26 replies to this topic

[Danghen Woolf]

Mechwarrior,

My first mech and one that is near and dear to me heart is the Hunchback. She may not be pretty but there are enough different variants that have been designed in the last four hundred seventy-odd years that you can play a variety of roles. They are all pretty basic and do not rely on that expensive Helm Memory Core technology to drive the prices up. My 4-G has held out through a number of runs, rattling and smoking, but she stayed on her feet. It may not be as quick as some Blackjacks, or as maneuverable as a Shadow Hawk but it gets you to the objective and usually won't let you outrun your lance on the way there. Speed does not always mean life when you find yourself alone becuase you humped out at full speed while your lancemates plodded along at patrol speeds. Find something that you enjoy piloting and you will never work a day in your life.

See you on the field,

Mechwarrior Woolf signing off...

[dragnier1]

All Inner sphere (IS) mechs can have their engines changed, so speed is dependent on the engine you place inside.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...#module_engines has a list of the engine sizes, heat sinks each engine has inbuild (this is important, as all inbuilt heat sinks work at full "power" if you upgrade them to double heat sinks) and the weight of each engine.

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/ is the main page where you can check details of the mechs available in the game, such as weapon hardpoints, equipment limitations and engines each variant can use. You can also use it to estimate your cost of building each mech .

Do note, you need 3 of the same kind, for example centurions A, AL and D to master the chassis (the champion A(C) counts as the A for experience points. Check the link on my sig for details).

Personally i prefer the shadow hawks as they can jump. If you decide to start with shadow hawks, do consider the 5M variant as it comes with an XL engine (it's cheaper than buying the same engine separately) that you can use on the others to save on some cbills. Do note that if you use XL engines your mech is down if any side torso is blown, unlike STD engines.

If you decide on centurions, get 1 STD engine that you can share on both the A and AL, maybe the D variant as well. I usually use both arms (the left first) to protect the torsos by twisting the torso accordingly. At least you'll still have the CT lasers to back you up.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Luriael, on 20 June 2014 - 05:23 AM, said:

I'm debating either the Centurion or Shadow Hawk, love the mobility of the medium mechs and the toughness of the Centurion yet the Shadow Hawk is faster though I think?

All 4 of the "Founders" chassis (Jenner, Hunchback, Catapult, and Atlas) are on sale over the weekend - half cost on Cbills as well as MC.

Hunchback makes a great learning chassis - as does the Jenner.

Between the two you mentioned - I prefer my Centurion, but general opinion leans toward the Shadowhawk.

[Luriael]

Might turn my choice toward the Hunchback for the moment then because of the rebate and it's a chassis I can see myself piloting...

[CG Chicken Kn]

Cents and Hunchies are good, A Cent "can" be made quite fast, Shadowhawks are arguably the "best" medium, but that is a very subjective opinion, and usually held by what one would call highly experienced pilots who can make use of it's speed and maneuverability, especially with jump jets,

All of them are good, just... different. As other's said, make use of the plethora of trials to see what you like and are comfortable with.

Also, any xp you get with trials is "banked" so to speak. If you later buy that variant for yourself, you will have a bunch of xp sitting there for you to use even before your first game.

[Torgun]

It's hard to argue against the Shadowhawks as the jumpjets and the high mounted hardpoint(s) on the shoulder are major advantages. But if you start using jumpjet mechs you'll never learn the maps fully since there are plenty of mechs without jumpjets that have to use the allowed routes to get up hills, find cover etc.

My first ever mech was the 4SP and frankly I didn't like it much at all in the beginning. I had it outfitted with the 2xASRM6 and 5xML so it was pretty short-range and made it imperative to learn the maps in more detail where cover is, where I can get shots off at opponents from different locations and be able to fade back in cover. Once you learn the maps better you'll get a lot better with all other mechs too, so it will benefit you in the long run. And it's always satisfying to get up close and personal and blast them up with srms.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

Luriael, on 20 June 2014 - 10:07 AM, said:

Might turn my choice toward the Hunchback for the moment then because of the rebate and it's a chassis I can see myself piloting...

Because this sale is sooo crazy cheap, I honestly recommend buying either an atlas D-DC or a catapult K2.
I highly recommend against getting a medium or a light right now (during the sale). The more expensive the mech originally costs, the more you save right now. Anyone can literally make a new account right now, and with their 25 games of cadet bonus, literally buy and fully upgrade an Atlas D-DC.

Atlas too slow for you? Then maybe a catapult, with your recruit money, you can buy 2 whole chassis. Anyway, I recommend taking full advantage of this sale