202 replies to this topic

[Eddie Money]

I just tried out the Jenner IIC trial mech that's set up as an SRM boat and had a blast running fast as hell and unloading missiles into stuff, if that's any indication.

[Koniving]

Hunchback 4sp or 4j could emulate that. Huntsman can too.

Or you can straight up run Jenners.

Seriously if you can't decide and want to try a bit of everything, Hunchback and Huntsman.

[Rogue Jedi]

Eddie Money, on 13 April 2017 - 11:49 AM, said:

I just tried out the Jenner IIC trial mech that's set up as an SRM boat and had a blast running fast as hell and unloading missiles into stuff, if that's any indication.

the Jenner IIC is possibly the most dangerous Short Range missile boat in the game, it can move about 157kph, it is able to take enough firepower to one shot a 100 ton Mech ^{(provided that 100 ton Mech has 10 or less rear armor, although the 6 SRM6 loadout with 72 damage needed to one shot an Atlas, Dire Wolf, King Crab or or Kodiak requires compromising on speed, I prefer 5 SRM4 for a mere 40 point alpha)} it can jump and is fast enough to get behind almost any other Mech to hit the ^(usualy) lightly armored rear center torso.

other Mechs capable of that sort of firepower like the Catapult, Archer, Mad Dog, Stalker, Marauder, Dire Wolf, King Crab and Kodiak are much slower, note the Jenner IIC is a 35 ton Mech, the lightest Mech able to match its max firepower is 50 tons

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 13 April 2017 - 02:04 PM.

[Flak Kannon]

Eddie Money, on 13 April 2017 - 09:14 AM, said:

Okay, so something less expensive than a Clan mech is gonna be good for me, then. If mobility is much more important than armor for the sake of surviving, then I should probably avoid the plodding Assaults and thicker-set Heavies for now and focus on something I can worry about moving about in to survive, but taking a hit would still be nice every now and then.

Bearing that in mind, what am I looking for? I feel like every info dump I'm getting is changing what I want more.

Ok, Now your in my Wheel House.

2 Mech stand out that DO NOT have Jump Jets.
Centurions
Hunchbacks.

3 Mechs that DO have Jump Jets.
Griffin
Wolverine
Shadow Hawk

1 Mechs that have some variants that have JJ's and some don't
Crab

Honestly, there are only a few Inner Sphere Mediums to steer clear of early as you learn. The Vindicators, the BlackJacks, perhpas the Cicadas, and Trebuchets...Tho, all 4 of those I do really well in and really enjoi them greatly. Not bad mechs, but 'very' positional based.. needs a lot of battle field awareness at all time with the 4 especially.


Now for Clans..

The only two I would recommend for new players, the Hunchback IIc ( they are pretty slow tho), and the Storm Crow ( my personal favorite Clan Medium)


Enjoi

Edited by Flak Kannon, 13 April 2017 - 01:07 PM.

[Flak Kannon]

Eddie Money, on 13 April 2017 - 11:49 AM, said:

I just tried out the Jenner IIC trial mech that's set up as an SRM boat and had a blast running fast as hell and unloading missiles into stuff, if that's any indication.

Last point I'll make.

If you'd like to spend real money. buy the Jenner pack if it comes with the Hero MEch called Oxide.

If you like running and dumping SRMs into mechs, there is NO better Light Brawler in the game than the Jenner Oxide.. in my opinion...

Others may see Light Brawler Supremecy differently.. but Oxide is a BEAST... pure BEAST

[Ruccus]

Eddie Money, on 13 April 2017 - 09:14 AM, said:

Okay, so something less expensive than a Clan mech is gonna be good for me, then. If mobility is much more important than armor for the sake of surviving, then I should probably avoid the plodding Assaults and thicker-set Heavies for now and focus on something I can worry about moving about in to survive, but taking a hit would still be nice every now and then.

Bearing that in mind, what am I looking for? I feel like every info dump I'm getting is changing what I want more.

I actually wouldn't discount your first thought in your OP of a second line support mech. I think it's been mentioned in passing in this thread, but I've always liked the Blackjack.

For under 7 million credits you can sort out an inexpensive BJ-1 build (or cheaper if you want to risk using the stock engine for a while which will give you a 64.8kph top speed, then jump to a 225XL or 235XL if you think the Blackjack is the mech for you) that you'd position behind the front lines and just shoot your AC2s at any enemy mech. With the BJ-1's ballistic range, velocity, heat generation, and cooldown quirks dual AC2s are really good at getting you assists, which will help you get credits, which will help you upgrade your mech. Just stay alive as long as you can and hit every enemy mech you can.

The BJ-1 isn't as good at the AC20 build as it used to be but it's still doable if you're careful, and dual AC5s, dual PPCs, or a Gauss Rifle are other options for the platform. The Blackjack is a glass cannon, but learning how to preserve it through a match while still dishing out damage is good to learn for any mech.

Eddie Money, on 13 April 2017 - 09:25 AM, said:

Is that going to have mobility? This thread has successfully spooked me away from piloting things that are slow.

Speed and mobility is good, but there is something to be said about learning your positioning by piloting a mech that will 'let you fail' if you're not paying attention. I learned to play MWO largely using Blackjacks and Jagermechs, with my builds generally going around 65 to 80kph for the Jagermech and 65 to 90kph for the Blackjack.

[Flak Kannon]

Ruccus, on 13 April 2017 - 01:27 PM, said:

I actually wouldn't discount your first thought in your OP of a second line support mech. I think it's been mentioned in passing in this thread, but I've always liked the Blackjack.

For under 7 million credits you can sort out an inexpensive BJ-1 build (or cheaper if you want to risk using the stock engine for a while which will give you a 64.8kph top speed, then jump to a 225XL or 235XL if you think the Blackjack is the mech for you) that you'd position behind the front lines and just shoot your AC2s at any enemy mech. With the BJ-1's ballistic range, velocity, heat generation, and cooldown quirks dual AC2s are really good at getting you assists, which will help you get credits, which will help you upgrade your mech. Just stay alive as long as you can and hit every enemy mech you can.

The BJ-1 isn't as good at the AC20 build as it used to be but it's still doable if you're careful, and dual AC5s, dual PPCs, or a Gauss Rifle are other options for the platform. The Blackjack is a glass cannon, but learning how to preserve it through a match while still dishing out damage is good to learn for any mech.


Speed and mobility is good, but there is something to be said about learning your positioning by piloting a mech that will 'let you fail' if you're not paying attention. I learned to play MWO largely using Blackjacks and Jagermechs, with my builds generally going around 65 to 80kph for the Jagermech and 65 to 90kph for the Blackjack.

He may be the Ideal candidate for Jager Mechs actually.

Can Boom AC40.
Can Splat SRM ALOT
Can UAC5 Double or Tripple...

and as you said.. learn positioning from errors learn in a MEch with great offensive ability, moderate armor and moderate speed...

Jagers are a very solid choice Eddie.. very solid.



Enjoi

[Ruccus]

Flak Kannon, on 13 April 2017 - 01:43 PM, said:

He may be the Ideal candidate for Jager Mechs actually.

Can Boom AC40.
Can Splat SRM ALOT
Can UAC5 Double or Tripple...

and as you said.. learn positioning from errors learn in a MEch with great offensive ability, moderate armor and moderate speed...

Jagers are a very solid choice Eddie.. very solid.



Enjoi

Just up on the front page though is a 35% MC and c-bill discount for jumping mechs. That makes the Blackjack BJ-1 (and the blackjack's other jumping variants) quite inexpensive to try out, and they're the Jagermech's and Rifleman's little brother.

Edited by Ruccus, 13 April 2017 - 01:52 PM.

[Eddie Money]

Okay, so I think I'm narrowing down what I want a little more. Brawlers I can move in, but also take a hit if need be.

With all that in mind... Huntsman seems interesting, if a little slow and frail for the purposes. I also love how it looks. Griffin looks pretty good for Medium brawls. Other suggestions in that vein?

I think the second liner idea isn't something I'm necessarily giving up on, but rather putting aside until I feel more comfortable and feel like I can get a handle on all the awareness and such necessary.

[Xaat Xuun]

the thing I didn't like about the Marauder, was it felt sluggish. wasn't till I got it expert, it felt less sluggish.
when I'm with my unit/Allies the Marauder felt like it was worth keeping, when I solo dropped with it, I wasn't happy with it, need more speed & maneuverability. Other then that, I really like it.

if you liked the Jennier IIC Trial, you'll love the MadDog or LineBacker, of the same flavor. With a Steak-Dog , not hard to get 1k damage, not guarantee either.

[Eddie Money]

Xaat Xuun, on 13 April 2017 - 02:28 PM, said:

the thing I didn't like about the Marauder, was it felt sluggish. wasn't till I got it expert, it felt less sluggish.
when I'm with my unit/Allies the Marauder felt like it was worth keeping, when I solo dropped with it, I wasn't happy with it, need more speed & maneuverability. Other then that, I really like it.

if you liked the Jennier IIC Trial, you'll love the MadDog or LineBacker, of the same flavor. With a Steak-Dog , not hard to get 1k damage, not guarantee either.

I saw the Linebacker and liked the overall design of it a lot, at the very least. What's its MO?

[Ruccus]

Eddie Money, on 13 April 2017 - 02:32 PM, said:

I saw the Linebacker and liked the overall design of it a lot, at the very least. What's its MO?

The Linebacker is a heavy mech with a huge engine in it. It'll scare medium mechs like fast medium mechs scare light mechs. It can run them down and bully them with its weight advantage.

If you're looking to get a mech in the next few days you'd probably want to concentrate on the jumping mechs though, since they're 35% off at the moment.

[Eddie Money]

Jumping mechs and more mobile brawlers that still have the capability to take a hit. That seems to be where I am, then.

[Ruccus]

Considering the current sale, how about the Catapult or the Huntsman? While I don't see many Catapults anymore, with its resizing (very small for a heavy mech) it should be a competent mech to load with SRMs as a jumping mobile brawler. It'll also count as both a 'chicken walker' and 'jump-capable' mech for the current event. The Huntsman is a good clan mech that you can use for dipping your toe into faction play with scouting matches, and all of them jump so they're on sale.

Also, do you have any MC or are willing to buy/spend MC for a mech? With the current sale you can get a good hero mech for a reasonable amount of MC which can give you a mech that's either good to go bone stock or very close with a few minor changes, and it'll give you a 30% c-bill bonus during your matches.

[Eddie Money]

What's the Huntsman like in terms of playing? What is it best at doing?

Also, I would prefer to not spend money for the moment.

[Ruccus]

I don't own a Huntsman, but when scouting faction warfare for the Inner Sphere I've seen many of them on the other team and can't treat them lightly. They seem just as competent as my Bushwacker, and I have a lot of fun in my Bushwacker. Plus if you scout in faction warfare (a 4v4 battle, clan vs inner sphere mechs) you can reasonably quickly earn a mech bay.

Only rule for making a scouting build Huntsman is to never take LRMs.

[JigglyMoobs]

If you like the Jenner, the Arctic Cheetah is pretty good too.



Unfortunately 6 SPL is probably the only really good build for that mech. You can take missiles but I almost never see people use them.

[Eddie Money]

Ruccus, on 13 April 2017 - 04:20 PM, said:

I don't own a Huntsman, but when scouting faction warfare for the Inner Sphere I've seen many of them on the other team and can't treat them lightly. They seem just as competent as my Bushwacker, and I have a lot of fun in my Bushwacker. Plus if you scout in faction warfare (a 4v4 battle, clan vs inner sphere mechs) you can reasonably quickly earn a mech bay.

Only rule for making a scouting build Huntsman is to never take LRMs.

I'm not very familiar with how Scouting in this game plays out and works.


EDIT: Okay, I've been looking at Light mechs, especially Jenners and Jenner IICs, and they seem amazing. What's the deal with Light mechs?

Edited by Eddie Money, 13 April 2017 - 05:06 PM.

[Jingseng]

wouldn't you know it, planetary alignments come sooner than expected. Mechs are on sale.

and my point was, any mech you buy is going to be expensive to outfit... while it's true you don't HAVE to do it all at once or upfront, it is always better if you can. The 'true' cost of a mech can easily be double what you paid to get it.

[Eddie Money]

I'd prefer to get everything all in one go, so a smaller mech is gonna work out anyway. How do Light Mechs tend to operate, especially early game when flanking with a bunch of mechs everywhere is so risky?