27 replies to this topic

[Mawai]

Hi All,

So clan mechs are on sale for 35% off cbills and I happen to have just over 30 million cbills in the bank.

I already own lots of mechs which I haven't had the time to level, including Kit fox through Dire whale and the Stormcrow.

However, shiny new toys are always fun so I am looking at getting 3 variants of one of the Timberwolf, Hellbringer or Mad Dog.

My thoughts ...

Timberwolf ... still the all round best clan mech if not the best in the game. Lots of loadout options, fast, heavily armored and agile (including versions with jump jets).

Hellbringer ... ECM heavy ... don't need to say much else especially if they are going to nerf the ECM radius then mechs that have it will shine even more.

Maddog ... has missiles.

What do you folks that have played them think? Is there a clear winner if you were going to buy only one of these three? And if so. which variants would you recommend?

Thanks!

[Deathlike]

The easy answer: Anything BUT the Maddog.

You'll thank me later.

[Summon3r]

not MDD

[bad arcade kitty]

why so hate for mad dog? :3 6 lrm-5 sound terrifying

[Deathlike]

The Timberwolf has "more complicated" choices if you go that route (Hellbringer needs the A's head+the Prime's torso - no brainers).

There's no point in getting the Prime as the nerfs/penalties have been removed, so the S variant has the forced JJ (this is desirable under certain circumstances where you don't want the S's side torsos for JJs, but still want JJs) and the rest with the Energy CT are ideal. Very rarely Virtually never you'd want to use a Clan MG when you're on a Timberwolf (the only reason to use the Prime is "a pointless matter").

Edited by Deathlike, 13 August 2015 - 05:08 PM.

[Burktross]

They're all great choices. I'd go with Hellbringer because
1) ecm
2) mmmmm warhammer
3) ppcssssssss

[Sader325]

SRM 36+ artemis maddog is ridiculous.

2xLRM15A + 4 Medium Laser maddog is a solid 500-800 damage a game easy.

LRM 60 MDD with 2300 missiles is ultimate lulz

and SRM 36 + 4 Small pulse lasers does work.

And you can bring them ALL to CW and have 4 ****** solid mechs.

I have 4 maddogs, I've never regretted them a day in my ******* life.

Deathlike, on 13 August 2015 - 05:07 PM, said:

The Timberwolf has "more complicated" choices if you go that route (Hellbringer needs the A's head+the Prime's torso - no brainers).

There's no point in getting the Prime as the nerfs/penalties have been removed, so the S variant has the forced JJ (this is desirable under certain circumstances where you don't want the S's side torsos for JJs, but still want JJs) and the rest with the Energy CT are ideal. Very rarely Virtually never you'd want to use a Clan MG when you're on a Timberwolf (the only reason to use the Prime is "a pointless matter").

My SRM 24 3 SPL 4 MG Timberwolf Disagrees.

[Deathlike]

Sader325, on 13 August 2015 - 05:10 PM, said:

My SRM 24 3 SPL 4 MG Timberwolf Disagrees.

Those MGs and that facetime will be the death of you.

[1453 R]

The Timber Wolf is still one of, if not the, best outright man-to-man fight-winners in MWO. Aggressive, flexible, and loaded with wildly different variants/pods, you can make it do anything you like. It's my recommended choice for people who need one-just-one 'Mech. Arguably still up on the nerf block though, so buy carefully and be prepare to adapt.

The Hellbringer's also very good. Harder to flex into every role - it doesn't do missiles all that well - but arguably superior to the Timber Wolf for raw beamvomit and an excellent sniper with its high torso mounts and ECM. Better fit for Commodity Warfare, if you're into that.

If I had to get rid of two out of three of my Wolves/Bringers/Doges, it'd be a very difficult choice between the Timber Wolves and the Hellbringers. I'd probably end up keeping the Timber Wolves, mostly because symmetrical fits appeal to me more than the strongly shield side-oriented play of the Hellbringer, but I'd dearly miss my Lolbringers.

Doges...are a 'Mech. They have excellent missile firepower, but they're made of glass no matter what you do to them and somehow tend to be high-priority targets on the field. Possibly because they're made of glass and thus easy kills. I've tried and tried and tried to be successful with them, and have largely given up. They're also significantly less flexible than Bringers or Wolves - equip A side torsos, run 6x missile launchers of choice, add random sidecar guns in arms to taste. That's really about it for Doges. I would not recommend them over Hellbringers, and certainly not over Timber Wolves.

[FupDup]

The Mad Dawg has big side torso hitboxes that can't really be shielded, which makes it very easy to disable half of your firepower and then finish you off. They're a glass cannon.

The TBR and HBR are both generalist mechs that can fit almost any role. The big difference is that the Mad Cat is usually better up close while the HBR usually emphasizes midrange to longrange.

[Aiden Skye]

MDD is made out of wet cardboard. But it is an iconic chassis that my hanger would not be complete without.
I would get them all in the order of

1- Timberwolf
2- Hellbringer
3- Mad-dog

[Greenjulius]

I'll agree with others that the Mad Dog isn't necessarily a bad mech, but it's definitely fragile, especially compared to the missile boating versions of the Stormcrow. The Crow obviously has better hitboxes as well as speed, and many more energy hardpoints. Higher mounted ones as well.

The Timber is obviously the mech to beat, so it's always recommended. It can do just about anything but ballistic boating, and do it well.

The Hellbringer is a personal favorite of mine. It's the best sniper of the 3, has decent hitboxes, and has the magic jesus box. The left Prime torso is probably the best omnipod in the game. I'd pick Hellbringer if you like sniping. It also runs my favorite c-bill printing prime mech. It's the one shining reason that Clan Wave 2 wasn't a complete bust for me.

Smurfy Link

Edited by Greenjulius, 13 August 2015 - 07:08 PM.

[Sable]

Mad dog is more missile focused, hellbringer like you said has ecm but no matter what build i use on it, it runs hot and the armor feels like paper. I'd say timberwolf for the sale otherwise just wait til next month and pick up the EBJ.

[xXBagheeraXx]

Get both. Timberwolves for the firepower and hellbringers for the ECM....and the firepower.

[TercieI]

bad arcade kitty, on 13 August 2015 - 05:02 PM, said:

why so hate for mad dog? :3 6 lrm-5 sound terrifying

Who's terrified of LRMs?

@OP: All the MDD does is boat missiles: SRM, SSRM or LRM. But it's super fragile, so SRMs and SSRMs are very high-risk (though sometimes high-reward) and LRMs are just pretty meh. The TBR and HBR are both Tier 1 mechs. If you have none, I'd go TBR becuase it's still the single best chassis in the game in all likelihood and the HBR is a bit more limited in its range of effective builds, but both are good choices.

Edited by Terciel1976, 13 August 2015 - 07:56 PM.

[FupDup]

Terciel1976, on 13 August 2015 - 07:53 PM, said:

Who's terrified of LRMs?

[Xetelian]

TBR>HBR>MDD

I'd advise not getting the MDD.

[CtrlAltWheee]

TBR is like being the apex predator of MWO.

Though, I love the mad dog. Something about it is fulfilling. Also the in-game model is great.

You'll never regret the TBR but MDD is very fun.

[xXBagheeraXx]

Mad dogs make good streakboats. Kind of a nie thing to have in the Artic cheeta heavy environment we have atm. Im seriously considering buying one just for that purpose.

[aniviron]

The Mad Dog is certainly not a bad mech, but between the MDD, HBR, and TBR, it's certainly the weakest. The MMD's real problems are a) there is only one set of omnipods worth bringing (hint: it's the one that gives you 6M hardpoints) and missiles are pretty awful right now. LRMs are bad like they have been since beta, and SRMs simply do not do enough damage considering the tonnage required, high heat, huge spread, and 150m effective range they have. About the only bright side to the MDD is the fact that you can tank damage much better than people give it credit for; the arms take a surprising amount of damage away from the torsi, and don't hold many weapons. Once you lose a torso, you can direct almost all the incoming fire into your dead side and absorb punishment for way longer than a 60 tonner should. I have had some success with a 3SRM6 LB20 build using a sword and board setup for this reason.

The HBR is an all-around fantastic mech- it's a heavy with ECM, and lots of high-mounted hardpoints, plus the option to run almost any kind of weapon system. The only downsides are its relative fragility and lack of endo steel/ferro.

The TBR of course is still king of the heavies. There's really nothing wrong with it except for the negative quirks, which are there for a reason.