423 replies to this topic

[Thorn Hallis]

The artwork looks great, but the rest is a failure in the making. Every variant needs massive quirks, but the most useful variants wont get much because of ECM.

[Will9761]

The only MW4 Mechs missing are the, Argus, Chimera, Hauptmann, and Templar so far. If only PGI can get over their fear of making IS Omnimechs.

[Jay Leon Hart]

Will9761, on 06 January 2018 - 02:47 AM, said:

The only MW4 Mechs missing are the, Argus, Chimera, Hauptmann, and Templar so far. If only PGI can get over their fear of making IS Omnimechs.

As well as the Sunder, Flea, Owens, Hellhound(Wolverine IIC Conjurer) & Longbow.

I do want some IS OmniMechs, 2 in particular.

[Gannycus]

SQW, on 05 January 2018 - 06:25 PM, said:

So...what's so special about this mech? We've got plenty of dual gauss assaults already not that dual gauss build is particularly useful given MWO's map design. Nostalgia? Pokemech syndrome?

Dual Heavy Gauss whit ECM and Stealth Armor but shhhh.. don't tell anybody..

Waiting for new epic TheB33f videos in april.. sneaky like a 100 tons locust..

[Gannycus]

Will9761, on 06 January 2018 - 02:47 AM, said:

The only MW4 Mechs missing are the, Argus, Chimera, Hauptmann, and Templar so far. If only PGI can get over their fear of making IS Omnimechs.

I wanna see the Argus too but an IS heavy Omni mech with a fixed xl300 will be really a flop in MWO, we need a battlemech version or a massive armour quirk like +100 in every side torso..

[Aleski]

I am going to be salty on dat one... I do not see a reason to buy an other 100 tonner right now. My Atlas R(L) is collecting dust, my King Crab 000(L) is collecting dust, my Kodiaks are collecting dust, my Daishi Prime(S) is collecting dust. Annihilator, i don't have one, but well. Who wants to drive a turret anyway ?

Maybe if you fix the 100 tonners line for agility and/or durability, i will buy it. But, right now ? 100 tons with 325 engine max ? Herrm no. Even a Atlas with 350 engine and Kodiak with 400 engine is sluggish like hell, it's nearly impossible to drive them.

Anyway, the concept art nailed it. Alex is really making an amazing job. And i like the dot camo on the (S) variant. Lauren is also making a great job on the camos on the final models.

[BMKA]

Looks great, nice job

[Lynx OGrady]

Gannycus, on 06 January 2018 - 03:16 AM, said:

Dual Heavy Gauss whit ECM and Stealth Armor but shhhh.. don't tell anybody..

Waiting for new epic TheB33f videos in april.. sneaky like a 100 tons locust..

Cant... Stealth armor requires two hardpoints in each torso/ arm/leg. The Heavy Gauss leaves only one slot left. This is why we dont see anything with Heavy Gauss running a light engine

[Chuanhao]

Alienized, on 05 January 2018 - 02:00 PM, said:

yep... it baffles me that PGI got absolutely no idea about such things -.-
that beeing said, gimme a templar after the fafnir.

Yes I would like to start using IS Omnimechs. They must have the Perseus, to add to the Orion and Orion IIC.

But the Templar is really beautiful.

[Jay Leon Hart]

Gannycus, on 06 January 2018 - 03:27 AM, said:

I wanna see the Argus too but an IS heavy Omni mech with a fixed xl300 will be really a flop in MWO, we need a battlemech version or a massive armour quirk like +100 in every side torso..

The Argus (like the Thanatos) was only an OmniMech in MW4. Canonically, the Argus was changed to a BattleMech before it entered production, so no locked XL 300.

[Ukos]

I would love a Kraken or Fire Moth for Clans, but if we get another IS assault how about an Albatross or Grand Titan as it gives us a pair of Marik Assaults

[Sigmar Sich]

Yay, Fafnir! Glad to see another Lyran mech. Love how it looks. There is something about it that reminds me dodo

Spoiler

Will wait for c-bills though, not very happy about state of the game (especially with feature-starving CW ) to pay $.

P.S. I hope this abundance of new-era mechs doesn't mean you will not do older ones, like Crusader. You just have to do it, at least as middle finger to Harmony Gold's collective face.

[Gannycus]

LynxOGrady, on 06 January 2018 - 03:42 AM, said:

Cant... Stealth armor requires two hardpoints in each torso/ arm/leg. The Heavy Gauss leaves only one slot left. This is why we dont see anything with Heavy Gauss running a light engine

Ohh.. you're right what a pity, oh well dual gauss and some other thigs or sneaky Ac40.. lots of possibility still.

[Gannycus]

Jay Leon Hart, on 06 January 2018 - 03:46 AM, said:

The Argus (like the Thanatos) was only an OmniMech in MW4. Canonically, the Argus was changed to a BattleMech before it entered production, so no locked XL 300.

That's cool, it's solve a lot of headache.

[Koniving]

Alienized, on 05 January 2018 - 02:00 PM, said:

yep... it baffles me that PGI got absolutely no idea about such things -.-
that beeing said, gimme a templar after the fafnir.

Indeed.

Especially with the "lore" focus of MW5: Mercs that made little attempt on fixing the scale which I admit is a clusterduck... but then there's the tanks and helicopters (which in tabletop/Megamek are reasonably more formidable, even the 20 ton tanks aren't such a pushover when using the same weaponry as the Shadowhawk.)
(Accounts of several trial runs pitting a Shadowhawk against two 20 ton tanks that are armed with only a single AC/5.)

Spoiler

Duking it out with a pair of tanks was a life and death struggle for an SHK-2D that didn't have any LRMs (as the SHK in the MWO Mercs trailers also lacked any ammo for). The first attempt was was only finally resolved by resorting to melee in the first encounter in which I broke their cannon or disabled their tracks/mobility against each target respectively.

Without melee against a couple of 20 ton Scorpion tanks, it was imperative to use the environment to my advantage by finding 6 meter walls (1 unit high, a 12 meter wall 2 units high was impossible to use in tabletop, though in MWO the SHK is over 14 meters and would be usable, in BT nothing is above 15 meters tall) to shoot over as the chance of them missing me and hitting the wall was higher. Other tactics included going through buildings which the AI tanks in Megamek were not afraid to copy; well the more brazen one of the two separate AI players anyway, between both the Shadowhawk and the tank, that building collapsed and crippled the tank. Out of 5 attempts, I made it 3 times against two 20 ton tanks. Pitting an AI SHK against two 20 ton tanks... the AI SHK survived 11 out of 20 encounters, the longest battle lasting 17 turns (170 seconds, that's 2 minutes and 50 seconds after which the SHK was a cripple and struggling against one tank's pilot and gunner whom emerged from their helpless tank sporting auto rifles that while ineffective against the mech, could damage the pilot by shooting at the cockpit. One tried to climb the Shadow Hawk but didn't survive the attempt.) The shortest lasting 10 seconds, in which the SHK was instantly killed by the two tanks sporting exclusively a single AC/5 each; a combination of twin attacks landing on the mech, one hitting the cockpit armor, while jump jetting, which alongside the other hitting him in the center torso, caused the Shadow Hawk to lose control of the jumpjets and the mech flipped in the air and landed on its head killing the pilot instantly after falling from no more than 18 meters in the air. Likely while still trying to use the thrusters to correct himself, thrusting straight into the ground.)

And the "Single shot" AC/5 on an 80mm AC/5 Shadowhawk complaint, when BT's single shot for 5 damage caliber isn't until 185mm and even then AC/5s cap at 120mm and the largest caliber mounted on ANY Inner Sphere mech is 180mm.. which even that weapon, the Tomodzuru AC/20, is a really rare find and the 185mm AC/20 is exclusively mounted on tanks...

Spoiler

Also there's been no attempt on fixing the ACs; yes they got many-shot ACs, but they still have a Shadowhawk with a 80mm AC firing 5 damage per shell, something that isn't possible in the AC/5 caliber bracket of 40 to 120mm. AC/2s cap out at 90mm and the AC/5's highest end nails 5 damage in 3 shots, so... what's that say about 1 shot ACs in the 2 and 5 category, which are both intended for use against vehicles, infantry, aircraft, etc where you need multiple shots as you're bound to miss often.

(Even 150mm AC/20s are expressly 10 shots... So that's where 2 damage makes its mark. The biggest IS AC/20 is 185mm, the Chemjet Gun, which is still 4 shots to net 20 damage in a minimalist period of 5 seconds at high inaccuracy (thus, 5 damage per shell). Of course the Chemjet Gun uses a liquid propellant and has the advantage of firing up and over obstacles like a mortar if the tank so wished. Finally there's the Heavy Rifle, which the only one I found used in lore is 190mm, where Rifles are single shot per turn cannons that net 6 damage against armor or 9 damage against structure or armor of a Barrier Armor Rating of 7 or lower [unlike most tanks and mechs which have a BAR of 10), with an accurate range that rivals an AC/5 and a maximum range of 3,000 meters [as opposed the canonical 2,000 meter max range of an AC].


Note this gives firing rates not actual shots required to issue damage. Under the topic Battletech Simulator I compare damages done at these rates

So... Yeah. Even forgiving those, there's other things like using a Raven 2X out of time (but as that was the very first trailer and the actual time period isn't established that's just nitpicking. But then there's Locusts [a nearly Davion-exclusive) and the Kurita-exclusive Catapult fighting on the same team... on every map that was shown.

And I've noticed recently the "year" range from 3015 to 3049 had been changed. Someone said it was more like 3030 to 3052? Gotta dig into that to verify, but there's a lot of implications in that change (yes some Clan fighting potential, but more than that, it means ferro's gonna be around a lot sooner and be a lot less of a big deal).

Can anyone provide confirmation on the "current" years that MW5: Mercs is set for?
They've always said it would end at the start of the Clan invasion, 3049 (which would be an excellent cliff hangar for a Clan Invasion expansion pack, but now that's supposedly 3052, which foregoes the potential of a cliff hangar and leaves you at the brunt of the Clan invasion as everyone is falling to the invading forces at around the time when the IS finally understands their enemy enough to start taking advantage of their cultural limitations, such as pitting the fate of a planet over a game of football.)

Edited by Koniving, 07 January 2018 - 05:58 AM.

[Jay Leon Hart]

Koniving, on 06 January 2018 - 06:01 AM, said:

Can anyone provide confirmation on the "current" years that MW5: Mercs is set for?

All I remember reading, is that the campaign potentially "ends" with the Clan Invasion, nicely setting up an expansion or sequel.

Of course, this may have just been one person's interpretation of dev comments, as opposed to a confirmation.

[Koniving]

Jay Leon Hart, on 06 January 2018 - 03:46 AM, said:

The Argus (like the Thanatos) was only an OmniMech in MW4. Canonically, the Argus was changed to a BattleMech before it entered production, so no locked XL 300.

That's one aspect of lore that never really made sense to me.

I realize there's a number of limiting factors to Omnimechs in lore, mainly the weapons have to be specifically designed for the mech so you couldn't just slap on any AC/20 for example, it had to be specifically made for your omnimech before you could swap it with some other piece of equipment. (Tabletop didn't really nitpick but lets be honest, if you take the shape of the Cauldron Born's UAC/20, a gun of a caliber exclusive to that mech, of a completely unique shape and mount, and try to stuff it on the arm of a Vulture... you're basically gonna have to completely replace that arm because there's no feasible way to stuff it into the arm's little slots).

But the difference between an Omnimech and a Battlemech when it came to fixed equipment... there isn't actually a difference. Its fixed because its hard to remove or change, identical to a Battlemech. There's no reason to change the equipment in lore, hence they don't. Battlemechs are about the same, but in repairs sometimes it needs to be done, unlike with Omnimechs which are so fresh and new that new parts are as easy to get as jumping onto Comstar's version of Ebay and putting in a bid or just buying it from the E-store. With older Battlemechs you gotta hunt for parts like you're searching for authentic replacement parts to your original 1950's Ford truck before the acronym Found On Road Dead comes true (and as such sometimes you just had to accept that you might as well just cave and shove in a Chevy engine and some brake lights from a Hyundai Santa Fe.)

So I don't really see the reason that in lore, they would bother changing it from an Omnimech to a Battlemech except as a way to say that they will not be dedicating an easily interchangeable arsenal exclusively to it.

[Koniving]

Jay Leon Hart, on 06 January 2018 - 06:12 AM, said:

All I remember reading, is that the campaign potentially "ends" with the Clan Invasion, nicely setting up an expansion or sequel.

Of course, this may have just been one person's interpretation of dev comments, as opposed to a confirmation.

Given the Mercs format, likely an Expansion. As Mercs is a sandbox, unless the Elder Scrolls-esque storyline happens to kill you off at the end, there is no doubt it will be an expansion. Even then, you'd just be the next of kin, inheriting the unit your father or mother was in before you (which you had played), just like your parent had inherited from his or her parents (as the Mech Con trailer indicated by way of the father and mother telling you that you are inheriting their legacy. Also: Computer voice seems to be BBWolfe and mother's voice Tina Benoit? Not sure who the father is but I've heard that voice before too and its not George Led...sorry George I cannot spell that name for the life of me.)

[clan hope]

Jay Leon Hart, on 05 January 2018 - 02:33 PM, said:

To be fair, the IS got the Roughneck last year and Clans got the Mad Cat Mk II and, to a lesser extent, the Nova Cat, plus they're getting the Piranha this month.

[Redacted] all I.S. mech have stupid armor ..when i can can atk and kill 2 assault mechs and get 690 dmg and thats from the back of the mech.. and I.S. has assassin,javelin,annihilator,thanatos,roughneck and hellspawn. not to mention how much of a pain they are to kill

Edited by draiocht, 08 January 2018 - 05:14 PM.
insult

[Curccu]

theta123, on 05 January 2018 - 01:56 PM, said:

Best IS gets is an unquirked mauler and a not so usefull annihalator

Not so useful Annihilator?!?!?!?