37 replies to this topic

[Rhialto]

Never ran an awesome and with the current sale I thought of getting three to elite then keep one. Which one would you keep and why?

I was thinking of the 8R because I don't have a LRM boat so for the days I feel to play such I would have one and I've heard that's one of the best following the Cataputl?

I know the PPC or ERPPC are also popular but not sure I'm a fan of PPC.

They are slow and easy target, right? Often compared to a barn door so STD must be mandatory.

[Summon3r]

id say 8Q and 9M are musts, then the 3rd go with what suits your fancy. the heat gen/velocity quirks are AWESOME no pun intended btw

[AntiCitizenJuan]

As a long time Awesome pilot with a lot of time played on the chassis, dont buy an Awesome.

Edited by AntiCitizenJuan, 23 January 2016 - 07:50 PM.

[Rhialto]

AntiCitizenJuan, on 23 January 2016 - 07:49 PM, said:

As a long time Awesome pilot with a lot of time played on the chassis, dont buy an Awesome.

LOL! Prolly a good advice but I think I should have a bit of fun nonetheless with one of those...

I'm playing with Smurfy now and just build an interesting 8T but will need to test in Testing Grounds as it may be hot a bit.

How is the 8R as a LRM boat?

[Moldur]

The most awesome Awesomes where when there was an update and for about a day, the CT of Awesomes wouldn't take any damage.

[Barantor]

8Q, the 9M seems like it would be fun, but I don't think it does anything more than the 8Q can. The rest of the AWS are mostly LRMs so if you like those you will like them, but the 8Q is the one I will never sell.

I also have the Pretty Baby and like it, but I wouldn't suggest it to folks who don't know if they like the Awesome.

[El Bandito]

AWS-8R is a keeper for sure. You can either play it as an XL LRM boat, or Std engine SRM boat. Both are viable choices.

[Fleeb the Mad]

As another longtime Awesome pilot, if you want to venture down this path I'd suggest the 8Q, 9M and either an 8R or an 8T.

The 8Q is the quintessential Awesome and its PPC quirks actually make it useful. The 9M has similar ones, but I've found that with its large engine cap it's more effective to stuff it with pulse lasers.

I suppose I can't comment on how well the 8R is as an LRM boat. I've had an 8R since beta but it's never seen LRMs, even after the quirks came in and pushed it that way. Personally I'm against dedicated LRM boats, but if you want one you can stuff a lot of tubes on an 8R. It just has little for backup weapons if something gets close. Stalkers are probably better for that purpose honestly.

I'd actually suggest the 8T because it can carry some substantial direct-fire energy weapons with some fantastic quirks in addition to two big launchers.

I don't care for the 8V because of its hardpoint layout, with energy in the RA and LT and missiles in the RT. Some of its hardpoints are wasted depending on what you do with it.

As a final note though, you should be forewarned that the Awesome is a harsh mistress. It's been much improved with quirks, hitbox changes and the size of its missile launchers, but it has to take on specialized roles in order to bring something to the table that other mechs don't do better. The 8Q and 9M are without a doubt great with PPCs. You do have to be prepared to be somewhat wedded to the PPCs though. The 9M retains some ability to adapt to more general roles, but as a pulse laser boat it's competing with mechs like the Battlemaster and Banshee, which have higher-mounted hardpoints. To be honest I think the Stalker does LRMs better, though in my experience the Awesome has big shield arms and twists well. I run my 8R as an SRM brawler and it works rather well in close quarters.

The game at present isn't particularly friendly to brawlers, though, and the Awesome's fairly low hardpoints make peeking over hills difficult. You have to seek out vertical cover like buildings that you can poke around.

Talking of keepers, my choice would be the 9M or the 8R. The 9M is the most flexible of the Awesomes and with its high engine cap can fill a number of roles. While I have kept three all this time, if I had to choose only one it'd be my 8R.

Edited by Fleeb the Mad, 23 January 2016 - 08:52 PM.

[Soulscour]

Rhialto, on 23 January 2016 - 07:54 PM, said:

LOL! Prolly a good advice but I think I should have a bit of fun nonetheless with one of those...

I'm playing with Smurfy now and just build an interesting 8T but will need to test in Testing Grounds as it may be hot a bit.

How is the 8R as a LRM boat?

I actually had more fun playing the 8R as a SRM boat. Then quirks came... Its a good LRM boat. I don't like doing that though.

[LordNothing]

i just bought some too. i figure il keep the one i like the most. usually thats not immediately clear and can only be determined when they are elited.

[Soulscour]

LordNothing, on 23 January 2016 - 08:46 PM, said:

i just bought some too. i figure il keep the one i like the most. usually thats not immediately clear and can only be determined when they are elited.

I will say this. The AWS 9M can take a xl 385 engine and the Pretty Baby can take a xl400 engine. Should you do that? Probably not but who cares! :-D

[MauttyKoray]

Awesome Pilot chiming in here, do it. (That Raven insta-popped from a quad-ppc cockpit hit, lol.)

Edited by MauttyKoray, 24 January 2016 - 12:02 AM.

[Chuanhao]

I have all the Awesomes except the V

My top three are R, 9M and 8Q

The R when armed with triple LRM15 is devastating

The 9M with its speed and many energy points is good as a support mech. I arm mine with twin Er large, one er ppc, twin srm4

But the CT remains an issue however. So be prepared.

[Lightfoot]

AntiCitizenJuan, on 23 January 2016 - 07:49 PM, said:

As a long time Awesome pilot with a lot of time played on the chassis, dont buy an Awesome.

Same here, but the AWS-8Q is likely the best followed by the AWS-9M, and the AWS-8V. Zeus can do most of the Awesome load-outs and survive longer.

[kapusta11]

None.

[The Iron Chancellor]

Be warned that it is rather crunchy (and by that I mean feels rather squishy) for an assault mech, therefore if you still desire to buy a few, either set them up as some form of long/mid range fire support, or if close-range is your thing, pretend you are playing a heavy mech and try NOT to be the first guy in line to charge headlong into a fight, either method will mitigate your fragility to some extent.

Since you've stated you are unsure if you like PPC's/ERPPC'S,until you do figure it out, I'd advise you to steer clear of the 8Q/9M, although I'd almost always recommend the 8Q as one of the three you ought to buy, just to experience the PPC chainsaw effect, personally I always found the 9M to be lacking.

Otherwise, the other awesome's can be used either as close or med range, the 8R can be configured as a potent SRM + LL machine like so : http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b80f4ce2b612746
or as a pure LRM vomiting machine like so :
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...996097c29ab3496

Likewise, the 8V/8T can be configured either way, for instance my 8V looks something like :
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...af9ec4f16c44758

Wouldn't know what the ranged loadout would look like, but it'd be some lrm/laser hybrid, probably.

I personally don't own an 8T, but there are a number of ways to go about it I guess, you can always check mechspecs.com for ideas.

Only think about the pretty baby after you've decided if you even like piloting any of the awesomes, until then pretend it doesn't exist.

[NextGame]

Rhialto, on 23 January 2016 - 07:36 PM, said:

Never ran an awesome and with the current sale I thought of getting three to elite then keep one. Which one would you keep and why?

I was thinking of the 8R because I don't have a LRM boat so for the days I feel to play such I would have one and I've heard that's one of the best following the Cataputl?

I know the PPC or ERPPC are also popular but not sure I'm a fan of PPC.

They are slow and easy target, right? Often compared to a barn door so STD must be mandatory.

the LRM boat one is good atm again

[KHETTI]

I love my Awesome, its a fun mech to pilot, just don't expect to much from it.

[Alistair Winter]

The AWS-9M is arguably the only Awesome that can laservomit with a certain degree of efficiency. But all the Awesomes are pretty sub-optimal, to be honest. You don't play them because they're good, you play them because you love the chassis.

• AWS-8Q: A fun support mech. Helpless in a brawl and too fragile for a direct 1 on 1 firefight with any other assault mech, basically.
  
• AWS-9M: Probably the best Awesome, due to the higher engine cap and the distribution of energy hardpoints. But will still get owned in a fight with better IS laservomit assaults, due to its sheer size and low number of hardpoints.
  
• AWS-8R: You need an XL engine to get the most out of this one, and it's a huge and easy target, so it's rather fragile. But it's also one of the most devastating Inner Sphere LRM boats in terms of pure damage. 4xLRM15+Artemis is no joke.
  
• AWS-8T: Some of the best energy weapon quirks in the game. Still not a very good assault mech, but it can be fun.
  
• AWS-8V: Arguably the worst of the Awesomes, but can actually be fun if you combine PPCs with LRMs. A different experience.
  
• AWS-PB: I've no idea. No way I would pay for this mech, ever.

Edited by Alistair Winter, 24 January 2016 - 04:13 AM.

[Funky Bacon]

8Q is a solid PPC boat. Can either go with 4 PPC's which when fired in pairs is basically a supercharged dual AC/20 with 700m range.
Or use 3 ER-PPC's that got an impressive optimal range of 1053m with mods and (mostly) have the velocity to use it.

Some may say 9M is the better one but it needs an XL to use all that extra speed and it doesn't even have range quirks and just 30% velocity for ER-PPC, which makes it less effective at range than the 8Q as well. It doesn't even have quirks for regular PPC's.
If you gonna laser vomit with it.... ehh, there are better choices for that. Although 3 energy in head/torso is kinda nice if you get into a zombie state.

8T do get really nice energy quirks but all energy slots are in the arms, soooo yeah, that kinda sucks.

8R is basically a better PB but with a lower engine cap and is less agile.

BP is basically a slightly worse 8R but is more agile and can mount bigger engines, plus it got a C-Bill bonus. ~cash sound~