StealthdragonB, on 13 June 2017 - 10:25 PM, said:
A 25 ton clan battle mech would be new for MWO I guess, it would kind of be awkward with clan having more mechs of one tonnage that IS though, considering they only have the commando. Shame it isn't a 20 tonner like the original locust and I'm not sure how we would deviate some of the energy variants. The hero could have ECM like the pirate's bane (assuming that isn't too strong) or be a ballistic variant like the Jenner IIC hero.
Well let's see exactly what mechs the IS and Clan have in the 20-25 ton range. I'll start with what we currently have.
IS 20 ton
Locust
Clan 20 ton
Currently Vacant
IS 25 ton
Commando
Clan 25 ton
Myst Lynx
So currently the IS enjoys a 1 mech lead over the Clans because the Locust is seemingly the only really effective mech in the game currently. The Commando and Myst Lynx are practically non-existent from what it appears.
This of course might change with the introduction of the upcoming Civil War tech, the Clans getting Heavy Lasers might make the Myst Lynx an actually decent mech. The same might be said of the Commando with the plethora of new gear the IS gets to play around with.
Now, as far as the mechs either side doesn't have yet... At least the ones that would require minimal effort on PGI's part if they need to come up with new custom variants to fill out the number of mechs. Also, keep in mind these lists are not made with meta effectiveness taken into account, I think we all know most 20-25 IS mechs would probably be very meta ineffective without ridiculous levels of quirks and hardpoint inflation.
IS 20 ton
Fireball, Flea, Hornet, Mercury, Stinger, Thorn, Wasp
Clan 20 ton
Fire Moth, Howler, Piranha
Out of these 10 mechs, we're likely to see the Piranha first. While it would require more custom variants compared to the Fire Moth, it doesn't make the games hit reg system break down and curl up in the fetal position and cry like the Fire Moth does.
After that, the Stinger and Wasp probably have a better chance than most of the other IS mechs since they both have more than enough variants to fill out a mech pack without PGI having to make custom variants aside from heroes.
Mechs such as the Fireball and Hornet would likely require a large number of custom engineered variants from PGI and ludicrous levels of quirks to help them out, especially the Hornet given that sphere-like body that could probably be very easily taken out.
The Thorn probably has some hope of appearing, given it's humanoid form, like the Stinger and Wasp would have very small and tight body hit boxes, giving it a decent chance of survivability... At least until it's legs are taken out.
IS 25 ton
Arbalest, Brigand, Dart, Duan Gung, Eagle, Ebony, Fire Falcon, Jackrabbit, Koto, Mongoose, Nexus, Raptor, Sling, Super Wasp
Clan 25 ton
Bear Cub, Commando IIC, Crimson Hawk, Icestorm, Koshi (Battlemech), Locust IIC, Solitaire
So the IS has 2.5 times as many 25 ton mechs as the Clans do, but, some of them may not be appplicable. The Ebony being the first, since it's equipped with a sword, and we don't have melee, at least not yet. The eventual change to UE4 might change that, we don't know just yet.
That said, the mechs that are most likely to show up anytime in the near future for the IS are probably the Duan Gung, Fire Falcon, Koto, Mongoose, Nexus and Raptor. Of those, I'd say the Mongoose and Raptor would probably be at the top of the list. The Duan Gung and Koto would require PGI to build a number of custom variants, the only exception being the Duan Gung which has it's own hero variant.
Of the Clan mechs, the Commando and Locust IIC mechs are probably high on PGI's list. We know the IIC mechs are performing well, and they'd be daft not to capitalize on that by getting the Clan some more light IIC mechs.
After the IICs, pretty much any of the other included mechs would require a number of cooked up PGI customs, with the Crimson Hawk requiring the least number of custom variants. All of them including heroes.
So out of 31 mechs between both sides, we have 4 20 ton mechs that could work, 3 IS and 1 Clan, and 8 25 ton mechs that could work, 6 IS and 2 Clan. Out of all those mechs, the ones that would be most meta effective I'd probably say would be the Piranha, Mongoose, and the Commando and Locust IIC.
So that would even out the effective IS/Clan 20 ton mechs, and the Clans would only have a 1 mech advantage when it comes to the 25 ton mechs, as the IS gets the Mongoose, and the two IIC mechs for the Clans, that's also assuming the Civil War tech makes the Myst Lynx more effective than it currently is now.
Wow, that was a surprisingly in depth analysis for me. Do you all agree with my observations? Or did I perhaps miss something somewhere?
1
