33 replies to this topic

[Banshee2X]

This is a question to PGI as well as the community. Will we see the Blood Asp Assault mech in the near future and what are your opinions on the mech itself?

[Mcgral18]

It would be a fairly strong robot


I expect to see it in a MechPack along with the Fafnir (because it outclasses the Anni, and you know how PGI loves Power Creep & GrabDeals)

[Throat Punch]

Mcgral18, on 10 April 2017 - 06:58 AM, said:

I expect to see it in a MechPack along with the Fafnir

Oh, the beloved Fafnir...I'd buy the super deluxe 2nd mortgage on the house gold varient Fafnir if it was offered.

[Gas Guzzler]

Blood Asp would be a nice side grade to the Mad Cat Mk II. Ground bound with worse arm mounts but most come with ECM. Very much like a KDK-3 in many ways, obviously it can do the PPC-Gauss loadout, but its tight on DHS and can't nudge down the engine to add more.

TBH, i wouldn't be surprised if the next pack announced comes with neither the Fafnir or the Blood Asp (we just got the Annihilator and Mad Cat Mk. II). Judging by my poll (link in sig), we can probably expect to see the Thanatos/Nova Cat and an IS light and Clan Medium (Black Lanner, I guess?). THEN the Fafnir and Blood Asp will come after that.

Mcgral18, on 10 April 2017 - 06:58 AM, said:

I expect to see it in a MechPack along with the Fafnir (because it outclasses the Anni, and you know how PGI loves Power Creep & GrabDeals)

Well, it can't quite dakka like the Anni, so there is that...

[Hit the Deck]

Gas Guzzler, on 10 April 2017 - 07:25 AM, said:

Very much like a KDK-3 in many ways,...

Just as a side not, KDK actually doesn't have that low of arm mounts. Judging by the various existing artworks, Asp could have lower arm mounts compared to the KDK.

[Coolant]

i just hope it has 360 torso twist like it did in MW4:Mercs

[Battlemaster56]

I wouldn't doubt it would come out in the near future, it is a heavily request clan assault next with the Nova Cat. I just want them to make a hero homage to MA2.

If I remeber correctly the build was 2x c-erppc one in each ST (replacing the plasma ppc's in the game), c-flamer in the CT or Head, and 4x c-uac2 two in each arm with 3.5 ton of ammo, 12 tons of armor, and 14 double heatsinks stock. They could make a better one but I feel this homage to the game be nice.

[Gas Guzzler]

Hit the Deck, on 10 April 2017 - 07:30 AM, said:

Just as a side not, KDK actually doesn't have that low of arm mounts. Judging by the various existing artworks, Asp could have lower arm mounts compared to the KDK.

Yep, I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. I just meant high mounted shoulder Gauss with 2 ER PPCs in an arm when I said "like a KDK-3".

[Mcgral18]

Coolant, on 10 April 2017 - 07:35 AM, said:

i just hope it has 360 torso twist like it did in MW4:Mercs

Very unlikely

[Moonlight Grimoire]

Blood Asp is going to be in by the end of the year I expect. Paul has stated it is his favorite mech, in Gas' community poll it handedly won the Clan Assault mech poll. So, yeah, it will happen, has lovely high side torso mounts, as for the lowish arms, eh, oh well. You still can poke easily with twin gauss and just do the 2xERPPC thing every now and again (it easily has the tonnage to do it), but, you do have to expose 2/3rds or so of the mech based on the TRO art to do a full alpha.

But, if you just want to do the gauss thing and have back ups in your arms that aren't long cycle time, and maybe use the CT missile mount then you can just fine. Again, it will be pretty meta tastic. Mad Cat MK2 will out shine it in ways due to everything is in line with the cockpit so minimal exposure to fire everything which is optimal. Either way, I see the Blood Asp showing up in game before the end of the year, cbill release though will be like 2019 however given PGI's bad way of handling that.

[Ultimax]

I think it's likely we will see this mech offered in a mech pack by the end of 2017 with the timeline update and the fact that it's one of the more frequently requested mechs.

[Widowmaker1981]

Gas Guzzler, on 10 April 2017 - 07:25 AM, said:

Blood Asp would be a nice side grade to the Mad Cat Mk II. Ground bound with worse arm mounts but most come with ECM. Very much like a KDK-3 in many ways, obviously it can do the PPC-Gauss loadout, but its tight on DHS and can't nudge down the engine to add more.

Asp isnt ground bound - if we got all the variants it could actually have 7JJs - the A has 3JJs, 1 in each ST and one in the CT (with ECM), and the E has 2 in each leg, so with pod swapping.. No one in their right minds would choose to do that, due to the weight and the fact that the A STs dont have weapons in them, but its not groundbound. Can choose 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 JJs without giving up hardpoints or ECM.

Also, worse mounts only when running dual gauss + energy, other builds can be made entirely torso based (apart from 2xUAC20, but meh) - there are 9 open slots in each ST, and one variant has a 4E RT where another has a 3B LT, allowing 3xUAC5 + 2 PPC all in those nice torso mounts.

Edited by Widowmaker1981, 10 April 2017 - 09:25 AM.

[Metus regem]

Coolant, on 10 April 2017 - 07:35 AM, said:

i just hope it has 360 torso twist like it did in MW4:Mercs

Another example of MW/4 messing things up.... No mech in lore has ever had a 360 degree torso twist.

Edited by Metus regem, 10 April 2017 - 09:30 AM.

[Gas Guzzler]

Widowmaker1981, on 10 April 2017 - 09:20 AM, said:

Asp isnt ground bound - if we got all the variants it could actually have 7JJs - the A has 3JJs, 1 in each ST and one in the CT (with ECM), and the E has 2 in each leg, so with pod swapping.. No one in their right minds would choose to do that, due to the weight and the fact that the A STs dont have weapons in them, but its not groundbound. Can choose 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 JJs without giving up hardpoints or ECM.

Also, worse mounts only when running dual gauss + energy, other builds can be made entirely torso based (apart from 2xUAC20, but meh) - there are 9 open slots in each ST, and one variant has a 4E RT where another has a 3B LT, allowing 3xUAC5 + 2 PPC all in those nice torso mounts.

That's right I forgot. But... you don't have enough tonnage to run hoverjets and ER PPC Gauss unless you want to run around with only like 12 DHS. So still, I think the ER PPC-Gauss version won't bother with JJs, where the Mad Cat Mk. II can trade some engine for a Hover Jet.

There are some other interesting options like you say, I think you can 4E in one shoulder and 3B in the other, or something? That's..pretty epic actually. Can do 2 ER PPCs and 3 UAC5s, one of my favorite MAD-IIC builds.

[Snazzy Dragon]

As much as I love the Blood Asp, I'd rather see a string of strong IS mechs released, as they are the faction that need good mechs right now

Though, stopping the power creep omni pods and quirking IS mechs how they should be quirked (coughfirestartercough) in the first place, as well as buffing IS tech (new tech doesn't fix old tech, and it is still inferior to clam tech) would help IS a lot more than some mech packs

Edited by Snazzy Dragon, 10 April 2017 - 11:52 AM.

[Khobai]

i hope not. PGI needs to stop adding mechs with high mounted weapons. and punish existing mechs with high mounted weapons.

because this peekaboo sh*t is not battletech.

[Valhallan]

Metus regem, on 10 April 2017 - 09:28 AM, said:

Another example of MW/4 messing things up.... No mech in lore has ever had a 360 degree torso twist.

Depends, per sarna

The UM-R93 UrbanMech variant is subject the the following Design Quirks:
Extended Torso Twist
Narrow/Low Profile
No/Minimal Arms


Extended Torso Twist
BattleTech:
Capable of twisting their torso sections much further than the average BattleMech. 'Mechs with the Extended Torso Twist Quirk can Torso Twist one hexside farther than normal. This Quirk can be applied to units which cannot normally Torso Twist.

Alpha Strike:
The unit gains a 360-degree arc of fire, though it retains its Rear Arc for damage purposes.

ETT can be interpreted as a 360 torso twist in a way (functionally it lets you shoot at all directions, though it doesn't technically let you complete a circle twist, it looks kool so why not )

[Gas Guzzler]

Khobai, on 10 April 2017 - 12:19 PM, said:

i hope not. PGI needs to stop adding mechs with high mounted weapons. and punish existing mechs with high mounted weapons.

because this peekaboo sh*t is not battletech.

Sounds vague and arbitrary. Please, provide detailed logic on why "peakaboo sh*t" (AKA using cover) is not battletech, and more importantly why "peakaboo sh*t" (AKA using cover) should not be part of MechWarrior Online.

[Valhallan]

Yea using cover; cliffs/buildings to shield legs/arms forests for general protection; is standard BT. It's just that BT TT let you counter cover by either torching the forest with flamers or toting along artillery on tanks/mechs that aoe fire on the hex instead.

[Khobai]

Quote

Yea using cover; cliffs/buildings to shield legs/arms forests for general protection; is standard B

except you could still shoot at mechs in cover. it wasnt like they could abuse high hardpoints to roll up over a hill, fire, then roll back down to minimize exposure to return fire. poptarting wasnt possible in battletech either, you couldnt jump, fire, then jump back behind cover. the best you could do is jump behind an enemy and make it hard for them to turn to hit you with all their weapons.

also hiding behind cliffs for cover was a bit of a double edged sword since opponents got to use the punch table which significantly increased the chance of getting headshotting. generally it was a bad idea. it was a good way of getting your assaults killed since it was like a 1 in 6 chance of headshot (instead of the normal 3% chance).

high hardpoints being abused in MWO is not really representative of battletech at all. its not even really representative of other mechwarrior games either, since mechs in other mechwarrior games had hardpoints located more centrally on the mechs. Its a new problem thats been created in MWO because PGI's artists take liberties and dont seem to fully understand that mechs with high mounted weapons are outright better than mechs with lower mounted weapons. This is why a lot of older mechs are now obsolete due to newer mechs with higher hardpoints replacing them.

theres also the fact that mechs in battletech lived a lot longer because damage locations were randomized and you couldnt aim all your weapons into one location to drill through a mech. So mechs didnt need to rely on cover as much in battletech because their armor actually did what it was supposed to. you could afford to walk out into the open and take a few hits because the damage spread out enough that it wasnt instantly lethal. because of aiming and pinpoint damage, armor in MWO feels more like wet paper than actual armor.

Edited by Khobai, 10 April 2017 - 01:01 PM.