14 replies to this topic

[Duskmane]

Have any of you guys experienced this phenomenon?

You will buy a new mech to try it out. You run some builds on it, and don't like it. So you put it down for a bit. Then one day you come back to it and say "let me try this weird thing" and then the chassis comes alive?

Example: I purchased the Shadowcat. It runs fast, has lots o jump jets, MASC and ECM, how can you go wrong with this thing?

-I tried the usual laser vomit builds, "override engaged".
-I tried LRMing (that should be a verb if is not), "LRM ammo depleted".
-I even tried LBX since one arm had quirks for it, "Dakka arm destroyed"
-If the enemy team even glanced my direction, "<insert important part> critical damage"

I hated the chassis. I would be in a match and ask myself why I bought this fragile piece of junk. I was contemplating selling them off (yes I bought a set of three). The only thing it seemed good for was covering other mechs with ECM, possibly the shadow part of the cat.

Then the other night something magical happened, I saw this random build on the forum here. I put an ER PPC on it and some SSRMs.

Holy frack!! I can snipe with this chassis. It can boost around behind the enemy team and actally do enough damage to make them chase me. It can hang with the assaults and chase lights away. I has since actually turned the tide of a few matches, by sowing confusion amongst the enemy. It can even brawl a little bit, since this thing has a shield side. I absolutely love this thing now. The mech is now living up to its name, pouncing around the battlefield with its claws out. I am now really looking forward to getting it elited.

Is it always this way with a new mech, you just keep running builds till it clicks?

Edited by Thornlky7, 30 March 2016 - 07:41 AM.

[ImperialKnight]

pretty much it.

and the builds will change as you tier up. single ERPPC and SSRMs may work for now, until you meet the really good light pilots that will hunt you down and chew your leg off in 2 alphas and run rings around you, not allowing you to lock on with SSRMs.

[Tim East]

Thornlky7, on 30 March 2016 - 07:37 AM, said:

Is it always this way with a new mech, you just keep running builds till it clicks?

In my experience, yes. Sometimes I get lucky and the first thing I try works, but a lot of the time it takes a few iterations to find a loadout I like for any given 'Mech.

I actually had many of the same problems you did with Shadowcats, and still haven't elited them since I got side-tracked with Archers. The builds I'm currently running are way different from my usual stuff, but they work better for me than the standard/meta.

[Sonny Black]

Quote

Have any of you guys experienced this phenomenon?

Been there...Done that....Got the T-shirt.

[Morggo]

Yep, other than the Marauders (they just clicked instantly for me) pretty much all my other chassis went through a "dismal" period.
I don't know if it is more a factor of trying out builds until one meshes with you playstyle, quirks, and loadout to make it shine finally. Or if it is a factor of a pilot's natural upward progression of experience and you're just "better" the next time you pick up the chassis down the road.

But yeah, I've experienced the same phenomenon.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

I used to a lot
. Sometimes still happens but not very common anymore for me.

Somewhere around mech 40 I found my ability to "theory craft" just by looking at its hardware and hardpoint locations on a new mech that I did not own yet became quite good.

If anything on rare occasion I might stumble across an alternative build to what I was already running, but rarely anything substantially better than my primary build.

[Rogue Jedi]

That has that happened to me many times.

I buy the Mech and cannot find a good build for it so put it to one side, then a few months, a year, 2 years later I suddently have a random idea or see someone running something in game and think well that looks interesting, try it, then the Mech becomes one of my favorites.

The most notable example in my case is the Spider, I purchased the SDR-5D andtried a few things on it not long after the Spider was first released, but could not make it work so left it alone for a while, maybe a year later the Firestarter was released I piloted it and enjoyed it then decided to give the Spider another chance, after figuring out the Firestarter the Spider realy came alive for me. For almost 2 years the Spider was my favorite chassis ^{(I love all variants except the SDR-A Hero Mech, I have not been able to make that variant work)}. The Spider was recently replaced in that capacity by the Warhammer WHM-BW.

[Ryokens leap]

Hey Thorn, that is exactly what i use the Shadowcat for. Get in behind the enemy and be an irritant. I run either 2 ermedlas, 3 ssrm4, CAP and ECM with SSRM cool down and range modules, or 2 medpulse with 3 ssrm. If i can use the whole ammo load it usually will pull 700 damage, the angles u can get with the great jump ability makes all the difference. Try to draw as many red team away and let ur team know when red team main body is weakened for them to push. Getting behind enemy lines is risky but very exciting and the Shadowcats speed and agility will usually afford a safe escape.

[Tru3insanity]

I actually got the shadowcat as my second mech and i absolutely love it to death. I am still a very new player but i love running it behind enemy lines as a harrasser so i can divide the enemys focus. I did something similar but decided i was gunna run 2 regular SRM 6s (they get better dps if you can aim) and an er PPC. I had a really epic game in it on conquest on tourmaline desert once where i killed 3 people, ~700 damage and it was me and at the end it was me and another guy VS 6 people (2 of my kills were out of the 6) and we capped out their superior force and won. I love the speed and flanking potential of this mech. Jumpjets good enough to vault over any terrain and you can do amusing things with MASC. Like angle your mech perpedicular across their FOV and right as they fire use MASC to insta reverse in the opposite direction. Can really troll laser vomit that way.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Ryokens leap, on 30 March 2016 - 11:01 AM, said:

Hey Thorn, that is exactly what i use the Shadowcat for. Get in behind the enemy and be an irritant. I run either 2 ermedlas, 3 ssrm4, CAP and ECM with SSRM cool down and range modules, or 2 medpulse with 3 ssrm. If i can use the whole ammo load it usually will pull 700 damage, the angles u can get with the great jump ability makes all the difference. Try to draw as many red team away and let ur team know when red team main body is weakened for them to push. Getting behind enemy lines is risky but very exciting and the Shadowcats speed and agility will usually afford a safe escape.

Just curious: Why CAP and ECM together?

OP: Shadow Cat is like that. I got lucky and found a build I liked right away. Battlemaster, though, is another story entirely. Bought (preordered, actually) the Phoenix package, OVERLORD with SABRE reinforcements. Had the Battlemaster first-day. Other than derping a BattleStar because I could, I never blew the dust off the thing because I simply couldn't get comfortable in it at all. A couple years later, though, I've MASTERed two of them, and I dearly LOVE them in CW. Even have some fun with the BLR-2C in PUG drops now and then. (Hint: XL400 is worth every CBill.)

[Ryokens leap]

^^ to get ssrm lock when in ECM counter mode and there are multiple enemy ECM.

[Rogue Jedi]

Sister RAbbi, on 01 April 2016 - 09:57 PM, said:

Just curious: Why CAP and ECM together?

Ryokens leap, on 02 April 2016 - 06:11 AM, said:

^^ to get ssrm lock when in ECM counter mode and there are multiple enemy ECM.

That would not work.
AP + ECM only counters a single ECM when the ECM is set to counter, it does not counter when the ECM is providing ECM cover or counter 2 ECM if set to counter

[JC Daxion]

I've played many mechs that took me 100 matches before i found something i liked and it finally clicked

[Ryokens leap]

Ya thats what i thought as well. Someone told me different and to try it and my damage numbers went up. I switched back and forth with CAP no CAP builds and the numbers were always better with CAP. Dunno maybe space magic.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Ryokens leap, on 02 April 2016 - 08:05 AM, said:

Ya thats what i thought as well. Someone told me different and to try it and my damage numbers went up. I switched back and forth with CAP no CAP builds and the numbers were always better with CAP. Dunno maybe space magic.

Well, I assume the AP's buff to lock times is a bonus. THAT could have a significant effect on damage output in a match. But then, dump 250,000 Space Bucks on Artemis for your Streaks, and you're in business with a ton and a critical slot freed up anyhow. Huh...

This deserves some investigation, if you're having some real and significant improvement from the presence of AP on a mech with ECM in COUNTER. I wonder...