9 replies to this topic

[admiralbenbow123]

The Broadside (free Corsair hero) is not known to be the best mech. I've had a thought about the reason why it's not that good and figured out that the main problem is in the arms. It's arms are too low relative to the cockpit and house a lot of hardpoints at the same time (3 out of 7 total) which does not allow it to peek effectively. You might say: "if you can't peek well build a brawler" and you will be right, but not with the Broadside because it's torsos are too large and easy to hit from basically every angle since the arms don't cover them. So, how can this problem be fixed? Simply: make one of the arms high mounted like on the COR-6R or the Ravager. If the right arm becomes high mounted the Broadside will become a very good ballistic+energy+ missile mech (possible loadouts: AC20+2x Snub PPC, Gauss+ 3x ER Larges, MRM50+2x or 3x Large Pulses etc.) and if the left arm becomes high mounted it will be a good ballistic+missile mech (2x RAC5s or UAC10s+MRM40, 2x Gauss and backup missiles etc.). The high mounted arms also act as good shields because their placement allows them to cover a large part of a side torso.

Edited by admiralbenbow123, 09 May 2019 - 07:01 AM.

[Tesunie]

admiralbenbow123, on 09 May 2019 - 06:59 AM, said:

The Broadside (free Corsair hero) is not known to be the best mech. I've had a thought about the reason why it's not that good and figured out that the main problem is in the arms. It's arms are too low relative to the cockpit and house a lot of hardpoints at the same time (3 out of 7 total) which does not allow it to peek effectively. You might say: "if you can't peek well build a brawler" and you will be right, but not with the Broadside because it's torsos are too large and easy to hit from basically every angle since the arms don't cover them. So, how can this problem be fixed? Simply: make one of the arms high mounted like on the COR-6R or the Ravager. If the right arm becomes high mounted the Broadside will become a very good ballistic+energy+ missile mech (possible loadouts: AC20+2x Snub PPC, Gauss+ 3x ER Larges, MRM50+2x or 3x Large Pulses etc.) and if the left arm becomes high mounted it will be a good ballistic+missile mech (2x RAC5s or UAC10s+MRM40, 2x Gauss and backup missiles etc.). The high mounted arms also act as good shields because their placement allows them to cover a large part of a side torso.

The problem more so with the Broadisde, if anything, that I find is that it's health quirks are structure boosts rather than armor boosts. It appears to have reasonable weapon hardpoints with decent placement, so it is able to pack a decent punch. It's not going to boat any one weapon, so it must diversify among different weapon types by using weapons that work well together.

Overall, I've felt that the Broadside seems to be a reasonable and decent mech, though by no means "the best" mech. It also is far from being a bad mech, and not even close to being a "worst" mech. It's just... a good mech. Nothing special, nothing horrible. Just... good.

My personal opinion would be to either leave it alone currently, or change it's structure buffs to armor buffs. Armor increases are always better than structure.

[_____]

Broadside isn't the worst mech (or assault or pick any reasonable category) by a large margin. I'd imagine PGI has more important priorities if it wants to save a mech (AWS-8V, Firestarter Firestorm etc). I think the only reason people even care is because it's free and everyone's got it.

If you really struggle with the Broadside and want a good mech you can 1. sell it and buy a regular CBill mech 2. play events and save up the MCs to buy a good hero when it's on sale. A good CBill variant can be a huge money maker without the bonus.

On a side note the BR gets the gauss-rfile-team-damage crown. I've never been friendly fired on so often by Gauss rifles from any other mech.

Edited by BlackhawkSC, 09 May 2019 - 10:30 PM.

[admiralbenbow123]

Just to make it clear: I did not say that the Broadside is an awful mech, it's just not the best. Although I do agree with Tesunie, it would be nice if the structure quirks got converted into armor quirks.

[_____]

I know what you're saying, and I'm explaining why PGI isn't going to do anything about this mech. Now that you know PGI won't do anything, I'm suggesting two alternatives rather than keeping the mech with the hope that they will.

Edited by BlackhawkSC, 09 May 2019 - 11:45 PM.

[Tesunie]

admiralbenbow123, on 09 May 2019 - 10:37 PM, said:

Just to make it clear: I did not say that the Broadside is an awful mech, it's just not the best. Although I do agree with Tesunie, it would be nice if the structure quirks got converted into armor quirks.

Thinking on this even more, I do think the only thing seriously holding the mech back are it's structure quirks rather than armor versions. Structure boosts are good for mechs which favor XL engines (or LFEs to some extent) but have no weapons (or at least not Gauss) in it's side torsos. Given Gauss's susceptibility to crits and exploding, and the Broadside's desire to stay away from XL engines, those structure quirks are honestly not very helpful to the mech.

Armor quirks are the only thing it could use to protect it's delicate internal systems. It's Gauss quirks are not exactly compatible with those structure boosts, as it invites any Gauss rifles you take to explode, which then renders the extra structure useless besides to eat that Gauss explosion damage...

I've actually decided to use LBx and MRMs (with MLs) on mine, and it performs adequately. It's not my favorite, but it's also not being dumped into the trash either. It can leverage good results, but I perform better in other mechs (like the Nightstar, Mad II, Zeus and Stalker for example). I honestly think that a switching from structure to armor is all this mech would need to really start to shine, or remove the Gauss quirks for better general ballistic or even missile quirks. Things less prone to exploding when crited...

[admiralbenbow123]

Tesunie, on 10 May 2019 - 05:48 AM, said:

Thinking on this even more, I do think the only thing seriously holding the mech back are it's structure quirks rather than armor versions. Structure boosts are good for mechs which favor XL engines (or LFEs to some extent) but have no weapons (or at least not Gauss) in it's side torsos. Given Gauss's susceptibility to crits and exploding, and the Broadside's desire to stay away from XL engines, those structure quirks are honestly not very helpful to the mech.

Armor quirks are the only thing it could use to protect it's delicate internal systems. It's Gauss quirks are not exactly compatible with those structure boosts, as it invites any Gauss rifles you take to explode, which then renders the extra structure useless besides to eat that Gauss explosion damage...

I've actually decided to use LBx and MRMs (with MLs) on mine, and it performs adequately. It's not my favorite, but it's also not being dumped into the trash either. It can leverage good results, but I perform better in other mechs (like the Nightstar, Mad II, Zeus and Stalker for example). I honestly think that a switching from structure to armor is all this mech would need to really start to shine, or remove the Gauss quirks for better general ballistic or even missile quirks. Things less prone to exploding when crited...

Well, you're right. You are actually not the first one to say that structure quirks need to be converted into armor quirks. I guess we just need to hope that PGI listens to the community.

[Tesunie]

admiralbenbow123, on 10 May 2019 - 07:54 AM, said:

Well, you're right. You are actually not the first one to say that structure quirks need to be converted into armor quirks. I guess we just need to hope that PGI listens to the community.

As of this moment, the only advantage structure quirks provide is extra health no matter which direction the damage is taken. It helps with front and rear damage, where as armor quirks are placed in a specific facing. That may have been part of the rational behind the granted quirk.

There are some mechs that can easily explain a structure quirk for. I could see the Stalker with side torso structure quirks (as purely an example, not that it would need it) over armor quirks because it has weapons in the arms mostly. Light mechs could go for structure quirks in the legs without issue. The Centurion's shield arm could have structure quirks without issue, where as it's weapon arm needs armor quirks to protect the weapon, something structure bonuses can't grant. Etc.

The Broadside is just a mech that doesn't benefit from structure as much as other examples might. It does help against back attacks, but beyond that it really would be better served with armor to compliment it's Gauss quirks, or at least armor in the one side torso that can take the Gauss.

I think PGI was afraid to give too good of quirks to the Corsair right out of the gate, as they should be. I'm hopeful that they will provide adjustments eventually, like they normally do. However, I also (at the same time) contradict that statement a little by believing that the Broadside actually is reasonable as is right now.

(Sorry. I like to ramble.)

[ImperialKnight]

If anything needs saving, it's the Bludgeon, not the Broadside.

[admiralbenbow123]

ImperialKnight, on 15 May 2019 - 08:27 AM, said:

If anything needs saving, it's the Bludgeon, not the Broadside.

Actually, I've made the Bludgeon work really well: I just ignored the missile hardpoint an went for 2x heavy large and 3x er medium laser vomit with max jump jets and max engine. (50+ dmg alpha, all heat goes down before the cooldown is over, really mobile) I've also seen a variation of this build with large pulses instead of heavy larges as well as a 4x large pulse build.
So, general advice: go for laser vomit on the Bludgeon and take a large engine and jump jets.

Edited by admiralbenbow123, 15 May 2019 - 11:22 AM.