppc fun

[Lightfoot]

PB needs another Hardpoint, large size, Missile or Energy. The Torso Twist is nice, but the PB needs to be an assault mech too.

[Appogee]

I spent most of yesterday trying to come up with a PB loadout that I liked. Lot's of people kindly gave me their help, too.

But in the end, I decided I should buy a Flame instead!

[Henry Avery]

Going down is style trumps anything.

Besides who would want to get caught dead in a Hornet, aka the running eye (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Hornet) or Stalker, aka the running phallos (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Stalker)

Raise the mainsail!

Edited by Henry Avery, 21 April 2013 - 07:53 AM.

[NRP]

Lightfoot, on 21 April 2013 - 07:44 AM, said:

PB needs another Hardpoint, large size, Missile or Energy. The Torso Twist is nice, but the PB needs to be an assault mech too.

It would be interesting if the head energy hard point was two slots instead of just one. Then you could run a 3 LL or 3 LPL build with an XL400. That would certainly help in the firepower dept, and it wouldn't be OP (as if it's even possible for an AWS to be OP).

[Peregrine Plover]

NRP, on 21 April 2013 - 08:10 AM, said:

It would be interesting if the head energy hard point was two slots instead of just one. Then you could run a 3 LL or 3 LPL build with an XL400. That would certainly help in the firepower dept, and it wouldn't be OP (as if it's even possible for an AWS to be OP).

Yeah, I was loving Pretty Baby before the missile nerf.

I had a nice versatile loadout w TAG in the head, ERPPC in L torso, LRM 15 in R torso, 400 XL engine, R arm w Med Las, L arm w SSRM2 x 2. It was an excellent support/harasser build.

I could peek my head over the hill, TAG that ECM Atlas or ECM-covered Stalker laser-boat, fire off a round of LRMs, scoot up a little and hit him with a round of PPC fire before suppression fire drove me back down again. If lights began to plague me, I could chase them off w streaks and med las. It was not OP but gave a lot of variety of play, good support up close and from a distance, and the XL engine helped to get where the action was. It had presence on the field.

Since the missile nerf, I don't feel like the missile points are adding very much "oomph," and I don't have the field presence I would expect to have in an ASSAULT MECH.

I have experimented with 2xPPC or 2xLL builds, but only one of them is arm mounted which causes convergence problems and makes them less effective. No jumpjets like Highlander, so I can't poptart. Of course, it does have a fast engine, which makes it good for flanking, but it has poor deceleration, so by the time you spot the enemy, it takes a while to slow down and bring your two LLs or 2 PPCs into convergence, and then it takes a while to get moving back under cover. Meanwhile, the Stalker or Catapult with 4xLL or 6xLL or 4xPPC boats (and no convergence issues) is melting your armor into slag.

I have also experimented with a hit-and-run build using 3xML or 3xMPL, supplemented by 2xSRM4 in L arm, and one SRM6 in R shoulder. Again, there are convergence issues which make it hard to land all the damage in one spot, and essentially I become a much weaker version of the Splatcat, with no Jump Jets.

So, I am still experimenting, but right now the Pretty Baby is parked in its Mech Bay. It can't punish the laserboats or PPCboats for standing out in the open, and it can't punish the lights for running around its legs. It can't go toe-to-toe with other assaults, or even against a Splatcat or Boomcat (dual AC20s). And it doesn't matter how small I make the engine, I am limited on the firepower I can dish out because I don't have the hardpoints to beef up the beam weapons.

Two energy slots in the head would go a long way towards fixing this. Or else beef up the missiles again.

[TheStrider]

I keep looking at it - it's the Hero mech I SHOULD own, being a Master Awesome pilot (and luvr!)...

But he's the 9M, but not quite as good. The extra engine space isn't enough to care, and the loss of the 4th laser point (not counting the two shared points in the torso which I use for SRM4s) just makes him too similar or not good enough.

If I didn't own a tricked out 9M, I'd drop on it in a second this weekend.

[NRP]

I really don't understand why PGI gimped the PB. All of the other Heros that I know of aren't nearly as bad off as the PB, hard point-wise. Were they afraid the PB was going to obsolete the other Awesomes? Strange.

Edited by NRP, 21 April 2013 - 12:53 PM.

[jeffsw6]

The PB will be more viable when SRM damage is improved. It is one of the few mechs that can mount a decent amount of SRMs on a fast, fully-articulating arm (not like Stalker or Jagermech arms.)

The PB hard-points suck. I own one, mastered, and I knew I wasn't getting anything good before I purchased it. I just did it out of boredom. The energy-points are too spread around to be useful for brawling; it needs more fire-power on the right arm. Having just one laser mount there is a joke. I understand the concept of a shield arm, but the PB just can't carry enough armaments to be a serious mech.

[Soy]

Henry Avery, on 21 April 2013 - 07:00 AM, said:

And why did the devs name it Pretty Baby when they could have chosen Pretty Hate Machine?

Wouldn't they have to license that from Nine Inch Nails..?

[MonkeyCheese]

Appogee, on 21 April 2013 - 07:49 AM, said:

I spent most of yesterday trying to come up with a PB loadout that I liked. Lot's of people kindly gave me their help, too.

But in the end, I decided I should buy a Flame instead!

Good choice for speed/firepower/armor/hardpoints that make sence, hope you enjoy it.

[Tenzek]

TheStrider, on 21 April 2013 - 09:07 AM, said:

I keep looking at it - it's the Hero mech I SHOULD own, being a Master Awesome pilot (and luvr!)...

It's the hero mech you deserve, but not the one you need right now.

But seriously, the PB would benefit from a buff to SRMs. It is a nice brawler, but it depends heavily on its 3 missile points and doesn't quite have the punch it needs for how large and easy to hit it is.

It was a beast before the missile nerf.

[NRP]

Also, the PB's top speed seems to have been reduced with the last patch. Before, my PB used to go 89.1 kph (XL400 w/speed tweak). Now it goes 88.5 kph.