89 replies to this topic

[Wildstreak]

I find the Awesome is great usually when run with ranged weapons. Get a bunch of long ranged Energy and shoot from longer than 270m, you hit for better damage and you minimize your profile making it harder for some to take you out.

[NRP]

Sometimes, the Awesomes don't feel very "awesome". Especially, after the SRM nerf.

Now Bata, Soy, Koreanese, Kiiyor, Aniviron . . . these dudes are all extremely good pilots. They could dominate in a Spider. For most of us mere mortals, doing well consistently in an AWS is much harder than in any other assault (and most other heavies too).

[Just wanna play]

NRP, on 16 June 2013 - 12:51 PM, said:

Now Bata, Soy, Koreanese, Kiiyor, Aniviron . . . these dudes are all extremely good pilots. They could dominate in a Spider. For most of us mere mortals, doing well consistently in an AWS is much harder than in any other assault (and most other heavies too).

now think of it this way, perhaps not only can a good pilot do good in any mech, but certain mechs like the awesome might even be better then other more common mechs for skilled pilots because they know how to use them and it just requires skill to see why the stalker isnt actually "better in every way "

[Koreanese]

I drive my awesome like its stolen. At walmart lot.

[General Taskeen]

It all boils down to balance starting at stock configurations. I have utmost respect for anyone that regularly uses and tests stock or stock-like builds. As far as I'm concerned, those that can handle those builds are actually pretty good players.

Min/Max does not prove that anyone is good, it just elevates problems with the game, and the case of the Awesome, it shows how much of a short-bus it really is. Plagued by not only its super-wide profile, and not the skinny-imposing look it had in Battle Tech. And also short-changed by improper foresight of heat-sink and heat balancing.

"Do you even play Awesomes?" Why, yes I (did), the only Awesome I have? An AWS-8Q, stock engine, built to faux-specs of AWS-9Q which 4 PPC's, 1 Small Laser with 1.89 k/d. My Stalker, in comparison, is 2 k/d (stock STF-3Fb), with my Atlas sitting at 4 k/d, a Stock AS7-RS at 2.33 k/d. I got frustrated being cored out by Mechs that boat PPC's better than an Awesome, so I stopped using it.

Edited by General Taskeen, 17 June 2013 - 08:57 AM.

[Voivode]

The Awesome is one of those funny transition mechs like the Dragon and the Cicada. It kind of straddles the line between assault and heavy, so you have to play it halfway between. Would you run a Cicada like it was a Centurion? If you try to run this like an Atlas you will die. I run an AWS 8R (among other Awesomes) with 4xSRM6+artemis and 3medlasers. I put the bulk of my armor up front and run the fastest standard engine available. Play it coy. You will not stroll in like an Atlas and face smash people because, well, as this thread has covered, you are not an Atlas. The Awesome beats out every other assault in maneuverability, so this 8R build is great at killing other assaults by getting behind them. Don't charge in face first, use a little tactical thinking to get behind your enemy and some decent piloting to stay behind them til the job is done. Always keep cover near, and stay mobile.

I regularly beat out Stalkers and Atlas' on damage with my Awesomes. And I almost always deal it out heavier in my Awesomes than I do in my Highlander or my Atlas. Use the torso twist defensively (Awesome arms have really good armor) and use that mobility offensively. In the arena of assaults, the Awesome will always lose the sit there and shoot each other in the face kind of battle.

So don't fight that way.

[General Taskeen]

^ Who are you referring to. Do you assume 'good' Awesome pilots or people complaining about Awesomes just sit there? That's fairly assuming of you. Do you beat out Stalkers and Atlas in PPC Awesome's? Their existence is fairly non-existent in min/max leagues. Even in a stock tourney, they'd die nice and swift, as I use stock engine Stalkers and Atlas.

They are badly designed, just like MG's, Flamers, NARC, and LB 10-X. In fact, an empty Awesome is used as a garbage can where those things reside in, in Hanger 17. We don't talk about Hanger 17 though, that's classified.

[HeavyRain]

I like both the Awesome and the Dragon, you just need to stop thinking "I am piloting an Assault", "I am piloting a Heavy" and think "I am piloting an Awesome/ a Dragon". Weight class matching is not being enforced anyway, so if you dont try to fit the mechs into categories you can discover their individual advantages and disadvantages.

Then again I am weird, my top 3 favorite mechs are the DRG-1C, the AWS-9M and the CTF-4X.

[DarkDevilDancer]

I mastered 2 of them and from time to time i take em for a spin, then put them away with a sigh and return to my cataphracts.

[Voivode]

General Taskeen, on 17 June 2013 - 09:27 AM, said:

^ Who are you referring to. Do you assume 'good' Awesome pilots or people complaining about Awesomes just sit there? That's fairly assuming of you. Do you beat out Stalkers and Atlas in PPC Awesome's? Their existence is fairly non-existent in min/max leagues. Even in a stock tourney, they'd die nice and swift, as I use stock engine Stalkers and Atlas.

They are badly designed, just like MG's, Flamers, NARC, and LB 10-X. In fact, an empty Awesome is used as a garbage can where those things reside in, in Hanger 17. We don't talk about Hanger 17 though, that's classified.

There were several posts in this thread about PPC Awesome builds not standing up in a fight to the Stalker PPC builds. I wasn't assuming that everyone was having that problem. The chief complaint is that the Awesome isn't as durable as other assaults. It seems to me from seeing other people play the mech and from this forum that people try to play the Awesome in that armored hulking mass that can dominate an area kind of role and that was my point. The Awesome isn't like other assaults just like the Cicada isn't like other mediums. That doesn't make either of them bad, just different, and I personally like the utility of having more armor than the heavies, more speed and maneuverability than the assaults, and enough firepower to make it hurt.

[Jiffy]

Voivode, on 17 June 2013 - 09:49 AM, said:

There were several posts in this thread about PPC Awesome builds not standing up in a fight to the Stalker PPC builds. I wasn't assuming that everyone was having that problem. The chief complaint is that the Awesome isn't as durable as other assaults. It seems to me from seeing other people play the mech and from this forum that people try to play the Awesome in that armored hulking mass that can dominate an area kind of role and that was my point. The Awesome isn't like other assaults just like the Cicada isn't like other mediums. That doesn't make either of them bad, just different, and I personally like the utility of having more armor than the heavies, more speed and maneuverability than the assaults, and enough firepower to make it hurt.

Missing the point though, because it's supposed to be durable, by design. It is by accident that it must be played differently. You also effectively don't have more armor than heavies. I can recall no situation, ever, where I survived a battle in an Awesome that I wouldn't have survived better in a Cataphract.

[Voivode]

Jiffy, on 17 June 2013 - 11:39 AM, said:

Missing the point though, because it's supposed to be durable, by design. It is by accident that it must be played differently. You also effectively don't have more armor than heavies. I can recall no situation, ever, where I survived a battle in an Awesome that I wouldn't have survived better in a Cataphract.

I guess that comes down to playstyle. I personally hated Stalkers when I had a few but (obviously) a lot of people love them. I thought the Stalker was too unwieldy and entirely too vulnerable to being hit from the flanks for the armor it has. I found the Awesome to have the maneuverability to put the firepower to better use. Other people didn't. That was just my playstyle. I was already playing like that so it really wasn't a big deal to me. I think maybe everyone gets caught up too much on the classification of mechs, expecting every assault to have certain characteristics or playstyles. I was never a big tabletop player so I don't really know what the Awesome was intended to be in that respect but I can understand where people might be coming from if that's the case.

I do understand the point some people make that the hitboxes are not in line with other assaults, and I can agree with that. I just personally love the mech and despite some of those flaws, which are minor in my opinion, have to disagree with the OP that the chasis is worthless as implemented in MWO.

[Lightfoot]

Sadly the Awesome 8 series is not really playable in MWO right now. I think it was the adding of HSR, unless they made the CT bigger.

The 9M and PB can be fitted with an XL and XL 340-380 engines will make the Awesome harder to hit. The AWS-9M can't run the 3xERPPCs it comes with however. MWO has no DHS and the stock 9M requires actual double heatsinks. However you can just switch them out for PPCs and carry some close range back-up.


P.S. I didn't plant CordlezToaster even though they're saying everything I have about the Awesome. That is has no Assault class toughness, that it's really a fat medium, etc. LoL.

Edited by Lightfoot, 17 June 2013 - 01:10 PM.

[BP Raven]

I do well enough in my 9M, which i usually run 3 PPC + 3 MLas (or streaks, but prefer the lasers as i can fit in more heatsinks), but it's not what one might call Awesome. You really have to think your way into (and quite often out of) engagements carefully, but when it works it can be the difference because there's usually a juicier target to go for letting the mobile little (ok, huge) 9M to run around shooting with wanton abandon.

The nice thing about only being able to fit 3 PPCs is that it cools them quite well, and as long as you don't get into a stand up fight and can hit the ***** in the armour it can kill or disable mechs above it's weight quite efficiently.

The sad thing is though that a cataphract can do the same job almost as well for 5 tons less, and be harder to hit.

[Purlana]

Stalker is a better weapons platform, Atlas is the brawler, Awesome is food.

[Just wanna play]

Purlana, on 17 June 2013 - 06:18 PM, said:

Stalker is a better weapons platform, Atlas is the brawler, Awesome is food.

stalker is a better weapons platform, but its only a weapons platform, and thats also entirely debatable, for one awesome 8t 8R is far better then any stalker for lrms, and there is the simple fact that the stalker is built entirely for mounting weapons and so has various design flaws like bad torso twist, no arms, arm mounted lrm type launchers, bad cockpit location and viewing angle, etc
and atlas is not a brawler, ever notice how the design is of the all around type?? highlander is probably better set-up for brawling, while the atlas is not a specialized design which is what made it so successful

above all, just because its more popular (which is usually caused by a easier/more commonly accepted play style, or just easier to set up/boat) doesnt make it better, especially considering the physiological effect of piloting an awesome

im not hating on any of the above mechs, i love them all, but i ate how simple minded some people are sometimes that causes them to hate on what is in their mind "inferior" STOP THINKING LIKE {Godwin's Law} TOWARDS HE AWESOME!!!! YOUR STALKERS ARE NOT THE MASER RACE!!!!

Edited by Just wanna play, 17 June 2013 - 06:31 PM.

[InRev]

Soy, on 15 June 2013 - 10:24 AM, said:

Awesomes are great and most people suck *** with them.

Specifically cuz vast majority of players develop their offensive skills and not their defensive skills.

The problem, Soy, is that you are an exceptional player. I'm fairly certain you could pilot a literal pile of poop with success. Thus, your perception is colored by the fact that you perform vastly better than can be expected from 98% of players.

To use a real world example (and I am probably going to catch flack for this), the Wildcat was a pretty mediocre fighter in WWII, largely outclassed in almost every regard by the Zero. However, a certain minority of pilots, such as Jimmy Thatch, managed to be successful in it, even reaching ace status, by playing to its very few strengths (durability for instance). Does it meant the Wildcat was good? Not at all. It means the pilots were exceptional.

Thus, I think it would be more correct to say "Awesomes are mediocre (trying to avoid hyperbole) AND most people suck with them". I don't think it's fair, or likely, to expect a majority to be able to achieve what you (Soy) do in an Awesome, even if they do exactly what you say they should.

Lionel Messi could tell me exactly how to kick a ball using the outside of my foot, but I sure as hell wouldn't be able to do it like he does.

[Jiffy]

Voivode, on 17 June 2013 - 12:51 PM, said:

I guess that comes down to playstyle. I personally hated Stalkers when I had a few but (obviously) a lot of people love them. I thought the Stalker was too unwieldy and entirely too vulnerable to being hit from the flanks for the armor it has. I found the Awesome to have the maneuverability to put the firepower to better use. Other people didn't. That was just my playstyle. I was already playing like that so it really wasn't a big deal to me. I think maybe everyone gets caught up too much on the classification of mechs, expecting every assault to have certain characteristics or playstyles. I was never a big tabletop player so I don't really know what the Awesome was intended to be in that respect but I can understand where people might be coming from if that's the case.

I do understand the point some people make that the hitboxes are not in line with other assaults, and I can agree with that. I just personally love the mech and despite some of those flaws, which are minor in my opinion, have to disagree with the OP that the chasis is worthless as implemented in MWO.

Agreed, I like the mech regardless of its play-style requirements. I don't think it's worthless, but it's literally outclassed in every way by other mechs. It just doesn't do what it was designed to do, and the roles that it can perform, others do better.

[Soy]

InRev,

I really meant what I said about most people develop solely offensive skills in this game and not defensive skills.

Sure they might have like, tactical skills like positioning that lead to survivability and stuff, but the Awesome has to soak damage correctly for it to have a chance against other assaults or when vanguarding.

It's so hard to do, it's the hardest thing to do in the game by far. Forcing their shots where YOU want them to land, cuz they will land shots. Controlling not only your output, but your opponents output. Practicing this type of stuff with mechs like the Awesome will make anyone a better pilot.

Of cours when I talk about the Awesome I am really only talking about the 9M, everything else sucks or is for fun. Even the 9M is for fun, but, it's the only legit one.

Edited by Soy, 17 June 2013 - 06:39 PM.

[Just wanna play]

Soy, on 17 June 2013 - 06:33 PM, said:

InRev,

I really meant what I said about most people develop solely offensive skills in this game and not defensive skills.

Sure they might have like, tactical skills like positioning that lead to survivability and stuff, but the Awesome has to soak damage correctly for it to have a chance against other assaults or when vanguarding.

It's so hard to do, it's the hardest thing to do in the game by far. Forcing their shots where YOU want them to land, cuz they will land shots. Controlling not only your output, but your opponents output. Practicing this type of stuff with mechs like the Awesome will make anyone a better pilot.

Of cours when I talk about the Awesome I am really only talking about the 9M, everything else sucks or is for fun. Even the 9M is for fun, but, it's the only legit one.

are you saying the awesome ability to soak damage isnt in of itself an advantage once you know how to use it? its a little hard to use the arms on a stalker to cover your torso.......