6 replies to this topic

[Razorfire]

Just finishing my opening weekend with the Supernova, and I thought I would share my experiences. I purchased the basic pack, and so will only pay lip service to the other variants. Hopefully this helps some newer pilots to the game and acts as a launching point for discussion of what has become my favorite new battlemech.

The Lore
After the Exodus of the SLDF, the burgeoning clans needed to eventually replace the King Crabs they had brought with them to the outer reaches. Shortages of AutoCannon ammo led them to the construction of an assault mech focused on lasers. They failed to fully adapt the ferro fibrous armor profile of the KGC, and so adopted a slightly leaner and faster design.

The original boasted a standard armament of 6 ERLL, three in each arm, but was simply too hot. A familiar problem if you've invested in this mech. Despite its increased maneuverability, the Supernova became a liability in short range situations due to heat concerns, but found a solid role in the second line.

The Basics
The SNV is a 90 ton assault, joining the Cyclops, Highlander, Highlander IIC, and Mauler in the class. It is an energy boat, no two ways about it, though if you spring for the hero add-on, you'll be able to bring a hint of dakka.

The basic pack includes 3 variants, the SVN-1, SVN-3, and SVN-A. The 1 and 3 are roughly the same, with energy hardpoints spread from the arms to the side torsos and head on the 3. Your builds will be very similar.

The mech moves at the standard 90-ton mech speed of 48.6 kp/h out of the box. You can drop a hefty sum of c-bills for an engine upgrade to XL325, and there you'll top out at 58.5 kp/h (62.9 once speed tweaked). Note that nothing here makes you any faster than the other 90 tonners. The Cyclops is the speediest of the weight range, but sacrifices a bit of armor for the effect.

Armor maxes out at 558, same as the other 90 tonners minus the above mentioned exception. I had no problem maxing my armor with my builds, as it seems there is always a shortage of slots before there is a shortage of tons.

It joins the Highlanders as the other 90 tonners with Jump Jets, and thankfully these can be removed if you like so you can squeeze more equipment onto the chassis. I found myself playing with this option quite a bit, but in the end, decided jump jets add a lot to the utility of the role this mech will play.

As for quirks, there is not much to note. The SVN-1 has a 15% large laser duration reduction and the SVN-3 adds 20% to cERPPC velocity and 15% quicker turn rate. Both add +10 structural resilience everywhere, and the SVN-1 has +8 armor on the arms. They will also accelerate and decelerate at +30%. The SVN-A is left out of the quirks except for the acceleration. So nothing here is going to force your hand into a particular build. You got options, so long as you like big, hot lasers.

SVN-1 - The Shatterstar
I toyed with this one a bit. 6 ERLL is hot as hell, and the STD 275 engine is underwhelming. It worked okay as a second line mech, so long as the enemy wasn't bringing Gauss and ERPPCs, but that is rare these days. With the speed of the game, I had a hard time keeping up with a shifting front, and maps that value closer engagement ranges were simply leaving me without enough fangs for my taste. I stopped playing the SVN-1 after basic-ing the variant and began work on the 3 and the A. Only later did I come back to the 1 and found my sweet spot.

I upgraded the engine to an XL325 by dropping two of the ERLL and switching to Endo-Steel. This left plenty of room for 4x MPulse. While not as effective at the longer ranges, this mech still helps the team dominate the high ground in most situations that call for that. However, with the increased speed, I was finding myself getting to the flanks of the main pack and truly herding the enemy team into bad positions and fleeing their carefully selected cover, looking for less dangerous ground to hold.

A few came calling, deciding apparently that they could close on me and force me into a brawl, where they would have an advantage. The upside to bringing those MPL is that you can control your heat much better, and the XL325 means rolling your armor is a breeze. I must say, the SNV feels like an IS mech in its ability to take damage on the arms. I do like the hitboxes.

The SVN-1 was my least favorite coming out of the gate, but I've come to love it for its effectiveness and utility.

SVN-3 Equilibrium
The 3 is so much like the 1, you could practically just phone this one in. Certainly it makes sense to put ERPPCs on this variant, since it is quirked for that. However, I found myself equipping LPL time and again and using the SVN-3, with its torso twist quirk, to be my laser brawler.

XL325, 4xLPL and 3xSPL was where I found myself in the end. I toyed with ERMLs and MPL in the center and head mounts, and I enjoyed it, but found it too hot in the end. A quick comparison of these loadouts on Smurfy's Mechlab tells the tale. Sustain DPS drops dramatically with ERM and MPL equipped. It's your choice to go with 1 extra heat sink and only 1 JJ, or drop that heat sink and have 3 JJs. The difference is 6 meters of jumping or nearly 20 meters. As this mech shines in an ambush role, I like 3 JJs, but its up to you of course.

This was my favorite build in the early hours of running the Supernova over the weekend. I quickly got into the top 100 on the leaderboard in very few drops, but once basic'ed, I switched to the SVN-A and stayed there for a long long time before coming back.

SVN-A Event Horizon
This is my guilty pleasure. I love SRMs, and I will probably eventually try them on this chassis, but I decided for my first game I would rock 4xLRM15s + Artemis, Tag, cAP, and 2x MPL. I kept stripping off heat sinks to make room for more ammo until I found my comfort zone. I settled on 12 tons in the end, giving me 3 alphas per ton for a total of 36x60=2160 potential damage.

The LRM 15 is the king of the LRMs. Beefy enough to get through AMS and reloading fast enough to keep the pressure on during chainfiring. Tag lets you cut through ECM bubbles, cAP helps as well, and the assault frame allows you to stand tall on the high ground and literally herd enemy mechs around the battlefield, ignoring the occasional poker in the distance.

I've won nearly 2/3 of my drops in this mech, and have my second best Kill/Death Ratio (superceded only by my beloved SPL Stormcrow). I've run other LRM boats before, with the Mad Dog being my favorite. But I've never dominated an entire battlefield in an LRM boat until the SVN-A. For it's ability to completely negate an entire lance of enemy assault mechs, I term this one, the Event Horizon, from which there is no escape.

The Case for the SRM Brawling SVN-A
Note that I have not yet tried this build, but the SVN-A with 4xSRM6, 2xMPL, 2xERSL XL325, with 26 Heat Sinks and 6 tons of SRM Ammo (no jump jets), max armor and a TC1 (because ammo in the head seems like poor choices) is simply a monster on paper.

148 damage every 4.25 seconds at a range of 270 meters is simply disgusting. 9.23 Max Sustained DPS means you can brawl like an IS mech with a Clan XL Engine. Without a doubt, this build is worth a go, especially if you're in a unit that likes to be aggressive.

SVN-BROILER
I do wish I had myself a few extra bucks, I would pick up with Broiler straight away. I haven't bothered paying it much attention, though I'm sure many of you have and I hope you'll weigh in. Gauss is an acquired taste, and not my thing. However, dual cUAC-20s, with 3xERSL and 3xSRM4 looks awfully fun. Having 3 Laser Hardpoints, 3 Missile Hard Points, and 2 Ballistic gives this mech a lot of replayability.

Conclusion
I have heard a lot of people giving the Supernova grief. Too slow. Too hot. Not enough this or that. Just another energy vomit mech in an age that's passed all that. My response is, yeah, pretty much. If you want to invest in the current meta, the SVN is probably not going to do it for you. If you wanted the SVN to be the new Timberwolf or Stormcrow, dominating the Tier Lists for years to come, I'm sorry. This is not the droid you are looking for. And I'm glad for that. Pay to win sucks. But I have had 2 of my most memorable matches after 3.5 years of playing in just the last 5 days riding atop an SVN. It may not be for everyone, but it seems to be for me. And if you are a brawler as I am, frustrated by the passivity of the Solo Queue, this mech may offer you, as it did me, a way to explore new playstyles as a second-line assault that can turn the flank and turn the tide.

[Natred]

The supernova plays as a second line mech due.to the sheer underwhelming engine cap. Unable to.play this mech in quick.play due to being left to get swarmed by teamates.

Although in group q this thing shines like a monster blaring metalica at a bon fire party.

5 medium pulse 2 large pulse captilizing on side peaking potential with an large pulse i think in the number 2 slots and mediums taking up all the other points.

Forgot the exact chassis and designation because 1 3 a b c y 6 s instead of the good ol a b c d e f designations.. anyways please on future mechs have it 1 through 10 or a through r.. simple is better and easier to remember.



Anyways good review bud of the mech razorfire. Really enjoed the read and your insight into the chassis
Gave me some new ideas to try on my basic set. I agree with your conclusion, this is not a competetively viable mech.

Edited by Natred, 02 March 2017 - 09:04 AM.

[NRP]

Thanks for the thread, OP. Not enough threads about the Supernova and how it actually plays.

I bought the whole enchilada pack, but so far I've only played the 1, 3, and Broiler. So far, I like the 1 and 3 better than the broiler. I'm finding the Supernova to be best used as a mid-to-long range mech because it seems pretty fragile. I haven't really found a broiler build I like (currently running 2 Gauss 2 ERPPCs), but I can't seem to put out the damage numbers other people can.

Anyway, I do like the Supernova. It sure ain't a KDK-3 or even a DWF, but it isn't a bad mech either.

[50 50]

Very nice write up Razorfire.

[godmonkey]

i bought the basic pack and the broiler. It took me a while to learn to love this chicken legged monstrosity as i mostly build brawlers and this chassis is just too slow to brawl properly. But as a summary:

SNV 1

I tried a bunch of different builds but most simply ran too hot to be useful so i ended up with 4 x lpl and 4 x mpulse (or was it med las) in 3 different groups. It works but it is kinda uninspiring

SNV A

Ahh yes. The sweet sweet SRM brawly goodyness. I built it with 4 x Asrm6 and lazoors. runs hot but dishes out le damagee in a nice way. Still to slow to be super effective

The Broiler

The only super nova i fell in luuv with 2xLBX20, 3xsrm6 (a?)(i had it with 3xspl but removed them for better heat eff). This thing wrecks face. Hard.

SNV 3:

The PPC boat. with low PPC mounts. No thanks. I run it with 4 x LPL ony and a huge TC. The heat is OK the LPL do the pulse thing and its..ok.. i would say. Not very good as the low engine cap really ruins the SNV line in general but it works

[Amatsukaze]

I bought the collector pack & hero after reading this. There were some growing pains as we got to know each others strengths & weakness's but I have really come to love the SuperNova now. It is my "go to" assault. The limitations I have with this mech in a PUG match are its slow & I will sometimes get low damage numbers if my team rolls up the OPFOR. I just cant keep up with the fight but I built all my SN's as brawlers so I don't have the reach to snipe & I hate LRMS so no rain. I haven't had much problems with lights. So far I have been able to back into a wall & 1 blast of 4 MPL's is usually enough to make them go find an easier target.

IMO the thing to keep at front of your mind with this mech is positioning. You really gotta have a plan at all times with your movement. If anything this mech has taught me how to really read the mini map & anticipate the flow of the battle.

All my SN's have the max 325 engine & full armor. My fav builds are

The Broiler
2x LBX20's & 3 SRM4's. I prefer the lower heat & faster cool down of the SRM4's. It allows you to keep more sustained firing going while waiting for the LBX's to cool down. Spirit Bears retreat from this build!

-1
8MPL's & all the sinks I can cram in it. 2 firing groups, 1 for each arm. I can alpha once without worry of a shutdown or keep a sustained fire on targets alternating arms for quite some time even on hot maps. The key to this build is heat management!

-3
7MPL's I admit kinda boring being nearly identical to the -1 but it just plain works! Its also nice to have the 3 hard points in the head & torso. Worst case is no stick here, Zombie with sharp teeth!

-A
4x SRM4's & 4 ERSL. With nearly 70hp of armor in your front & able to roll the damage you take distributing it well this build just works too. It carries enough sinks to stay in the fight awhile but seems to cool down more slowly then my other builds. Might just be in my head thought but dang when you got one eye on the enemy while taking hits & one on the heat meter waiting for it to get low enough to take your next shot just seems to take an eternity!! LOL

I gotta admit this mech might not be for everyone but I can honestly say I truly enjoy it. Not only that but its sexy as hell!!

[godmonkey]

I honestly don't know how you use the tons unless you use the standard 325 engine