16 replies to this topic

[AncientRaig]

So, I've recently gotten back into Mechwarrior Online after an extended absence due to lost interest. The last time I played this game for any serious length of time was when the Clans Wave III released, over a year ago. Since then, quite a few new mechs have been added, there have been some gameplay changes, and long story short, I rarely see any of the original IS mechs, the ones before the first wave of Clan mechs, in matches any more, outside of the Locust and occasional Raven. Many of my favorite mechs are in there, and I'm wondering how viable these machines are these days, not just in the metagame but in general. Is the new blood so utterly superior that there's no good reason to run the old guard? Or are people just caught up in the "pretty, pretty, shiny, shiny" effect that new additions to games like MWO tend to cause?

[Ronan]

I see a lot of the older mechs still. Especially Hunchbacks. I just now got done with the only two matches I had time for tonight, both in my HBK4G. Ran mostly my Atlas for the assault portion of the event this weekend, and Commando's for the light. So yeah, they still get used. But there's enough other mechs that any mech is a much smaller portion of the total population.

That and the newest (Cyclops as of today) mech always gets used more, just cuz the new owners want time in the new toy.

[Deathlike]

Best I can offer is... "lol Commando".

Some IS mechs are still good. Just don't count on something on the Vindicator to excel anytime soon.

[Ghostrider0067]

I still use the hell out of my Cataphracts and always will. With the right loadout, they're still highly viable.

[Lukoi Banacek]

People are often leveling new stuff etc so you'll see "waves" of mechs, especially the newer stuff.

But I see ALL of the old-guard regularly in game, including some of the thoroughly maligned awful options like the Commando, Awesome etc. Some of the bad mechs have gotten better, some are just fun to gig around in while hardly being optimal.

In terms of viability, much of it is based on your playstyle, strengths and weaknesses etc. I'd gig around in what you like, tinker with builds, steal build ideas from others to help you determine your style and work from there. You might find yourself really rocking in an old-school mech that folks largely ignore.

The list of what's viable is simply too long imo, so try here for one guys' opinion on the subject and see if any of that speaks to ya:

http://metamechs.com...-lists/is-list/

[AncientRaig]

Well that's good news. The Cicada is one of my favorite mechs, even though it sits in the awkward position of "enormous light mech". I've run a few matches with it and I've found that it still excels at being a big annoying distraction, especially on these big huge maps where I can put my 320 to work and troll the hell out of the enemy.

Edited by Sidefire, 23 August 2016 - 05:25 PM.

[Tarl Cabot]

QP and such you will see lots of variety. For Faction Play, then a large mech variety rarely seen, but if seen it is usually on the pug team that ends up being stomped vs another pug team. FYI FP is 4 mechs per player, max 250 tons at the time of this post. PGI has previously made tonnage adjustments where Clans would have less tonnage to bring than IS.

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 24 August 2016 - 06:56 AM.

[Stone Wall]

Does the Jenner count? If so, dat Jenner doe.

[El Bandito]

Victors are still meh.

[Deathlike]

El Bandito, on 23 August 2016 - 05:43 PM, said:

Victors are still meh.

Once a mech is nerfbatted to the knees, it never recovers.

Maybe our balance overlord is a mobboss....

[Cyborne Elemental]

Quickdraw went from Terrible, to godlike, and is now back at mediocre.

Kintaro, went from great, to crap, to mediocre, to invinsible (hitbox bug) and is safely resting at mediocre.

Commando, is the same as it always was, except now its arms fall off even faster.

Shadowhawk went from ok, to pretty severely mediocre, hasn't changed in a while.

Wolverine went from garbage, to great, to godlike, and is now resting at good.

Victor went from bad to worse, then to mediocre.

Awesome, got some significant improvements, but still suffers from low hardpoints and odd missle positions.

Atlas, went from mediocre, to kickass, and is now pretty good.

Stalker, about the same as it has been, 2 variants are great, rest are mediocre, and the Missle heavy one with the CT energy slot is severely underquirked and not very useful, majority suffer from too narrow Torso twist arc.

Battlemaster is in a good place, but only a couple variants are quirked enough to make it viable, the Ballistic arm variants still need better hardpoint location, in a bad way.

Catapult got a nice new model, still don't see it around all that much though.

Jagmech is in a pretty good spot, not great, but not bad either.

Edited by Mister D, 23 August 2016 - 05:52 PM.

[InspectorG]

Sidefire, on 23 August 2016 - 04:49 PM, said:

Or are people just caught up in the "pretty, pretty, shiny, shiny" effect that new additions to games like MWO tend to cause?

At this point...

Its about quirks and Rescale.

But 'energy draw' is coming.

In summary, one man's opinion but its solid: metamechs.com

[exiledangel]

victor is still a viable mech as long as you don't plan on face tanking with it

[Johnny Z]

Many of my mechs are the originals and they all do well. There are some OP mechs running about though.

Edited by Johnny Z, 23 August 2016 - 06:04 PM.

[MauttyKoray]

Deathlike, on 23 August 2016 - 05:11 PM, said:

Best I can offer is... "lol Commando".

Some IS mechs are still good. Just don't count on something on the Vindicator to excel anytime soon.

Vindicator wasn't an 'old IS mech', its been a more recent addition. Stuff like the Atlas, Locust, Hunchback, Centurion, and more are still viable. Hell, not including the CT bug we had I even played my Kintaro a while ago.

Just play what you want, meta-users be damned. Just because some dipshit yelling at you can't pilot a mech doesn't mean you can't. ****...pre-uber quirk/scaling, I ran the Locust like a boss and did well, then suddenly everyone jumped on the 'Locust bandwagon' and though they were suddenly amazing.

New flash, they always were, you all just sucked at playing them.

[Vellron2005]

Plenty of "old mechs" still get used. Atlases and Stalkers are a mainstay, hunchbacks occasional.. I also see lots of catapults.. But I really can't remember the last time I saw a dragon..

"Nonsense Frodo, there hasn't been a Dragon in these parts for a thousand years"

New mechs do give us that "shiny shiny", but sometimes you just wanna get a little oldschool..

[dervishx5]

An image taken of older IS mech attempting to fight the new stuff: