41 replies to this topic

[Davegt27]

Been running Clan Mechs for a while so it’s time to work on the POS IS side of the house

I need to update my IS Mech inventory

Last year at this time we were crying for IS ECM Mechs

Now that they have been out for a while what are your thoughts one the Griffin 2N and the Cataphract 0XP

[TercieI]

2N is solid, though slightly inferior to the 3M as a SRM brawler. The 0XP is, like the entire CTF chassis, irrelevant.

[Chados]

Mediocre.

LOL, I had to say it after the "Mediocre" thread! Seriously, though...I don't see a lot of people running the 0XP. I have seen a lot of 2N Griffins, however. I haven't tried either one so I'm not able to comment with relevance.

[Trauglodyte]

Cicada 3M is the best ECM "Light", Griffin is pretty beastly with SRMs and speed. The ECM Cataphract is just odd and the Tempest is an easy kill.

[3xnihilo]

Like others have said, the Grffin is pretty good. The 'phract, I never found a build I liked. I have actually been doing ok in the Tempest myself, but it seems pretty maligned here on the forums. I am not sure that the ecm is good enough on any of them to compensate for their relative weakness to other variants (griffon 3m or I even prefer the champion (2s?), Ilya, and archer 5w are all superior to their ecm variants.). The cicada, spider, and Raven are better for carrying ecm and being a good use of the chassis. (I like the locust too, but I am weird )

Edit: forgot the Atlas d-dc. I am not incredibly familiar with it myself, but it seems to be a good solid mech. Probably the best ecm on a "big" mech for the IS.

Edited by 3xnihilo, 27 March 2016 - 01:26 PM.

[Davegt27]

Ok thanks guys

[Tickdoff Tank]

If you like a heavy ECM mech and have a cataphract 0XP then you can make it work. It is NOT a light mech, it is NOT a flanker. It is NOT a hit an run mech. It is aan Assault support mech. Run it with an AC20 and 4MPL. It hits hard, runs hot, moves well and is quite a bit of fun. Just don't get into a poking battle with it, it is not very good at poking or sniping.

CTF-0XP

[Exilyth]

LCT-PB is great a squirrel.
RVN-3L is great, either as ERLL sniper or w/SRM and ML/MPL.
COM-2D seems to be in a sorry state atm, being outperformed by ACHs, FS and others.
SDR-5D I haven't piloted it yet, but from what I see in matches, it seems to be like a mix between the locust and ACH.

CDA-3M good sniper, but a bit too large to be a medium squirrel
GRF-2N I haven't piloted it yet, but it's on my todo list, nice mix of E & M hardpoints

CTF-0XP I haven't piloted it yet, but whenever I see a CTF, it's usually an Ilya Muromets, so I can't really comment on the 0XP.
ARC-T ninja bunny is not out long enough to say anything about. We'll see when the event is over.

AS7-D-DC plays umbrella for charlie lance nicely, but being an Atlas and a large target (and also an Atlas), it's going to eat a lot of damage the moment anyone sees it. Having a mixed & asymmetrical hardpoint distribution and being slow as [redacted], I'd rather not pilot one. Ever.

Do note: I'm slightly biased towards lights.

Edited by Exilyth, 27 March 2016 - 05:50 PM.

[Karmen Baric]

The Raven 3L is the best IS ECM mech. Is sad the IS has no good heavy ECM mechs,

[Khobai]

ECM should not even grant stealth. That was one of the worst design decisions ever made for the game.

[TercieI]

Karmen Baric, on 27 March 2016 - 06:23 PM, said:

The Raven 3L is the best IS ECM mech. Is sad the IS has no good heavy ECM mechs,

I really don't agree. The 3L isn't even the best RVN, might be the worst (and that's a 3L in my sig, so I don't say this with any joy). I think the GRF-2N is probably the best IS ECM mech. But, by and large, ECM is actually not a big deal at higher levels of play, so it's sortof a silly conversation.

[Livewyr]

Khobai, on 27 March 2016 - 06:25 PM, said:

ECM should not even grant stealth. That was one of the worst design decisions ever made for the game.

It was the beginning of the unimaginative binary balance system.

[El Bandito]

Although 0XP is better than Tempest in my eyes, it is still inferior to the Clan option, the Hellbringer.

[Cyborne Elemental]

Atlas-D-DC, king of the IS hill of garbage.

Locust- lagshield deluxe, not bad on firepower though for 25 tons. (7/10)
Spider- lol..lagshield terrorist (4/10)
Commando - inneffective (2/10)
Raven- still a great scout (7/10)
Griffin- underquirked paper tiger. (5/10)
Cataphract- crap hardpoints, decent structure (5/10)
Archer-T- havn't played (0/0)
Atlas-D-DC- kicks *** thanks to structure (9/10)

[Drifting]

I'm loving my Griffin's, the 3M has better quirks & weapon placment but I use the 2N ecm version the most.
Speed, stealth & SRM's, when it goes right nothing can stop you

[Alistair Winter]

GRF-2N is probably my all time best Inner Sphere mech. It may be a playstyle thing, but it's just full juggernaut-mode.

CTF-0XP is good, but it took me a long time to find a build that worked for me. I'm running 2xLPL, 2xML and Gauss. All other builds were quite average, at least in my hands. I don't like the AC20 on this mech, but ECM lets you snipe at long and mid-range with gauss (and LPL), at least on certain maps.

I wouldn't say the CTF-0XP is a top tier mech, but anyone who says that it's a downright bad mech either have a very wide definition of 'bad' (e.g. all heavy mechs except 2 or 3 are bad), or are simply bad players.

[VirtualSmitty]

The 0XP is a fine mech. I've always had a soft spot for 'phracts though. I run the the short range brawler build of four medium pulse lasers and an ac20. Stick with the assaults!

The Tempest is my best performing Archer. That's not saying much.

The Griffin is probably the best ECM mech the IS has. Nice missile spam platform.

The DDC is an excellent brawler and is tough as nails.

Pirates Bane is a cheeky little light mech. I like it, but I like locusts.

Commando is in a bad place, wouldn't touch it.

Haven't run Spiders or Ravens in years, can't comment on those.

[zagibu]

I like both the Griffin 2N and the Cataphract 0XP. I run the former with 4xSRM4 + 2xMPL and the latter with AC/20 + 4ML.

[Rhaythe]

Slap an AC20 and some medium pulses on the Cataphract with ECM and go have fun.

[zephoidb]

The 0xp is awful. It has a total of 5 weapon hardpoints, 4 on the bottom of its its low slung arms. Even the torso Ballistic, which SHOULD be a high mount, is low. I was so hopeful for the 0xp because of that shoulder mount that was unique to that variant. It has ONE very mediocre build, AC20 and 4x mpl.

http://www.sarna.net...ract_CTF-0X.jpg

Tempest is pretty good with a variety of builds. Probably the best of the sad lot. Raven is also good, though everything it does, the Shadow Cat does just as well or better. The Griffin suffers from a lack of any standout quality. It isn't very tonnage efficient and quirks aren't able to put it into any great builds.