Nicholas Carlyle, on 20 February 2014 - 12:44 PM, said:
I've only ever seen Awesome's in heavy use when LRM's were in some kind of overpowered state.
The reason they aren't used isn't that Victor's are good, it's because they are so damn easy to hit.
Shadow Hawks are used because they are the only Medium that can even begin to compete.
The same way Centurions were back when they could be stick figures.
It's not that Shadow Hawks or the old Centurions were good...they are just the best Medium and people like me want to play Mediums.
The funny thing about the Awesome is that it isn't really that big of a target. Compare it's height to that of the Victor and it doesn't even come up to the bottom of the V's cockpit. And the Victor is wider from arm to arm than the Awesome. The problem just happens to be that the Awesome is too much this:
http://www.imdb.com/...mi_mi_all_sf_8#
The Awesome's love handles alone jiggle when you walk. Now, that alone is a problem but not anything to worry about. Both the V and the Awesome 9M cap out at a 385 engine or 86.8 kph with Speed Tweak. Both have low slung arms and the Victor gets the worst of that due to all of its non-missile weapons are in the arms. BUT, the Awesome gets crazy screwed with the lack of JJs which means that those nice 4 torso hard points can't be utilized without exposing over half of the mech (which we've established is crazy easy to hit). The best Victor (DS) can use an entire side to shield off damage while the Awesome only gets an off arm. If that wasn't enough, the Awesome is screwed by having only energy hard points which we all know suffer immensely from heat.
SO, it is a combination of the Victor being so much better (hard points, JJs, smaller torsos) and the Awesome being too mediocre (bad hard points and heat limited). And, a lot of the maps just cater to jump sniping due to cover placement and long firing lines.
By the way, if you want to see something kind of comical, take an LRM 20 mech into the training grounds and fire at the Awesome until dead. Note the % of health remaining (if you're quick enough) and how many missiles you fired to kill. Then, go to the Atlas and repeat the same process. You'll be amazed at the number of missiles that ladn on the Awesome vs. the Atlas. It is really sad.
Edited by Trauglodyte, 20 February 2014 - 01:14 PM.