17 replies to this topic

[Alaskan Nobody]

Marack Drock, on 15 April 2014 - 02:34 PM, said:

Its not to important to watch it that much but make sure to glance at it every once in a while.

Most of the time I die before using all my ammo - but it sure is embarrassing when you go to shoot someone only to realize you were out!

Well written Marack.

[Graystone1]

I'm just gonna add my opinion from personal experience.
I started a few weeks ago, play incessently, and have 3 mechs in my stable
But before I purchased my first one I did a TON of research on many different sites on what is the best first mech. I gathered that the CTF-3D was the best because it has reasonable speed, lots of firepower, and a variety of hardpoints to fit almost any role. In addition its variants are pretty amazing too. Its deliberate speed is enough to make new players really think hard about positioning.
TL;DR
Good Firepower, respectable, fits variety of roles, strong variants/hero. I'd have sex with the CTF series if I could.

[SethAbercromby]

Graystone1, on 16 April 2014 - 09:17 AM, said:

TL;DR
Good Firepower, respectable, fits variety of roles, strong variants/hero. I'd have sex with the CTF series if I could.

I felt that the low-slungs arms would be a bit difficult to get into as a new player that still needs to figure out all the other small things without having to worry about weapon clearance. But good to know it works for you. I'd personally still recommend the Thunderbolt, as it also sports a variety of hardpoints and can be used in both specialized as well as balanced builds. It also doesn't suffer as much from difficult weapon clearance, though the off-center cockpit can be a bit misleading about the 'Mechs position... It's the little things than can make or break an experience, you know?

[101011]

Marack Drock, on 15 April 2014 - 02:34 PM, said:

is most generated by Energy weapons but if you double Heat Sink your mech I would not worry about it -I seriously haven't shut down in 4 months-. I would suggest also grouping your weapons (Heaviest on their own and Lighter together in half groups).

Good post, I just had a suggestion. While you clearly show far more restraint than I when it comes to firing weaponry, and I applaud you for this fact, perhaps it would be best to not advise the new players to ignore heat, quineg?

[Koniving]

Marack Drock, on 17 April 2014 - 03:26 PM, said:

The Thunder Bolt Chassis is a great design but I find it to be a little to cumbersome. It is an a ammo mech purely and the only places to put the ammo are your torsos and I have to say it has bad hit boxes or is just target fodder. It is a good mech when you know how to handle it well but it really is a painful experience when you have little or no matches under your belt.

The Thunderbolt in every case dedicates no more than half of its arsenal to ammunition (in one case) and every other case 5 or more hardpoints out of 7 to 8 are dedicated to energy. I wouldn't call that ammunition dependent. In fact its hardpoint locations actually favor shoulder-based PPCs on the right shoulder as a primary weapon. Perfectly in line with the pilot's vision. Are you thinking of the Catapult?

The Thunderbolt's bulky frame is because it starts with higher armor than some Stalkers... and if max armor values were based on stock, you'd find that comforting when you find a 65 ton mech that outclasses about half of the 80 ton mechs like the Victor in armor coming after you.

Ah...but sadly armor isn't based on stock. Thunderbolts would be more popular than Jagermechs if max armor was based on stock values.

I might add with a standard engine, it tanks almost as good as a Stalker, too.

Edited by Koniving, 17 April 2014 - 03:42 PM.

[Koniving]

I can respect that. We're not likely to get PGI to resize anything however. If you compare it to the Jagermech it's just as much surface area, but taller instead of wider. The Catapult actually has a lot more surface area than the Thunderbolt does (it's true).

Myself I keep the engine between 260 and 280. It does rather well. The massive side torsos reduce all damage by 50% on either side once that side is gone.

Spoiler

Now something PGI is more likely to do when they begin to see how difficult it is balancing variants when they all have equal armor limits... is getting them to change how that works. That's what I'm working on. I don't expect much or anything soon. But hey many of my past ideas either got a mention in an NGNG broadcast (with absolutely no credit) or wound up being twisted and used on something else (example, the Gauss Charge came not long after suggesting a 'firing delay' for PPCs to simulate a charge up.)

I worded this rather badly. See my post below this one.

Edited by Koniving, 17 April 2014 - 05:03 PM.

[SethAbercromby]

Koniving, on 17 April 2014 - 04:42 PM, said:

Now something PGI is more likely to do when they begin to see how difficult it is balancing variants when they all have equal armor limits... is getting them to change how that works. That's what I'm working on. I don't expect much or anything soon. But hey many of my past ideas either got a mention in an NGNG broadcast (with absolutely no credit) or wound up being twisted and used on something else (example, the Gauss Charge came not long after suggesting a 'firing delay' for PPCs to simulate a charge up.)

It's always unfortunate to hear that, but a lot of people indeed do draw a lot of inspiration from your insights. After all, you are our local man of all things MWO around here.

Edited by SethAbercromby, 17 April 2014 - 04:54 PM.

[Koniving]

Spoiler

Thank you. Now re-reading that I kinda give myself too much credit. They weren't just my ideas, either I or a group or other people came up with them, and in whatever case we kept talking about it, pushing it, spreading it to other threads, etc. PPC splash damage was something I suggested -- but in reality at almost the same time in different parts of the forum, other people had very similar ideas. These are the ones that get mentioned.

Anyway, back on topic!

I personally recommend Orions as starter heavies. Standard engine, very fast and very armored, 280 to 320 engines work wonders on them and for XL engines they go much higher. Some Orion variants are like mini-Atlases but trading the Atlas's max armor for speed instead. You can get obscenely close in armor, too. Orions are featured in 2 ballistic, 2 missile, and 3 energy versions, some with more of something or another. Nearly identical benefits to an Atlas but unlike an Atlas, you can 'fix' a mistake by having the speed to get out of a bad situation. Also, dirt cheap compared to the XL-requirement that many lighter mechs seem to need to really compete.

Edited by Koniving, 17 April 2014 - 05:05 PM.

[Koniving]

Here's where I disagree with you. The arm size.

Now in the new mechlab, one nice thing is that there is no zoom change when switching mechs. That makes comparing mech sizes a lot easier.

Spoiler

Here's an Orion's arm.


And I just logged in to recreate that angle with an Atlas.

My point is... that arm is a lot bigger than you think.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Koniving, on 17 April 2014 - 05:24 PM, said:

My point is... that arm is a lot bigger than you think.

It is - but at the same time there is a lot of open torso around it - so I can rather see Marack's point as well.

Haven't done enough shooting at Orions though to say for sure myself - hoping to grab Protector on Monday though.

[Koniving]

It's longer than an Atlas's arm, which when you take control of the Orion's arms can be used to deflect shots about to be fired at you better than the Atlas's arms can. The downfall is the shoulders are very thin (making the upper arms very difficult to hit). Though I figure you were referring to the shoulders.

Shar's post cut in before my follow up could just 'attach' itself.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Koniving, on 17 April 2014 - 05:27 PM, said:

Shar's post cut in before my follow up could just 'attach' itself.

Nin! Nin! Nin! Nin!

Most people seem to aim across the shoulder-torso area when just shooting without trying to hit X-spot - which it looks like it would make the Orion's arms on the less useful side.

[The Gruntmaster 6000]

Thanks for your help Marack.