19 replies to this topic

[Soultraxx]

Hello all

the current sale happens to include the mech chassis' that I need to complete the trio of Mechs that I need for levelling.

Specifically Im looking to buy an Atlas and a Cicada.

I already have the Loyalty varaiants of both mechs.

I also have a Boars Head and I have the Cicada champ that Pgi recently gave away.

To complete my stables I was thinking of buying the D-DC and the Cicada 3M - the sole reason being that they have ECM.

Is there any glaring reason not to buy these variants as I dont know much about them as I havent ran them very much.

Any advice appreciated.

Many thanks in advance for your time.

[TheStrider]

Both are solid. I'll talk on the Cicada point.

Nothing wrong with 3M. As stated, ECM for the win. Also it has a ballistics slot, which differentiates it from the other CIcadas you won. Also quirked for UAC5, which is always a fun weapon.

The only other Cicada I'd consider would be the 2B. 5MPL is a nasty little piranha. Frankly the Loyalty Cicada is possibly my least favorite Cicada. (I enjoy the X5 as well)

[Hit the Deck]

TheStrider, on 20 January 2016 - 05:56 AM, said:

...Frankly the Loyalty Cicada is possibly my least favorite Cicada. (I enjoy the X5 as well)

It was a fun little poptarter before they changed the quirks.

[TyphonCh]

DDC. Your typical Atlas
3 srm4 Artemis. 2 large pulse. Ac20. Alpha and twist. Brawl til you fall

Edited by Team Chevy86, 20 January 2016 - 06:32 AM.

[Holographic]

Checkout metamech website, goto atlas guide, pro details on each build, very helpful.

[JC Daxion]

Well you basically stated the obvious mechs... Sooo, yea they are good ones.. The 3M i run with ac-5, though maybe i'll try UAC again with the jam buff, but for the longest time i just ran AC5 +4ML's and it is a very fun mech. DDC has some popular brawl and ranged builds. I've been trying a slightly mixed ranged build, sorta 250-450 area... Not enough time with it to know if i like or not.. But honestly how can you go wrong with either right?

But...


The Atlas D, has some decent quirks, and can brawl pretty darn well. It has it's fans for sure.


cicada, If you love fast brawlers, and love medium pulse lasers, this is a great mech. Very fast, and hits very hard.. quirked for MPLs

[Palor]

The Cicada 3M can be turned into all sorts of vicious little builds, it does sniper and skirmisher very well.

[TLBFestus]

There are NO bad Cicadas, only bad days.

[Jabilac]

On the Cicada front I would suggest both the X5 and the 3M.

3M has ECM which is nice and it has 1 high mounted E hardpoint that fires right next to the cockpit which really works for minimal exposure snipe shots from ER/PPC's.

X5 is my favorite hero purchase to date. 4E and 2M hardpoints really turn this mech into a short range powerhouse with enough speed to stay out of return firing arches.

3F gets a bad rap because of the limited hardpoints but 2 of them are high mounted and fire from next to the cockpit. Mix that with the JJ and you can really deal some damage and stay almost invisible from return fire.

[Glaucon]

I bought the cicada pack, X-5 and 3M are really fun.

Most of the time people think you are a light mech and no threath, so I stick with the assaults to provide support fire and ECM. I remember ripping heavier mech apart while they were focusing on my teammate's assault.

[jss78]

As far as Cicadas, I'd skip the 2B as it's just another laser boat (of which you already have two) while the others offer something different.

3M is a kind of a no-brainer, with the ECM. It runs something like XL-280, ECM, 4xML and UAC-5 very well. But you see lots of approaches to it, from stealty LL/ERLL boats to Gauss snipers.

X5 I personally love. I run it with XL-320, 4xML and 2xSRM4, and it plays quite different from other Cicadas as you have to get closer. It's a striker, not a scout.

3C is a mech which I have a hard time recommending, but which I personally love. Max/near-max XL, ERPPC, 4xMG -- super fun but a definite hard mode.

[Troutmonkey]

jss78, on 20 January 2016 - 10:33 AM, said:

3C is a mech which I have a hard time recommending, but which I personally love. Max/near-max XL, ERPPC, 4xMG -- super fun but a definite hard mode.

3C is very fun, but hard to do all that well in. If only they'd buff MGs a bit and fix PPCs so it didn't need uber quirks to work

[Lupis Volk]

TLBFestus, on 20 January 2016 - 10:14 AM, said:

There are NO bad Cicadas, only bad days.

As a Cicada enthusiasts i agree fully.

[Dukat281]

Team Chevy86, on 20 January 2016 - 06:31 AM, said:

DDC. Your typical Atlas
3 srm4 Artemis. 2 large pulse. Ac20. Alpha and twist. Brawl til you fall

I'm running it with 3 SRM6, 2 PPCs and a LBX-10. But that is a detail. Overall it is the best Atlas due to ECM. It actually gives you the chance to ambush/surprise the enemy which is rather rare with all other variants.

[Xetelian]

I have 4 Atlai and they are D (F), DDC, S(L) and Boar's Head. I used to own a K but sold it because I wanted to use the mechbay for something worthwhile after eliting it. I have also played the RS but don't recommend the K or the RS for anything.

The D, the DDC and the S are good.
The D can carry two UAC5s for double tap fun AS7-D
Can zombie with center torso lasers

The DDC is another dual ballistic AS7-D-DC

I find two UAC5s gives about the same amount of umph as 1 AC20, even if they jam a bit you can reach further and they fly faster.

Both those builds are NOT optimized, I didn't shave very much leg armor off which I normally do, I shave probably 100 armor off the beast from the head, arms and legs until I can fit more heatsinks to power the Large pulses.

The K has 1 missile point, so you can't bring a strong SRM punch with your AC20 making one side of the mech much weaker than the other.

The RS has a similar setup to the DDC and D 4 energy and 2 missile slots but I prefer the D or DDC for the UAC5s



The cicada 2B has 5 energy points and putting 5 medium or medium pulses works pretty well.

The cicada 3C is all ballistics and ballistics are really quite heavy so you can't boat them on a 40ton and I don't recommend it at all.

The cicada 3F is 4 Energy so you can put 3 ER LL or 4 Medium pulses like my IFR prime which works but is still pretty weak compared to the 2B with one more.

I'd stick to the 2B or 3F when its out, because energy is light and ammo is heavy.

Edited by Xetelian, 20 January 2016 - 04:10 PM.

[SgtMagor]

Atlas DDC, no-brainer...

[Lockon StratosII]

Troutmonkey, on 20 January 2016 - 03:54 PM, said:

3C is very fun, but hard to do all that well in. If only they'd buff MGs a bit and fix PPCs so it didn't need uber quirks to work

300XL, full armor, radar derp, adv zoom and seismic, erppc and ac2 with 2 tons of ammo or as I like to call it, ghetto gauss. Stay at long range and annoy the hell out of everyone

[MeiSooHaityu]

If the Cicada 2A(C) is some players least favorite, then maybe I should invest in Cicadas to elite them.

I just finished the basic tree for the 2A and it is a beast. A bit hot, but seems to really perform. I'm thinking 2B and 3M to round out the stable. I don't have the JJ capable loyalty mech (have the Griffin instead :/ ), but a pulse 2B and Ultra 3M sounds good.

There is that other one that mounts 1 energy and 4 balistics. I thought about it, but seems a bit too odd load out wise (quirked for 1 ERPPC and MGs). I already have a great pulse Crab, so who knows, maybe I should go that ERPPC version *shrug*.

[TercieI]

Atlas doesn't matter. You have the good ones. You can even buy an RS and play the champ through basic rather than waste CB upgrading if you want.

Cicada is definitely the 2B. Current quirks make it the best CDA and the most versatile (generic energy quirks mean 5MPL is no longer the only (or necessarily best) oprion).

[VirtualSmitty]

Don't overlook the AS7-D, it can brawl with the best of them. Quirk wise it's good, tough and it's got that -25% crit chance. The DDC is solid but ecm is def a little less useful than it was before.