16 replies to this topic

[triedent878]

as the title says whats a good first mech to get

[Koniving]

Before I suggest anything and before the flood of suggestions come in...

What is your playstyle? What do you like to do?

[triedent878]

iam a allrounder

[Sparks Murphey]

Might I recommend the Centurion CN9-A? Not merely because you can get one free with 5 victories at the moment (though that's handy) but it's a very versatile machine. You can get it over 100 km/h with a maximum engine and speed tweak if you want to go for a fast striker, or keep the stock standard 200 in it and soak up a ridiculous amount of damage by torso twisting and taking the brunt of damage on the left "shield" arm. It lets you play a ballistic sniper with a gauss rifle or AC/2, a brawler with AC/10 and SRMs, a light hunter with Streaks, or an LRM support. It's not so great at energy boating, but it's companion, the CN9-AL, covers that.

[Koniving]

Well, for a jack of most trades mech many will suggest the Shadowhawk. If you go that route, the SHD-5M comes pre-upgraded saving you roughly 2 million cbills versus putting the same upgrades (XL engine + Double Heatsinks) on another Shadowhawk.

I personally am favoring Orions. Victors are also pretty similar.

As Sparks here mentioned, there's also a free Centurion being given out pre-upgraded with some good stuff if you happen to be in 5 matches where your side wins (doesn't matter if you survived or not).

You can use this link to check out mechs before you buy them and even try out ideas.

It is preset to the free Centurion being given out.

Edited by Koniving, 21 February 2014 - 09:47 PM.

[Ertur]

Did anyone mention the FREE mech yet? Because, FREE.
It's actually not even a bad mech, it's a pretty decent build.

[RiotHero]

I would second the Shadowhawk, even as a recent convert. There is not much that thing can't do, and do well. My first 1k+ game was from my first assault and my second was from a shadowhawk so that should tell you something. Like I've said before it is like the Swiss Army knife of mechs.


The free cent is a good place to start too, especially since it's a champ model so it should level fast. I bought the other two with cbills after getting mine. The good thing about Cents is using a standard engine and staying around to do damage with those torso mounted energy hardpoints. Plus you can scrap armor from the unused arm if you want and bring more ammo or heatsinks. I took the free one and replaced the pulse lasers with two medium lasers, took a half ton of armor from each arm, then used the 3 tons to add a ton of srm ammo and two heatsinks. It was a quick and dirty build that has been more than enough to grind with.

[Redshift2k5]

It's hard to go wrong with a Shadowhawk. Solidly average with forgiving hitboxes, it does a little bit of everythig and does it fairly well.

It's jack of all trades approach makes it a good starting point, then for your next mech you can decide if you want to be faster, or bring more guns, etc etc

[Turist0AT]

KTO-18 is the easiest. But it all depends on what weapons you like and how much of it.

Overall the heavier you get the safer youll be unless your an atlas(its a nr1 target). Stalker, Victor, Highlander, Battlemaster are nice chassies. Heavies work good too. Orion, cataphract.

Keep an eye out for Jump Jets, better to have them and not need them then to need them and not have them..... and you get stuck allot in this game.

Grab the free one! its a nice litle starter machine.

Edited by Turist0AT, 22 February 2014 - 05:07 AM.

[Koniving]

I vote to change the number one target to Highlanders!

Victors are push overs. Atlases are push overs. But a Highlander... They're trouble.

[Dramborleg]

Ertur, on 21 February 2014 - 09:53 PM, said:

Did anyone mention the FREE mech yet? Because, FREE.
It's actually not even a bad mech, it's a pretty decent build.

I'm sure it's not bad, but it is a bit frustrating to drop with 4 of them on your team. Won't be sad to see that end.

Edited by Dramborleg, 22 February 2014 - 12:29 PM.

[Unnatural Growth]

Koniving, on 22 February 2014 - 07:40 AM, said:

I vote to change the number one target to Highlanders!

Victors are push overs. Atlases are push overs. But a Highlander... They're trouble.

Highlander pilot is not amused...



And win 5 matches and get that free Centurian. It's not a terrible mech. AND IT'S FREE! Even comes with a mech bay. Worth it in many respects, especially if you're just starting out. Good parts, even if you strip it bare and sell it (I wouldn't) you get to keep the mech bay and the free parts.

Edited by OldOrgandonor, 22 February 2014 - 12:57 PM.

[Dramborleg]

OldOrgandonor, on 22 February 2014 - 12:54 PM, said:

Highlander pilot is not amused...



And win 5 matches and get that free Centurian. It's not a terrible mech. AND IT'S FREE! Even comes with a mech bay. Worth it in many respects, especially if you're just starting out. Good parts, even if you strip it bare and sell it (I wouldn't) you get to keep the mech bay and the free parts.

Personally I view it as the other way around. I might see if there's anything interesting I can do with the mech, but the it's that bay that I really like.

[Johnny Reb]

As a starter can't go wrong with the shadow hawk. However, I would recommend the 2d2 version.

[ZeProme]

Get the CN9-A(C) for free first. After that, play couple battles on it. If you like it, keep it. If you don't like it, don't sell it just yet. Keep it there until you really need the mech slots. Don't bother selling it for C-Bills funding, it's not worth it either.

[Bront]

The Shadowhawk 5M is a good all around mech that comes pre-equipped with all the upgrades you need, and just needs a good weapons loadout (The stock loadout is OK, but the LRM20 is the biggest problem with it, and that takes up a 5th of the mech). An easy starter loadout is something like 2 Streak SRM2s with 1 ton of ammo, an AC5 with 2 tons of ammo, 2 Large Lasers, AMS with 1 ton of ammo, and HS with the remaining tonnage. (That will cost you another 1 million, but you can slowly move over to it).

The Free Cent this weekend isn't a bad choice either.

Edited by Bront, 23 February 2014 - 07:06 AM.

[Gremlich Johns]

triedent878, on 21 February 2014 - 09:10 PM, said:

iam a allrounder

Then it does not matter what you select, then, does it.

You really need to try out all of the trial mechs, good or bad, and see what your playing style really is. It sounds like you are unfamiliar with BT/MW game - an all-rounder?

Long-range - missile or ballistic/laser sniping?
Brawler?
Assault mech flyswatter support?

I like ZeProme's idea, get the CNT-9A champion mech for free (gotta win 5 battles first) It's a close range mech, but you can kit it out to be long range too after you earn enough c-bills for weapons, etc.

Edited by Gremlich Johns, 23 February 2014 - 07:36 AM.