Audacious Aubergine, on 07 November 2016 - 10:36 PM, said:
If you want to take a bit of a risk and don't mind spending real money, the Linebacker comes out next week and is still up for preorder. Looks like it could be suited for the kind of play you're after but like I said, it's a risk since the mech hasn't been released yet?
clarification: pre order in this case means you can buy it with cash and get it when it releases. It does
NOT mean you get the early adopter bonuses (which if you think about it, can be rather confusing for someone new... because you could still by for cash when it ships, and there is no difference.... except maybe time of injection by some hours?)
Not entirely sure why you are so set on the hellbringer... it's a good mech yes. I would argue for the uses you've described, EBJ at least is better. Neither mech is jump capable; they move at the same speed. Hellbringer has access to an ECM omnipod. But not as much in the way of long range capable hardpoints (you wont be stacking lrm 5s or gauss rifles... maybe an UAC10). Only the missile hardpoint on the torso is mounted above the cockpit. The chest mount hardpoints are relatively high, but under the cockpit, and your arm hard points are low slung. Which means you generally have to expose yourself a fair bit... not a problem if you like to brawl, but as you said brawling is a last ditch for you...
by contrast, the EBJ arm hardpoints are barely lower than cockpit (at worst, they are equivalent to torso on hellbringer). You have generous missile omnipods if you want to go that route, but most importantly, you have torso hardpoints (ballistic and energy) that are mounted above the cockpit (and also right under - with experimentation, you can figure out the order of weapons you put in a torso in the mechlab and the corresponding physical location/hardpoint it is assigned to). That makes firing from cover, around a corner, exposure time, etc MUCH more favorable. I think the hitboxes overall are better as well.
The Shadow cat is speedy, but a little more limited on hard points. Still, you can do an energy in each arm with 3 missile across the torso, or ballistic mix. It's more highly mobile, has ecm, jj, and present a smaller target than either hbr or ebj overall (although I find in pugs, a lot of shc pilots think ecm makes them invincible and expose themselves far too long, or stand in one place instead of keeping on the move - gets them killed a lot.). The hardpoints are all level with the cockpit, and actually tend to shield torsos.
SHC, EBJ and HBR are all available for cbills. So I wouldn't stress too much at the cash shop thing. Personally I think the first three tiers of clan wave 3 are excellent, but i mean. I wouldn't stress it so much. Technically any tiered pack you are interested in will have mechs you are uninterested in if you only want a medium range support mech, non assault. A la carte is prettty much never worth it. Because seriously, pay $55 usd for 1 chassis... or $60 for 2 chassis, 90/72 for 3 (9 mechs vs 3). And while the absolute cost is still a factor, come on...
I'd try trialing or just observing in matches some of the other mechs people have been recommending to get a feel. Don't be too hard set on
paint bonuses over the
mech content.
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