42 replies to this topic

[P o l a r i s]

Maybe this thing will be useful after all.

[Viking Yelling]

Edited by Viking Yelling, 14 October 2018 - 04:30 PM.

[El Bandito]

It has to be smaller due to its profile.

[Jackal Noble]

Big surprise, it gets some great armor quirks on the relevant areas (ST, CT). As a primary Clan player with a lot of IS mechs this is so typical. The last few Clan mechs have been good on paper but lackluster in game performance wise.

This mech is going to be good. The arms are just for show and will give the Champion phenomenal brawling performance, as players will learn to just deck out the ST, CT hardpoints. Enter Bushwacker 2.0. Oh the bushwacker just got nerfed...strange how dat works.

[Abaddun]

Jackal Noble, on 14 October 2018 - 04:41 PM, said:

Big surprise, it gets some great armor quirks on the relevant areas (ST, CT). As a primary Clan player with a lot of IS mechs this is so typical. The last few Clan mechs have been good on paper but lackluster in game performance wise.

This mech is going to be good. The arms are just for show and will give the Champion phenomenal brawling performance, as players will learn to just deck out the ST, CT hardpoints. Enter Bushwacker 2.0. Oh the bushwacker just got nerfed...strange how dat works.

It can't quite boat as many SRMs however, and you can't take heavies into scouting. Initial impressions are good though.

Edited by Abaddun, 14 October 2018 - 04:45 PM.

[FupDup]

Jackal Noble, on 14 October 2018 - 04:41 PM, said:

Big surprise, it gets some great armor quirks on the relevant areas (ST, CT). As a primary Clan player with a lot of IS mechs this is so typical.

Most gundams of either faction tend to launch with mediocre quirks.

[Asmerak]

Jackal Noble, on 14 October 2018 - 04:41 PM, said:

Big surprise, it gets some great armor quirks on the relevant areas (ST, CT). As a primary Clan player with a lot of IS mechs this is so typical. The last few Clan mechs have been good on paper but lackluster in game performance wise.

This mech is going to be good. The arms are just for show and will give the Champion phenomenal brawling performance, as players will learn to just deck out the ST, CT hardpoints. Enter Bushwacker 2.0. Oh the bushwacker just got nerfed...strange how dat works.

What is typical about this? For the last year all IS releases have been mediocre to garbage except the Fafnir. Seen any Hellspawns lately? How was the Thanatos before PGI listened and gave it armor?

I, for one, was surprised to actually get an IS release that has actually relevant enough quirks ON release. We haven't seen any since the Fafnir.

Edited by Asmerak, 14 October 2018 - 05:05 PM.

[FLG 01]

It's not like any of the 2018 Mech releases have been impressive, excepting perhaps the Piranha (MG boating) and the Fafnir (HGR).

I mean, if the Champion looks good, there is something wrong with our Mech selection. There are IS Mechs like the Falconer, Dragon Fire, Lynx or Men Shen...
Yet we got units like the Hellspawn or the Vulcan. Yeah, the Champion is better than them due to hardpoints and favourable mass distribution for MWO's volumetric scaling but let's not pretend it is some meta unit like the Mad Cat MkII or the Annihilator (pre-nerf).
It could have been a meta killer if the 3D-modellers had not extended the side torsos like crazy, creating a weakness that does not necessarily come from the TRO-art (it depends on what TRO you are looking at).

Lastly, I find it amusing how quickly the pendulum swung... the Champion had been considered doa only hours ago.

[Pariah Devalis]

FLG 01, on 14 October 2018 - 06:59 PM, said:

Lastly, I find it amusing how quickly the pendulum swung... the Champion had been considered doa only hours ago.

Dont'cha know? Suboptimal means garbage DOA trash tier worthlessness! /s


...though I still don't have particularly high expectations for this thing.

[Bombast]

FLG 01, on 14 October 2018 - 06:59 PM, said:

Lastly, I find it amusing how quickly the pendulum swung... the Champion had been considered doa only hours ago.

To be fair, I don't think anyone thought the Champion would be as short as the Catapult, which is a fairly massive boon. If it had been the typical height of a heavy, it would have had problems, with its hilariously easy to isolate hit boxes.

As it is, I'm still not completely sold. I suspect that, against the kind of pugs who can't isolate the Fafnir's center torso, the Champion will do just fine. But against someone who can shoot straight, it's going to have some trouble.

[Y E O N N E]

I said the variants that can do Gauss and lasers would be good, and so far that assessment seems fair.

2N and 3N will be very good poking picks for a tonnage-sensitive drop deck in FP.

Asmerak, on 14 October 2018 - 04:48 PM, said:

What is typical about this? For the last year all IS releases have been mediocre to garbage except the Fafnir. Seen any Hellspawns lately? How was the Thanatos before PGI listened and gave it armor?

I, for one, was surprised to actually get an IS release that has actually relevant enough quirks ON release. We haven't seen any since the Fafnir.

Thanatos is still shite TBQH. Can't get out of its own way.

Also, the Flea is doing just fine.

[Grus]

@ title: HA! new decal for Champion mech users!

"its not the size of the mech that counts..."

Edited by Grus, 14 October 2018 - 08:36 PM.

[Lykaon]

Asmerak, on 14 October 2018 - 04:48 PM, said:

What is typical about this? For the last year all IS releases have been mediocre to garbage except the Fafnir. Seen any Hellspawns lately? How was the Thanatos before PGI listened and gave it armor? I, for one, was surprised to actually get an IS release that has actually relevant enough quirks ON release. We haven't seen any since the Fafnir.

I.S. mech releases I recall.

Nightstar.... havn't seen many in months, sub par assault mech with poor quirks lousy hit boxes and wonky hardpoint placement. a C- at best most varients and builds are D+ grade.

Annihilator...excellent mech overall hampered by a low engine cap but adiquately quirked to compensate a Solid B+ or A- mech.

Uziel...doorknob mech nigh unto worthless havn't seen one in weeks/months AND PGI gave one away so most players have one yet... invisable mech. F grade mech.

Hellspawn...another doorknob mech also pretty much useless another F grade mech.

Thanatos...with ECM we have a C- mech (maybe even a D+) without ECM a solid F grade lemon. A walking building of a mech. Essentially a garbage grade mech with ECM bootstrapping it out of the scrap pile of utter uselessness.

Fafnir...or rather a dual heavy gauss platform with ECM. in this configuration it's a solid B+ or A- mech. without the heavy gauss though...why didn't you bring the Annihilator? without heavy gauss the Fafnir is a C- mech at best and pretty much proves out this way given I have personally never seen the Fafnir Wrath (hero) or the FNR-6U since release week.

Vulcan, a decent mech with some decent options. but overall not an Assassin so not a go to choice for dropdecks. I would give the vulcan an overall C grade. ok enough to use but not better than the Assassin.

Osiris, a solidly mediocre light mech. C- to D+ based upon variants. Rarely seen and even rarer seen doing well.

Flea...well um what can I say I see them around on occation I sometime see one do ok but we already had a locust and MASC really doesn't give you that much of an advatage on a mech stuck with a 170 engine cap over a locust's 190. C grade mech overall ( ialso don't own a Flea so that should be taken into account)



And now some clan releases.

Madcat MKII...Solid A grade mech teetering on the brink of A+ only slightly better than an Annihilator in my opinion but close. This was a fair selection for both factions with the clans being very slightly favored with a more mobile and versitile chassis.

Cougar...um...well... it's not as much crap as an Uziel but when compared to other clan offerings in the light or medium weight class the cougar is a C- at best and a D at it's worst. But still better than the Uziel so the clans got the "win" in this pairing.

Novacat...C+ mech. Unfavorable hitboxes but excellent payload and pod options. The weapons tend towards being heavily arm pod focused though. I still see Novacats on the field but a Nightstar is like spotting a Xoloitzcuintli on a ski slope.

Arctic wolf...C to B+ grade mech depending on variants I favor the Battlemech over the Omimechs in this mech pack. And as an offering opposed by the Osiris the clans win this match up hands down.

Piranha... A+ light best in class hands down. No other mech released in the past two to three years has impacted the meta play of MWo as much as the Piranha has.

Black Lanner...D- mech. an over engined under gunned mech that will be even more obscured once the Vapor Eagle hits the field. Even an ECM wil only push this mech up to a C- at best.

Sunspider overall a C+ chassis with some builds approaching a B- grade. It's Ok but the Sunspider is faced with the problem of not being a Hellbringer or an Ebon Jaguar.

Blood Asp a B to C- grade mech depending on pods and build. Excellent high hardpoints and very meta capable. ( I can be persuaded to alter this grade since this mech is one I have not personally piloted)


Hellfire...it's a bit rare these days yet it has some excellent pod options and as a battlemech possesses versitility a Maddog lacks. I rate the Hellfire as a B- mech ( wit the understanding that I have never piloted one)

Incubus A Solid B grade light mech with some nice versitility. I enjoy piloting mine and it's getting some mobility increases in the next patch.


As for future releases coming soon.

The champion looks ok my guess is a C+ to B- mech

The Charger looks like another doorknob mech with little use or identity. on paper it's a D- except maybe for the 1A5 variant maybe reaching out to a C-.

Hatamotos-Chi tough to say but on paper it looks like it may be more second line scrap for the I.S. variants graded between D to C+ grade.

Vapor eagles look interesting and as of now look like a B to C- grade mech depending on variant and build. This one is a tough call because the mech's hitboxes could go either way.

Warhammer IIc looks like it can reach the A grade with it's capacity to play the heavy laser vomit game very well while also providing some nice missile carrier options on some variants and a very flexable hero variant. As long as the hitboxes are not too "AWESOME like" it should be a popular mech.

[Y E O N N E]

MASC gives you an incredible advantage over the Locust. The raw speed is irrelevant, it's the brutally quick directional changes you can make that take it up a level. That, and having 7x energy hardpoints.

[ForceUser]

Man, the uziel 6p is one of the single best quick play mechs I have had the pleasure of playing in 6 years of playing this game. I should do another 300 match Uziel only month to boost my stats again. I think its only 4 matches away from beating my Misery as my most played mech.

Looking at the Champion Im actually a little sad I didnt pre order it, might pick it up anyways, it looks like a fun catapult alternative without the crazy ears.

[Monkey Lover]

Just another bushwacker shoot the legs.

[Nightbird]

Monkey Lover, on 15 October 2018 - 02:06 AM, said:

Just another bushwacker shoot the legs.

It doesn't have a good front profile? Shoot the weapons ST.

[Marquis De Lafayette]

Can’t wait to see these try to fit through the choke points (the ones with ramps in the middle) on Solaris City. Might well be a bit tight with those arms and produce some comedy gold....

Edit: not to mention the increase in team damage/kills from the couple of variants with some arm mounted weapons

Edited by Marquis De Lafayette, 15 October 2018 - 07:53 AM.

[Jack Shayu Walker]

I almost spit my drink when I saw the size comparison next to the Jenner.

[thievingmagpi]

Lykaon, on 14 October 2018 - 08:49 PM, said:

Vulcan, a decent mech with some decent options. but overall not an Assassin so not a go to choice for dropdecks. I would give the vulcan an overall C grade. ok enough to use but not better than the Assassin.

5 MPL Vulcan shreds. Probably my best mech right now behind the Piranha.

Most agile medium in the game + side loaded lasers + JJs. It's basically everything I wanted in a crab. It's a monster.