32 replies to this topic

[Wolfways]

After playing other IS lights the Raven is incredibly bad.
Slow, no armour and little firepower, it has nothing going for it (other than the 3L having ECM). Even the "meta" for all variants is to stick on a couple of ERLL's and stay as far away from the enemy as possible because if something shoots you you're dead.

The Raven also has a huge, long torso and very long legs making it one of, if not the, easiest light to hit.

Also, for a mech that was designed to carry sensitive equipment and a mechwarrior (without breaking his neck) it would be great if the ridiculous walking animation was changed so it doesn't bounce up and down so much

[FupDup]

You have correctly identified the mech's niche...it's the Inner Sphere's sniper light of choice.

Its hardpoints and hitboxes are not suited for close or even mid ranged fighting, besides maybe the 2X variant with 4 lasers.

[Revis Volek]

FupDup, on 23 February 2016 - 05:34 PM, said:

You have correctly identified the mech's niche...it's the Inner Sphere's sniper light of choice.

Its hardpoints and hitboxes are not suited for close or even mid ranged fighting, besides maybe the 2X variant with 4 lasers.

2x is a rough go at it if you wanna brawl, plenty of other mechs on the IS side much better suited for that.

Even a 2x with 4 meds pales in comparison to the FS9-H or even the JR7-F or D

Edited by Revis Volek, 23 February 2016 - 05:36 PM.

[FupDup]

Revis Volek, on 23 February 2016 - 05:36 PM, said:

2x is a rough go at it if you wanna brawl, plenty of other mechs on the IS side much better suited for that.

Even a 2x with 4 meds pales in comparison to the FS9-H or even the JR7-F or D

I was more specifically referring to the "mid" bracket, with something like 2 LL or LPL + 2 ML. Maybe. Still not that great though.

[Deathlike]

Until the leg hitbox is reduced to back when it wasn't a problem, that part won't change.

At this point in time, the 3L and 4X are optimal for long range play, and I don't even know what people bother to do with the 2X anymore (laservomit troll probably - maybe 3 LL because of quirks)...

Oxide does everything the Huggin does better (and lol MGs - because they are still useless for the most part).

I don't know what else to tell you.

Edit: Added Huggin notes

Edited by Deathlike, 23 February 2016 - 05:41 PM.

[LegendaryArticuno]

Raven is such an iconic mech, it deserves to be Artic Cheetah level.

[Rhaythe]

Makes a great NARC'er. Or rather, it did, until the sudden outbreak of Geezusboxes everywhere.

[Revis Volek]

FupDup, on 23 February 2016 - 05:37 PM, said:

I was more specifically referring to the "mid" bracket, with something like 2 LL or LPL + 2 ML. Maybe. Still not that great though.

I think currently my 2x has 3 meds and a LPL, it works (kinda) at the mid range and run cool enough to do work with.

Deathlike, on 23 February 2016 - 05:39 PM, said:

Until the leg hitbox is reduced to back when it wasn't a problem, that part won't change.

At this point in time, the 3L and 4X are optimal for long range play, and I don't even know what people bother to do with the 2X anymore (laservomit troll probably - maybe 3 LL because of quirks)...

Oxide does everything the Huggin does better (and lol MGs - because they are still useless for the most part).

I don't know what else to tell you.

Edit: Added Huggin notes

Deathlike, spot on as usual. Oxide has dethroned the Huggin and i threw away my MG's for an AC2 and 75 rounds a long time ago never looked back. Just aren't great/easy to use at the same time as the SRMS which is lame.

The RVN is cursed/blessed with the Stalker body and Grasshopper legs (they go on for days, much like you want in a nice lady) so pick your component is a fun game i play with them. Its just super easy to hit what you want on that mech. Legs boxes are huge, if its turned sideways its an ST like the Front of an AWESOME. So its only game is to stare S&%t down and try to split the dmg across the 3 Hitboxes on its nose.

Hence it being relegated to SNIPER roles not to mention the hardpoints are good for corner peeks.

[El Bandito]

LegendaryArticuno, on 23 February 2016 - 05:41 PM, said:

Raven is such an iconic mech, it deserves to be Artic Cheetah level.

It used to be more broken than the Arctic Cheetah. Glad that time has passed. ************* no-skill invincible Ravens and their dickbutt pilots claiming "It's skill".

FupDup, on 23 February 2016 - 05:34 PM, said:

You have correctly identified the mech's niche...it's the Inner Sphere's sniper light of choice.

Its hardpoints and hitboxes are not suited for close or even mid ranged fighting, besides maybe the 2X variant with 4 lasers.

Funny enough, the 2X was the only Raven that could equip Large Laser, in lore.

Edited by El Bandito, 23 February 2016 - 06:53 PM.

[MeiSooHaityu]

Generally it is a sniper. I used to use it as a ninja (3 MLasers and 2 SRM4s), but I have had less than stellar luck running that ever since PSR was introduced.

It ill probably be converted to a sniper eventually if I ever get motivated to run it again.

[Deathlike]

El Bandito, on 23 February 2016 - 06:52 PM, said:

It used to be more broken than the Arctic Cheetah. Glad that time has passed. ************* no-skill invincible Ravens and their dickbutt pilots claiming "It's skill".

That was a different era, where the Magic Jesus Box was more like a "Godbox of Skill" and auto-CT coring Streaks were a thing.

It's not even close to any of that these days.

[El Bandito]

Deathlike, on 23 February 2016 - 06:53 PM, said:

That was a different era, where the Magic Jesus Box was more like a "Godbox of Skill" and auto-CT coring Streaks were a thing.

It's not even close to any of that these days.

Which is why I am glad that such times are over. Never understood why a Light was allowed to wade into a group of enemy mechs and come out with mere scratches, as long as it kept moving.

Edited by El Bandito, 23 February 2016 - 06:57 PM.

[ScarecrowES]

Huginn still does well if you know how to play it. I run my 4x with the 'LL build but add 2 MGs. I switched my 3L to the 3xML and 2xSRM4 build and it works very well in that build.

[Onimusha shin]

My sad sad Huginn is crying in a corner. Seeing how Revis switched to an AC/2 build is likely to make it bawl out sorrowfully...

P.S. Been asking for help from the GMs to forward combat viability stats to the balance team (aka Paul nerf-bat-man). Did any of you know that the Huginn takes 1:15 - 1:30 to overheat, based on 2ASRM4/6s? LOL ridiculous!

[Deathlike]

El Bandito, on 23 February 2016 - 06:55 PM, said:

Which is why I am glad that such times are over. Never understood why a Light was allowed to wade into a group of enemy mechs and come out with mere scratches, as long as it kept moving.

Well... balance discussions then were dramatically different.

The LPL "normalization" before the original launch (non-Steam) and the multiple MG iterations (because, sub 1.0 DPS MGs of the "6 MG Spiders" were terrorizing things) were darker days of MWO balance.

[Peenutts]

Try to set one up like an actual scouting mech rather than a high alpha rambo light mech.
3L usually works best for this due to ECM but the others can as well.

I use a 3L as a pure scouting style mech and small skirmisher. I can string together many wins in a row when I use this. I can't say if it is pure luck of the team draw or what I am doing that helps to win. I will NARC with this thing and constantly be on voice comms giving out direction on what I see from enemy movement.

I find the other Ravens to be useful but not as much as this 3L. Of a side note I do not normally use light mechs. I have many, but only a couple mastered up that I will play. This one being the most used one by far, and I do quite well with it.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

It is also the only IS light chassis that can run an AC20 build that's not a total joke if you're a sneaky git with a death wish. Fear the BoomBird. Can also be done with Gauss.

Speaking as someone who actually drives such silly things, I can safely say the Raven is not a bad chassis. It's not a brawler, and it's not a squirrel... and it shouldn't be. Not every 'Mech needs to be able to fill the same roles as the other 'Mechs in its weight class. Use the Raven to poke and peek. It can do that very well because of its high mounts and slim frontal profile. Using your arm guns, you can expose just enough to see over an obstacle, fire, and hide again before the enemy even figures out where the shot came from. Start with LPL and LL for your sniper builds; only use ERLL once you have your positioning and peeking down well enough to disappear before you take too much return fire to make the trade worthwhile.

Ravens can also be good with ERPPCs, even though those are terrible weapons right now, for the same reason the 'Mech can be somewhat workable with big ACs and Gauss: low facetime. You can literally fire and be back in cover before your shot even hits the enemy with how high the Raven's arm mounts are, which means that unless the enemy sees you first, you automatically win the trade.

Basically, leverage your geometry and profit. Treat the Raven like a humanoid and you'll lose out every time.

[Otto Cannon]

The Raven is a scout, and scouting is almost entirely pointless in this game. All you can do is snipe, and hope you don't get badtouched by an ACH.

[FupDup]

WrathOfDeadguy, on 23 February 2016 - 07:48 PM, said:

It is also the only IS light chassis that can run an AC20 build that's not a total joke if you're a sneaky git with a death wish. Fear the BoomBird. Can also be done with Gauss.

Speaking as someone who actually drives such silly things, I can safely say the Raven is not a bad chassis. It's not a brawler, and it's not a squirrel... and it shouldn't be. Not every 'Mech needs to be able to fill the same roles as the other 'Mechs in its weight class. Use the Raven to poke and peek. It can do that very well because of its high mounts and slim frontal profile. Using your arm guns, you can expose just enough to see over an obstacle, fire, and hide again before the enemy even figures out where the shot came from. Start with LPL and LL for your sniper builds; only use ERLL once you have your positioning and peeking down well enough to disappear before you take too much return fire to make the trade worthwhile.

Ravens can also be good with ERPPCs, even though those are terrible weapons right now, for the same reason the 'Mech can be somewhat workable with big ACs and Gauss: low facetime. You can literally fire and be back in cover before your shot even hits the enemy with how high the Raven's arm mounts are, which means that unless the enemy sees you first, you automatically win the trade.

Basically, leverage your geometry and profit. Treat the Raven like a humanoid and you'll lose out every time.

Frankly, if you really have to insist on an AC/20 light, the Puma with a UAC/20 is more "practical" than the Raven.

[Deathlike]

FupDup, on 23 February 2016 - 08:07 PM, said:

Frankly, if you really have to insist on an AC/20 light, the Puma with a UAC/20 is more "practical" than the Raven.

But... AC40 Cicada!