147 replies to this topic

[Karl Streiger]

Finn McShae, on 19 March 2015 - 04:45 AM, said:

Can I stick some on my wubhopper? Its already really tall...

If i could i would give you wings....

[NextGame]

Armorine, on 17 March 2015 - 06:19 PM, said:

What's every ones thoughts on it? I'm a little underwhelmed. I can't seem to find a good build for them. They feel kinda fragile

I played MWO last night for the first time in a while (been very busy at work in a very rare, for me, crunch development period). I chose the Zeus because the grasshopper looks as though it requires approx 3x the pixel:tonne ratio that every other mech enjoys.

I went with the one thats got 6 energy and 1 missile, and put 3ERLL, 3Mlas and a bunch of HS on it (chose standard engine, 340 or something probably).

I queued for rambo queue and waited for several minutes for a game, which I spent reading articles on the internet instead.

Once in (Frozen city), my terribad rambo team hid for 7 minutes from enemy LRM boats. with the score at 2-2, a small group of us eventually attacked over the ship, pushing into some stragglers. Suddenly we were 8-4 down, as aparrently incompetence prevails and the mere presence of my zeus was the only thing previously keeping my team alive as they cowered behind some buildings near the city. It makes me wonder how some of these people understand the process of getting out of bed in the morning, never mind downloading and playing mwo.

Anyway, long story short, with a piss poor 350 damage and no kills, coupled with facing the prospect of another several minutes wait to take to the field with more idiots, I took the high ground and logged out.

Zeus? 5/10, would ride again (but only because everything else is mastered except the grasshopper)

[sneeking]

6t is what im using but I did accidentally drop the 9s with only single basics and a stock build ( lucky is got dhs ) managed three kills and was last man standing...

Then I died and we lost lol.

[DocBach]

Finn McShae, on 19 March 2015 - 04:40 AM, said:

I know everyone wanted the fins but come on, the forums would have exploded in tears and DOA cries if it had hittable, non functional wings sticking up taller than a Grasshopper...

I haven't even looked at my non R variant, but the R variant has little stublet wings.

[LordBraxton]

The armor quirks are more noticable the longer I play the Zeus.

As others have stated, not top tier, but still solid.

Once mine is mastered it'll be a force to be reckoned with.

Not sure what to do with the missile fist variant yet...

[Karl Streiger]

LordBraxton, on 19 March 2015 - 06:26 AM, said:

The armor quirks are more noticable the longer I play the Zeus.

As others have stated, not top tier, but still solid.

Once mine is mastered it'll be a force to be reckoned with.

Not sure what to do with the missile fist variant yet...

tripple short range missile - don't mount 2 - mount 1 or 3 but never 2

while lacking the c-bills for ES i have currently 3 ASRM4 - and a PPC in the other arm
380Xl for as much speed as i can get - keep at distance and fire high velocity bolts in the target - wait for a moment to charge an plaster the target with HEDP warheads and green laser beams

[Aethon]

El Bandito, on 19 March 2015 - 12:31 AM, said:

With such an easy to hit CT, Zeus is actually a prime candidate for XL engine. It can run with 350XL engine and pack some punch on top of it. Think of it as similar to a Dragon Slayer totting Gauss + Triple ERLLs. A long range mech that takes advantage of it's asymmetrical hardpoints. Peek, shoot, fade back when the enemy notices you.

ZEU-6S Much Dakka, Very Pew

IMO, those who are running slower Std engine are doing it wrong.

The thing is, I like shielding with my side torsos; I used to drive an Awesome a lot, in spite of it being a steaming pile of crap, so I am used to that, and it works out pretty well to make this thing more durable. I would lose that if I ran an XL, but I will give it a shot.

I cannot run a Zeus without missiles, though; that is like running a CN9-A without an autocannon in its arm.

Edited by Aethon, 19 March 2015 - 06:43 AM.

[MBT808]

I have to say that the Zeus and the new Grasshopper are bother very underwhelming and definitely need to be heavily tweaked to be actually relevant in the current game meta. The main reason for this is, from what I've seen so far in the days since release, is that the mechs no matter which variant of either mech, struggle heavily to every make it past the 300-400 damage mark. Hell, they even have trouble getting past the 250 mark alot of times. I had initially chalked this up to first day everyones learning and tweaking them to get them perfect and perform the best they possibly can, but after the last two days after, that still hasn't changed.

I know its still early though and I intend to keep watching them for the next week to wait before I even bother investing large amounts of C-bills into them to get them optimized. I will put my initial impressions on both here though:

Zeus:

The mech feels very lopsided with a weird hodgepodge of hardpoints spread all over the mech variants, which make it either heavily concentrated in one side or seemingly throwing them on the mech randomly. Stock, the mech feels largely slow, even with the high speed limit for an assault. Compared to other mechs of the light assault class, the Zeus has a slow Accelleration curve or so it seems. The Stalker and Awesome feel like their reaching top speed quicker by comparison. The 6S ballistic Variant has poor overall quirks and can't mount any more than dual AC/5s. which are worthless in the game due to their slow Rate of fire and poor DPS(IV-4 being perhaps the sole exception). I would say an AC/10 or Guass Rifle are much more handy for the build. The other two I haven't really used much so I can't comment on them. The biggest pit fall that they all fall victim to though is the REQUIRED addition of more armor to the design, when compared to other mechs of its class it falls short, even stalkers come stock with more armor.....

I would say unless the Zeus gets buffed, A better choice at this point might be to get a Thunderbolt, similar hard points but come with better armor, speed and quirks from the get go. The Zeus at this point stands as nothing more than a extra large heavy or a Very fragile Assault as many have already mentioned. Also, its physically incapable of going toe to toe with other Assaults, kingcrabs, Atlas', Awesomes, or even Stalkers will defeat this a Zeus in a head on head fight.

GrassHopper:

What can I say, all three variants, except for minor differences, are exactly the same. You play one, you've played them all. Their lack of versatility make them quite poor mech in the current game meta and rather boring(again, play one play them all) to play. The Grasshopper builds basically are pretty much MPulse boats, ER large Boats, or very rarely ER PPC boats. I really wish that they had made one that had some missile or ballistic hard points to differentiate them. The quirks aren't that great and other mechs within the Heavy class actually have better overall quirks and varied gameplay(K2 or Jester cats for example). One bone I have to pick with the Grasshopper in particular is the Entirely, Completely, and Wholly Pointless head missile hardpoint in the first two variants. The single slot make you unable to mount Artemis(highly recommended for all SRM builds IMHO) nor mount anything bigger than a LRM 5, SRM 2/4 or a Streak SRM 2, all of which are highly ineffective by themselves(all require 2-3 to be effective(SRM 4 can do two depending on the mech and the SSRM 2 have terribly DPS and aweful spread making them useless no matter what build)).

Bottom line though is that both of these mechs really need buffing if they ever hope to be relevant in the current game meta as far as I'm concerned. I'm still wondering how the Urbanmech will turn out right now after the Zeus/Grasshopper launch.

[Artgathan]

I don't know if this is my mind playing tricks on me or not, but it seems that my paper-doll's armor does not adjust properly on the Zeus until all of the quirk armor has been destroyed. By this I mean that (for example) I'll get hit with a PPC, my LT armor turns bright yellow (as if someone gave me a light dusting with an MG). I'll get hit again, armor doesn't change. On the third hit, the color starts to adjust properly.

[Bleary]

These 'Mechs need even more quirks to compete with . . .what, exactly?

For the Zeus: the semi-mobile turret racket (Stalkers, Crabs, Dires) is a specific playstyle with stark trade-offs. Not everyone enjoys or will do well driving a 60 kph 'Mech, and in the pub queue you're basically depending on your team not to leave you out to dry every match. Banshees have undeniable advantages, but they weigh 15 tons more and max out at 75 kph. There are reasons why a pilot might want to drive a Zeus instead. And that's it. All the other assaults are derpy in one way or another.

And as far as the Grasshopper is concerned, it's even more stark . . .you have a 'Mech that doesn't fight beyond 400m (Thunderwubs) and a hill sniper with fragile STs (Jagers). Those are the only competitive IS heavies I would inarguably take over a Hopper, and both are terrible if they aren't fighting in their preferred ranges and terrain.

Edited by Bleary, 19 March 2015 - 05:19 PM.

[sneeking]

Im surprised at how I like the Zeus, running xl340 3 srm6 4 LL its quite mobile keeps up reasonable dps and packs a wallop in close.

Looks damm cool in kurita resistance cammo with obsidian and orange !

[Anjian]

Trying it, had a wingame and kill drought with it initially, but now broke through that and liking it. I am working on two variants, haven't worked on the third one yet. My current favorite config is to put 2 AC5s, 2 LLAS and a 1 MLAS on a 6S.

I didn't feel this was an Awesome, more like a Victor, or something between an Awesome and a Victor.

[Zordicron]

Wanted to add some stuff after another night running these-

tried 4LPL loadout, ehhh, if you can afford to be picky on when you shoot, it works. I think this is a group cue loadout, where coms and target designations come in.

Got a drop on canyon with the ERLL range quirked one. I run 3 ERLL and 3MPL on it. It was assault mode, so it was basically a (mostly) camp fest. OK by me, I set up at about 850M and laughed and laughed at the clammers trying to ERML me back as I was doing 80% plus dmg to them at 850-900M range. Got one kill I think, but opened a lot of torsos up for team to finish off in closer combat. This mech, currently has a STD 300. that is going away tomorrow. I did not have a "biggun" XL in stock for it when i set it up, but the difference, even between just the 300 and 320 stock engine, is so stark it is unbeliveble. thing runs like a no basics Atlas for pete's sake. I am sure I have a XL 340 out of a Cicada some place to swap in, at a minimum.


Then the LOLMEGABUSTER arm one. Conquest, alpine. loadout is same, 3x ASRM6, ERPPC, 3x ML. This was like the prime map for this loadout to function. ERPPC to aim at targets trying to cap. brawl weapons for when they come try to fuzzball you off a cap. Basically, this mech plays like a HBK- hang out by that DDC, something will shoot him, return fire and blast faces. it mitigates the fragile state of the Zeus in closer range(by having "more bigbad" targets around you) and allows it to add it's decent amount of mostly cool running firepower.


and that brings me to the main point I wanted to bring. that Alpine match, I had a 4000+ XP match. What I discovered, the Zeus has this ability, maybe it is the cockpit glass, I dunno, it is SUPER easy to see and aim at the extreme ends of up and down. Yesterday I was on bog, shooting almost straight down onto enemy from one of the platforms. the enemy had basically no way to actually look up to see me and return fire, even if they could move their arms/torso that far, the cockpit of most mechs blocks the view anyway. This worked for me on alpine also, but in reverse, I blasted this Warhawk 3 times with SRM18 and he couldnt return fire, or even get a lock on me(had some LRM to go with his laser vomit) while standing way below him on one of the cliff faces.

So, anyway, I think that is a Zeus strongpoint, ability to use vertical terrain positioning to basically have cover in plain sight of an enemy by staying out of enemy visual range. It works also in part, because the arms stick out pretty far in front of the actual mech body, IMO this allows it to have a favorable fire arc pointing up, and especially down as you can kind of jut the ends of arms over the edge of whatever you are standing on while the mech torsos are still "covered" by well, the ground basically. Not that this comes up super often, but I had it two times in two nights on different maps, so if you are aware of it(I will be looking for it now) you can sieze advantage.

otherwise, IMO the Zeus really can only perform if given advantageous position. There are a lot of mechs in the game that can "force the issue" as it were, and make do. the Zeus isnt one. It reminds me of an Awesome in that regard, or maybe an old school dragon. Capable of putting out significant support fire and taking a hit or two, but more fragile and unforgiving then many of its similar stablemates. In that regard, it can perform unreliably. immensly potent in one match where things fall in place, and shredded with 250 dmg in another where the team collapses and you never get a chance to add that support firepower.

[Wildstreak]

So these are initial Zeus builds I thought of but have not spent on or tested yet. With 2 having only 1 Missile point, like others I skipped them and on the third one too so all can use the right side for protection. I know some use XL but this Mech is as wide as a Jager, considering how easy I died in a XL Jager, I went with STD. I tend to prefer speed over really slow Mechs, why I have stayed away from the biggest of Assaults.

I usually run Mediums (4 Mastered), a few Lights (3 Mastered), 1 Assault (1 Mastered except 1 variant) and just recently started getting into Heavies (none Mastered).

The following are builds I have looked at for Zeus.
When I try them, they will be tested on Terra Therma, I do that usually to see how they run on the hottest map before playing. These are slower than my Medium speeds though faster than the Awesomes I ran with Tweak except the 6S (those dang cannons & ammo) and these have nothing unlocked yet.

ZEU-6S
Slowest of them due to the double cannon & ammo, runs as fast as a tweaked Awesome with nothing unlocked. MPLs same heat for more damage than MLs but I could switch back for a bigger engine.

ZEU-6T
The PPC Range quirk and fewest Energy points make this not worth running PPCs without real heat generation benefits like other Mechs have so I used 3LL and a lone MPL. Looks to have great heat though I know the Thunderbolt-5S can run 3LL, even some Centurion-ALs. I know I am not using the Missile points, I just see no reason to with them far across from the Energy ones.

ZEU-9S
I thought Ghost Heat was gone for ERLL too though I am not sure now. With extra ERLL Range and Energy cooldown, looks good.

[Mirumoto Izanami]

I run the Zeus 6T with 3 srm4s and 3 LPLs...and XL 360

[Malleus011]

I've been fighting my new Zeus assault 'mechs. (Reference - I am a solidly average pilot)

The 9S I've done OK with. Not great, but OK. 350XL, twin PPC, triple MPL, ALRM15. I've gotten some kills, had some ok matches ... but it's hard to break 250 damage no matter what I do.

The 6T I didn't expect to like, but it handled better then expected. I'm running a 320 std (I want to see the difference in durability), triple SRM6, LPL, triple ML. It's brutal up-close. No Victor, but a solid brawler. But still no breaking 250 damage.

The 6S® ... is terrible. I'm struggling to find a build that'll climb out of the basement, or get kills. I tried 320 std and 350 XL. I've tried massed ERLL and Gauss. (I hate the gaussbow mechanic) Twin AC/5. Various flavors of LRM support. No missiles. None of the builds perform very well, and all of them seem to lack that 'hit' that an AC/20 armed Victor or WubMaster can deliver. Can't break 250 damage ... and worse, played six matches tonight, and couldn't break 30 match score on *any* of them. That's unbelievable to me - I prefer heavy 'mechs, and can easily break 30 in any heavy I own, even having a 'bad match'. With the Zeus I'm struggling to deal damage and be effective in combat.

Granted, these 'mechs are in the process of unlocking basic skills and handle like tugboats captained by drunken monkeys. But they're still pretty weak in the damage output department compared to my other Assaults of 80-85 tons.

I feel like they need offensive quirks.

[Jackofallpots]

I was disappointed with the Zeus at first but I've been starting to enjoy all three to varying degrees with the 6T being a great deal of SRM spewing fun

I just use the stock engine now but I'm going to save up for a xl390 and it seems my preferred loadout fits it just right

[ThrashInc]

I honestly can't find a way to make this mech fun/good.

If you play like a Heavy, you're slow and hot and lack firepower, acceleration, JJ's, quirkening.

If you play like an Assault, you are moderately fast but definitely lack the firepower and armor to do anything but get cored.

I usually take about 8-10 matches to basic a mech (average XP). I did the Grasshoppers to Mastery in the first day without a problem. I've been playing the Zeus since and it's the least amount of fun I've ever had playing this game. I don't even want to play them past first victory of the day bonus because there is absolutely nothing about them that is good.

They take up a slot for a good Assault and that's reason enough to forget about them. Anything you can do in a Zeus you can do in a Stalker, Banshee, Battlemaster, Atlas, or Dire Wolf better.

[Joseph Mallan]

JD is proving to be quite the lil trooper Mech. A 360 XL and an ER Large with double sinks and fullish armor. Works pretty good. Not my preferred knock out style, but even a Lyran has to drive a scout on occasions.

Finn McShae, on 19 March 2015 - 04:40 AM, said:

I know everyone wanted the fins but come on, the forums would have exploded in tears and DOA cries if it had hittable, non functional wings sticking up taller than a Grasshopper...

Red Bull.

[sneeking]

6t is the best of this chassis, while its a good XL candidate don't be tempted to max out that XL.

This one needs a balance between speed and the weight saving gained from XL to be spent on firepower, 340 is about right for me with srm and LL's.