29 replies to this topic

[Jeb]

I have been saying this for awhile, the Jester got hurt a lot by the JJ changes, and the PPC version as well with the PPC speed changes... It's also a energy only mech so heat is an issue... also most people play it more like a big medium or light so you also need a huge engine in it to move quickly giving it very little room for extra heatsinks, duel ams/ammo.

It was a very fun mech to play before the JJ changes... but never as good as my CTFs or JM6s for actual damage and kills...

They have the Jester listed as Tier3 in the quirk list...
I think it's being bumped up from Tier4 to Tier3 due to having jump jets...

For comparison, lets look at some other heavies:

CFT-3D = Tier1
Firebrand = Tier2
JESTER = Tier3
Ilya = Tier3
JM6-A S And DD are Tier3
CFT-1X 2X and 4x are Tier4




If we are all being honest, are you really going to take a Jester over any JM6 or CTF if your concerned with performance? Even pre JJ nerf I wouldn't have... I took it cause it was a fun mech to play due to it's speed and jumping... it's dmg and kills were nothing to write home about IMO...

[Brody319]

I've never had problems with not being able to hit things in my Catapults. the face lasers can hit anything small. and if you unlock your arms you can aim down pretty good with your ears.

[Greenjulius]

I think the only build I've had success with on the Jester is 4xERLL. I put two on the arms and side torsos, and have a group set up for each side. In this case, just like the K2 with Gauss, arm lock is beneficial. You can always temporarily disable it with shift, but you should always be aware of your surroundings and keep distance between you and your opponents.

It's not quite as great as the Shadow Hawk 2K with 3xERLL (That thing is amazing once fully skilled) but it makes up for it with the 4th ERLL and additional heatsinks. Just plop a XL315 in, use one Jump Jet, equip dual AMS with 2 tons of ammo, and max out the DHS. It runs a little hot, but with careful use of the groups and chain fire, you can lay waste from afar. And did I mention it goes 86kph with speed tweak?

Rock Concert Lazerz

Edited by Greenjulius, 02 October 2014 - 08:14 AM.

[Jeb]

been thinking about this more... I think the problem is that the Jester looks good on paper...

Jump Jets, 2x AMS, abiltiy to mount a large engine, high arm mounted weapons...

The problem is it's not that great in game...


-Jump Jets are limted to 2 which in the current system suck... (and I don't see that being that differant with a limit of 2 in the upcoming system)
-2x AMS and ammo means your giving up tonnage for armor or weapons and heatsinks
-Large engine means some speed, but your again giving up weapons armor and heatsinks

-High mounted weapons are good, but if you mount lasers, you have burn time meaning you are in the open and facing the enemy for a long time... ballistics can pop out, fire and duck into cover.
If you mount PPCs you have to deal with the slower projectile speeds so you have to lead... leading means less snap fire meaning longer in the open or more misses. If you mount ER PPCs which I find the projectile speeds fine on, the extra heat causes more issues...

The Jesters other big problem is it overheats fast with most builds, so you can fire a few shots but then you have to hide to cool down...

If the Jester got a cooling quirk that let it mount the ER PPCs without as many heat issues, and a Jumping quirk to give it more height and agility while in the air, I think it would be fun agian....

[CDLord HHGD]

Granted I haven't played my Jester in a while, but I never had any issues with it for the role I outfitted it for (6xMLs, 2xAMS, max JJ, max armor, max engine). Fast and maneuverable skirmisher and escort.

[Jeb]

That would solve the heat issue some but that also means all your weapons need "face time" due to burn time with the enemy.

Also 6x MLs isn't very many weapons for a heavy mech. You would give up a bit of armor and an AMS, but you can probably build a better version of that on a medium mech...

[Kesslan]

Appogee, on 02 October 2014 - 07:43 AM, said:

What's it hooked on...?

coke is a hell of a drug.

But what it's actually hooked on is LSD. I mean have you seen that paint job?

EDIT: Odd, the full spelling of coke is censored.

Edited by Kesslan, 03 October 2014 - 08:12 AM.

[CDLord HHGD]

Kesslan, on 03 October 2014 - 08:11 AM, said:

coke is a hell of a drug.

But what it's actually hooked on is LSD. I mean have you seen that paint job?

EDIT: Odd, the full spelling of coke is censored.

I am so addicted to coke.... But now I use sodastream. While still an addiction, it's a slightly healthier addiction.

[Maxx Blue]

Jeb, on 03 October 2014 - 07:53 AM, said:

...but that also means all your weapons need "face time" due to burn time with the enemy...

This is the issue I found with most laser builds on the Jester. Combined with the enormous CT on this mech, burn-time is really painful. I ran various combinations of the 4xLL build with various numbers of ER's thrown in, and it was always deadly having to keep my face pointed at the target for a sustained period of time. I found that, in general, I would loose trades with most clan mechs since they would either have more ERML's than I had LL's and put out more damage at the same range, or they would have ERLL's and would do more damage at long range than I could give back. I did a little better against IS mechs, but if they have ballistics or PPC's, it was difficult to win a trade unless I was using all ER's and staying out around 700M. I found I could live longer and get more kills (although not any more damage) with 2xPPC + some lasers. Mostly that is because I could take a shot with PPC's and then go back to wiggling to keep fire off my CT.

I am not the best player around, and I'm sure some of my issues are related to positioning and tactics, but I still believe that the huge CT hitbox on the cat makes using any weapon with a burn time difficult. You simply end up loosing many trades because your CT is so much more vulnerable. It isn't all bad since you can use an XL with almost no penalty to survivability, but any weapon on a Cat that makes you stare at your enemy is also going to give them more time with that fat CT pointed right at them.

Edited by Maxx Blue, 03 October 2014 - 08:47 AM.

[Jeb]

well lets hope they actually do something with the upcoming balance pass to make the Jester fun again