13 replies to this topic

[Not Elvis]

With the upcoming mechbay sale, it made me think of which variant of a chassis to get next. I'm not planning on getting each chassis, but I can't make up my mind which ones they should be. If you could only choose one variant per chassis which one would that choice be for these IS mechs:

Commando-
Firestarter-
Jenner-
Locust-
Raven-
Spider-

Blackjack-
Centurion-
Cicada-
Griffin-
Hunchback-
Kintaro-
Shadow Hawk-
Trebuchet-
Vindicator-
Wolverine-

Cataphract-
Catapult-
Dragon-
Jagermech-
Orion-
Quickdraw-
Thunderbolt-

Atlas-
Awesome-
Banshee-
Battlemaster-
Highlander-
Stalker-
Victor-

Obviously, this is all subjective, but that's fine. I just want an idea of what people think the better ones are. If you think that another chassis can do a better job than the one listed, please say so. OP? EZ-Mode? Bring it. Oh, and please, no Heroes/Champions.

Thanks.

Edited by Not Elvis, 18 September 2014 - 09:51 AM.

[Bront]

Oooh, fun!

Commando- 2D (ECM rocks)
Firestarter- Ember (If no Heroes, the S, which I've had more success in than my K or H)
Jenner- D
Locust- 1V (only one I enjoy)
Raven- 3L
Spider- 5D

Blackjack- 1
Centurion- None? (A, but I hated them all)
Cicada- 3M
Griffin- Sparky (no hero? 3M)
Hunchback- J
Kintaro- 18
Shadow Hawk- 2D2
Trebuchet- Loup De Guer (No hero? probably 7M)
Vindicator- 1AA
Wolverine- 6R

Cataphract- Ilya (No hero? 3D)
Catapult- C1
Dragon- Flame (No Hero? Probably the 1C)
Jagermech- DD
Orion- Protector (No Hero? K)
Quickdraw- 4H
Thunderbolt- 9S

Atlas- DDC
Awesome- 9M
Banshee- 3E
Battlemaster- 1S
Highlander-733C
Stalker- Misery (No hero? F)
Victor- 9S

[DEMAX51]

Commando- 2D
Firestarter- Ember or S
Jenner- F or D (my two favorite 'Mechs in the game, btw - both excellent skirmishers)
Locust- don't bother, man. If you've got your heart set, the 5 laser hardpoint one (the M I think?)
Raven- 3L
Spider- 5D or 5K

Blackjack- The Arrow or the -1
Centurion- 9D - zombie extraordinaire
Cicada- the ECM one
Griffin- 3M (i think that's what it is - the one with a ton of missile hardpoints)
Hunchback- (they're all kinda meh, but the 4P is my personal fave)
Shadow Hawk- 2D or 2D2

Cataphract- 3D or Ilya
Catapult- K2, C1, or A1 if you want to go with the 6LRM5 build
Jagermech- most of 'em are pretty similar, but I like the ones with no missile hardpoints better (smaller, harder to hit arms)

Atlas- DDC
Awesome- 8Q or 8R (I prefer the 8R with a bunch of SRMs)
Stalker- Misery is the best one, but they're all pretty good
Victor- Dragonslayer or 9S

Edited by DEMAX51, 18 September 2014 - 10:25 AM.

[Hospy]

I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but because of the way the efficiency system works, you probably should consider getting three variants of a chassis in order to unlock all the efficiencies. A mech with just basic tier efficiencies handles a lot differently from one with elited ones.

Having said that I can heartily recommend the 3L Raven (the other two variants are a giant pita to skill up however) and the 3D Cataphract, which are the only mechs that I have played enough to actually recommend their variants.

[Ertur]

What Hospy said (aside from the diss on the Raven 2/4X's). You need 3 variants of a chassis. After you get basics, you can sell 1 or 2, but you want to get all 3 basic'ed first.

The no-ECM-Ravens are actually not bad. Not great, but not bad. I do better in those than my 3L. Play them like fast mediums.

Edited by Ertur, 18 September 2014 - 11:39 AM.

[DEMAX51]

This may help you choose: http://www.mercenary...php?topic=194.0

Great list put together by one of the best players in the game (scroll down about half way through the article for the "PUG List").

Edited by DEMAX51, 18 September 2014 - 12:01 PM.

[Hospy]

Also note for the 3 chassis thing, you don't have to have them all at the same time. You can finish the basics on one variant, sell it, buy the second, finish the basics, sell it, and then keep the third.

[Rogue Jedi]

Not Elvis, on 18 September 2014 - 09:46 AM, said:

With the upcoming mechbay sale, it made me think of which variant of a chassis to get next. I'm not planning on getting each chassis, but I can't make up my mind which ones they should be. If you could only choose one variant per chassis which one would that choice be for these IS mechs:

here are my choices, naturally I do not have an opinion for every Mech as there are some that I do not do not like and some that I have not yet tried

where I mention the Champion, bear in mind you can make the same build as the Champion for Cbills, I only mention the Champ to help you find the exact build on smurfys


Firestarter-k, the 6 arm mounted Lasers + 2 in the CT give you great options as a fast harasser, but hit and run or you will overheat fast

Jenner-D, 4 ML + 2 SRM4, another great if hot harrasser

Raven-3l, the ECM makes this variant an easy decision, but there are several viable build depending on the role you want

Spider-k, the Champion build with 4 MG and an ERLL works great, also the D works well with ECM + ERLL and 2ML

Cicada-3m, ether with 2 ERLL, sniper or an LB10 and 4 ML late game harasser/ brawler,

Griffin-1n, 3 ML 3 SRM6, go XL for speed or STD for suvibility (still with 90kph after speed tweek)

Catapult-K2, 2 AC5, 2 LL, 2 ML great medium to long range mech, when the AC ammo runs out you still have respectable firepower

Dragon-5n, 2LL+gauss, again the Champion build, I have been unable to get better scores with any other dragon build

Jagermech-dd, 6 MG, 2 LPL, Standard engine, a realy fun build which can work well on about half the maps

Atlas-D-DC, the ECM is just too much of an advantage to pass up, 2 LL, AC20, 3 SRM6

[Not Elvis]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yes, I'm aware of the 3 variants thing, but frankly, that's how I almost quit. I started with the Hunchback, getting the H, P, and SP. I also bought the Firestarter pack and after finishing those, I decided never to do it in order again because the monotony was just too much.

'm not an elite player. I just want to experience various mechs and try out the different playstyles because I don't know how long I'll stay with the game; so far, I'm enjoying it and want to see more.. but with a little variety in mind. I figure that if I do end up really liking a mech, I can go back, do the triumvirate, and reap the bonuses then-- but as it stands now, I rarely use the Ember and never bring out the others. I think the grind sctick beat it out of me.

I wish there were another mechanic to level up mechs, but I'll leave that for another post!

[TercieI]

Not Elvis, on 18 September 2014 - 02:14 PM, said:

Thanks for the replies guys. Yes, I'm aware of the 3 variants thing, but frankly, that's how I almost quit. I started with the Hunchback, getting the H, P, and SP. I also bought the Firestarter pack and after finishing those, I decided never to do it in order again because the monotony was just too much.

'm not an elite player. I just want to experience various mechs and try out the different playstyles because I don't know how long I'll stay with the game; so far, I'm enjoying it and want to see more.. but with a little variety in mind. I figure that if I do end up really liking a mech, I can go back, do the triumvirate, and reap the bonuses then-- but as it stands now, I rarely use the Ember and never bring out the others. I think the grind sctick beat it out of me.

I wish there were another mechanic to level up mechs, but I'll leave that for another post!

You're not alone in that. Something to keep in mind in case you don't know: You only have to level three variants of the first chassis of each weight class all the way through elite. After that, you only have to go through basic with three. So since you have FS9s already, if you decided you just really wanted a JR7-D, you could level an F and a K through basic and take your D all the way through mastery. Same would go for Ravens: You could suffer the 2X and 4X through basic for the sake of the 3L.

Just something to consider in case you didn't know. It's also a very good reason to select a mech with multiple good (and preferably different) variants as the first of each weight class.

[Spheroid]

Commando-2D
Firestarter-S
Jenner-D
Locust-1M
Raven-3L
Spider-5D

Blackjack-1X
Centurion-AL
Cicada-2A
Griffin-1N
Hunchback-4P
Kintaro-19
Shadow Hawk-2D2
Trebuchet-5N
Vindicator-1AA
Wolverine-7K

Cataphract-3D
Catapult-C1
Dragon-5N
Jagermech-S
Orion-K.
Quickdraw-K
Thunderbolt-9S

Atlas-DDC
Awesome-8R
Banshee-3E
Battlemaster-1S
Highlander-?
Stalker-3F
Victor-9S

Edited by Spheroid, 18 September 2014 - 09:25 PM.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Not Elvis, on 18 September 2014 - 02:14 PM, said:

Thanks for the replies guys. Yes, I'm aware of the 3 variants thing, but frankly, that's how I almost quit. I started with the Hunchback, getting the H, P, and SP. I also bought the Firestarter pack and after finishing those, I decided never to do it in order again because the monotony was just too much.

'm not an elite player. I just want to experience various mechs and try out the different playstyles because I don't know how long I'll stay with the game; so far, I'm enjoying it and want to see more.. but with a little variety in mind. I figure that if I do end up really liking a mech, I can go back, do the triumvirate, and reap the bonuses then-- but as it stands now, I rarely use the Ember and never bring out the others. I think the grind sctick beat it out of me.

I wish there were another mechanic to level up mechs, but I'll leave that for another post!

There is also the ability to convert MXP to GXP and use GXP on a different mech. Only helpful if you want to spend money on the conversion process (sale this weekend btw) and only helpful if you have a lot of MXP or GXP to transfer over. But still an option.

[Kmieciu]

If you don't want to get a mech through elite skills, then buy a clan mech. Thanks to the Omnipods you can have (almost) three variants in one mech.

[Liushing]

Jenner - JR7-F: Death by lasers. The JR7-D is good, too, if you want missiles to go with your lasers.

Centurion - One of my favorite chassis. I love my Yen Lo Wang. If you don't want to spend $, though, try the CN9-D. As a bonus, the CN9-D comes with an XL300 engine that you may load in your Jenners, Shadowhawks, Jagers, Cataphracts, and probably others. It's the most useful engine I own. I also enjoy the CN9-A--it takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. Funny enough, my profile stats indicate that I do better in my CN9-AL, the laser Cent, than I do in my others!

Shadow Hawk - SHD-5M for sniping or a variety of other loadouts. My favorite loadout may be the Skirmisher SHD-2H (LBX10, 2MG, MLas, 3xSSRMs), though, because it's underrated and chews through battle-weary enemy mechs. Heck, the SHD-2D with a gauss rifle is lots of fun, too, but you can throw that loadout on the 5M.

Cataphract - The Ilya Muromets or 3D. The both have a variety of good loadouts. The 3D was a great introduction to the others. I own a 2X, too, which is an underrated brawler.

Jagermech - The JM6-S for lasers or the JMS-DD for ballistics, although both have ballistics hardpoints. There are a good variety of effective loadouts in both.

Atlas - The AS7-D-DDC because it has ECM! You need all the help you can get with the Atlas bullet sponge. The AS7-RS is decent, too.

Awesome - My first love, and I'm not a masochist. You'll need patience and dedication with the Awesome, but I've had fun playing all of mine. Try the AWS-8Q is you like lasers and PPCs. On the other hand, the AWS-8R is the only missile boat that I've enjoyed playing. I recommend both.

Victor - The Dragon Slayer. Lots of fun, highly effective with the right loadout, and comes with a c-bill/xp bonus.

If you didn't notice, I like having a variety of loadout options on my mechs.