15 replies to this topic

[Yellonet]

Wolfhound:
Same weight and except for one variant same speed cap as the Firestarter, worse hardpoints, no jump jets.
Basically Firestarter with worse weaponry and no JJ's...

Prediction: FAIL


Crab:
I've had much fun in other 50 ton mechs, as one can get a good balance between mobility and firepower. No jumpjets except for the special variant is a disappointment.
All energy hardpoints is also a great disappointment.
The success of the crab may well depend on the hitboxes, if ST will be easy to hit it won't be good for XL, so it will either be relegated to energy sniping or standard engine which limits either speed or ffirepower.

Prediction: SUCCESS (if you like only energy)


Black Knight:
The Black Knights feels very much like a heavier Thunderbolt but without the ability to mix up the weapons loadout.
Again, all energy is a big disappointment, it will be one variant that is decent, the rest will just be fillers so that you can master it. Boring.
I'm just not sure why anyone would choose this mech over a Thunderbolt.
A bit more weapons, worse hardpoint locations, slower and easier to hit.

Prediction: FAIL


Mauler:
This is perhaps the most interesting model of all R2 mechs as it is not a boring laser vomit wagon. Furthermore it can mount some combinations of weapons that hasn't been possible before. Also, it's fun to pilot.

Prediction: SUCCESS



EDIT: Seems as though my predictions are coming true...

Edited by Yellonet, 24 September 2015 - 04:07 PM.

[Fang01]

Jump jets in lights are highly overrated. The Wolfhound WILL be an armlock mech no question, however it'll have great speed, the most effective type of hardpoint for lights and most importantly a humanoid layout. Should be very tanky, never meta but it'll do fine

How you can rate a chicken walking mech with a long protruding snout and low hardpoints above the narrow humanoid black knight is concerning.

[MeiSooHaityu]

Since we are predicting without knowledge of quirks or hitboxes...

Wolfhound:

This one is tricky. I think it will be best used in a fire support role similar to the Panther. Torso energy means arms can carry reduced armor and the main weapons aren't as easily stripped as a Panther. Lack of JJs hurts its fire support role. I assume it will have good hitboxes as all recent lights have been good.

Verdict: Win...barely. I'd feel a LOT better if it had JJs.

Crab: Hitboxes are my main concern. On the plus side, it's forward facing profile is rather small which is a plus when shooting a duration weapon. It lacks side torso hard points which is another concern. I'm looking forward to a new energy medium, but this one feels like it could hard to do well in.

Verdict: Fail...barely. It just has a big nose, no side torso hard points, limited JJ variants. It raises a lot of concerns.

Black Knight: Lower mounted hard points than i'd like, but it's design seems well rounded and no obvious hitbox issues seem noticeable. Since it is energy, I'm thinking these will be fast. Big engines, lots of DHS, whole still carrying decent energy vomit. If the BK can move fast and nimble for a heavy, it will be nice.

Verdict: Win. I'll admit, this is mostly assuming it can XL OK and be fast and maneuverable. If it can be like a Jester in terms of speed and maneuverability, I think it can be a win.

Mauler: Already have it, already a Win. Dakka Assaults always a win in my book.

Edited by MeiSooHaityu, 09 September 2015 - 09:32 AM.

[627]

Will be all about the quirks... on paper, the black knight will be a hopper +5tons and no JJs. I guess slower and equally hot. Will be boating MPLs more than anything.

[Dulahan]

Crab: 124ish KPH 50 tonner. This one's gonna be a beast. Almost just a 10 ton heavier Cicada. Some minor caveat depending on the size, but I'm guessing it'll end up smaller rather than larger. Which will only make it beastlier.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

The Wolfhound will be in the same performance bracket as the Panther, just in a different role. Its fastest variant runs at over 160kph with the hardpoints for four medium or medium pulse lasers and one large, ER large, or large pulse laser. The fact that it has no jets may hurt it in comparison to the Firestarter, but since the Firestarter is still straight-up better than any other IS light to begin with, it's a moot point. What the Wolfhound will do is completely usurp what little remained of the Commando's battlefield role (especially the TDK and 1B, which are laser-dependent), as well as doing the light laser brawler better than the Panther currently does (since the WLF carries most of its firepower in the torso rather than almost all of it in the right arm- and still has the same empty shield arm to work with). WLFs could be very dangerous with STD builds- they have the hardpoints and the tonnage to just pull it off with enough firepower to be a credible threat (which could make them useful against the still incredibly tanky ACH). It won't be OP by any measure, but it won't be hard to make it perform either. It's a light driver's light 'Mech, geared more towards finesse than brute force. I already love it.

The Crab's main strength is likely to be speed. It has a variant that mounts a 350 engine, and while the ENF-4P can also do that, the CRB-20 has one more energy hardpoint, and that should make all the difference (plus, why would anyone in their right mind run anything but an AC20 on the only 'Mech in the game with a fully flexible AC20 arm?). All the others run 325s... which is still fairly speedy for a medium chassis. Not all of the lasers will be high mounts, true, but enough of them are high enough that the Crab should edge out most of the other medium energy boats for peeking ability. This one really comes down to hitboxes, though- if it's all CT, then it's going to suffer badly.

The Black Knight is obviously going to be good; it's a 75-ton laserboat with shield arms and two variants with nine hardpoints. It's a straight upgrade to the Thunderbolt, and apart from the lack of jets it's a massive upgrade over the Grasshopper. Hitboxes will determine just how good it will be, but I predict it'll stand toe to toe with the current state of Clan tech without any significant quirks.

The Mauler... the results speak for themselves. It's a ballistic-heavy assault with shield arms that carries all of its big guns in the torso; PGI would have had to work very hard indeed to make it suck. It may not be the second coming of the DWF or KGC, but it's a solid platform (too bad the torso doesn't twist a little farther though).

Edited by PS WrathOfDeadguy, 09 September 2015 - 11:52 AM.

[Monkey Lover]

Not 1 of these will make it to the meta group.

All success for fun but fail for team play.

Of course rebalance could change everything.

Edited by Monkey Lover, 09 September 2015 - 11:50 AM.

[Kira Onime]

Yellonet, on 09 September 2015 - 09:05 AM, said:

Black Knight:
The Black Knights feels very much like a heavier Thunderbolt but without the ability to mix up the weapons loadout.
Again, all energy is a big disappointment, it will be one variant that is decent, the rest will just be fillers so that you can master it. Boring.
I'm just not sure why anyone would choose this mech over a Thunderbolt.
A bit more weapons, worse hardpoint locations, slower and easier to hit.

Prediction: FAIL

You do realize that all the BK variants are pretty much identical with the exception of 1 energy hardpoint moving around.
2 of them have 8 hardpoints and the other 2 have 9.

Why would one take a BK over a thunderbolt? Well to begin with it's a 75 tonner instead of 65. Max engine rating is a 360 compared to the 315 of the thunderbolt.

The armor rating of 2 of the BK variants is already on par with the amx armor of a thunderbolt.

Now if we look at the model of the BK, it actually looks slimmer than a thunderbolt so clamming it'll be easier to hit? Made up BS.


Honestly, the more I read you, the more I get the feeling you just flat out try to hate everything.

[CDLord HHGD]

My prediction:

If you meta-treat a Wolfhound like you do a Firestarter, you deserve to lose.

[SgtMagor]

Wolf- Can't see myself using a light mech without jump jets!
Crab- don't like laser boats, and only a single variant with jump jets sigh!
Black Knight- liked it in MW4 because it had jump jets.
Mauler- my kind of mech win win for me, an assault mech that can load ballistic, energy and missiles is a good thing!

[Narcissistic Martyr]

Wolfhound...

The WF1 with the XL315 is gonna be amazing.

But.. but... JJ!!! Wah. My oxide doesn't have JJ and it's still an unholy terror. Hell even if it could mount JJ I wouldn't because I'd rather have another half ton of ammo.

I'm gonna mount 4MPL and ignore the arm energy hard point since that will let me strip it of armor for another DHS.

The rest are just not gonna be worth it unless they get super quirks.

The crab will either be a death trap like the dragon or an unstoppable killing machine like the stalker.

The Kanigit will live or die by its quirks and hit boxes.

[Yellonet]

While some people seem to like the Black Knight many seem to think it's a failure... so I may be correct so far.

Unfortunately.

[MischiefSC]

BKs a failure in context of bringing anything new. At its very best it's average. Like the Mauler.

[Yellonet]

MischiefSC, on 24 September 2015 - 04:22 PM, said:

BKs a failure in context of bringing anything new. At its very best it's average. Like the Mauler.

Well, anyone running IS mechs can blame themselves, it's not like it's supposed to be easy being Clan mech fodder.

[bad arcade kitty]

wolfhound will be the fastest 35 tonner
crab will be xl unfriendly which will limit its builds

[Agent 0 Fortune]

Sounds like first tier problems, meh.