14 replies to this topic

[Rando Slim]

Right pretty simple here: Banshee, Zeus, or Mauler? I want the mauler cause its new and should suck less than a highlander. The Banshee is probably the best and most meta choice. But I read in some of these other topics that people think Zeus's are good? And xl safe? Really? All my unit mates (228) think they suck but I dunno they are cheap sort of. Is the zeus better than the Awesome at least (I don't actually dislike Awesomes so if the answer is yes that would be interesting)?

[Zookeeper Dan]

I have fun in my Maulers, and they are available for C-Bills as of today!

[Rando Slim]

aaaand then the other two go on sale at the same time, lol. Sweet. Too bad I can't afford to just throw down for all three. Alright, is there a definitively worst one of these three?

[White Bear 84]

Rearcored by a light?

Please send your dimensions to sarnasmashrepairs@taugalaxy51.net.spacerepairs

#couldntresist

Edited by White Bear 84, 02 February 2016 - 06:09 PM.

[Void Angel]

Well, I only have the Banshee - but I recommend it. The Zeus is tough, but I haven't seen it be terribly popular on the field, despite that toughness. Probably tells you something, which is why I haven't prioritized the chassis. The Mauler I know less about - I know a tier 1 pilot that runs (I think) two UAC/5s and PPCs with it, does tons of damage, and the 4xAC5 build is brutal at range. However, I really cannot advise you on how well those two chassis perform from the standpoint of personal experience.

The Banshee, however, is a fun, versatile platform that can accomodate a fair number of builds. You can do the 3xAC/5 build with energy backup, or an AC/20 brawler with laser backup - or even pure laser boat with the 3M. The only thing the chassis really can't do is missiles; every other kind of build can fit. The slight reduction in tonnage over an Atlas or King Crab makes a difference in paying for engine tonnage, and if you really want to try it out, all the chassis but the 3S can fit up to an XL400. I found the 3S used to be roughly equivalent in brawling effectiveness to an Atlas (before the new structure and agility quirks,) and the Banshee is still an effective chassis overall.

[Kimberm1911]

I would highly recommend the Banshee. All three of the C-bill variants are good, and the 3m is one of the top assault mechs in the game. It's ridiculously tanky, and the massive shield arms make it almost as tanky as an atlas (I'd argue more so, I'v had several games where I've had the banshee at 40% with all weapons fully operational, but that's my opinion.) Its high mounted hard points allow it to fire over almost anything, including your teammates who are too careless to avoid walking in front of you. The mauler makes a very commendable missile and dakka boat, but it's profile makes it rather squishy. I've never played them, but I drop with some guys that make it work VERY well. The builds I usually see for the zeus emphasize long range. It's a fairly tanky mech, and because you don't often see it drop (I haven't faced one in a long time, and only know one guy who runs it with any frequency) some people may not know how to deal with it. Zeus usually run large laser missile combos.... Although, you could turn it's missile fist into a SRM meteor punch. I have heard that the Zeus is better then the awesome, but I've rarely seen people run awesomes well. To put it short, Banshee if you're looking for tankyness with laser boating and somewhat dakka boating, Mauler if you want Dakka boating or Missile Boating, and Zeus if you are planning on running LRM's with Large lasers.

Peace

[theta123]

The banshee has the best damage absorbing capability of all the assault mechs. Yes, even more then the Atlas

The zeus is not easy to play. However it has a potent LRM build and mixed weapons build

I recently started with the mauler and i am having Insane-amounts-of-fun with them. I have a Dual AC20 build, an 2 LPL 2 SRM6 2 LRM 15 and 2 PPC/2AC10 build

The mauler is quite XL friendly, unlike the banshee and atlas. However the largest engine mountable is the XL 325. So this requires some management.

[WaddeHaddeDudeda]

Rando Slim, on 02 February 2016 - 05:39 PM, said:

Alright, is there a definitively worst one of these three?

Zeus.

Go Banshee if you want to place a very safe bet.

Go Mauler if you enjoy shitloads of hardpoints. It's basically like a smaller King Crab, but more squishy, even though you can kick some serious butt with it.

But then again, the same can do the Banshee + much more tanky

[VirtualSmitty]

Banshee. I like all three mechs very much for different reasons, but the Banshee is the best of the bunch. You can run a nice variety of builds and it's tough, can spread damage well with it's big gorilla arms. The Mauler is a good machine but squishy and the Zeus is fine if you like mixed builds. To it's credit, the Zeus is probably the best scaled assault mech and while tough, is less so post re-quirkining.

[deathTouch]

I went with mauler recently and it's a crapton of fun. Been averaging a bit over 600 dmg a game and having a blast doing it. Experimenting with builds currently but running XL on them is actually viable if you go with longer range weapons and make certain you're not positioned in a way that allows multiple opponents to focus you down while you suppress a single enemy. Running AC2s or UAC5s is pouring out dmg if there are any extended trades and you can literally blind your opponent spraying that much lead into their face (headshotted a few assaults doing it as well). Nothing more satisfying than watching a DW laserboat fling its lasers around trying to find out where you are. I have a 4.25 KDA on the 2P and that was with grinding out the mastery to boot. Had a few games over 1k on it already as well. I would say overall it's slightly less versatile/reliable than boating lasers but about 10000x more fun and, considering lasers will probably be nerfed soon, might as well practice something other than them.

It performs poorly in close range due to its very limited twist radius but if you're in melee without support you're probably positioned incorrectly or the rest of your team is dead, either way you could have probably done something better to prevent said situation.

Edited by deathTouch, 08 February 2016 - 07:49 PM.

[Rear Admiral Tier 6]

banshee is excellent,has always been,it does not even need quirks to open a healthy can of whoop-***

[Heavenward]

The Banshee is superb.I have all three and i love them all- yes even the 3S. They have great survivability and if you learn to the the gorilla arms as shields you can use XL engines. Be aware thought that due to all the hardpoints being mounted in the torso section it is difficult to shoot down UAV's with the exception of the 3S that has and arm mounted laser hardpoint

The BNC-3M is a great Laser Boat 4 Large Pulse 2 Small Laser (to force the large pulse into the high mounts) with a XL400 is my go-to assault the the moment.

The BNC-3E is great with 3 AC5 and either 2 PPCs or Large Lasers as backup. Id recommend using 2 x Large Lasers as backup as they have no minimum range.

The BNC-3S is a bit of a problem child and i think is best if you make use of its only ballistic slot with a AC-20. My current build with it and the one I've had most success with is 3 x Large Pulse lasers and 1 x AC 20. I put one lase in the arm to make use of the arm to shoot down UAV's.

I can guarantee you wont be disappointed with the Banshee.

[ExplodedZombie]

I am partial to Battlemasters. They feel like oversized Heavies. They are fun.

[Bud Crue]

Take Zeus off of the list. They are not Assaults. They are slightly over sized heavies. At least that is how I play em and how everyone I know plays em.

[TechChris]

Logs into MWO forums.......
Starts browsing thru to see if anything new????????
See this
Almost spits out beer......

Ok.....anyhow....thought this was funny!

Good luck on ya quest man! Sorry I've nothing helpful to add (just a bit of hilarity) as I'm not the best to ask about assaults as they are my least fav, have the least mechs of, and only really play when group needs me to, or I'm feeling like changing up the Pugs I get stuck with!