38 replies to this topic

[Lorian Sunrider]

I've decided to take the plunge. I call myself a Light Mech Pilot who dabbles in Mediums, but I've not yet purchased Locusts.

I enjoyed the crap out of my Jenners, Ravens, Firestarters, Kit Foxes and Adders.

But now, I feel the need for speed.

Which three Locust variants should I get?

[Greenjulius]

Pirate's Bane and the 1E probably the easy answers, but I can't tell you for sure about the others. I have a 3M that I purchased before it got nerfed, and the quirks now make it inferior to the 1E.

I also have a 1V, but I can't really recommend it unless you like running a super quirked 1xERLL.

Edit: Looking them all over, I can't say the others look remotely useful. Being stuck with SRMs on a 20 tonner sucks.

This all said, I probably enjoy the Pirate's Bane the most, followed by the 1E. The 1E is the best killer of the entire pack with 6xSPL, but the Pirate's Bane tends to last the longest.

Just be prepared to randomly explode. A lot.

Edited by Greenjulius, 29 July 2015 - 01:47 PM.

[C E Dwyer]

Why stop at three ?

Get all of them

If the PB is the only Hero you buy, its worth it

[DAYLEET]

Pirate's Bane is hella fun, the 1V works but is boring to play. The 3M is excellent and so is the 1M but the yare similar so youll have to chose between 5spl faster cooldown and no heat generation of the 3M or the higher alpha 1E with 6spl. The 3S is fun if you can find a spider or another locust to duel you.

[Lorian Sunrider]

Yeah the Pirates Bane was kinda the no brainer of the bunch when you consider hard points and ECM.

@Greenjulius I'm not opposed to a super quirked ERLL. Its like a crappier RVN 2X and I had fun with that. Just wish I could afford the C-Bills for modules.

@Cathy If I enjoy piloting them enough I just may.

[Greenjulius]

Lorian Sunrider, on 29 July 2015 - 01:51 PM, said:

@Greenjulius I'm not opposed to a super quirked ERLL. Its like a crappier RVN 2X and I had fun with that. Just wish I could afford the C-Bills for modules.

It's not a terrible mech. I've actually pulled off some decent games in mine. Just don't expect it to be able to 1v1 any mech in the game. With modules for Range/Cooldown, it's a decent threat at 800+ meters.

They buffed the duration to 50% so that ERLL actually fires really fast, and deposits most of the damage in pulse laser times.

ADDITIONAL STRUCTURE (LL): 16.00
ADDITIONAL STRUCTURE (RL): 16.00
ARMOR STRENGTH (LA): 50.00 %
ARMOR STRENGTH (RA): 50.00 %
ER LARGE LASER COOLDOWN: 25.00 %
ENERGY COOLDOWN: 25.00 %
ER LARGE LASER DURATION: -25.00 %
LASER DURATION: -25.00 %
ENERGY RANGE: 15.00 %
BALLISTIC RANGE: 30.00 %
ACCELERATION RATE (LOW SPEED): 25.00 %
ACCELERATION RATE (MED SPEED): 25.00 %
ACCELERATION RATE (HIGH SPEED): 25.00 %
DECELERATION RATE (LOW SPEED): 50.00 %
DECELERATION RATE (MED SPEED): 50.00 %
DECELERATION RATE (HIGH SPEED): 50.00 %

Edited by Greenjulius, 29 July 2015 - 02:02 PM.

[Gamuray]

If you buy the Locust-1V.. paranoia is probably a good thing as you won't be able to engage ANYTHING. Your goal is to harass and annoy the enemy, all else is secondary, including kills and damage. What you want is for the majority of the enemy team to be saying "What the heck is shooting me in the back!?!?" and then attempt pot shots at you when they see you. When they do that, or a light sees you, run, run, run.

You are the epitome of annoyance in the 1V, and if you want to do BAP instead of mg's (which are only useful when some crit mech comes your way) then you can get target info while you harass a bit easier.

[Alistair Winter]

Cathy, on 29 July 2015 - 01:44 PM, said:

Why stop at three ?
Get all of them
If the PB is the only Hero you buy, its worth it

What he said. If you're going to take the plunge, go all in!

But the 3 best Locusts are without a doubt the energy boats.

- 1E: 6 energy hardpoints
- 3M: 5 energy, 2AMS
- Pirate's Booty: 4 energy, 2 ballistic

LCT-3S is also fun with 4xSRM2, but you will run out of ammo before you run out of enemies.

Edited by Alistair Winter, 29 July 2015 - 02:44 PM.

[TercieI]

Alistair Winter, on 29 July 2015 - 02:16 PM, said:

What he said. If you're going to take the plunge, go all in!

But the 3 best Locusts are without a doubt the energy boats.

- 1E: 6 energy hardpoints
- 3M: 4 energy, 2AMS
- Pirate's Booty: 4 energy, 2 ballistic

LCT-3S is also fun with 4xSRM2, but you will run out of ammo before you run out of enemies.

^This.

The three energy ones stand out over all the others. The 1V is 3S are sorta ok, the 3V and 1M are really pretty bad, even for LCTs.

I tier them thus:
1E
(There is a significant gap here)
PB/3M
(There is an equally significant gap here)
3S/1V
3V
1M

Edited by Terciel1976, 29 July 2015 - 02:24 PM.

[LordNothing]

had a 4x streak2 + tag locust 3s that was really fun. of course there wasnt as much ecm back when i ran it. nowadays you are better dumping a streak for bap.

[DAYLEET]

Lorian Sunrider, on 29 July 2015 - 01:51 PM, said:

Yeah the Pirates Bane was kinda the no brainer of the bunch when you consider hard points and ECM.

Just so you know, the mg hardpoints are terrible, they blind you in normal vision, heatvision and night vision, makes chasing and aiming at the same time hard.

The canopy glass of all locust feels like it's been compressed not cut smaller so it makes super dirty and foggy on some map and become such an hindrance that i removed it even tohugh i liked it on my other mech.

Those are 2 problem with the LCT that have been identified and asked to be fixed for ever so don't ever hope for them to be fixed.

Alistair Winter, on 29 July 2015 - 02:16 PM, said:

- 3M: 4 energy, 2AMS

I don't know what you would do with 1 ams much less 2. I don't even equip radar depriv on my light anymore and i would strongly recomend shock absorbance on LCT.

Edited by DAYLEET, 29 July 2015 - 02:35 PM.

[MerryIguana]

Alistair Winter, on 29 July 2015 - 02:16 PM, said:

- 3M: 4 energy, 2AMS

5 e

[Pjwned]

I personally love my 1E with 6 medium lasers, the quirks help it to be a really amazing speedy energy boat when played right and I often get at least 300 damage with it if not more.

I originally leveled locusts with the intent of maining the 1V with its crazy ER LL quirks, but the rather low damage output and torso hardpoint with very little up and down movement annoyed me quite a bit; maybe I just didn't play it very well but I've benched it for now, might come back to it later.

I haven't really actually played a 3rd variant yet, I've thought about trying the 1M but it doesn't seem as useful or fun as the 1E.

[TercieI]

MerryIguana, on 29 July 2015 - 02:36 PM, said:

5 e

And here I thought they nerfed it...again.

[Alistair Winter]

DAYLEET, on 29 July 2015 - 02:33 PM, said:

I don't know what you would do with 1 ams much less 2. I don't even equip radar depriv on my light anymore and i would strongly recomend shock absorbance on LCT.

I use 2AMS on my FS9-S and my LCT-3M. I guess it's kind of because I want to go against the min-maxing trend, but also it just feels nice to have another element to consider for what would otherwise be a fairly singular experience. Instead of just hunting for vulnerable targets to attack at close range, I can now provide some level of assistance to my teammates in long range engagements.

And don't the AMS reduce damage from streaks too? Not that it matters. When those Streakcrows deliver a full alpha, you're pretty much losing limbs no matter how many AMS you have

[3xnihilo]

1E is best Locust, followed by the PB. 3m is awesome with 5spl/BAP but is now inferior to the 6spl 1e because of quirks. I know a lot of locusts pilots enjoy the 1m with 2ml/2srm2. I really like the 3v with 2mpl/2mg it has 50% energy range so the mpl are 330m long range without modules. It also has really good armor/structure quirks so it is the most durable locust. For further research go the The Underrated Locust thread in the light builds forum.

[InspectorG]

PB + E + whatever else.

[Bleary]

The 1E can play as a pocket Firestarter with SPLs or a sort of medium range poker/harasser with MLs (quirks + range module pushes them out near 400m). I feel like the ML loadout offers a more unique play experience - it's the only 'Mech in the game with that combination of stop-start agility, range, and pulse laser firing durations. But you do sacrifice some DPS and heat efficiency compared to the SPLs.

The Pirate's Bane is 4 medium lasers and ECM. Very solid, nothing wrong with it, but you're bringing it for the jesus box.

The other Locusts are silly fun but nothing you run to win with.

[DAYLEET]

Alistair Winter, on 29 July 2015 - 02:47 PM, said:

And don't the AMS reduce damage from streaks too? Not that it matters. When those Streakcrows deliver a full alpha, you're pretty much losing limbs no matter how many AMS you have

Well, gone are the days where a streak-10 would chase you, now its streak-24.

[MauttyKoray]

Lorian Sunrider, on 29 July 2015 - 01:42 PM, said:

I've decided to take the plunge. I call myself a Light Mech Pilot who dabbles in Mediums, but I've not yet purchased Locusts.

I enjoyed the crap out of my Jenners, Ravens, Firestarters, Kit Foxes and Adders.

But now, I feel the need for speed.

Which three Locust variants should I get?

ALL OF THEM. This is coming from the guy who owns all Locust variants and who has gotten his Ace of Spades (8 kills one match) achievement in one. (with a good 500+ damage)

They're amazing chassis if you knows how to play them, and while their fragility is a trade off, you can still mount a fair amount of firepower. I'll warn you that they're not meant to be frontline mechs taking hits. Support your team, take targets of opportunity, and look for strategic targets to hit and make the most of your damage. (see a rear torso open and well damaged but the mech's front is still in good condition? Maneuver behind it, take that ST out, and get out of there)