26 replies to this topic

[ForceUser]

- Result (Season 20): The Jarl's List
- Build: UZL-6P
- Skill Tree: UZL-6P
- Game Mode: Solo Queue exclusively
- Tier: Maxed 1
- Servers: All
- Time-zones: All, primarily EU prime to US prime.
- Ace of Spades: https://puu.sh/zylUB/906acbb224.png
- First(only) ever 9 kill match: https://puu.sh/zvWVI/850e5cf65d.png

Personal take away and opinion: I initially bought the Uziel (for Cbills) not expecting amazing things. I don't have particularly strong memories of it from MW4 nor from Table Top. If it wasn't in Mech Commander then I don't get too excited about it. However when I bought it I already knew it wasn't going to play like any other 50t mech, IS or Clan. Everyone could see that, although some's interpretation of how different the Uziel is has been negative.

I was honestly blown away at how the mech performed and most importantly, how big an impact it had on every single match I played. This is mirrored in it's win/loss rate compared to every other season I have on record. Even it's overall stats compare very well to other mechs I've played (filtered to mechs with 25+ matches): Sorted by win %, Sorted by KDR, Sorted by survival %. I haven't used the Uziel in FW so it's stats are relatively accurate.

I don't, however, think the Uziel is the best 50t mech in the game (in any game mode) nor do I think that it's comp mode material. I do however think it's the most obvious and best example of how to make a mech have a unique feel / it's own character without making the mech useless or even mediocre but extremely competitive. The no1 reason why people struggle with the mech is that they play it like every other medium mech and wonder why it falls flat on it's face. When it comes to theory crafting it I've noticed people like to weigh the negatives of the mech too heavily while weighing the positives too lightly (or ignoring them completely) and not considering how some of the positives straight negate some of the negatives. But I've discussed those things enough times to know that it's a lost cause trying to convey those concepts.

Regardless, do with this what you will. It was an interesting experiment that I actually had a lot of fun with. That probably had more to do with how flexible and influential the mech and build was more than it's on-paper strength. It's flexibility, agility and adaptability made every match feel like I had an impact and I never felt like I was unable to contribute. It was never a boring match, didn't matter the mode or map. I think that might be it's single strongest characteristic and probably the only reason I was able to play a single mech and a single build for an entire month.

Edit: Fixed some spelling, added 8 and 9 kill links

Edited by ForceUser, 01 March 2018 - 09:07 AM.

[El Bandito]

Is it in Solo-Q? If so, well done.

[ForceUser]

El Bandito, on 01 March 2018 - 09:03 AM, said:

Is it in Solo-Q? If so, well done.

All matches for the last month was Solo Q yes. I may have played some group queue matches before then (hence why I rely on the seasonal stats as the main result)

I did also play an alternative build of the 6P (I own 2) but again, before this experiment: 6ERML

[aardappelianen]

Hah lol i bought the 6p to boat 6 lppc's on but when i had to accept that it wasn't gonna work out i came up with this build as well except with ERLL's and discovered its power in qp as well

Not having 6 lppc's on my 6p hurts my soul though so now im back to occasionally running my 6 lppc uziel in qp
Sometimes i feel like i should apologize to my team for the mad things i bring into qp

[KodiakGW]

Any pics of the team score?

Edit: Ummm...Your Ace of Spades. Tournament Supporter is still active last month?

Edited by KodiakGW, 01 March 2018 - 09:41 AM.

[Seranov]

I think what we are seeing here is just somebody who found the mech that works just right for them. That's a great thing.

That said the Uziel is probably not "the mech that works just right for me" for most people.

[ForceUser]

KodiakGW, on 01 March 2018 - 09:36 AM, said:

Any pics of the team score?

Edit: Ummm...Your Ace of Spades. Tournament Supporter is still active last month?

Yup, the Ace of spades was before the experiment. The 9 Kill one was during the last month (you'll have to take my word for it ).

Here is team screenshots for those two matches:
https://puu.sh/zyo8X/1e65a9d3c1.png
https://puu.sh/zyo9w/42567fe87b.png

[Jay Leon Hart]

Seranov, on 01 March 2018 - 09:47 AM, said:

I think what we are seeing here is just somebody who found the mech that works just right for them. That's a great thing.

That said the Uziel is probably not "the mech that works just right for me" for most people.

Which is the point I've argued every time "but the Uziel is great, look at this score!" has come up before.

Most people are better off with another Medium 'mech.

This coming from someone who really likes the Uziel, but has only managed to get it to perform "average" when compared to my other Medium 'mechs

[KodiakGW]

ForceUser, on 01 March 2018 - 10:11 AM, said:

Here is team screenshots for those two matches:
https://puu.sh/zyo8X/1e65a9d3c1.png
https://puu.sh/zyo9w/42567fe87b.png

Too bad you can’t post them with names unblocked. Wanted to check something. Oh well.

[ForceUser]

KodiakGW, on 01 March 2018 - 10:36 AM, said:

Too bad you can’t post them with names unblocked. Wanted to check something. Oh well.

Yes, very unfortunate.

I can tell you that the enemy team did have plenty of players in the top 20% and 10% and even 2 top 5%. Not saying that's what you wanted the names for, but it's interesting info regardless. Both games were very close and the Uziel carried, hard, no matter how you slice it.

Edited by ForceUser, 01 March 2018 - 10:55 AM.

[Iron Heel]

Admittedly, I'm no top %-tile player.
So I prob wouldnt do as well as you have, but what I'm seeing doesn't look all too different than a Crab build.
So does it perform that much differently / better than a Crab with a similar loadout?

[Scyther]

I was thinking the same as Iron Heel above. Looks like a standard 50-tonner with an IS-XL, 90kph base speed, and laser vomit.

I don't have the Uziel nor have I looked closely at them, but I am wondering what is unique/'has its own feel' about a 50 ton laservomit mech that needs XL engine to have a decent weapons load?

Either that or any points on why you feel it is more flexible, adaptable, or 'shouldn't be played like' any other similar mech?

Edit: I am not disagreeing, btw, just seeking to understand more about the Uziel.

Edited by MadBadger, 01 March 2018 - 12:01 PM.

[Jay Leon Hart]

MadBadger, on 01 March 2018 - 12:00 PM, said:

what is unique/'has its own feel' about a 50 ton laservomit mech that needs XL engine to have a decent weapons load?

Either that or any points on why you feel it is more flexible, adaptable, or 'shouldn't be played like' any other similar mech?

Edit: I am not disagreeing, btw, just seeking to understand more about the Uziel.

It has the best mobility of any 50 tonner, with low-to-average offensive & defensive quirks and poor torso hitboxes & cockpit placement. It's seemingly built as a good harasser and is less suited to direct engagement than your average 50 ton Medium 'mech.

[O L L O]

Impressive!

I can't seem to get the skill tree to load properly though. Would it be possible for you to post screenshots?

Cheers!

[ForceUser]

Iron Heel, on 01 March 2018 - 11:27 AM, said:

Admittedly, I'm no top %-tile player.
So I prob wouldnt do as well as you have, but what I'm seeing doesn't look all too different than a Crab build.
So does it perform that much differently / better than a Crab with a similar loadout?

MadBadger, on 01 March 2018 - 12:00 PM, said:

I was thinking the same as Iron Heel above. Looks like a standard 50-tonner with an IS-XL, 90kph base speed, and laser vomit.

I don't have the Uziel nor have I looked closely at them, but I am wondering what is unique/'has its own feel' about a 50 ton laservomit mech that needs XL engine to have a decent weapons load?

Either that or any points on why you feel it is more flexible, adaptable, or 'shouldn't be played like' any other similar mech?

Edit: I am not disagreeing, btw, just seeking to understand more about the Uziel.

Honestly I was thinking this exact same thing today about the crab and yes, the hardpoint locations is a big and obvious difference. Not having to expose quite as much as in a crab to get those crab arm mounts working and having the two LL so high on the Uziel (no torso energy on crab) means you have a lot more flexibility with how you do damage and places you cna shoot from. I have the LLs and the ERML on two different weapon groups and tend to lean on the LLs once I get close to overheating as they are better positioned and better heat/damage as well as DPS. You more efficiently, and faster turn heat into damage. The ERML is primarily for the alphas.

The agility is just as big a deal, if not more (and is often overlooked) meaning that not only do you not need to show as much of yourself in the first place and more positions work for you in an Uziel but you can also reverse back into cover so much faster due to the increased acceleration and deceleration. The Uziel rewards positioning so much more due to it's ability to move around the field and fire from more spots.

The Uziel is the pinnacle of 50t skirmishers. It packs a loadout respectable on a 65t heavy and an agility almost no other 45t mech can match. It'll definitely teach you situational awareness and positioning. This is also why I run Radar Dep. It's magnificent at using terrain to lose locks and reposition, abusing the behaviour of most people to lose interest once they lose lock on you. The 10% range quirks also really pushed the mech up a notch. If you're not (ab)using it you're not doing it right

That said I think the crab is still a very good mech, very low to the ground, quirked decently and better hitboxes so while it'll get hit more often, it's harder to pick specific components. It makes for a much better brawler than a similarly fitted Uziel.

Two seemingly similar mechs that are actually very, very different AND that need to be played very differently. Once you understand that then actually 'getting' the Uziel is easier.

On a side note there are mechs that I don't do very well in but others absolutely dominate in and is considered very good mechs. Just because I struggle in it or don't get it doesn't make it a bad mech if other people show the mech is good. The point was to show that the Uziel is capable of consistently being a great mech. I hope more people will honestly give it a try if they think they have the playstyle for it instead of self fulfilling it into failure because top players say it's a bad mech. Or worse, get it changed and homogenised to be just like every other 50t mech in the game. Blegh.

[ForceUser]

Ollollo, on 01 March 2018 - 01:34 PM, said:

Impressive!

I can't seem to get the skill tree to load properly though. Would it be possible for you to post screenshots?

Cheers!

https://puu.sh/zyxDI/d516af1c2a.png

This is just what works for me and you should experiment to see what works for you. Others will feel strongly about Ops but I think range and duration nodes are just too important for this mechs specifically so I get my heat management in the form heat gen nodes.

[PocketYoda]

Grats now try the non 6P Uziels and see how well you do.. And you had to use almost every node in the armor structure skills to get it to be usable..

Edited by Samial, 01 March 2018 - 06:54 PM.

[LT. HARDCASE]

You have done this 100 times, and have come no closer to convincing me that you wouldn't be better off in a better mech.

[C E Dwyer]

I think there are one or two variants with a certain build that work ok - good

Overall through out all variants and possible builds it's still a very bad mech

hunchback and hunchback II all solid mechs. Same with the centurion they all sit within a certain area.

But just because there are two builds on two of the variants of Uziel does not make it good

[InvictusLee]

Interesting build!
Good job!
Do you think this build would work on a crab?