7 replies to this topic

[Karl Mattar]

Can someone explain the functional gameplay difference between the two technologies as it stands in the game right now? I'm not finding an "Omnimechs for Dummies" kind of thread.

I have just finished my 25 cadet games, and am considering buying my first mechs. As one of those types that tend to overthink things, I need some help understanding the game mechanics of omnimechs vs. battlemechs.

As someone who played the tabletop back in the 80's, I get the battlemech. It makes sense to me. But I quit right about the time the clans arrived, and never really got a grasp on what makes them tick in terms of tech. And that was tabletop, not MWO.

Yes, I have done a search. All of the threads I could find had to deal with player gripes with the way the system was being implemented, and there were no threads that I found that talk about it how it is. And most of those were pretty old, so wouldn't reflect any changes or updates.

Thanks.

[Roughneck45]

Battlemechs are allowed to adjust their engine size and select whether they would like Ferro Fiberous, Endo Steel, and Double heat sinks. Different variants get different hardpoints to work with.

Omni mechs have their engines and the mentioned upgrades locked in place, you cannot change them. You can, however, switch omnipods. Omnipods decide what hardpoints you get, thus what weapons you can take.

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/

Use this website to get a feel for the system before you spend c-bills.

IS Variants are unique build wise. Clan Variants are a bit redundant, because you can buy omnipods and make the other variants on the one you already own. So the best clan mechs are the ones that have a hardpoint in the CT because that's the only part that cannot be swapped.

If you run a clan mech with all stock omnipods you'll get some quirks, but they generally aren't worth it if you can make a better build by switching some omnipods.

Edited by Roughneck45, 18 May 2017 - 10:51 AM.

[Kaethir]

Roughneck45, on 18 May 2017 - 10:43 AM, said:

IS Variants are unique build wise. Clan Variants are a bit redundant, because you can buy omnipods and make the other variants on the one you already own. So the best clan mechs are the ones that have a hardpoint in the CT because that's the only part that cannot be swapped.

I will quibble with this slightly.

Some clan mechs are Battlemechs instead of Omnimechs, so your 'IS Variants' should be genericized to 'IS and Clan Battlemech Variants'.

Also, there are occasionally Omnimechs that have quirks tied to the CT, or Jump Jets, or some other thing that makes the CT unique instead of just hardpoints. There are also Omnimechs that have set-of-8 quirks, so if you use all 8 Omnipods for that variant you get bonuses.

Spot on otherwise, smurfy's is great for fiddling with things.

[Karl Mattar]

Will start digging into Smurfy then. Thanks for the website.

So in an omnimech, if I'm switching out omnipods, am I swapping out a fixed set of weaponry, or a fixed set of hardpoints that I can put any appropriate weaponry in?

Is there any point to buying more than one variant of omnimech? Do I just buy the omnipods, or do I need the variant to get access to the pods?

[Metus regem]

IT's a bit complicated from a historical stand point from the table top game that MWO draws from:

Spoiler

Metus regem, on 18 May 2017 - 10:26 AM, said:

-sigh-

The first clue is Omni's have a letter designation, Clans use this method in TT:

Timber Wolf:
Timber Wolf Prime
Timber Wolf Alt. A
Timber Wolf Alt. B
Timber Wolf Alt. C
Timber Wolf Alt. D

IS Omni's use this:

Templar:
TLR1-O (Prime)
TLR1-OA (Alt. A)
TLR1-OB (Alt.

Now to brake down the code used for the Templar... TLR1 is the base of the Chassis, the -O means Omnimech.


IS Battlemechs use:

Battlemaster:
BLR-1G
BLR-1C
BLR-1Gb (SLDF Royal variant of the 1G)

Clan Battlemechs use this:

Marauder IIC

Marauder IIC
Marauder IIC 2
Marauder IIC 3


Does this make sense?

Just to add a little confusion, PGI messed up by giving some of the IIC mechs a letter designation rather than keeping with the number designations.

In actual game play for MWO, Omni mechs use a pod swapping ability, meaning if you have different pods (H/LA/LT/RT/RA/LL/RL) you can trade those pods for the ones your Omni mech comes with base. Trading pods sometimes gives you hard points in locations that didn't have them before, sometimes they change the hard point count or even hard point type, in some cases they even add things like AMS or ECM. The down side to this is, they cannot add Endo Steel or FF to save weight, they sometimes also come with hard wired equipment like Jump Jets or Double Heat Sinks (DHS). that take up both weight and crit slots. They are also unable to change their engine size or add DHS to the engine if the engine has extra space open.

[Roughneck45]

Karl Mattar, on 18 May 2017 - 10:58 AM, said:

Will start digging into Smurfy then. Thanks for the website.

So in an omnimech, if I'm switching out omnipods, am I swapping out a fixed set of weaponry, or a fixed set of hardpoints that I can put any appropriate weaponry in?

Is there any point to buying more than one variant of omnimech? Do I just buy the omnipods, or do I need the variant to get access to the pods?

Fixed set of hardpoints.

These days, not really. The Skill tree patch removed the 3 mech requirement for getting a full skill tree, so if there isn't something tied the the CT or quirk related you are interested in, one Omnimech will serve you well.

The exceptions to this are the Hero Omnimechs. You can't buy those mechs or omnipods with c-bills, so if you want one of those you have to spend cash.

You'll notice on smurfy when building an Omnimech, at the top of each section is a drop down box that will let you select which omnipod you'd like to use.

Edited by Roughneck45, 18 May 2017 - 11:15 AM.

[Koniving]

Karl Mattar, on 18 May 2017 - 10:05 AM, said:

Can someone explain the functional gameplay difference between the two technologies as it stands in the game right now? I'm not finding an "Omnimechs for Dummies" kind of thread.

Difference in MWO. Got it.

Exclusively speaking in MWO the difference is this:

Battlemech: Change everything but hardpoints.
Omnimech: Can change hardpoints. Cannot change the following: Engine, Armor (type), Structure (type), Heatsink (type) and there are some equipment that can never be changed on each Omnimech. Jumpjets are fixed to specific limbs and though these limbs can be swapped out they are the only way to get jumpjets.

Basically: Battlemech = easy mode.
Omnimech = convoluted mess that lets you min/max any guns you want.

[Koniving]

Only "Hero" Omnipods have exclusive pods. Beyond this, the only merits to buying a different Omnimech "Config" is whatever is in the center torso (some have weapons). There is also innate quirks in some chassis, these are locked to the center torso as well (the only body part you cannot swap).

Though MWO uses variants as a catchall, the proper vernacular for a Omnimech variant is 'Config' (Clan) or "Setup" (Inner Sphere.)

Edited by Koniving, 18 May 2017 - 11:12 AM.