The Spider SDR-5V, I see the other Spiders at least occoasionaly but I do not recall seeing a 5V in game in the last year unless I am piloting it.
The 5V is the least heavily armed Mech in the game with its maximum possible firepower being 2 Medium Pulse Lasers,
The 5V is the single most mobile Mech in the game, able to do 169 KPH with 12 Jumpjets, there are Mechs able to hit 171 but onlu the SDR 5K with the same max engine, can go faster than 152 KPH with jumpjets and it has a limit of 6 Jets
You and me both, Rogue Jedi. I think because the 5V is predominantly a scounting mech and scouting is becoming quite the lost art. Players tend to opt for others with higher DPS and firepower.
mailin, on 17 October 2015 - 03:44 AM, said:
Loaded, I think Rogue Jedi's point was that there may be slightly faster mechs out there, but only the Spider 5V can go as fast as it can AND equip 12 jump jets. But I agree that the 5V is probably the biggest underdog out there. Sometimes there's a really good reason why the underdog is the underdog, and I think that this is well proven in the 5V. It only has 2 energy slots in the CT for a grand total of 2 critical spaces available. This means that it can either mount 2 medium pulses or regular mediums OR 1 lage laser of either variety. Sadly an ERPPC is right out.
For as maneuverable as it is, it is still way undergunned.
I also vote for the Spider 5V as being one of the biggest underdog currently in MWO. Others, probably the Cicada, Victor, Trebuchet?
I have never used a Kintaro so cannot speek for them, but a few months ago I tackeled the Commandos, they are not bad but like the SDR-5V are misunderstood.
I believe the Deaths Knell the Commando hero Mech is the fastest Mech in the game, most Commandos outgun and outrun Spiders (and you do see the SDR-5D and 5K quite frequently) and there is a commando varient able to carry an ECM.
The Commandos problems are that it is only 25 tones meaning it cannot mount enough armour to guarantee it will survive a single hit from an AC20, and it cannot jump, that also rules out carrying multiple SRM 6 or SRM4 with adequate ammo, and only the hero can take more than 3 lasers.
Are they that bad?
I like them both, and think about using C-bills to get them in the future, but if I have no chance at all...
If you like playing them, then go for it.
Mastering a "bad" mech is an art and improves your personal skill together with damage as opposed to improving your damage alone. If you can learn to play well with a "bad" mech, then just imagine how you can play using that learned skill in a good mech.
You get so many threads where players wave around their E-Peen at how much damage they can dish out with a Direwolf or a Stalker... but I personally find it much more impressive if I see a 20 Ton Locust with 1000 damage as opposed to 1000 damage with a 100 Ton mech with more than double the weight in weapons than the complete weight of that Locust.
I have had games with 400 damage and 2 kills in a Commando, my best in a Spider was aboyt 550 with 3 kills, my best in a firestarter was about 720 and 5 kills, my best ever was in a timber Wolf, 880 damage and 5 kills.
Looking at it on paper the best are the firestarter and Timber Wolf, but those are buth top tier Mechs, I am far more proud of the Spider and Comando performances, because they are not anywhere near as well armed or armored as the Firestarter or Timber Wolf, and in both cases I was within the top 3 performances on the team, outperforming top tier Meta Mechs in the "bad" Mechs.
A Locust, Commando, Mist Lynx, Spider or UrbanMech doing 500 damage has likely worked far harder and is probably a far more skilled pilot than a Dire Wolf, the most heavily armed Mech in the game doing, 1000 damage
Are they that bad?
I like them both, and think about using C-bills to get them in the future, but if I have no chance at all...
Commando is less-played because it is one of the oldest mechs in the game, combined with being 25 tons meaning it is a bit fragile. There's also this stigma attached to them with many players:
Tap, knocked down, tap, knocked down. In one of the various 20+ minutes of closed beta videos (I have quite a few), there was one where a Dragon tip-toeing managed to knock my Commando 1,400+ meters across the map where I then slid into a ditch, only to teleport back behind him to stand up, and then be bumped again as he's backing up and be thrown out of the map.
That fragility ends using the 2 rear all else front rule. With standard engines or with enough speed they can ruin someone's day. It is a very good mech, very effective if you take advantage of its arm-aiming capabilities. Its only issue is it doesn't have a lot of hardpoints like most of the over-inflated things we're seeing as of late.
This, I might add, is one of the worst Commandos available. The video begins with the reason that Kintaros have such negative karma attached to them.
Evidently Kintaros weren't very well tested for hitboxes, and had giant CTs -- as in their entire body was CT and only the shoulder humps were STs. This obviously didn't fly well. Note: After huge outcries from the community this was fixed very promptly; the first mech to ever get its hitboxes completely redone.
Kintaro gameplay. Despite how epic this turned out, someone pointed out I made a lot of gameplay mistakes. Some intentional, some not so.
Zero Verniers Kintaro
<-- I died horribly to a dual cheap imitation of my ROFLpult, but it gives us plenty of view from Zero's Kintaro as shows how to kill things. His suggestion? Don't do LRMs.
from what I ..um don't see mong the medium/lights (don't play the big guys much so don't pay attention to them)
1) trebuchet
2) vindicator
3) shadowhawk
< big gap>
4) kintaro
<gap>
5) cicada (until this past couple weeks with the loyalty version out)
6) commando
7) spider/jenner is about even
Gotta put in a good word for the Blackjack. I have four, including a Boomjack, and I do really well in them - 300-400 point games are not uncommon. Whether it's standing back at range and popping a bad guy with AC/2 fire or closing in to punch someone's ticket with that AC/20, they're just fun to run.
Thanks for the replies regarding Kintaro and Commando. I think I might try a fast Kintaro with SRM one day.
When I say I like a Mech it is because I like it in the BTU, not necessarily that I like how it plays in MWO. (I don't know that in many cases). However like some of you, I am willing to accept weaknesses if I can pilot my favourite. I know there are better choices for a heavy than the Black Knight, but I am proud to fight with it. And - more importantly - I have fun with it, even if I just barely get even in terms of K/D ratio.
The Basilisk, on 17 October 2015 - 03:52 AM, said:
Commando, Spider, Panther for the lights.
- The Commando was never a great Mech 'cause its position at the low end of the weight class in combination with its unsavory profile and lack of ECM.
Ahem? 2D? The one I kept after mastering the others? It's not meta, but it can dump SRMs like a boss or provide ECM support still.
Spheroid, on 17 October 2015 - 10:58 AM, said:
You are asking for bad mechs? There is always the locust-3V.
What? I freakin' LOVE my 3V! It tanks like a medium, and can hit really far with a LPL, though I'm pretty sure it's going to go to pieces when weapon quirks go away. Still, I've won wiggle-sniping duels with Stormcrows in one before.
Rushin Roulette, on 22 October 2015 - 02:31 AM, said:
If you like playing them, then go for it.
Mastering a "bad" mech is an art and improves your personal skill together with damage as opposed to improving your damage alone. If you can learn to play well with a "bad" mech, then just imagine how you can play using that learned skill in a good mech.
You get so many threads where players wave around their E-Peen at how much damage they can dish out with a Direwolf or a Stalker... but I personally find it much more impressive if I see a 20 Ton Locust with 1000 damage as opposed to 1000 damage with a 100 Ton mech with more than double the weight in weapons than the complete weight of that Locust.
Oh man, you don't know how close I've come, in both my Pirate's Bane and my 1E. Seriously, Locust is my best mech. I've been driving them since before they were meta, since I jumped into Iraqiwalker's thread after mastering Commandos. So close... Just a little bit more...
Actually, I'm still not convinced they're meta. They are still really fragile, with the exception of the 3V, and most people go for the Firestarter or ACH instead, since the extra tonnage and hardpoints go a long way.