66 replies to this topic

[RickySpanish]

I figured the double XP weeked would be a great time to level my Orions, since they suck. Then this happened:



and then this



This happened many more times; yesterday me and a friend wiped out 9/12 of the enemy team's Mechs on our own. I was in the VA and he in a Flame. It turns out you can't play an Orion the way you'd play a Cataphract. Who'da thunk it?

The only problem is that now I want to keep all the variants...

Who else has found that the Orions aren't actually as completely sucky as they first assumed?

[Bishop Steiner]

I tried to tell ya that weeks ago, lol.

They suck as ¨sturdy brawlers¨but as mid to long range support ¨generalists¨they work fine.

I just would prefer an ancient mech designed around a standard engine, used to kick down the gates of Unity Palace and retake Terra from the Usurper to be a little more durable at the type of fighting it was actually built around. (Aka, one should not feel required to use an XL in it) But if I have a remotely competent team (not good, just not run to the 4 winds and die bad) I usually can do pretty decent in the Orion. And I keep trying to do better because I love how it looks.

Problem is all my Master slots were finished a month ago.

[RickySpanish]

Bishop Steiner, on 12 October 2013 - 01:54 PM, said:

I tried to tell ya that weeks ago, lol.

They suck as ¨sturdy brawlers¨but as mid to long range support ¨generalists¨they work fine.

I just would prefer an ancient mech designed around a standard engine, used to kick down the gates of Unity Palace and retake Terra from the Usurper to be a little more durable at the type of fighting it was actually built around. (Aka, one should not feel required to use an XL in it) But if I have a remotely competent team (not good, just not run to the 4 winds and die bad) I usually can do pretty decent in the Orion. And I keep trying to do better because I love how it looks.

Problem is all my Master slots were finished a month ago.

My problem was actually with the XL in there. Once I took it out I was able to build around an AC20 (even on the V, which means I may get rid of that one and keep the others). As long as you keep that torso safe you can dish out a mean beating. The position of the cannon also seems to make landing each round exceptionally easy, and allows you to hide a lot of your profile behind cover when taking a shot. I had previously written off an AC20 build on account of the cannon being so easy to shoot off - I had that happen many, many times. Now I realise I was just ****

[NRP]

I bought a Protector last night because, well, I couldn't help myself. I like it so long as the enemy team isn't filled with lights and/or LRM boats. Picked up a VA this morning, and I've nearly got the basics done for both. I'll get the K next because it looks like the best of the lot.

Overall, Orions aren't nearly as bad as I was led to believe. I do think an AC/20 is nearly a "must have" weapon though.

[Carrioncrows]

Considering with premium time I am bouncing 8k XP, oh yeah.

That's 800 GXP btw. which is the reason I am doing it. Getting 600-800 GXP a match is huge. I've banked almost 12k GXP just from last night.

[RickySpanish]

Im also saving the K to last as it's my favourite. The differences with viable builds i have found between variants is in how many streaks you need to pack as a backup defence, and how big your lasers need to be individually. For instance, the VA gets away with 2 mlas because it can mount 4 streaks, which when fired in a chain will prevent your opponent from ever seeing straight again. On the other hand, the V might want two llas to compliment the ballistics. The K has it best with 4 mlas and 2 streaks meaning that you needn't rely on streaks at all for defence, and can instead use them as a pure harassing tool. As such you can also forego a BAP that is more necessary with the other variants.

The VA is misunderstood (at least by me) as an LRM boat, even though it is incredibly horrible at it - low slung launchers, no backup energy hardpoints and a useless ballistic slot for such a build. As for the V, I cannot figure out what to do with the second ballistic without making it into a sub optimal cataphract. I just setup up an AC 2 on it beneath the 20, maybe I will be able to play 'guess which one of these slugs will really hurt?' with my opponents?

[Ghogiel]

I leveled up mine.

Still think they are lackluster.

[NRP]

I HATE the K! Couldn't make it work at all. Sold it once I got the basics. However, the VA and Protector are working well for me.

Unexpected, this was.

Edited by NRP, 12 October 2013 - 07:16 PM.

[Barantor]

Did about what you did, but with LRMs on the orion. It actually makes a better platform than the catapult as far as LRMs go, which is kinda sad in a way. The only thing the pult has that the orion doesn't is jumpjets, but it makes up for that in the ability to have a ballistic as a backup weapon.

[RickySpanish]

NRP, on 12 October 2013 - 06:56 PM, said:

I HATE the K! Couldn't make it work at all. Sold it once I got the basics. However, the VA and Protector are working well for me.

How did you setup your missile hardpoints in the VA for it to be more favourable than a K? SRM brawler? Or do you play in a group that can protect you while you boat LRMs? Or something else entirely?

Barantor, on 12 October 2013 - 07:01 PM, said:

Did about what you did, but with LRMs on the orion. It actually makes a better platform than the catapult as far as LRMs go, which is kinda sad in a way. The only thing the pult has that the orion doesn't is jumpjets, but it makes up for that in the ability to have a ballistic as a backup weapon.

The problem I have with LRMs nowadays is that I need so many of them, I wouldn't be able to make much use of the ballistic slot anyway. Also, you need a BAP and a TAG, which means just one energy hardpoint backing you up, or two if someone else will be running TAG for you, but again that will likely be lighter weapons like the mlas.

I did have a V build with 2 AC5s and 2 LRM 5s, the idea was that I would dumbfire LRMs to suppress snipers, and had enough AC5 ammo to back up that suppression for when they did decide to show themselves. Trouble is building an Orion around the AC20 gives you far, far more of a presence imo.

Edited by RickySpanish, 12 October 2013 - 07:15 PM.

[Daekar]

RickySpanish, on 12 October 2013 - 01:51 PM, said:

I figured the double XP weeked would be a great time to level my Orions, since they suck. Then this happened:



and then this



This happened many more times; yesterday me and a friend wiped out 9/12 of the enemy team's Mechs on our own. I was in the VA and he in a Flame. It turns out you can't play an Orion the way you'd play a Cataphract. Who'da thunk it?

The only problem is that now I want to keep all the variants...

Who else has found that the Orions aren't actually as completely sucky as they first assumed?

Mine sucked until I took the XL engine out of them and started brawling.
Guess not everybody is good at playing the same style! I will definitely agree that the Orions are worth keeping. I'm trying to decide on my third variant right now, actually...

[NRP]

I PUG solo, so I set the VA up as follows:

STD300
AC/20
2 MLs
4 Streaks
BAP, Adv Target Decay, 360 Retention

I'd say 75% of my problem solo PUGing are those f'ing lights. This build makes quick work of them. It's obviously not a 1v1 build for larger mechs, but then again, the Orion isn't a good 1v1 mech anyway. But the build works very well in a support role for Assaults and other Heavies. Besides, chain fired streaks allow me to escape to cover more often than not when the poop hits the fan.

[Anjian]

I leveled my third Orion to Master as of yesterday. Yes I am done. Done it with brawler to skirmisher configurations, centered around the AC20 or 2 UAC5s. Cataphracts or Jagers think Orions are easy kills as they deliberately attack and brawl me. They forget its easy to heat shot a Cataphract or Jager with an AC20, especially where the height of the AC20 on the Orion is just about where their head is up close. Anyway, just for fun, I am testing a rig with 4 Large Pulses right now. This likes tearing into small mechs particularly.

Edited by Anjian, 12 October 2013 - 07:52 PM.

[RickySpanish]

NRP - I find the Orion to be extraordinarily good at light wacking, the AC20 being close in line to the CT means the slug travels in a predictable arc, its only a matter of time before they screw up and die horribly.

[Ngamok]

I've mastered 4 of them prior to this starting.

[Ngamok]

RickySpanish, on 12 October 2013 - 06:05 PM, said:

Im also saving the K to last as it's my favourite. The differences with viable builds i have found between variants is in how many streaks you need to pack as a backup defence, and how big your lasers need to be individually. For instance, the VA gets away with 2 mlas because it can mount 4 streaks, which when fired in a chain will prevent your opponent from ever seeing straight again. On the other hand, the V might want two llas to compliment the ballistics. The K has it best with 4 mlas and 2 streaks meaning that you needn't rely on streaks at all for defence, and can instead use them as a pure harassing tool. As such you can also forego a BAP that is more necessary with the other variants.

The VA is misunderstood (at least by me) as an LRM boat, even though it is incredibly horrible at it - low slung launchers, no backup energy hardpoints and a useless ballistic slot for such a build. As for the V, I cannot figure out what to do with the second ballistic without making it into a sub optimal cataphract. I just setup up an AC 2 on it beneath the 20, maybe I will be able to play 'guess which one of these slugs will really hurt?' with my opponents?

For my V I am currently running this:

ON1-V

But it used to be this:

ON1-V

Also for the VA, I made it my LRM boat now instead of the V since I am using the first link instead of the second one above:

ON1-VA

Though I think I dropped the engine down to a 260 I think and added in one MG.

[Pariah Devalis]

Been l2Onioning since the Protector came out. Considering I do not use LRMs, I gotta say the Orion chassis is incredible for racking up huge numbers when played in an attrition game. Long range constant pokes, mobile enough to stay away from the front lines but close enough to keep on blasting. Even losses can feel like wins in the thing:



I have had ample success with twin ERLLas, twin AC5, and either an MLas with an SRM4 for knife fighting or swapping both for an MPLas and additional DHS to run stupidly cool.

(Or, if you would prefer, the prototype to the current configuration, in action: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHV2WjxR-lA )

Edited by Pariah Devalis, 12 October 2013 - 09:06 PM.

[stinkypuppy]

i haven't been leveling my orions because i got the protector before the orions were released for C-bills and liked it so the past 2 weeks i got 2 of the C-bill versions and started to really not like the standards to much. after many hours of painful grinding just so my protector can be mastered the minute i finish the incredibly painful and unsatisfying grind. double xp weekend announced and i live in Canada so i get the Monday off meaning i could have taken advantage of a late night on Sunday. second i saw that i was like "IF I WAITED A ******* ******** 2 WEEKS I COULD HAVE DONE THIS SO MUCH FASTER HOLY ******* ****!" then proceeded to flip a table and eat ALL the ice cream, and i mean ALL of it. and i'm even a man, that {Scrap} isn't even supposed to effect us.

[Hans Von Lohman]

I still like my VA with quad streaks, but primarily a long range fighter with twin PPC, oh, and an AC-10 as a backup gun for running hot.

Who would have thought of an AC-10 as a backup weapon, right? I also shoot it while cooling off.

What is more odd to me is that the most common thing I kill are spiders. They always try to run when they see quad streaks, and twin PPC shots do their work.

The only only time I feel threatened is in point blank fights. If I can keep the range up, I'm good,

It is fun running a Dual PPC heavy with them mounted in the arms where they belong.

[Hexenhammer]

Double xp + patience + gxp conversion sale = win