Honestly, I think the Crusader will fit in a very solid jack-of-all trades within the 65 ton bracket, which is something the bracket does lack right now. With very few exceptions, you've got the Catapult running either energy boats or missile boats, the Jagermech is running mostly ballistics, and the Thunderbolt is running mostly energy. Also, while the Crusader might come in a little slow (probably max engine around 300 or so), which means it might get some pretty hefty durability quirks. Combined with the fact that almost all variants come in at near max armor, stock, it'd end up a rather rugged mech out-of-the-box, which in turn would make it good for brawling.
Pulling from a theorycrafting post I made right after the Marauder came out (and those hardpoints turned out to be almost spot on for the Warhammer, Archer, and Rifleman while being close on the Phoenix Hawk), a baseline Crusader might look something like this:
Quote
CRD-3R: RA- 1 Missile, 2 Energy, and 1 Ballistic, RT- 1 Missile and 1 AMS, LT- 1 Missile, LA- 1 Missile, 2 Energy, and 1 Ballistic
CRD-2R: RA- 1 Missile, 1 Energy, and 1 Ballistic, RT- 2 Missile and 1 AMS, LT- 2 Missile, LA- 1 Missile, 1 Energy, and 1 Ballistic
CRD-3L: RA- 1 Missile, 1 Energy, and 1 Ballistic, RT- 1 Missile and 1 AMS, LT- 1 Missile and 1 AMS, LA- 1 Missile 1 Energy and 1 Ballistic, Max JJ- 6
Bonus:
CRD-4D: RA- 1 Missile and 3 Energy, RT- 1 Missile, LT- 1 Missile, LA- 1 Missile and 3 Energy
Now, that was before we got civil war tech, which opens up some other variants, like the 5K and 7L, and of course there are a number of other variants I never touched. Some examples:
CRD-5K: RA- 3 Missile, RT- 1 Energy 1 AMS, CT- 2 Energy, LT- 1 Energy, LA- 3 Missile (uses MRMs stock, C3 becomes 1T armor)
CRD-7L: RA- 2 Missile, RT- 1 Missile 1 AMS, CT- 2 Energy, HD- 1 Energy, LT- 1 Missile and 1 ECM, LA- 2 Missile (uses Stealth Armor)
CRD-5M: RA- 1 Ballistic, 2 Energy, 1 Missile, RT- 1 AMS, HD- 1 AMS, LT- 1 AMS, LA- 2 Energy and 2 Missile, Max JJ- 4 (was already viable, I just hadn't theorycrafted it before . . . but a good "AMS Boat" since it comes with AMS in the head stock; and PGI likes to inflate AMS mechs)
The CRD-8S is an honorable mention as it would be extremely unique. It carries a Heavy Gauss and jumps . . . but also an XL engine. Therefore, to use it we'd either need to shrink the HGR or use split crits. Maybe PGI could decide to make an 8SP that uses an Ultra 10, Rotary 5, or something else where the HGR would be? That'd look something like this . . .
CRD-8SP: RA- 2 Energy and 1 Missile, RT- 1 AMS, LT- 3 Ballistic, LA- 2 Energy and 1 Missile, Max JJ- 4 (or 1 Energy and 2 Missile in each arm, dependin on PGI HP inflation)
There's already a solid hero, too . . . BUT . . . it uses a pair of claws at 5 tons each. If I were PGI and wanted to use a CDR-3R "Crusading Crael" knock-off that "updates the tech" (PGI's new SOP after Community feedback post St. Ives' Blues), I'd put in a LFE and Endo Steel, put a Snub-PPC in each arm, along with 2 more MGs, an extra ton of MG and SRM ammo, and the remaining ton into armor. You'd end up with a mech like this. . .
CDR-CC "Crusading Crael": RA- 2 Energy and 2 Ballistic, RT- 2 Missile and 1 AMS, LT- 2 Missile, LA- 2 Energy and 2 Ballistic
There are some other great variants out there, too, but they utilize MMLs, XL Gyros, and Plasma Rifles. As much as I'd love that tech, I doubt it's on PGI's roadmap for anytime soon.
Regardless, the Crusader has a lot of solid choices that'd provide them with plenty of flexibility for the chassis. I think it has solid performance potential in MWO, as well. If PGI does a heavy next (I'd rather have a Wasp/Stinger pack), then the Crusader is the way to go.