17 replies to this topic

[Flaming oblivion]

I'm slowly improving and I've definitely decided from playing that lights and mediums are not for me .Lights cant take any punishment . And a heavy seems to lose very little compared to a medium but gain much. I definitely prefer playing at range then god fighting toe to toe. With that said this brings my next question I have 11.5 million c-bills can I get a mech decently built for that sort of price (I'd prefer something tanky with a lot of range capability ) maybe a small amount of short range weapons incase I end up forced into a close rng dog fight but this isn't essential .

[Adiuvo]

Bit more expensive than what you currently have, but I'd advise saving up for it.

The Cataphract 3D is one of the best mechs in the game, and that one is fairly simple to use, with one arm mounted ballistic weapon and 2 torso mounted energy weapons. You'll have to have good aim to use it effectively, but it's a good starter mech otherwise. Make sure to stay with your heavier mechs, as its fairly slow (for survivability purposes, it's not using an XL engine to save weight) and you won't be able to reposition that quickly.

[Spheroid]

Jager-S

[Flaming oblivion]

My aim absolutely sucks which is why I was thinking lrm srm since aim isn't as important and lasers since u can keep em firing awhile bound to hit abit

[luxebo]

I believe you've only tried the trials as of right now (I posted a quick guide on them but I don't know if you've read it in your own thread). BTW, next time you should just respond to your older thread rather than make a newer one since they're pretty similar. I've my own bring back thread every time I need help on something or something else.

"Jenner: Use as a gunboat/flanker. Keep moving, but make sure to use those JJs to get out of sticky situations, stick with other lights and gun enemies down, watch your heat and use alphas and MLs sparsely while spamming the SLs.
Hunchback: Use as a brawler/knifefighter. Don't alpha unless you know you're going down and/or have a guy that's one shot away from death (or basically cored, yellow-red center). Conserve your heat and don't snipe with your lasers. Torso twist, can't express that enough in this mech, and never let your big ol' hunch get taken off (torso twist left always).
Catapult: Use as an LRM boat. Ask for locks and stay as close as you can to others. Press r and fire LRMs at people, SSRMs only at very close range. Ask for people to counter ECM when you see it. Try to torso twist as well to spread damage, though not as needed.
Victor: Use as a brawler/jumper. Careful with ultras and try not to jam them (fire some and then try to conserve it), and SRMs and MPLs at very close range only. Use JJs and spread damage always, never stand still or you'd take a lot of damage."

For Lights, you have to really know where to go and it's basically a ton of piloting needed to control properly (harder to play and I've had a tough time learning on how to scout and be a light in general, but it became really fun).
For Mediums, you basically need piloting skills and gunnery skills. They're a ton easier in figuring the game out, but it may be too costly for it's job, and it may be more worth to go with Heavies as said.
Don't leave either of them out of the picture completely, and don't leave Assaults out of the picture either, though some are a bit slower, but if you want Heavies specifically, depending on your weapon liking (energy/ballistics/missiles) I can suggest some.

Dragon: Hit-n-run sorta mech, tougher to use and more like a Medium than a Heavy. Has a giant CT and needs XL usually, so not the best start.
Quickdraw: Similar to Dragon but more dependent on energy, while Dragon has more for ballistics and energy combo. Quickdraw has limited missile capability. Big and safe for XL.
Catapult: Best missile capability along with maybe the Thunderbolt and Orion, but is decently fast with need for XL and is big. This is my next mech after the Centurions actually and I've some solid builds up for it. K2 and Jester are non-missile dependent.
Jagermech: Best ballistic capability and the ultimate AC boat machine. Pretty much there is not another mech that can do this besides maybe specific variants of the assaults and heavies. Warning: sides are easy to shoot off and are going to be a headache if you plan on putting an XL in.
Thunderbolt: Nice tanky mech with some ability with missiles and energy. Just be careful as missile rack is giant and can be shot off.
Cataphract: Pretty all around but best for brawling, it's nice with a ton of options. Has a couple ballistic boating options (4X and IM).
Orion: All around mech that can do well at everything. It's best without an XL though I've seen guys with XL do very well.

Hope I helped a bit.
Edit: missed the second post you made, um I'd suggest Catapult then. Definitely best missiler out there, and you've the champion to boot as well to second grind your A1 for the time being (so get maybe one CPLT and then get another and then the A1). Remember, mastering takes 3 variants and remember smurfy: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab

Edited by luxebo, 04 April 2014 - 06:51 PM.

[TheCaptainJZ]

If you want missiles, the catapult would be a good first mech. It was my 3rd mech chassis and my first Heavy mech. 5 variants to choose from (One of which is a Hero mech), 3 variants with missile hardpoints, one with energy and ballistics only, and the Jester is energy only. Not the deadliest mech out there, but they can survive long enough in their role. Just stay off the front lines. Oh, and most of the variants have jump jets too.

[luxebo]

BTW, hero mechs are MC buyable or basically purchased with real money. They give 30% C-bill bonus and have additonal bonuses like paint job and unique hardpoints and stuff. Champions are also purchased with MC and give 10% XP bonus with upgraded hardware to boot, but it's not fully worth unless you need some engine or something similar.

[Malcolm Vordermark]

If you want heavy and LRMs I'd suggest looking into the Orions. I'd say in does the LRM boat just as well as the Catapult except it doesn't have jump jets. And if you get tired of the LRM thing you can do other things with the Orion. The Catapult has a lot more trouble switching to other roles.

[Fuggles]

Orion for durability and versatility, quickdraw for it's speed and JJs, catapults cause they look cool. All those fit what your looking for.

Ninja edit, you said tanky with range and the Orion is the most fitting of the three I listed. Give them all a look however.

Edited by Fuggles, 04 April 2014 - 08:07 PM.

[CMetz]

Everyone above has posted good suggestions. One I might add would be the Jagermech JM6-A. Its relatively inexpensive, can carry LRM's and you can also build a decent ballistic build on it as your aim gets better. Its very versatile and can be used for different playstyles. The Orion is a good tank that can run decent LRM builds as well with some staying power up close. A good first ballistic weapon for you to try would be the LB10x. Many will flame me for this, but it fires like a shotgun, so it works well for people that have some aim issues. The Jagermech and Orion will both be good mechs as you progress in the game to accommodate your growth. They can be adapted to different strategies. The Catapult is a great missile mech, but its always a missile mech.

[Turist0AT]

Spheroid, on 04 April 2014 - 06:43 PM, said:

Jager-S

jägers are not tanky and you dont go toe to toe with it because its fragile.

[Rogue Jedi]

Turist0AT, on 05 April 2014 - 12:50 AM, said:

jägers are not tanky and you dont go toe to toe with it because its fragile.

stock Jagermechs are fragile, but you are modifying the Mech so max out the armor and if you are planning to get close use a standard engine, the Jagger can take a reasonable amount of punishment but admittedly is not an Atlas. an Orion can carry 1.2 extra tons of armor, but weight an extra 10 tones total weight.

Assuming you do not have an aversion to assaults, the Stalker Chassis could be what you are looking for,perhaps something like this
<a href="http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=48&l=3c26446902d7aad6334f9851aaafae05629e7269">STK-3H</a>
it is within your budget, fires a volley of 50LRMs, with sufficient ammo for 25 full volleys, the launchers are the right size for the tubes so (provided the missile bay doors are open) all 50 missiles will fire simultaneously, it has a lot of armor, and 2 Large Lasers for when you run out of missiles or if you have direct line of sight and want to add a bit of extra fire. you can do similar builds with all the Stalker variants except the hero Misery, most have less misslle tubes so it would be 2-3 smaller volleys rather than 1 big volley) as well as with one version each of the Awsome and Battlemaster.

[Turist0AT]

Rogue Jedi, on 05 April 2014 - 02:13 AM, said:

stock Jagermechs are fragile, but you are modifying the Mech so max out the armor and if you are planning to get close use a standard engine

std engine and what weapons? AC2's and some ML? Is rifleman even doable with STD?


Speaking of stalkers, they are great, tho not the 3H variant.

Edited by Turist0AT, 05 April 2014 - 02:33 AM.

[Denolven]

CMetz, on 04 April 2014 - 08:32 PM, said:

One I might add would be the Jagermech JM6-A. Its relatively inexpensive, can carry LRM's and you can also build a decent ballistic build on it as your aim gets better. (...) A good first ballistic weapon for you to try would be the LB10x.

Turist0AT, on 05 April 2014 - 02:26 AM, said:

std engine and what weapons? AC2's and some ML? Is rifleman even doable with STD?

Um, how about this? (uses stock engine to save money) http://mwo.smurfy-ne...6744fbda77580d6
Decent battle strength and a hell lot of fun.

My aiming and reflexes are pretty bad too, so from alot of experience I can guarantee that missiles and LBX will help alot. Jager with standard is no problem.
I also think that the Jager-A is a good starting point. Lots of possibilities, not too expensive, high mounted weapons for hillpeeking, an allaround good mech. You can make it all kinds of mid/long range support mech with PPCs, lasers, autocannons, gauss rifles (requires XL engine), missiles, whatever you like. If I was into heavies, either this or the Catapult would be the thing I'd buy first.

Also, the Advanced Zoom module is a big help and should be the first module you unlock. It's relatively cheap too, both in GXP and C-Bills.

Edited by Denolven, 05 April 2014 - 04:39 AM.

[Redshift2k5]

Heavy mechs are a good choice for new players. Decent armor, generally good hardpoints, not slow as molasses like a typical Assault.

You can't really go wrong with a Cataphract or Jagermech. I like the Orion too, but it's a little more advanced. The K2 is a great starter mech but it means you need to also buy two other Catapults- which are very different than the K2. (Jagermechs are all very similar, ditto for Cataphracts, but the K2 is an odd man out among the Cats)

Make sure you account for some upgrades and tweaking- A CTF 3D costs 9.8 million, but you'd probably run out of money before you finished upgrading it! You'll want ot make sure there's 1.5 mil left over to buy Double Heat Sinks and load up on some more equipment. The CTF-3D already comes laoded with an expensive XL engine, which gives you a lot more weight to spend on armor/weapons/etc but makes it more vulnerable.

You should decide if you want a standard engine or an XL engine before proceeding, since you won't have much money left over to swap engines. some Heavies come with an XL equipped, some don't, and you can always change the engine later.

[Nick Makiaveli]

And now for something totally different.


Stick with Lights. You heard me.

Once you learn to not die, then you can learn to kill. Once you can do that that, you know how to pilot a mech and can then transition to other weight classes.

Added bonus, they are much cheaper so you can master a chassis for the price of one heavy/assault.

[IraqiWalker]

Flaming oblivion, on 04 April 2014 - 06:47 PM, said:

My aim absolutely sucks which is why I was thinking lrm srm since aim isn't as important and lasers since u can keep em firing awhile bound to hit abit

LRM boats are the solution. BLR-1S, is a good one, but the other two variants aren't LRM-y enough. On the other hand, the ENTIRE Stalker line can be outfitted with LRMs, and has decent energy based firepower for close range. You can also switch to long range snipe-y builds by taking off the missiles, (or switching to SRMs now that they are fixed a bit) and mount baig Lazors on it.

[Darth Futuza]

Flaming oblivion, on 04 April 2014 - 05:39 PM, said:

I'm slowly improving and I've definitely decided from playing that lights and mediums are not for me .Lights cant take any punishment . And a heavy seems to lose very little compared to a medium but gain much. I definitely prefer playing at range then god fighting toe to toe. With that said this brings my next question I have 11.5 million c-bills can I get a mech decently built for that sort of price (I'd prefer something tanky with a lot of range capability ) maybe a small amount of short range weapons incase I end up forced into a close rng dog fight but this isn't essential .

Yeah I'd probably go with a Catapult or a Stalker, Jester more specifically. Find it kind of funny that you don't like lights and mediums, cause I feel the exact opposite. I cannot stand the slow sluggishness of Assault's and Heavy's, I feel like a ****** trying to drive them.