117 replies to this topic

[juxstapo]

I've been working out of town for the past three weeks and my gaming has been extremely hit and miss. To reward myself for my long hours doing constructionally work, I was going to snap up three of the new chassis, even if I have to snag some MC to do it.

I know, I know. There are legions who will cry "foul", "Fool", and "Fornicator"... well mebbe not that last one; but I'm going to be travelling for work quite a bit here now that our company has moved back into commercial construction, which means until I get a dedicated gaming laptop I'll only get a few games in on weekends. Not enough to grind up c-bills for new chassis.

Now being a BlackJack lover I was excited over a new jumpy 45-tonner, but it's gotten seriously mixed reviews from the Corsairs. (Ranging from "Terrible" to "really bad" to "very tough").

So Vindi owners sound off. What do you guys think of it? (As usual with my mech discussion posts, I'm not looking for a long list of Smurfy links, rather I'd like to spark of a discussion of impressions, vibes, overall karma of the machine, etc.)

[juxstapo]

wow, thats disheartening. So I suppose I shouldn't bother?

[Inflatable Fish]

might be not many people own them yet, what with having spent gazillions of cbills on them Novas...

[Sigilum Sanctum]

They're fun, but playing smart is a must. Use cover, stay near heavies and assaults, and NEVER be in the "front line"

[CheeseThief]

My experience with the Vindi so far is that it is style over substance.

I find it decently durable but I struggle to do respectable damage with it, especially with the 1R and 1X since they are the slower variants.

The torso hit boxes are good from the front and the arms act as effective shields so I can consistantly still be alive and shooting at below 20% health in the 1AA and 1SIB with an XL equipped. Get shot in the back though and you will instantly lose a side torso.

I have the most fun in the 1AA becuase it zooms around the place and forgot to get the Hoverjet memo, followed closely by the 1SIB which is slightly less speedy and bouncy, but has more SRM slots to splat things with.

[Hoffenstein]

Using it at range seems to be the key to a good match. Personally I love them to death already, they have one of the most open cockpit designs of any IS Mech I've seen short of the Griffon so visibility is premium.

[eblackthorn]

The only variant I really like is the ives, 2xsrm w/Artemis 3x ml's

The others I struggle finding a niche for. I don't find them to be very XL friendly which limits the firepower I have been able to mount. I do find them to be pretty responsive, and do well in a harassing/flanking role.

EDIT:
I just checked my stats and was a little surprised at how successful I have been with the Vindi, all have a positive kdr & w/l. I play all variants in a similar manner, ml & srm

Edited by eblackthorn, 06 September 2014 - 07:28 PM.

[LT. HARDCASE]

Just checked my stats, and I've already played 181 matches between the SIB, 1AA, and 1X variants.

Yeah the 1AA and SIB are by far the best two, due to higher engine caps and and/or better hardpoints. There's certainly no reason to use the 1R beyond needing it to do basics, to unlock elites for the others. At least the 1X can play with ballistics.

The hitboxes are really good. They're freaking survivors man, and seem to hang together in ways no other medium mech does for me. I've been below 40% with almost all of my weapons still firing back. It helps that they are very responsive, and much more fun (maneuverability wise) to pilot than the Blackjack.

They are support mechs, not tanks or carrys. They require you to know your positioning, and you have to to make every shot count. If 300 damage and a kill or two sounds good to you, this is your mech. Yes I've had more than a few 500+ and even 700+ damage matches (shared one in the build thread), but it's not really meant to do those, imo. It's a mech where the focus is to contribute well, an unsung hero type.

I really love this chassis, but it sure isn't for everyone. If you have any more questions, I'll do my best.

edit: oh and you need at least an XL280 for the 1AA. I only run the max XL250 in the SIB as well, so fitting them can get pricy.

Edited by Kevjack, 06 September 2014 - 07:15 PM.

[ShadowbaneX]

I'm not that impressed. Perhaps it's one of those mechs that's completely different once you've got the Elites done, but with just the basics I find my best weapon on the thing LRMs...and I don't mean huge ones, I mean just plinking with an LRM5 or 10. An ER PPC is an ok weapon, but with the recent nerf, and not having used them that much in the past, I find that I'm not having that great success with leading my targets. Also, it seems enemy Novas delight in blowing my arms off for some reason.

[xengk]

I have the 1R, 1AA and SIB, currently working on unlocking Elite and Master.
Both the Vindy and BJ share the same engine limit of 235 and 290, if you are used to BJ's speed then there shouldn't be anything to complain about Vindy's speed.

Hitbox wise, I think they are pretty good.
Their arms could use abit more armour, I frequently lose at least 1 arm before death, and have many time down to my head laser.

The biggest different between the two chassis is the arm placement.
BJ have high mounted arms and allow for hill humping and side peeking, while Vindy's low mount arms limits it to only peekshoting. To bring all your weapon to bare, you need to stand in the open, similar to an Atlas or Orion. (The Vindy is like a baby Atlas, minus a ballistic torso)

Personally, use this chassis to build an escort medium and play as an energy support.
Taking a 200 or 225 rating engine, to be fast enough to keep up with nimble heavy but not outrunning my assault. Tonnage are use to pack high power weapons to add focus fire to the heavy or assault mechs I am escorting.
They melt fast under fire if an assault decide to pick on you, but if they ignore you, you have the potential to deal alot of pain.

I ran my 1R with 2x PPC, 2x ML. The 1AA with 1x ERPPC, 2x ML, 2x AMS w/3t and TAG. SIB with 2x LL, 2x LRM5, 1x AMS w/1t and 1x ML.

Edited by xengk, 06 September 2014 - 08:02 PM.

[thisisxerxes]

I'm really struggling to make the 1AA work - mainly because it tempts you of all the cool things the chassis *could* do, but in reality it'll never do them all.
At first glance, it says "yeah buddy we'll go FAST! Huge engine! And we'll fly through the sky with all these jumpjets! And double AMS my friend! Double AMS! we'll shoot down all the things! Enough room for a PPC! We'll snipe em all! We'll show em! Missile slot! LUUURRRMMs!"

Sadly though, something has to give.
If you rig for missile defence ( a commitment of around 6 tons) you'll probably never use all that speed, as you're stuck covering much slower (usually stationary) lancemates.
You'll have to take a much lighter engine to give yourself any firepower.
If you stick with that huge XL285 engine for speed, and JJ for maneuverability - you'll never have enough energy hardpoints to make the chassis work as a striker.

It's a chassis that screams versatility, but in reality you're going to have to pick *one* role for it, and at the end of the day other mechs do that role much better:

Speedy striker - cicada or jenners or BJ-1X.
PPC sniper - BJ-3 (can also poptart)
Flanking spotter - raven-3L

Basically, all it has left going for it is that it looks cool.

[UBCslayer]

Vindicator is terrible... one of the worst medium mechs in the game currently. PGI needs to do some serious quirks in order to make it viable, and I am talking things like 80% armour boost and a much higher engine cap, none of this 5% nonsense.

[Rear Admiral Tier 6]

SIB is great SRM-platform,sure the 50 and 55 tonners can pack more punch,but 2 ASRM6 racks is plenty enough for Vindis tonnage.
Typical game with Vindi is about 350-500 damage,1-4 kills and 3-6 assists,havent still broken 1k with it,but i had couple 800+ damage games.

[Bigbacon]

i've been enjoying all 4 variants but I don't use "optimal" or "meta" build...I just use what I like.

I under engined the 1AA to use the 220xl like I do in the 1x and 1r.

I actually really like my 1X. Been using my 1R during the challenge as a close support narc machine.

I also think the armor is good enough. It really feels like it takes a beating and keeps going.

i'm sure almost no one would agree on my builds so I won't share them again. they are posted in the build/discussion thread.

they are most certainly average mechs in the score department but I like to have fun and I am using them regardless of scores.

Edited by Bigbacon, 07 September 2014 - 07:51 AM.

[Inflatable Fish]

Bigbacon, on 07 September 2014 - 07:49 AM, said:

i've been enjoying all 4 variants but I don't use "optimal" or "meta" build...I just use what I like.

I under engined the 1AA to use the 220xl like I do in the 1x and 1r.

I actually really like my 1X. Been using my 1R during the challenge as a close support narc machine.

I also think the armor is good enough. It really feels like it takes a beating and keeps going.

i'm sure almost no one would agree on my builds so I won't share them again. they are posted in the build/discussion thread.

they are most certainly average mechs in the score department but I like to have fun and I am using them regardless of scores.

god damn it can you stow it with that passive-aggressive attitude?

[Win Ott]

I have the St Ive's, AA, and 1X variants. The hero was the easiest to love at first, but now I play the AA and 1X more.
This is a great mech for folks who enjoy piloting a medium chassis, but it's probably not for everybody. To me, they're worth the investment.

St. Ives is rigged with 2x srm6 + artemis, LPL, MPL . It's great for cracking open mediums and heavies

AA is built for speed, 4x mpls, 2x ams, loads of jumpjets, and the biggest engine i could fit (no downside for XL engines either). Once elited, this became a scary mech to face.

1X- My jack of all trades with ERLL, TAG (or ML), 3x MG, LRM-10 + Artemis, and AMS. This is currently my favorite build.

[CygnusX7]

Bought the St Elmos Blues for some reason. Run it with 2 LL, 1mL and 2 SRM4's.
It's okay. I feel like I can run the same load out on other more viable mechs.

ST. IVES' BLUES

[KuroNyra]

I don't possess it. But I know for sur I don't fear them in my Centurion.

[ShadowbaneX]

So the Avenging Angel seems like a much different mech with Speed Tweak & 2x Basics. Not sure about the 1X & 1R yet. With the 6.5 m c-bills from this past weekend's challenge I sprung for a 235 XL so that upped their speed from 72 to 86 at the cost of a Heat Sink or two and some ammo. That helped a bit as the thing seem ponderous before hand. They might be feasible once I get them Mastered.

[Inflatable Fish]

I've lately mastered the 1SIB, and good lawd, this thing tanks damage like nobody's business. its innate agility coupled with hitbox allocation AND double basics allowed me, for instance, to tank a 5xAC/5 DWF long enough for the team to take it out. I did lose both arms in the process, but that just shows how amazing the Bluesmobile is at shielding and spreading damage.

and double ASRM6 chews through leg armour in no time.