13 replies to this topic

[Barantor]

So back after the CN9-AH was taken out I would poke around asking when/if it was going to be back every so often, on here and on twitter.

Now that it is back (yay! hope cbill version too soon!) I would like to make the case for a mech nearer to my heart, the Cicada.

We already have one Cicada with ECM, we have one with pulse laser quirks, we even have one with missile tubes (X-5!) but we don't have one with Jumpjets.....

CDA-3F The -3F Cicada is one of the most advanced versions of this 'Mech, it's upgrades based on combat reports from the front lines of the Clan Invasion, and was introduced in 3052. The chassis has been constructed using Endo Steel construction techniques and the 'Mech is protected with six and a half tons of Ferro-Fibrous armor. The 3F is powered by an extralight engine and carries a weapons loadout that appears to be a cross between the 2A and 3C models. The primary weapon is an ER PPC, which is backed up by two medium lasers. What's more the Cicada can now jump up to two hundred and forty meters thanks to the inclusion of eight jump jets

Sounds great doesn't it? Notice the date! So my question is if we can get this most excellent mech in the near future? I like being able to fill out the variants that we already have and it sounds like this one would just need minimal work to put in.

Edited by Barantor, 08 December 2014 - 03:45 PM.

[oldradagast]

Agreed.

The Cicada lineup is perhaps one of the most underwhelming in the game. You have 2 of them that are practically the same - energy boats - and which lack the needed firepower to justify bringing them vs. a light mech. Then, you've got one with a zillion ballistic slots and no practical way to use them aside from boating machine guns... and then you have one with a balanced load AND ECM... which is the only one worth playing. Oh, and there's the hero mech... which for some reason is the only mech in the game that can't mount AMS... because it "moves backwards quickly" or some silliness?!

At this point, ANYTHING to improve this line of mechs would be welcome - jumpjets, a real missile variant, etc.

[Creovex]

zzzz... pass

Nothing says you have to have a 1x energy / 1x ballistic / 1x missile variant for chassis line.. I disagree with OP and think it is just fine.

Feel happy this mech was NOT made into a fridge like a certain clan mech I have.

Edited by Creovex, 08 December 2014 - 04:02 PM.

[Bishop Steiner]

I am not sure how I feel about this, TBH.

But I mostly admit, I have a vested interest against it. A jumping CDC takes away much impetus for the Assassin or Vulcan to be added, as it sort of fills the same role.

Will add more later.

[Monkey Lover]

The less CDA mechs around the better. I hate running after them at the end of the game.

[Barantor]

Creovex, on 08 December 2014 - 04:00 PM, said:

zzzz... pass

Nothing says you have to have a 1x energy / 1x ballistic / 1x missile variant for chassis line.. I disagree with OP and think it is just fine.

Feel happy this mech was NOT made into a fridge like a certain clan mech I have.

Huh?

The 3F has energy and jumpjets, it isn't about having one of each weapon type. None of the current CDAs have jumpjets and this is a variant within the timeline they want.

I was just saying the diversity within the chassis is there and a JJ model would be welcomed.

Bishop Steiner, on 08 December 2014 - 04:07 PM, said:

I am not sure how I feel about this, TBH.

But I mostly admit, I have a vested interest against it. A jumping CDC takes away much impetus for the Assassin or Vulcan to be added, as it sort of fills the same role.

Will add more later.

Assassin is mostly missile points and JJs, so I don't see this one variant replacing that.

Vulcan is... odd looking in the extreme and was anti-infantry, so I dunno if that one will ever see the light of day? Some of what it can do is done by the Blackjack.

I just don't want PGI to forget the additional variants for mechs that are already in the game, they brought back the AH, added some shadowhawks, locusts and thunderbolts so I don't think this is too big of a request.

Edited by Barantor, 08 December 2014 - 04:23 PM.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

I like the variant, but I'm neither going to hold out hope nor really push for it.

[Deathlike]

It's not in timeline if it gets referenced in 3052.

Oh well.

[InRev]

Never will there be a day where I argue against more Cicadas!

[Barantor]

InRev, on 08 December 2014 - 05:50 PM, said:

Never will there be a day where I argue against more Cicadas!

Me either my friend.

[CycKath]

I'd love to see ALL variants eventually get a run, and dynamic hardpoints would help make that possible...

[Alistair Winter]

Right now, the Cicada is in a bad spot because it takes up a medium mech slot. Cicada vs Storm Crow is a bad deal. But with CW drop decks, I think people will open their eyes to the value of the Cicada again. The CDA-2A with 6 medium lasers was deadly even before the quirks. Right now, it's definitely punching above its weight.

But yeah, I'd rather not introduce any mechs ahead of the canon timeline. It opens a whole can of worms with Timber Wolf Mk 2's and all the other mechs people are desperately looking forward to.

And doing the CDA jump jet animations is probably not worth it at this point, financially. Maybe not even if it was a hero mech.

[Bishop Steiner]

Barantor, on 08 December 2014 - 04:16 PM, said:

Huh?

The 3F has energy and jumpjets, it isn't about having one of each weapon type. None of the current CDAs have jumpjets and this is a variant within the timeline they want.

I was just saying the diversity within the chassis is there and a JJ model would be welcomed.



Assassin is mostly missile points and JJs, so I don't see this one variant replacing that.

Vulcan is... odd looking in the extreme and was anti-infantry, so I dunno if that one will ever see the light of day? Some of what it can do is done by the Blackjack.

I just don't want PGI to forget the additional variants for mechs that are already in the game, they brought back the AH, added some shadowhawks, locusts and thunderbolts so I don't think this is too big of a request.

Firestarter is anti-infantry. Seems to be doing quite well for itself.

And ODD, can be awesome:

ballistic and energy, hard to go wrong with.


as for the Assassin, a fast, jumping striker build, is what it is, which is what a JJ capable CDC would be.

[Barantor]

Better, but that snowglobe is still ugly to me. Firestarter isn't ballistic, which is what a Vulcan has to deal with at the 40 ton mark, limiting it to either one big gun (which the CDA-3F doesn't nullify) like a lighter Blackjack, or go with an ac/2 or machine gun build to use the ballistics at all.

I fail to see where one variant of a mech that already exists in the game will prevent PGI from making another variant down the road. If that was true then wouldn't the vindicator and blackjack have already nullified both of those mechs? Yeah it is five more tons, but both are jumping strikers.

So how does one variant of the Cicada nullify the Assassin? The Assassin would be a jump striker with a more diverse loadout options, whereas the CDA-3F would be one variant with all energy and JJs?