29 replies to this topic

[Tycon]

After using the Atlas D-DC for a while I'm growing tired of the very slow move speed, low slung weapons and barn sized hit box (I've played an awesome before though and it was somehow worse for an 80 tonner O.o). ATM I have roughly enough C bills to invest into one but I can't try them all out (and trials are awful representations of actual custom builds)

Anyways as primarily a light pilot with some lighter mediums as a secondary preference, CW puts a weight pressure on me to bring heavy assaults to meet the weight requirement. I'd like to know what kind of assault is worth investing into. I'm particularly looking for tanky mechs with good hitboxes and torso twist. Atm the Zeus armor and structure quirks are looking appealing.

I like the black jack, cicada and locust so other torso based and arm-less mechs seam appealing (although i'm skeptical the stalker will be for me). Head lasers are cool but I'm unsure how the banshee will play.

What's ideally a good front line tanker assault mech for leading the charge or over all durability. PPCs are a plus but LLs are fine too, full close range brawlers don't tend to work well unless you are a fast assault or you have a team you can trust .

Is the Zeus or banshee worth anything, the highlander or battlemaster? I'm skeptical on the Atlas still. Prefer not to use a Crab or stalker (feel cookie cutter and common) nor an awesome (horrible mech).

Thanks for any help or guidance you can provide.

[Y E O N N E]

Battlemaster. With a STD 340 or 345, it's pretty agile running at Warhawk speeds. Torso twist is pretty crummy, but it packs a lot of firepower and enough heatsinks to keep it fairly cold. My favorite is the BLR-3M with 6x MedLas, 2x ERPPC, a STD345, and 20 DHS.

[meteorol]

If you don't want to use stalkers, banshee all the way.

3M with lasers or 3E with 3 AC5 and backup (2pps; 2-3ll; 4ml, whatever floats your boat).

[Bloodweaver]

No to the Highlanders. I love them, but they're not what you're looking for at all. So it's between the Zeus, Battlemaster, and Banshee for you.

Good hitboxes: Zeus and Banshee. Zeus' in particular are fantastic.

Torso-centric loadouts: Battlemaster and Banshee. Also, numerous high-mounted hardpoints on both.

Good torso twist range: Zeus and Banshee.

Good speed options: Zeus and Battlemaster.

I'd imagine it's a tie between the Battlemaster and the Banshee, for you specifically. Zeus is still a contender, but I don't think you'd like at as much as those other two. Between those two, Battlemaster will be more mobile, Banshee will be (significantly) tougher. Battlemaster's twist is more limited in range, but its twist speed will be higher. Aside from that, they're fairly similar.

[Spheroid]

Perfect CW deck is three Thuds. With the structure buffs they are nearly assaults for all practical purposes.

[Mcgral18]

Between the 3 Cbill Banshees, there is a single arm mounted E hardpoint, so it has the torso mounts down.


They are one of the tankiest Assaults due to large arms with large shoulder pads, which soak damage nicely. CT is somewhat large, but not overwhelmingly so.

Lots of hardpoints and quite a few high mounts makes it quite deadly, as well as some decent quirks (but nothing too high). You can build them multiple ways, but they're all pretty good.

[jaxjace]

Stalkers all the way. They are on par with timbers in terms of firepower and can outmaneuver and out heat manage dire wolves. They are probably also the single hardest mech to kill.

[WhoDidTheElf]

jaxjace, on 22 June 2015 - 11:18 PM, said:

Stalkers all the way. They are on par with timbers in terms of firepower and can outmaneuver and out heat manage dire wolves. They are probably also the single hardest mech to kill.

The only problem is Agile is hardly a word I'd use to describe stalkers. I agree with Bloodweaver on IS assaults though. I prefer the Banshee. If you get the 3M and load it with an XL 400 you got a pretty agile mech.

Edited by WhoDidTheElf, 22 June 2015 - 11:28 PM.

[El Bandito]

Tycon, on 22 June 2015 - 10:30 PM, said:

Need Help Picking An Is Assault

The answer cannot be other than the Stalker. 10 out of 10 Stalker manufacturers agree. High mounted weapons and high survivability.

Edited by El Bandito, 22 June 2015 - 11:32 PM.

[TheArisen]

The generally accepted "best" IS assault is the Stalker, however you said "mobile" and the STK just isn't. Personally, I'm a huge Banshee fan. Especially the 3M. XL400 gets you running 75 with great (for 95t) twist. I have 3 lpls & 4 mpls. The key to durability in the Banshee is using your arms as shields. So I recommend the Banshee for you. The Wubshee (3M) in particular.

[Khobai]

Stalker is best IS assault mech by far.

great hardpoints and hardpoint locations (mounted high)
good quirks
good hitboxes and well protected CT
small frontal profile for its tonnage (small than catapult)
moves at a decent clip for an 85 tonner (65kph)

Quote

The only problem is Agile is hardly a word I'd use to describe stalkers

Agile doesnt describe ANY assault. If youre playing an assault to be agile youre doing it wrong. Thats what heavies are for.


If you want an assault that moves more like a heavy id say go with a Victor. Even with the nerfs its still more agile than other assaults. You also have the jumpjet option then too. Additionally, the Battlemaster is a possibility. The Battlemaster 2C is pretty fast and as well armored as an Atlas from its quirks. But its hitboxes arnt as good for running XL.

Edited by Khobai, 23 June 2015 - 12:25 AM.

[Speedy Plysitkos]

what is slow for ya ?

im running my atlasses on 63 kph (standard engines..)

[patataman]

Battlemasters are a solid choice, they have high weapon mounts in the side torsos, and are energy focused, the hit boxes are ok and have decent maneuverability.
The Zeus has the smallest humanoid profile, i don't know if that means much being an assault. All the weapons are at waist level, but it has a good torso twist. I love the 6T, and plan to use it some day in a drop deck as a brawler.
I never used stalkers, but they look like a solid choice, this will be my next assault to master. High weapon mounts, and the hit boxes look great for tanking.

I wouldn't recomend using XL in assaults. Any good oponent will know or guess by your weapon loadout and will exploit it. I run a wubmaster, with an XL400 it was great in the solo queue, awesome speed (83? kph), cooling and maneuverability... until i started taking it to the group queue (that was before CW existed). After a sudden increase in side torso deaths i decided to "downgrade" to a STD350, i need to be more careful with the trigger, but since then it is much more reliable, you can loose half the mech and keep fighting. http://i.imgur.com/L34dARf.jpg

[Madcap72]

jaxjace, on 22 June 2015 - 11:18 PM, said:

Stalkers all the way. They are on par with timbers in terms of firepower and can outmaneuver and out heat manage dire wolves. They are probably also the single hardest mech to kill.

LRM bait.

[R Razor]

Stalker or Banshee are the only real choices in todays MW:O, anything else is basically a second class citizen.

[Ultimax]

Banshee for raw firepower, leading charges/absorbing fire.

Stalker for the ultimate in fire support/sniping.


If you are willing to risk XL for speed and agility, Victors or Zeus for pseudo-heavy playstyle.

Edited by Ultimatum X, 23 June 2015 - 06:32 AM.

[Speedy Plysitkos]

Ultimatum X, on 23 June 2015 - 06:30 AM, said:

Banshee for raw firepower, leading charges/absorbing fire.

Stalker for the ultimate in fire support/sniping.


If you are willing to risk XL for speed and agility, Victors or Zeus for pseudo-heavy playstyle.

but but.... where are my atlases ? .....

[Alistair Winter]

From what you describe, I'd go for the Banshee. If you want training wheels, by all means, go for the STK-4N. Now, the Banshee isn't exactly hard mode either, but it's more about doing damage than leading a charge. The Banshee is much better at leading the charge, because it has more armour and it has arms that are there specifically to soak up damage.

If you can get over how ugly it is, I'd recommend the Banshee

That being said... if you have some hair on your chest, if you're not afraid of a good fight, if you want to earn the respect of your peers... go for the Zeus. It's not as easy as slapping 6 LPLs on a Banshee and just vomiting blue wubwub lasers untill the bad guys fall down, sure. You may even have to experiment to find builds that you like. But it's a real man's mech. It has different weapon hardpoints, it has less armour and it just looks like a BAMF. One of the most iconic mechs in Battletech. You're not just getting a new mech, you're joining a brotherhood.

If I had enough time and C-bills to get a 4th set of assault mechs, I'd buy all the Zeus variants, for sure.

[jlawsl]

Tycon, on 22 June 2015 - 10:30 PM, said:

After using the Atlas D-DC for a while I'm growing tired of the very slow move speed, low slung weapons and barn sized hit box (I've played an awesome before though and it was somehow worse for an 80 tonner O.o). ATM I have roughly enough C bills to invest into one but I can't try them all out (and trials are awful representations of actual custom builds)

Anyways as primarily a light pilot with some lighter mediums as a secondary preference, CW puts a weight pressure on me to bring heavy assaults to meet the weight requirement. I'd like to know what kind of assault is worth investing into. I'm particularly looking for tanky mechs with good hitboxes and torso twist. Atm the Zeus armor and structure quirks are looking appealing.

I like the black jack, cicada and locust so other torso based and arm-less mechs seam appealing (although i'm skeptical the stalker will be for me). Head lasers are cool but I'm unsure how the banshee will play.

What's ideally a good front line tanker assault mech for leading the charge or over all durability. PPCs are a plus but LLs are fine too, full close range brawlers don't tend to work well unless you are a fast assault or you have a team you can trust .

Is the Zeus or banshee worth anything, the highlander or battlemaster? I'm skeptical on the Atlas still. Prefer not to use a Crab or stalker (feel cookie cutter and common) nor an awesome (horrible mech).

Thanks for any help or guidance you can provide.

I have a lot of IS assault mechs and can just tell you that its up to your play style. I don't think an Awsome is a bad mech at all. While it has some faults, like its large size, it still has the best weapon quirks of any missile or energy armed assault. Banshees, especially the 3E are very good for me. I like King Crabs as well. The Atlas is ok, but I just don't like it too much. I sold my Stalkers, I know people love them, I can't stand them. I also have Zeuses, and a Victor, but I am not a huge fan of either.

Its all on you. I like fast torso twist, good arm movement and a high angle of torso movement. Its probably why I like the Awsome and can't stand the Stalker. The King Crab frustrates me, but the firepower is so much fun. Banshees are like upgraded Atlases. They forgo the missile hard points for more energy weapons, and because of their mounting, a lot of those weapons hit in the same spot because of convergence. With, its quirks, a 3E with 3 AC5s is as, if not more effective at killing enemy mechs then a King Crab with 4 AC5s because of that 15 damage always going to one spot, or not hitting a tree or building that is blocking the arms.

[Cyborne Elemental]

As things sit right now, IMO Its Banshee's & Stalkers, some people will stand by Battlemasters, I've never tried one out but they always seem to be easy prey.