17 replies to this topic

[Zwergonfire]

I'm looking for an assault and I've narrowed the search. Opinions on either? Is one better than the other? They look like they can pretty much run identical setups, but what do the hardpoints look like? Speed? Jump capabilities? Thanks in advance!

[GunnyKintaro 01]

BATTLEMASTER all the way !!!

[Zwergonfire]

What do you like about it? Post your builds!

[Rear Admiral Tier 6]

Battlemaster is squishier but has better missile hardpoints.Both take XL-engines pretty well.

If you like LRM-boating or fast laser skirmishing with assaults go for battlemaster,1S,3M and 1G are good variants.

If you like a bit tankier and cheaper alternative,go for the Banshee,Wubshee is expensive as hell tho.

[Rear Admiral Tier 6]

Couple of builds for BLR:

Wubmaster +

play it like a glass cannon laserboat,corner or hill peekaboo,one of my favorite IS laserboats.

Splatmaster

fast SRM-flanker

Classic 1G

Allround direct fire support

[Eboli]

Cookiemonter669, on 21 January 2015 - 10:10 AM, said:

Couple of builds for BLR:

Wubmaster +

Allround direct fire support

And I certainly know that Cookiemonter669 loves his direct fire support as I saw last night when he was using his Dragon 1N. Just glad I was on the giving rather than receiving end of the team.

For me I love the Banshee but haven't played Battlemasters. Built like a tank and can take it to the enemy. Just hates little bumps on the ground. The 3E with 3xAC5s and 3MLs can be devastating.

Cheers
Eboli

[NUJRSYDEVIL]

I run the BNC 3E w/ 3xAC5 and some lasers. When you start hitting someone with the chain fire it's like zapping them with a taser, they don't know which way is up and which way is down. You just keep firing until they die. The thing never overheats either.

[oldradagast]

NUJRSYDEVIL, on 22 January 2015 - 11:47 AM, said:

I run the BNC 3E w/ 3xAC5 and some lasers. When you start hitting someone with the chain fire it's like zapping them with a taser, they don't know which way is up and which way is down. You just keep firing until they die. The thing never overheats either.

Banshee 3E, 3 AC5's, 4 medium lasers, Standard 325, endo, DHS. A beast. The triple 5's drill holes in things fast - I've gotten Dire Wolfs and King Crabs to blink and back down with them, and the mech rolls damage well, with the big arms free of weapons.

The only weakness is those arms - fast mechs circling you can be a problem, as can mechs very high up or down below. Try to fight on level ground, as odd as that may sound.

The Banshee 3S is a solid mech with a variant of load-outs, and the 3M is all-energy... which I'm not a fan of, but which works well for some folks.

Overall, a good chassis, though rather forgotten.

[Jorunn]

Banshee over the Battlemaster if you prefer brawling, Battlemaster has better standoff LRM builds. For maximum Wubbiness BNC-3M Wubanshee 380XL running 71.3 KPH in a 95 ton monster is pretty fast. 4x LP 4x MPL you can't get much more wub.

Some may decry the lack of arm hardpoints but the Banshee's huge shield arms are what make it a huge tank adding 64 armor to your sides if you can twist well. I average 700+ damage a match in this build.

Edited by Jorunn, 28 January 2015 - 08:28 PM.

[Pezzer]

The Banshee is a much more focused Assault mech. Each variant has only 2 or 3 competitive builds associated with it (excluding slight changes), with the Banshee primarily focused on Ballistics and lasers. Only a few can equip missiles and most people don't.

The Battlemaster can do a lot of things pretty well and it has a good profile. I would suggest the Battlemaster if you want to do a few different things with your machine. I run the missile variant with an XL 400 and SRMs w/ artemis, it's a blast! But that same variant can also be a LRM boat. The energy boat has ML/LL perks but a lot of people like to use pulses with it, the variant with ballistics in the arm can run just about anything, etc etc.
You will get more mileage with the Battlemaster, but the Battlemaster can't carry 3 AC/5 or 4 AC/2, can it? Nor can it hold 7ML 2LL 1LRM15. So once again, the question is if you want a focused siege engine that does a couple of things awesomely or a single chassis that can do a number of things quite well.

[Jorunn]

Pezzer, on 25 January 2015 - 08:00 PM, said:

The Banshee is a much more focused Assault mech. Each variant has only 2 or 3 competitive builds associated with it (excluding slight changes), with the Banshee primarily focused on Ballistics and lasers. Only a few can equip missiles and most people don't.

The Battlemaster can do a lot of things pretty well and it has a good profile. I would suggest the Battlemaster if you want to do a few different things with your machine. I run the missile variant with an XL 400 and SRMs w/ artemis, it's a blast! But that same variant can also be a LRM boat. The energy boat has ML/LL perks but a lot of people like to use pulses with it, the variant with ballistics in the arm can run just about anything, etc etc.
You will get more mileage with the Battlemaster, but the Battlemaster can't carry 3 AC/5 or 4 AC/2, can it? Nor can it hold 7ML 2LL 1LRM15. So once again, the question is if you want a focused siege engine that does a couple of things awesomely or a single chassis that can do a number of things quite well.

Well said Pozzer, I like doing one thing very well... focused killing at medium range and being able to take massive damage and survive. There is no other IS mech that does this as well. The Battlemaster can do a few things especially LRM boat but it isn't a very good brawler comparatively IMHO.

[Rear Admiral Tier 6]

Jorunn, on 26 January 2015 - 07:46 PM, said:

The Battlemaster can do a few things especially LRM boat but it isn't a very good brawler comparatively IMHO.

yep,the torso twist is horrible on 3M,which is IMO the best BLR

[Zwergonfire]

Thanks for everyone's input! I am going to go with the Banshee. It really came down to not having to worry about missiles since there is only one missile hard point on one of the chassis. I'm not a fan of missiles and I want to run a tank so this is it.
This probably won't happen until I get done mastering the mechs that come in from the resistance pack, but I will be ready for that time!
Thanks again everyone!

[Jorunn]

Zwergonfire, on 28 January 2015 - 09:48 AM, said:

Thanks for everyone's input! I am going to go with the Banshee. It really came down to not having to worry about missiles since there is only one missile hard point on one of the chassis. I'm not a fan of missiles and I want to run a tank so this is it.
This probably won't happen until I get done mastering the mechs that come in from the resistance pack, but I will be ready for that time!
Thanks again everyone!

No better tank, tell us how you like it after you get it mastered. It doesn't get crazy good till mastered but that goes for most mechs.

[Tordin]

I mostly go for the underdog in things and mechs are not an exception. So I thought since Assault mechs like battlemaster and atlases seemed very popular, I went With the Banshee 3E. Im just Learning its strenghts and weaknesses. But as others have mentioned. This chassis could wreck metal faces really hard With the right setup. A great brawler I Guess once you have learnt to torso twist. Also it will become so much more Deadly once you got the masteries up Right now Im trying out the 3 ML + AC 20 build, With Stock engine and as much armor as possible.

Edited by Tordin, 29 January 2015 - 08:06 AM.

[Jorunn]

Banshee is definitely under appreciated and IMHO superior for brawling. Strengths are it's extraordinary survivability with the shield arms and speed for an assault, high weapon hardpoints (I hate low arm mounted weapons). Weakness is limited range of up/down angle of torso mounted weapons but that's a small tradeoff to me.

Here are a few builds I've run in my BNC-3E that were all fun.

375XL, 3x AC2, 1x UAC5, 4x ML

Still one of my favorite and most successful builds but I'm trying to master the 3x AC5 right now, I think I posted this earlier, the double barrel shotgun build:
STD350, 2x LB 10-X AC, 3x ML, 1x ERLL

I wanna try that AC20 build for fun sometime though lol

[Dawnstealer]

Tordin, on 29 January 2015 - 08:06 AM, said:

I mostly go for the underdog in things and mechs are not an exception. So I thought since Assault mechs like battlemaster and atlases seemed very popular, I went With the Banshee 3E. Im just Learning its strenghts and weaknesses. But as others have mentioned. This chassis could wreck metal faces really hard With the right setup. A great brawler I Guess once you have learnt to torso twist. Also it will become so much more Deadly once you got the masteries up Right now Im trying out the 3 ML + AC 20 build, With Stock engine and as much armor as possible.

My viking friend, run this. The absolute mauling this thing does...

BNC-3E

[Kjudoon]

Battlemasters and wub with LRMs are a beautiful combo. Even with an XL. Fast and manoeuvrable with great tactical flexibility.