If you're anything like me, OP, by the time this is over you'll be walking away in a Light Mech.
Take what I say with a grain of salt - I'm new at this. A player you should DEFINITELY listen to is Koniving - he helped me a ton picking a Mech and definitely knows his stuff.
That said, as a new player like you, Night Gyrs always send a little chill down my spine every time I see one - it's so damn scary! It's also an OmniMech, so you can swap out parts as you like - this means the model you buy isn't gonna be super necessary. That said, it doesn't just scare me. It scares EVERYONE, and believe me, SOMEONE on the other team is gonna be saying "Focus that Night Gyr!" on comms when they see you. If you're okay with taking that heat, you're in a powerhouse.
Hellbringers are a common recommendation I see for newer players outside of the standard "Get in a Hunchback!" post. They can carry a really nice number of weapons; you won't be left wanting for firepower. It's another OmniMech, like the Night Gyr, so you can mix and match parts as you see fit and the model you purchase doesn't make quite as much difference. Hellbringers also don't scare people as much as the Night Gyr does, so you won't be priority #1 (always a plus in my book!). Critically, though, Hellbringers can carry ECM - this can potentially be a VERY powerful tool for keeping not just you, but swaths of your team around you alive. It's a very nifty tool.
Both Marauders, the IIC and the IS version, are very solid and well-performing Mechs. I've both heard lots of good stuff about 'em and seen them perform very well in games I play on a routine basis. In my thread looking for a new Mech, Marauders (especially the IIC since I prefer Clan) were a common recommendation to me. They're not very mobile, but they've got the power and armor to brawl. Be mindful that mobility is pretty important for surviving in this game, but you can get away without it depending on playstyle.
Grasshoppers I don't know as much about, but from my understanding they're workhorses. You can squeeze a good number of lasers into them, and they'll pretty much just... work. Like I said, workhorses.
Kodiaks, I think you can find no end of people praising these Mechs. They're Clan, but they're NOT OmniMechs, so you don't have the fixed engine - but you also lack the OmniMech swapping capabilities. Personally, I like the KDK-3 (as do many players), but no one would fault you for going for the KDK-2 - Jump Jets are a very nice tool to have, especially on sale! Kodiaks can take hits pretty darn well, but the main draw of them is the great levels of sheer firepower. You can squeeze a hell of a lot of guns into a bear, but like the Night Gyr, you're a serious priority target. Assaults Mechs are already a big threat, and in a Kodiak, that threat is exponentially multiplied. You're going to take fire, and a lot of it, so be ready for that. Make sure you don't take on more than you have to.
Timberwolves are another Mech you're going to hear a lot of praise for, and another Mech that's going to be a big priority target. But it's all pretty deserved. As both an OmniMech and a Mech that plain and simple just has a lot of space to work with, you can do damn near anything with a Timberwolf and it'll work well. It's a very nice choice if you're grabbing only 1 Chassis and you know you want a Heavy, but you want to keep a lot of options open to you. It's another common newbie recommendation for a reason - it's a really good Mech! Be wary, though, you're a priority target yet again in these. Timberwolves have a reputation. You're a little more mobile than the Night Gyr, but you have a little less frontloaded weaponry (as far as I know).
Catapult CPLT-K2 is a less common, but still worth considering choice for a new player. It's a versatile model of Catapult that you can do a good amount of stuff with, and it's hard to
really find that much fault in a Catapult. Personally, I have a "thing" for SRM boating, so I dream of taking a missile heavy Catapult model and resurrecting SplatCat... but that might not be such a good idea for you! Koniving recommended a CPLT-C2, and he's a hell of a lot sharper than I am, so you might wanna listen to him.
Note that a really strong consideration you should have is footing the bill for your Mech's armaments, engine (if not in an OmniMech), armor, ammunition, etc. This makes the "real" cost of a Mech a good chunk more than the chassis itself. Fitting an XL engine into an Inner Sphere Mech in particular is a pretty costly endeavor (but you don't necessarily HAVE to do that).
EDIT: typo.
Edited by Eddie Money, 15 April 2017 - 05:58 AM.
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