44 replies to this topic

[Vinh Nguyen]

What's a good mech for kills and racking up c-bills? I heard the Iyra is pretty good or the Hunchback Champion one...

[kuangmk11]

heros = c-bills, champions = xp. The ilya is definatly a good choice.

[TercieI]

Champions give 10% XP bonus. Heroes give 30% C-bill bonus. So to rack up c-bills, you want a hero. Kills, well, that's on you.

As for which, that depends on what style you like to play. Conventional wisdom is Ilya, Misery, Dragon Slayer, Heavy Metal, Firebrand.

Personally, I love my X-5. It suits my play style well.

Edited by Terciel1976, 25 November 2013 - 05:08 AM.

[Koniving]

When you go to make your decision, remember to wait until Friday afternoons / Saturdays. That way you can see if there is a sale included. Also be aware that there very likely will be a large sale on Black Friday weekend.

These will significantly reduce the prices and allow you to carry your even farther.

[Otami]

As they mentioned earlier, the Ilya is a very very good hero mech. It's flexible in it's loadout options too. The Firebrand is a good second choice, as it plays much the same, but it can peak over hills better.

[p8ragon]

Depends on your playstyle, and how much you're willing to spend. Hero mechs go from $7-8 (death's knell)--> $40 (Boar's head)
They all give the same 30% c bill bonus, so I recommend you figure out what kind of player you are (IE brawler, support, skirmisher), and buy a hero mech based on that playstyle.

I own several hero mechs, and from the matches I have played in them...

Ilya (Cataphract)= Definitely a strong contender. I don't know why people like the Triple UAC/5 build so much. Personally, I run it as a support mech, with 2 ac/10s for support and an ER large for longer range targets. Threw in an MG because I had 1.5 tons free, and I like critting things

Yen Lo Wang (centurion)= This is by far, my FAVORITE hero mech. It's essentially an ac/20 that travels @ 100+km. Is probably a bit harder to play well though, since you have to take care to protect your right arm. Without it, you're practically defenseless. I play it as both a brawler and a support mech, although you have to be very picky with your engagements

Flame (Dragon)=Bought it pre-gauss nerf...like it a lot more then. Still a really good skirmisher though. Terrible at brawling, but great at flanking and striking unaware opponents (think of it as a 'rogue' if you will)

Protector (Orion)=Picked this up during the spec ops sale a week or so ago. Frigging love this thing. Feels like a mini atlas with more maneuverability. It is a brawler IMO, and a pretty effective one at that.

Edited by p8ragon, 24 November 2013 - 09:19 PM.

[WVAnonymous]

My favorite hero for the money is probably the Firebrand, but I have had some highly memorable Heavy Metal matches.

I did beat a Highlander in a straight up 1:1 on Alpine with a Yen Lo Wang which was an absolutely monster fight. The next guy to see me killed me in 1 shot, but I won the fight.

+1 for the "wait for Friday night sales" recommendation. You don't have to have them and 30% off makes a difference.

[RapierE01]

i would choose from the weight class i like. I prefer the heavy Class and my hero is the Protector. The problem of the Ilya is if PGI nerf Ballistics its nearby useless. And if you want dual AC's the Firebrand is the better choice

Edited by RapierE01, 24 November 2013 - 10:36 PM.

[Victor Morson]

kuangmk11, on 24 November 2013 - 08:56 PM, said:

heros = c-bills, champions = xp. The ilya is definatly a good choice.

He speaks the truth. The Cataphract Ilya is the best hero in the game, honestly; very effective and a great c-bill grinder with 3 AC/5 3 ML or 3 UAC/5. You can't go wrong with it.

The Dragon Slayer and Heavy Metal aren't bad if you are already invested into Victors or Highlanders, too.

The only ones I can say "RUN AWAY FROM!" would be the Golden Boy (Kintaro), Jester (Catapult), Pretty Baby (Awesome) and Death's Kneel (Commando - it's not a particularly bad hero really, but Commandos are very very lackluster.)

RapierE01, on 24 November 2013 - 10:35 PM, said:

i would choose from the weight class i like. I prefer the heavy Class and my hero is the Protector. The problem of the Ilya is if PGI nerf Ballistics its nearby useless. And if you want dual AC's the Firebrand is the better choice

If you enjoy ridge-humping with the high mounted guns, yes, the Firebrand is a better choice for twin Gauss/twin AC/20. However if you are looking to grind lots of money with a very effective AC/UAC setup that's a mix of the 3D and Ilya, it's a great choice.

As for them nerfing the meta, the Ilya Muromets has held the crown for over a year now and I don't see it going away anytime soon. It's a fairly safe bet.

Long story short.. the Firebrand isn't terrible but I'd not buy it as a first hero.

Edited by Victor Morson, 25 November 2013 - 12:04 AM.

[Vinh Nguyen]

How should the Iyra be run? With 2 AC10's ?

[Victor Morson]

Vinh Nguyen, on 25 November 2013 - 12:05 AM, said:

How should the Iyra be run? With 2 AC10's ?

The best configurations are:

3 AC/5, 3 ML - Standard Engine
3 UAC/5 - Standard Engine
3 UAC/5 3 ML - XL Engine

I used the first two because I occasionally will bring it into a serious drop to run with the Cataphract 4Xs. The third is fine in pugs, even if a little less durable. All of them will turn in huge damage numbers, which translates into huge cbill earnings - thus why I highly endorse it as great first hero to pick up.

It's fairly simple to use, cool running, and is very flexible (it's very good up close OR at long range, even past the listed AC/5 ranges it can turn in respectable damage) so it's really a good bet.

EDIT: There are a bunch of other configurations, those are just the most popular and are great places to start.

Edited by Victor Morson, 25 November 2013 - 12:09 AM.

[John MatriX82]

Vinh Nguyen, on 25 November 2013 - 12:05 AM, said:

How should the Iyra be run? With 2 AC10's ?

At the moment I'd reccomend either a Dragon Slayer or a Misery. The second liners for me are the Heavy Metal and the Firebrand. The Ilya has fallen into the third liners for me.

In fact it's quite a lot of time that I don't even bother to use my Ilya, because it's too impaired lacking JJ capability (the CTF 3D is a much better choice imho, but it's not an hero mech); it also needs to employ XL engines due to the need to use ballistic weapons (dual GR, triple UAC5+3ML). Standard engines using a 3xAC5 2ML like this, rely on DPS, but you really need to stay exposed too much time intaking quite a bit of damage in return, because you need to face your target with the whole mech.

Combine everything with those quite big side torsoes, lack of possibility to tank damage properly (no wide arms, side torsoes can be shot easily even while twisting) and low-mounted arm weapons, and the Ilya imho has lost a lot of its usefulness in the recent MWO battlefields.

I recently bought a DS and I'm enjoying it a lot. It plays like a mini-highlander (and quite faster too) or an heavier and more tank-capable CTF-3D with roughly the same or better speed.

As others said, wait for this friday, it's going to be Black, so we'd get some discounts on MC packs, thus making your hero mech buy more favourable from a money perspective. I'd also wait too to see your hero mech in discounted sales, two weeks ago it was the turn of the DS, HM and other two that I don't remember, you can save a lot of cbills waiting for similar sales.

Edited by John MatriX82, 25 November 2013 - 02:57 AM.

[Unnatural Growth]

Figure out your favorite play style, and buy a hero that fits into that style.

Then wait for that mech to go on sale.

I just picked up the Heavy Metal when it went on sale last week. Been wanting to try out Highlanders. Just bought 2 standard variants last night to round out the xp trees.

[Turist0AT]

Oh man, so many good heroes its hard to recomend one.

Edited by Turist0AT, 25 November 2013 - 07:34 AM.

[Turist0AT]

Vinh Nguyen, on 25 November 2013 - 12:05 AM, said:

How should the Iyra be run? With 2 AC10's ?

3 AC10s. The only mech in the game that can do that.

[scJazz]

Vinh Nguyen, on 24 November 2013 - 08:51 PM, said:

What's a good mech for kills and racking up c-bills? I heard the Iyra is pretty good or the Hunchback Champion one...

Read Victor's post again and again and again.

I would endorse an Ilya myself personally except it doesn't have Jump Jets.

I only fly jump capable mechs so... my choices are underwhelming

[Turist0AT]

scJazz, on 25 November 2013 - 07:41 AM, said:

Read Victor's post again and again and again.

I would endorse an Ilya myself personally except it doesn't have Jump Jets.

I only fly jump capable mechs so... my choices are underwhelming

Still, Jester is hellafun.

[scJazz]

Hurray... Hero Catapult based on the K2 instead of the most awesome Catapult evah the A1.

Call me totally underwhelmed

[Fang01]

Flame. Who can argue with a 100+ kph Heavy with a high mount ballistic?

[Turist0AT]

scJazz, on 25 November 2013 - 08:14 AM, said:

Hurray... Hero Catapult based on the K2 instead of the most awesome Catapult evah the A1.

Call me totally underwhelmed

haha. Never mind