57 replies to this topic

[ShinVector]

Veranova, on 05 February 2014 - 06:47 PM, said:

It's not going to top the Jenner competitively because:

1. Its hardpoints are split between Torso & Arms - Meaning you can't pin point your firepower.
2. You're more likely to lose your arms - Although they make great shield arms, but you will lose those hardpoints in the process.
3. The hardpoints are low on the mech - So it can't be used for hill poking to protect your legs/CT
4. 6ML builds can't get as many heatsinks on as a Jenner because of lower arm actuators taking up 2 crit slots.
5. You can't afford to trim armour anywhere but the head, whereas Jenners can trim their arms by half perfectly safely.

However this is all very minor to a good pilot in pug play. It's the sort of stuff a competitive team would think about though.

I've found the Ember to be a total cash-cow in pugs, always earning 260k+ every match (W/ Premium + Mech Bonus)
A big redeeming feature is the 8ML build. Hot as hell, but OHMAH40POINTALPHA: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b0da7c9a0a7ac14



THIS ALL SAID.
I think the Firestarter is the second best light now. The Ember combines the Deaths Knell and Spider-5K in to one 'mech. And the other variants will beat most other lights out easily.
They will give Jenners a big run for the money in a 1v1 fight, but if the Jenner gets the jump with a few shots from behind a hill, then it's over before it's begun.

Need to get into an Ember vs Jenner fight...
But would need Elites before that happens...

A few advantages I can think of at least for the Ember:
1. MGs.. Extremely deadly once the armour of mech is out. Eg. The legs. No heat and no cool down time required.
2. Better armour rolling is going to be key in some fights. The FS can roll while the Jenner is either going to take it in the CT or legs.
3. Do not under estimate the use of laser arms for surgical damage deal. Have come across some very deadly low ping Death Knells.
4. Yes.. The Money.... OH OH.. lots of cbills.

Streak lights still have an edge over direct fire lights though.

[ShinVector]

IceCase88, on 05 February 2014 - 07:04 PM, said:

I am running my Ember with the following:
PPC
3 MLs
4 MGs - 1 ton of ammo
210 XL
6 JJs
My W/L is terrible because I have been on some bad teams. Currently running a 2 KDR but I only have about 10 games with it. It seems to be a very durable mech as it can really soak up damage. I ran the stock load for 2 rounds for grins. Then I ran the Trollstarter build with AC20 (2 tons of ammo) and 145 STD for 3 kills in a match. Probably the most fun I have had on a mech. All my deaths have been leg related though. Only a few matches in and I am loving it. Hopefully it keeps staying good.
I hae been toying with the idea of placing an AC5 or AC10 in it. Possibly even an LBX, Bishop. O.o. j/k. A single LBX would be terribad on it.

I am running my Ember with the following:

PPC
3 MLs
4 MGs - 1 ton of ammo
210 XL
6 JJs

You W/L might be suffering because you running these trollish high heat builds though.
You might just want to practice on the usual MLs only or MLs+MG builds with biggest engines.

Dracol, on 05 February 2014 - 08:50 PM, said:

Bought it and been having fun playing with the builds for it.

IMPORTANT: un-modded Firestarter has low armor in the legs. Make sure to bump em up a notch or three. Been seening a lot of embers getting their legs taken out... always makes me wonder if they missed the armor section within the new UI.

Surprise surprise... Even with 32 points of armour in your legs.. You still get legged and killed. Why ? Because is that is the 1 most effective way to deal with lights.
The Ember is the tallest 35 tonner as well so, longer legs means slight more easier to shoot at.

[Amsro]

ShinVector, on 05 February 2014 - 09:50 PM, said:

Surprise surprise... Even with 32 points of armour in your legs.. You still get legged and killed. Why ? Because is that is the 1 most effective way to deal with lights.
The Ember is the tallest 35 tonner as well so, longer legs means slight more easier to shoot at.

The Jenner/Raven/Firestarter all have 32 points of leg armor @ max. I don't see this as a "Factor" vs other lights.

I have not found them to be a weakness of any kind thus far.

Locust = 16
Commando = 24
Spider = 28

Got to play smart in a light mech, if you are getting legged all the time you need to rethink your tactics.

[Wrathful Scythe]

Bought the Ember and I am in Love. 4 Med Laser + 4 Machine Guns are really terrifying. If I can get behind an Assault then I wish that poor ******* good luck because his Match will most likely over at that point. 20 dmg on the back, which kills the armor on most mechs and than the 4 MGs which will do the rest.

And, off course, it is funny to play the vulture. Picking off mechs which have no sidearmor left is extremely funny.

I think this one has the potential to replace my beloved Death knell. The MGs are a blessing. Even if I can't speed up to 171 kph.

[ShinVector]

Amsro, on 05 February 2014 - 11:53 PM, said:

The Jenner/Raven/Firestarter all have 32 points of leg armor @ max. I don't see this as a "Factor" vs other lights.

I have not found them to be a weakness of any kind thus far.

Locust = 16
Commando = 24
Spider = 28

Got to play smart in a light mech, if you are getting legged all the time you need to rethink your tactics.

Can't do anything about it.. I tend to be an aggressive light people when I can.
When I am shooting at someone there tends to be another person shooting at me. If they are smart, they aim for the legs.

If I killed 2-4 mechs by the time I get taken out. I did my job.. LOL!
Will try to the improve that record on the Ember.

[Evil Ed]

Wrathful Scythe, on 06 February 2014 - 12:04 AM, said:

I think this one has the potential to replace my beloved Death knell. The MGs are a blessing. Even if I can't speed up to 171 kph.

1v1 I'm doing perfectly fine in my TDK vs. Ember, but will be a close race once elited. Against a bigger mech 1v1 the Ember wins, those machineguns are very effective. Taking the weight in consideration I think the TDK has a slight advantage, 10 tons can be useful when picking the heavier mechs.
All in all I think Ember is balanced and with a slightly different flavour compaired to other lights. I really likes what it does to the meta.

[DarkDevilDancer]

Well until you can fully unlock the skill tree it's way to early to tell how it stacks against a jenner that's mastered, streaks will always give the jenner the edge on other lights but the firestarters ballistics may prove superior against bigger foes.

[Mechrophilia]

ShinVector, on 05 February 2014 - 09:39 PM, said:

3. Do not under estimate the use of laser arms for surgical damage deal. Have come across some very deadly low ping Death Knells.

Yes. The Ember's full laser-arm reticulation coupled with its good torso twist allow it to shoot with good accuracy even while running away. The Jenner's kite ability isn't quite as accurate. Also, the heatless firepower of the MGs is very powerful.

[Silentium]

I have noticed this as well. I don't much care for the way it moves either, as the jenner just feels more nimble; this might be simply because I don't have any elite unlocks yet though. That said, I am having a good time with it, and it is growing on me pretty fast.

[Veranova]

ShinVector, on 05 February 2014 - 09:39 PM, said:

Need to get into an Ember vs Jenner fight...
But would need Elites before that happens...

A few advantages I can think of at least for the Ember:
1. MGs.. Extremely deadly once the armour of mech is out. Eg. The legs. No heat and no cool down time required.
2. Better armour rolling is going to be key in some fights. The FS can roll while the Jenner is either going to take it in the CT or legs.
3. Do not under estimate the use of laser arms for surgical damage deal. Have come across some very deadly low ping Death Knells.
4. Yes.. The Money.... OH OH.. lots of cbills.

Streak lights still have an edge over direct fire lights though.

Yeah definitely some good points. The MG's will murder a damaged Jenner.
Of course I deal with FS9's the way I deal with mediums. Take their legs out instead of trying to get the Torso.
So torso twisting isn't really an advantage in a brawl, but could definitely save your CT from any high alpha insta-deaths, at the cost of some weapons. Probably an acceptable trade-off.

The speed thing is quite big right now, my FS9 feels sluggish because of no x2 Basics and 136kph.
I'm interested to see how this unfolds, and I do think they will be balanced enough in a fight that the better pilot will come out on top every time.

Edited by Veranova, 06 February 2014 - 05:01 AM.

[DONTOR]

NRP, on 05 February 2014 - 03:26 PM, said:

It's too early to tell because no one has elited it yet. My initial impression is that it is a good light mech choice. At this point, I don't think it will top the Jenner but I'll yield that decision to the top tier light pilots.

Dont pretend you arent a great light pilot NRP. Saw this guy get nearly 1000 damage and 5 kills in a TDK.

[AlmightyAeng]

So far I've been enjoying the Ember.

4 ML and 4 MG fits quite nicely with good cooling, max armor -6 and the XL 295.

The coupled abilities of the full-movement arm ML's and the MG's stripping un-armored sections is MUCH appreciated. My matches in it so far haven't lasted long enough to put up truly high damage numbers (800+) but my KDR in this thing is maintaining a steady 4.00.

Streaks are still a pain, but the arms allow for very decent jumping, turning, firing and continuing to run while being pursued by streakboats. No need to just 'take it.'

I'm a fan. King of the lights? No. Effective? Very. We'll see if one of the other energy boat variants can take the crown from the Jenner-F.

[Dracol]

ShinVector, on 05 February 2014 - 09:50 PM, said:

Surprise surprise... Even with 32 points of armour in your legs.. You still get legged and killed. Why ? Because is that is the 1 most effective way to deal with lights.
The Ember is the tallest 35 tonner as well so, longer legs means slight more easier to shoot at.

As stated by other posters, 35 points of leg armor is shared by jenners and ravens. So compared to how quickly their legs get taken out, imho it seemed firestarters were going down faster.

Heck, I didn't think about its leg armor until my third match with it.

Your point about it being the tallest, had not thought of that and I agree. They're also thicker then the ravens, making em easier to hit.... but some targets just seem to crumble as if they still had original armor values.

I'm hoping my post will just help a few poor pilots wondering why their firestarters are dieing so easily.

Edited by Dracol, 06 February 2014 - 03:16 PM.

[Turist0AT]

Great input fellas. Thanx.

[Yiazmat]

so far I've 1v1'ed 2 Jenner' s and 1v6 another (he drug me into his team and I got carried away by that juicy sweet cheery red torso he had). all times I've come out on top. died horribly to that furball though lol. can't wait to apply elite bonus to this bad boy.

[Ace Selin]

The Firestarters I've seen have been raking in the kills and points every game ive seen them in so far, not sure exactly why but they are hard to kill and seem to do lots of damage.

[ShinVector]

Ace Selin, on 07 February 2014 - 03:12 AM, said:

The Firestarters I've seen have been raking in the kills and points every game ive seen them in so far, not sure exactly why but they are hard to kill and seem to do lots of damage.

Also... Remember these are EMBER heros mechs and at most they are still currently at Basic skills !

[ColdPsyker1]

Honestly for me the firestarter seems like it will be better than the jenner. Of course, I may be biased, because I love my commandos. The firestarter seemslike a bigger, more heavily armored deaths knell with jj's (albeit slower). The fully articulated arms is the selling pointfor me. When I am in a jenner, I feel constricted for lack ofa better term.

Oh, and piloting a streak oxide jenner is like printing your own c-bills for now. I keep getting over 200k in about 50% of my games, and I havent even finished basicing it yet (got fruatrated and stopped playing the mech)

[Bhelogan]

As stated above, vs. other lights, it rough without having elites done yet. Having said that, you know a mech will be effective if you do well in it before having anything unlocked. The EMBER fits into that category, but you need to modify it. The stock armor values are way too low.

[NRP]

DONTOR, on 06 February 2014 - 07:21 AM, said:

Dont pretend you arent a great light pilot NRP. Saw this guy get nearly 1000 damage and 5 kills in a TDK.

Don't listen to this Dontor guy. He's the one who carries hard in a light mech. I just follow him around and try to steal his kills. Sometimes, the strat actually works.