40 replies to this topic

[TheSABER]

Hello fellow pilots,
I'm a newbie player coming over from World of Tanks where I was a unicum. After reading up and researching throughly (metamechs, mechspecs) I bought my Black Knight 6 as my very first mech and laserboated it the meta way (3 large pulse 5 meds). Armed with this mech and common sense, I have managed to make it into tier 3 within a week of starting extensively playing. Now I stand at a crossroads. With 35 million cbills to my name, I am ready to buy my next mech. Im having alot of fun with the knight, but the playstyle of winning trades is simply too akin to how world of tanks works. Im looking for a new style whether it be sniping, brawling or lrms. I've played the trial mech king crab alot as well and I quite like it. I would love for you guys to throw your favorite mechs at me with a explanation of how they work. As a newbie I have not been exposed much to what mechs are what and thier intended roles are.

TL;DR I need a new mech that preferably isn't laserboated. Give me a few suggestions please!

[Lostdragon]

Get HBKs. They are very versatile, can snipe, brawl, and lurm.

[jjm1]

Urban Mech

[Tyler Valentine]

Well, there are major advantages to buying 2 more Black Knights. The skill tree Elite and Master categories only open when you have three variants of 1 'mech type basic'd. Plus, once all three are elited your basic skill boosts double, so I would consider going in that direction first.

If you don't care about any of that and just want to try something different I suggest dakka! Try a King Crab or a Jagermech with U-AC5s

jjm1, on 04 March 2016 - 09:17 AM, said:

Urban Mech

Like s1ut

Edited by Tyler Valentine, 04 March 2016 - 09:20 AM.

[Nostromodamus]

My faves that aren't laserboats:

Urbanmech.
Centurion.
Hunchback.
Enforcer.
Griffin.
Shadowhawk.
Jagermech.
King Crab.
Mauler.

That probably didn't help much...

[TheSABER]

Lostdragon, on 04 March 2016 - 09:13 AM, said:

Get HBKs. They are very versatile, can snipe, brawl, and lurm.

Hmm, hunchbacks seem to be quite easy to kill. That hunch is very large and from my own experience it seems very easy to destroy. But I do like the AC20 on wheels idea. Is it still viable anymore in this "meta"?

[Lordred]

Hunchbacks are a good recomendation, solid 50-tonner, and you will get the chance to learn em with the newer engine range they have vs the original which was limited to a 250 engine.

But if you like heavies, you could always go Orion, they often get overlooked, but a good Orion will surprise people.

Don't let my "Tier 4" scare you, I am down there by choice, I like it down here

Edited by Lordred, 04 March 2016 - 09:22 AM.

[Burke IV]

As has been said, elite the BK line, an elited mech is a totally different game. You could say that unelited mechs are gimped and in many cases just useless and miserable to play.

[TheSABER]

Tyler Valentine, on 04 March 2016 - 09:19 AM, said:

Well, there are major advantages to buying 2 more Black Knights. The skill tree Elite and Master categories only open when you have three variants of 1 'mech type basic'd. Plus, once all three are elited your basic skill boosts double, so I would consider going in that direction first.

If you don't care about any of that and just want to try something different I suggest dakka! Try a King Crab or a Jagermech with U-AC5s



Like s1ut

Well Im very interested in the King Crab. Is it possible to make it into a sniper of sorts? I'm thinking like gauss rifles (which I have alot of fun with on trial dire wolf). Also, the jagermech, is it just two uac 5s? That seems to be quite the weak loadout.

[Lostdragon]

TheSABER, on 04 March 2016 - 09:20 AM, said:

Hmm, hunchbacks seem to be quite easy to kill. That hunch is very large and from my own experience it seems very easy to destroy. But I do like the AC20 on wheels idea. Is it still viable anymore in this "meta"?

You can't sit there and face tank with them. You have to be able to twist and shoot but if you can do that you will be ok. They are not as strong as laser vomit builds (except the one that IS a laser mech) but with a little practice and skill they can hold their own for sure. The quirks on them are pretty huge. If you play one as a brawler with the AC 20 or SRMs just stick with the assaults and focus fire with them.

[Alistair Winter]

Well, if you fancy yourself a hotshot, try a light mech. Go see why it's the least popular class in MWO. Move freely around the battlefield, unhindered by your sometimes silly teammates. Drink deep from the tears of enemies who don't like getting killed by tiny mechs.

Easy mode:
Arctic Cheetah
Firestarter
Jenner IIC
Jenner

Weekend Warrior:
Raven
Locust
Panther
Wolfhound

Hardcore mode:
Adder
Kit Fox
Spider

Nightmare mode:
Commando
Urbanmech
Mist Lynx

Note: Some variants may not fit with this broad categorisation. Sue me.

[TheSABER]

Lordred, on 04 March 2016 - 09:20 AM, said:

Hunchbacks are a good recomendation, solid 50-tonner, and you will get the chance to learn em with the newer engine range they have vs the original which was limited to a 250


But if you like heavies, you could always go Orion, they often get overlooked, but a good Orion will surprise people.

Don't let my "Tier 4" scare you, I am down there by choice, I like it down here

Oh trust me I'm past all of the statewhoring. Main reason why I quit WoT even though I played since beta. But another thing. What's the difference between xl and regular engine? Is it a good idea to throw one onto a hunchback?

[CDLord HHGD]

Urbanmech. You're not a true mechwarrior until you've mastered at least one.
Hunchback. These are my favorite chassis of all times and a solid performer once you learn them.

TheSABER, on 04 March 2016 - 09:28 AM, said:

Oh trust me I'm past all of the statewhoring. Main reason why I quit WoT even though I played since beta. But another thing. What's the difference between xl and regular engine? Is it a good idea to throw one onto a hunchback?

IS HBKs are NOT XL friendly. I kept all mine the STD200. They perform just fine.

Edited by cdlord, 04 March 2016 - 09:30 AM.

[Nostromodamus]

XL weighs less but takes up side torso slots and gets you killed if you lose a side torso.

Bad idea on a Hunch.

Standard 250 on all of mine.

Edited by Nostromodamus, 04 March 2016 - 09:30 AM.

[TheSABER]

Alistair Winter, on 04 March 2016 - 09:24 AM, said:

Well, if you fancy yourself a hotshot, try a light mech. Go see why it's the least popular class in MWO. Move freely around the battlefield, unhindered by your sometimes silly teammates. Drink deep from the tears of enemies who don't like getting killed by tiny mechs.

Easy mode:
Arctic Cheetah
Firestarter
Jenner IIC
Jenner

Weekend Warrior:
Raven
Locust
Panther
Wolfhound

Hardcore mode:
Adder
Kit Fox
Spider

Nightmare mode:
Commando
Urbanmech
Mist Lynx

Note: Some variants may not fit with this broad categorisation. Sue me.

Omo, sir Im loving your choice of words. I'm actually very much looking forward to light mechs. Can you explain wtf is a tag and ecm?

[habu86]

Dual Gauss KGC is one of the more popular and solid builds, but using it as a sniper is a bit of a waste of armor that should be upfront and tanking damage.

If you want dakka, Jagermech is a very solid option. Marauders and Warhammers (Marauder dakka is my favorite build atm) are too, but they are paywalled at the moment. Cataphracts can do dakka too, but while they are close to my heart since they're the first mech I bought, they've still got massive problems and you have to work hard in them.

Also, 2x UAC5 is NOT a weak option. Only jagermechs and the Illya can mount 3x UAC5 outside of the assault class and they both need XL engines to do it, which turns them in to glass cannons. 2x UAC5 and 3-4ML is perfectly capable of turning in 800-900 dmg games.

If you wanna do dakka assault however, you've got the Mauler and KGC, which can both be a lot of fun (for you, not so much for those on the receiving end)

Here's a thought, if you're looking for something different from what you've been playing, why not try clan? HBR, TBR, and EBJ all do a lot of different builds, including dakka, and you can afford them all (okay, you'll need to grind a bit to afford the 3rd mech, but nothing you can't bridge in a week or less). Plus, you'll get to learn how the Omni system works and see if it holds any appeal for you.

Edited by habu86, 04 March 2016 - 09:43 AM.

[CDLord HHGD]

TheSABER, on 04 March 2016 - 09:30 AM, said:

Omo, sir Im loving your choice of words. I'm actually very much looking forward to light mechs. Can you explain wtf is a tag and ecm?

Smurphy's
Sarna

In here is EVERYTHING you need to know about MWO (top link) and Battletech (bottom link).

[Malleus011]

Get two more Black Knights before you do anything else, and at least Elite them. The skill unlocks are worth it even if you wind up selling the other two chassis as redundant. (Mech bays are cheap/earnable in CW, keep them if you can).

I'd also recommend Hunchbacks. They *make* you learn to shield the hunch (as much as you can) and there is a Hunchback variant that does *everything*. The 4G is a rolling AC/20. The 4P is an energy boat. The 4J is a missile boat. The 4SP is a laser/SRM brawler. And the list goes on.

[Tyler Valentine]

TheSABER, on 04 March 2016 - 09:24 AM, said:

Well Im very interested in the King Crab. Is it possible to make it into a sniper of sorts? I'm thinking like gauss rifles (which I have alot of fun with on trial dire wolf). Also, the jagermech, is it just two uac 5s? That seems to be quite the weak loadout.

You can definitely build some NASTY Guass/ERLL King Crab snipers. Very fun 'mech.

You can get 3 U-AC5s on there. You've got an XL but most good Jager builds do and you have the dakka to make people think twice about facing you. No need for backup weapons as the odds of all three jamming are low.

[Lordred]

TheSABER, on 04 March 2016 - 09:30 AM, said:

Omo, sir Im loving your choice of words. I'm actually very much looking forward to light mechs. Can you explain wtf is a tag and ecm?

TAG is Target Acquisition Gear (used for LRM spoting for team mates, cuts through ECM
ECM is Electronic Counter Measures: It is Jesus in a box.

I'm with Allistar, Commandos are a hellish nightmare to play well, but a good commando pilot is a thing to behold. (I use the Commando more then any mech, and it is my mech of choice for the screenshot thread, which is linked in my sig if you want to check out)