17 replies to this topic

[Maineiacal Maineiac]

While I am new to MWO, I have been playing Mechwarrior since the first video game card was available. MW2 was bundled with the card. That was just after dinosaurs went extinct.

I like the AC 10. Can a Shadow Hawk shoulder mount 2 AC10s? Any idea how much it would cost?

Do you have to pay for repairs? I was wondering what the ongoing cost of this game is.

I am also looking at the Steam sale deal. The 2 Heavies seem like the best deal. But I can't say I like any of the sale mechs in any weight category all that much. Except for one of the really big guys.

Thanks.

[Unreliable Mercenary]

Fellow new guy here, I just got the Shadowhawk mastery bundle, I found this page helpful.

http://metamechs.com...des/shadowhawk/

The builds there link to a site called http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab

When you build a mech there it will tell you how much it costs and if you hover over the c-bills it gives you a breakdown of how it arrived to that cost (IE selling the engine it came with to replace it with a new one in your build, ect.)

[Grim Kodiak]

runciblelate, on 14 December 2015 - 11:14 AM, said:

I like the AC 10. Can a Shadow Hawk shoulder mount 2 AC10s? Any idea how much it would cost?

No it's not possible a AC10 needs 7 slots but in shoulder area only 12 slots free, so you can only mount one AC10 and you must also have the weight in mind. Shadowhawk is only a 55t medium mech.

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Do you have to pay for repairs? I was wondering what the ongoing cost of this game is.

No not for repairs nor for ammunition. Feel free to wreck your mech

Edited by Grim Kodiak, 14 December 2015 - 11:37 AM.

[Rogue Jedi]

runciblelate, on 14 December 2015 - 11:14 AM, said:

While I am new to MWO, I have been playing Mechwarrior since the first video game card was available. MW2 was bundled with the card. That was just after dinosaurs went extinct.

I like the AC 10. Can a Shadow Hawk shoulder mount 2 AC10s? Any idea how much it would cost?

Do you have to pay for repairs? I was wondering what the ongoing cost of this game is.

I am also looking at the Steam sale deal. The 2 Heavies seem like the best deal. But I can't say I like any of the sale mechs in any weight category all that much. Except for one of the really big guys.

Thanks.

sorry, no, the AC10 takes up too many slots to fit 2 in the same component, and SHDs only have 1 torso capable of mounting balistics, it can shoulder mount 2 LBX10, 2 UAC5, AC5s or 2 AC2s

in theory the Cicada or Blackjack can but it would be a major compromize realy slow with little armor or ammo realistically the Jagermech or Catapult K2 are the smallest IS Mechs capable of mounting 2 AC10

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 14 December 2015 - 11:42 AM.

[Lostdragon]

The Performance Packs on Steam are not a good value. You would get more bang for your buck purchasing one of the packs that gives you 3 variants of a mech or multiple mechs. The basic Marauder pack for $20 is a pretty good deal. You can get a Direwolf pack for $120 and get 3 variants of four mechs including the best assault. I don't personally have it but the Resistance II packs seem have pretty good mechs for $20 per tier up to $80 for the assault tier.

[Koniving]

runciblelate, on 14 December 2015 - 11:14 AM, said:

While I am new to MWO, I have been playing Mechwarrior since the first video game card was available. MW2 was bundled with the card. That was just after dinosaurs went extinct.

I like the AC 10. Can a Shadow Hawk shoulder mount 2 AC10s? Any idea how much it would cost?

Do you have to pay for repairs? I was wondering what the ongoing cost of this game is.

I am also looking at the Steam sale deal. The 2 Heavies seem like the best deal. But I can't say I like any of the sale mechs in any weight category all that much. Except for one of the really big guys.

Thanks.

A word in on the Shadowhawk AC/10 idea... Try this: Twin AC/5s in place of an AC/10. It would be like chain firing two AC/10s, as when fired together you'll deal 10 damage to almost the same spot, and be ready to fire again faster than an AC/10...which makes it almost like having two! Also 2 AC/5s is only 16 tons, where two AC/10s is 22 tons.

While twin AC/5s falls just under twin AC/10s, twin UAC/5s can surpass twin AC/10s entirely (but you need to hit twice to make twin AC/10 damage, and four times in the same amount of time to make quad AC/10 damage). Beware the HIGH risk of jamming at bad times, however.

On a side note: Twin AC/10s using the Quickdraw heromech "IV", accompanied with a large laser.

------------------
Looking at the Steam Sale for heavy mechs, it looks cool. I'm big on Thunderbolts, and I know Timber Wolves are highly regarded. The 30% cbill bonuses on both are great, too. Good variant for the Thunderbolt (doesn't matter for the Clan Omnimechs, you can turn it into almost any other variant of itself by replacing the limbs).

If considering this route, however, I suggest the "Marauder" package shown here. Three heavies (different variants of the same mech). Performs very well, quite on par with a Timber Wolf and can sport your AC/10 easily on two of three variants... all for 20 bucks. Also look at Warhammer (coming out next month I believe) and Rifleman (coming out the month after).

~Edit: Sadly the mini-packs like that require either the "special" or "hero" upgrade to get a 30% bonus mech.

(Somehow youtube video disappeared, put it back in.)
Minimum cost of pack I mentioned with a 30% bonus mech (3 standard mech variants + hero mech variant for a total of 4) is 35 dollars USD. Standard pack + hero upgrade. Goes for any of the three I suggested.

Edited by Koniving, 14 December 2015 - 02:26 PM.

[Coolant]

AC10 is a good weapon, but projectile is slow, so look for mechs that have a Velocity quirk (and cooldown). All Inner Sphere mechs have Quirks on a per chassis basis. Even some variants within a particular chassis are different. You can hover over a mech in the Store and can view the Quirks on the left side of the pop up box. Quirks are what helps balance IS and Clan mechs. Most Clan mechs do not have significant quirks like Inner Sphere mechs do.

AC10's weigh a lot and take up a lot of slots. Heavies and Assaults can usually carry 2, sometimes even 3, but Mediums not really viable to have more than 1.

Mastery bundles in the in-game Store are a good deal, as well as the website at https://mwomercs.com/store. I don't think the Steam deals are that good of a bargain either. They do have Premium TIme and some CBills which is nice.

I don't use Smurfy's, I just build my mechs in-game. You can click on any mech in the Store and in the bottom right click on the View in Mechlab button. You can then build your mech even if you don't have the CBills, and you can't save it, but I'd rather see how it looks like in the actual Mechlab.

Edited by Coolant, 14 December 2015 - 09:59 PM.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

runciblelate, on 14 December 2015 - 11:14 AM, said:

While I am new to MWO, I have been playing Mechwarrior since the first video game card was available. MW2 was bundled with the card. That was just after dinosaurs went extinct.

NICE! Welcome back to the 31st Century!

Quote

I like the AC 10. Can a Shadow Hawk shoulder mount 2 AC10s? Any idea how much it would cost?

No. Nothing can mount two AC/10 in the same component, short of a drop ship. Two AC/5 or AC/2 or even UAC/5, though, we can handle.

Quote

Do you have to pay for repairs? I was wondering what the ongoing cost of this game is.

Funny you should ask that. No longer, but there WERE repair and rearm costs back in open beta, about three years ago. Matches paid more C-Bills, but it cost money to fix the damage caused in the match, and it worked out worse overall. Also, some folks chickened out a little and tried to avoid too much damage, to keep repair costs low. Also, they often sandbagged their ammo in their builds. The game automatically (and for free) filled your ammo up to 75%, even if you couldn't afford it. So, if I NEED 3 tons of ammo for something, I build my mech with 4 tons, and never buy ammo. Every match, the system puts 3 tons worth of ammo in the bins for me. It's better without the R&R costs, I think.

Quote

I am also looking at the Steam sale deal. The 2 Heavies seem like the best deal. But I can't say I like any of the sale mechs in any weight category all that much. Except for one of the really big guys.

The Steam stuff ain't great, honestly. If you see a mech you like, like the Shadow Hawk, then the "Mastery Pack" bundle for that mech is probably a better use of your money. If you're not sure, perhaps one of the collections is better. I'm a big fan of the Clan Wave 3 "Cauldron Born / Ebon Jaguar" package. Individual tastes may vary. The IS Resistance 2 collection seems to be alright. The Mauler is turning out to be a good dakka mech, and the Wolfhound is performing better than I expected. Even the Crab is pretty okay (not like we NEEDED another 50-ton IS mech, but w/e).

Quote

Thanks.

It's what we're here for! Again, welcome!

[Lupis Volk]

Koniving, on 14 December 2015 - 01:45 PM, said:

A word in on the Shadowhawk AC/10 idea... Try this: Twin AC/5s in place of an AC/10. It would be like chain firing two AC/10s, as when fired together you'll deal 10 damage to almost the same spot, and be ready to fire again faster than an AC/10...which makes it almost like having two! Also 2 AC/5s is only 16 tons, where two AC/10s is 22 tons.

While twin AC/5s falls just under twin AC/10s, twin UAC/5s can surpass twin AC/10s entirely (but you need to hit twice to make twin AC/10 damage, and four times in the same amount of time to make quad AC/10 damage). Beware the HIGH risk of jamming at bad times, however.

On a side note: Twin AC/10s using the Quickdraw heromech "IV", accompanied with a large laser.

------------------
Looking at the Steam Sale for heavy mechs, it looks cool. I'm big on Thunderbolts, and I know Timber Wolves are highly regarded. The 30% cbill bonuses on both are great, too. Good variant for the Thunderbolt (doesn't matter for the Clan Omnimechs, you can turn it into almost any other variant of itself by replacing the limbs).

If considering this route, however, I suggest the "Marauder" package shown here. Three heavies (different variants of the same mech). Performs very well, quite on par with a Timber Wolf and can sport your AC/10 easily on two of three variants... all for 20 bucks. Also look at Warhammer (coming out next month I believe) and Rifleman (coming out the month after).

~Edit: Sadly the mini-packs like that require either the "special" or "hero" upgrade to get a 30% bonus mech.

(Somehow youtube video disappeared, put it back in.)
Minimum cost of pack I mentioned with a 30% bonus mech (3 standard mech variants + hero mech variant for a total of 4) is 35 dollars USD. Standard pack + hero upgrade. Goes for any of the three I suggested.

Do you have any builds for the Thunderbolt? I have the 9SE and am not liking it one bit. (could be since i'm used to Jenners and Cicada's)

[Koniving]

Lupis Volk, on 14 December 2015 - 10:24 PM, said:

Do you have any builds for the Thunderbolt? I have the 9SE and am not liking it one bit. (could be since i'm used to Jenners and Cicada's)

Sure thing, I can suggest the min/max rigs as well as some personal ones.

While I make them in Smurfy I'll go ahead and post some vids using the Thunderbolts (any).

Spoiler

A two-Thunderbolt team with light-style hit and run tactics.

The same duo, same builds, entirely different tactics.


This is Lordred (a fellow group member) piloting a Thunderbolt.)


Koniving and Lordred teamed up to fight the Clans in Thunderbolts.

The soften then duke it out approach. Reference at the beginning is to an anime's Russian Sushi merchant.

Gets most interesting half way through.

Working on those builds for you.

[Solarise02]

Get cheetah light mech, its a awesome mech if you like being a assasin.

[Rogue Jedi]

Lupis Volk, on 14 December 2015 - 10:24 PM, said:

Do you have any builds for the Thunderbolt? I have the 9SE and am not liking it one bit. (could be since i'm used to Jenners and Cicada's)

after the fast Mechs most IS heavies do feel painfully slow and sluggish, I get around it by putting in a 300 engine, with a std 300 the TDR is still pretty tanky and able to carry a decent energy/SRM brawling loadout as well as moving less painfully slow than it does stock, but the Clan heavies, as well as the IS Battlemaster with an XL400 feel much better.

I really have trouble if I am moving slower than 70KPH, I much prefer 85+KPH and am happiest at 120+ KPH, so Light Mechs are my preference, there is nothing wrong with preferring lights ^{(unless you want to be a top tier player, because climbing the tiers in a non meta Light is not easy)}

[Koniving]

Okay, Thunderbolt 9SE has inflated stats for the LPL, so any decent build will have at least one.
9SE quirks as found on Smurfy.
ENERGY COOLDOWN: 10.00 %
LARGE PULSE LASER HEAT GEN.: -10.00 %
ENERGY HEAT GENERATION: -10.00 %
LARGE PULSE LASER RANGE: 10.00 %
ENERGY RANGE: 10.00 %
MISSILE COOLDOWN: 15.00 %
ADDITIONAL STRUCTURE (LT): 15.00
ADDITIONAL STRUCTURE (RT): 15.00

Stats: Cooldown = rate of fire. Positive is better.
Heat gen = heat produced when firing, less is better.
Range... self explanatory.
"Structure", an additional structure quirk means your mech can tank Stated Units (15 in this case) more in specified body part than is actually rated. Smurfy only gives actual rating on the builds so when it says left torso gets 30 HP structure, it actually has 30+15 = 45 structure due to quirks.

The Deathbolt. 3 LPL and more than enough cooling to keep it up for a long period of time. 31.8 damage per shot, hold on target for 0.6 seconds for maximum pwnage.

The Basic Bolt AC/20-quality laser action in right arm. 2 ML for basic defense and emergency fire, and LRM-10 for "I did something" sensation at range.

Just die die DIE! (Bolt)
Twin SRM-6 + Artemis with 2 tons of ammo, twin LPL, twin ML. Tie SRMs and ML together and fire when at 200 meters or less for Rage Face! Twin LPLs will help with pinpoint surgical desecration of their machines. Note reduced jumping capability.

I personally use LPL/PPC hybrid on RA, triple SPL LT, dual Streak.

My own design uses a standard 280.

Edited by Koniving, 15 December 2015 - 03:17 AM.

[mailin]

Koniving is always a great source for good advice, as are Rogue Jedi and some others.

I'd like to address the OP's other question: Ongoing cost of the game. While this game is free-to-play and it is definitely not pay-to-win, there is a grind to leveling up your mechs. You can spend real money for premium time which makes the grind take much less time, and you will probably want mech bays which can be purchased for real money (very inexpensive though), but other than that there are a LOT of players who don't spend much on this game at all. It really is a heck of a bargain.

[Fat Jack Murphy]

Jaegermech JM6-DD - usually played with either 6 AC2, 3 UAC 5 or 2 AC20 or dual Gauss.
should also work well with two high mounted AC10, one per arm.
but keep in mind that 3 UAC5 do more damage.

good huntin !

[Rogue Jedi]

Fat Jack Murphy, on 15 December 2015 - 05:54 AM, said:

Jaegermech JM6-DD - usually played with either 6 AC2, 3 UAC 5 or 2 AC20 or dual Gauss.
should also work well with two high mounted AC10, one per arm.
but keep in mind that 3 UAC5 do more damage.

good huntin !

If you do go for the Jagermech the DD is definitely the best one to get first (unless you want to spend some real money and get the Mastery pack or the Champion), it looks more expensive but that is because it comes with an XL260 engine, most people say the XL255 is the best engine for a JM6, but the 260 weighs half a ton more and you end up saving about a million cbills by getting the DD with the 260 first as opposed to one of the others with the 255, as you can reuse that engine in the other Jagermechs, especialy as you will want to buy the DD eventuraly unless you spend real money and get the Firebrand hero Mech.

[BeaverOnFire]

Rogue Jedi, on 15 December 2015 - 06:31 AM, said:

If you do go for the Jagermech the DD is definitely the best one to get first (unless you want to spend some real money and get the Mastery pack or the Champion), it looks more expensive but that is because it comes with an XL260 engine, most people say the XL255 is the best engine for a JM6, but the 260 weighs half a ton more and you end up saving about a million cbills by getting the DD with the 260 first as opposed to one of the others with the 255, as you can reuse that engine in the other Jagermechs, especialy as you will want to buy the DD eventuraly unless you spend real money and get the Firebrand hero Mech.

Rogue Jedi is absolutely right. The Jagermech DD is a good mech. The ability to peak, shoot and retreat ist very effective. Don´t make the mistake i did in the beginning: The Jagermech can´t tank much damage, therefore you really need to make the most of the "Peak/shoot/retreat"-tactic. If you loose a side torso you die due to the XL-engine. That makes the Jagermech a litte bit unforgiving for a newbie.
And you can absolutely start with the 260XL-engine. Eventhough the 255 has the same advantages and gives you 0,5t extra. On the first sight this seems to be a minor minor issue but in fact, building the mech with the 260XL is a little bit awkward. If you really like the mech and you are getting results with it, you should buy the 255XL in the long run.
I mastered this mech on my alt account and because of this thread i gave it a try (rank 5^^) It is a beast in the lower ranks. If you like the playstyle of dishing out tons of damage in no time while peaking, this is the mech for you!

[Jody Von Jedi]

QKD-IV4 is the smallest mech I'd try mounting dual AC/10. Koniving's video is best case scenario.

Personally, I run my IV4 with a single AC/10 and max engine, 290XL I think.

Dual AC/10 on a Jagermech-DD would be my choice as well.