35 replies to this topic

[JC Daxion]

LikeUntoGod, on 09 July 2016 - 01:58 PM, said:

I kill myself winning the Crab and the Catapult in the event because i now need IS Mechs and the funkers put the other two of each that I need on sale. (which is really kind of cool)

Ummm crab and Catapults are also on sale... along with the mad dog.. basically all those event mechs are on sale i think.. http://mwomercs.com/...-frontline-sale

[Sadistic Savior]

mailin, on 11 July 2016 - 03:24 AM, said:

I must wholeheartedly disagree with these statements. I can take down any assault in a direct brawl with my Nova build. I have in fact single-handedly taken down 2 and nearly killed a third on numerous occasions. You just need to play it smart. And, they are certainly NOT energy specialist builds. Just because they don't have missiles doesn't mean you can only run energy.

Then the assault player is not very good. I soloed a Nova today actually, in a King Crab. Literally with one hand tied behind my back (had LRMs as half my armament, so could only use lasers). Yes, he tried Machine gunning me too. But my armor was too thick. He did get to internals in some areas, but ultimately, I won.

I've owned Novas before. I got rid of them because I could do the same thing in a heavier mech...they didn't have any real assets. I am sure there are excellent Nova pilots out there, but I would not describe it as a noob-friendly chassis. It was the first Clan chassis I bought...basically because it was cheaper than the ones I really wanted.

The main reason to buy a Nova is so you can spam medium or small laser alphas (lots of energy hardpoints). That is why I describe them as an energy specialist mech. If you run ACs with them you will risk ammo explosions since they don't have great armor or great speed.

Quote

As a bit of anecdotal evidence, my very first drop in my Nova build, which means I had ZERO mech XP in it, I got 5 kills. The second drop, I got 8 kills. You just need to be patient with it and not get tunnel vision. Those MGs and small pulse lasers are a crit seeker's wet dream.

Then, IMO, either you're lucky or good...or both. Most Nova players are not like that. I am not seeing Nova pilots leading in kills in the games I play. Definitely not in FP.

To me it's not a question as to whether they can be effective...there are no chassis in the game that are ineffective with the right pilot. I just don't think it's a great chassis for a beginner.

[Koniving]

Rampage, on 09 July 2016 - 06:34 PM, said:

No Jump capability??

It jumps.

o.o Dunno why Sadistic Savior said that, I was practically hopscotching around the day before yesterday.

DistilledPotato, on 10 July 2016 - 08:49 AM, said:

I've been enjoying the stormcrow too! Feels odd not having jump jets though. Can you tell me what makes it a better choice?

Stormcrows are insanely fast (97 kph), very well equipped (Ferro armor and Endo Steel structure, plenty of double heatsinks hardwired in and lots of good, diverse hardpoints). All of its weapons are nearly in line with the cockpit's height, meaning easy hilltop cresting and shooting without "shoot the ground" syndrome.
Nova on the other hand is slower (81 kph), were once larger than stormcrows (fixed now with the rescale) Arms hang kinda low (not too low and much better than before), weapon options are a bit more limited and extremely focused on the arms, it may be a short target but it is a wide one. Broad profile makes it easy to pelt from the side.

There are many ways to build a stormcrow.

This one for example sports a machine gun, small pulse laser both for low heat close defense, twin medium pulse lasers for somewhat extended punch and an ER PPC to hammer foes from afar and pests up close.


This one is built with 3 Streaks on the torsos, an SRM-6 in the left arm and multiple lasers (one in the head, two on the right arm).
--------------

This is from Saturday the 9th in my Nova.

Granted part of the earnings is premium time (50% cbill and XP bonus) and it being the Loyalty edition Nova (like special editions and heroes, gives 30% cbill bonus), I had a phenomenal set of good matches. In this match I maneuvered behind the main enemy battleforce and began attacking enemies both smaller and larger, away from the groups and picking them off with the help of some crazy little suicidal Locust. LRM-20 in one arm. 6 Small Pulse Lasers on the other arm, 4 MGs on the torsos.

Good fun. High risks.

On an Alpine match I had a good run, too, I flanked the enemies from the side and went largely unnoticed while behind a hill that if the enemy crested, would put them in an open firing line with most of my team and would quickly lead to their slaughter. So even when I was discovered I was mostly safe, and when the fight had gone far enough in our favor I leaped from my cover, tore through nearby enemies that were weak and marched on to meet up with the main front liners who were attempting to charge enemy defensive lines. Since I was already behind those lines, I had a rather easy time.

Novas are worth it.
Are they the best? No.
But totally worth it.

Edited by Koniving, 11 July 2016 - 05:40 PM.

[JC Daxion]

I'd save yes, for the simple fact that 18m gets you 3 clan mediums I have not played them but a few matches, but i bought 2 last jan, and just grabbed my third. They are basically energy boats with jump jets, that don't move terribly fast. If that is something you might enjoy go for it.. (i have played similar IS mechs, and they work well)

It will defiantly teach you heat management skills.

Good mechs to long range jump snipe, and to hug the assaults for protection from lights, and mediums, and to support ambush with the brawlers to pack on max damage.

Edited by JC Daxion, 11 July 2016 - 04:40 PM.

[Cy Mitchell]

Koniving, on 11 July 2016 - 04:35 PM, said:

Novas are worth it.
Are they the best? No.
But totally worth it.

Nova and Hellbringer are my two favorite Mechs. Neither are considered the best. Maybe that is why I like them. I had a match score in my Nova Prime(I) almost identical to the one you posted for your Stormcrow. 3 Kills, 4 assist, 675 damage, 300K+ C-Bills and 3200+ EXP with Premium, Tourney supporter and Mech bonus. The build is my own and not listed on any meta site. Somehow the build and the Mech have finally just clicked with me like the Stormcrow never really did. One of these days I will even dig myself out of the KDR pit I dug for myself when experimenting with Mechs and learning to play the game.

Definitely worth the buy. Only one day left to grab them if you want them.

[Koniving]

Rampage, on 11 July 2016 - 05:03 PM, said:

I had a match score in my Nova Prime(I) almost identical to the one you posted for your Stormcrow. 3 Kills, 4 assist, 675 damage, 300K+ C-Bills.

That score's for my Nova, actually. The Nova D (L)oyalty version.

[Cy Mitchell]

I read that and still wrote my post as if it was the Stormcrow. OK, that shows that the Nova rocks (even in my hands)!

[mailin]

You really need to practice patients in a Nova. Also, and I can't stress this enough, know where to hit your enemy. This means, locking your target, preferably before getting some quality face time.

Going up against a fully armored assault in a Nova is a pretty bad idea. But, if he's a little soft and you can hit that spot, especially if it's a side torso in a clan mech, you can pretty dramatically shift the odds in your favor.

I'll take the Nova's jump jets over the speed of a Stormcrow any day.

To comment on Sadistic Saviors point about taking a Nova in FW, I honestly can't speak to that. I don't play FW for lots of reasons.

[50 50]

Nova was the first clan mech I picked up.
Initially I found it very difficult and frustrating to use. Didn't seem to be able to dish out the damage, was very hot to run, not as fast....
Through persistence and stubbornness I did work them out and very rarely pilot anything else now.

Given you have been enjoying the Shadowcat and the Stormcrow, you might find the Nova slow by comparison.
Not as fast as either.
Lacks the ECM of the Shadowcat.
Not as tough as the Stormcrow.
It can pack an impressive number of weapons but it runs hot, often very hot.

Whether it is worth getting at this stage or picking up other Shadowcat/Stormcrow variants so you can master them is debatable, but it is a good mech and with the sale a bargain.

[Tier5 Kerensky]

Nova-S is the first decent mech I bought, and I've played it often as it was my only good mech so far till these current sales.

I think most newbies like me want to try out different weapons, and since Mechs, specially clan mechs, are pretty expensive, you would want to have a versatile platform for them.

I considered buying another Nova after Mad Dog, but I came to think, it doesn't offer really much versaility with different builds, to want a second one. You can choose between ER and pulse lasers, small to large, but not much else. So instead, I bought second Mad Dog along with the first, to try out LRM and SRM combinations with different lasers and eventually ballistic weapons too.

So for a new player I think one Nova is good. Laser builds don't run out of ammo. From my experience with Nova-S I think Nova-Prime might had been slightly better. Once I get more C-Bills I'll build my Nova with mixed omnipods to get more heat redusing quirks.

I think, specially for faction play scout missions, Novas lack speed. If I would have another medium or good light mech, it would not be a problem, of course.

[justcallme A S H]

Sadistic Savior, on 09 July 2016 - 06:31 PM, said:

It will be awful at brawling or support.

Why are Nova's becoming more common in scouting now? Cause they brawl and brawl HARD.

With the 10SPL build you're doing 66 points of targeted damage, more way more heat efficient 9SPL build/use quirks. It's devastating when you positing yourself right. You must use terrain/cover/JJs to the advantage though. JJ on Canyon, unload your payload and fall back down and if you don't strip a component almost time, you're spreading the damage too much.

Or with 8SPL/4MG, an incredibly nasty brawler, it's one of my fav Med brawler mechs right now.

That said you want to brawl a Hvy/Assault, you'll lose. But that is just armour count, you can 1 on 1 any other Med and do well in most engagements.

[Audacious Aubergine]

One of my more memorable kills was in the loyalty Nova packing nothing but a UAC20 and ERML. Saw a Dire Wolf in the distance, sprinted towards it, jump jetted over some buildings and unloaded at him on the way down and was considerably surprised to see him die. So yeah, they're fun even with a grand total of two weapons - and this was BEFORE the rescale too when they were "too big".
Short answer? Yes, I think they're worth it

[Sadistic Savior]

R31Nismoid, on 11 July 2016 - 09:33 PM, said:

That said you want to brawl a Hvy/Assault, you'll lose. But that is just armour count, you can 1 on 1 any other Med and do well in most engagements.

If you can't brawl the best brawlers (which are Heavy/Assaults), then it's not a good Brawler.

What you are describing is not a brawler to me...it's a striker. A glass hammer. High Damage alphas and good speed/maneuverability, but bad armor. A mech like that cannot brawl, because brawler mechs do high damage and can absorb high damage.

Strikers cannot solo brawlers because they can't take the damage, and are not fast enough to avoid it. They need a real brawler acting as a tank.

[Koniving]

Fix to said armor problem

2 rear torsos. Rest armor funneled to the front.
Enjoy your tankiness, it will compare to a mech of 75 tons.

[JC Daxion]

Teer5, on 11 July 2016 - 09:28 PM, said:

I considered buying another Nova after Mad Dog, but I came to think, it doesn't offer really much versaility with different builds, to want a second one. You can choose between ER and pulse lasers, small to large, but not much else. So instead, I bought second Mad Dog along with the first, to try out LRM and SRM combinations with different lasers and eventually ballistic weapons too.

well your gonna want 3 eventually anyway.. the elite unlocks are a huge bonus to most mechs, and the heat bonus on the nova are a must.. Some people sell off 2, and keep the one they want, but for me, they cost so much in the end it is not worth my time to sell um, if down the road i happen to want a particular mech because it has changed.. Spending 15 bucks on a mech bay sale and stocking up to me is a far better use of my time, verse spending a month or so regrinding c-bills just to rebuy a mech. (especially clanners) Some IS mechs i can see selling, sorta, because they might take a good day of playing to get, and upgrade, but then again, that same money id rather just use to buy modules, or get another engine or something.

15 bucks, with a mechbay sale gets you 20+ bays, will take a long time to fill them

[Koniving]

So. During the sale I boasted Novas... and got Crabs.

Yay Crab sale!
So far I'm on the fence with them. Pure energy boats are a bit problematic for me.

Definitely must say they tank well.