42 replies to this topic

[ScrapIron Prime]

WEll the big question is hit boxes, yes. But we already know what the mechs will be good at.

Locust is a tiny fire platform with lots of small weapons. 5 lasers is a good deal, while the other variants will gain traction once drop weight limits are introduced. (A spider K does the same thing as a Locust 1V but is 10 tons heavier.)

Shadowhawk is missile capable, but has those ballistic mounts HIGH on the torso, allowing it to fire over obstacles easily. So it will fulfill the role of a jumping hunchback with a higher potential top speed.

Thunderbolt is loaded with hard points, all three kinds on the basic model. There's nothing it can't do. If it doesn't suffer the Awesome's "can't miss me" profile, I can see lances of thunderbolt brawlers each with an LRM 15 so the lance can dish out the harm in royal fashion.

Battlemaster... An assault that can clear 80 kph, puts it up there with a Victor. But unlike most of the other assaults, it's got weapon mounts at the very top of its profile, giving it good fire arcs and convergence without having to ridge line itself. And like the Thunderbolt, it has oodles of hard points.

[Angel of Annihilation]

One Medic Army, on 18 August 2013 - 12:59 AM, said:

The difference is you used an XL engine.
He used a 375standard which is waaaaay past the efficient range for an 85tonner of 325-340.

Heck, here's my build which uses a 370xl, and could definitely be up-engined by anyone who doesn't like AC/5s as much as me.

Well my the point I was trying to make is that you can mount a super large engine without giving up firepower but yeah I guess there are some crazy people out there that will try to stuff 400 standard into the think with only enough weight left over for a few medium lasers.

ScrapIron Prime, on 18 August 2013 - 02:30 PM, said:

WEll the big question is hit boxes, yes. But we already know what the mechs will be good at.

Locust is a tiny fire platform with lots of small weapons. 5 lasers is a good deal, while the other variants will gain traction once drop weight limits are introduced. (A spider K does the same thing as a Locust 1V but is 10 tons heavier.)

Shadowhawk is missile capable, but has those ballistic mounts HIGH on the torso, allowing it to fire over obstacles easily. So it will fulfill the role of a jumping hunchback with a higher potential top speed.

Thunderbolt is loaded with hard points, all three kinds on the basic model. There's nothing it can't do. If it doesn't suffer the Awesome's "can't miss me" profile, I can see lances of thunderbolt brawlers each with an LRM 15 so the lance can dish out the harm in royal fashion.

Battlemaster... An assault that can clear 80 kph, puts it up there with a Victor. But unlike most of the other assaults, it's got weapon mounts at the very top of its profile, giving it good fire arcs and convergence without having to ridge line itself. And like the Thunderbolt, it has oodles of hard points.

I think this is a pretty good evaluation.

I think the locust will be alot more competitive than it seems because it is going to just be a tiny bug running around and almost impossible to hit.

The Shadowhawk I am not sure about to be honest. It really seems to lack an identity with that mixed loadout spread all over the mech but I am looking forward to trying out the virtually unlimited amount of builds you can do with them.

The T-bolt is going to be made or broken by its torso hitboxes. It seems to be as wider or wider than a Awesome, at least from the concept art and if it is, that mech is going to suffer its same fate. This is especially so if the missile tubes are considered hitboxes of the right torso. If by some miracle it ends up with average sized hitboxes it should be an amazingly versitile mech and alot of fun.

The Battlemaster is clearly up there with the Victor only I think with better hardpoint options at the expense of not being jump capable. These also are going to be very interesting to see in action.

All I can say now is I wish I didn't have two more months to wait on these mechs.

[Carrioncrows]

Viktor Drake, on 18 August 2013 - 10:56 PM, said:

Well my the point I was trying to make is that you can mount a super large engine without giving up firepower but yeah I guess there are some crazy people out there that will try to stuff 400 standard into the think with only enough weight left over for a few medium lasers.



I think this is a pretty good evaluation.

I think the locust will be alot more competitive than it seems because it is going to just be a tiny bug running around and almost impossible to hit.

The Shadowhawk I am not sure about to be honest. It really seems to lack an identity with that mixed loadout spread all over the mech but I am looking forward to trying out the virtually unlimited amount of builds you can do with them.

The T-bolt is going to be made or broken by its torso hitboxes. It seems to be as wider or wider than a Awesome, at least from the concept art and if it is, that mech is going to suffer its same fate. This is especially so if the missile tubes are considered hitboxes of the right torso. If by some miracle it ends up with average sized hitboxes it should be an amazingly versitile mech and alot of fun.

The Battlemaster is clearly up there with the Victor only I think with better hardpoint options at the expense of not being jump capable. These also are going to be very interesting to see in action.

All I can say now is I wish I didn't have two more months to wait on these mechs.

I think the Shadowhawk is going to be one of thee most effective brawlers we have to date.

Though it's roll isn't strictly limited to brawling, the fact that it brings the 3 pillars of brawling - Mobility, Firepower and Cool running.

Look at the YLW, it is by all accounts an excellent brawler simply because it has all 3 of the above. Better yet get a TBT-7K and put a AC20, 2 meds and a STD 240 engine in it, Endo + FF. It's better than YLW because you have 2 shield arms and almost never lose the cannon.

Heavy ballistics and heavy missile hardpoints allow it to deal both great alpha or great at suppression. Either roll is attainable.

Jump jets and speed allow it to zip around the battlefield ignoring most obstacles or get out of trouble.

Honestly when it comes to the SH I think getting people to "Temper" their expectations on how much equipment they can fit. It is only 5 tons heavier than a Cent or Hunch. A cent with a Gauss rifle, 2 meds and 2 lrm5's is about the best you can expect from a 50 tonner with an XL so trying to do more with a Shadowhawk may leave people feeling frustrated.

I hope that it excels at using a STD engine in it, and it may perform a lot like a Centurion with jumpjets. The KTO has taught me to lower my expectations somewhat.

I wish more builds were custom made for STD engines.

None the less this is the first build I plan on running out the gate until I get a feel for it.

http://goo.gl/mhfcJU

XL255
x3 Jumpjets
Near max armor.

AC2 (x3 tons of ammo)
x2 Machineguns (1 ton of ammo)
x2 SRM6's, x1 SRM3 (X3 tons of ammo)
ER Large laser.

If STD is the way to go I could easily drop that XL and the ER Large for a STD 250 engine + FF upgrade and just go with a regular medium laser. You lose some speed the long range laser but gain a lot of toughness.

http://goo.gl/ri0uhy

Now the T-bolt despite how cool it is i think it's going to be one of the mechs that makes the least impact.

We simply have 2 other 65 ton mechs that do the same thing. So a third one that sorta bridges the gap isn't really going to displace anything. I think it will be solid but really just a jack of all trades and master of none. You look at it the JM6-A it has nearly the same hardpoints and can accomplish much of the same thing.

The one variant with jumpjets loses it's most important asset, the ballistic hardpoints. So it basically gets turned into a CPLT-C1 with just a different profile.


The Battlemaster is clearly a game changer. The 85 ton mech is a wrecking ball to the stalkers siege warfare.

Edited by Carrioncrows, 18 August 2013 - 11:48 PM.