1 reply to this topic

[Gromm Skullcrusher]

I'm new to the MWO but I played BT starting when it first came out... before the Unseen mechs were Unseen and all the rest of the changes and updates.

I've tried building some of the mechs I used back then but several things are holding me back, most notably the hardpoint system. I can't just stick weapons and systems wherever I want.

Also of course is the idea that in BT/ MW role playing you generally inherited a mech and were stuck with whatever your father or grandfather piloted if you followed the role playing aspect.

So given both of those the one mech I've found that's close to what I piloted in my old BT/MW days is the Panther 8z. I drove the 8z Panther back in the day thru several campaigns. The 8z was armed with a PPC back then IIRC but otherwise seemed very similar to the current 8z.

So, the question:

How do I make the old school competitive in the MWO environment? Is it even possible?

Any thoughts along those lines would be appreciated.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

I don't know about "competitive" because that's not really my scene, but the Panther is a very good light 'Mech in MWO. It isn't God-tier, but it does have a nice combination of firepower, good quirks, and good hitboxes that makes it one of the stronger light 'Mechs in the game despite being a little slower. You can run Panthers as PPC snipers, like they were in lore, and they can also be configured as micro-brawlers with lasers and SRMs. There are several good build threads regarding the Panther here; run a search, and you'll soon have a mountain of possible configs to play around with.

Preferred tactics for the Panther revolve around poptarting and sword-and-board brawling (using the empty left arm as a shield). In either case, you'll need to upgrade before dropping... double heat sinks are mandatory (there might be two or three viable configs in the entire game that use SHS- around here we just pay the "DHS Tax" and grumble about it), endo-steel is strongly recommended, and you'll need an XL engine, preferably of the highest possible rating (250), to get the best performance out of your Panther.