41 replies to this topic

[SgtMagor]

gave up on the Victor for now after the nerf it just was not working for me since I never bothered to master them that became a problem, before the nerf I thought they worked great right off the shelf stat wise. Battlemaster is a good ride haven't used it since the stat RESET , but to me its more of a brawler in your face type of knife fighter compared to an Awesome which always was a long range support mech. if your wanting to use a big energy mech, the Peace Dove with 4-erppcs might be a better choice 60 pt alpha strike at over a 800+ meters is something to think about.

[Cyborne Elemental]

Battlemaster was always on the brink of Bad, not bad, just not good either.

Victor was good, untill it was hit by Turn speed nerfs, and 2 JJ nerfs + leg damage + heatscale.

[Prezimonto]

MonkeyCheese, on 19 August 2014 - 01:51 AM, said:

My one solo victor still seems to work but it was never a poptart and I always run odd builds, it has always had an AC20 and 2 Large Lasers backed up by 3 ssrm2s. I still run it occasionally only real chance was the 3 ssrm2s into 3 lrm5s.

I dump those SSRM's for either larger engine or more heat sinks and a full complement of jump jets.

I used the 9B with that loadout was my favorite mech to play until the agility nerfs. Best brawler this game has seen, with good ability to move around, angle fire on the move, torso twist to keep on the damage spread. Even with an XL it was a great brawler.

I loath that the agility nerfs to the Victor are really direct brawling nerfs that did nothing to decrease it's meta cheese usefulness. AND THEN jump jet nerfs roll through, and we're left with a substandard mech in general. Yes, it can still do okay at brawling, and it's still one of the platforms those still trying to poptart, but it's no where near great at either. The only thing keeping it from AWS level is larger engine availability, and better hitboxes.

I wish they'd do a REAL quirk pass and give it a set that makes it much better for brawling, and worse for toting poptart builds.

[LiGhtningFF13]

Only the warrior in the cockpit must be green not the mech itself. Always depends of the player!

[Nyaruk0]

Both, a BLR and VTR are actually not made for popping out of somewhere for a single shot. It's a continuous fire tanking units basically. Before I got VTR-9B of this kind who actually can eat any random Timber just walking thru... now I geting into use of BLR-3M.
That thing I don't know hot to describe... Yesterday in T-Desert I just stupidly walked towards whole enemy lance which contain: Jagger, Dire-Woof, Kit Fox and Stormcrow... And... Just killed all 4 without a single shotdown just chaining ML's and LL's continuously. Yap, there was only 40% of my BLR-3M left but... just walking thru got slicing and dicing 4 mechs where 3 out of 4 was a clan mechs is a bit insane.

[FDJustin]

I don't run into very many of them. I did have a bit of a duel with one in a firestarter, with STD 250 engine. He had XL engines, and didn't seem very heat efficient. But he was impossible to get behind, ate shots like a boss, and would have eventually taken out my leg if reinforcements hadn't arrived.

I don't know the exact setup, but it was probably something similar to this. BLR-1D

[RangerGee412]

Victors are great brawlers. I love my battlemasters. Run the 1G with the stock loadout except a large laser instead of a ppc. They can survive very well with torso twisting. Once you elite them they are alot better

[Mechteric]

Don't take XL engines on these mechs and you'll be about 75% on the way to having a better time.


Also, don't use machine guns, flamers, small lasers, AC2's, LBX10's, or Streak SRMs on assault mechs. Bring out the big guns!

Edited by CapperDeluxe, 19 August 2014 - 05:39 AM.

[3rdworld]

There is little reason to use a battlemaster over a stalker.

The Victor is still suffering from the handling nerfs given to it during the reign of the Dragon Slayer. It would still be good if these were taken away.

TORSO TURN RATE (YAW) -20.00 %
TORSO TURN RATE (PITCH) -20.00 %
ARM MOVEMENT RATE (YAW) -10.00 %
ARM MOVEMENT RATE (PITCH) -10.00 %
TURN RATE (LOW SPEED) -20.00 %
TURN RATE (MED. SPEED) -20.00 %
TURN RATE (HIGH SPEED) -20.00 %

[Foxwalker]

POWR, on 19 August 2014 - 04:05 AM, said:

BLR feels so slow and can't really mount enough firepower to outweigh their slowness. It needs to be equipped with a XL and meh, then you just lose out on any damagesoaking. But then, that may not be a problem on the BLR as whenever I play it my CT is blown out in a few seconds.

Slow? An 85 ton Assault Mech that can mount a 400 rated engine is slow? Mabe for a light or medium, but 70-84 KPH is pretty good for the class.

The S makes a great LRM boat.
Any of them can Zombie and mount 4 Large Lasers in the Torsos and ridge hump due to the high torso mounts.

The Victor is still a good mech, it is just no longer the powerhouse it was. I agree with everyone else, it was beat to death with the nerf stick.

Edited by Foxwalker, 19 August 2014 - 07:00 AM.

[Viges]

Victors suffer from their missile tubes so hard. 6+4+2? Joke.
And agility nerf. Otherwise could be a good brawler now.
As for battlemasters - I think stalkers are better as laser/missile boats, but not that much.

[Malleus011]

I've used both extensively, and I'm just an average pilot. I stubbornly keep trying to use the Victor 9B as an AC/20 close-in brawler. I can manage to keep a positive KDR, but it's slowly getting worse after the nerfs. The Battlemasters were challenging until I gave in to the laser boating and just went with that. You can try to make them haul around AC's and missiles, but they're made for massive amounts of laser fire, big engines, and making toast. If only the 1G wasn't inexplicably nerfed ...

Are they weaker? Sadly, yes.

[Angel of Annihilation]

My Battlemaster 1G(P) is my top mech in the game and is totally blowing my Timber Wolf out of the water stat-wise so yeah I agree with you, its not a bad mech in the slightest. I run a PPC and AC/10 in the arms and 6 MLs in the torso with a 350XL engine that lets me run at almost 74 kph. The very high mounts in the torso are a huge bonus.

As far as the Victors, well they aren't bad however they have been pretty well nerfed to oblivion for anything but the poptart meta. My best build for the Victor was the 9S configed with a AC/20, SRM6s and MLs, it was a great and fun brawler but needed its agility and jump capability to close the distance and be effective. When that was nerfed it went from a good mech to just adequate. Anyway, as I said, they aren't bad mechs, rather they are just a shadow of what they used to be and they definitely lost most of their fun factor. I don't run them anymore though I haven't sold them off in hopes that PGI un-nerfs them at some point.

[Reitrix]

Rad Hanzo, on 19 August 2014 - 01:24 AM, said:

Oh, you, Mischief, stop scaring ´ im

Battlemaster and Victor are not really fun until you have mastered them fully, so :

STEEL YOURSELF !

After leveling they are damn nice and useful mechs, both in their own ways .

I've always detested this about MWO. Everything feels like piloting the Titanic until you fully master it, at which point the bonuses to everything are so extreme that you pretty much feel like its a totally different 'Mech.

[theta123]

Having 11 battlemasters, i say they are great mechs. But do they need some tuning? yes

The biggest problem with the BLR's is the same as the awesome= Hitboxes and size. The BLR is as big and wide (even wider) then a banshee. Only the atlas is bigger. And that mech can mount powerfull guns like the AC20, or Dual UAC5/ LB 10X

i say the size of this mech needs to be decreased a bit. Or atleast a postive quirk installed. imo all BLR's should have a quirck wich gives them less hot medium lasers. As all Battlemasters have this weapon mounted standard

[Tesunie]

Flash Frame, on 19 August 2014 - 01:34 AM, said:

Really? I just hit elite with one of my victors a bit ago... I really haven't found using them to be a chore at all... there are times where I get wrecked... had a great game earlier that had me vs a Jenner who was circling me. I must say, this pilot was damn smart... but that didn't stop me from nearly coring his torso... had his team not been raining LRM's on me while I was fighting him, I'd have killed him before going down.

Alas... there were unfriendly LRM's at play....

I dunno, I just don't feel they're near as bad as everyone's trying to make them out to be... sure the Victor probably sucks compaired to how it WAS... but I'm coming into it fresh with how it is now... and I'm not seeing that big of an issue.

Battlemasters are a bit... clunkier? to me... I mean, I dunno how to explain it, I think I just haven't found a build I like yet.



That's got me curious about the 1G now... any idea why it got hit so hard with the negative quirks?

For a long time I hated my Battlemaster. I kept trying to use the recommended large engines and treating it as a heavy or medium. However, 80 kph may be fast for an assault, but speed and agility are two different things. It can`t turn fast. It can't start/stop fast.

I eventually sold all of them but the 1G. And I continued to hate them, till I started to treat them like the assault it was. I showed them down, placed in a std engine. Then, I went for as many weapons as I kinda could within reason. I also added in a weapon I seem to specialize in, a small LRM10 track with only a ton or two of ammo. The LRMs really helped with the slower speeds, and I had a LL and UAC5 for some range on the arms (and cooling) with six med lasers for occasional close range bursts of damage.

My point is, I hated the Battlemaster till I found a build that worked for me. Now it's one of my favorite mechs to use. The Battlemaster really is a mech that you will either love or hate till you find that right build for you.

Foxwalker, on 19 August 2014 - 06:59 AM, said:

Slow? An 85 ton Assault Mech that can mount a 400 rated engine is slow? Mabe for a light or medium, but 70-84 KPH is pretty good for the class.

The S makes a great LRM boat.
Any of them can Zombie and mount 4 Large Lasers in the Torsos and ridge hump due to the high torso mounts.

The Victor is still a good mech, it is just no longer the powerhouse it was. I agree with everyone else, it was beat to death with the nerf stick.

Slow? Not really. Agile? It is not a ballerina dancer. It might be able to move fast, but it can't stop or start very well, and its not quick to turn. It's controls are sluggish to respond when you are moving 80+ kph. I often found the speed to not be worth it in this mech, but that is my performance and opinion. Going fast I find isn't always the best thing in every mech.

[LiGhtningFF13]

I like both Mech variants but personally prefer the Victor, nice mix of speed, armor and armament! I only use the Battlemaster as a LRM supporter.

[Mcgral18]

CapperDeluxe, on 19 August 2014 - 05:37 AM, said:

Don't take XL engines on these mechs and you'll be about 75% on the way to having a better time.


Also, don't use machine guns, flamers, small lasers, AC2's, LBX10's, or Streak SRMs on assault mechs. Bring out the big guns!

...don't XL a Victor?....

ALWAYS XL a Victor. Otherwise, you get no firepower or speed. It has decent hitboxes for XLs, unlike the Cataphracts.

It might turn at the same rate as an Atlas with the same engine, but you generally go 40-50 points higher, which is still slow, but bearable.


Pair of UACs, SRM16+A and 2MLs works decently as a brawler, while still being able to plink at range.

[Bront]

Victors are fun, though they've been nerfed a bit to not be as agile as they once were. Still one of my favorite mechs.

Battlemasters are big and agile, and work well with XL engines, and the 1S is one of the better LRM Boats.

If you enjoy them, then that's the most important part.

[Malleus011]

I've run both XL and Std engines in VTRs and BLRs.

The Vic with the Std is a LOT more survivable, as everyone goes for your RT. Of course, losing usually removes your big gun, so it still hurts, but even half a Victor can still deal (and soak) some damage. The XL gives you at least a shadow of the proper speed and agility. It does make you vulnerable; you can't risk taking huge alphas or tanking damage.

The BLR is WAY tougher with a Std. It doesn't benefit as much from the big engine; it's always sluggish despite the straight line speed. For me, though, the giant XL's aren't there for speed (though strategic speed helps on some maps) - they're in the 'mech so you can stack in more heat sinks. The mainline BLR's (not the missile boats) live or die by laser and PPC fire. You lose a lot in survivability, but while you're up you can dish out a lot of energy fire. The STD versions are far tougher, but you're down to a fairly light weapon load (no big auto cannons for you); much closer to stock.