54 replies to this topic

[Elizander]

I'd go with the Ilya though. You can also get the 3D to elite it with if you want some JJs.

Dual Gauss
3x UAC
2x AC5 2x LL + Std engine
2x AC10 2x PPC

It can do a lot of things except missiles.

[Budor]

Mcgral18, on 27 October 2014 - 04:26 AM, said:

While not quite a hero, perhaps you could consider an Invasion DoomCrow or TimberGod.

Those are both fast, sturdy and pack considerable firepower.

What he said. If you want to invest real money buy either the Timberwolf or Stormcrow a la carte.

You get a 30% cbill bonus torso that you can configure into whatever you like anytime you want to.

Edited by Budor, 27 October 2014 - 09:03 AM.

[Mad Strike]

Ember , Grid Iron , ilya muromets and Boars Head.

Ember: the medium lasers /machine gun combo is damm good.

Grid Iron: you can use the stock one which is good on experienced hand or go classic with a 4G setup.

Ilya Muromets: you can do a lot of thinks on the dakka department with this one or use the stock weapons which in my case makes wonders against clan mechs.

Boars head: No body expects a 73 kph atlas...believe me....NO ONE.....2.3. K/D on current stats and 2.65 on archived. My best mech , has a special place in my heart T_T.....XL400 FTW pros can kiss my ass over the "xl atlas sucks" thing XD.

Edited by strikebrch, 27 October 2014 - 05:21 AM.

[speleomaniac]

strikebrch, on 27 October 2014 - 05:19 AM, said:

Ember , Grid Iron , ilya muromets and Boars Head.

Ember: the medium lasers /machine gun combo is damm good.

Grid Iron: you can use the stock one which is good on experienced hand or go classic with a 4G setup.

Ilya Muromets: you can do a lot of thinks on the dakka department with this one or use the stock weapons which in my case makes wonders against clan mechs.

Boars head: No body expects a 73 kph atlas...believe me....NO ONE.....2.3. K/D on current stats and 2.65 on archived. My best mech , has a special place in my heart T_T.....XL400 FTW pros can kiss my ass over the "xl atlas sucks" thing XD.

Atlas is a shoot me magnet, how do you survive with an XL engine to get that K/D?

Which build are u using? I think you are not a Brawler

Edited by speleomaniac, 27 October 2014 - 05:39 AM.

[N a p e s]

DYSEQTA, on 27 October 2014 - 03:03 AM, said:

For fun the Arrow is awesome. For making $$$ the Firebrand is awesome. The Pretty Baby is not awesome... (in fact I sold mine for cbills that's how bad it is)

For the time being the PB really is crap but I'm hoping the quirks it gets in a week spruce it up nicely and give me a reason to take it out once in a while.

As for the original question, the Sparky sounds like a good choice. Its a Griffin so its extra agile without being necessarily super fast, jump jets and enough laser hardpoints to equip a decent loadout. The other variants are also quite fun if you like a mix of missiles and lasers.

In the same vein the Jester is also available with an extra 10 tons for heatsinks/weapons but less jump jets and Catapult syndrome (CT is a damage magnet). Also carries dual AMS which is nice with all the LRMs in the air these days. Regardless of its downsides its still a fun mech.

Apart from those two its true that you can't really go wrong with an Ilya.

[DYSEQTA]

Napes339, on 27 October 2014 - 05:39 AM, said:

For the time being the PB really is crap but I'm hoping the quirks it gets in a week spruce it up nicely and give me a reason to take it out once in a while.

I hope your right. But quirks can't fix the very awkward hard-point layout.

[Alexander MacTaggart]

Sergeant Random, on 27 October 2014 - 02:01 AM, said:

Like the arrow eh? Look into the mastery bundles in the in game store tab. Get 2 more chassis and 30 days Premium Time too.

If you really need to consider more hitpoints, get the Cataphract bundle... I think it has the CTF 3D too, a tier 1 meta mech.

Kind of a tangent, but... Is the premium time from mastery packs auto-started, or does it get banked like the premium time from pre-orders?

[Mad Strike]

speleomaniac, on 27 October 2014 - 05:39 AM, said:

Atlas is a shoot me magnet, how do you survive with an XL engine to get that K/D?

Which build are u using? I think you are not a Brawler

I know , weird right?! XD XD give a couple of hours since i'm using my phone right now and smurfy is a pain on this thing , plus my screenshots are on my pc back home.

But i can tell you right now that it uses stock weapons , double heatsinks , 2 tons of LRM ammo , 3 tons of AC10 ammo , medium pulse lasers / AC10 cooldown module , adv. seismic sensor module and radar deprivation module.

Here it is

Edited by strikebrch, 27 October 2014 - 07:46 AM.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Alexander MacTaggart, on 27 October 2014 - 05:52 AM, said:

Kind of a tangent, but... Is the premium time from mastery packs auto-started, or does it get banked like the premium time from pre-orders?

Hmmm...I'm leaning towards immediately activated. Their plans for banked time now is only pre-orders.

[Dorion]

Its not a hero, but you may want to consider an ala carte clan mech. You get the c-bill bonus so your earnings should be spiffy + you get the garage space and varients as well. I just picked up the Timberwolf last week. Won't play it for a while because I have so many others to master first, but I'm definitely looking forward to it. I understand its an awesome mech and very customizable.

Good Luck!

[Xythius]

Im wondering why no one has mentioned the Hellslinger. Is it just bad? It looks pretty gnarly, w/ the fanged maw on it's chest, etc. Not sure what chassis it's based on (I pilot Clan 'mechs almost exclusively, save the Atlas we were just gifted), but I've been considering picking up one just for the looks.

Is it worth it?

~Xythius

[Josef Nader]

Xythius, on 27 October 2014 - 06:34 AM, said:

Im wondering why no one has mentioned the Hellslinger. Is it just bad? It looks pretty gnarly, w/ the fanged maw on it's chest, etc. Not sure what chassis it's based on (I pilot Clan 'mechs almost exclusively, save the Atlas we were just gifted), but I've been considering picking up one just for the looks.

Is it worth it?

~Xythius

The Battlemaster has an undeservedly bad reputation. It's not a competition level mech, but for a money grinder and a pugstomper, it's a ton of fun. You will be running energy heavy loadouts to take advantage of its awesome torso hard points, as its arm ballistics (or PPCs in the Hellsinger's case) are way too low to be useful.

It is one of my highest scoring assaults and one of the mechs I have the most fun with, but I don't really see it being serious on a competitive level. It has wide side torsos and an energy focused loadout, and even if it can manage its heat pretty well, IS energy weapons just aren't that popular.

[rageagainstthedyingofthelight]

DYSEQTA, on 27 October 2014 - 03:03 AM, said:

For fun the Arrow is awesome. For making $$$ the Firebrand is awesome. The Pretty Baby is not awesome... (in fact I sold mine for cbills that's how bad it is)

Wow, I came in 14th over all in IS Assaults using the PB and I'm currently in 1st in Awesomes (but I used all variants for the tourney).

I'm not denying the PB is an acquired taste, but for agile assaults, it is the best. It can run an XL400 at almost 90 KPH (really, anything over 375 is probably overkill) and it can run LRMS and Energy all day with very few heat issues, and you can circle DW's (or back out and LRM them to death, as I prefer) and can respond to any point on the battlefield.

In addition the PB has a bonus to torso twist speed, so you can spread damage great (some would say awesomely). I own more than a dozen hero mechs, and I've played this one more than them all combined (minus the Yen Lo, which was my first, back when mediums could turn the tide of battle).

Just remember, LRM's to strip armor, Lasers to Kill.

Napes339, on 27 October 2014 - 05:39 AM, said:

In the same vein the Jester is also available with an extra 10 tons for heatsinks/weapons but less jump jets and Catapult syndrome (CT is a damage magnet). Also carries dual AMS which is nice with all the LRMs in the air these days. Regardless of its downsides its still a fun mech.

There is a special place in heck for people who recommend Jesters and Sparkys to new players as their first hero mech.

[Josef Nader]

Says the guy who just recommended the Pretty Baby.

I love my Awesomes. They're a ton of fun and a real treat to pilot, but by Kerensky are they garbage.

[rageagainstthedyingofthelight]

Josef Nader, on 27 October 2014 - 06:49 AM, said:

Says the guy who just recommended the Pretty Baby.

I love my Awesomes. They're a ton of fun and a real treat to pilot, but by Kerensky are they garbage.

I'm sorry, this guy can't hear you...:

[Greenjulius]

Hopefully this will save you some money... I've bought the Ilya Muromets, Jester, Huggin, Oxide and Boar's Head.

I'd probably only recommend the Ilya. The rest are very niche, or difficult to be competitive with. I may be inclined to change my mind on the Boar's Head and Jester however, as I can occasionally get a good game with them.

Ilya - Very versatile. 2xAC10+2xLL, 2xGauss+3xML are solid builds. Up until recently it was my most played mech. Hard to go wrong with it.

Jester - Energy only so it runs hot. I hated this mech until I tried 4xERLL, and now I think it's actually a pretty good mech. Not as good as the Ilya, but still dangerous once you get used to it.

Boar's Head - Another one that runs hot. Immediately remove the XL400 unless you like dying quickly. I've run a number of builds but only really had good games with 6xERLL. I've had over 1000 damage rounds with that beast. 2 groups of 3xERLL or LL, switched back and forth from chainfire is devastating, but your games will be feast or famine. People usually focus fire on the first Atlas they see, and if there's a lot of lasers coming from it, people want to take it down even faster. I usually run a STD325 or 350 in mine.

Huggin - Not good enough to justify the MC. I say this as a Raven fan, but I prefer the 4x over the huggin because the huggin will run out of ammo by the end of any extended match.

Oxide - Similar issues. It runs out of ammo before the end, leaving you vulnerable. It's too slow and squishy to be competitive.

If a Shadow Hawk hero comes out, it will probably be good. I've heard PGI is going to release one soon. As others have said, wait for a 50% sale!

Edit: Others are saying, "go clan mech." I find it hard to justify $55 for a single chassis group, no matter how good it is. The Timberwolf is the only one that I would find even remotely worth it, because it's c-bill cost is so high. (~16 million a piece) I've found that the few clan mechs that make good LRM boats basically print c-bills however. Mad Dogs, Storm Crows and Timberwolves with TAG+LRM30 or LRM40 can easily make 350-400k+ in a match with premium time, even without hero status. Add another 100k to that with Hero/Invasion models. So if you do go clan mech, pick one that has LRM capability. Your c-bill pocketbook will thank you for it.

Edited by Greenjulius, 27 October 2014 - 07:24 AM.

[KamikazeRat]

i will Echo the Protector comments, it can do almost anything well without excelling at anything...so if you are getting ONE Hero...protector is a good bet

also, Sparky if you want an agile but somewhat tanky medium, my sparky has taken quite a bit of abuse and just doesn't die, just use those JJs they'll save your life, with the new tweaks, this thing is a freaking rocket ship.

i have several other heros, firebrand, jester, pretty baby, ember, oxide, yen-lo, grid iron.

Spoiler

i wouldn't recommend the Grid Iron to most people, unless you're like me and just love the hunchback and want another one with a C-bill Bonus. i almost immediatly turned mine into a 4G, i wish it had 2M and 1B instead of 2B and 1M, 1srm6 just doesn't have the needed punch to justify taking tonnage from the main gun, and 1ssrm definitely isn't enough, i would've loved to go with lbx-10 and 2ssrm. oh and if you do get it, strip that XL. hunchie + XL= dead hunchie. currently call mine the fast-back, biggest engine i had laying around (250 i think) LBX-10, 3ml...stick with the assualt lance, and keep lights off of them, and when they start against big-boys, use cover and circle in and out of combat, also, when i say "cover" i mean "atlas buddy"

Oxide is a mixed bag, 4srm4 seems to work well, but it won't bring home the kills, not precise enough, would have loved 1 head-slot laser for killing blows with a ml or mpl, but i love it all the same. BLAM-MOVE-BLAM, lather rinse repeat, let someone else clean up the mess.

Firebrand is a hard one, besides the stock build, i have found builds that are effective...but haven't realy found one i liked...im weird like that...

Ember is another one, the stock build is pretty much where its at. anything else just feels bleh, alot of face-time for those MGs to do their trick, which has me not liking my Ember runs as much as the oxide BLAM-MOVE-BLAM tactic

Jester is a great skirmisher, CT is too easy to blow out of it though. JJ don't add agility, just to get around terrain

Yen-lo, fast, agile, ac20 that will get torn off very quickly, but you can zombie around with 2ml or 2mpl forever after that.

Pretty baby...ugh...once they fix the decelleration quirk, it won't be so bad...but the hardpoints are difficult to find something that fits well. 3srm4, 2lpl, 1ml is the best i've come up with, but the hardpoints being mixed between the arms and torso can cause some frustrations to some people, i've gotten used to it though.
when they update the art on the awesomes, my hope is they will update the tube-count as well, making 3srm6, or even some LRM in the arms possible. as is, you can do 3srm6, but then its 8 then 2 from the arm, and 6 from the torso...or you can do 2srm4, and srm6, but the inconsistant cool down times bothers me. long story short, i probably should hate the PB, but i don't...lol, i love the thing, but wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy

i will say....that of all the hero mechs, there is only one that makes me pee a little when is encounter one.....the Ilya. it has been a beast since day 1, they just can't nerf this thing away, which means it is something special. im fairly certain my next major in-game purchase (gotta wait until the bank account goes back up from the recent pack frenzy) is going to be the Cataphract Bundle. only drawback i can find is its ugly as sin

[N a p e s]

rageagainstthedyingofthelight, on 27 October 2014 - 06:45 AM, said:

There is a special place in heck for people who recommend Jesters and Sparkys to new players as their first hero mech.

Well, in my defense I did point out both of their weaknesses. Also, I was from from a good pilot when I purchased the Jester and ended up having tons of fun though it has admittedly been a while.

And considering how you're defending the PB (impressive screenshot BTW) lets just say its up to playstyle and overall preference.

[rageagainstthedyingofthelight]

I actually agree that the Jester and Sparky are "fun" mechs, just not "good", although the Jester has its moments, that's for sure, so I'll cut you some slack.

[Josef Nader]

rageagainstthedyingofthelight, on 27 October 2014 - 06:59 AM, said:

I'm sorry, this guy can't hear you...:

I've put out 1,400 damage matches in Awesomes too. That's called anecdotal evidence. A good pilot in a bad mech will still do well.

That said, the Awesome is incredibly punishing to new and casual players, and it would be the last assault I would ever recommend to anyone. The Pretty Baby is handily the worst mech in the game right now.

That said, it still mounts the same weapons as everyone else and can put out decent numbers with a skilled pilot. It doesn't mean the mech isn't trash.

The Jester is decent, and Sparky is one of the best medium mechs in the game. They're solid recommendations. The Pretty Baby is only a good recommendation if you want people to put the game down and never come back.