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Mech Review
Summoner: Rating, 1/5 Stars - Well, he is pretty redundant and every review needs a baseline so I guess he is it. I am a Wolf guy but I really wanted to love him regardless. I tried to come up with something unique for him but in every instance I found the Timberwolf or some other mech does it better. The role the summoner was supposed to play was a reasonably well armored medium type weapons platform with good mobility. The Timberwolf beats him in every regards and he brings nothing unique to the picture. For this he gets 1 star. Also, his arms just feel weird in regards to how the weapons track.That said, I am still typically in the top 1/4 of my team scorewise with this build. Record damage: 700
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f7ee63c2e0a48a2
Adder: Rating, 2/5 Stars - He is low slung, somewhat slow, and can pack a good punch; however, he is almost completely inferior to the kitfox minus some unique weapon configs. I personally enjoy using him with powerful short range weapons as he is often ignored but will tear off armor like nobodies business. Record damage: 900
[smurfy]http://mwo.smurfy-ne...16063c7d73f1017[/smurfy]
Direwolf: Rating 3/5 Stars - He is slow, completely unagile without his full 2x basic upgrades, and has a giant CT. That said he has the best weapon platforms in the game. He scores low in my ratings because he has no ability to get himself out of danger or get the fight to help his teammates out; that said a good DireWolf pilot can single handily with the game for his team if he is protected. Record damage: 1600
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...a2e71598406757e
StormCrow: Rating 3.5/5 Stars - A fast, mobile weapons platform that is superior to the adder in everyway except he isn't low slung to the ground. He can function in any roll but really doesn't define himself in anyway due to his pure all around nature. You could interchange my score of the nova and stormcrow depending on your view. Record damge: 900
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...42b1a90738c7c30
Nova: Rating 4/5 Stars - Oh man is this guy nasty up close. He won't single core a timberwolf or direwolf by himself typically but he can come close. I have blown atlases and stalkers away at close range and come out my internals in the orange. Typically my damage per round isn't as high as with others but that is because this guy is really to be played as a suicide front line fighter; although he can function well enough as a ppc sniper. That said, I have come out of a match with all my MG ammo gone, 2 lasers, 1 leg, all remaining torsos in the red and lived to tell the tale. Don't underestimate the fact he has JJ and is low to the ground. My particular variant requires very good control group utilization to manage the heat. Record damage: 1100
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...8c353791595f666
Warhawk: Rating 4.5/5 Stars - A very misunderstood, not well utilized mech. Essentially what you have here is a fast moving weapons platform that can take a beating like a stalker. His weapon pods are strange and require some finagling but if you can figure it out I think he is superior to the direwolf in almost every regard. My particular variant utilizes the max targeting computer, 4 large lasers, tons of heat sinks, and some streak 2's to help with pesky lights that aren't scared of 4 large lasers to the face. With my variant you need 2 groups of 2 large lasers; one for each hand. I typically chain fire the streaks to keep a constant peppering of missles going. Record damage: 1800
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...aabdda68f0951c4
Timberwolf: Rating 5/5 Stars - What can be said, fast, hits hard, well armored and typically the last mech alive on the battlefield. The fact he can equip jump jets almost spits in the novas and directly into the summoners face. His only minor drawback is he can't boat lasers like the direwolf and nova but really he was never designed for this. Probably the best mech in the game. You'll notice my damage may not be as high with him as with others but he brings so much more to the battlefield than damage; the ability to get right where he is needed due to his speed and with his level of firepower makes him the best in my opinion. My variant uses tons of control groups due to the sheer number of weapons. Record damage: 1400
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...1b3dc66144f822d
Kitfox: Rating 5/5 Stars - Best assist mech in the game with only the raven coming anywhere near. ECM is huge, up to 3 AMS is just unbelievable, and his weapon potential is only limited by the fact his arms tend to boat everything which is not necessarily a drawback. Bring him along and watch your team face roll the other team if you assist well. His only minor drawback is that he is somewhat slow for his size but he is made to stick with the assaults and heavies so who cares anyway. Use him as a support sniper and you will be loved by your team. Record Damage: 700
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...66f1277e077ebef
Clan Tech Review
Definitely not quite as overwhelming as many believe. The clan ultraautos are inferior to the basic IS auto cannon in my opinion leaving the best option being the LBX which unfortunately is not effected by the targeting computers. Likewise LBX often have the weapon and ammo to be located in opposite torsos or arms due to the preassignment of pod crits. This leaves the clan auto cannons in a weird position and inferior to the IS variants. That said, the LBX 20 cannon is the most fun weapon in the game and the LBX 5 is a true beast if used well.
Clan LRMs are another oddity. They are definitely lighter and its nice not to have a minimum range but they are really not as effective to boat as the IS variant. That said they are a better all around weapon than the IS variant and in my view better balanced. They pepper me with damage, the IS variants can single handedly annihilate me. Clan streaks with the exception of the 2 are pretty terrible due to there long reload time.
Clan lasers and SRMS; ah now here we go. These guys are true beasts. Clan lasers are flat up just better than the IS variants regardless of the heat penalty as they have higer damage and can shoot across half the map. Likewise the SRM with an artemis is going to do some serious damage for a better damage per ton value than the IS counter part. Pulse lasers aren't worth the tons with maybe only the medium being useful in my opinion.
Clan Gauss and Clan PPC are interesting. The clan gauss is just better but is often limited by weird clan pod preassignment. The ERPPC is another weapon that has better damage than the IS counterpart, naturally it is a bit harder to compare the IS PPC to the clan ERPPC.
Targeting computers are completely awesome by the way. I would suggest using at least one ton if you boat more than 4 lasers. My 4 erlarge laser warhawk with the max targeting computer is hilarious to watch on alpine. He never stops firing and can hit while I see the lasers coming at me stopping before they hit.
Clans and the IS
Not quite as unbalanced as you first might believe. The IS definitely enjoys an auto cannon and LRM advantage but it is impossible to ignore that the clans can boat more and better laser weapons.
The IS has more versatility in their configs, but I largely find that the ability of the clans to adjust weapons in mass wins out by a slight margin to engine speeds and such.
IS mechs are still very viable with the Shadowhawk, Atlas, BlackJack, JaegerMech, Jenner, Raven, Firestarter, Griffin, Catapract, Catapault, Stalker, Banshee, Hunchback, and Battlemaster coming to mind.
I think it is impossible to ignore thought that the clan mechs are still better overall and really need to be given a ton per match nerf. Something in the range of 10 Clan to 12 IS mechs would probably be more fair.
At any rate this is my review and I hoped you enjoyed.
Edited by Blueduck, 27 July 2014 - 07:18 PM.
