11 replies to this topic

[Rivenix]

As the title states, I'm deciding which clan pack to buy (default and hero) for an assault brawler of sorts. I'm loving how versatile both are, and the aesthetics are wonderful, imo. Now, I've been researching the pros and cons for both but getting mixed answers, plus dated ones.

So, both can brawl decently, but the MAD has the advantage of being lower to the ground, thus able to get from place to place less noticed... though clearly going to be focused once it is. The MC II has decent arm shields with ballistics but if it loses an arm, no good.. Same with the missile ears. I DO want to carry missiles on my assault every so often (ATM's and such) So would the Mad Cat be a poor choice?

And, while I do want an ATM monster, I still like the versatility and builds I can use with the other chassis in each pack. In particular, I like the looks of laser vomit, LB 20-x, PPC's and really much of anything at this point since I'm still learning. So... which to put my money in?

Edit: I should add that what drew me to the MAD to begin with was the Scorch and the possibilities of running four ATM 12's for the fun of it after playing with the Revenant. But, if the Mad Cat can do that with one of the default chassis PLUS a hero mech with its own strengths.. that's what puzzled me.

Edited by Rivenix, 03 May 2018 - 05:59 PM.

[BTGbullseye]

The MCII pack has more variants that are "meta", and will likely be a far better purchase overall. The MADIIC is hampered in combat by the location of its weapons. (too low/high) The MCII has all of its weapons at or extremely close to ideal height for hill-humping, (cockpit level) and generally does much better in combat. (the Deathstrike is considered by a significant number of people to be the best Clan mech in the game to-date)

Edited by BTGbullseye, 03 May 2018 - 06:21 PM.

[Rivenix]

That's good to know! And I'll admit when I think of Mechwarrior I can't help but think of pretty much the exact same design as the Mad Cat. (likely what I was exposed to the most along with the Bushwacker, TImberwolf, etc.) So.. that's what I've heard about the MC MkII, that it is pretty much all around better, but... What about for missiles? ATM's, SRMs, and such? Will the "Ears" Pretty much negate my ability to enjoy bringing such along without being ST'd almost instantly?

Edited by Rivenix, 03 May 2018 - 06:28 PM.

[BTGbullseye]

The missile ears have so far not been a detriment to my builds... I have a LRM70 boat that I use for front-line combat, (it's Clan LRMs, so no minimum range, they work great at all ranges) and I get CT cored far more often than I lose a ST.

Just make sure to put an LRM15 in the upper slot on the ST for the slightly smaller ears.

Edited by BTGbullseye, 03 May 2018 - 06:54 PM.

[Brizna]

MCII is a better mech than MAD IIC but MADIIC is a better brawler imo. Lowly placed hard point is not such an issue at short ranges and from the front MAD IIC's hit boxes are great, do bear in mind that both are very vulnerable to flanking fire with their large broad sides that result in side torso loses very fast but MCII is a good firing target from the front while MAD IIC is very sturdy.

That said these are not good times for brawling, specially with assault mechs, mid to long range is king and in this field MCII definitely superior to MAD IIC, if you want to brawl I would advise you going to medium mechs, you can flank with them and surprise your foes with amazing fire power at short range and Pakhet is an outstanding hero mech, but you are probably better off buying Pakhet with MCs and any other Huntsman you may want with C-Bills.

If you insist on buying an assault mech MC II is overall the better of the two but if you want to go the brawling way Scorch is you best bet.

[Eisenhorne]

Mad Cat II is way better.

Get the MCII-1 (2 Gauss, 2 ER Large, 2 ER Med) or the MCII-B (2 UAC 10, 2 UAC5) for best results.

[McGoat]

Eisenhorne, on 04 May 2018 - 09:52 AM, said:

Mad Cat II is way better.

Get the MCII-1 (2 Gauss, 2 ER Large, 2 ER Med) or the MCII-B (2 UAC 10, 2 UAC5) for best results.

As long as you allow full cool downs and shoot PPC first, 2erppc 2cg is also quite fun

[BTGbullseye]

McGoat, on 08 May 2018 - 05:54 AM, said:

As long as you allow full cool downs and shoot PPC first, 2erppc 2cg is also quite fun

PPC+Gauss was the old meta, and a lot of people are still really good at it... However, if you're not used to it, it can be a real pain to try and get good. I recommend this build to wait until after you've got it fully skilled.

[justcallme A S H]

Rivenix, on 03 May 2018 - 06:27 PM, said:

Will the "Ears" Pretty much negate my ability to enjoy bringing such along without being ST'd almost instantly?

100% they will. You can hit that hitbox, easily, from 360 degrees. It is by far the worst variant for that reason and not strong at all.

That said the MADIIC Torso hitbox is massive as well if you know how to hit it and all variants suffer from that.

Overall the MCII is the better choice of mech though, the other variants are all very strong.

[BTGbullseye]

While it is fairly easy to hit those, no pilot worth their tonnage would bother shooting at them... It leaves half an MCII pissed at you, and that can still be an extremely dangerous problem.

[Rivenix]

So, after these past few days (and the wonderful sale) I've finally decided to snag an MC II for my assault. As recommended above it's between the 1 and the B variant. Now I've had a lot of fun in my Sun Spider using UAC's and medium/large lasers. Dakka itself has been extremely satisfying.

However, I've been wanting to dip into gauss and ERPPC's/large lasers since I've joined the game, though I noticed the quirks of the B variant benefit UAC's and laser (cooldown) while the 1 only aids missiles... which seems to be kind of dangerous to have on the chassis.

The quirks are only minor while hardpoints are more important for this chassis, so... would it be more beneficial to just snag the MCII-1 for the extra energy hardpoints? I assume instead of gauss it's better to have a UAC 20 (or two 10s) on the B, and dual wielding those likely makes it impossible weight wise to even stick PPC's on, yeah?

Also, I'm aware I'm an assault, and I REALLY have no plans on sticking behind my team when I should be sharing my armor (Though brawling looks dangerous). I just assume with either of these loudouts will allow a lot of pain early game while still being viable enough against large targets when in medium range.

Edited by Rivenix, 13 May 2018 - 02:09 PM.

[BTGbullseye]

It really comes down to what you want to do...

The -B does extremely well with dual UAC-20 with heavy laser backups, quad UAC-10, dual UAC10 + dual UAC-5, quad UAC-5 with heavy laser backups. It also has the benefit of being #2 on the Clan meta scale, right behind the Deathstrike.

The -1 does well with any 2 ballistics that do 10 or more damage per shot, and 4 heavy medium or medium pulse lasers. (or even 2 HLL + 2 HML) If you're really adventurous, you could put dual ALRM20, and be a Lurmisher. (brawling with LRMs is surprisingly effective, especially when they forget to twist the damage because of them)

I personally would recommend getting both if possible, but start with the -B.