38 replies to this topic

[Gift of the Magi]

Hello,

I have been running lights for a while now and while I have enjoyed the speed and being the little wasp (snort) stinging the Big Boys, I have been looking into something with a bit more bang.

My preferences in Battlemechs trends toward speed and firepower, but also versatility. So right now I am looking at the Shadow Hawk, the Centurion and the Griffin. I like all the options of the Hawk, the firepower of the Centurion and that the Griffin has a bit of both. Jump Jets are very nice too.

But thanks to the store being less than helpful and Mechlab being a bit vague as a website, could you folks give me a bit of advice on which chassis I should invest in?

Thank you for your time.

[FitzSimmons]

Cicada 3M sounds like your mech. It plays like a durable light with really nice high mounted weaponry.

[King Kuranes]

I play a lot of mediums and have run through most of the options. Here's the breakdown of the 3 you had listed:

Shadowhawk. People love this mech, I never cared for it. I tried multiple builds but just didn't feel it suited my play style at all. It very much plays like a "heavy" medium.

Centurion. Very maneuverable. Great firepower. It would be a great learner mech as you would learn the value of torso twist and really just mess things up. It takes a XL engine extremely will and boats missiles, which is what mediums new to do.

Griffin. Very nice striker mech but gets torn apart easily. You need to strike fast and avoid the return fury. The missile options are amazing. Needs an xl.

While a lot of people don't like it I highly recommend the Wolverine. The 7m is a great option with 3 srm slots and jump jets. The 6R let's you add a uac5 to 3 srm 6's and keep the jump jets. It runs like a more well armoured Griffin and is probably my favorite medium. The 6K (energy boat) is best to sell once the rest are elitd

[Clydewinder]

What MatviTank said.

I would also add Blackjack. That thing is just too much fun.

[ImperialKnight]

Shadowhawks, no contest. Griffins are stronger with some builds but SHDs are much more versatile. 2K is the best variant, play it as a SRM brawler

If you wait a little, the Stormcrows are coming out. They pack more firepower and are just as agile as SHDs. The only downside is that SCRs have no JJs

FitzSimmons, on 05 October 2014 - 06:02 PM, said:

Cicada 3M sounds like your mech. It plays like a durable light with really nice high mounted weaponry.

How does his description sound like a Cicada? The Cicada is nothing like what he wants

Edited by knightsljx, 05 October 2014 - 06:15 PM.

[Nightshade24]

knightsljx, on 05 October 2014 - 06:12 PM, said:

How does his description sound like a Cicada? The Cicada is nothing like what he wants

It's a Medium mech (check)
It is fast like a light (check)
it has more firepower then lights (check)
it has more armour then lights (check)

What's wrong with cicada?

[Grey Black]

Shadow Hawk, bar none the best medium in the game. You can build any number of builds and can do any number of routes with it. Plus jump jets give you extra mobility.

[Vassago Rain]

Nightshade24, on 05 October 2014 - 06:40 PM, said:

It's a Medium mech (check)
It is fast like a light (check)
it has more firepower then lights (check)
it has more armour then lights (check)

What's wrong with cicada?

Virtually everything, which is why it's one of the rarest mechs in the game.

[Soulscour]

Nightshade24, on 05 October 2014 - 06:40 PM, said:

It's a Medium mech (check)
It is fast like a light (check)
it has more firepower then lights (check)
it has more armour then lights (check)

What's wrong with cicada?

Its too similar to a light. It is a light. It doesn't run ballistics well, and the srm variant is a hero mech. If hes looking to try something new cicada is the last medium I would recommend for something new. I would recommend centurion or hunchback. Both have the speed and weapons that represent the medium class the best.

[Soulscour]

Vassago Rain, on 05 October 2014 - 07:46 PM, said:

Virtually everything, which is why it's one of the rarest mechs in the game.

They are not bad mechs. They just dont represent what the medium class is like in my opinion.

[Tesunie]

Gift of the Magi, on 05 October 2014 - 05:50 PM, said:

My preferences in Battlemechs trends toward speed and firepower, but also versatility. So right now I am looking at the Shadow Hawk, the Centurion and the Griffin. I like all the options of the Hawk, the firepower of the Centurion and that the Griffin has a bit of both. Jump Jets are very nice too.

It's always a good thing to experiment and gain experience with different types of mechs, so I wish you luck with this.

As far as the mechs you have considered for youself: (If you desire some concept builds, I don't mind posting a few for each.)
Shadowhawk: It's a good platform to consider as your first medium. It can be rather speedy and has jump as you sound like you wish to use. It's got varied enough hardpoints that it can be used for any kind of mech loadout desired, be is ballistic, energy, missile or some combination of them. It's got a variant for almost any combat style.

Centurion: A solid mech choice with a decent side shield arm, if you are familiar and use to twisting damage around and trying to block shots with said arm. If you like ACs, your AC (right) arm is often a high target by people. This can make using this mech as an AC platform a questionable affair. It can be rather fast, depending upon the variant, but none of them can get Jump Jets. The new AH will be making a return, which may interest you...

Griffin: A solid mech, I prefer the 3M myself. However, any of these are great for being used as mobile missile supports, among other options. It's another solid choice if you like energy weapons and missiles. If you want AC weaponry (where a lot of the meta and point point front loaded damage is), you will be disappointed with this ride. It can be fairly fast, is decently XL friendly, and is rather nimble of a mech. It also has Jump, which can make it valuable for gaining it's own locks for LRMs, if that is your playstyle. Be it LRMs or SRMs, this mech can be a nice choice.


I might also suggest some of the following as well:
Vindicator: It isn't the "heaviest" medium around, but so far it seems like a nice solid mech. The X version has two ballistics in it's left arm even, so it can preform a variety of roles even. Also has Jump. It's too new for me to say too much on it yet, but it's been a good solid mech for me so far.

Hunchback: There is a hunchback for everyone. Be it lasers, ballistic or missiles. Select which you will want to use and go with it. Each variant of this chassis can be drastically different, leaving you with different playstyles to try out for each Hunchback you use to level it's skills up, if you desire. It does however lack any form of jump jets on any of it's variants.

Cicada: If you wish to remain going with the wind in your face fast, the Cicada may be a mech you might wish to check out. However, they all are just about heavy geared for energy weapons. The X5 hero Cicada is the only one to have missiles, and the 3M and 3C have ballistics. The 3M also has ECM capabilities. It will probably play almost like the light mechs you've already been using, with a little more armor on it. If you are looking to expand your skill sets away from the light mech range, this mech can be either a bridge between the two, or it might just hold you back as it is really more of a confused light mech thinking it's a medium.

[Jody Von Jedi]

I prefer the 50 ton mechs, Trebuchet especially. Most people don't like them, but I do very well in them. I think they hit the sweet spot between firepower and speed. Most of the variants have JJ and one, the 7K, can mount an AC/20. You have to use a STD engine, but you can get it in there. Most of my loadouts center around SRM builds for the TBT.

I like the Blackjacks too, but on average, they are slower than some of the other mediums because of the 235 engine cap. Except the 1X, you can mount up to 295. The BJ has high mounted arms, great for peaking over cover and sniping. It's a fire support mech, don't try to take the front line in it. It won't last long. Some have JJs, 1, 3, and Arrow.

Hunchbacks aren't the best choice anymore. They used to be king of the Mediums, but there are others that perform better now. I do like the 4SP. It's the one without the hunch.

I have several CN9 as well, but without jumpjets, I just don't run them much anymore. If you've ever bought any MC for the game, you'll get a free CN9-AH soon. PGI is giving one to everyone that ever bought MC, so something to consider if you want to level them up to elite, you'll only need to buy 2 of them.

I have all of the standard variants of the Griffins. I like the 3M and and 1N the best. They have the most missile hardpoints. All can mount Jumpjets. They're only lacking in the ballistics area. None of the variants offer ballistic hardpoints.

Hope this helps.

Jody

[IllCaesar]

The Cicada performs as a hybrid between a light and a medium, and as a result, suffers from the negatives of both. I wouldn't recommend if you're looking to break away from light gameplay.

Hunchbacks. There's a lot you can do with them, and there's a ton of variety in the chassis. They make good hit-and-run mechs, as the hunch prevents them from really brawling. They're not a bad way to start.

Centurions. There's nothing I can really add about them at this point. They're great at a very specific thing.

Shadowhawks. Offer significantly less variety than Hunchbacks or Centurions, for more firepower while maintaining mobility. They're not bad, but theonly thing I can find that really works for them is packing ona ton of SRMs and a LL or packing AC5s/AC10 and LLs/PPCs.

Vindicators. I've gotten these recently. I'm liking them, but I wouldn't recommend them for you. There's no real glaring flaw with them that I can discern, and they're actually pretty decent, capable of taking a pounding better than most mechs, even with an XL engine. However, they're primarily made to be support mechs. They can't brawl like a Cent, they can't hit-and-run like a Hunch, and they don't have the mobility of a Shadowhawk. They're not bad at all, but they're support mechs. I can get a dozen spot assists in one pretty easily (had 29 in one match, including TAG laser in the head) and they can keep lights off assaults and cause some secondary damage to heavies and assaults, but they're not leading the charge or roaming the battlefield anytime soon. You want something else.

Blackjacks. Not bad mechs, but not likely what you're looking for. Most good Blackjack builds are either using light mech tactics or are support mechs. They typically perform better via Damage Over Time asopposed to Front Loaded Damage. Not what I'd recommend as your first medium unless you want to stick around assaults all day, as really only one of them packs a decent speed, and that is at the cost of no JJs.

I can't say anything about the Griffin, Wolverine, or Kintaro.

[Roachbugg]

I like the Cent and the Hunchback personally the Cent with its nice free damage sponge arm and the hunchbacks for their sheer diversity my only issue with the cent is it is expensive to elite because of the third variant coming stock with an xl or you gotta buy a wang then again the Cent AH is coming back from the grave so there is that option for later.

I really liked the griff nice mobile striker.
The shadowhawk is like a jumping hunchback lots of versatility but lacks a heavy energy boat option

and the wolvie well it has a cool name

Kintaro makes a nice missile boat but other than the number of missile hardpoints the the shadowhawk does everything it can do better. As does the griffin.

Haven't played the trebuchet but ive heard its solid.

The vindicator has proven to be quite durable for a 45 tonner spreads damage pretty well.

[Nightshade24]

Soulscour, on 05 October 2014 - 07:50 PM, said:

Its too similar to a light. It is a light. It doesn't run ballistics well, and the srm variant is a hero mech. If hes looking to try something new cicada is the last medium I would recommend for something new. I would recommend centurion or hunchback. Both have the speed and weapons that represent the medium class the best.

My friend has great success in twin AC 20 cicada

Anyway, Cicada can be a good introductary Medium for him. It being not exactly what he's used to but closer to what the others are.

And tell me, what is a "medium mech" and what best represents that? the 2nd most popular role of mediums in BT is scouting and recon. You see the stormcrow (certain configs), hellspawn, cicada, strider, raven II, men shen, etc.

The most popular is a Skirmisher, mechs build to go at from any range, like the centurion.

How many shadowhawk builds have you seen that run lrm's, srm's, med lasers, and an AC 5?

Taking stock BT out of the question and put MW: O meta over the picture, the meta for practically all mechs is ER large laser snipping, which the Cicada does better with it's speed and ECM over the shadowhawk.

Vassago Rain, on 05 October 2014 - 07:46 PM, said:

Virtually everything, which is why it's one of the rarest mechs in the game.

I see more cicadas then locusts, raven (minus 3L), centurions, shadowhawk (minus 2H due to champion and 2K), trebuchets, kintaro (minus trial and golden boy), commando, firestarters (minus ember), catapult (C4), atlas (minus DDC), awesomes, etc.

if you haven't noticed, most of the time the heavy and assault que is around 40-50 percent each, resulting in a 20% or less being lights AND mediums.

ofc the cicada is one of the most rarest mechs in game, mediums and lights as a general are the rarest. How many times have you see a game with 6 light mechs in the past few months? now tell me the last time you saw 6 assaults in the past few months.
My game last match was 5 direwolves alone and there was also an atlas and that's on my team alone.

[Tesunie]

Nightshade24, on 05 October 2014 - 11:55 PM, said:

The most popular is a Skirmisher, mechs build to go at from any range, like the centurion.

Centurion, just like the Hunchback 4J, is actually considered a guard mech. The Centurion was designed with the Treb to protect the Treb, which it did very well. That is why the Centurion has it's mix of weapons. The AC10 (which in stock TT and lore, is a decent AC choice) and med lasers are for anything that gets close. The LRMs on the Cent is to help join into any distance targets that the Treb is shooting at, as well as provides some range weapons as well. (Just saying.)

Nightshade24, on 05 October 2014 - 11:55 PM, said:

...
if you haven't noticed, most of the time the heavy and assault que is around 40-50 percent each, resulting in a 20% or less being lights AND mediums.
...
My game last match was 5 direwolves alone and there was also an atlas and that's on my team alone.

The queue seems to fluctuate depending upon what mech class just got a new release. When it was the Uller, I was seeing a very high amount of light mechs for the few weeks after that. When the Nova (and Vindicator) came out, mediums actually had the 50% queue. Now that people have the Mad Dog and the Dashie, the heavy and assault queues are back on top.

By default, even when no mechs have been released, yes. The Assault and Heavy queue does tend to be higher. RIght now it's even higher because of new mech releases. I bet once the Centurion AH comes out, that will make mediums see a rise in queue percentage for a week. When the new Atlas comes out, maybe same thing. When the King Crab comes out in December, I expect to see 50% assaults (or higher even) again, and that we will see an overrunning amount of King Crabs then.


It's just like whenever a weapon system gets a change. When Gauss got it's change, lots of people gave them a try. When LRMs were changed (and then changed again afterwards), they flooded the field. When PPCs received their change, people had to rush over to check them out again.

It's human nature here. We want to check out the new stuff as soon as we are able to.

[TimePeriod]

To make a long story short I say:

Centurion because its a rock solid 'Mech with many good options.
Hunchback because you need to learn how to pilot a 'Mech with one side exposed.
Shadowhawk because by now you have learned how to play the Hunchback and from there, you now have to do hunchback in reverse while flying.
From there, your choice.

[Magos Titanicus]

Stormcrow. What else?

[RazorbeastFXK3]

The Centurion was my first medium mech as it had simple hardpoint placements and since I don't like using jumpjets it was a bonus. Never used XL Engines in them so I was always slow but that helped with my aim and situational awareness when in the thick of battle. Also allowed me to Zombie a bit which wasn't too bad.

Centurions have use of (short and/or long range) missiles, energy and ballistics so you're not stuck with just using one or the other (jack of all trades master of none) so you can get a feel for which weapon type you prefer at whatever range you prefer.

Sometimes I'd go in with (aside from the energy weapons) x3 SRM4 or SRM6 for some excitement and other times I'd be lazy and join the battle with x3 LRM5. LB10X is fun to use though most go for AC5 or AC10 on the one variant and some go for the AC20 on that Champion(or was it the hero?) variant.

For some reason Cicadas seem more threatening to players than the Centurion where if they're facing both of them normally they'll try taking out the Cicada first while ignoring the Centurion. I'm currently working on earning experience for the Cicada variants and so far I'm not impressed since even with full armor and "spreading the damage" I tend to die easily (or maybe I'm just not good enough a pilot for the CIcada).

I've piloted a few Trial Shadowhawks and they are nice 'cause they have the Jumpjet feature (even though I rarely ever made use of them) and they're almost like Centurions but not as simple with their hardpoints.

I've piloted a Trial Hunchback or two and they are great because of their torso twist and favored for their higher number than normal hardpoints.

So I guess the only question is are you going for simplicity or are you going for a more complex medium build for your pleasure.

[H I A S]

MatviTank, on 05 October 2014 - 06:05 PM, said:

Griffin. Needs an xl.

Nope.