128 replies to this topic

[Koniving]

Just went on my first run since replacing the old AC/10 with the UAC/10 on my 3R(S)
My final moment.



Highly Effective damage spreading looks like this.

My score, keep in mind I've got premium time (all the preorder stuff I've done over the years + events has me banked with over a year's worth of premium time... after the year+ of time I've already used....and I've never bought premium time in my life. Preorders account for maybe 8 months of it.) Also it's the Marauder 3R Collector Special variant (which gives the same 30% bonus as a hero).

(Side note: All Loyalty variants given out during the celebration of the anniversary are 30% bonuses to cbill earnings, too. Easiest qualifying conditions: Any amount of MC. Buy any pack (one reward for each side [IS and Clan]. So yeah.).

And how I compared overall.



Followed it with my IIC-Alpha.
Sadly my A/D keys are acting up, I think it's because the wife has the playstation controller hooked up for her emulated game. It was very sudden that it happened though so I settled with using "F" to turn. Unfortunately, a Locust harassed me repeatedly.
...That Locust is one of my two kills, followed soon after by an Orion IIC. I was under assault in the end by the Locust (a Pirate's Bane hero), an Arctic Cheetah, the Orion IIC and a Marauder IIC. When I discovered the Orion IIC, I oriented toward him (gradually, turning by "looking" is far more sluggish than normal turning) and once I got him zero'd in I went full stationary and blasted away until he died (had just one arm and my ballistics and he was minty fresh). Took about 5 or 6 seconds. Maybe 7? Immediately turned (slightly) to the Marauder IIC which -- seconds after this screenshot rammed me.


Orion IIC's corpse on the right. The Locust I got first just seconds before I discovered the Orion, I managed to peg the Locust's leg well enough to break it and from there it died in the blink of an eye.

For fighting at an extreme disadvantage I'd like to say I did pretty dang well, took sooo damn much damage because the Locust kept getting behind me. (Any wonder why the back armor is so much higher for my IIC Marauders?)
Here's the score, didn't stick for the end of the match, need to get ready for work.

It takes so little effort to spread damage in a Marauder due to its shape. Slightly shift the torso to the left or right, maybe even 10 degrees... and that's as effective as a 75 degree twist from humanoid mechs. The tendencies for side torsos to get destroyed though make them kind of a boon for XL engines (I still run some of them with XLs).

Side note: Any "Clan XL" engine is not compatible with IS mechs and vice versa.
"STD" engines are universal and can be used by either side.
(LFEs are IS only).

[Koniving]

Speaking of 75 tonners, another one just became available. Ships November 14th (so after the October celebration), but is available to preorder now (so it'd qualify). IS mech. Every variant has ECM capability.

https://mwomercs.com/thanatos

[TheDanish]

I figured I'd piggyback on this thread instead of posting my own. I'm about to wrap up my cadet matches and have narrowed down the three trial mechs I enjoyed playing: the Hunchback, the Orion, and the Warhammer.

I've had the most success with - and I LOVE - the Orion for its survivability and mix of weapons, but I've read it's not great anymore.
I like the Hunchback as a Medium that packs punch. I don't really care about the jumpjets.
I like the Warhammer for its mix of survivability and damage output in long matches, thanks to energy weapons.

I like having one or two hard-hitting ballistics, plus energy weapons to keep me going when I run out of ammo. One LRM to reach out and touch people isn't bad either, but not necessary.

I stick close to my teammates and provide fire support, soaking when needed (hence favoring the Orion's heavy armor). I like having moderate speed but I don't need to sprint across the map. I just don't want to slog my way through at 50 kph.

I suck with assaults. Too slow and I feel like I'm always in the wrong position.

I guess I'm a casual player. Not looking to play competitively.

Edited by TheDanish, 03 August 2017 - 01:22 PM.

[Jay Leon Hart]

TheDanish, on 03 August 2017 - 01:07 PM, said:

I figured I'd piggyback on this thread instead of posting my own. I'm about to wrap up my cadet matches and have narrowed down the three trial mechs I enjoyed playing: the Hunchback, the Orion, and the Warhammer.

I LOVE the Orion for its survivability and mix of weapons, but I've read it's not great anymore.
I like the Hunchback as a Medium that packs punch. I don't really care about the jumpjets.
I like the Warhammer for its mix of survivability and damage output in long matches, thanks to energy weapons.

I like having one or two hard-hitting ballistics, plus energy weapons to keep me going when I run out of ammo. One LRM to reach out and touch people isn't bad either, but not necessary.

Not sure if the current trials are the HBK or HBK-IIC and ON1 or ON1-IIC, so I'll cover them all.

For the IS Hunchback, the HBK-4H has 1B2E in the right torso for a decent mix of Ballistics and Energy. If you have the MC spare, the Hero HBK-GI has 2B in the right torso, 1M in the left torso and 1E per arm (plus the head). Seems to tick your weapon preferences.

For the Clan Hunchback IIC, I would stick to the basic HBK-IIC and avoid the HCK-IIC-C, you don't need those energy arms. Nothing with all 3 weapon systems.

For the IS Orion, the ON1-K ticks most boxes, or the ON1-V if you want a 2nd Ballistic. The Hero ON1-P could be a good choice, but may not be worth the MC investment.

For the Clan Orion IIC, grab the ON1-IIC-B if you're ok with a single Ballistic, otherwise get the ON1-IIC-C, swapping 2E in the arms for 1B & 1M in the torsos.

Finally, the Warhammer. The WHM-6R sounds perfect for you. 1B in each torso, 6E across the arms and torsos and a single Missile in the right torso. Perfection.

As a bonus, you could try the Clan Hellbringer. It's an OmniMech, so the Mechlab is a little more restrictive, but it was based on the Warhammer. The real beauty is it doesn't matter which one you buy, as you can swap and change everything except the CT. I would probably get the HBR-Prime, just because it has good OmniPods for what you want to use. Definitely worth a look.

Edited by Jay Leon Hart, 03 August 2017 - 01:37 PM.

[TheDanish]

Jay Leon Hart, on 03 August 2017 - 01:28 PM, said:

Not sure if the current trials are the HBK or HBK-IIC and ON1 or ON1-IIC, so I'll cover them all.

For the IS Hunchback, the HBK-4H has 1B2E in the right torso for a decent mix of Ballistics and Energy. If you have the MC spare, the Hero HBK-GI has 2B in the right torso, 1M in the left torso and 1E per arm (plus the head). Seems to tick your weapon preferences.

For the Clan Hunchback IIC, I would stick to the basic HBK-IIC and avoid the HCK-IIC-C, you don't need those energy arms. Nothing with all 3 weapon systems.

For the IS Orion, the ON1-K ticks most boxes, or the ON1-V if you want a 2nd Ballistic. The Hero ON1-P could be a good choice, but may not be worth the MC investment.

For the Clan Orion IIC, grab the ON1-IIC-B if you're ok with a single Ballistic, otherwise get the ON1-IIC-C, swapping 2E in the arms for 1B & 1M in the torsos.

Finally, the Warhammer. The WHM-6R sounds perfect for you. 1B in each torso, 6E across the arms and torsos and a single Missile in the right torso. Perfection.

As a bonus, you could try the Clan Hellbringer. It's an OmniMech, so the Mechlab is a little more restrictive, but it was based on the Warhammer. The real beauty is it doesn't matter which one you buy, as you can swap and change everything except the CT. I would probably get the HBR-Prime, just because it has good OmniPods for what you want to use. Definitely worth a look.

Thanks, I appreciate the input. I'm not wedded to any of those three, but of the available trial mechs, they offered what I enjoyed playing. I'm open to any other heavy mech that might play similarly.

Edited by TheDanish, 03 August 2017 - 02:47 PM.

[Mechwarrior Ellis]

Koniving, on 03 August 2017 - 11:52 AM, said:

Just went on my first run since replacing the old AC/10 with the UAC/10 on my 3R(S)
My final moment.



Highly Effective damage spreading looks like this.

My score, keep in mind I've got premium time (all the preorder stuff I've done over the years + events has me banked with over a year's worth of premium time... after the year+ of time I've already used....and I've never bought premium time in my life. Preorders account for maybe 8 months of it.) Also it's the Marauder 3R Collector Special variant (which gives the same 30% bonus as a hero).

(Side note: All Loyalty variants given out during the celebration of the anniversary are 30% bonuses to cbill earnings, too. Easiest qualifying conditions: Any amount of MC. Buy any pack (one reward for each side [IS and Clan]. So yeah.).

And how I compared overall.



Followed it with my IIC-Alpha.
Sadly my A/D keys are acting up, I think it's because the wife has the playstation controller hooked up for her emulated game. It was very sudden that it happened though so I settled with using "F" to turn. Unfortunately, a Locust harassed me repeatedly.
...That Locust is one of my two kills, followed soon after by an Orion IIC. I was under assault in the end by the Locust (a Pirate's Bane hero), an Arctic Cheetah, the Orion IIC and a Marauder IIC. When I discovered the Orion IIC, I oriented toward him (gradually, turning by "looking" is far more sluggish than normal turning) and once I got him zero'd in I went full stationary and blasted away until he died (had just one arm and my ballistics and he was minty fresh). Took about 5 or 6 seconds. Maybe 7? Immediately turned (slightly) to the Marauder IIC which -- seconds after this screenshot rammed me.


Orion IIC's corpse on the right. The Locust I got first just seconds before I discovered the Orion, I managed to peg the Locust's leg well enough to break it and from there it died in the blink of an eye.

For fighting at an extreme disadvantage I'd like to say I did pretty dang well, took sooo damn much damage because the Locust kept getting behind me. (Any wonder why the back armor is so much higher for my IIC Marauders?)
Here's the score, didn't stick for the end of the match, need to get ready for work.

It takes so little effort to spread damage in a Marauder due to its shape. Slightly shift the torso to the left or right, maybe even 10 degrees... and that's as effective as a 75 degree twist from humanoid mechs. The tendencies for side torsos to get destroyed though make them kind of a boon for XL engines (I still run some of them with XLs).

Side note: Any "Clan XL" engine is not compatible with IS mechs and vice versa.
"STD" engines are universal and can be used by either side.
(LFEs are IS only).

2 kills and 255 damage. Effective damage.

Edited by Mechwarrior Ellis, 03 August 2017 - 06:31 PM.

[Koniving]

TheDanish, on 03 August 2017 - 01:07 PM, said:

I figured I'd piggyback on this thread instead of posting my own. I'm about to wrap up my cadet matches and have narrowed down the three trial mechs I enjoyed playing: the Hunchback, the Orion, and the Warhammer.

I've had the most success with - and I LOVE - the Orion for its survivability and mix of weapons, but I've read it's not great anymore.
I like the Hunchback as a Medium that packs punch. I don't really care about the jumpjets.
I like the Warhammer for its mix of survivability and damage output in long matches, thanks to energy weapons.

I like having one or two hard-hitting ballistics, plus energy weapons to keep me going when I run out of ammo. One LRM to reach out and touch people isn't bad either, but not necessary.

I stick close to my teammates and provide fire support, soaking when needed (hence favoring the Orion's heavy armor). I like having moderate speed but I don't need to sprint across the map. I just don't want to slog my way through at 50 kph.

I suck with assaults. Too slow and I feel like I'm always in the wrong position.

I guess I'm a casual player. Not looking to play competitively.

"People" have been saying it's not great since day one.

I personally wonder what they are smoking. Much love for the Orions, it's like having an assault in a 'heavy' package. An Atlas with the speed to G.T.F.O. whenever it gets into a bad situation (where an Atlas in a bad situation just has to try and deliver as much damage as it can because "Him say you gon' die, Kimosabe." And 'him' be right.)

Any of the three mechs you described are pretty ideal. Their Clan versions are also pretty solid (the Clan Hunchback IIC is far less tanky but trades that for significantly higher damage output. Clan Orion IIC... kinda does the same thing, now that I think about it. Even the Warhammer to Hellbringer comparison... Huh. Learn something new everyday).

This is not indicative of a Hellbringer's loadouts or power or anything, but I shoved a UAC/20 and an LB-20x with full armor into a Hellbringer for the sake of it, with a single ton of ammo each.

It's a one versus one against another Hellbringer with HUDs off [no crosshairs to aim with] (a Shadowhawk films us).

[Gagis]

For those who like the Warhammer and ballistics, I strongly recommend something roughly like this:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...69544b769b0273a

You can squeeze in a few heat sinks by shaving off some more armour or switching PPC's to Snub-Nosed versions.

[Jingseng]

who cares if it's not "Great anymore". Plenty of "great" mechs are absolute trash in the hands of some... and plenty of "trash tier" mechs are clutch game savers in the hands of others.

[Aggravated Assault Mech]

TheDanish, on 03 August 2017 - 01:07 PM, said:

I figured I'd piggyback on this thread instead of posting my own. I'm about to wrap up my cadet matches and have narrowed down the three trial mechs I enjoyed playing: the Hunchback, the Orion, and the Warhammer.

I've had the most success with - and I LOVE - the Orion for its survivability and mix of weapons, but I've read it's not great anymore.
I like the Hunchback as a Medium that packs punch. I don't really care about the jumpjets.
I like the Warhammer for its mix of survivability and damage output in long matches, thanks to energy weapons.

I like having one or two hard-hitting ballistics, plus energy weapons to keep me going when I run out of ammo. One LRM to reach out and touch people isn't bad either, but not necessary.

I stick close to my teammates and provide fire support, soaking when needed (hence favoring the Orion's heavy armor). I like having moderate speed but I don't need to sprint across the map. I just don't want to slog my way through at 50 kph.

I suck with assaults. Too slow and I feel like I'm always in the wrong position.

I guess I'm a casual player. Not looking to play competitively.

The ON1-V is really great right now. People writing it off as bad are just repeating outdated info. 3 ASRM6 and an AC20 on a 325 LFE. Take 7t or so of ammo by taking armor from the legs and cockpit and you shouldn't need backup lasers. Really fun, durable brawling mech.

You can build some of the other variants that have 1b 3m hardpoints the same, but the -V has the 15% cool down. The VTR-9S can be built the same way and is also strong- it's actually a little more agile than the Orion if memory serves and will be able to carry more ammo. Functionally it trades the -15% cooldown for jump jets.

The Warhammer is a strong chassis that presents a lot of build options. While the Orion is really best suited to missile and ballistics, the warhammer is more ballistics or lasers. Twin AC20s with as much ammo as you can fit, or banks of lasers. IIRC the -6R, -6D, and hero are the good ones.

Hunchback is a solid mech but the variants don't have a lot of flexibility in the mechlab.

Personally as someone that already knows what they like, I would buy the ON1-V, but as a new player the Warhammer will take you furthest- one of the best IS heavies. The individual mech offers more options and is balanced more around it's hardpoints (which are fixed) than quirks (which can be nerfed).

[Koniving]

Mechwarrior Ellis, on 03 August 2017 - 05:52 PM, said:

2 kills and 255 damage. Effective damage.

Indeed. It's possible to get kills with as little as 35 damage, 100 to 150 per kill is pretty reasonable, much higher and either someone's "securing" the kills or there isn't much efficiency to be had in what is being done.
(Like the Marauder 3R(S) had 700+ damage and only 2 kills but one is a solo kill, and then there's 5 assists, and despite having 2 kills there are 3 kills where I did the most damage (meaning at least one kill was 'secured' by someone else).

(Just a reminder; from Short Question Short Answer, second post.)

Koniving, on 02 October 2013 - 10:25 AM, said:

Updated: Tuesday December 31st, 2013.
-snip-
Q: What's the protocol for quoting a huge post just to get the person's attention (or to make a small comment/compliment)?
A: Snip anything and everything not related specifically to what you're asking or commenting on. No one likes it when a 3 page long post is quoted just to ask "What about when this happens?"
-snip-

Especially lots of pictures.

---

Orions in general as mentioned before are solid mechs.
I have the Protector, the K and the V. Of them, the K tends to run the hottest due to the higher volume of energy weapons. The V I confess would make a great brawler with MRMs or SRMs, especially with armlock disabled and skillful use of the arms, mine's been sporting an LRM-15 and 2 LRM-10s backed by an AC/5 and 2 ML.

My Protector sports an Atlas knockoff build with 2 ML in the arms, 2 SRM-4s, LB-10X (lower weight and lower heat reasons) with machine gun, AMS and a left shoulder PPC. (This hasn't been modified with new tech, will probably trade the PPC for a snub, SRMs might go Streak SRMs, rest might remain unchanged unless more weight's needed, then will trade the LB-10X for a RAC/5).

My K features (currently) an Ultra/5, 4 ML, 2 Streak 2s and a BAP.
As described even back then (yep, liked the build so much I kept it for years). Naturally it tanks better now due to the "Quirkening" and the skill tree. Back then this thing had to survive on default 75 tonner armor/structure, which is pretty damn good. Note: Despite playing by myself in the first video, at the time there was always either two groups of 2 players or a group of 3 (with a high "ELO" loner) or a group of 4 on each team. So there was a 'mini group' of players on every team coordinating with each other. (Said groups were "ALWAYS" in Alpha lance.)

Protip: When I start to climb the super steep hill, watch the leg-direction arrow on the minimap for how I pull off this otherwise "impossible" feat. Works on all mechs. By moving the legs left and right I'm creating an angle that I can accelerate and climb and then directing that momentum back toward the incline I want to climb, repeatedly creating the torque I need to make it happen. An extremely important skill to have!
(Second match there features old Forest Colony [which is hidden in the current Forest Colony] with a snow tileset.)

Orion K as part of a 4-man group. Using an earlier Gauss config but it ran very hot.
Second match has the LRM-100 Stalker.

These days it's quite a bit easier due to all the buffs it has. Though there's now 4 more enemies on a team, too.

Will get some footage of the Orion and Warhammer (won't do the Hunchback because I already have quite a bit of recent footage for it) alongside finishing the Rifleman 3C and Marauder / Marauder IIC footage today.

[Mechwarrior Ellis]

If you want to try it, one of my favorite builds with my Hellbringer is 4 cmpls -- 3 in the Prime LT, one in the head -- and an lb20x. I shave some armor off of the arms.

It's gotten me out of some tight situations and is pretty clutch late game when crits are shining. I wonder if it will work on a Warhammer 6R with a LFE...

[Koniving]

So remember the Rifle 3C build I suggested with the Heavy PPCs... which I changed to ER PPCs and more heatsinks using the 260 engine?

Note: I only unlocked a couple of things in the sensor tree to make my way to "Advanced zoom". Nothing else.


You won't believe how I did this. Which is why I'm glad I was filming it.

Will be uploading it soon. In the meantime to tide you guys over as well as to give a video drop for Danish, here's a brand new Hunchback video that I was going to scrap but instead salvaged. It's now part of the 2017 playlist.
Which is where the Marauder, Marauder IIC, Warhammer and Orion videos will also be ASAP.

Design reminder and skill tree. (Purposely not unlocking the skill tree to fieldtest builds to see how well they might perform for a new player).

Edited by Koniving, 04 August 2017 - 07:24 PM.

[Wildstreak]

I can only give 2 suggestions.

One is buy a Hellbringer-Prime and turn it into this build changing the Head to the A variant Omnipod.
Even if not your playstyle, it can be a money making Mech.
You do not need Skill Nodes to do good though they help so that's good since as a new player you probably may not have any.
Arm lasers in one Weapon Group, Head and Left Torso lasers in the other they do most of the work.
You do have some ECM abilities and a decent amount of armor. Don't worry about the low arm armor, they do not get hit that often.
Use it to build up money for what you want and Skill Points needed for other Mechs.

Another option based on one you mention is the Trial Timber Wolf that can be built from the A, C or D variants then add the right Omnipods in the right spots to get the lasers needed.
Build up your CB with it for either modifying into what you want or buying that Marauder.

I cannot suggest a possible Marauder as I only have 1 and have not played it much.

[GreyMatter51]

Well I splurged and bought the MAD IIC ultimate pack. I have only had a chance to play a game or two in a couple of the variants. I ended up stripping the weapons off of all of the variants so I could piece together a build on the Scorch to try out. I am currently running stock engine, 2x Gauss and 2x large pulse lasers. played 1 match after I cobbled it together last night and did ok. I figure as I get used to the mech and can tweak the loadout to better suit me I (hopefully) will get better with it. I also plan to build a pure energy loadout on the special variant as well with the weapons that I have left over. I think I will build up some C-bills to keep working on the Rifleman (thinking about trying the 2ppc, 4 lmg build that Koniving suggested now that I am able to test out the weapons on another platform. I will probably end up getting the other variants of the Rifleman and possibly the Warhammer (now that I recognize what mech it is based off of, the model is really different from what I remember in other games).

I do plan on getting lots and lots of the mechs but I do realize that it is a goal that will take some time to build out due to grinding out the money. Oh well, at least I can use the time to try and get better at the game

[BTGbullseye]

If you do a pure energy build, and want brawling to mid-range combat superiority, use 2x Heavy Large Lasers, and 6x ER Medium Lasers. (best bang for your buck, no ghost heat)

[Koniving]

On the Rifleman 3C.

So I've shifted from my build suggestions to trying the 4 ER ML 2 AC/5 and I do need to agree it is a bit undergunned. The issue is the ER MLs at the lack of a skill tree. Without the laser duration nodes unlocked, the duration is far too long for the ER MLs to be effective. I traded them out for MLs to significantly greater success at the cost of hampering my long range capabilities to just "poking" enemies with the AC/5s. I experimented a bit and I came up with a few solutions without using the skill tree.
fixed this into a list of separate builds.

• AC/10 in one arm (you already have 2 when you bought the Rifleman), slap in 2 large lasers and they are just as effective. Can even squeeze in a few more heatsinks or tack in 3 LMGs to supplement the lasers.
  
• Drop the ACs in favor of LMGs and heatsinks and the ER MLs still work well enough with the bolstered support of the LMGs... Lose the poke ability, though. Large Pulse lasers can help return the pokability.
  
• Or shrink the engine back to 240 (quite a larger range of possibilities there), or go XL or LFE.
  
• With the STD 240 you can keep the AC/5s and tack in 2 Light PPCs for a hit that's effectively identical to any of the three following weapon sets: 2 AC/10s but with better range or 4 ER ML but without any spread and delivered instantly, or 4 AC/5s but without all the weight and total ammo dependcy.

The 2 ER PPC + 4 LMG build I suggested has been phenomenal, though.

Throwing in an XL 260 or 265 opens up a lot of possibilities.

---

Ultimate pack. O.o; Yeah I'm not brave enough to do that. Probably would have gotten the basic and if I liked it, just buy the hero and the additional variants (effectively equally the ultimate pack and price).

Plenty of variants to work with though.

Gonna shift over to making the other videos I promised.

Edited by Koniving, 05 August 2017 - 04:55 PM.

[TheDanish]

Thanks all for the advice. I bought the ON1-V and am running 2LL and 2 AC5 , plus a bunch of ammo and LAMS. Lots of fun and quite tanky. I'm thinking of trying a straight brawler build with SRMs and/or LBX.

Edited by TheDanish, 05 August 2017 - 08:30 AM.

[Gagis]

TheDanish, on 05 August 2017 - 08:30 AM, said:

Thanks all for the advice. I bought the ON1-V and am running 2LL and 2 AC5 , plus a bunch of ammo and LAMS. Lots of fun and quite tanky. I'm thinking of trying a straight brawler build with SRMs and/or LBX.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...8ffab0cf88735a7

Something like this ought to work. You can squeeze in more firepower by downgrading the engine, but a large engine is still something you usually want on every build.

[Koniving]

The best Rifleman 3C video, though many of the 2 ER PPC + 4 LMG battles had good success, this was the one most worth uploading.


Marauder IIC and Orion got bumped to the top of the list to film for.