12 replies to this topic

[Yeah]

very wide open question warning...

I currently have a mauler mx90 (playing 100% ballistic) i'm thinking of getting a kodiak 3, should I?

other than +10 tons to play around, what it would give me?

Edited by Yeah, 30 June 2017 - 08:01 AM.

[Aggravated Assault Mech]

Higher mounts and lighter Clan ballistics vs. better agility on Mauler and PPFLD ballistics.

The Kodiak allows you to fit the Gauss+PPC combo, which isn't really viable on the Mauler.

If you don't see yourself as a loyalist, I would buy and keep both.

[Tier5 Kerensky]

Keep MX90? Absolutely. I have played mine with XL280 and 6xAC2 in FP and works there fine, I got nearly 20 tons of ammo for it.

I think it might be little weak on QP, at least for QP I could have Dire for same except with UAC2 which would be better.

But new tech coming would allow MX90 to get maybe 6xUAC2. Or 6xLXB2. And rotary 5 AC2/5. If the amount of slots are taken original, then it could barely carry 4 rotary AC5s with STD engine, or 6xrotary AC2 with even XL or much better LFE. Rotary AC2 has a lot more DPS than AC2 or even UAC2. The way I understand it's jamming should be more predictable than UAC which just jamps at random roll whenever double tapping.


Get Kodiak 3? Like said it has really good high ballistic mounts. I've found the Kodiak really challenging to play in QP, I don't know why. I even prefer Dire Wolf with all it's weakness. I have many other better assults. But if you can play Kodiak well it's still very good mech and some builds can be fun like 4xLBX10.( screw aiming when you have LBX ).

For new tech Kodiak 3 might offer some intresting stuff with heavy large lasers. It has the tonnage and speed to carry them well. Granted other Clan mechs will probably get a lot more out of the new weapons, Kodiak 3 is mainly ballistic and we get no new ballistics for assults.

[Yeah]

ho... there is an annihilator coming...

hmm this might be it

[Audacious Aubergine]

Yeah, on 28 June 2017 - 09:26 AM, said:

ho... there is an annihilator coming...

hmm this might be it

Bear in mind that with a stock engine, the Annihilator will be the slowest mech in the game and it may cost you a lot of c-bills to get something fast enough that won't leave you a sitting duck in most quick play games

[Steel Raven]

The Annihilator is the new Urbie, something to play for laughs until something decent can be made of it. I'm guessing it will be on par with the King Crab with the exception of extremely stupid builds like quad Gauss.

Both the Mauler and the Kodiak are great mechs, don't give up ether unless your sick of it and rather have the mechbay. I have a Kodiak and may pick up a Mauler now we have the Light Engine on the way.

[Champion of Khorne Lord of Blood]

Yeah, on 28 June 2017 - 09:26 AM, said:

ho... there is an annihilator coming...

hmm this might be it

The thing's top speed if you max the engine out is as slow as a Dire Wolf, the stock is like 36kph, the mounts also are low compared to the up high cockpit, its definitely not going to be rivaling the Mauler or the Kodiak in a competitive sense.

Also the Mauler and Kodiak are both pretty good right about now, Mauler is much more maneuverable and accurate with its weaponry while the Kodiak gets more raw DPS. After all the nerfs the Kodiak has gone through and the LFE engines coming up in July, the Mauler will beat the pants off a Kodiak.

[Karl the Plumber]

It's July. The mauler isn't exactly the best mech in the game with the new tech or anything, but you can do extremely fun things like THIS with it. I've been a gigantic mauler fan since the first time I saw it (Mechwarrior Mercenaries, I guess?), and now that the new tech is out I'm having a great time tinkering with all the new stuff. Makes me glad I have duplicates of some of the chassis.

[FreeFragUK]

First of all, just to address a point of concern generated by the thread title... never sell a mech. Keep your mech's and keep your equipment.

As far as the Mauler vs the Kodiak/Annihilator question is concerned... all three mech's fulfil different roles The Mauler is best suited to fire support, this is where it is strongest in the field in comparison the Kodiak is the Clan equivalent to the Atlas in many ways, filling the role of a spear tip although it's not uncommon to the Kodiak relegated to more of a support role.

The Annihilator is another 100 ton mech, in theory it's intended to be used for defensive operations due to the low speed cap and the high amount of armour. The weapon hard-points allow for a very strong fire support mech but they also allow for a very strong tank given most the systems are embedded in the side torsos (variant dependent), the clincher with using an Annihilator to push the line is that you need to have good situational awareness and a team which is willing to actually support you accordingly. The Annihilator is incredibly vulnerable, even by assault standards, when it is without friends.

It really depends on your playstyle and what it is you're looking for in your next purchase along with various other points of consideration.

Edited by FreeFragUK, 01 August 2017 - 04:35 PM.

[Muriel Steiner]

Don't sell your mauler.. get a Kodiak 3 (if nothing else, it gives you a good clan assault mech in case that should ever matter.)

As for the annihilator, I LOVE my Mean Baby and the other annihilators are "okay". I don't know why anyone would claim that annihilators are fragile, The exact opposite is actually true. Between their armor quirks and the reduced chance of taking crits (and relatively good hit boxes), the annihilator is probably the least fragile 'mech in the game. I suspect what people are trying to say is that the annihilator might "die easy" because they are likely to get abandoned by their team and over-taken by enemy lights and mediums, but that's a problem you might face in any 100 ton 'mech and a poorly organized group. To the annihilator's credit, it will survive getting attacked by lights for a longer time than most other assaults will and losing an arm, or even a torso, doesn't keep it from being able to fight (it has weapons in the CT and/or head). While we should acknowledge the possibility of getting overtaken by lights does exist, the reality is that it "rarely" happens. Actually, my biggest problem with the ANH is that it doesn't really seem suited to any role except "tip of the spear", but it's one of the few 'mechs that can actually be a "tip of the spear". For that reason, I would recommend you wait to get the annihilator.

[Aggravated Assault Mech]

100t Assaults aren't really good at being the tip of the spear. Atlas is the closest, but still for a given space to push through, you can get 3-4 mediums and heavies through the amount of real estate it takes for an Atlas or Annihilator to maneuver comfortably.

Furthermore, the Annihilator/Stalker/Marauder hitboxes aren't that great for pushing. It isn't fragile, but vulnerable to taking fire from multiple directions, where whoever is oblique will just ST you (usually your outside, offensive side). Atlas, Victor, Orions etc. can sacrifice their arms to save their torso weapons (and move a lot faster as well).

Annihilator, like the DWF and Mauler, is best as a second line base of fire- eye of the storm, not tip of the spear. You can slow push a corner by eviscerating any single mech that pokes out against you. Rather than hard-pushing, you tighten the rope around them by punishing them for trying to play aggressively.

Hard to say if the Mauler is actually recommendable anymore. Unless you're hellbent on dual UAC20 (for which it is unquestionably the best IS mech), the Cyclops has higher top speed and better agility and hitboxes, and the Annihilator is better for any max firepower ballistics boating.

[Muriel Steiner]

I admit it's been a long time since I've played an Atlas, but the ANH at this point seems a better spear-tip than the Atlas did way back then.

I don't really get the reference to pushing 4 mediums or heavies through terrain that an atlas or annihilator can't maneuver comfortably in.. Maneuverability is different from speed.. and the assault is different than mediums and heavies. For the record, the ANH is narrower than the atlas, and so it can "comfortably maneuver" in places the atlas can't. Yes, a medium or heavy could maneuver better still.. but a medium or heavy could also die from a single enemy alpha. The annihilator doesn't take up the space of 4 heavies, and even if it did it would be better to send your more heavily armored 'mech into the fray first in order to draw fire.. which is the entire point to "tip of the spear" (pun not intended, but amusing none-the-less). Your 4 heavies should be hitting from behind cover or attacking the flanks, because if they have as much fire-power as your spear-tip, and greater mobility, then you can bet they sacrificed survivability. So why are we even trying to compare a single assault to multiple mediums and heavies?

I would argue that the ANH isn't so much "vulnerable" to taking fire from all directions, as much as it encourages taking fie from all directions.. but again.. that's exactly what you want from a "tip of the spear".. The ANH has a (fairly) symmetrical load-out, so your enemies won't all target your "offensive side" because you don't have an "offensive side". If they take out one side torso, you turn and put the other side torso infont of them, and if they take out THAT torso, you turn and shoot them in the face because you still have weapons in your CT and head. If they keep shooting you, congratulations, because you just soaked up over 500 damage that your allies might have taken had you not been there. Did I mention that the ANH ALSO has arms that it can sacrifice to save it's torso weapons?

Meanwhile, your team is wrecking the enemy team because, while the enemy was busy thinking "Hahaha, that Annihilator is such an easy target", your allies were thinking "Hahaha, the entire enemy team is facing our annihilator, it's time for me to put two full alphas into their back." (good thing my heavy 'mech has enough maneuverability that I can circle behind the guys shooting at the annihilator, even though the ANH is going full steam into the fray.)

The problem with trying to play the Annihilator on the second line is that your lack of maneuverability is actually a bigger problem there. As long as you're forcing the opponent to react to you and just taking the straightest line into the fight, your speed will be made up for by your aggression. But if you try to stay back and react to your opponent, you'll be leaving your opponent the option of simply moving the fight away from you. The annihilators slow speed would also keep it from getting to the front to do armor sharing in any reasonable amount of time.

[Aggravated Assault Mech]

Muriel Steiner, on 04 August 2017 - 11:08 AM, said:

I admit it's been a long time since I've played an Atlas, but the ANH at this point seems a better spear-tip than the Atlas did way back then.

I don't really get the reference to pushing 4 mediums or heavies through terrain that an atlas or annihilator can't maneuver comfortably in..So why are we even trying to compare a single assault to multiple mediums and heavies?

Because for a given amount of space (say, any of the number of chokepoints in the E6 area of Tourmaline) in the time it takes to get a 48/52kph mech through that space, you could have fit multiple mediums or heavies, which collectively have far greater survivability not only in raw health terms, but by dividing enemy fire. Worst case scenario (say through the gap below the castle in E6 Tourmaline), a slow *** Assault mech is bottling up your push and giving the enemy more time to react.

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I would argue that the ANH isn't so much "vulnerable" to taking fire from all directions, as much as it encourages taking fie from all directions.. . Did I mention that the ANH ALSO has arms that it can sacrifice to save it's torso weapons?

Your offensive side is just the exterior side of your mech when you poke. It's the side you are depending up to both poke offensively, and defend yourself from being poked- always. It's also the side that's going to get shot first. When you're shielding on a corner, you're turning it away so that the inside torso is presented to the enemy.

The arms on the Annihilator have very little shielding potential compared to the Atlas/Banshee/Mauler/Battlemaster/Victor.

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Meanwhile, your team is wrecking the enemy team because, while the enemy was busy thinking "Hahaha, that Annihilator is such an easy target", your allies were thinking "Hahaha, the entire enemy team is facing our annihilator, it's time for me to put two full alphas into their back." (good thing my heavy 'mech has enough maneuverability that I can circle behind the guys shooting at the annihilator, even though the ANH is going full steam into the fray.)

Ideal but not always practical. More practical is just putting as many mechs in front of the enemy as possible, diminishing their ability to focus any single target down. That way your push isn't at the expense of sacrificing your highest sustained damage output mech.

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The problem with trying to play the Annihilator on the second line is that your lack of maneuverability is actually a bigger problem there. As long as you're forcing the opponent to react to you and just taking the straightest line into the fight, your speed will be made up for by your aggression. But if you try to stay back and react to your opponent, you'll be leaving your opponent the option of simply moving the fight away from you. The annihilators slow speed would also keep it from getting to the front to do armor sharing in any reasonable amount of time.

I never said the Annihilator can't push, just that it's not really well suited to it except for the fact that it has the most armor and firepower in the game. It doesn't have good agility, it doesn't have good top speed, it's a tall and easy to hit target, and it can't effectively shield. You're much better off using your firepower to box the enemy in and punish them for trying to push.

Pushing is better done by mechs that can dead side, or at least have shield arms to preserve their firepower as long as possible- or mechs that are just so fast and tanky that people get flustered trying to shoot them, like Assassins. By pushing your Annihilator, your team is putting the biggest, most dangerous, most obvious, easiest to hit target to the front, and more often than not you'll get lose both your side torsos for basically nothing as your allies struggle to fit their mechs around you or basically chicken out after seeing you lose 50% of your health in the span of 3 seconds.

But what do I know... I'm only averaging like 820 damage per game in it.