37 replies to this topic

[Jay Leon Hart]

EdSt0nE, on 14 October 2018 - 05:52 AM, said:

I tried all three of them in testing grounds:

- The Sunspider has no lower arm actuators (which I was going for).

But Im open for suggestions. Im still looking for a new fun mech to buy.

Lower arm actuators, eh? I'm guessing for the Ballistics and not the Energy? Let's see...

Roughneck Hero "Reaver" is probably the best bet - 1B arms, 2E STs, 65 tons - can comfortably fit 2 UAC5s + MLs/MPLs or even 2 UAC10s at a push

Roughneck Hero "Powerhouse" (which you may already own from last year's giveaway) could work - 1B RA & RT, 2E LA

For C-Bills there's the RGH-2A - 1B arms & RT, 2E CT & 1E Head

Quickdraw Hero "IV-Four" has 1B arms, 2E CT and JJs at 60 tons

CTF-4X has 2B arms & 2E CT at 70 tons

How about a new Assault?

Mauler Hero "Knockout" has 1B arms & 2E STs at 90 tons

Most non-Hero Nightstars with 2B/1B2E/1B1E arms at 95 tons

Most non-Hero Annihilators with 1B2E/1B1E arms at 100 tons

FNR-6U has 2B arms & 2E STs at 100 tons

Any non-Hero King Crab with 3B/2B/1B arms at 100 tons

MAD-IIC-D has 1B1M arms, 1E RT & Head and ECM at 85 tons

Marauder IIC Hero "Scorch" has 1B1E arms

MCII-B has 2B arms & 1E STs at 90 tons

Supernova Hero "Boiler" has 1B arms, 3E RT and JJs at 90 tons

Spoiler

TDR-9S has 2B LA, 3E LT, 2E RT & 1E RA at 65 tons
TDR-5S has 2B LA, 3E LT & 1E RA
CTF-3D has 1B1E RA & RT, 1E LT & LA and JJs
Cataphract Hero "Ilya Muromets" has 1B1E RA & RT, 1B LA & 1E LT
DRG-5N has 3B RA & 2E LA at 60 tons
DRG-1N has 2B RA, 1E LA & LT
DRG-1C has 1B RA, 2E LA & LT
Dragon Hero "Fang" has 2B RA, 2E LA & 1E LT
Grasshopper Hero "Mjölnir" has 1B LA, 2E RA & STs, 1E CT and JJs at 70 tons
TNS-5P has 1B LA, 3E RA, ECM and JJs at 75 tons

Edited by Jay Leon Hart, 14 October 2018 - 07:27 AM.

[Siegegun]

Eisenhorne, on 13 October 2018 - 08:27 PM, said:

The sun spooder wastes too much tonnage on that engine... the nova cat has a smaller engine so you can fit more lrm ammo.

The trade off is mobility though. The Sun Spider can reposition so much faster, 80kph vs 64kph. I find it important to be able to reposition quickly with lrms. At 64kph, the Nova Cat can of course still reposition, just seems so much easier with 80kph. They both get a lock time bonus, which is amazing for a lrm boat.

I love the Nova Cat though. I also agree it is probably the best overall LRM boat for the clans.

[MechaBattler]

The Nova Cat has really good tonnage and slots. Allowing you to maximize whatever loadout you want. However it is very big and has a rather open CT. It's not a good mech to do stand up fighting with mechs capable of similar firepower or armor. Most of it's weapons are low slung. With the only exceptions being the B variant and the hero Cobra Cat. But that's still only two points. The A variant gives you four jump jets. But the gain from that is rather questionable as JJs don't perform especially well in that weight class.

However I've found it to a be good mech nonetheless. Definitely worth investing in mobility. In fact I feel it's kinda mandatory. After my first drop in it. I used a lot of GXP to get 23 points in the mobility tree. After that it actually felt usable. I started with the C in nearly a stock configuration. It actually does well for poking around corners ounce you have mobility tree points. Since then I've purchased other omnipods to run 4xC-Medium Pulse and 2xUAC10. Depending on the map it gets very hot. But you can do a lot of work with just UAC10s.

But you definitely have to play opportunistic and not stand toe to toe with mechs of equal strength. Your CT is just so easy to hit, you'll end up cored before you can really start doing work.

[Variant1]

Nova cat has great fire power. recomend a combination of balistic energy for maximum dakka. But if you do choose all the misile pods please dont fill them in with only lrms or i will slap you

[Humpday]

Its done well for me.
You have to play it carefully and away from the very front of the line.
Considering the meta right now is largely midrange, it fits well there.

Just keep people in front of you, don't hill peek...like ever...and keep your distance(a role is was always intended to operate in).
I have an Ace in it, so its done me good, but you'll be in for a hurting if you have difficulty playing mechs with knuckle dragging arms.

[Obiwayne]

Thanks for all the input guys!

Im still not sure about which one to get because I have some decent Dakka+Laser mechs already. My most loved one is the MADIIC-C so far with dual uac10's (perfect for peeking), 5mpls as backup and max armor closely followed by a MCII-B as a pure Dakka build.
I also got the energy only MADIIC + HunchbackII, 2 Warhammers (6R&6D) and a Hellbringer. So Im more or less adequately equipped on the meta mech end.

I was flirting with the idea to get a roughneck for quite a while but I guess the next one will be a clan mech since I am enjoying to play them more and more lately (me being a hardcore IS'er big time).

However, I might deviate from my initial plan to get another Dakka+Laser mech because of the varying opinions about the Nova Cats performance in this area. I might even buy the missile boat variant.. you made it very palatable tbh

[Viking Yelling]

The nova cat was pretty enjoyable for me. I liked using 3 streak 6 and 3 HLL. It also works well with 3 uac/lbx2 or its missile boat configs.
Drawbacks are that its hardpoints are difficult to work with. The arms are really low and you can get 2 high mounts in the sholders that felt awkward for me. Its almost all CT, so its a better 2nd line mech, but the way everyones been playing lately you'll probably end up with someone crowding you and its low and wide hardpoint mounts.

My recomendation: get a hellfire.

[Pariah Devalis]

I mean, as I said, "I get results."


Easily 90% of that is soloqueue, as well.

[Cazador88]

I run my C variant with 3xuac5 and 3xhml all in the arms. It can do a good amount of damage but it certainly needs some love from the devs. Sure you can mount lots of stuff but imo the negatives outweigh that one positive way too much, its too wide, arms too low swung, slow and turns slow, no lower arm actuators, no high mounted hardpoints except for that 2 energy in one variants sides. Even the cockpit should look more like this than it actually looks now.

https://i.imgur.com/2z3gP0M.jpg

Edited by tollas669, 14 October 2018 - 11:28 PM.

[Jackal Noble]

Pariah Devalis, on 14 October 2018 - 06:57 PM, said:

I mean, as I said, "I get results."


Easily 90% of that is soloqueue, as well.

Not to burst your bubble Pariah, as the stats are good. That's not the problem in the micro, but dude you've only dropped in the Nova Cat 157 times across all of the variants.

That doesn't paint a super accurate picture. I know you are pretty solid as a player, but to come on here and drop stats of just over 150 drops on 7 mechs, 6 if you count the prime as a double, ..... come on dude.

[ilKhan_OrHan]

Jackal Noble, on 15 October 2018 - 12:27 AM, said:

Not to burst your bubble Pariah, as the stats are good. That's not the problem in the micro, but dude you've only dropped in the Nova Cat 157 times across all of the variants.

That doesn't paint a super accurate picture. I know you are pretty solid as a player, but to come on here and drop stats of just over 150 drops on 7 mechs, 6 if you count the prime as a double, ..... come on dude.

I think that is plenty of drops. Issue is, he is one of the better players that has been playing Mechwarrior games for years in premade groups, so he can have those type of stats in a vast majority of mechs. A bad player won't have those stats in any mech. Like the ones I devour in Solaris that will never understand tank tactics.

[Blockwart]

EdSt0nE, on 13 October 2018 - 03:54 PM, said:

I was thinking to buy me one. Seems to be a legit qp mech.

What do you guys think?

Maybe for C-Bills, not for $.

[Daurock]

Siegegun, on 14 October 2018 - 08:30 AM, said:

The trade off is mobility though. The Sun Spider can reposition so much faster, 80kph vs 64kph. I find it important to be able to reposition quickly with lrms. At 64kph, the Nova Cat can of course still reposition, just seems so much easier with 80kph. They both get a lock time bonus, which is amazing for a lrm boat.

I love the Nova Cat though. I also agree it is probably the best overall LRM boat for the clans.

I find that if I'm needing a LRM mech that can reposition faster than the Novacat, I may as well step down to a HBK-2C-B.

In all honesty, that little... thing.... competes toe to toe with the NovaCat and Sunny among the best LRM mechs in the game, IMO, and being a medium, people don't shout at you for taking a "heavy" slot.

Edited by Daurock, 15 October 2018 - 08:45 AM.

[lobsterhierarchy]

I love my Nova B with LRM90, you can’t really find a better clan missile boat out there. Chainfire in two groups - one left and right arm. Run 2 erml for point defense because competent players will rush you.

I also like the variant/arms that let you run 2LpL and 5 MpL. The alpha on that is nasty when you can do it rapidly and have a low beam duration. Only bring it to brawl matches and make sure to torso twist because your life depends on it Stick with an lbx mech to take advantage of the components you open up.

The mech is a lot of fun in both QP and FP (are we allowed to use the fun word on this forum?).

[dwwolf]

I run the prime with 2x ER LL and 2x ERPPC it loves corners with some mobility love.

The B is a good LRM chassis , I run mine with LRM 70, Narc and TAG.
I try to stay about 180m from friendly LRM mechs. Pesky lights get NARC love.

It works great at all distances and I prefer the extra utility over more LRMs. Ammo placement is a problem however as there is no room in the Head, Legs or CT. You can end up in situations where an ammo crit can cost you all your remaining ammo.

With brawling laser builds I sometimes wish it was a normal mech....I some times have weight left over and no slots left.

Edited by dwwolf, 15 October 2018 - 07:13 AM.

[Pariah Devalis]

Jackal Noble, on 15 October 2018 - 12:27 AM, said:

Not to burst your bubble Pariah, as the stats are good. That's not the problem in the micro, but dude you've only dropped in the Nova Cat 157 times across all of the variants.

That doesn't paint a super accurate picture. I know you are pretty solid as a player, but to come on here and drop stats of just over 150 drops on 7 mechs, 6 if you count the prime as a double, ..... come on dude.

If we were talking a 25 game sample size, I'd agree. We're over 100 games here, where the statistics should start to average out. That said, from what I understand of statisticians, no two can ever seem to agree on what an appropriate sample size is. Especially when they do not like the results.

ilKhan_OrHan, on 15 October 2018 - 03:20 AM, said:

I think that is plenty of drops. Issue is, he is one of the better players that has been playing Mechwarrior games for years in premade groups, so he can have those type of stats in a vast majority of mechs. A bad player won't have those stats in any mech. Like the ones I devour in Solaris that will never understand tank tactics.

Eh, as I said. The NCT has been piloted 90% in solo queue, as CNCI went inactive well before the mech's release. I almost never do group drops, anymore, and to be frank I am rusty as all get out. My soloqueue competition is the T1 grabbag. I could be fighting a dude who can't shoot his way out of a wet paper bag just as well as I could be on a team filled with those sorts of players while fighting 228 or EMP.

Man, T1 soloqueue is a clusterfrak....

Edited by Pariah Devalis, 15 October 2018 - 08:43 AM.

[Jackal Noble]

Pariah Devalis, on 15 October 2018 - 08:37 AM, said:

Man, T1 soloqueue is a clusterfrak....

So much so it's sometimes incomprehensible. you literally hit the nail on the head.

[Ich war es nicht der Andere wars]

I run my NCT-B with 3 LRM 15 and 2 ATM-9. All options on the table. Cracking the Meds when comming close with ATM; nothing better than that. Only problem you get are the Lights, but that depends on the team.