76 replies to this topic

[Hellsgate9999]

I'm about 5 minutes away from dropping 20 bucks for the linebacker, I love the idea of it being a heavy that goes over 100kph. Before I do that I figured I would get some feedback on it by people allready playing it.

So how is it? Pretty solid? Kinda meh?

Strengths? Weaknesses? Opinions?

I don't want to buy it and find out that it sucks. Haha

[Bombast]

From what I can tell, they're like the DCAU Flash - Under the right circumstances, completely broken and unbalanced zoom lords that murder you in a blur.

And under every other circumstance they mostly just run around in circles trying not to trip over themselves or inconveniently placed mud puddles.

[Lightfoot]

18 tons payload. Means lasers. Not a good brawler due to easy to hit center torso, but speed helps a bit with that. Missiles too heavy except SRMs or SSRMs on the D. Prime makes good use of ERPPCs and puts up good damage if you use the range.

Strengths would be to use long range and use speed to move to good support position. The stuff you might brawl with will easily out-gun the Linebacker which is not that tough despite the extra armor on some. Best brawlers would be M-Pulse boat or SRM boat, but no safe place to put ammo so you will lose the ammo long before the match ends usually.

Fastest heavy though I think.

Edited by Lightfoot, 22 November 2016 - 03:45 PM.

[Goober Gabber v2]

It's fun as hell.

You can indeed go fast, take a good kicking and quite some punches.
Despite the fact it has little tonnage to play around with, for weapons and the like, I still manage to get damage scores around 500 average each match, compared to my usual 200-300 with other mechs.

Somehow, it made me learn how to handle my weapons a lot more (limited weapons, makes it easier for me to make weapon groups and manage my heat), how to avoid peeking out from the same spot and be on the move, while I'm playing the game for over half a year now. It felt like I was doing everything wrong until the Linebacker came.

Overall, it's just a heck of a fun mech.

[RestosIII]

If I didn't know you were a new player, my main advice for you is that it's basically a giant Adder. But I'm pretty sure you've never piloted one before, so...

Basic summary: It's extremely agile for a heavy mech, relatively good hitboxes, but has an extremely small amount of pod space. Its entire role is a skirmisher/harasser mech, ranging from long range PPC builds, medium range ERMLas+Gauss pokers, and the occasionally SRM bomber if you have the reinforcement package. I can never recommend someone spend money on this game due to my own reasons for keeping my wallet closed as often as possible, but it is a good mech for the niche it fills.

[Davegt27]

I already bought two packs this year
if I knew they where not going to nerf the linebacker I would buy some

kind of a catch 22 they will be good when you first buy them (to keep people from asking for refunds)
but they get nerfed when they are up for C-bills that's if your lucky

if the Mech is really good like the KDK the nerf will come sooner

[Kaeb Odellas]

They're like Dragons but good.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

It is on my "buy it for c-bills list" FWIW.

However, if you are spending real cash, then I would put towards some of the "top tier" mechs if you dont have them yet.
Otherwise, go nuts.

[kuma8877]

It's really gonna be down to your personal playstyle and whether you can make use of the linebacker's speed. Do you enjoy being on the move? Hitting the flanks from multiple angles, or taking out stragglers while running with lights, or providing secondary fire from your line with your assaults?

I'm really enjoying the LBK so far. I haven't even moved passed the prime chassis and I own them all but the collectors. I'm more of a medium pilot and don't mind the overall load out capability loss (for a heavy) for more "go fast". I find that cumulative damage over time, harassing the flanks while on the move is a sound strategy for the lbk. Chew your enemies down rather than try to facetank them and you can find success. A couple of cerppc's can't really be ignored.

[jjm1]

I love it.

But I also love Summoners. You can still do more in a summoner than a linebacker, so factor that in to your expectations.

[RestosIII]

jjm1, on 22 November 2016 - 06:00 PM, said:

I love it.

But I also love Summoners. You can still do more in a summoner than a linebacker, so factor that in to your expectations.

Please don't recommend suckonners to new players. At least not until the loyalty omnipods come out for everyone.

[Ibrandul Mike]

Fast? check!
Fun to play? For me check!
A bit weak in firepower? Check!
Mobile as hell with decent armor? Check!

Should you buy it? No clue. It is fun to play, if your playstyle suits it. If not it is a really bad mech. But that can be said about any mech...
Just keep in mind that you are mostly limited to Laser and Gauss builds with the standard or collectors pack.
Other packs give you more diversity. If you buy one or which pack would be better totally depends on your playstyle and how much you like the game.
You can spend part of the money for MC and get the mech bays on sale later. Then play and get other available mechs for C-Bill.
I don't know your budget, how long you play, how often, how many mechs you already own and so on... but depending on that, it might be worth to give it a try... if you don't have many mechs already or are trying to find the mech that works best for you... I wouldn't drop money on it and instead get the MC on sale + Mechbays on sale later. But that is my personal preference

Edited by Ibrandul Mike, 22 November 2016 - 06:48 PM.

[Chimera_]

Linebacker is very fun and actually pretty good, but somewhat of a niche mech. After a few of the guys in my unit (including me) got it, several others saw us having a bunch of fun and bought it as well. It was a struggle for a few of them, but they eventually got the hang of it. Basically, I'm saying not everyone will necessarily do well in it right away - it's a bit odd, and may take some getting used to.

It plays similar to some of the clan mediums (Stormcrow in speed/firepower, HBK-IIC in mounts), as well as the Adder. It's more durable than any of these though, so that's a plus. I've been playing almost exclusively Linebackers since they came out, and they really are a blast to use.

Anyway...I can't tell you whether you should buy them or not, but if you enjoy some of the mechs mentioned above it would probably be a good fit. Even the guys in my unit who were having trouble eventually got the hang of it, and now seem to be really enjoying the mech.

[LordKnightFandragon]

Lightfoot, on 22 November 2016 - 03:41 PM, said:

18 tons payload. Means lasers.

wow, 18 tons, that it? Is that why I see alot of them running around with Dual PPC?

[RestosIII]

LordKnightFandragon, on 22 November 2016 - 07:03 PM, said:

wow, 18 tons, that it? Is that why I see alot of them running around with Dual PPC?

It's basically a huge Adder in every regard. Dual PPCs is honestly one of the most fitting builds for it.

[El Bandito]

Linebacker is... certainly an unexpected mech. I didn't expect PGI to reveal it then, didn't expect the mech to be any good, but was surprised at its level of competence. I was also surprised by its speed. In one match, I was piloting a newly bought Jenner IIC and climbed on top of the platform on Crimson Strait. Didn't expect to face any enemy mechs but then I saw a Linebacker.

[BlueFlames]

El Bandito, on 22 November 2016 - 08:39 PM, said:

I didn't expect PGI to reveal it then, didn't expect the mech to be any good...

The engine cap (or on omnimechs, engine size) is one of the better metrics for determining how good a mech can/will be. A mech with even decent hardpoints is made much, much better by being fast for its size. All the guns in the world don't matter, if they can't be put in the right place, and a small amount of firepower is made much more effective by being positioned where the enemy isn't ready/able to deal with it.

There's an upper limit to the usefulness of speed, of course, but I was surprised at how many people thought that 87kph was the limit for a heavy, and that the Linebacker's 104kph top speed wouldn't add sufficient/any functionality to make up for the sparse pod space.

In any case, I'll probably pick up a set of Linebackers, once they're available for C-bills. I'm generally liking how they currently perform, and I don't think that the inevitable quirk reduction that corresponds to a mech's C-bill release will significantly diminish the mech, since what makes the chassis strong is its mobility.

[STEF_]

Must be fun.
It seems scary when you see an heavy with that speed..... but then..... 16 free tons.
So, that speed saves the linebacker to be wrecked by serious mechs

[BlueFlames]

Stefka Kerensky, on 22 November 2016 - 11:00 PM, said:

So, that speed saves the linebacker to be wrecked by serious mechs

It's a nice idea, until your serious mech gets smashed in the back by 6SRM4 or 7ERSL or 6ERML.

Close range weapons don't weigh much, and even without the hero omnipods, the Linebacker has the hardpoints to make some really brutal knife-fighting builds. It's not the squish that people make it out to be, as long as the owner knows how to build and pilot a fast mech.

[El Bandito]

Stefka Kerensky, on 22 November 2016 - 11:00 PM, said:

Must be fun.
It seems scary when you see an heavy with that speed..... but then..... 16 free tons.
So, that speed saves the linebacker to be wrecked by serious mechs

That's the difference between Clans and IS. Clans can actually make effective builds out of 16 tons of pod space, regardless of mech class.