178 replies to this topic

[jper4]

don't really see any trebuchets around-ever. vindis are actually popular compared to them (I saw 2 vindis last week- both AAs). commandos among the lights other than the ecm one are rare.

[StumbleBee]

Tanar, on 09 May 2016 - 05:07 AM, said:

don't really see any trebuchets around-ever. vindis are actually popular compared to them (I saw 2 vindis last week- both AAs). commandos among the lights other than the ecm one are rare.

I see a lot of Trebs, actually -- even in faction play -- and Vidicators and Commandos are regulars, too. I don't know if that's a result of my tier or the server I'm using, though.

[XaxalAndou]

I'll go out on a limb and say that you only see a noticeable of Highlander IICs and Orion IICs not because of any of their inherent virtues, but because the clans are lacking in terms of good Battlemechs (Well, scratch that. Until Bareghost appears, we only have 4 right now. 4 that I honestly think can use some bloody quirks).

[Rogue Jedi]

XaxalAndou, on 09 May 2016 - 11:55 PM, said:

I'll go out on a limb and say that you only see a noticeable of Highlander IICs and Orion IICs not because of any of their inherent virtues, but because the clans are lacking in terms of good Battlemechs (Well, scratch that. Until Bareghost appears, we only have 4 right now. 4 that I honestly think can use some bloody quirks).

I could defiantly agree that the Highlander IIC needs help, the Orion IIC not so much, but a few minor quirks would not hurt.

The Hunchback IIC and especially Jenner IIC are positively overpowered, if they get quirks they should be negative

[Audacious Aubergine]

Rogue Jedi, on 10 May 2016 - 02:53 AM, said:

The Hunchback IIC and especially Jenner IIC are positively overpowered, if they get quirks they should be negative

What makes you say that?

[Valar13]

invernomuto, on 02 May 2016 - 10:43 PM, said:

I'd say Cataphract.
Reason: low hardpoints for weapons (in arms, mostly) and relatively small numbers of energy + ballistic hardpoints that make it hard finding a viable build compared to other "meta-friendly" mechs like the warhammer.
I love them (my 0XP with Gauss and 3 ER-LLs is one of my top performer mech) but I don't see many on the battlefield...

It also has the frontal profile of a pancake, which puts the difficulty of stripping it somewhere between having average aiming skills and having at least one working eye. Doesn't help that some folks think it can get away with an XL (or even worse, that some think the same of Maulers and even Awesomes).

[Rogue Jedi]

Audacious Aubergine, on 10 May 2016 - 03:15 AM, said:

What makes you say that?

because both are exceptionaly effective chassis.

Hunchback IIC is competitive with the very best Medium Mechs, fair enough it is not as durable as Griffin or Stormcrow but it can put out a huge amount of damage very quickly.

as for the Jenner IIC, there is no other chassis able to move 160kph with a 72 point alpha strike(although 5 SRM4 is better than 6SRM6) and it also has Jumpjets, it is one of the most effective chassis in the game for destroying slower (below 95KPH) Mechs, the other variants are not quite as effective but are still as dangerous as the best other Light Mechs, the only thing preventing it from being the best Light Mech is the inherent durability of the human shaped Lights like the Spider, Firestarter and to a lesser extent Arctic Cheetah

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 10 May 2016 - 04:41 AM.

[Audacious Aubergine]

Thought as much. I've had reasonable success with the HBK-IIC and -IIC-C. Quad UAC2 on the IIC with ERML as backups, and double UAC5 with ERLL as second primary on the IIC-C. Can't quite get the gist of the Jenner though

[TercieI]

Rogue Jedi, on 10 May 2016 - 04:36 AM, said:

because both are exceptionaly effective chassis.

Hunchback IIC is competitive with the very best Medium Mechs, fair enough it is not as durable as Griffin or Stormcrow but it can put out a huge amount of damage very quickly.

as for the Jenner IIC, there is no other chassis able to move 160kph with a 72 point alpha strike(although 5 SRM4 is better than 6SRM6) and it also has Jumpjets, it is one of the most effective chassis in the game for destroying slower (below 95KPH) Mechs, the other variants are not quite as effective but are still as dangerous as the best other Light Mechs, the only thing preventing it from being the best Light Mech is the inherent durability of the human shaped Lights like the Spider, Firestarter and to a lesser extent Arctic Cheetah

Both have real strengths and weaknesses though. They're both comp level mechs but situational due to drawbacks. IMO, that's very well balanced.

Also, point of order, the 6SRM6 "dive bomber" build does not go 160 since it needs ammo. 125 (XL255) is more likely. In fact, no really useful JR7-IIC build actually uses the XL315.

[jper4]

StumbleBee, on 09 May 2016 - 07:05 AM, said:

I see a lot of Trebs, actually -- even in faction play -- and Vidicators and Commandos are regulars, too. I don't know if that's a result of my tier or the server I'm using, though.

hmm- i haven't seen a treb in months now. granted I tend to only play thurs-sat most weeks on off peak times so that could play into it. I do have some myself (and the other two as well) but can usually talk myself into playing something else instead pretty easily. I do see commandos- just the ecm one though.

[mad kat]

Vindicator is easily one of the worst but i take pride in driving my 1AA fairly successfully.
Blackjacks used to be grossly underrated and have always been a bit of a die hard fan now they're competitive.
Trebuchet, almost completely ignored now due to gawpy looks very tall and enormous arms.
Dragon, I used to really like them now i just like them. After the recent visualisation changes they've made the primary weapon arm the size of a battleship so now falls off for fun.
Spider, debatably can still do well but the Arctic cheetah and Firestarter have superseded it.
The list wouldn't be complete without mentioning the locust but if you stick at it you can actually get good at it.
Catapult, again debatable but far too easily gimped by the current pinpoint meta.
Awesome could be argued due to its frontal area and low engine cap but i think they're fine.

[jss78]

I'm seeing a surprising number of Trebuchets in Scouting games. My feeling is though that those were mostly rather new players running the trial 'mech with the stock LRM setup.

[TercieI]

jss78, on 10 May 2016 - 07:46 AM, said:

I'm seeing a surprising number of Trebuchets in Scouting games. My feeling is though that those were mostly rather new players running the trial 'mech with the stock LRM setup.

There are a couple good SRMers, but absent tonnage restrictions, no reason to take vs a GRF. The 5J with 3LL/2ML is legitimately good, but not a great fit for scouting.

[paws2sky]

I was going to post a lengthy thing about how the Scouting challenge has seen a bunch of oddball, but effective builds brought out of mothballs. Then I lost it due to a missclick. Oops.

Short version, I was happy to see every IS light and medium mech represented at least once in my 60+ matches. It was refreshing to see such variety, even if it wasn't particularly effective. Tzeentch bless the risk-takers and rebels.

-paws

[TercieI]

paws2sky, on 10 May 2016 - 08:31 AM, said:

I was going to post a lengthy thing about how the Scouting challenge has seen a bunch of oddball, but effective builds brought out of mothballs. Then I lost it due to a missclick. Oops.

Short version, I was happy to see every IS light and medium mech represented at least once in my 60+ matches. It was refreshing to see such variety, even if it wasn't particularly effective. Tzeentch bless the risk-takers and rebels.

-paws

Dang that I'm out of 500MC codes to give away, because this gave me such a smile I would have given you one.

[Fobhopper]

First on the list is undoubtedly the Awesome. Its as wide as a barnyard, moves like a sh*tbrickhouse, The damn thing needs so many quirks and people still dont use it. Not to mention the hero mech is even worse than the standard mechs.

I would put the Catephract in second. Its got terrible hardpoint locations for weapons. Very tiny arms that are worthless for tanking, and it has so very few useful weapon hardpoints.

I would put the Orion in third for unpopular. Not because its ugly (its really damn ugly), but because the weapons/hardpoints just really suck, and its incredibly fragile. the 2C version is a better mech, and even then it only gets occasionally piloted. Its literally been almost a year since the last time I saw someone play an orion in a match.

Gargoyle, not because its a terrible mech (its actually a pretty good mech) its just not as meta as the warhawk or direwolf. Its got decent hardpoints, a slim profile great for spreading damage, and it even has a MASC, yet you hardly ever see anyone actually playing them.

And last but not least, the Summoner. Its just a buttfugly looking piece of machinery. People pretty much only pilot the damn thing because it has an ECM. Without that it would be about as useful as the Orion.

Edited by Fobhopper, 10 May 2016 - 09:14 AM.

[Virlutris]

Fobhopper, on 10 May 2016 - 09:12 AM, said:

And last but not least, the Summoner. Its just a buttfugly looking piece of machinery. People pretty much only pilot the damn thing because it has an ECM. Without that it would be about as useful as the Orion.

Err, no ECM on the Summoner. I only pilot it to troll with streaks these days. It makes me kinda sad

[Husker Dude]

StumbleBee, on 09 May 2016 - 07:05 AM, said:

I see a lot of Trebs, actually -- even in faction play -- and Vidicators and Commandos are regulars, too. I don't know if that's a result of my tier or the server I'm using, though.

All three are Trial mechs right now, I believe, which I think might explain why they're popping up so often.

[Lunatic NEo]

Fobhopper, on 10 May 2016 - 09:12 AM, said:

Gargoyle, not because its a terrible mech (its actually a pretty good mech) its just not as meta as the warhawk or direwolf. Its got decent hardpoints, a slim profile great for spreading damage, and it even has a MASC, yet you hardly ever see anyone actually playing them.

And last but not least, the Summoner. Its just a buttfugly looking piece of machinery. People pretty much only pilot the damn thing because it has an ECM. Without that it would be about as useful as the Orion.

Gargoyle has no MASC and less free tonnage then a Summoner
Summoner has no ECM

[Virlutris]

Lunatic NEo, on 10 May 2016 - 09:43 AM, said:

Gargoyle has no MASC and less free tonnage then a Summoner
Summoner has no ECM

Gargoyle can at least boat lasers to make it Nova-like or Crow-like, or to pair with a big ballistic.

Summoner's even got limited hardpoints on top of the limited tonnage