31 replies to this topic

[KingDavid]

I am thinking to purchase a Black Jack Hero mech BJ-A, is it a good mech considering the Torso Twist Range only 90 degree ? Any info is welcome about this Mech, thanks.

Some infos for the loadouts is appreciated, thanks.

Edited by KingDavid, 19 June 2015 - 04:09 PM.

[ScoutMaster]

Why do that when you have the 6 machine gun shadowcat coming out next month?

[Burktross]

its underwhelming
Not bad
Just kinda dissapointing, y'know?

But I keep it, hoping one day.
Maybe one day.

Machine guns will be op for a day.

[Cyborne Elemental]

Its an end game janitor.

Stay out of sight until your team has stripped armor off a few guys, then go in and clean house.

[ZippySpeedMonkey]

An extremely effective mech if built and used properly...

By this I mean do not go toe to toe with a healthy assault mech...

It is one of my favourite mechs to use...

[Rushmoar]

I don't like this hero. Unfortunately it is the only hero I regret buying. The quirks lean for large pulse lasers which mean XL engines. I kill more then die in it. It's just doesn't work for my play style i guess, I don't want to be up close to use the 6 machine guns with an XL engine. It's just my opinion.

[Cyborne Elemental]

XL doesn't make as much a difference for Blackjacks as you think, everyone and their grandma will leg the crap out of you, better stick with something fast with some punch.

[bad arcade kitty]

ScoutMaster, on 19 June 2015 - 04:16 PM, said:

Why do that when you have the 6 machine gun shadowcat coming out next month?

well shadow cat it's either 7 mgs + 1 energy/1 missile or 6 mgs + 1 energy and 2 missile/2 energy and 1 missile while arrow it's 6 mgs and 3 lasers (if you can decipher this, if cannot, arrow can get more lasers but shkitty can get 1-2 missiles, 2*(s)srm 6 + 6 mgs for brawling for instance)

what's bad, if you pick ballistic 3 left torso you cannot get ecm

what's even worse, that version with two ballistic 3 omnipods, shc-p, is for early adopters only

[KingDavid]

ScoutMaster, on 19 June 2015 - 04:16 PM, said:

Why do that when you have the 6 machine gun shadowcat coming out next month?

Good point, thanks.

Thanks guys for the infos

[bad arcade kitty]

KingDavid, on 19 June 2015 - 04:32 PM, said:

Good point, thanks.

Thanks guys for the infos

are you an early adopter? otherwise you will be disappointed

[1453 R]

The Arrow is...limited. It has essentially one build - the stock one, for the most part. I've configured mine as an AC/20 Boomjack w/Hero bonus, but that's going against the grain and ignoring its quirks completely.

That said, if you like Blackjacks, the Arrow is fine. It does what Blackjacks do, and its stock build isn't unrecoverably awful. One of very, very few semi-viable fast STD-engine 'Mechs in the game, unless you need that second iLPL. The hex-MG hose is entertaining but doesn't do much; there's a reason I reconfigured mine for boom, really. The notion of using it as a scavenger is unfortunately apt; you don't win duels with an Arrow stock or near-stock, but you can weigh in somewhat effectively on other people's fights and act as a force multiplier.

If that works for you, go for it. A half-off Arrow is almost reasonably priced, after all.

[Navy Sixes]

It's been a while since I dropped in my Arrow, so there are things I can tell you and things I'm not sure about anymore...

First off, one of the best things about the Blackjack chassis in general is its scale. One of the few mediums PGI got right, it's small size makes it a little more difficult to hit, plus it doesn't draw a lot of priority fire, especially when moving alongside bigger mechs, which means just about everything else besides lights.

One of the worst things about the BJs is the nasty engine cap. While they are smaller, they are not faster. I think the X gets a higher engine cap, but the Arrow is limited like the rest of 'em. Plan to add at least one heatsink to compensate for the little engine.

As for the Arrow specifically...

As I said before, it's been a while since I've run them, so how effective are 6 MG's? People say, "They're really good against exposed components," but really, what isn't good against exposed components? The nice thing in terms of armament is that those six MGs don't take up a lot of weight, and you've got three energy slots to play with in addition. Maybe a couple large lasers? I used to run a big standard engine, an ERPPC to get distance, then stuff the rest with heatsinks.

Be aware also that the super-gloss paint job is really annoying. No matter what color you use, your Arrow will shimmer like a disco mirror ball (I dubbed my Arrow "Studio 54"). This can be a problem; as I said above, not drawing attention is one of the BJ's strengths, and the Arrow's skin kind of negates that. If you don't believe me, roll with some teammates under an ECM umbrella on a dark map like Terra Therma. See how often enemy snipers find your Arrow before you find them...

Be advised also that a 45-ton, 6 MG medium might seem like an ideal light hunter. But with that engine cap limiting your speed to a max of about 90kph, the limited torso-twist you mentioned, and the lack of any horizontal articulation in the arms, fast lights with skilled pilots can give the Arrow a lot of trouble.

Anyway, that's my experience with the Arrow. I hope it helps. Also, some others posted while I was typing this and I didn't see what they wrote; I'm sorry if I'm just repeating things already stated.

Good hunting!

[Naduk]

i love my arrow
it is as people have said tho a complete scavenger
try a build like this if you want to be a bit more proactive when waiting on the side lines
sadly tho it collects a lot of dust recently, the MG nerf we got a few months back hurt a bit more than was necessary i think
1-2 mg's was nice to have , toting 6 was just maniacal .... and awesome
the Arrow is still effective , he just has to work a little harder than it used to

at the end of the day its a black jack like any other
it cant fight face to face like a centurion
its flexible and fast enough to allow you a few tactical errors

so its role ends up being the same, take weapon load outs that just shouldn't fit onto a 45t mech
bide your time and jump people in dark ally ways make sure to run back to your gang to avoid retribution
repeat

[Eyepop]

As a BJ-A owner, and since it's just about the only mech that I use, I feel like I can speak to this pretty decently.

Here's my build.

The BJ-A is a fun little guy, but that doesn't mean that it's a good mech. For the decent things that it does, it's got a lot of cons.

1) The BJ-A takes a lot of low-tonnage, one-slot items, meaning no Ferro for you. The small engine forces this; you only have 7 slots available with Ferro and 6 MG and 2 LPL. 3 of those are taken up because you need a tenth DHS. Leaving just 4 slots, not enough for 3 tons of ammo (which you will need) and a few JJs (which are the only real reason to take the BJ-A over any other BJ).

2) MGs are awful. I estimate that ~80-95% of my damage is dealt with my 14 tons of LPL, with the last 5-20% being taken care of by my 6 tons of machine guns. In a perfect world, the MGs would be dealing around 1/3rd of my damage, but they definitely aren't. I'm considering a different build entirely that just gets rid of the MGs, and I'm pretty certain that it would do better.

3) Your JJs aren't as nice as they should be, but if you've ever played with JJs before, you already know that.

Unlike what other people are suggesting, I play my BJ-A as a brawler. The facetime is murderous for you, if you want to keep your MGs going, but if you pick targets intelligently, you can do okay.

You're not going to get huge damage out of this mech; it's as maneuverable as a heavy without the armor or weaponry, and you feel that. Getting to targets is a toss of the coin. Expect lots of inconsequential assists, though.

As others have said, the Shadowcat is going to do it better. Wait for that to come out, instead, would be my suggestion. Faster, with MASC, with more JJs... not really any reason to buy a BJ-A now.

[Hellcat420]

It's worse than a bj from a snaggletoothed hobo

[Typhon27]

6 MG
1 LPL
2 MPL
235 STD

Most of my drops are in the Arrow. Yes the MGs took a bit of a nerf and the turning isn't the greatest. But 6 streams of dakka is a lot of fun and its quite tanky for its weight. Its a good idea to follow a couple of assaults. You can watch their back and hopefully get ignored while the enemy engages them, allowing you to deal good damage. I'm averaging 332 damage in 1044 matches. Sure, there are some stinkers in there, but also a lot of epic ones too.

[Mott]

BJ-A is my staple medium. When I need to bank cbills quickly or boost my overall kdr I shine it up and stomp it out.

With quirks those dual LPLs pump out a ***** load of damage. My average across 2300+ drops in the BJA is 390 dmg/match. In a fragile medium... That's an impressive avg.

The mgs are just fun fodder for end of match cleanup.

It's a great mech if you've got good aim, appreciate maneuverability and don't try to tank vs heavies & assaults.
It's a crap mech if you just like to forward/reverse peek&poke over and over from the same spot, or standing toe to toe with natural born brawlers.

Simplest answer: try the other BJs... If you're good with them and enjoy their playstyle, you'll do the same with the arrow.

[Herr Vorragend]

I love my BJ-A: ) very versatile medium mech that has good speed and firepower.
Builds:
2 LPL, 1 ML, 6 MGs
3 ML, 1 LB10X, 5 MGs

I really recommend this mech (and I got over 100)

[jss78]

I'm doing OK in mine (300'ish avg. damage), and play it a lot because it's just so much fun to "troll" in.

People focus on the MG's, but on most builds most weapon tonnage is in a couple of LL/LPL/ERLL, and those should be viewed as the primary armament.

I run mine as a laser sniper (STD-225, 2xERLL, 6xMG, and an SPL grouped with the MG's), while switching to vulture mode in late game, should suitable targets present themselves. I agree though with an earlier comment that this play style probably doesn't make sense meta-wise, as you could just as well off a hurting mech with another weapon which also works against armour.

But again, it's a ton of fun, and pretty easy to pull your weight in. It tends to produce a lot of assists and some late-game kills, which together with the hero bonus make it quite a nice c-bill machine.

[Y E O N N E]

Arrow is also a competent pop-tart with some pretty massive range buffs on energy weapons. I have more consistent games with it that way, though I like running it with a STD225 and 2x MPL, 1x LPL, and 6x MG the most. Currently, I'm derping around with the LB-10X build and an XL225.