12 replies to this topic

[Rorvik]

With the Boxing Week sale, I'm thinking of getting a few Hero Mechs, but need some advice / reassurance. Specifically, I'm looking to pick up the Sparky and the St. Ives Blue, but I've never played with any of the Griffins or Vindicators.

I'm usually a Medium Mech player. The CN9-YLW, HBK-4G and HBK-4SP are my go-to Mechs, and I'm looking for Mechs that play similarly but have jump jets. Last year, I had hoped that the Shadow Hawk would be that Mech, but instead I got burned really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really badly; it's like PGI decided to take an Assault Mech and replace all of its advantages with the disadvantages of a Medium Mech. As a result, I refuse to buy any pre-order deals but am still willing to get the odd Hero Mech, as I've had good experiences with the YLW and Flame.

So the question is, how do the Griffins and Vindicators handle? Are they good, useful Mechs, or are they usually cannon fodder? Are they sized properly, or do they tower over other Medium and Heavy Mechs like the Shadow Hawk? Are the Sparky and St Ives Blue variants worth it (especially considering the current discount)?

[mogs01gt]

The Griffin is the best Medium mech to pilot and maybe even the best mech in the game to pilot. Fantastic hit boxes, shield arm and can run big engines. Griffins are mainly kitted out to by SRM brawlers since their missile hardpoints are extremely close which makes SRM4s come out in tight clusters. The Sparky Hero mech on the other handle is totally different than any other Griffin. Its a laser boat, nothing more. I'd suggest playing Griffins first, you will love how they handle. Then think carefully about the Sparky mech since its totally different than he other Griffin.

The Vindi is a typical 45 tonner; too slow to have the tankiness of a light and not enough tonnage to have the damage of a 55t. Most 45t pilots are vets that simply love those chassis from Lore or TT. The 45t's arent like the 50's. The 50s have awesome quirks(Cent) and have that good size to damage ratio(Hunchie).

The Shadowhawk is pretty much a Heavy mech when you pilot it. It doesnt get the great torso twist of the Griff or Wolverine.It still is the best IS medium mech since it has the high mounting ballistic/energy hardpoint, JJs and great hit boxes. Once you have them Mastered, they pilot just fine. I run mine with a 300xl and no JJ's since IMO they need the extra torso speed you get with the 300.

For Hero mechs, the Grey Death is leaps and bounds better than the Sparky or St. Ives. It already has DHS and Endo so you spend more time playing it, rather than wasting your earned Cbills on a mech that you just spent money on.

Edited by mogs01gt, 29 December 2014 - 07:09 AM.

[N a p e s]

I like both the Vindicators and the Griffins in general but here's a quick run-down.

The Griffin feels great to pilot, its super agile and it twists really quick but its gotten slightly shafted with all the quirked out mechs going around recently. I picked up a Sparky a few months back and if you're into pure laserboating its a fun mech. Out of all the Griffins it's tied with the 1N as my favorite variant, with the 3M in second and the 1S in last place. The Griffin is an easy mech to recommend and hopefully some additional quirks will make it even better than it currently is.

The Vindicators can be really fun and they shine with the quirks they were given. However, I prefer the non-hero variants way more. The 1AA, which can mount a 295 rating engine, is especially fun as a fast jump jetting dual PPC medium. It's close to being the perfect feeling mech in terms of how it handles. The 1X is kinda cool with a ballistic arm but it's difficult to get a decent build (at least it was for me). Don't own the 1R but I'd run it similarly to the 1AA trading speed for raw firepower. The St-Ives is still a bit of a conundrum for me... The 250 rating engine gives it a good movement/twist speed and the extra JJ really makes it fly so it feels great to pilot, but I can't find a weapon loadout that I actually enjoy.

mogs01gt, on 29 December 2014 - 07:08 AM, said:

For Hero mechs, the Grey Death is leaps and bounds better than the Sparky or St. Ives. It already has DHS and Endo so you spend more time playing it, rather than wasting your earned Cbills on a mech that you just spent money on.

You bring up a good point, the Sparky and St-Ives are bone dry tech 1 lore heroes... so on top of the MC cost you have to throw a bunch of c-bills to make them workable.

[LT. HARDCASE]

mogs01gt, on 29 December 2014 - 07:08 AM, said:

For Hero mechs, the Grey Death is leaps and bounds better than the Sparky or St. Ives. It already has DHS and Endo so you spend more time playing it, rather than wasting your earned Cbills on a mech that you just spent money on.

Dude, the Grey Death is just an SHD-2D with one more energy hardpoint. That's a complete waste of real money, while Sparky is radically different from the other Griffins. Not having to buy DHS and Endo doesn't make the GD any less a laughable use of MC.

Edited by Kevjack, 29 December 2014 - 08:02 AM.

[Nightshade24]

Kevjack, on 29 December 2014 - 08:01 AM, said:

Dude, the Grey Death is just an SHD-2D with one more energy hardpoint. That's a complete waste of real money, while Sparky is radically different from the other Griffins. Not having to buy DHS and Endo doesn't make the GD any less a laughable use of MC.

Well in that point off view a sparky can be seen as a griffin with 2 missile hardpoints switched for 2 energy.

But yea. Grey death mainly holds the nostelgia lore them combo while the sparky is a another mix of lore and stuff.

I say either mech is okay. To be honest hte grey death is just the most popular shadowhawk removing a not desired hardpoint for a better one but meh, what do I know... I am still trying to prevent myself buying more god damned heros seeing how I'm a clanner and can't use a single one in CW.

[mogs01gt]

Kevjack, on 29 December 2014 - 08:01 AM, said:

Dude, the Grey Death is just an SHD-2D with one more energy hardpoint. That's a complete waste of real money, while Sparky is radically different from the other Griffins. Not having to buy DHS and Endo doesn't make the GD any less a laughable use of MC.

I dont compared Hero mechs to other variants, I compare Hero mechs to other Hero mechs. A Hero mech already having Endo and DHS is huge when you compare the actual cost of the mech.

If you buy Hero mechs just for the hardpoint layout then fine, that is on you. I bought it because it is a Lore mech related to Grey Death Legion and compared to other Hero mechs in the Medium class, it has way more value.

It could also be said that a Sparky is nothing more than a BJ-3. Either way, the GD has better hardpoints than the Sparky.

[Rorvik]

Thanks for the advice / recommendations so far.

mogs01gt, on 29 December 2014 - 07:08 AM, said:

I'd suggest playing Griffins first, you will love how they handle. Then think carefully about the Sparky mech since its totally different than he other Griffin.

Unfortunately, that is not practical or probable at this time, as to get a really good feel for Mechs (especially Medium Mechs) you have to have them Elited.

mogs01gt, on 29 December 2014 - 07:08 AM, said:

The Shadowhawk is pretty much a Heavy mech when you pilot it.

That's precisely my problem with it. If I want to pilot a Heavy Mech, I have more than enough solid choices.

Napes339, on 29 December 2014 - 07:12 AM, said:

The Vindicators can be really fun and they shine with the quirks they were given. However, I prefer the non-hero variants way more.

The 1AA, 1R and 1SIB are very similar in terms of hardpoints. However, the 1R seems more like it was built for brawling (what are you going to do with the 4 Energy hardpoints in the arms if not fill them with Medium (Pulse) Lasers?), which I'm not comfortable with in such a lightly-armored Mech. Given the Hero Mech bonuses of the 1SIB, I'd rather get it over the 1R (though this build looks promising, so maybe I'll get all four...).

Kevjack, on 29 December 2014 - 08:01 AM, said:

Dude, the Grey Death is just an SHD-2D with one more energy hardpoint. That's a complete waste of real money, while Sparky is radically different from the other Griffins. Not having to buy DHS and Endo doesn't make the GD any less a laughable use of MC.

While I have no intention of getting the Gray Death due to my loathing of the Shitadow Hawk, if you don't already own the 2D variant and were looking to get a good SHD, the Gray Death is hard to pass up given that it's a better version of the 2D with Hero Mech bonuses.

mogs01gt, on 29 December 2014 - 08:28 AM, said:

I dont compared Hero mechs to other variants, I compare Hero mechs to other Hero mechs. A Hero mech already having Endo and DHS is huge when you compare the actual cost of the mech.

But, arguably, you're buying a Hero Mech for it's unique look, bonuses, and hardpoints, not because it has Endo / DHS / an XL engine.

Nightshade24, on 29 December 2014 - 08:19 AM, said:

I am still trying to prevent myself buying more god damned heros seeing how I'm a clanner and can't use a single one in CW.

I'm sure we'll start getting Clan Heroes soon...

[N a p e s]

Rorvik, on 29 December 2014 - 12:48 PM, said:

The 1AA, 1R and 1SIB are very similar in terms of hardpoints. However, the 1R seems more like it was built for brawling (what are you going to do with the 4 Energy hardpoints in the arms if not fill them with Medium (Pulse) Lasers?), which I'm not comfortable with in such a lightly-armored Mech. Given the Hero Mech bonuses of the 1SIB, I'd rather get it over the 1R (though this build looks promising, so maybe I'll get all four...).

VND-1AA

VND-1R

VND-SIB

VND-1X

Here is how I essentially run the Vindicators right now. The 1R as I mentioned earlier is what I would run if I owned it. The only one that I would say plays as a brawler is the SIB which packs the most close range punch thanks to the dual ASRM6 but as you said, its lightly armored so you better pick your battles wisely. It does really feel great to pilot though and maybe I've just been unlucky in my experiences with it.

As you can tell from the 1R build, I'd take advantage of those PPCs at range and rely on the MLas only for kill shots or close quarter defense. With the 1AA (and this is really my only gripe) I'd probably be forced to run away or just make sure to keep at range without drawing too much attention. Mind you, it moves around at almost 120 kph so running away is an option.

[mogs01gt]

Rorvik, on 29 December 2014 - 12:48 PM, said:

Unfortunately, that is not practical or probable at this time, as to get a really good feel for Mechs (especially Medium Mechs) you have to have them Elited.

Not true with the Griffin. It pilots awesome without it being elited. Hell it even has the best cockpit in the game.

Quote

That's precisely my problem with it. If I want to pilot a Heavy Mech, I have more than enough solid choices.

Now the Shawks do need to be elited to feel like a Medium

Quote

But, arguably, you're buying a Hero Mech for it's unique look, bonuses, and hardpoints, not because it has Endo / DHS / an XL engine.

I bought the Shawk over the Sparky specifically because it had Endo and DHS. I would never buy a Hero mech that didnt have it. I prefer Griffins over Shawks.

Edited by mogs01gt, 29 December 2014 - 01:40 PM.

[HARDKOR]

I use the AA wit a 295 XL and 3 LL. Running it wit 2 PPC's and 2 ML seems like waste to me, even with the quirks.

[Gaius Cavadus]

I love my Vindicator and I just got it last night! It seems to be a rarer mech. Saw one in a match a few days ago and it just looked badass so I figured I'd give it a whirl.

I picked up the 1R but it needed a complete overhaul to really be what I wanted.

I ended up basically gutting the entire thing from stem to stern and ended with this build: Cav's VND-1R

I use it as a kind of flanker, I guess. Like a smaller Dragon. It's excellent for putting the hurt on light mechs and with the ERPPC I can snipe the big guys all day long to help the team out. SRM-6 is good during the clean-up portion of matches where we're hunting down the last few stragglers and I can build up some more damage on larger targets.

I absolutely love the mech, though. Like I said, just got her fitted last night but it might already be my favorite battlemech.

[Rear Admiral Tier 6]

Vindicator hero is the best Vindi there is,its a great SRM-brawler with maxed XL engine and 2 ASRM6 launchers.
Tanky as hell for a 45 tonner.

[Bluefalcon13]

I built my SIB as follows:

Added DHS, endo, and FF, tossed a case in the missle side, run dual srm4s w/1.5t ammo, 2 mlas, and a large. Added the 5th JJ, and dropped in a standard 250.

Edited by Bluefalcon13, 04 January 2015 - 09:55 PM.