23 replies to this topic

[Ecrof]

I was thinking about buying the dire whale a la cart. How good is the dire whale? I used to run a triple gauss ilya till they killed it, it was one of my favorite builds. I really don't want to grind 40 million cbills or light $55 on fire if its not worth it.

Edited by Ecrof, 11 September 2014 - 07:25 PM.

[Pika]

I've only used it on a friends account after he bought it and was sat next to me making a face.

So I promptly pushed him out of the chair while he was still awe struck and gave it a whirl. It is without a doubt worth every penny you spend on it. In my very first game with the stock B build I got 4 kills and 6 assists with around 700 damage.

If you don't usually play assaults (Like me) you may find the speed annoying and if you get NARCed or caught alone, it's all over. But these are issues all assaults have I think. Since playing it I am trying so hard to justify why I should spend my limited disposable income on the wonder machine.

Though I do honestly think I have to say this:

It is very likely both it and the TimberWolf will be nerfed. I say this because of just how powerful they feel and not through any evidence. The sheer stopping power they can bring just feels leagues ahead of anyone else. This ain't from numbers, this is from an experienced IS pilot dabbling for the first time in both Clan mechs and Assaults.

Keep that in mind when you buy em.

Edited by Pika, 11 September 2014 - 07:32 PM.

[Carrie Harder]

The Dire Whale's strength is that it carries a metric fuckton of firepower. If something is dumb enough to sit in your crosshairs, it's gonna have a bad time real fast.

The Whale's weakness is that it's the slowest mech in the game and has fairly low agility. It is prone to getting outmaneuvered and/or left behind by its team. They also attract a lot of focus fire because of their firepower (similar to Jagerbomb and Splatcat, but even more so).

[Angel of Annihilation]

Actually probably. It is a great assault mech though a bit limiting because of its lack of mobility. Also it isn't hard to become frustrated or quite frankly annihilated by the same lack of mobility so it being worth $55 is greatly dependent on your tolerance for slow, wallowing type mechs. Generally speaking though, if you enjoy playing a Stalker, your going to love a Dire Wolf.

[Ultimax]

Carrie Harder, on 11 September 2014 - 07:37 PM, said:

The Whale's weakness is that it's the slowest mech in the game and has fairly low agility. It is prone to getting outmaneuvered and/or left behind by its team. They also attract a lot of focus fire because of their firepower (similar to Jagerbomb and Splatcat, but even more so).

Torso Yaw and Pitch are also narrow arcs.

You can never have lower arm actuators.

Twist speed is hysterically bad, 34 degrees per second.


Also when you play a Dire Wolf you will almost always spawn in D2 Rivery City Skirmish, or L6 Alpine Skirmish, or B5/F3 Caustic Valley Skirmish.



@OP:
If you have a Stalker, put a 255 engine into it and take it to the training grounds.

It's going to feel something like that, only a bit worse but with 2x the Firepower.


If you like assault mechs and firepower, and are used to slower assault mechs you will probably love it - if you are used to lights, mediums or heavies, you will probably have a love hate relationship with it - or you might just hate it.

Edited by Ultimatum X, 11 September 2014 - 08:02 PM.

[Cyborne Elemental]

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...3c7278e1e6ca9ad

I dunno, this looks pretty scary to me..

Or yeah.. derp..
Diashi build.
I'd try this at least once.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...a406c02a8dffd3b

Edited by Mister D, 11 September 2014 - 09:16 PM.

[Ultimax]

Mister D, on 11 September 2014 - 08:43 PM, said:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...3c7278e1e6ca9ad

I dunno, this looks pretty scary to me..

It is pretty scary, I just like to let a player who might not like slow mechs that this could be awful.

Anyone who can handle playing a slow mech will love the DW.

[Livewyr]

TBR first, then DWF.

[Johnny Reb]

Well I was surprised the Adder just came out cause I expected the Dire to be the next mech. However, the Dire being regarded as the top assault and top 3 clan mechs (Timber and Stormcrow the other 2) I think pgi went off the release schedule and will release those three mechs last prolly in the Storm, Dire, Timber sequence.

[Ultimax]

Johnny Reb, on 11 September 2014 - 08:51 PM, said:

Well I was surprised the Adder just came out cause I expected the Dire to be the next mech. However, the Dire being regarded as the top assault and top 3 clan mechs (Timber and Stormcrow the other 2) I think pgi went off the release schedule and will release those three mechs last prolly in the Storm, Dire, Timber sequence.

Honestly, I am curious behind their thinking for the release schedule.

I think they way over-estimated the Warhawk putting it last, and putting it at the top of the largest clan package.

[Johnny Reb]

I think they have adjusted since release to maximize profits. Don't blame them but original release schedule was: Kit, Nova, Sum, Dire, Adder, Storm, Timber, War.

edit: so now its adder, war, storm, dire ,timber. I think.

Edited by Johnny Reb, 11 September 2014 - 09:19 PM.

[Elizander]

Find the nearest tunnel/cave/chokepoint and camp it. If they are coming at you from the front then you're doing it right.

[Nauht]

Definitely no, not now.... seeing as they're the next mech to be released.

You've waited this long what's a few more weeks. You'll be able to buy it then andsave $55.

Unless ofc you don't have the CB.

[Johnny Reb]

Elizander, on 11 September 2014 - 09:46 PM, said:

Find the nearest tunnel/cave/chokepoint and camp it. If they are coming at you from the front then you're doing it right.

OK.....will do.............

[Soulscour]

No 1 mech is worth $55

[RangerGee412]

Are you patient? Do you enjoy obliterating your opponent? Do you like to one shot light mechs? Then the dire wolf is for you.

[Kain Demos]

I guess the Dire Wolf is a bit of a love-hate relationship. The lack of speed and agility is extremely punishing of bad calls--1 mistake will cost you your match because you don't have the speed to make a correction.

I just recently mastered all 3 of the Timberwolf variants and decided to work on my Dire Wolves next. The firepower is nice, especially the one I have 4 x CERRL 2 x Cgauss mounted on (chain fire the lasers, obviously) but the pace and poor movement can make life tough at times.

I feel fragile, more so than in my Timberwolves. I think that this is because the armor increase just doesn't make a difference when your CT is the size of an entire heavy mech and you are are just so slow. Even with the incredible firepower you will not be 2on1ing or 3on1ing anyone, they will keep you juggled easily since you're so big and slow and you'l be lucky to get a single shot off. If you have one of those unfortunate instances where you round a corner or crest a hill and find a large force lying in wait (ECM) you're just dead. You are NOT fast enough to change direction and survive the onslaught.

I think a big adjustment needed is learning to play more patiently as well. At the beginning of every match I get completely left behind and by the time I catch up it is easy to get too eager to bring your weapons to bear and move in only to find that everyone else is too scared to follow and bam, you're dead just like that. For comparison the times I've eventually caught up and the battle is already pitched you can just start melting people before they realize what's going on. I've scored a lot of kills on light mechs that way too--you're bringing up the rear and find one poking at a team mates back and then pop them fast.

A match where I had fun in my Dire Wolf:

I was in my 4 ERLL 2 gauss build I mentioned above last night on HPG manifold. It didn't seem like the whole team was up top like usual so I staggered up there and came face to face with a Jagermech shooting down on my allies. I highlight his center torso and laser, laser, both gauss, laser, laser and he's dead. I turn to my right to find a Stormcrow shooting lasers at me but I knock off his arm with my gauss rifles and he runs away. After that no one was coming up top anymore and I just picked and chose targets below to pour fire into--it was the most fun I'd EVER had on that map.

An example of when being in one sucks:

I was in Alpine and spawned at the top base. The rest of the team went to camp the high ground of the south approach and left me behind. The entire team came in from the west and just obliterated me.

I've seen others say they don't like piloting the Dire Wolf because of the extra attention it gets--basically if they see you you're getting focused. While I will admit that happens a lot (you're engaging 1 or two guys that are behaving like a jack in the box and then 4-5 guys appear on your flank and you're done) I'm kind of used to it because that happens to me a lot in my Timberwolves too (especially if I'm boating LRMs). What is nice though is the flip side of that coin--people fleeing before you when you suddenly appear from cover giving you nice shots at their back.

It can be frustrating at times but I'm hoping once I master them they won't be as terrible in the movement category. I still need to find a good build for the variant with AMS and two missle slots (keep getting the A and B confused) because right now what I have on that mech isn't working and I just keep getting wrecked.

Edited by Kain Thul, 12 September 2014 - 08:51 AM.

[Anassi]

Johnny Reb, on 11 September 2014 - 09:18 PM, said:

I think they have adjusted since release to maximize profits. Don't blame them but original release schedule was: Kit, Nova, Sum, Dire, Adder, Storm, Timber, War.

edit: so now its adder, war, storm, dire ,timber. I think.

Ummm, I think they are still sticking to their original schedule. The Mechs get released for MC first and then for CBills a month later.

- Two-and-a-half weeks ago they released the Dire Wolf for MC and the Nova for CBills.
- This week was Adder for MC, Summoner for CBills.
- In two weeks it will be Stormcrow for MC, Dire Wolf for CBills.
- Two weeks after that it's gonna be Timber Wolf for MC, Adder for CBills.
- Two weeks later it's gonna be Warhawk for MC, Stormcrow for CBills, and so on.

This is the release schedule, we are in week 9 after the release of the Invasion packs and so far they have been following the schedule to the letter.

Edited by Anassi, 12 September 2014 - 09:11 AM.

[Malcolm Vordermark]

I would hold off, it will be released for cbills in about two weeks.

Ultimatum X, on 11 September 2014 - 07:59 PM, said:

You can never have lower arm actuators.

That is incorrect. The A's right arm has a lower arm actuator.

[Nathan Xain]

With such a ponderous, pitifully slow mech, you will have to plan far ahead and be extremely careful where you go. More so than any other mech. You probably will not be able to reposition yourself in time to help your team if you make the wrong choice early on.
Also, it can not climb up quite a few slopes that most (if not all) other mechs can, (something to bear in mind on Alpine if you try and climb the hill from the south) and if you get separated from your team and spotted by pretty much anything with even a half decent pilot moving over 80kph you are dead. Dire Wolves are also artillery and air strike magnets.

But, on those rare occasions when you manage, somehow, to be in the right place at the right time, you can absolutely destroy an entire enemy lance before they can even scratch your paint. Not just damage, or take off a few components, but completely and utterly massacre them. My best ambush in my DWF Prime saw the enemy lose an Atlas, a Battlemaster, a Catapult, a light (I can not remember what it was, mostly a fireball) and a Centurion on Frozen City. The rest of the team seemed to get a little irritated for some reason, and killed me soon after, but we won.