21 replies to this topic

[Deadlyft]

Hey guys! I'm actually adapting quite well and was about to use the trial mechs with pretty good success so I have a few questions regarding the money I have and the route I want to go in terms of a mech..

So I currently have around 15 million to spend on my first mech and I was thinking of a long range energy weapons sniper but after some deliberation I would like a solid all-round brawler in the heavy to assault class if possible. I am however open to suggesions. I just want something that can take a hit and send someone crying home to momma if it turns into a knife fight.

I have played all the mechwarriors so I am a very experienced operator so it doesn't have to be 'user friendly' machine.

Edited by Deadlyft, 07 May 2014 - 02:30 PM.

[Gnar]

As a recently new player as well, my advice would be to stay away from the Atlas, at least as a new player. It's a fire magnet and everyone knows to blow out your right torso because that's where your heavy ballistics are. I could only recommend it in good conscience if you were a MMO player that played tanks/aggro management in other games and are used to taking one for the team. You're going to be a priority target

Have you played many matches in the Victor? Many people like it, and it has jump jets.

Based on my ability to hardly ever put much of a dent in one, I'm thinking of saving up for a Banshee. Haven't piloted any so don't know which model I'd recommend but they clean my clock regularly.

[Redshift2k5]

Which trial mech do you like the most? Which weapons do you like? How fast do you want to go? Do you want Jumpjets?

Cataphract 3D is fairly well regarded since it comes with energy, ballistic, jumpjets, moderate speed & armor.

Jagermechs offer loads of ballistic builds with energy weapons as backup (the low belly mounts make the energy less effective as main weapons)

The Shadowhawk is a pretty solid first mech, although maybe a bit too light for you if you want a Heavy or Assault.

[Bilbo]

I'd save more. You'll want enough to buy and elite, at least, 3 chassis of your chosen mech. I'll leave it t others to suggest the mech.

[Phlinger]

Orion is a great all around mech. You can set them up for almost any position you decide to play. Brawler, sniper(though not as good as Jager), and they are also the heaviest Heavy mech, right on the cusp of being an Assault. And everyone loves to pilot the Alexander Kerensky mech.

Cataphract is good, but I always feel like those weird domed aliens from the 5Th Element when I pilot one. They pack a MEAN punch though.

[Deadlyft]

Gnar, on 07 May 2014 - 02:37 PM, said:

As a recently new player as well, my advice would be to stay away from the Atlas, at least as a new player. It's a fire magnet and everyone knows to blow out your right torso because that's where your heavy ballistics are. I could only recommend it in good conscience if you were a MMO player that played tanks/aggro management in other games and are used to taking one for the team. You're going to be a priority target

Have you played many matches in the Victor? Many people like it, and it has jump jets.

Based on my ability to hardly ever put much of a dent in one, I'm thinking of saving up for a Banshee. Haven't piloted any so don't know which model I'd recommend but they clean my clock regularly.

I've played the Victor with great success however I really don't like it's ballistic setup in it's stock form. I've heard the Banshee is basically a walking weapons platform so I really can't speculate on too many fights I've had with them as they tend to stay at range..

[Gnar]

Oh, and don't make the mistake I made and keep changing stuff in the "Upgrades" tab. I.e. putting Double Heatsinks in instead of Single and then going back to single again costs more. Maybe it's a UI bug or whatever, each click back and forth, without checking out, added more money instead of resetting it back to zero, i.e. changing SHS to DHS. If you accidently click back and forth too much your bill can be crazy. I ended up eventually learning to back out of the customization, abandoning everything, and then restarting to do what you want. Probably better to build your spec on smurfy, but I'm still using the in-engine build.

[Deadlyft]

Okay, so the general consensus is either an Orion (Which is my favorite trial mech so far, that and the Hunchback) or a Cataphract?

[Sancho Kabrinski]

For long range energy weapons I'd recomend the stalker. Their weapons's locations allows you to shoot from cover without expose the entire mech, also they have a lot of energy hardpoints, I dont remember which classes have more, I have mastered them and I keept the 5M, capable of various loadouts ( energy, missile, streak or srm boat or any good mix with missiles and energy weapons) and The Missery, highly recomended mech.

Problem with stalker are their turning rate...

Highlanders are also a good option, more in the brawler way, ballistics+energy. As said above, stay away from atlas for your 1st assault mech.

About heavies, jaggers and cataphracts are a good choice. Haven't tried the catapult.

[Malcolm Vordermark]

I always recommend the Cataphracts. The CTF-3D, CTF-4X, and CTF-1X in particular. They're heavy enough to take a hit and load up on weapons to strike back but not so slow that you can't get out of a tough spot.

The 3D has jumpjets and can be made into a poptart with PPCs and AC. These builds are considered to be the most powerful at the moment but don't feel that you have to run them. I enjoy using an AC20 and lasers on my 3D.

the 1X is a solid laser + AC20 brawler and the 4X makes a mean ballistic fire support mech (if a bit slow).

I would also suggest the Victor but they were nerfed recently and I haven't had enough experience with them since that point. They're still considered one of, if not the best poptart though.

My most recent favorite ride is the BNC-3S. Nothing fancy, just brawl and hit mechs really hard.

[Deadlyft]

Ibericvs, on 07 May 2014 - 02:51 PM, said:

For long range energy weapons I'd recomend the stalker. Their weapons's locations allows you to shoot from cover without expose the entire mech, also they have a lot of energy hardpoints, I dont remember which classes have more, I have mastered them and I keept the 5M, capable of various loadouts ( energy, missile, streak or srm boat or any good mix with missiles and energy weapons) and The Missery, highly recomended mech.

Problem with stalker are their turning rate...

Highlanders are also a good option, more in the brawler way, ballistics+energy. As said above, stay away from atlas for your 1st assault mech.

About heavies, jaggers and cataphracts are a good choice. Haven't tried the catapult.

I've noticed missile boats being pretty prominent in this game and is this a route I should choose? Cause I hated running LRM boats in the older mechwarriors because. well.. they're boring.

[Sancho Kabrinski]

No, I would not recomend to go missile boat, personally I dont enjoy playing a missile boat. But with the stalker you have the option, if wanted, to do so. You can also equip a bap and 4 or 5 ssrm+4 ml to scare lights or ml/mpl+srm4/6 for brawl but beware with the heat.

Edit: I am talking about the 5M, I don't remember the others chassis hardpoints. I would consider to take the Misery for brawl. Is my favorite mech so far, AC20+2erlls+3mls or 2ppc's+ac20+1mpls.

Edited by Ibericvs, 07 May 2014 - 03:06 PM.

[Aluminumfoiled]

Deadlyft, on 07 May 2014 - 02:26 PM, said:

.


I have played all the mechwarriors

Welcome to MWO. A modern Mechwarrior they did pretty good. Previous experience does help. I second the idea of not starting with an Atlas. A good Atlas driver is golden but it takes some MWO experience.

Can't go wrong with: Victor Stalker Cataphract to start out with. Versatile loadouts can be made with them. Victor would be my #1. It's about 15 mil to buy and upgrade a Victor with double heatsinks and Endo and if you go with a 340-350 XL. Can be done with a STD engine. About 2 million per mech for DHS/Endo if not stock.

Downside is needing 3 mechs to master to unlock efficiencies. Whole new mech when you do and that's a lot of $$ starting out. You can buy three Shadowhawks for 15 mil. Griffins and wolverines are worth a look too if you go medium.

[Deadlyft]

MicroVent, on 07 May 2014 - 03:02 PM, said:

Welcome to MWO. A modern Mechwarrior they did pretty good. Previous experience does help. I second the idea of not starting with an Atlas. A good Atlas driver is golden but it takes some MWO experience.

Can't go wrong with: Victor Stalker Cataphract to start out with. Versatile loadouts can be made with them. Victor would be my #1. It's about 15 mil to buy and upgrade a Victor with double heatsinks and Endo and if you go with a 340-350 XL. Can be done with a STD engine. About 2 million per mech for DHS/Endo if not stock.

Downside is needing 3 mechs to master to unlock efficiencies. Whole new mech when you do and that's a lot of $$ starting out. You can buy three Shadowhawks for 15 mil. Griffins and wolverines are worth a look too if you go medium.

Okay, well I guess I'm going to read over all the mechs suggested and try to make the right choice. Seems like there is a wide variety of viable setups. Thanks for the input guys!

[luxebo]

Did anyone mention smurfy and mechspecs? Those are very important websites. http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab http://www.mechspecs.com/forum/ They can help plan builds.

Edit: If you like a more laser based heavy/assault brawler, then the Battlemaster isn't a bad choice I think. That is a solid brawler when made to be a brawler, and have tons of laser and ballistic choices, with a handful of missile choices. Take a good look at mechs and see how you might want to choose your mech, as the brawler role is a bit broad. (Tons of choices.)

Edited by luxebo, 07 May 2014 - 03:25 PM.

[Redshift2k5]

Browse Mechspecs http://www.mechspecs.com/forum/ for lots of build ideas. Sorted by chassis/variant, include a rating as well as link to the smurfy build for each mech so you can see the layout in full. Great resource for ideas and getting a feel for what works on each build and what doesn't.

You don't have to netdeck your mech builds, but looking at what has been done can help you decide what to do with your own mech.

I like the Orion, but it is a bit expensive and I run mine with XLs so they're even more expensive. Also no jumpjets, and ballistics are stuck in one location so many dual ballistics don't fit. (you have the tonnage for 2 ac10s but not enough space!). They're more of a generalist than a specialist.

[Koniving]

Deadlyft, on 07 May 2014 - 02:54 PM, said:

I've noticed missile boats being pretty prominent in this game and is this a route I should choose? Cause I hated running LRM boats in the older mechwarriors because. well.. they're boring.

Thank God! Personally if LRMs do the same damage in a 10 second period, but only fired twice instead of 3 times, it'd be less spammy.

Anyway, Orions are pretty solid. Cataphracts are too. Victors run a lot better after you elite them and honestly the ballistic configuration you can switch up. I personally run an LB-10 + AC/5 combination.

Currently I'm really big on Banshees. Two recent builds (videos of said builds).
Ballistics.
Mix.

Deadlyft, on 07 May 2014 - 03:06 PM, said:

Okay, well I guess I'm going to read over all the mechs suggested and try to make the right choice. Seems like there is a wide variety of viable setups. Thanks for the input guys!

Use the links Lux suggested to 'practice' building mechs, it'll help you decide.
Red's link brings you to a forum specifically for building mechs and sharing designs.

[Sancho Kabrinski]

Banshees are another solid option for brawling, you can even mix some long range weapons with brawling ones. I have got them recently and I was surprised how good they do their job. Banshees dont have weapons on the arms but you can use your arms like shields, like the stalkers you will have hard time with the lights, but almost every assaults mech have nightmares with the lights, damn little rats

About some ideas for builds on the banshee:

3M: 2 LL+6ml
3E: 2ppc+3ac5
3S: ac20+2ppc+1mpl on head

About engines I always use STD on assaults, don't remember which engines, but with those configuration all engines are 300 std or above. With speed skill it gives you a good 60kph or a bit more.

[Lyoto Machida]

Deadlyft, on 07 May 2014 - 02:26 PM, said:

Hey guys! I'm actually adapting quite well and was about to use the trial mechs with pretty good success so I have a few questions regarding the money I have and the route I want to go in terms of a mech..

So I currently have around 15 million to spend on my first mech and I was thinking of a long range energy weapons sniper but after some deliberation I would like a solid all-round brawler in the heavy to assault class if possible. I am however open to suggesions. I just want something that can take a hit and send someone crying home to momma if it turns into a knife fight.

I have played all the mechwarriors so I am a very experienced operator so it doesn't have to be 'user friendly' machine.

Can't go wrong with a CTF-3D.

As far as LRM boats are concerned, they're less effective the higher up the food chain you go.

[Denolven]

Deadlyft, on 07 May 2014 - 02:26 PM, said:

Hey guys! I'm actually adapting quite well and was about to use the trial mechs with pretty good success so I have a few questions regarding the money I have and the route I want to go in terms of a mech..

I created a topic for exactly this situation: Which Mech you should get
Includes a list with common mechs for certain roles, have fun