66 replies to this topic

[Shalune]

1 - Griffin - shield arm + vertical wall of SRMs is perfect for hitting 1 component

2 - HBKs - torso twist + hitpoint quirks + pile of weapon hardpoints

3 - Cents - shield arms + well concentrated hardpoints on CT and LT

Honorable mentions:
Stormcrow - not really a "brawler" but can be excellent close range glass cannon (the hitboxes are the problem)
Blackjack - I don't own one so cannot properly judge, but looks scrappy while really deadly, just sucks to have no blocking arms

[S L A I N E]

1. Griffin 3M- great mobility and shielding capabilities, 4xSRM4 is all you need. I am not hesitant to take AS7-S for a walk if needed.

2/3. Hunchback/Centurion: Those combinations with AC20 are really solid, and CN shields like no oher. i also like SPL boating on HBK, for its sick dps.

[Tordin]

1: Enforcer

2: Shadow Hawk

3: Crab

honrable 4th Kintaro

[Narcissistic Martyr]

Crab.

It's the ultimate "I didn't need that body party anyways" mech. Lose an arm? No worries. A leg? Hey it's your time to waste. A ST? I still have 1LL and 3 ML. Both ST? Now worries. Both ST and a Leg? Only a flesh wound. I'll gnaw your damn body off with my 3ML.

STD engined cents. They're way more durable than they have any right to be with that massive body. No idea why either.

Hunchbacks. Yup. all my firepower is in one area. I don't care though. The 4g is one of those mech that I just do absurdly well in. 500-600 damage games? Easy. Survivable? Oh hell yes. Amusingly the only one I can't make work is the grid iron.

[Surn]

Overall best is obviously the Stormcrow

If we go with IS only...

Enforcer, griffon with ecm, yen lo wang

[Kwea]

Bud Crue, on 25 January 2016 - 06:34 AM, said:

Crab- small profile, high speed, great with 5-6mpl or whatever, add jump jets and you can really be a nightmare. Hard to hit and tanky as hell.
Enforcer- instead of small and short like the crab, you are tall and thin...but equally tanky, and with ballistics added. So much fun.
Black Jack- you know why. However even before the structure buff this was a great brawler. Experimenting with std builds atm, but have yet to find one tougher than the classic (to me) 1a (I think) with max XL, Ac20 and 3ML plus jump jets. Just an excellent knife fighter.

Honorable mention is the Griffin. Like all the 55 ton IS mechs, If it was smaller in profile it (they) would win hands down (imagine a Griffin being similar in scale to that of the Crab). SRM and mixed lasers (with ECM in the 2N), to the laser spam of Sparky, all have potential with or without XL.

Try the BJ 1DC. It does AC20 and four ml, with ballistics quirks.

1. All the BJ's, in particular the 1x with a 42 point alpha.

2. Stormcrow - jack of all trades, does most things very well.

3. Griffin's/Wolverines in a dead tie, IMO.

[Orion Leftwind]

My favorites (though I have not tried all mediums)

Centurions -- CN9-AH in particular, either AC/20 + 2SRM4 or 3ARSM6 + 3MG, CN9-AL w/ 3LPL
VND-SIB (yes a Vindicator) --- 2LPL + 2SRM4

[Vizeroy]

I only use clan mechs so for me it has to be the Nova.

[Alianton]

i quite like the 3 SRM6+a 1 ML std engine wolverine. i've also got the scr with 5 SRM6, grid iron with AC20, BJ1-DC with AC20

[Davy J0nes]

Thoughts on the Treb 7k vs a Cent both ac20 builds.

I have seen treb 7k with 2 srm4s 2 mediums and a ac20

or

2 mediums and a ac20 + 2 shield arms.

Edited by Fanto, 28 April 2016 - 04:10 AM.

[PeeWrinkle]

The top three medium brawlers for me are a bit tougher. I like ones that run XL engines without tremendous downside or can run STD engines without sacrificing too much speed and firepower.

With that in mind it kind of ruled out all the 55 tonners on the IS side, as I feel many are susceptible to ST death via XL engine, but also perform much better with the XL. Yes there are great STD Builds for those chassis, but lately (aside from a few Griffin variants) they are underwhelming compared to the 45 and 50 ton options.

Here are my top 3:
1. Enforcer: Speed, Jump Jets, Firepower, and Decently Cool Running.
2. Blackjack: Ton for ton this is one of the top mechs in the game.
3. Crab: Great chassis for STD Engines. Unreal how cool a laser boat can run with a heavy STD engine.

All three of those I picked over others because they have better Hard Points, Seem to Roll damage better, and are very maneuverable.

On the Clan side there is really only one for me and that is the Stormcrow. Well it is the only one I would entertain removing one of the three above to give a spot too at any rate.

[Starbomber109]

CD0UG, on 23 January 2016 - 09:00 AM, said:

List your top 3 favorite medium brawlers and why!

This is just my opinion but...

3. Hunchback: high DPS from all variants. Also really tanky and it's quite small. Only issue it has is that easily stripped hunch.

2. Blackjack: with MPLs this thing can rip apart other mediums, and put good damage on larger mechs. Of particular note for this is the 1X, it has very high speed and great geometry.

1Griffin: shield arm, tight SRM spread, overall probably the best brawler in the game as it's also fast enough to close with its target.

(Note: I don't include any clan mechs because I feel like most of them excell at mid-range combat. Besides, isn't "brawling" a barbaric freebirth tactic? )

[Omniseed]

Starbomber109, on 28 April 2016 - 11:34 PM, said:

This is just my opinion but...

3. Hunchback: high DPS from all variants. Also really tanky and it's quite small. Only issue it has is that easily stripped hunch.

2. Blackjack: with MPLs this thing can rip apart other mediums, and put good damage on larger mechs. Of particular note for this is the 1X, it has very high speed and great geometry.

1Griffin: shield arm, tight SRM spread, overall probably the best brawler in the game as it's also fast enough to close with its target.

(Note: I don't include any clan mechs because I feel like most of them excell at mid-range combat. Besides, isn't "brawling" a barbaric freebirth tactic? )

Not with the SCR-D Splatcrow bro

[Psi Anara]

Am I totally insane?

CN9-AH

I haven't used this build yet, this was just theory crafting. My reservation is having an XL engine on a brawler, but I feel to bring it down to a STD engine it would be too slow to be a good brawling medium. The idea here was to add firepower to a heavy/assault formation by darting in and out, or to swoop in and finish a heavy/assault who was ready to be crit'd down.

Edited by Psi Anara, 22 June 2016 - 05:48 PM.

[Nullmancer]

Psi Anara, on 22 June 2016 - 05:46 PM, said:

Am I totally insane?

CN9-AH

waaaay too much srm ammo and CASE is meaningless if you use an XL engine. Also, machine guns are laughable. I'd suggest any other autocannon and at most four tons of SRM ammo.

gonna be hard to do however with the SRM 6's with Artemis. Could drop artemis, BAP for an AC5 with some ammo I suppose. but kinda meh.



I'd suggest SRM 4's and at least an AC 10, but that's been done to death.

[Psi Anara]

Nullmancer, on 23 June 2016 - 05:39 AM, said:

waaaay too much srm ammo and CASE is meaningless if you use an XL engine. Also, machine guns are laughable. I'd suggest any other autocannon and at most four tons of SRM ammo.

gonna be hard to do however with the SRM 6's with Artemis. Could drop artemis, BAP for an AC5 with some ammo I suppose. but kinda meh.



I'd suggest SRM 4's and at least an AC 10, but that's been done to death.

I disagree that MGs are useless, they are meant to destroy internal systems with crits after the armor is gone. You don't shoot them until armor is down and you are looking to shave off a component or combo them with a final SRM strike for a killing blow.

I also disagree that CASE is useless with an XL engine, it prevents a chained ammo explosion from killing me if armor is down on the RT. With all my ammo in RT, CASE at least makes sure that if 1 ton goes off, not all of it will go off.

You might be right that there is too much SRM ammo, but with 700 rounds and with 18 consumed per shot that is 38 times they can be fired. You could make an argument that I won't live long enough to use it all, but think about this: without changing the entire build by removing the MGs there is nothing left for me to remove ammo for. The only option would be to remove some ammo so I can go down to a larger STD engine. I could remove 3 tons of ammo and BAP to get a STD 250. This means I will be moving 10KPH slower, and shooting half as many times with my SRMs, and the only benefit is that I can lose my torso's. Not that great of a benefit IMO, I would rather have the ability to move faster and shoot more and play smarter to protect myself is possible.

The reason I theory crafted this was because I didn't want to do just a normal AC10 build, I have an enforcer with AC10 5xML already, I wanted to do something unique. We'll see how this works out once I can take it for a spin.

Edited by Psi Anara, 23 June 2016 - 06:04 AM.

[Ace Selin]

Stormcrow
Griffin 2N
Nova

[Lily from animove]

Starbomber109, on 28 April 2016 - 11:34 PM, said:

This is just my opinion but...

3. Hunchback: high DPS from all variants. Also really tanky and it's quite small. Only issue it has is that easily stripped hunch.

2. Blackjack: with MPLs this thing can rip apart other mediums, and put good damage on larger mechs. Of particular note for this is the 1X, it has very high speed and great geometry.

1Griffin: shield arm, tight SRM spread, overall probably the best brawler in the game as it's also fast enough to close with its target.

(Note: I don't include any clan mechs because I feel like most of them excell at mid-range combat. Besides, isn't "brawling" a barbaric freebirth tactic? )

brawling as in bashing with firsts yes, but what we call brawling is actually short range shooting.

Edited by Lily from animove, 23 June 2016 - 06:42 AM.

[process]

Psi Anara, on 22 June 2016 - 05:46 PM, said:

Am I totally insane?

CN9-AH

I haven't used this build yet, this was just theory crafting. My reservation is having an XL engine on a brawler, but I feel to bring it down to a STD engine it would be too slow to be a good brawling medium. The idea here was to add firepower to a heavy/assault formation by darting in and out, or to swoop in and finish a heavy/assault who was ready to be crit'd down.

Good rule of thumb is 1.5 tons of ammo per SRM 6, unless you have SRM cooldown quirks or expect to survive long enough to use all of it. Centurions are very XL friendly, provided you keep on the move and roll damage. Machine guns are next to useless and will only expose you to more facetime.

If you want to run 3xSRM 6, the Cent A is a better choice with its center torso lasers. The AH is better served with a large ballistic weapon and missiles only for backup.

[Nullmancer]

Psi Anara, on 23 June 2016 - 05:59 AM, said:

I disagree that MGs are useless, they are meant to destroy internal systems with crits after the armor is gone. You don't shoot them until armor is down and you are looking to shave off a component or combo them with a final SRM strike for a killing blow.

I also disagree that CASE is useless with an XL engine, it prevents a chained ammo explosion from killing me if armor is down on the RT. With all my ammo in RT, CASE at least makes sure that if 1 ton goes off, not all of it will go off...

if you had an autocannon you can punch holes while you SRM, and still benefit from exposed internals, not to mention having something with range to work with. Machine guns, while making your DPS look incredible in the mechlab and also make an awesome dakka dakka sound, are inaccurate unless your on top of someone due to the wide cone of effect, have a very, very short range, and are ok i guess against something with exposed internals.

CASE doesnt work like that. It stops any carryover damage from the torso it is in from hitting the center torso. You have an XL, the torso will still go if the ammo goes, your engine still gets toasted, your mech still dies. It only should be installed on mechs with standard engines. Clan CASE works better, it'll work how you think it works, but you dont need to install it. Clan mechs get it for free.


now I don't mean to put down your build here, but it was inefficient in ways and very limited in what it could do. Try it out, if it works for you and your team, then so be it.



I also will second what Process said,

process, on 23 June 2016 - 07:00 AM, said:

If you want to run 3xSRM 6, the Cent A is a better choice with its center torso lasers. The AH is better served with a large ballistic weapon and missiles only for backup.