19 replies to this topic

[chrislocho]

Any of the four a recommended buy ?

Thanks in advance!!

[xMEPHISTOx]

Is there something here that I am missing...? What is this 'special forces' you speak of?

EDIT - Okay found the special forces 'sale' info...and of those mechs the HGN HM and the Victor DS are imo the best. However it really depends on your play style. Both are great sniper platforms ofc could be used in other ways as well I suppose.

Edited by xMEPHISTOx, 15 November 2013 - 03:06 PM.

[Redshift2k5]

None of them are especially popular.

The best deal-breaker (deal maker?) to consider is the C-bill boost, if it's a mech chassis you own or are willing to invest in. you'll need at least two more regular variants to round out the skill tree.

Highlanders are solid mechs and frequently see play, although rarely in the form of the Heavy Metal.

xMEPHISTOx, on 15 November 2013 - 03:02 PM, said:

Is there something here that I am missing...? What is this 'special forces' you speak of?

Are you maybe inquiring about the phoenix package? If so of the four mechs available in that pack I recommend only the ShadowHawks of which be available for cbill purchase later this month.

http://mwomercs.com/...89#entry2921089

This week's sale includes four Hero mechs on sale. The sale is called "special forces sale"

also, you may notice the OP is an Overlord customer ans thusly has no need of Shadowhawks

Edited by Redshift2k5, 15 November 2013 - 03:08 PM.

[xMEPHISTOx]

Ya they have so many sales popping up all the time, hard to keep up with them all. I don't use MC to purchase mechs so not up on all the sales.

[nungunz]

Heavy Metal, hands down.

[John MatriX82]

nungunz, on 16 November 2013 - 03:06 AM, said:

Heavy Metal, hands down.

Not for me, DS is better. The HM suffers of convergence issues due to the low and far arms from each other (and that's a problem also with cbill victors), while the DS doesn't.

The HM could be a good brawler if ghost heat wasn't still alive and kicking (3LL on the arm are useful), 733 or 733C, even 732 imho do better things that what the HM can do. I'd take the HM only for the music xD

[DrSlamastika]

I reccomended Heavy Metal and Dragon Slayer.

[Koniving]

chrislocho, on 15 November 2013 - 02:56 PM, said:

Any of the four a recommended buy ?

Thanks in advance!!

I refer you to something I said in the short question short answer thread:

Koniving, on 15 November 2013 - 09:52 AM, said:

Since you're still considering I'll tell you what I know because I've tried them all and own most of them.

To be honest the most overpowered (compared to the others in its chassis) hero is the X-5.
The rest in no particular order:

Other great heroes: Heavy Metal, Illya Muromets, Misery (85 ton Boar's Head -1 energy. Stalker's torso damage resilience. However the arms have no protection bonus unlike most stalkers due to no missile doors).

Good heroes: Flame (that LT AC/20 + upcoming fixes = gold), Protector (75 ton Heavy Metal, almost literally), Dragon Slayer (80 ton Heavy Metal), Boar's Head (Best trait of an Atlas RS + 2 lasers in exchange for the torso of an Atlas K? Still kicks butt better than most Atlases not to mention the speed!).

Balanced heroes: Death's Knell, Pretty Baby, Fang, Yen Lo Wang, Jester (Chesire?), Golden Boy (would be under great if not for the engine limit; this was clearly built to favor larger weapons than other Kintaros).

Key:
"OP" = Blatantly superior to its similar variants (still far from pay to win, but clearly outclasses all other variants in its chassis).
Great = Like good is below, but more than worth their money.
Good = As good or slightly better in more cases than its fellow variants.
Balanced = Just as good, slight better to some of - and in some ways inferior to - its fellow variants.

And the most recent picture of my mechlab. (Reason I mention this is look at the bottom right. 78 mechs. The only two heroes that I do not own at the moment are the Boar's Head and the Jester, but I have tried all of them via the public test servers.)


If it helps, with the 12,000 deal I both the Dragon Slayer and the Protector heroes and would've had 3800 something MC left over (I had 208 I think before I bought the Dragon Slayer and the Protector for keeps which is why I have 4068 left).

Of them all the most valuable is the Heavy Metal. Protector won't shine until the 19th with the Orion mech fixes, but the sale will end before then. The Dragon Slayer is pretty solid but I'm discontent with having half of my direct fire weapons torso mounted (this wasn't a problem on the test server because I went with a stock build. My custom build leaves me rather impaired and so I'm redesigning it).

(Quick comparison of the two popular MC deals using the sale price of the Dragon Slayer.)

Spoiler

Dragon Slayer regular price 6000
6500 : $29.95 = 6000 : $27.65
12000 : 49.95 = 6000 : $24.98

DS sale price 4200
6500 : $29.95 = 4200 : $19.35
12000 : $49.95 = 4200 : $17.4825

It helps. Of course with a hero comes a permanent 30% 'premium' cbill bonus whenever you use that mech.

I have a vid of a stock Dragon Slayer during the public test, a couple of vids for the Golden Boy and dozens of the Heavy Metal. For the HM I'm going to feature my DPS brawler which is by far the most fun and effective build I've got for. I do not have vids for the Protector.

Dragon Slayer vid. Stock.
Heavy Metal vid. (Several kills, over 1,000 damage with what some refer to on paper as a joke build, while constantly giving commands on the battlegrid and making a tutorial.)
Golden Boy vid. This is recorded by Lordred in the form of a Camera Commando. My Golden Boy in this vid is using 5 LRM-5s and 2 small lasers with boatloads of ammo and is providing a support role to an Atlas.

Edited by Koniving, 16 November 2013 - 07:33 AM.

[Tooooonpie]

I personally think:

1. Dragon Slayer - Overall its extremely viable, and quite fun
2. Protector - For the smallest tonnage out of the four, this is bloody good, and again very viable
3. Heavy Metal - Nobody ever mentions it, but having music play when you kill an enemy mech is pretty damn awesome
4. Golden Boy - Don't touch it with a barge pole

[Unnatural Growth]

I picked up a Heavy Metal. Been eying the Highlanders for a while, but was going to wait til after I finished mastering the overlord package mechs.

That was until the HM went on sale.

Just messing around with it a bit so far. First impression is "Holy Cow, this thing's slow!" So far only engine upgrade I have that will fit is an XL300. Any noticeable improvement in running the XL330? I'll have to buy one if so.
.
My Stalkers are slow too, but after grinding the Battlemasters for a month, I guess I got spoiled?

EDIT TO ADD---

When I first took it for a spin in testing grounds, I tried the stock layout. I've never been a Gauss fan, and the new Gauss mechanic is terrible. Don't like the weapon anyway, so no motivation to get used to that. My sympathies to those running that weapon. But I was surprised that the stock LRM20 fires in 2 separate salvos?? Really?

I was also surprised I couldn't mount an AC20? To be honest, I didn't look at that first, but I remembered there was a Highlander variant that did.

I've got the Gauss and both missile launchers pulled out.

I'm running LB10X, AC2, 3xML's, and 2xSRM4's. XL300, AMS, and 4 JJ's with max armor. I may keep tweaking this for a bit.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a keeper. I just have to learn to play it differently than my XL380 Battlemaster. Hopefully with the XL330 and skills unlocked, it will get better movement.

And it still cracks me up every time the music plays.

Edited by OldOrgandonor, 17 November 2013 - 05:28 AM.

[Koniving]

OldOrgandonor, on 16 November 2013 - 05:08 PM, said:

Just messing around with it a bit so far. First impression is "Holy Cow, this thing's slow!" So far only engine upgrade I have that will fit is an XL300. Any noticeable improvement in running the XL330? I'll have to buy one if so.

See the Heavy Metal video link above. It's running an XL 330.

[Victor Morson]

chrislocho, on 15 November 2013 - 02:56 PM, said:

Any of the four a recommended buy ?

Thanks in advance!!

Heavy Metal is great if you like the PPC/AC5 kind of builds (the slots are split onto the other side of the 'mech, so that it's far more durable than other Highlanders running it), or the Dragon Slayer for a similar kind of experience. Both make great jump snipers and acceptable mid-range brawlers.

Really they are two of the best heroes in the game, just behind the Ilya.

The Protector is alright. If you like Orions it's more than fine, but it's not outstanding, so it's just.. decent.

STAY AWAY FROM THE GOLDEN BOY. It has the same freaking basic hard points as a cbill variant that moves abour 40% faster. The Golden Boy is literally worse than the cbill Kintaros.

Edited by Victor Morson, 16 November 2013 - 05:35 PM.

[nungunz]

Been running the Heavy Metal with x2 AC/5 and x2 PPC with a Standard 325 engine. Working pretty darn well so far.

[Redshift2k5]

I bought a Protector myself. Not entirely sure why, but it's been fun.

[ManaValkyrie]

Victor Morson, on 16 November 2013 - 05:34 PM, said:

STAY AWAY FROM THE GOLDEN BOY. It has the same freaking basic hard points as a cbill variant that moves abour 40% faster. The Golden Boy is literally worse than the cbill Kintaros.

I don't mind the Golden Boy, but you do have to think a lot about the hardpointing, yes if you run near to stock configurations i.e. srms or ssrms then the C-Bill variants can be a lot faster.

[Appogee]

I just bought the HM, tricked it out, and played 5 matches in it.

• man is it slow, even with an XL325 in it.
  
• Jump Jets still make a huge difference to maneuverability and survivability.
  
• I'm only averaging 250 damage per match, with a k/d of 1.5, so I clearly have much more optimising to do.

I will probably buy a DS by end tomorrow, just because I love Victors.

[Duncan Longwood]

I have to chime in to defend the GoldenBoy. I run mine with 5ssrms, 2LLas, and a tag with a 280xl in it. This mech is a consistent earner for me. The highest cbills I have made on a loss was in the GB; 282k cbills for a loss with premium time active. I own all the heroes in the "Special Forces" and the only one I am thinking about buying during this sale is another GB.

[Victor Morson]

ManaValkyrie, on 17 November 2013 - 11:50 AM, said:

I don't mind the Golden Boy, but you do have to think a lot about the hardpointing, yes if you run near to stock configurations i.e. srms or ssrms then the C-Bill variants can be a lot faster.

+1 Energy Hardpoints
-45ish kph top speed

Not worth it. No amount of thinking about hard points can fix that.

Duncan Longwood, on 17 November 2013 - 01:51 PM, said:

I have to chime in to defend the GoldenBoy. I run mine with 5ssrms, 2LLas, and a tag with a 280xl in it. This mech is a consistent earner for me. The highest cbills I have made on a loss was in the GB; 282k cbills for a loss with premium time active. I own all the heroes in the "Special Forces" and the only one I am thinking about buying during this sale is another GB.

And chiming in to say that the KTO-18 can run that exact config and still have a far bigger engine option doing it. Not that you'd want to, 2 meds so you can actually chase lights = far better.

[Duncan Longwood]

I never said it was my best mech, most versatile build-wise, or had the best W/L or K/D... I said it was a consistent earner. I have lots of mechs that I play, but this mech is great for grinding cbills in pugs, win or lose. That's what I use heroes for; grinding cbills. This mech fulfills that function quite well, regardless of your arguments.

Victor Morson, on 17 November 2013 - 02:15 PM, said:

+1 Energy Hardpoints
-45ish kph top speed

Not worth it. No amount of thinking about hard points can fix that.

And chiming in to say that the KTO-18 can run that exact config and still have a far bigger engine option doing it. Not that you'd want to, 2 meds so you can actually chase lights = far better.

I take Bap and Tag to up my cbills earnings. The GB is a better earner than the KTO-18 for a streaktaro with Bap and Tag because of that extra hardpoint.

Have fun on Alpine with 2mlas and a bunch of streaks. 2LLas let me have a weapon to engage the enemy with before the brawl breaks out. I think it is a solid trade for the speed when my goal is to earn cbills.

[Victor Morson]

Duncan Longwood, on 17 November 2013 - 02:46 PM, said:

Have fun on Alpine with 2mlas and a bunch of streaks. 2LLas let me have a weapon to engage the enemy with before the brawl breaks out. I think it is a solid trade for the speed when my goal is to earn cbills.

The only thing the Kintaro does well is light hunt, and 2 LL is horrible at light hunting.

Also if you want to earn cbills there are a dozen other better heroes for that. GB is garbage.