6 replies to this topic

[Dykeras]

I am very new to the game and have decided to start off with treating myself to a Hero Mech, but unsure which one is any good...

After playing a few games in the trial mechs, I think I am more suited to brawling, so maybe a heavy or assault mech?

Also, I see there are some special deals in the store, are any of them worth while? (I culd do with some premium time to get me started)

All advice appreciated

[Palor]

If you are looking at a hero mech and premium time, consider a mastery pack.

Consider the mastery packs of Griffin, Catapult, or Trebuchet. Those are all good places to start.

Edited by Palor, 22 September 2015 - 11:05 AM.

[Rogue Jedi]

I would suggest a mastery pack, they cost about twice as much as just the hero, and include the Hero, Champion (upgraded variant which gets extra XP) and 1 other variant as well as a months premium time and usualy some cockpit items (purely decorative)
The Hunchback 50 ton Medium Mech is my usual recommendation for a new player, each varient is designed around a single weapon, and has some serious bonuses for the designed main weapon, unfortunately the quirks will likely change within 2 months, also the HBKs are reletively cheep to outfit, usualy costing about 2 million each for needed upgrades, + 2million for a bigger engine which can be shared between all varients. The HBK mastery pack contains the Grid Iron Hero Mech a Gauss Rifle sniper, the 4P, a Medium Laser skirmisher and the 4SP an SRM brawler
I would not recomend an assualt for a new player as Light and assult Mechs are the hardest to pilot well.
If you are after a heavy brawler the Thunderbolt or Cataphract are good bets, both have OK hero Mechs

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 22 September 2015 - 11:30 AM.

[JC Daxion]

If you want a hero and premium, Grab a mastery pack like the others have stated.. For me i would just recommend the shadow hawk package. It comes with an XL-255 and XL-275 which are nice engines, and darn expensive. The 3 mechs themselves can basically let you mess around with every single weapon system in the game and have a quirk to boost it.

the Hero is a pretty decent one too.

they have great hitboxes, and jump jets, and the JJ's can really help you get around before you learn all the ramps, and tricks of the maps..


Other good heroes i like are Jester, Misery, and Ilya.. But they are all pretty expensive, as just buying that one mech, for a fraction more, you get the whole mastery pack, which comes with a month premium. It is just hard to beat the shadow Hawk for value..

The cicada is a great pack as well, and if you buy the MC, to buy the pack, you will also be getting a bonus Free cicada soon.. (though that would happen if you bought any pack or hero as they need MC) But my point is, you would then own 4 cicada's and honestly they are great fun. They play more like a heavily armored light.. and i use the word armored loosely, all that means is they are less likely to be killed in one shot. But honestly do have enough armor to take a few hits, just watch out for big assault alpha's.

I think the cicada package also comes with 2 Big XL's, Il'll check in a bit to see example what is in the package.. But if you do like faster mechs, it is a good set. the centurion package is also nice, as it has one of the fastest AC-20 brawlers in the game.. and they are pretty strong mechs over all, with good maneuverability.

While i do always say, HBK's are the way to go as the quickest way for C-bill users to get 3 fun, flexible mechs, the grid iron hero you either love it or hate it. the Gauss is a very hard weapon to use, and other HBK's use AC5. 10 or 20's better. So as far as packs go, Id skip that for new players.. Besides the XL engine that comes with it, is used in very few builds, so most likely will be sitting in your mech bay never used unless you pick up a tiny light.

One last thing.. Go hit up training grounds and spend a night in there learning the maps.. It will help a ton when you can take your time, walk around, look around, and not worried about getting shot at.. Even vets load it up to go screw around in new mechs, just to play.. LIke i did when i got my new spider with 12 JJ's.. You are amazed at places you never could of gotten to before.

Just knowing the maps you will be light years ahead of many in lower tiers.,..

Edited by JC Daxion, 22 September 2015 - 11:43 AM.

[TheStrider]

I suppose there is a price differential, but I'd recommend one of the mech packs instead. Each tier of pack comes with a "cbill boosted" variant. (Same cbill boost as a hero)

Good bang for your buck, and typically comes with useful things like colors/patterns etc. Also comes with it's own mech bays, unlike Hero's.

[SnagaDance]

Like said, Mastery packs can be a great start for a new player.

The only thing I've got to add is that if you're dead set on getting yourself an Assault hero mech then the Stalker Hero 'Misery' is probably the best choice out there. Most other Hero mech in the Assault category tend to disappoint.

[Chados]

+1 for the mastery pack advice. Hero 'mechs aren't a bad idea, my favorite two 'mechs are the Catapult Jester and Victor Dragon Slayer, both of which I have mastered out. But Mastery is the way to go. You need three of a chassis to do it.

I started with goofing around with random 'mechs. Then I learned that you have to have three of a chassis to master them and you don't get the true feel of a 'mech til you have it in full elites. To get to elites you have to basic out three variants of the chassis.

I ended up selling everything and staking it all on a Catapult, and when that chassis turned out to suit me I got Catapult Mastery. You get the hero Jester and the champion A1C, that give Cbill or XP bonuses and are outfitted better than basic Cbill 'mechs, plus the most expensive Cbill variant, the K2. I owned the C1 already and I bought the C4 so I'd have all five to work on. The mastery pack basically gives you three 'mechs for the price of two and three 'mechbays as well, plus what amounts to 30 days of free premium time to pad your Cbill and XP earnings. I ended up fully mastering all five Catapults.

Then I bought Victor Mastery and I'm working on mastering three Victors. The package came with the Dragon Slayer, the 9SC which is identical to the trial Victor, and the 9B, which in the current state of the game is the best Cbill Victor, in my opinion. I extensively tested the Banshee, Gargoyle, and Victor trial 'mechs, and had so much time in the trial Victor before I bought the mastery pack that I had enough MXP to fully basic the 9SC when I bought the pack. Now I have them in elites, and the hero Dragon Slayer is mastered. The Victor chassis is fast becoming my favorite and most survivable chassis other than the Catapult Jester, which is my favorite all around 'mech. I may buy the 9K Victor when I get the Cbills, or I may get a Cicada 3M with ECM, since we are getting a loyalty Cicada for buying MC. I have an X5 in full basics patiently waiting for its turn, and that way I'd have three to master again.

The 'mech packs like Resistance or Clan Invasion are more expensive but similar to Mastery. You can get more premium time and better swag (war horns, et al.), and 'mechs you can't get in the online Store. I have the UrbanMech collector pack because I wanted a light 'mech and the UM is the light 'mech for people who hate light 'mechs...it plays like a medium. The collector pack comes with the "special" version, which amounts to a hero 'mech-it has the same bonuses-and it has the three versions you can get for MC in the store now. I bought the Marauder collector pack for the same reason and passed on the hero Marauder because I like the stats on the 3R(S) better (it will need DHS and Endo to realize its true potential) and it has the same Cbill bonuses.

Edited by Chados, 23 September 2015 - 02:38 AM.