I see loads of people being wistful over the Bushwacker, on both Reddit, the forums and even occasionally on MWO. While I understand nostalgia - I loved the thing in MW4, and it actually was one of my favourite mechs to play the Solaris VII mode with - I wanted to take a moment to take a look at how this beloved medium 'Mech would actually fare within MWO. Let's take a look at the chassis itself first.
I've spoilered the different sections to make this thing a bit easier to navigate, and less of an eyesore.
General details
Spoiler
55 tons of medium goodness, every variant of the Bushwacker uses the same XL275, for a top speed of 81kph (89.1 with MWO's speed tweak skill). 55 tonners cap out at 360-rated engines in MWO, but given its nature as a firepower-focused medium, one might expect a lower cap... Or maybe not, but we'll get to that later.
A serious setback is its lack of JJs on any of the variants currently in the timeline; mediums without JJs have a tendency to suffer in MWO, but it's not as serious as, say, bad hitboxes or mediocre hardpoints.
That's the basic stuff. Now we move onto the technical stuff: first, its possible geometry and hitboxes. And I believe it's gonna be painful, so brace yourself, BSW fans.
Geometry/hitboxes
Spoiler
The Bushwacker is known for having a low, somewhat squat profile with an elongated torso structure, akin to a mix between the Catapult and Mad Dog. THis is its first major issue; if the MW4 model is anything to go by...
Spoiler
... It'll likely have a serious issue with either an oversized CT, or large, exposed STs killing its XL viability. The Catapult suffers from the CT heavy issue, while the Stalker has giant STs; however, what with the Stalker being an 85 ton assault mech, it can mount a large weapons load without the XL engine, and can protect itself using massive shield sides and large quantities of armour... And the BSW lacks the capacity to bring a large weapons load without an XL and lives far more by its speed than by its armour.
Its arms also appear to be around waist level, which could result in issues in clearing terrain to fire - though it's not as huge an issue as with mechs like the CTF.
Possible hardpoints
Spoiler
The second, and likely far more serious issue with the Bushwacker, is its hardpoints. Allow me to explain.
The three variants which are closest to the timeline and do not use weapons which aren't in-game are:
- BSW-X1
- BSW-X2
- BSW-S2
BSW-X1
Spoiler
The first and closest variant, the BSW-X1, carries the following weaponry:
See those weapon locations? It's heavy on ballistic weapons (and thus hardpoints), and light on energy weapons - the most tonnage-efficient weapons in the game, and generally a mainstay of medium 'Mechs. Its focus on heavier missile and ballistic weapons already dooms it to relying on XL engines to pack along a reasonable payload together with decent speed, and with its unique torso structure, this might end up making the chassis very undesirable. Even with hardpoint inflation, it simply cannot carry more than 2 energy weapons - an issue the CPLT-C4 suffers from as well.
Going by hardpoint allocation patterns in MWO, the BSW-X1 may end up having a fairly large quantity of ballistic hardpoints - generally totally useless on mediums, and a niche better filled by the Jagermech at only 10 tons more.
BSW-X2
Spoiler
The second variant, the X2, carries the following weaponry.
A more missile-heavy variant, still confined to the CT energy hardpoints. This one is a little better than the X1 by virtue of missiles being lighter weapons, and it gets 3 missile hardpoints all stacked on one side at the very least - this variant might actually make a rather decent brawler, and with shielding being such a large thing in MWO, its apparently fairly large arms and right side could make for a good shield, especially with an STD engine.
BSW-S2
Spoiler
The S2 carries the following guns.
LB 10-X AC x1 - 1xRA
SRM 4 x2 - 1xLA, 1xLT
ER large laser x1 - 1xCT
AMS x1 - 1xLT
Going back to the poor potential hardpoint layout of the X1, the S2 doesn't even have the two ballistic hardpoints from the MGs. Either it'll get hilariously inflated B hardpoints in its RA or inflated M hardpoints, or it's just going to be outright trash. The stock AMS might point at dual AMS, but dual AMS has never and will never compensate for absolutely terrible hardpoints.
Each variant also suffers from having its missiles split between the torso and arms, resulting in convergence issues with arm lock toggled off.
In conclusion
Spoiler
So the general bad news is: it's low on E hardpoints and generally heavy on B hardpoints. THe M hardpoints compensate to an extent, but it would all depend on how much they're inflated. The Bushwacker's unique torso structure may also result in Catapult-esque geometry/hitbox issues, and none of these bode well for this fan favourite. The X2 might be a potentially solid missile boat, but it's trying to shove itself into a niche already occupied by the Griffin (particularly the 3M and 2N - the latter of which even has ECM) and to an extent the Shadowhawk-2D2, all of which have jumpjets, as well as several other mechs in the medium category.
In the end, the Bushwacker's fate would likely come down to its quirks and hitboxes - unless it has god-tier hitboxes and/or god-tier quirks, it'll be mediocre at best and absolutely terrible tier 5 material at worst, and I'd hate to see such a beloved mech go to waste at the bottom of the tier 5 pile.
DISCLAIMER:
This is a subjective view on the Bushwacker, and all predictions are based on the hardpoint inflation patterns and treatment of 'Mechs with elongated CTs I've observed within MWO. Above all, this is all a PREDICTION - nothing solid, and certainly not the work of PGI! Quirks have been left out of the equation due to their oft-random nature in values, and in this current meta they can make or break a 'Mech, thus I've left my own predictions on quirks out. (To be frank, though, if they base the quirks off the stock loadouts, this doesn't bode particularly well for the thing either.)
This is also not me venting hate against the BSW - I love the mech, as I mentioned, and I salvaged hilarious amounts of them in MW4 to satisfy this one-sided romance.
LocationStill doing ungodly amount of damage, but with more accuracy.
Posted 09 June 2015 - 06:27 AM
It can carry AC20/Goose or multiple AC5s on high mounts. No complaints here. Plus the CT is much less vulnerable from the front.
First thing I look at the mech for viability is the hardpoint location. Especially the arms. Quirks are subject to change, even hardpoint numbers are subject to change, but hardpoint locations, never.
It's not DOA - hence the disclaimery bit on quirks. Quirks basically make or break mechs in this game at this point. It's also a prediction purely based on the current meta and how PGI tends to treat new releases. For all we know it's getting insane quirks or godboxes and it'll dethrone the SCR. Who knows.
LocationSlung below a mech's arm shooting nothing but dirt
Posted 09 June 2015 - 07:18 AM
I doubt the X1 would only have 6 weapons hardpoints while the X2 and S2 have 8. PGI would probably add a 2nd or 3rd ballistic hardpoint to the right arm.
I doubt the X1 would only have 6 weapons hardpoints while the X2 and S2 have 8. PGI would probably add a 2nd or 3rd ballistic hardpoint to the right arm.
LocationPeeking over your shoulder while eating your cookies.
Posted 09 June 2015 - 09:51 AM
lordtzar, on 09 June 2015 - 07:20 AM, said:
If it can't do anything a hunchback wouldn't do better, there wouldn't be much of a point in the mech.
There's not much point to this whole game, yet here we are.
My point, is that, for the Bushwhacker, it's not going to be about what it can do so much as the fact that it is a Bushwhacker. People will play it for fun. My Locusts don't exactly perform on par with a lot of other Light Chassis, yet I still play them for kicks.
At this point, there is a lot of Mech overlap in terms of chassis capabilities. Just pick what you want to run competitive and run that competatively, and pick what you want to run for fun and run it for fun.
Personally, I plan on getting me some Bushwhackers...
Hunchback has several variants that have a wide range of layouts. Bushwacker tends to favor an autocannon, with a bit of missiles and energy.
If the ballistic hunchbacks are outright better at the bushwacker's job, nobody will use it.
Wow, that went right over your head.... The HBK doesn't look like the Bushwacker, thus people (including myself) will use it. It isn't always about the meta.
Wow, that went right over your head.... The HBK doesn't look like the Bushwacker, thus people (including myself) will use it. It isn't always about the meta.
And if the final model ends up with low-slung arms, as wide and tall as a king crab, with a bad walking animation, paint that doesn't stick like the clan mechs..........still use it purely because of the way it looks?
And if the final model ends up with low-slung arms, as wide and tall as a king crab, with a bad walking animation, paint that doesn't stick like the clan mechs..........still use it purely because of the way it looks?
I
Yup. I haven't found a mech yet that I couldn't make viable.
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