16 replies to this topic

[Tomo Sukesada]

My brother started playing after a super long break and is looking to pickup one of the better clan heavy mechs. What would you recommend for him?

[SpiralFace]

Timberwolf, Ebon Jag, Hellbringer.

Those are probably the top 3 on clan side right now.

Mad Dog is fun, but fairly niche as either a long range support platform or an ambusher. Not much health on it.

Summoner is fun and I feel kinda under rated, but the big thing it has against it is that it is completely outclassed by the Timberwolf.

Orion IIC is under rated as well, but again, Timberwolf outclasses it with access to JJ's. Although it can throw down a pretty large amount of fire when it wants to. It also looks like it will be overshadowed by the Night Gyr coming out as a mech that does pretty much what the Orion IIC does, but with JJ's and higher weapon mounts.

[Metus regem]

The Timber Wolf is the apex clan heavy, and arguably the best mech in MWO.

After the TImber Wolf I would rank Ebon Jaguar / Hellbringer as the next best. The Ebon Jaguar brings TImber Wolf like Fire power in a smaller chassis, but the Hellbringer brings ECM on the prime LT.... I would consider them side grades to each other, neither is truly better than the other, both of weaknesses, either though hit boxes or heat issues.

[TercieI]

Still the TBR.

[justcallme A S H]

Yeah I have 4 TBRs for FP, all kitted differently. Love them.

That said I do wanna get some HBRs simply for that ECM as often people overlook what they cannot see light up on their map, even if they are looking at it. NFI why, just how it is.

[Stormie]

Id rate Ebon>Timby>Hellbringer and I'm expecting the Night Gyr to slot in at Number 1 on release.

[Rogue Jedi]

I agree with the others, TBR is the best all round Mech,

Ebon has more free tonnage and relatively higher mounted weapons making it a better sniper

If you want lots of missiles the Mad Dog is better

If you place great value on ECM you want the Helbringer

If you want to trade speed for payload space take the Orion IIC

If you want to jump high take the summoner

If you want a fast, agile, heavily armed and armored Mech
Which the enemy will target before almost any other Mech take the Timber Wolf

[mailin]

Rogue Jedi, on 21 July 2016 - 09:54 PM, said:

I agree with the others, TBR is the best all round Mech,


If you want a fast, agile, heavily armed and armored Mech
Which the enemy will target before almost any other Mech take the Timber Wolf

The only mechs that get focused before Timberwolves are assaults. That alone should tell you something.

[ImperialKnight]

Timberwolf is the best Clan Heavy.

Hellbringer has more utility due to ECM capability.

EBJ is good but why take a EBJ when you can take a TBR? It has 1 more ton of pod space, but it still melts like a 65 tonner. And it's not JJ capable.

But a TBR comes with a lot of baggage when it's the best. If you run crappy builds or don't pull your weight, you catch a lot of flak from your "team"

Edited by knightsljx, 23 July 2016 - 05:57 AM.

[Aerei]

So a lot of people are mentioning the big three. I want to break down the pros and cons a little more. I'll try to keep it short for readability's sake.

Timber Wolf is versatile, a solid laser vomit or brawler mech. It's jumpjet capable, unlike the other two, and its got a really good alpha, especially for a heavy.
On the other hand, it has negative torso twist quirks for the side torso with jumpjets, and it's high mounted laser ST also has negative torso twist quirks. If you run both of these, you're looking at a -20% twist speed.

Ebon Jag has the pod space, as others noted, and it sports multiple high mounts with no penalty, both ballistic, and energy. This allows you to peek over a hill pretty easily with minimal exposure, and just lay into the other guy.
On the other hand, it does lack jumpjets.

Hellbringer has ECM, and decent speed.
On the other hand, its alpha, while respectable, isn't going to be as strong as the TImberwolf, and its mounts aren't as good as the Ebon Jaguar.


It's important to note that none of these mechs should be a letdown for your friend. They all got a lot of power, decent speed, and can lay down good damage. Your friend's weapon preference matters too--Ebon Jag is a better Dakka mech than the other two, but the ECM might be good on a Hellbringer if he wants to play peekaboo with an AC 20. So far as chassis go: take the Timber Wolf for the most flexibility, take the Ebon Jag if high mounts are a big deal--or if jumpjets aren't a big deal to him, or take the Hellbringer if he likes the idea of a good heavy with ECM, or is sick to death of LRMs.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

Aerei, on 23 July 2016 - 07:00 AM, said:

Hellbringer has ECM, and decent speed.
On the other hand, its alpha, while respectable, isn't going to be as strong as the TImberwolf, and its mounts aren't as good as the Ebon Jaguar.

With the exception of its arms, the HBR has nothing but high mounts. HBR does not have the high mounted weapon pods, but this is compensated for by having superior hit boxes (ie - you wont get a st shot off because it was poking above cover).

2LPL and 4er ML (or 3 if youre the conservative type) hit just as hard on the HBR as they do on anything else. The TBR and EBJ will usually have the advantage of being a touch more heat efficient. On ballance, weapon location and thus convergance will be superior on the HBR, especially for side poking.

Where the HBR does not shine as much as the TBR and EBJ are missile and ballistic builds.

That said, I personally favor the HBR. At least for laser vomit. However, TBR is still the undisputed king. It can fill almost any role in the game and do it incredibly well.

[B L O O D W I T C H]

Summoner!

*ducks into cover*

[S 0 L E N Y A]

Toha Heavy Industries, on 23 July 2016 - 01:56 PM, said:

Summoner!

*ducks into cover*

Lulz.
Trolololo.
Though there seems to be a contingent here that think the KitFox is a good mech, so why not the summoner too?

[B L O O D W I T C H]

Boogie138, on 23 July 2016 - 02:18 PM, said:

Lulz.
Trolololo.
Though there seems to be a contingent here that think the KitFox is a good mech, so why not the summoner too?

Both aren't near as bad as popular opinons depicture them. It's just that they simply get outshined by other clan'mechs in their weightclasses.

[SpiralFace]

Toha Heavy Industries, on 23 July 2016 - 02:35 PM, said:

Both aren't near as bad as popular opinons depicture them. It's just that they simply get outshined by other clan'mechs in their weightclasses.

Pretty much.

Kit fox would be actually "decent" if the Arctic Cheeta wasn't simply the better choice in the 30 ton weight bracket, while the Summoner is outclassed by the timberwolf being just 5 tons more then it is.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

SpiralFace, on 23 July 2016 - 04:11 PM, said:

Kit fox would be actually "decent" if the Arctic Cheeta wasn't simply the better choice in the 30 ton weight bracket, while the Summoner is outclassed by the timberwolf being just 5 tons more then it is.

Summoner is outclassed by damn near everything smaller than it as well. It is starved for hardpoints. The majority of its hardpoints are in terrible positions (low arm mounts) and the mech is starved for tonnage. HunchbackIIc, Stormcrow and Nova all outgun the summoner. Does not fit a single role that something lighter than it does either just as well, if not much better.

[Lukoi Banacek]

TBR is the best all-arounder.

EBJ is a better hill humper, potential sniper (debatable) and capable of higher offense ime.

HBR is a great high mount option that has ECM capability, that gives it a generalist bent with a niche capability.

Summoner.....meh as a poptart, solid SRM brawler, but overall doesn't outshine any of the above in any area they own. Maddog is a fun mech but more limited than the rest. Can be alot of fun as an LRM harasser, SRM brawler (doesn't shine here as well imo), streaker, even a bit of low-arm gauss sniping. But not near the top of the heap in any case. O2C I cannot comment on as I've yet to run it, but it looks about middle of the road.

For a relatively new player, I always recommend the TBR's jack of all trades excellence as the best newbie-choice.