15 replies to this topic

[Morticulae]

Hallo all.

So I've been playing for a little while, finished my cadet missions and tried out most of the trial mechs. Hitting the point where I want to try the real meat of the game, and find a mech all of my very own to love, to cherish, and to blow the unholy crap out of people with.

Things I've learned about myself so far:

1. I hate, hate, HATE assaults. Dire Wolf is a bullet magnet that I've managed to have 0 damage matches with, and the other three aren't much better.
2. Heavies are... ok. I've had reasonable matches with the TBR and EBJ, but they're just a little dull.
3. The Locust gave me speed addiction.
4. My best results have been in the Shadowcat and Arctic Cheetah.

I like speed, I like to be able to pack a punch, and I value being able to escape trouble more than survive it. Murdering people with no peripheral vision, driving Atlases crazy, nipping the heels of Direwolves, getting scouts, harassing bases... that's my jam.

So I've been greatly tempted to just go ahead and buy a Shadowcat. Several folks in my unit (who are rather more experienced than me) run SHCs of various flavours on a regular basis. Given how expensive mechs are though, and the importance of Elite skilling, I want to get some feedback on what people would suggest in the light and medium categories, both chassis and variant-wise.

All feedback welcome!

[Fox With A Shotgun]

Lolcusts sharpen your skills for any other mech in the game. I'd suggest getting that first, and then worrying about other mechs later.

Seriously. Nothing else sharpens your map awareness, aim and general mech piloting ability as much as a Locust.

[Morticulae]

The Locust is definitely the machine I fell in love with first. I've heard some mixed reports about it, though, so I wasn't sure how much I'd just be shooting myself in the foot...

[Fox With A Shotgun]

Morticulae, on 07 April 2016 - 09:10 PM, said:

The Locust is definitely the machine I fell in love with first. I've heard some mixed reports about it, though, so I wasn't sure how much I'd just be shooting myself in the foot...

People who say it's not a very good mech haven't learned the finer points of piloting lights. It's the most unforgiving ride you can have in this game, but it can and will do amazing things in the hands of a trained pilot. Simply put, it might have paper for armour, but it does have a massive engine and absolutely tiny hitboxes. Add that to a respectable amount of firepower (6x SPL on the LCT-1E is no slouch, and neither is a single LPL on 2-second cooldown in the LCT-1V) and you've got a recipe for a murderous little mech.

Edited by Fox With A Shotgun, 07 April 2016 - 09:21 PM.

[Rhavin]

Locusts pilots are insane, right up there with spider pilots. Can buy 3 cheap and then upgrade to xl engine and swap it around as needed.

If you like the Shadow Cat grab one, it's highly underrated little bugger. Arctic Cheetah is a little beast as well. See quite a few games end with either being the last mech standing after finishing off a larger enemy force.

If you buy the AC I would suggest purchasing the C variant and then purchasing the Prime variant left torso omnipod to get your ecm fix. That gives you 6 energy hardpoints to work with and saves you quite a bit as the prime variant only has 4 energy and 2 missile pods. Depends on how you want to build it though.

On the Shadow Cat I would grab the B variant for ECM and buy a Prime right torso. That gives you 3 energy 2 missile and allows you to build the 2 most common configurations with least amount of cbills spent.

Of course if you have the cbills to buy 2 of each then buy both variants I suggested and strip and rebuild as needed.

[John1352]

The Arctic Cheetah is very good in quick play matches, I would say it is the best light mech for that purpose. A few ideas are: 2 ERML in the side torsos for peeking, ECM and your preferred red lasers in the arms. 5 or 6 small pulse lasers and ECM. 4 ERSL and 2 SRM6 with ECM.

You'll get a bit attached to ECM, but it will be really helpful in the short term. (avoiding missiles and being sneaky)

Shadowcat is somewhat energy hardpoint starved, it's certainly got potential though.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Agree with the above advice so far. I'd like to add:

JR7-IIC, ALL VARIANTS. Should be considerably less expensive than the SHC. Each carries a cXL315 engine, and is plain STUPIDLY fast. Also, they're not OMNImechs, so you're not stuck with the full locked JJs, and you can swap engines. They're basically Clan-tech versions of the IS JR7s, hardpoint-for-hardpoint in 3 cases (the JR7-IIC(O) is a faster Oxide with more M points and JJs, and without the quirks). You want your Locust-like speed fix, AND a lot more armor/structure, AND superior Clan weapons? JR7-IICs are the way to go.

[Morticulae]

Sister RAbbi, on 07 April 2016 - 10:37 PM, said:

Agree with the above advice so far. I'd like to add:

JR7-IIC, ALL VARIANTS. Should be considerably less expensive than the SHC. Each carries a cXL315 engine, and is plain STUPIDLY fast. Also, they're not OMNImechs, so you're not stuck with the full locked JJs, and you can swap engines. They're basically Clan-tech versions of the IS JR7s, hardpoint-for-hardpoint in 3 cases (the JR7-IIC(O) is a faster Oxide with more M points and JJs, and without the quirks). You want your Locust-like speed fix, AND a lot more armor/structure, AND superior Clan weapons? JR7-IICs are the way to go.

Just looked through the stats for the JR7-IICs... trying not to drool. The 6-missile variant looks hilarious. Plus I love the design, I can't help finding the more humanoid mechs a little dorky.

[Cyrilis]

consider this one:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...05cd65490e52f57

It is as combustilble as a dry christmas tree, but once you learn to handle the combination of 7.5 tons of ammo and an XL engine (and yes, it is possible), this baby might become the love of your life. I am usually doing ~350 to 500 damage in an average quick play game. With this one I get 800+ games regularly.

[Cyrilis]

Rhavin, on 07 April 2016 - 09:48 PM, said:

Locusts pilots are insane, right up there with spider pilots.

Edited by Cyrilis, 07 April 2016 - 10:59 PM.

[Morticulae]

Cyrilis, on 07 April 2016 - 10:55 PM, said:

Accurate representation of my first time in a Locust.

[Rogue Jedi]

you are currently with Clan Wolf, and almost all the Mechs you mentioned are Clan MEchs, are you strictly after Clan or are you planning on playing both Clan and Inner Sphere,

if Clan only then the Jenner IIC could be exactly what you are looking for, it can be significantly faster than the ACH, can outgun some assualts and can have a decent number of hardpoints, and it completely outclasses the Inner Sphere Jenner, on which it was based in every way. the only real downsides are, you have to make some compromises if you want that 72 point alpha strike, ^{(you cannot have max speed, 6 SRMs, adiquate ammo and sufiscent Jumpjets to do much more than clear gravel)} it can run hot and cannot take ECM, as it is a Battlemech you can change the engine, armor type structure type ect. however that does make it more expensive to outfit than the ACH.

as you said you prefer non huminoid Mechs that throws out half of the sugestions I was going to give for IS (Spider, Wolfhound Firestarter) leaving just Locust, Jenner or Raven
.
the Locust is realy fast and agile ^{(assuming you add a large enough engine)} it has excelent acceleration and deceleration and outguns most of the Lights under 35 tons ^{(Spider, Commando, Myst Lynx, Urbanmech)}. the main downside is minimal armor, it is not possible to set up the armor to guarentee you will survive an AC20 hit.

Jenner is fast ^{(although cannot be as fast as the Jenner IIC, Comando, Spider, 1 varient of the Wolfhound, or the Locust with max engine)}, agile and well armed for its size ^{(but it is outgunned by the ACH, FS9 and JR7-IIC)}, compaired to the Spider, Firestarter and Arctic Cheetah it is rather fragile due to it taking most damage to the Center Torso ^{(although not nearly as bad as it used to be, where it was almost impossible to hit the sides)}

Raven has an ECM option on the 3L,the 3L can be almost as fast as the Jenner but the other 2 cbill varients are a fair bit slower, the Raven varlents can be built for almost anything but the 2 ERLL harrasser seems to be the most popular build.

as for the huminoid Mechs,
the Spider is lightly armed but realy fast with a lot of Jumpjets, it also has some of the best hitboxes in the game making it able to withstand a lot of damage and it has an ECM varient.

the Firestarter hs heavily armed, has pretty good hitboxes, not quite as good as the Spider but still pretty good, can jump, probably the best combat light, its combination of firepower and durability in my opinion trumps the firepower advantage the Jenner IIC has, the agility advantage of the Jenner, the mobility and ECM advantage of the Spider, and the ECM of the ACH.

the Wolfhound is one of the few Lights which works well with a standard engine, no Jumpjets or ECM are available however with max engine one varient can match the Jenner IIC for speed and as it is Standard engine freindly it can be built much cheeper than most other Light Battlemechs, while a Spider, Jenner or Firestarter will cost you 10 million to buy and outfit you can setup a Wolfhound for 6.5 million

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 08 April 2016 - 12:06 AM.

[Morticulae]

Great overview! In terms of IS vs Clan, that's mostly down to preferring the Clan handling out of the mechs currently on trial, I'm not going to flat out say 'no' to anything.

The FS9 has caught my attention before with its wealth of hardpoints; up to 8 guns on a light is pretty insane, although I imagine you start running into heat issues pretty fast. I think the Jenner IIC is my favourite of the boats on the table, due to flexibility of variants and higher speed than the Firestarter.

What about going up a notch to scout mediums? SHC handles like a slower light, a little hardpoint starved but has the tonnage to fit heavier weapons to those slots. How do machines like the Cicada fare?

[Jaguaar]

I had a much different path when I started. I avoided light mechs like the plague because of how unforgiving they are. (Oh and how much I SUCKED as a pilot..LOL) I started with a Hunchie and then once I understood not to just stand toe to toe with the other sides mechs, I got (my favorite mech right now) a Timberwolf. I understand Heavies and Assaults aren't for everyone but I have definitely learned how to fire and "MOVE"!!! lol I would vote for the Timberwolf since it's got Omnipods that will allow you to change the mechs role like tides coming in and out. The TBR has definitely taught me a good bit about mech building since it can almost be/do anything and with a top speed of 89kph.... It's pretty damn fast for a Heavy.
If you really want to go lights, the other posters have some pretty awesome insight.

Good luck!!!

[Morticulae]

First match with the Jenner IIC (O). One-shotted a Firestarter, hounded a Warhammer to death and chewed on a Stormcrow for good measure. Think I found my machine. Thanks all!

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Aren't they just GLORIOUSLY fun?!