11 replies to this topic

[atlasbuster]

Hey all. I need guidance on buying my first mech which I would like to be a heavy mech. I recently finished my cadet bonuses and a bunch of drops. I am sitting on 12+ million c-bills. This account is actually an alt account. I am using it to practice, explore and get better so when I go back to my main (which only has 3 drops on it) I will be prepared to earn more c-bills/xp/gxp during the cadet phase. I plan on the first mech for that account to be a medium mech seeing that they seem to be the most recomended weight class for a new pilot (unlike lights/assaults that ppl seem to advise noobs to stay away from). So that leaves heavy mechs to explore here. Most of my drops so far in trial mechs have been stormcrows and dire wolfs. Vultures seem to be the heavy that I have used the most (seems fragile and prone to overheat though). So let me tell you a little about what I have found out about my play style and what mech features i think are most helpful/needful so you can advise me better. I tend to do best as a long to medium range direct/indirect fire support, sniping, poking, peeking, sneaky mech. I tend to panic in a brawl and then I start to fire everything and shut down I hope that changes with time, experience, and better shop placement, but for now, no brawling unless i have a buttload of armor (read: assault mech), decent heat management and good pitch/yaw (and friendlies nearby). With that said, good heat management is very helpful (I like ballistics for that reason). Jump jets are great b/c I hate getting hung up on hills and terrain/buildings. ECM is nice for someone who doesn't want to be seen (e.g. a sniper). Of course I need long/med range weapons that i can still use in a knife fight if i find myself there (or secondary shorter range weapons as an alternate option). I don't have a preference of IS or clan mechs, just one that meets most or all of these requirements. I have looked at the Jagermech DD a little as I have heard that it is a good heavy for a beginner. JM6-DD Got that off the Jagermech thread in the heavy builds forum. Comments welcome. I would rather not spend cash on this alt. I will wait for my main for that. With that said I do like the Ebon Jaguar; maybe on my main since the shadowcat is one of my favorite medium mechs (who doesnt like a fast jump jetting gauss rifle on legs?) and I can get them together. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.

[B L O O D W I T C H]

for clans it is the timberwolf, but they're probably out of your pricerange for a while. same for the hellbringer, got no jumpjets, tho. both are very versatile heavies. Ebon Jaguar is a very good chassi too, if you can effort the package, go for it. it feels like a mix of TBR and HBR while being even smaller then a TBR.
Mad Dogs are rather fragile, the heatproblems you'd encountered are thanks to the stupidly hot loadout of the Trailmech. MDDs are more of a second line or support mech then the TBR or HBR.
Summoners may be to your liking, some love them, some hate them.

For IS i would say thunderbolts (currently MLAS brawler, LL sniper, PPC sniper) or dragons (1N dakka dragon with insane dps).
Dragons relay on their speed and agility, hench they need an XL to be truely effective. Tbolts are a lot more tanky and also cheaper to build thanks to the STD engines.
Jagers are not that fast and a rather wide target, they don't go that well with XL engines. So positioning and awareness are key to play them right.
You might want to look into cataphracts, since they allow a wide range of builds, have jumpjet and ecm variants.

I might also add that you only truely see what a chassi is capable of if you have the elite skills unlocked. so a single slugish heavy on basic skill level might not give the best impression of it.

Edited by LOADED, 11 July 2015 - 03:01 PM.

[DivineEvil]

Thunderbolts are your best bet at the moment. They're good all-round energy-boats which require minimum upgrade costs. You'll have to consider heat management on every of them, but it's the basic feat everyone have to deal with, no matter what. They run fine at STDs and has a variety of different possible loadouts which you can experiment with. Torso-twisting in combat for proper damage spread is also what you can learn using Thunderbolt chassis.

- Dragons are very specialized mechs requiring smart positioning, timed initiative and working around it's fragility. XL-defined.
- Quickdraws are brawler/skirmisher mechs, which are noticeably oversized. STD-friendly, but hard to get a balanced layout.
- Jagermech are bread-and-butter ballistic platforms for all ranges. -S variant is the best to start with. XL-defined.
- Catapults are oversized specialist fire-support mechs. Hard to make them work better than Mediums and XL-defined.
- Cataphract are mobile tank/brawlers. They're similar to JMs, but require a full-face dedication to fight. STD-friendly.
- Orion is all-rounder for Brawling. Many possible layouts, but definitely not a mech for sniping. STD-friendly.

[Inveramsay]

Thunderbolts is the go to heavy at the moment for a good reason. They are all good, some better than others though. They are also reasonably cheap given they don't need an expensive xl engine. The 9se version might be what you are looking for with large pulse lasers. Best played at close to medium range. If you want to play with ballistics you can put an ac10 in most of them but they do better with energy load outs.

The Timberwolves are not great newbie mechs. Too expensive and conspicuous and will make all other mechs you play after feel a bit rubbish

[SleekHusky]

I would recommend the Thunderbolt 5SS, no need for an XL engine which is often the most expensive part of a mech.
It will teach you how to torso twist and its got pretty good hitboxes, amazing firepower, thanks to quirks the range is okay, and it's pretty decent speed-wise.
It will also force you to learn how to brawl which is a very important skill even if you don't like to.
But if you really don't want to brawl then Catapult K2 is decent save for the massive CT they have now.

[Rear Admiral Tier 6]

get 3 thunderbolts now when they are for sale,start eliting with the variants that have DHS as standard(9S 9SE),and as third take the 5SS,as it is the pulse laser boat for IS,but bit more expensive to kit out.

[Rhavin]

I would definitely go thunderbolt, they are relevant to the "meta" game and are on sale so you could easily pick up 3 of them and have something to grind to master lvl. They are an inner sphere chassis but all they really need as far as upgrades go is double heat sinks, pay attention to each mechs quirks as well. Manage your money well and remember to cannibalize the other 2 for weapons before you buy any and you should easily make the crews to buy your next chassis by the time you master all 3.

[Rogue Jedi]

I agree with the consensus on Thunderbolts as a heavy starter Mech, as they are ok with the stock engine (better with a standard 300+) and do not benefit from XL engines, meaning the cost of outfitting + purchase price will probably run to 6-8 million cbills.
your 12 million cbills would buy and outfit one TDR, with probably 4-6 million left over

[Appogee]

+1 for Tbolts.

[Koniving]

First... the Enter key is your friend. It certainly is mine.

That said: I'm a Thunderbolt fan. I like a lot of different heavy 'Mechs, but my favorites so far as MWO goes in terms of a new player are: Cataphract, Thunderbolt, Orion, Hellbringer (make sure to raise the armor).

Of them, I favor the Orion the most. A mini Atlas in terms of hardpoint arrangements, works perfectly fine with standard engines, really affordable in the long run, brings forth an Atlas's firepower with a Battlemaster's speed and survivability at a slightly reduced ammo payload.

atlasbuster, on 11 July 2015 - 02:41 PM, said:

Vultures seem to be the heavy that I have used the most (seems fragile and prone to overheat though).

The stock builds of Vultures are intended as firesupport mechs, using a design from the tabletop (in which a 608 armor point, 312 structure point (total 920 HP) Atlas in MWO would be 304 armor point, 153 structure point (total 457 HP). Considering tabletop's damage spread they are very survivable. The stock build on MWO doesn't hold out quite as well. (You can also fire 3x faster in MWO than tabletop, but effectively have 5% more cooling capability and twice as much max heat in MWO compared to tabletop as well; so things get hot quick).
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If you do have issues with firing everything and shutting down, I cannot reiterate the Orion enough. My preferred builds are based on the Atlas, and sometimes combine elements of the Highlander.

Consider any two of these videos, both for your viewing pleasure as well as handling yourself under high heat situations.
Handling heat.
Field commander and lead brawler, never overheat. (Highlander)
Running hot (Atlas) Two battles against group queue players against brawling meta (second match). (Color palette change [post-edit]!)

Now, I got a little carried away again. So in the spoilers are optional vids.
On the specific mechs that I recommend. Links are to videos of them in action. These are using unoptimized, "make it hard on me" builds. They perform pretty damn good.

Spoiler

Orions: (Orions at their worst, I figure it's worth sharing this because if this is the worst and if you can handle that, imagine how easy the best and in between variants are).
Hottest Orion variant This is the hottest Orion. Canyon warfare.
Hottest Orion on Hottest Map To give you an idea of the worst you'll face.

Thunderbolts (Because they seem so recommended)
2 Thunderbolts hit and run tactics.
2 Thunderbolts Canyon/Urban Warfare (Win then loss.)
2 Thunderbolts versus the Clans

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Optional vids: These can help you visualize what is going on around you when you pilot as these are external chase cameras delivered by a 'Mech following and filming players during actual matches.

Spoiler

From Zhizhu Merc Unit's Lordred (on Koniving and Firestarter).
Chase cam, a joke build Atlas (Koniving pulls off 6 kills while completely surrounded and survives.)
The above is a good idea to watch for how to deal with swarms. Background chatter beyond my voice is from a different match in the same TS (another group playing conquest).

Koniving - Orion chase cam. (Chases 3 pilots.)
The above includes a ~lot~ of dynamic combat situations. The battle comes down to a one versus one, in which Zhizhu Merc's Verrick comes out on top.

F1restarter - Orion chase cam. (Chases 2 pilots; including me [as the Battlemaster])
Good feel for 'slower' heavy combat.

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And finally
For absolute fun: One versus one private matches of long-time players with special rules using the mechs suggested for you.

Spoiler

Orion versus Timberwolf in MWO with No Hud, Third Person, and Solaris VII rules.
Zhizhu's Lordred versus Silken, a Smoke Jaguar Clanner (I can't remember his unit offhand).

Thunderbolt versus Timberwolf with above stated rules (but first person). Lordred versus Koniving.

Edited by Koniving, 12 July 2015 - 08:52 AM.

[Rawnblaed]

Thanks all. I guess I will look at the Tbolts (9SE, 5SS and 9S). Not sure which one i will start with or if ill get all 3. If i go with the 5Ss or 9S should i keep the flamers? (my guess is not). Played around with 9s build http://mwo.smurfy-ne...1d9b899d8ab0ecc
Heat is meh.

[Rawnblaed]

Didnt see that last post by Koniving b4 i posted. I'll have to play around with Orion's in smurfy and watch those vids before i pull any triggers.