129 replies to this topic

[Joseph Mallan]

sirzorn, on 24 September 2014 - 04:30 AM, said:

I was looking forward to the DW release, to test my first "real" Clan mech. After 50 battles played, its clear to me that this thing is the nr.1 in assault mechs. There is absolute no contester (no surprise here i guess).

Ofcourse... there is this one situation, where you are left behind the team and get owned by 2-3 scouts... and, there is this one situation where you made a stupid move and get LRMed to death instantly. But besides that there are alot more situations where nothing can stop you except superior numbers or another dire wolf.

There is absolutely no reason for me to grind another assault mech.

I guess, the same will happen when they release the Stormcrow for C-bills. This will be my medium first choice forever (?) and will stop any further medium mech grinding. And about the heavys...... its the Timbi obviously.... until they bring the mad dog (ofcourse).

I am quite new to this game, and i went for a Ilya as my main mech to grind the C-Bills. I was doing very well in it, but facing all these mad dogs/timber wolves made me stop playing and stick to my DW.

Somebody will say, the reason for the Mad Dog - DW Spam is just the release date.... But i doubt that anyone will go back to an Atlas/Stalker/Victor after feeling the power of the DW. and the OPness of Crow-Timbi-Maddog compared to IS mechs of same weight is way higher. The light class is probably the only one where IS mechs have a good stand.


For now, this is no problem for me, since i still enjoy my fresh bought DW. And since Crow is coming soon, i also have sth. to play in the near future. But at some point i will start to miss the diversity that i´ve seen when i started this game.


I dont think there is a solution in terms of balance. You just cant nerf Clan mechs until they are like IS mechs... Clan mechs are supposed to be stronger. Introducing a 12 vs 10 system would kill the MM, since more people will tend to play the stronger mechs, getting people wait too long for their matches.

The only possible solution i can think of is a IS vs IS and Clan vs Clan system, to avoid the balance problems.


Faction fighting Clans vs IS is just Utopia in my books.

Diversity and war are mutually exclusive, and this is meant to be a game of war. I don't see the problem.

[Livewyr]

DWF = Deathstar when supported, NOT what you want in a fast playstyle. (Which can be a death sentence in ranged maps.. or maps where people like to play NASCAR.
AS7 = Maneuverable Armor. More tank than weapons platform.
VTR (once Nerfs are reversed) = Maneuver firepower.
BNC = Mid grade armor, high firepower. Thin Profile. (Can be fast surgeon)
HGN (nerfs reversed) = Heavy/maneuver aggression platform.
AWS = Lightweight/maneuver range platform
STK = Ranged Heavy Weapons platform
BLR = Fast brawler. (Or missiles, like anything else..)
WHK = Fast heavy firepower
Gargoyle (2- Maneuver firepower (FAST)
KC (2- Death Star

There are general winners in basic Categories (IMO)
Enemy heavy/assault mech annihilation: DWF and KC
Assault Flank Guard: HGN (post fix) and WHK
Maneuver: VTR and Gargoyle
Maneuver range: AWS and WHK.

If you try to bring a DWF to a maneuver game.. you are going to be either ghosted, or get your team ghosted waiting for you.
If you bring a VTR to a direct assault game...you will be dead. Quickly.

[Murphy7]

Dire Wolves are fun in the overwhelming firepower sort of way.

Dire Wolves are not fun in the sitting duck for artillery/air strikes/ LRMs sort of way.

The are somewhat mobile claymores - one side needs to be pointed at the enemy, and are devestating. Approach from other angles, not so much.

I am enjoying mine, but I accept that there will be matches of utter futility mixed in with some moments of pure hilarity. My entire night was made in killing a Vindicator that dropped down to check out the underneath area in HPG. Thing was, I was firing on him as he dropped, and he was well before hitting the ground. Couldn't stop laughing for a good while, missed the next drop.

[Piney II]

Murphy7, on 24 September 2014 - 06:39 AM, said:

Dire Wolves are fun in the overwhelming firepower sort of way.

Dire Wolves are not fun in the sitting duck for artillery/air strikes/ LRMs sort of way.

They are somewhat mobile claymores - one side needs to be pointed at the enemy

This would be a great forum signature.

[Daoa Hakoke]

I still maintain that the AWS is a better mech and one day the masses will realize its awesomeness and it WILL be the new meta.

[Fut]

TexAss, on 24 September 2014 - 04:41 AM, said:

I bet you anything I can kill every DW in my (not any more so but still)-agile Victor.
You can't kill what you can't get in front of your reticule.

sirzorn, on 24 September 2014 - 04:46 AM, said:

I highly doubt that. We can do a private match this evening, if you want to show me.

PLEASE DO THIS AND RECORD THE MATCH FOR ALL TO SEE!!!!
CAPS BECAUSE IMPORTANT AND EXCITING.

Edited by Fut, 24 September 2014 - 06:54 AM.

[Karl Streiger]

Daoa Hakoke, on 24 September 2014 - 06:44 AM, said:

I still maintain that the AWS is a better mech and one day the masses will realize its awesomeness and it WILL be the new meta.

No the Meta comes only once to a mech - when the meta passes there is never a second chance

And there was a time when the Awesome was Meta (80 LRM Awesomes) is past.
Duno anybody remember the pair of French Awesomes - running 90kph - armed with 4 Streak SRM 2 and 3 MPLAS....was a hell to beat (yes before speed cap)

Edited by Karl Streiger, 24 September 2014 - 06:48 AM.

[Johnny Z]

Please nerf the Dire Wolf with a giant nerf hammer of Doom.

[Karl Streiger]

Johnny Z, on 24 September 2014 - 06:50 AM, said:

Please nerf the Dire Wolf with a giant nerf hammer of Doom.

Hm - Orbital Bombardment MC - Only Module? - 12 kills granted - for the cost of 11 team kills

Edited by Karl Streiger, 24 September 2014 - 06:52 AM.

[Kavoh]

Love my DWF, but its not the end all of assaults as, was said earlier, they are so slow and easy to overrun.

There are "those games" in which people just max throttle around the map constantly while I struggle to keep up alone, only to be overrun by a pack of cbill vultures . Can generally swat one or two who run straight at my face, but they're relentless as my clueless team nascars the borders of the map.

[A banana in the tailpipe]

Doesn't anyone shoot arms anymore? That solves most whale and hawk problems... IF you can wade through all the lrm spam to reach them.

[Bilbo]

lockwoodx, on 24 September 2014 - 06:54 AM, said:

Doesn't anyone shoot arms anymore? That solves most whale and hawk problems... IF you can wade through all the lrm spam to reach them.

Nope. I just shoot em in the face. Solves the problem just as quickly.

[Creovex]

This thread continues to amuse me.... the DWF is far from a superior mech... If you run straight at it, you deserve to die... But if you shoot it from the side or move... it sinks quickly...

[Mechteric]

Theoretically there's no reason for any of us to own more than one mech (assuming you get one you like the first time around) to play and fully enjoy the game. But its human nature to want more, to want something different occasionally.

<insert car analogy here>

[Karl Streiger]

lockwoodx, on 24 September 2014 - 06:54 AM, said:

Doesn't anyone shoot arms anymore? That solves most whale and hawk problems... IF you can wade through all the lrm spam to reach them.

you attack - those things from the flank or the rear - and i don't waste shots on the arms - not when the rupture of the Side Torso only last some seconds more - for whale and hawk both sides are easy to hit.

[Johnny Z]

Nerf it, nerf it good.

[Bulletsponge0]

Don't stand in front of a dire wolf and stare at it and its no more powerful than any other mech

[A banana in the tailpipe]

Karl Streiger, on 24 September 2014 - 06:57 AM, said:

you attack - those things from the flank or the rear - and i don't waste shots on the arms - not when the rupture of the Side Torso only last some seconds more - for whale and hawk both sides are easy to hit.

I'll trade softer targets over "easy to hit" anyday. Whales come in delicious flavors of pineapple if you know what you're doing.

[Wintersdark]

The Direwolf is absolutely the best Anti-Assault mech in the game. But that's really where it's utility ends.

(Disclaimer: I'm not bragging here, I make no claims to being a god of DWF piloting)

The reality is, I don't care what your assault mech is carrying, you can not stay out of a mastered DWF's field of view. Lights and some mediums, absolutely. Fast Heavies can get by with intermittent bursts, where it depends on the DWF's loadout and patience. But Assaults? I'm sorry, as much as I love Victors (and still feel they are the best assault overall) Victor's just don't go fast enough to stay out of the DWF's line of fire.

In my time with my Direwolves (since the clan tests) I simply never lose evenly matched fights with other assaults. Ever. That is, where they've not surprised me with an unexpected rear attack or badly lopsided mech condition. But once we start fighting, if the other assault has not killed be outright from behind, he'll never get behind me again.

The DWF is a whale; terribly slow and cumbersome, but mastered it absolutely turns fast enough to keep any assault in front of it (or briefly to the sides).

The reality is, though, crushing opposing assaults (or stupid heavy/medium pilots) is specifically what the Direwolf is for. It pays for that with:

1) Being so painfully slow a fast team with either leave it behind, or have to slow down to it's speed to stay with it, surrendering tactical advantage to the opposing team in many cases. The mere presence of a Direwolf on your team instantly limits your options.

2) Painfully vulnerable from above. It's huge, flat upper chassis is an LRM magnet (and the Direwolf is one of the few mechs pretty much entirely unable to escape LRM rain), and is extremely vulnerable to targets at higher elevations - they have an enormous, easy to hit cube, while the DWF is limited to it's arm weapons to return fire, if that.

3) Extremely vulnerable to any half-decent Light or Medium pilot. Other assaults, Victors, Atlas, etc - they all have very agile arms and the ability to mount larger engines (resulting in faster twist rates) and are nowhere near as vulnerable to such mechs.

4) The DWF pilot nearly never has control of an engagement. His opponents can pretty much always disengage at will, while he's forced to stand and fight.



So, what does all this mean? It means that the Direwolf is a low/mid Elo PUG crusher, but is very, very vulnerable to skilled players. It's got several extremely significant flaws that can be exploited by any moderately skilled player, rendering it a potent and dangerous but niche mech.

[Valore]

Everytime I see a Dire Wolf with huge damage numbers, I shake my head and wish there were less idiots who were so eager to put their hands into the meat grinder.