13 replies to this topic

[Angel of Annihilation]

So I am at the point on my Blood Asp where I have to chose between increasing my mobility or increasing my armor and I can't decide.

Generally speaking I usually go mobility because I tend to believe it lets your reach to things faster and while 5.2 kph doesn't seem like much it does feel much more comfortable in battle. Also on of the biggest weaknesses the Blood Asp has is its inability to reverse out of trouble so having better acceleration and deceleration stats can be exceptionally useful.

On the other hand extra armor and structure is always beneficial and would also help in those times when you needed to reverse out of trouble.

So what do you all think? On the Blood ASP, more armor/structure or more speed/agility?

[FupDup]

The issue with the mobility tree is that since it's % based, it gives little benefit to mechs with low base values for agility.

Survival tree is definitely more universally applicable.

[Luminis]

Depends on the build, honestly.

Gauss Vomit (2 Gauss 6 ERML) can skimp on firepower somewhat after grabbing some key nodes (laser duration + magazine capacity), for example, so you can invest that into mobility while still getting a fair bit of armour. I'd never do that in my 2 LB20 6 ERSL build, as that really needs all the Heat Generation and Cooldown nodes it can get.

Also depends on whether you run ECM and want to get the enhanced ECM skill nodes and whether you want to burn C-Bills on consumables.

/edit: If we're strictly talking about Mobility vs. Survival, I feel like, point for point, Survival offers better returns.

Edited by Luminis, 20 May 2018 - 11:33 AM.

[kapusta11]

Why not both?

https://tarogato-mwo...56-f90c44c30ce4

[Battlemaster56]

Comes down with personal preference, since the two prim variants I own use guass and erml I skip out on armour since I generally won't be in the line of fire to often and trying to move and reposition myself most of the time.

If I have a heavy dps build or brawl I skip out a bit on firepower a bit and just focus on survivability and mobility as the two prime focus.

[Champion of Khorne Lord of Blood]

Survival as always, mobility tree percentage based setups mean that your mech that would benefit from more mobility never gets much mobility since its base values are so low, and the mechs that don't really need any extra mobility are the ones that get huge boosts to their mobility.

[Angel of Annihilation]

Champion of Khorne Lord of Blood, on 20 May 2018 - 12:23 PM, said:

Survival as always, mobility tree percentage based setups mean that your mech that would benefit from more mobility never gets much mobility since its base values are so low, and the mechs that don't really need any extra mobility are the ones that get huge boosts to their mobility.

While I agree on this, generally speak I have always found there to be a significant different in the feel of low mobility assault with and without agility skills selected. I think for myself I tend to feel the skills more in these slower, sluggish assaults than I do the more mobile mechs despite there being an overall less return on investment which is why I am debating which is better.

Also as far as the skills being percentage based you could argue that since the Blood Asp doesn't have any armor or structure quirks your not getting that much of a benefit from survival either. I mean is having another 6-10 armor and 4-6 structure on your CT/ST worth a 20 point investment?

So that is why I feel it is a hard call because both require a significant investment in points while only giving a small advantage.

[Monkey Lover]

Use the minimum to get both speed tweaks and if you get armor only go on the left side for 'armor'.

[Nightbird]

Depends on build... if poking mech then agility, if face tanking mech then survival.

[Angel of Annihilation]

Monkey Lover, on 20 May 2018 - 12:47 PM, said:

Use the minimum to get both speed tweaks and if you get armor only go on the left side for 'armor'.

Yes but this comes at a cost. First two of my Blood Asps have ECM so 13 points spent right there. Then there is the fact that all my Blood Asp's tend to run hot so almost need both operations and all the heat nodes I can get in the Firepower tree. That doesn't really leave room for both Armor and Mobility both. On the non-ECM variants there is a bit of wiggle room due to the fact that you have an extra 13 points to burn so yeah maybe you could try to fit in both but I still don't see how.

I guess a Gauss build might be able to do it as you just don't need much in the firepower tree but anything using UACs or lots of lasers is going to need a heavy investment. As for Gauss Rifles, ever since they were nerfed with that crazy charge up time and turned into big bombs that blew up when the enemy sneezes at them, I have tended to avoid them wherever possible.

[Antares102]

Personally I prefer mobility tree over survival tree because mobility allows you to PREVENT damage and survival just allows you to absorb MORE damage.

[Clownwarlord]

I went with armor, the blood asp in my opinion for an assault mech felt fine for speed and mobility. especially when you have others that are worse at near by tonnage. 64 kph if I remember correctly, which is similar to a Warhawk which I also went armor on instead of mobility.

Overall I am enjoying the mech, it fits, not over powered by any means because of big hit boxes. It does have high weapon mounts but also not over powering. I say that because you can get 3 energy and 3 ballistic hard points in the high mounts for side torso, BUT you really can do much with having all three ballistics in the same side torso. You might see this build BAS-B, but out side of it the Blood Asp will use its high and low mounts to be effective.

[Angel of Annihilation]

Clownwarlord, on 20 May 2018 - 01:48 PM, said:

I went with armor, the blood asp in my opinion for an assault mech felt fine for speed and mobility. especially when you have others that are worse at near by tonnage. 64 kph if I remember correctly, which is similar to a Warhawk which I also went armor on instead of mobility.

Overall I am enjoying the mech, it fits, not over powered by any means because of big hit boxes. It does have high weapon mounts but also not over powering. I say that because you can get 3 energy and 3 ballistic hard points in the high mounts for side torso, BUT you really can do much with having all three ballistics in the same side torso. You might see this build BAS-B, but out side of it the Blood Asp will use its high and low mounts to be effective.

Same. The Blood Asp is rapidly becoming one of my favorite mechs in the game due to it being well rounded and having an exceptional amount of variety available in its builds. I really hope PGI bowing to pressure from the "Looks are more important that performance" crowd and extending the ST mount lengths don't end up screwing this mech up. However the very fact that they are going to be making the ST hit boxes bigger and thus much more easily destroyed might be the deciding factor when it comes to armor or mobility.

I mean as you say, 64 kph is actually faster than most Assault mechs this tonnage are able to manage even with speed tweak so having an extra 5 kph and a bit extra agility, while nice, isn't going to turn the Blood Asp into a ballerina and it is absolutely going to need that extra armor and structure to try to compensate for the bigger ST hitboxes.

It is a shame really. The mech just feels like it would be perfect with just a tad more speed and agility but I don't think that it going to be an option once they enlarge the ST mounts.

[Luminis]

Viktor Drake, on 20 May 2018 - 07:33 PM, said:

I really hope PGI bowing to pressure from the "Looks are more important that performance" crowd and extending the ST mount lengths don't end up screwing this mech up.

I really hope it's worth it for PGI. Gotta sell the Mech to everyone who skipped it because big barrels are the top priority, y'know. It certainly stopped me from getting the reinforcements pack, so that's one more pack they better be selling Pro tip: Compensatory buffs help with sales, or so I hear.

That said, I fully agree with you: The BAS, as it is currently, is one of the better Mechs they released lately. Diverse loadouts, most of the good stuff available in the base pack, looks great and performs well without being overbearing (like the MCII or ANH at release).