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[timff8]

Hello all,

I've recently gotten back into MWO and I'm looking to get a Summoner. They're super-cool fluff-wise and I loved them from MW3.

I see that some parts have some really nice structure bonuses. They've all got +15 structure to their CTs and legs, and you can get +15 structure to the LT and RT and +11 to both arms.

However... it seems like the omnipods that get structure bonuses have really bad hardpoints, and worse, they don't gel together at all. I really, really want to make a tanky summoner, but it seems like in order to do that I'd have to have pretty crappy weaponry as a sacrifice. Worst is that I can't boat energy weapons if I do so.

Does anyone have any advice on this? With these bonuses and an investment in the skill tree to structure I feel liike the summoner could be really tough, but I can't make a loadout that's worth it at all. The right arm options limit you to 1 Energy, the right torso limits you to no hardpoints, the left torso limits you to 1 missile, and the left arm limits you to 1 ballistic. I can't do anything wiht that, least of all because the summoner can't do ballistic all that well.

Edited by timff8, 04 September 2018 - 06:20 PM.

[Brethren]

Well... that's the whole purpose PGI implemented quirks... to make bad stuff, be it hardpoints or hitboxes, more viable in comparison.

The Summoner is one expample of a mech that gets extra structure because its hitboxes are big and easy to distinguish. Omnipods that have bad hardpoints on top of that get additional quirks, structure or otherwise.

The chassis itself suffers from having fixed jump jets on top of having no endo steel, which means that it may have a lot of critical slots, but lacks tonnage to bring lots of heavy stuff.

On the plus side, while the structure quirks are just to offset the bad hitboxes, the Summoner brings a whole lot of weapon quirks to the table, if you pick your omipods carefully, which is rare for a clan mech.

Usual sightings of a SMN on the battlefield fall in 2 categories:

• PPC poptart: 2x ERPPCs in the higher torso mounts. That means no set-of-8 quirks, but you'll have an easier time hill peaking or poptarting, because of less exposure. It may seem undergunned for a 70t mech, but the plethora of double heat sinks it brings means you can fire a lot before you run into heat issues.
  
• SRM brawler: 5x SRM6 +Artemis have a nice short range punch. No set-of-8 quirks here, either because you'll want to bring the SMN-Prime left torso with -10% SRM spread. It has very good heat management and if you are capable of using your JJs well in a brawl this mean robot can deal a lot of damage before going down.

All the other builds (aside from LRM boat) are rather rare, but I heared of or piloted:

• UAC20 brawler: Mount the right pods and you'll end up with -25% ballistic cooldown, +10% ballistic range, -30% UAC jam chance (SMN-C set-of-8). Less "easy" to use than the pure splat, but it hurts nontheless. LB20-X could be a thing as well.
  
• Heavy Large: 3x Heavy Large Laser and a dropship load of double heat sinks. You may even alpha strike.
  
• Gauss Vomit: Gauss Rifle + 4 ER Medium Lasers. SMN-D set-of-8 quirks and 2 AMS for funsies.

Bottom line in my opinion is that the structure quirks may look nice on paper, but they're are a nice gimmick at best and not something that you can rely upon. If you find a good balance between loadout and weapon quirks, however, the SMN might just cut it for you.

Edited by Brethren, 05 September 2018 - 04:36 AM.