27 replies to this topic

[Muzeec]

More specifically I'm looking for something that can provide long range support.
Ideally it has LRMs and large lasers.

So far I have set my eyes on two mechs. The Catapult C1 and the Orion ON1-k. A lot of people say the Catapult is good but the Orion seems really powerful as well. I can switch the medium lasers for dual large lasers, put in 2 LRMs and switch the AC/10 to something more rapid firing for close range combat. The Orion also has better armor.


What are your thoughts?

[Wintersdark]

Its just me, but I'd go jagermech. The A offers two energy, four missile and two ballistic hardpoints, providing missile support with energy backup and wonderful high mounted ballistics options.

Then the S allows 4 energy/4 ballistic, covering the direct fire ballywack pretty much perfect.

[Jez]

You're still new to the game, so I recommend you select a line of mechs that is well rounded and can serve in a number of different roles (close range brawler, sniper, missile support, fast attack, ballistic boat, jump jets, laser boats). That being said, the Cataphract line can fulfill the most roles while the Orions come in 2nd.

[Demogarose]

i bought the Orion ON1-K as my first heavy mech

i'm most definitely liking it. the best part is its versatility. i can have a Long-Range Fire Support mech for one battle, and an in-your-face Brawler for the next

[Muzeec]

Wintersdark, on 19 October 2013 - 02:21 PM, said:

Its just me, but I'd go jagermech. The A offers two energy, four missile and two ballistic hardpoints, providing missile support with energy backup and wonderful high mounted ballistics options.

Then the S allows 4 energy/4 ballistic, covering the direct fire ballywack pretty much perfect.

Yes. The Jagermech looks like a very good versatile mech. The S model caught my eye. However I'm worried about its low armor. Seems low when you compare it to the Catapult K2 which is another choice.

Jez, on 19 October 2013 - 02:49 PM, said:

You're still new to the game, so I recommend you select a line of mechs that is well rounded and can serve in a number of different roles (close range brawler, sniper, missile support, fast attack, ballistic boat, jump jets, laser boats). That being said, the Cataphract line can fulfill the most roles while the Orions come in 2nd.

Well I've been doing alot of brawling with my Hunchback so now I want to try something different.

Anyhow I'm thinking about foregoing the LRMs which brings me to either the Catapult K2 or the Jagermech JM6-S. I would choose the Jager but the armor is pretty low....

Edited by Muzeec, 19 October 2013 - 07:21 PM.

[crazy10101]

Pick the Cat; while the weapons are down low, you can also pour all your armour into the torso, while fitting an XL, and not lose a ton of survivability. Plus they're freaking Cats, everyone loves them.

[Wintersdark]

Muzeec, on 19 October 2013 - 07:19 PM, said:

Yes. The Jagermech looks like a very good versatile mech. The S model caught my eye. However I'm worried about its low armor. Seems low when you compare it to the Catapult K2 which is another choice.

Maximum armor is based ton tonnage not mech type. Thus, a Catapult and a Jagermech have the same maximum armour - and you should be maximizing armor on all your mechs first thing.

[Wintersdark]

crazy10101, on 19 October 2013 - 07:28 PM, said:

Pick the Cat; while the weapons are down low, you can also pour all your armour into the torso, while fitting an XL, and not lose a ton of survivability. Plus they're freaking Cats, everyone loves them.

This doesn't make a lot of sense, you can't move armor from a side torso into the center torso, only front to back within a specific section.

As I said above, armor on both is identical. The jag tends to take a little more side torso damage than a catapult,but that's a good thing. The cat's weakness is that its center torso is huge and can be hit from any angle, making it very easy to kill in a brawl.

[crazy10101]

Wintersdark, on 19 October 2013 - 08:13 PM, said:

This doesn't make a lot of sense, you can't move armor from a side torso into the center torso, only front to back within a specific section.

As I said above, armor on both is identical. The jag tends to take a little more side torso damage than a catapult,but that's a good thing. The cat's weakness is that its center torso is huge and can be hit from any angle, making it very easy to kill in a brawl.

I'm not saying move it from ST to CT, I'm saying move it from the arms to the torso; can't do that with JM since it'll mean your DPS machines fall off faster. This only applies for the K2, mind, but meh.

And the other Cats are lurm boats, you brawling with them is a sure-fire disaster waiting to happen.

Although, you say that the JM ST only takes a bit more damage than Cat? Anything I've tried to do with JM is with standard engines, hence why it seemed to always underperform. Might get it as a second mech, then.

[Wintersdark]

You can't move it from the arms to the center torso. You can pull armor off the arms, but max armour is figured per location, not just an overall total. The CT max is the same no matter if you have max arm armour or no arm armor.

With jags, you can be successful with standard engines, and indeed many run them. But if you're going for mid-long range fire support, an xl vastly increases your firepower options while maintaining the speed you need to keep yourself alive.

[Sephlock]

Pick the Jagermech. The Catapult had it's day, but that day is long past, thanks in large part to whiners.

That's pretty much true of LRMs as well.

[Kiiyor]

Sephlock, on 20 October 2013 - 12:36 PM, said:

Pick the Jagermech. The Catapult had it's day, but that day is long past, thanks in large part to whiners.

That's pretty much true of LRMs as well.

^^
The Jagermech is awesome. Anecdotally, it is also one of the most fielded heavies I see in games nowadays, as ballistics are in a better place lethality wise when compared to energy and missile weapons at the moment.

You can do pretty much anything with the different variants. You can toss down missiles with the A, and the S and DD can both field a nice destructive mix of ballistics and energy, but it's main purpose is to unleash foul torrents of DAKKA at your enemies.

It's main competition would be the Cataphract. The 'phract has the advantage of Jumpjets on one? if it's models, but this is offset by it's obscenely placed weapon mounts, which will see you putting a lot of your glorious high explosive rounds into the dirt at your feet unless you are exposing quite a bit of your profile to return fire. The Yager on the other hand has weapons mounted pretty much as ear muffs - what you see is what you can shoot:



While it can work very well as a brawler (the pure, white hot evil of the 2xAC20 BOOM Yager is actually making a resurgence) it works best as a XL toting support mech, where it's high profile arms and huge XL powered weapons payload can bring pain and screen shaking dakka death to anything under your crosshairs.

It's arms are also lacking lower and hand actuators, meaning they have far more space for weaponry in them. It can mount dual gauss without a problem, dual AC20's, quad UAC5's (though you have PAPER armour and no speed) or a more sensible quad AC5's, or even 6 AC2's for some heat-glitched self mech melting mayhem, and all variants can carry at least 2 energy weapons as backup.

Also, if you are getting bored, the Yager has far more flexibility as far as obscene, ridiculous and hilarious experiments go - quad UAC5 or 6 AC2, 6 MGs, 2 MG's and 4 flamers, AC2+AC10+UAC5+MG FRANKENDAKKA, THE LIST GOES ON.

[Sephlock]

Kiiyor, on 20 October 2013 - 03:18 PM, said:

How can I pilot a Tree!?

[NRP]

I'd say either a Jager or an Orion. If you're new to the game, I'd lean toward the Jager.

[Kiiyor]

Sephlock, on 20 October 2013 - 03:31 PM, said:

How can I pilot a Tree!?

Take some LSD. The rest is easy.

[Koniving]

3 heavies, 3 chase cams.

Cataphract.


Jagermech


Catapult


Videos by Lordred. Chased mechs piloted by me.

[MechWarrior679696]

It's a bit hard to recommend something. In spite of my love for the Jager, and the fact that the Cataphract is such an all-rounder weapons platform (with jump-jets no less), for a new player... I would actually recommend the Dragon.

Now, you might call me crazy, but hear me out on this. There's a substantial list of reasons why I would actually argue in favor of the Dragon, despite its many flaws. And they are as follows:

1) It's cheap and easy. You can get any of the Dragons, and you'll get a mech with a reasonable, reliable loadout which isn't catastrophic as a default. You'll be able to gradually upgrade quite easily. The premium versions are also very respectable.

2) It's fast. The Dragon is one of the lightest and fastest Heavy mechs, along with the Quickdraw. And because the model encourages using an XL engine, this only accentuates this advantage.

3) It's got a great hardpoint layout. Maybe not as marvelous as the Jager, but as a generalist and all-around effective mech it's very, very tough to beat a properly kitted Dragon 1N. You can have ballistics, large lasers AND missiles, all in one package.

And lastly...

4) It's somewhat squishy and awkward. The huge center torso and the speed will encourage any new pilot to learn the tactics of the game, learn how to use his weapons effectively, to not get into stupid head-on fights, and how to flank and maneuver rather than brawl, to revile lights, to leg Atlases, etc... Basically it's the best platform for getting all the frustrating lessons out on, before upgrading to one of the FOTM mechs.

[Fuggles]

uh, dragons are actually giant money sinks, you need ferro, endo-steel, double heatsinks, as well as a monster XL engine to be "effective"

cataphracts are very versatile as well as orions. they are both great general purpose mechs and do well with the standard engines (read cheaper for new players) so thats a plus. Both jagers and catapults basically require XL engines.

[N00bHunter1]

i cant decide which mech to get?!?!?

[NRP]

What is your play style? What do you want to do?

If you're not sure, then I recommend you pick something from the Heavy class. As others have said, they're very versatile.