25 replies to this topic

[eminus]

BHAHAHAAHAHA that is not even a question

NIGHTSTAR is the most garbage assault it ever existed

[Captain Caveman DE]

outside of faction?

neither, honestly.
in faction OR with a decent team in groupplay though, the anni is SO much fun
nightstars not really, but the hero performs kinda okayish-to-good for me. wall of murms for the win ;D

[Phlynn]

Definately the Anni. When was the last you saw a Nightstar on the field and felt any fear?

Seriously, if you want to play a push mech and stay in the front line, the Anni is able to crash an enemy fire line and absorb enough damage to distract multiple mechs. The mech also has enough fire power to take at least one with you. Sometimes multiple kills can come from the push if enough teammates follow you in. The armor is enough that I find the mech still in the fight at 25%.

That said; it was pretty clear that the mech is up for some major downgrades. The recent patch notes indicated a plan to make the mech more suseptible to losing in 1v1 combat with another assaut. Kinda like how the mech is hunted by lights mechs with odds in the lights favor due to maneuverability, stealth, and ecm options.

Also consider the games present speed creep. New mechs being pushed out have been faster and faster versions for their weight class. The newest maps reward players for fast moving alpha strike mechs over the slower, continuous damage builds that are being slowly pushed out of the game. The Anni could end up like the lrm-centric builds: collecting due in your inventory as the maps provided are specifically designed to reduce the effectiveness of a particilar weapon class or play style.

[RickySpanish]

I've never played either, but I would caution you about spending real money on the Annihilator. Not only is it inconsistent in Quick Play, it's also on Piranha's radar for nerfs, and on every other pilot's radar as an absolutely 100% priority target. I called out a heavy gauss Annihilator out of cover moving toward my lance last night in QP on Frozen City, and it melted so fast that I wasn't able to break cover a second time to fire at it. People are *very* aware of that 'Mechs capabilities and weaknesses, so it may very well be on a downward curve for effectiveness going forward. The Nightstar on the other hand, is apparently rubbish... Personally, I'd buy neither 'Mech pack.

[Haipyng]

You really shouldn't purchase any Mech less than 6 to 9 months old unless you completely understand that it will be tweaked and those tweaks could possibly render the Mech uncompetitive or inferior to other Mechs in it's weight class and really alter the way it plays. Generally speaking Mech's usually launch over powered and get adjusted at some point after launch to production.

[Eisenhorne]

They could remove the Annihilator's armor buffs completely (which won't happen, I don't see them reducing the armor any lower on the 2A than they just did) and I'd still love it, as a weapons platform it's really unrivaled in the Inner Sphere.