23 replies to this topic

[Takashi Uchida]

[Edit: Read the followup a month later here]

The time has come to where I'm itching to try out an assault. When I buy a mech, I intend on mastering at least one of the variants. This is expensive, and since we are dealing with assaults here, it's a bigger investment.

The story so far (skip to bottom for tl;dr):

I have been playing since January this year and I have seven mechs in my garage right now, all at least elited with exception of the free Centurion (we don't talk about him but I haven't the heart to sell it yet)

Through these mechs I've been introduced to a variety of play styles. The HBK-4P taught me a lot about heat management and protecting components. I seem to favor skirmishing and hit and run style play with the quicker mediums (I own 2 Shadowhawks) The CTF-3D allowed me to experiment with brawling and jump sniping. It's my most played mech but numbers wise not my best. I've used Jagers almost exclusively for direct fire support (uac, gauss, lasers) which have been my most successful mechs. Through the process of getting efficiencies, I've sold a few mechs, some because I didn't like them, but most because at the time I didn't know if I was going to stick around long enough to pay for bays (since I have 7 mechs, I've obviously made the plunge, though that is all I'll be spending cbills on for now).

Enough blabbing. The Battlemaster appeals to me because of its potential to field large engines and go relatively fast. I found out with the CTF-4x that I can't really stand going slower than 65 kph. The Battlemaster goes 65 right out of the box, which from what I know is plenty fast for an assault. I've seen battlemasters go 80+ with monstrous 380+ xl engines that cost more than many mechs. I don't know if these builds are actually viable, but they may be fun for me to experiment with (this is of course, far down the line and tens of millions of cbills later). Will I be okay with the engine it comes with? Xl or nah? Is going fast just antithetical to playing assaults? Another reason why the Battlemaster looks interesting is most have a generous amount of energy points. I do like lasers and ppcs and my heat management is decent.

My experience piloting assaults is basically limited to the trial stalker, in which I have a respectable 2.33 w/l and 1.67 k/d (please take that with a massive grain of salt, as I've only logged 10 games, LOL).

My biggest fears playing assaults are being down 0-6 by the time I get there, or being left in the dust as Raven fodder (it's happened). It's mostly PUGs when stuff like that happens. Fortunately, I now run 4-mans a lot of the time with people more experienced than I am. However, I still want something I can kick a** with by myself when I get on at odd hours.

My goal is to get an assault (and time permitting, a light) elited before the new launcher drops. Then, it's grinding cbills until clan f***ery arrives and all h*** breaks loose. I'd also like to get a quick opinion from mechwarriors who have a deeper knowledge of the game on how the eventual strict tonnage limits will gameplay, and how that may impact how a newer player might buy mechs.

Thanks for hearing me out! I don't post often, so when I do, I post essays.

Tak, your budget mechwarrior


[TL;DR

I'm interested in a BLR as my first assault because it's relatively quick. Will I have to break the bank on engines? I'm pretty flexible role wise. What roles do these mechs fill? I'm willing to learn new play styles but am wary because assaults are expensive.]

Edited by Takashi Uchida, 07 April 2014 - 08:00 PM.

[I 0____o I]

I broke down my decision based on one element: do I want to win or do I want flavor?

Currently the win assault mechs are generally agreed to be: Highlander and Stalkers. Highlanders for their JJ, high alphas and toughness. Stalkers for their sh**load of hardpoints, high mounted weapons, and small front profile. Victor I'd say the jury is still out due to the recent JJ nerf and the fact many builds have to carry XLs, but HGNs still seem viable. I seem to be killing Victors more easily lately FYI.

Flavor: Atlas, Awesome and your Battlemaster. You can definitely win a lot in those mechs, especially the DDC, but it's harder. Not that HGNs don't have flavor but it's not hardmode like some of the chassis in this list.

Not sure about Banshees yet.

Edited by GIANT TARGET, 09 March 2014 - 04:35 AM.

[stkxie]

I have to recommend Highlander 733c. Xl 325 2xuac5 2x ppc 5-6 tons of ammo. If you are willing to go through rough learning curve you will be generously rewarded.

[Modo44]

The Barn is only marginally better than the Awesome. No, it is not XL-friendly, as many would lead you to believe. Lots of weapons on a very fast assault is fun, but expect to die horribly, and often.

If you want actually good mechs: To play with ballistics, buy a Highlander or a Victor. To play with missiles and energy weapon boating, get a Stalker.

[Snowcrow]

After the jj nerf, highlanders are pretty much gone from the game. At least in my experience. I don't have any highlanders myself, so I don't know, but since everyone else stopped using them, maybe they aren't that good anymore.

I have 3 atlases. The D, DDC and RS. Love them all, but the ddc is the best by far, thanks to ecm. It wrecks pretty much everything. My opinion is biased of course, since the only assault I have is the atlas, but I love it, and I think you should give them a try.

But if you don't want the atlas, I'd go for either a stalker or a victor.

Edited by Snowcrow, 09 March 2014 - 05:56 AM.

[DAYLEET]

You're reason to get a BLR are sound and in line with your needs so go ahead and get 3.

I realy liked my Battlemaster. Mainly because you can have very different loadout on each of them and thats important to me. The hardpoints are numerous enough. My stats are alright in them, with any assault the most important thing is strip lots of the back armor and put it on the front. getting hit in the back should never be a problem unless it's 3 lights and youre alone and then more armor on the back wont do you any good.

Most importantly, when you look at the BLR, are you "oh i wish i could run over someoneh with that"? because stats and numbers are nothing compared to the PSYCHOlogical effect of driving the mech you wand to be in, youll be good if you feel good. I see people doing bad in all mechs and good in all mechs. Im pretty awesome in my Malinche right now and the sheeps call it a ****.

Edited by DAYLEET, 09 March 2014 - 06:38 AM.

[Malcolm Vordermark]

I really enjoy my Battlemasters. They do better than most assaults with an XL but its still going to get you killed plenty. I suggest looking at the Victors before making your final decision. Both are good but jump jets can make a world of difference.

Edited by Rouken, 09 March 2014 - 06:54 AM.

[Amsro]

Highlander
Battlemaster
Victor
are all XL friendly,

Stalker
Awesome
Atlas

are typically not.

I use the XL370 engine on all 3 Battlemasters (I also have an XL400 for some troll builds)

Battlemaster 1D - Dakkamaster, the triple AC/2 + 4 Medium Lasers is simple heat effective and damage deadly. The speed and armor is a nice bonus. This is the most potent mech I own.

Battlemaster 1G - The torso twist makes this one a little more difficult to use/basic out. But 6 Torso Mediums and your ballistic of choice can still make for a great mech. I like Gauss.

Battlemaster 1S - Originally I deemed the 1S to be the Splatmaster, but lackluster SRM's and no personal interest in LRM's has created a Large Pulse Laser beast. Aka, Wubmaster.

77.6 kph is pretty serious speed for an Assault mech. I am thoroughly impressed with the Battlemaster. Good luck on your Assault mastery.

Edited by Amsro, 09 March 2014 - 07:10 AM.

[Bhelogan]

BLR-1S is in my opinion the best missile boat in the game. The others are nice, as the side torso energy hard points sit high on the mech. I like running mine with an XL400, 4LL and some MGs, it plays like a slow medium rather than assault. As for the comment about XLs not being friendly in these mechs, except for the 1S, I have to disagree. You will almost always die to CT being destroyed first, due to the + shape it makes across the front of the mech.

[Amsro]

Takashi Uchida, on 09 March 2014 - 04:05 AM, said:

[TL;DR

I'm interested in a BLR as my first assault because it's relatively quick. Will I have to break the bank on engines? I'm pretty flexible role wise. What roles do these mechs fill? I'm willing to learn new play styles but am wary because assaults are expensive.]

The Engine you decide on can be used on all 3 Battlemasters, your build and playstyle will determine your engine size. 350-380 will give you great speed and typically firepower. 380-400 mostly speed with some firepower.

You can mold your play style into the battlemasters,they are very versatile. Good Luck!

[Takashi Uchida]

DAYLEET, on 09 March 2014 - 06:36 AM, said:

Most importantly, when you look at the BLR, are you "oh i wish i could run over someoneh with that"? because stats and numbers are nothing compared to the PSYCHOlogical effect of driving the mech you wand to be in, youll be good if you feel good. I see people doing bad in all mechs and good in all mechs. Im pretty awesome in my Malinche right now and the sheeps call it a ****.

inb4 "your elo is bad so that's why you get away with it"

I def understand though. My HBK-4P is my "go-to" mech, even though I know that Shadowhawks are generally recognized as superior and pretty much the premier mediums right now (this I can actually speak about, I've mastered one, elited another and they are great). Yet when I get behind the 4P I know I'm going to melt faces lol.

Snowcrow, on 09 March 2014 - 05:55 AM, said:

After the jj nerf, highlanders are pretty much gone from the game. At least in my experience. I don't have any highlanders myself, so I don't know, but since everyone else stopped using them, maybe they aren't that good anymore.

I have 3 atlases. The D, DDC and RS. Love them all, but the ddc is the best by far, thanks to ecm. It wrecks pretty much everything. My opinion is biased of course, since the only assault I have is the atlas, but I love it, and I think you should give them a try.

But if you don't want the atlas, I'd go for either a stalker or a victor.

I mainly see DDCs, 733Cs, and Stalkers. Probably for good reason as they are good mechs. I understand the Highlander jump-sniper was very prevalent pre-nerf, though I spent most of that time trudging through my first mechs and trying to break even on W/L so either I didn't notice/care much or was too sucky to be playing with those folks anyway lol.

I'd love to try all of em but my freakin problem is as soon as I get a mech I wanna get all the efficiencies unlocked quickly so I know how it really handles. I dunno how I would manage to do that with multiple Mech types at the same time, esp if they are as expensive as a lot of these assaults are. Think I've read some post of a guy complaining like "oh man buying mech x hit me hard I only got 80 million cbills now. Like dang son, my wallet is constantly empty! Guess I need to put in the time lol.. I don't even want to think about how much Clan stuff is gonna cost.

Thanks for all the comments. I think I may pull the trigger on the BLR or I may spaz out last second and start playing with lights. Either way, I will probably blow a lot of stuff up but also die a lot.

[Amsro]

Takashi Uchida, on 09 March 2014 - 07:13 AM, said:

inb4 "your elo is bad so that's why you get away with it"

I def understand though. My HBK-4P is my "go-to" mech, even though I know that Shadowhawks are generally recognized as superior and pretty much the premier mediums right now (this I can actually speak about, I've mastered one, elited another and they are great). Yet when I get behind the 4P I know I'm going to melt faces lol.



I mainly see DDCs, 733Cs, and Stalkers. Probably for good reason as they are good mechs. I understand the Highlander jump-sniper was very prevalent pre-nerf, though I spent most of that time trudging through my first mechs and trying to break even on W/L so either I didn't notice/care much or was too sucky to be playing with those folks anyway lol.

I'd love to try all of em but my freakin problem is as soon as I get a mech I wanna get all the efficiencies unlocked quickly so I know how it really handles. I dunno how I would manage to do that with multiple Mech types at the same time, esp if they are as expensive as a lot of these assaults are. Think I've read some post of a guy complaining like "oh man buying mech x hit me hard I only got 80 million cbills now. Like dang son, my wallet is constantly empty! Guess I need to put in the time lol.. I don't even want to think about how much Clan stuff is gonna cost.

Thanks for all the comments. I think I may pull the trigger on the BLR or I may spaz out last second and start playing with lights. Either way, I will probably blow a lot of stuff up but also die a lot.

Heh yeah, I have 63 mechs now, but I'm still broke as a joke overall in the game. 2 million C-Bills. I don't see myself buying many more mechs in the future though. I already have enough.

[Koniving]

Alright, time for the guy with 93 battlemechs to share some experience..

D-DCs are mainly because of the ECM. It's actually a terrible coffin if you put in SRMs and AC/20. They need a bullseye "shoot me" pattern and slap it as mandatory for every Atlas that has SRMs and AC/20. That's exactly what they wear carrying it.

Battlemasters are like Stalkers, except where your side is safer than your front. Unlike Stalkers, you will have to twist to protect your body. This is great if you have slow firing weapons or hot weapons where you have to wait to shoot anyway.

Unlike Stalkers, you have a pretty decent firing range to your sides. An AC/10 or twin AC/5 combination + a PPC will do wonders if mounted on your arms. I trust you know how to use arms now.

XL engines in Battlemasters are as risky as it is in Stalkers, but that superior speed helps make up for it. The golden rule is this: Don't stop. Unlike in Terminator 2, hitting the brakes won't stop the battlemech chasing you.

Move in diagonals. Never rush directly at the enemy or run directly away. "Straight is death."

Anything less than 75 kph in a Battlemaster is too slow for an XL.

That said, streaks on a Battlemaster are worthless. The pods are too large for it.

But yes, you will need to break the bank for an XL engine.

As for how well it could tank with a standard engine, there's no better test than the Flamer Battlemaster.
Versus AC/40 Jager face to face.
Flamer Battlemaster versus a few mechs, lots of LRM fire, and ultimately brawls another Battlemaster to death.

If it can fight close enough to use flamers while going that slow, it can use an XL and tank well enough at high speed.

Edited by Koniving, 09 March 2014 - 08:50 AM.

[Modo44]

Koniving, on 09 March 2014 - 08:37 AM, said:

D-DCs are mainly because of the ECM. It's actually a terrible coffin if you put in SRMs and AC/20. They need a bullseye "shoot me" pattern and slap it as mandatory for every Atlas that has SRMs and AC/20. That's exactly what they wear carrying it.

I sense some seriously traumatic experience behind this comment. I find the AC20+SRM18 death hug extremely satisfying.

[NRP]

Snowcrow, on 09 March 2014 - 05:55 AM, said:

After the jj nerf, highlanders are pretty much gone from the game.

Based on my experience last night, this is not true. At all.

[TercieI]

NRP, on 09 March 2014 - 08:43 AM, said:

Based on my experience last night, this is not true. At all.

Yeah... You run into that 4 Metal lance too? Still seeing lots of HGNs and VTRs.

[Koniving]

Modo44, on 09 March 2014 - 08:40 AM, said:

I sense some seriously traumatic experience behind this comment. I find the AC20+SRM18 death hug extremely satisfying.

Nah. I've never had a D-DC honestly (every Atlas except it). However, I know they die fast. Real fast. Because as soon as one appears, it's like this moment. Everyone turns, everyone looks at you, there's that brief moment of silence, and then the Atlas dies a terrible death.

At least against any competent team. This guy here only lived as long as he did because he had a non-bullseye loadout.

[Modo44]

Koniving, on 09 March 2014 - 08:56 AM, said:

Nah. I've never had a D-DC honestly (every Atlas except it). However, I know they die fast. Real fast. Because as soon as one appears, it's like this moment. Everyone turns, everyone looks at you, there's that brief moment of silence, and then the Atlas dies a terrible death.

That is the point of the Atlas, D-DC or not. I expect a spectacular, fiery end every time I break one out. Once that moment happens, it works like a rodeo -- more than 10s in a hail of fire is godlike performance.

[luxebo]

Koniving, on 09 March 2014 - 08:56 AM, said:

Nah. I've never had a D-DC honestly (every Atlas except it). However, I know they die fast. Real fast. Because as soon as one appears, it's like this moment. Everyone turns, everyone looks at you, there's that brief moment of silence, and then the Atlas dies a terrible death.

At least against any competent team. This guy here only lived as long as he did because he had a non-bullseye loadout.

The SRM18 + AC20 combo relies on everyone else along with you. It's great in 12 man casual, not so great without decent support in pugs. You need tons of torso twist, multiple other DDCs and ECM mechs to shield everyone off radar (assuming they follow you, another important point), lots of bravery and courage + knowing when to push and sacrifice or not to, and the money for the mech. Therefore, a lot of pilots in DDCs don't follow much of the above, leading to a quick, quick death.

[Modo44]

You want LLs on the D-DC for PUG drops, so that you are not out-ranged easily.