39 replies to this topic

[Breender]

Currently I don't have a medium mech, but that will soon be changed in October as 2 free mechs will join my collection, still, I can only pick 1 to master first, and I need some help to make my decision.

The CICADA is fast, 1 version with ECM, the others are focus on laser, which I think is a fast hiter. the problem is, I already owned and mastered my Raven, and their style are almost the same.

WOLVERINE provide different play style with each version (LL, AC5, SRM), but is only useful because of quirk, which will be changed soon.

Can anyone give me advise for which one I shoud pick? Also, how is the incoming free mech? The CICADA looks like a airbond mech.....and the WOLVERINE carry a afterbruner....

[Nik Reaper]

Both are good, as quirks are still the same, the cicada is very different than a raven, and is much closer to an overgrown jenner , it's a fun mech to run and the laser vomit is strong in it, as long as you run after every salvo, the 5 medpulsel is a very good quirked build.

Wolverine, due to quirks, is ether a dual Ac5 or a 3LL + 1medl build mech, highly specialized and right arm heavy, much like the centurion , it has great damage potential due to quirks, but it's hitboxes make it somewhat easy to kill and if the right arm goes so does the damage from there on, so it's a glass cannon.

Hope that helps.

Edited by Nik Reaper, 20 September 2015 - 04:16 PM.

[Riam]

I would recommend holding off on mech purchases until after the requirkening since weapon quirks are getting reverted and those are basically what makes mechs good in the current meta.

[LMP]

Riam, on 20 September 2015 - 04:39 PM, said:

I would recommend holding off on mech purchases until after the requirkening since weapon quirks are getting reverted and those are basically what makes mechs good in the current meta.

When will this requirkening happen?

[JC Daxion]

Cicada's are fun, and like nik says, they are different than ravens. They are better snipers, for example, the 3M can run the fastest dual ERPPC's sniper in the game or dual large pulse, or even 3 LL's and still hit over 135KPH+. Others make excellent brawlers as they have more armor to protect them up close yet still have the speed of a light for the most part.

the 3M makes a great ac5 or UAV5 mech, so good damage at long range, and then blast with 4 ML's when close before you flee. Over all, great mechs. I even use the 3M in my drop deck and is one of my highest KDR mechs. Grab the 3M and 2B, you won't be sorry.



Wolverines were good even before they were quirked. they just weren't the top meta mechs. But i always played well in them. (all but the 6K, pre-quirk that mech was not too hot). They have good hitboxes, and incredible torso twist, so much in fact you can basically flee from the enemy and still laydown fire behind you which is really nice. Enemies tend not to aim as well when they are being shot at, and not many mechs can evade and return fire, the wolvie is one of them. It also has the shield arm like the centurions, so that's nice, especially if you run XL's in um

The limited hard points on them is also an advantage in some ways, as you can really pack in a much larger engine, and a bunch of Jumpjets, Its the fastest medium, outside of the cicada, and can pack in 7 JJ's.

the 7K plays a lot like a faster HBK 4SP with JJ's and is my favorite. A pair of SRM6's, 2 MPL's, Bap+JJ's and a big honking engine makes it a very fun ride.

the 6K is the energy boat, It runs hot, but all it's eggs are in one basket, aka right arm, so you need to protect it.

the 6R is your balistic/missile mech, and toss in a tag in the head for good luck! Sorta like the Centurion AH, but you aren't running an AC-20, instead it's a longer range ballistic set up.

They make great light hunters, or lance escort as well as awesome flankers.. If you play um like a Heavily armored light. Personally i'd grab the 7K and 6R. Mainly because i don't like all my weapons in just a single arm and with re-balance, who knows what will happen to the quirks on it.. to me this mech is on the list of the over quirked, so that will most likely get some changes. But that is just a guess.

You can also run good sized standards in them, for a bit more of a tanky medium. But wolvies weapons are in the right arm, and left torso.. Loose your arm first, you are down to your torso anyway, so when that pops you are outta weapons anyway, so it makes XL's a good choice.



All that said.. You are getting both, save your credits, play um both till ya got full basics and an extra 8500 for tweak, then decide what to buy..

[Rogue Jedi]

Unfortunately no-one knows when the requirkening will happen, there was a public test about a week ago to test some new parts of the quirk system, PGI is now looking over the data and feedback they received, then there will be another test, and they will keep tweaking and testing until the playerbase are happy, it could be in 4 weeks, that is the earliest it is likely to be ingame, or it could still be months

The ultimate aim of the rebalance is to make it so all Mechs are equally viable

[xengk]

I would suggest start work on the wolverine first.

Wolverine are mostly playable right of out the box with stock stock engine, and you can start saving up for DHS upgrade.
Meanwhile Cicada will require investment of several million cbills in XL engine on the get go to be useful.

[SnagaDance]

xengk, on 20 September 2015 - 11:33 PM, said:

Wolverine are mostly playable right of out the box with stock stock engine, and you can start saving up for DHS upgrade.
Meanwhile Cicada will require investment of several million cbills in XL engine on the get go to be useful.

Don't forget he's getting those 2 Loyalty mechs to begin with. That Cicada already comes with a nice XL that may be shared with the rest.

[Mazzyplz]

i run my ecm cicada with 2 large laser and 1 ERLL to poke at range.

it moves pretty fast for what it is, the armor means you won't get one shot. and the 27 damage is decent.

the only problem you will have is running into a hugin, the srms will kill you in no time. stay away from hugin, oxide and big alpha laserboat mechs like arctic cheetah, firestarter, locust and mist lynx

[IraqiWalker]

xengk, on 20 September 2015 - 11:33 PM, said:

I would suggest start work on the wolverine first.

Wolverine are mostly playable right of out the box with stock stock engine, and you can start saving up for DHS upgrade.
Meanwhile Cicada will require investment of several million cbills in XL engine on the get go to be useful.

The Cicada 3M comes with the XL he'll use with most of them, anyways. So out of the box, if he starts with the XL Cicada, he's almost set.

[Breender]

Well, I got 11 million C-bill in the bank, and I plan to get 7K then 6K if I pick wolverine, so XL or standard engine are not a problem.

For Cicada, I understand XL engine is a must, so I will start with 3M, but I have no idea which version should be my 3rd.

The catch for Cicada is that I have got the Raven mastery pack, already mastered the 3L and almost master the Huggin (yes, it kill a lot of Cicada). Also, it is only 5 tons different with Raven - which may matter in CW deck.


Wolverine provide much different play style, but I hear that it is bad without quirks, which will change shortly...


(Please forgive my grammar, I know I am bad about it)

[Breender]

Can someone explain Cicada play style for me? I think 3M is a long range poker with ECM, much like my Raven 3L, Other 2 styles are speedy close range DPS, kind of like Huggin but use laser rather than SRM. But I could be wrong as JC Daxion mentioned.

[Boulangerie]

Breender, on 21 September 2015 - 02:12 AM, said:

Can someone explain Cicada play style for me? I think 3M is a long range poker with ECM, much like my Raven 3L, Other 2 styles are speedy close range DPS, kind of like Huggin but use laser rather than SRM. But I could be wrong as JC Daxion mentioned.

Well I think the laser Cicadas are much more of a hit and run version than the Huginn. Some of the Cicadas have PPC quirks as well, which actually make them more effective and long range poking than the 3L in my opinion.

They really do play much more like a heavy Light mech, rather than a Medium. They used to be terrifying for other light pilots before the FS9 and ACH came out. I'll be working on my loyalty Cicada first to see if I like the platform, but I've heard good things about it, and I have Ravens as well so I'll let you know how they compare if I can remember this thread exists in a few weeks.

[Rogue Jedi]

unfortunately there is no single play style for the CDA,
the 3M with its ECM is the most popular, but even that one variant has a variety of possibilities, some run it like a Shadow Cat with a Gauss rifle and ECM, others play it like a Jenner, high speed, short range, still others configure it with a slow engine and long range lasers or PPCs, using it to support the heavies and assaults, the Raven style lone ECM sniper is also possible.

there is a CDA varient (the 3C) with just 1 energy slot and 4 ballistics, usualy played as an ERPPC or LPL backed by machine guns.

the A and B have similar hardpoints, with the A having 4 energy in the side torsos 2 in CT, and the B having 4 in the arms and 2 CT, those are best suited for lasers, ether MPL, ML or SPL and the largest engine you can afford, literally use them like a Jenner JR7-F without Jumpjets.

then there is the X5, it has 4 torso mounted lasers and 2 missile tubes, again this can be outfitted with the 4 ML 2 SRM4 build I use on the JR7-D

[TercieI]

IraqiWalker, on 21 September 2015 - 12:45 AM, said:

The Cicada 3M comes with the XL he'll use with most of them, anyways. So out of the box, if he starts with the XL Cicada, he's almost set.

The XL320? Nah, the sweet spot engine for the CDA is the XL300. At 133.7, you're faster than everything other than lights already (and leet to boot ) and if you're trying to out-light lights in a CDA, you're doing it wrong. The XL300 gives you the best compromise between speed and usable tonnage. All that extra tonnage is the Cicada's unique advantage. If you start stuffing XL320-XL340 engines in there, you're just a fat, non-jumpy light and you're playing away from the strengths of the chassis.

@OP: Man, are those two different mechs. If you're getting the loyalty variants, if you go Cicada I'd add the CDA-3M and CDA-2B. The first has ECM and can run a variety of energy based builds or build it around one UAC (though I hate single UACs personally) the second runs best with 5MPL, but due to solid generic energy quirks can run other energy well, too. The 3M is usually a poker, the 2B a striker.

If you go WVR, do not miss the 6K, 3-4 LL in the arms is a monster. Of the other two, the 6R does best with dual AC/5 dakka and the 7K is a solid SRM brawler, that's pretty much a preference choice, IMO.

Neither chassis's hero is particularly special. The X-5 is ok, but I wouldn't spend money on it until you've fallen in love with the chassis (the Cicada is my "home" chassis, I have mastered them all and then some, so I can only assume this will happen. ). Quarantine just looks like a mucky compromise between the 6K and 6R, though I confess it's one of the few heroes I don't own (for just that reason...)

Edited by Terciel1976, 21 September 2015 - 05:27 AM.

[TercieI]

Rogue Jedi, on 21 September 2015 - 02:36 AM, said:

the A and B have similar hardpoints, with the A having 4 energy in the side torsos 2 in CT, and the B having 4 in the arms and 2 CT, those are best suited for lasers, ether MPL, ML or SPL and the largest engine you can afford, literally use them like a Jenner JR7-F without Jumpjets.

The 2B only has 5 hardpoints actually, it gets them in the arms as a tradeoff for losing one vs. the 2A. With current energy quirks, that's more than worth it, the 2A is clearly inferior to the 2B.

Edited by Terciel1976, 21 September 2015 - 05:25 AM.

[MechWarrior3671771]

I prefer the Raven 3L to the Cicada 3M because of the flexibility of arm mounted hardpoints. Too many times I have situations where torso mounted weapons would be useless.

So I would go Wolverine.

[TercieI]

Fenrisulvyn, on 21 September 2015 - 05:32 AM, said:

I prefer the Raven 3L to the Cicada 3M because of the flexibility of arm mounted hardpoints. Too many times I have situations where torso mounted weapons would be useless.

So I would go Wolverine.

You gotta get over that ECM obsession, Fenris. It's holding you back. In the current state of the game. you're comparing the weakest RVN (comp only sees the 2X and 4X) to a mid-pack CDA.

[MechWarrior3671771]

Oh I know. I was just comparing the 3L because he brought up the 3M, both of which have ECM.

I'm currently branching into Stalkers and Jaegers. Although I will always love my 6 Raven 3Ls

[TercieI]

Fenrisulvyn, on 21 September 2015 - 05:50 AM, said:

Oh I know. I was just comparing the 3L because he brought up the 3M, both of which have ECM.

I'm currently branching into Stalkers and Jaegers. Although I will always love my 6 Raven 3Ls

Nothing wrong with that!