28 replies to this topic

[FRAGTAST1C]

Looks like the ones that are interesting, don't have good quirks or hardpoints while the ones that are "meh", like the Dire Wolf Prime, have great quirks. I mean, put 21 DHS, 2 LPL and 2 UAC20 with 7.5 tons of ammo and you should be looking at a great killer. But the movement is appalling.

I'm simply asking 'cause I have a few IS assaults, like Kraken, Siren, Nightstar 9S (bought it today) and the Champion Mauler but only 1 Clan assault i.e., the reward mech the Bludgeon. I have the C-bills to buy a proper clan Assault but I'm either not liking the hardpoints/quirks or just the mech itself is bad.

I like the potential of the Dire Wolf Prime but that twist and turn rate.....

[Ilfi]

Do people still think Clan meta bots are the definitive experience? Because I'm sure as hell doing better in my Wolfhound, Bushwacker, quirked-out Orion and Cyclops. Then again, I guess there's the Hellbringer if you like doing one thing....

EDIT: Forgot to mention. The go-to Clan Assaults are the Marauder IIC (laser vomit) and Mad Cat Mk.II (dakka or gauss vomit). They're okay but have basically zero quirks, so expect to get your face punched in if you play it like an IS Mech.

Edited by Ilfi, 09 March 2019 - 07:09 AM.

[panzer1b]

To be honest, with the exception of mechs like the MCII and MAD2C (and possibly a few niche things in FP like PPC warhawk, ect), almost all clam assaults suck since they are both very sluggish and mostly made of paper.

The MCII is obviously the number 1 exception since it has favorable hitboxes (for a clam mech at least), very strong build choices. The B can run the insanely powerful 2 uac10, 2 uac5 build which can and will singlehandedly take down an entire lance if positioned correctly, and it has a few other build choices for those that prefer short range such as 1 uac20, 2 uac10 80 damage poke. The hero is pretty much the other good build, it can run the meta 2 GR 6 ERML setup which is about the highest amount of poke you are going to get from a clam mech that still has enough sustained firepower to mean something. The 1 can run a sorta less optimized version of the DS with its longer range 2 cLPL 2 ERML 2 GR setup, which more niche, is actually a stronger build on maps that have open longer distances since you are doing way more damage with full LPL applied beyond 600m.

The MAD2C is pretty much on here for its laser puke setups since it can run everything from 2 LPL, 6 MPL to 6 ERLL, but i will admit that even the dakka setups on it are quite solid if you manage to get a team that doesnt instantly blow off your right torso and remove you from the fight (works as well for me as the MCII-B in QP, much less reliable against highy skilled players in FP though so not the best choice since a 5 ton heavier MCII will do you much better there).

A bit unrelated, but ive come to the conclusion that clam has less variety in builds/playstyles/viable mechs then IS. Now clam does dominate, but ONLY if you bring one of the select few "meta" chassises, MCII, MAD2C, HBR, EBJ, PIR, HBK2C, VGL, LBK, ect. That and you have to fit it out with one of the vomit or dakka builds of choice depending on map and ranges you expect to play at (pulse vomit for brawl/skirmish, laser/gauss vomit for poking, dakka for pushing, erll/ppc for range).

Not saying IS doesnt have its share of "meta", but ive found that at least in QP i can make most IS mechs work to some degree, and that they have way more viable builds then clam has, everything from full on SRM brawl (clam SRMs suck beyond useability in my experience), MRMs, gauss vomit, heavy gauss, dakka/racs, to even ppcs. On clam if its not dakka or gauss/laser vomit (maybee some PPCs or ATMs if i want to go away from true meta), you are going to loose since their mechs are paper and cannot afford to take hits like IS not to mention the trash agility profiles of most. Yes it is fairly well balanced in my opinion in QP since both sides can be good, but overall clam has less roles they can do effectively and requires alot more coordination at higher levels of play from what ive seen (which is why they tend to be more popular in the MWOWC). If a clam team focuses fire properly with vomit its very hard for IS to do much before half the team is gone, but if they dont the IS will just walk over their lack of armor and pathetic short range options.

[Grus]

Ilfi, on 09 March 2019 - 07:08 AM, said:

Do people still think Clan meta bots are the definitive experience? Because I'm sure as hell doing better in my Wolfhound, Bushwacker, quirked-out Orion and Cyclops. Then again, I guess there's the Hellbringer if you like doing one thing....

EDIT: Forgot to mention. The go-to Clan Assaults are the Marauder IIC (laser vomit) and Mad Cat Mk.II (dakka or gauss vomit). They're okay but have basically zero quirks, so expect to get your face punched in if you play it like an IS Mech.

This...
But remember, clan OP plz nerf.

[dario03]

Ilfi, on 09 March 2019 - 07:08 AM, said:

Do people still think Clan meta bots are the definitive experience? Because I'm sure as hell doing better in my Wolfhound, Bushwacker, quirked-out Orion and Cyclops. Then again, I guess there's the Hellbringer if you like doing one thing....

EDIT: Forgot to mention. The go-to Clan Assaults are the Marauder IIC (laser vomit) and Mad Cat Mk.II (dakka or gauss vomit). They're okay but have basically zero quirks, so expect to get your face punched in if you play it like an IS Mech.

Don't play it like an IS mech, or at least not like an Annihilator. MKII-B is one of the very best QP mechs in the game. Its decent speed for a mech its size combined with its burst damage, dps, range, and ammo allows you to put out a lot of damage but still get out of a decent amount of bad situations. you don't want to 1v1 facetank an Annihilator in it of course, but if it could do that it would be even more op than it is now.

[justcallme A S H]

panzer1b, on 09 March 2019 - 10:08 AM, said:

To be honest, with the exception of mechs like the MCII and MAD2C (and possibly a few niche things in FP like PPC warhawk, ect), almost all clam assaults suck since they are both very sluggish and mostly made of paper.

What an absolute load of garbage.

[Angel of Annihilation]

Ilfi, on 09 March 2019 - 07:08 AM, said:

Do people still think Clan meta bots are the definitive experience? Because I'm sure as hell doing better in my Wolfhound, Bushwacker, quirked-out Orion and Cyclops. Then again, I guess there's the Hellbringer if you like doing one thing....

EDIT: Forgot to mention. The go-to Clan Assaults are the Marauder IIC (laser vomit) and Mad Cat Mk.II (dakka or gauss vomit). They're okay but have basically zero quirks, so expect to get your face punched in if you play it like an IS Mech.

Your going to get me started again.

Straight truth is the Clans have been massively overnerfed at this point. They have a few standout mechs that tend to still dominate which is why people refuse to believe that the Clans aren't OP but for the vast majority of their entire line up, they are average at best and many are below average. The final nail in the coffin was the ST loss heat spike for the Clan XL engine because that combined with the absolutely crazy amount of heat Clan weapons tend to generate means 90% of the time, you take a side torso off a clan mech now, it either pops due to an overheat or is shutdown for like 30 second giving the enemy more than enough time to finish it off. Seriously, Clan XLs might as well be an IS XL for intents and purposes yet all the nerfs that went into play over the years to try to balance the Clan XL against IS engines is still in place. WTH!!!

So to the OP, yeah you hit the nail on the head. Most Clan mechs aren't worth playing at the moment.

[VirtualRiot]

Direwolf is insanely powerful, borderline overpowered, in the right hands.

Fortunately, those are not the vast majority of peoples hands. Because in the wrong hands, it really does suck.

[Gristle Missile]

Angel of Annihilation, on 09 March 2019 - 01:55 PM, said:

Your going to get me started again.

Straight truth is the Clans have been massively overnerfed at this point. They have a few standout mechs that tend to still dominate which is why people refuse to believe that the Clans aren't OP but for the vast majority of their entire line up, they are average at best and many are below average. The final nail in the coffin was the ST loss heat spike for the Clan XL engine because that combined with the absolutely crazy amount of heat Clan weapons tend to generate means 90% of the time, you take a side torso off a clan mech now, it either pops due to an overheat or is shutdown for like 30 second giving the enemy more than enough time to finish it off. Seriously, Clan XLs might as well be an IS XL for intents and purposes yet all the nerfs that went into play over the years to try to balance the Clan XL against IS engines is still in place. WTH!!!

So to the OP, yeah you hit the nail on the head. Most Clan mechs aren't worth playing at the moment.

I think overall clan mechs are in a good spot now. I wouldn't say they are overnerfed. Sure there are a few bad clan mechs but IS has some bad mechs too

Maybe now PGI wont be afraid to buff some of them and *gasp* maybe give out some better quirks

Edited by Gristle Missile, 09 March 2019 - 04:55 PM.

[Mystere]

I've said it before and I will say it again. A game in which a Timber Wolf moves like a slug is NOT a BattleTech game.

Oh, I forgot! This is now a "Solaris 7" game.

[FRAGTAST1C]

VirtualRiot, on 09 March 2019 - 04:34 PM, said:

Direwolf is insanely powerful, borderline overpowered, in the right hands.

Fortunately, those are not the vast majority of peoples hands. Because in the wrong hands, it really does suck.

Yeah, when I was playing this game, I came across a couple of Direwolves and they were really easy to maneuver around even with my Kraken and I gave no heed to their usefulness. Now that there is a sale on for Assault mechs, I tried one out and it is insanely powerful in terms of what it can carry but moving around in one is no fun at all.

[Mazer_Rackham]

When you get the maneuverability tree 65-75% filled out Clan Assaults run fine, my DW is a beast, but yeah it's slug until you get it maxed out on maneuverability. Also the Blood Asp is very nasty, ECM with shoulder mount high weapon points, she can run dual UAC10's on one shoulder and 2xLrgPulse on the other with ease.

Pros and Cons to everything, that is the burden as they attempt to find "balance".

Edited by Mazer_Rackham, 10 March 2019 - 01:44 PM.

[Khobai]

VirtualRiot, on 09 March 2019 - 04:34 PM, said:

Direwolf is insanely powerful, borderline overpowered, in the right hands.

Fortunately, those are not the vast majority of peoples hands. Because in the wrong hands, it really does suck.

lol what?

the direwolf is NOT borderline overpowered.

but its not nearly as bad as some people are making it out to be either.

the direwolf is at best an above average assault. its no annihilator or madcat Mk2. And id argue the kodiak-3 is better than the direwolf too. because of the ability to take endo/ferro the clan battlemechs tend to be better than the omnimechs that dont have endo/ferro.

one of the big issues with the direwolf is the same problem shared by many omnimechs: the omnipods are very poorly balanced. so you could argue its actually more a problem with omnimechs in general. omnipods that lack hardpoints need better quirks to make up for having less hardpoints. Also the fact the direwolf cant take endo/ferro or a bigger engine like the clan battlemechs is a huge issue too.

And the CXL changes were abysmal for clan assaults. PGI needs to revert that garbage.

Edited by Khobai, 10 March 2019 - 03:11 PM.

[The Unstoppable Puggernaut]

I mainly play clan mechs, in order to win the rounds I feel I have to keep picking the assaults (to soak damage, lead and also dish it out).

The ones I've had great success with; Ultraviolet (beast !), KDK - 3 (UAC), Boiler (UAC), Deathstrike (GAUSS) MCII - 2 (SPLAT), BAS-D (GUASS), MAD2-D (GAUSS) + Scorch (SPLAT).

With all of these I boost their speed cause if you get left behind, you are as good as dead. I bolster the armour too as you're gonna be a prime target. Never leave home without seismic, it's always helped in odd situations and keep some coolshots handy. The rest goes on weapons.

I strongly agree that losing half the mech, renders them almost unusable from the ridiculous heat loss issues but they've certainly got their killers. You just have to rely on good positioning not to fall too soon (or lose half your mech too early on).

[VirtualRiot]

Khobai, on 10 March 2019 - 01:25 PM, said:

lol what?

the direwolf is NOT borderline overpowered...

Well, I didn't say it was overpowered, I said it was borderline overpowered only in the right hands, which, in my personal opinion, it is. If I get less than 650dmg in a match in my dire I feel bad because its so easy to do.

[Jackal Noble]

justcallme A S H, on 09 March 2019 - 01:24 PM, said:

What an absolute load of garbage.

What is? You’re attitude in general or the elitist snuff you shart on the forum anytime you comment on someone else’s opinion?
Oh, those are the same thing.

[Khobai]

VirtualRiot, on 10 March 2019 - 04:26 PM, said:

Well, I didn't say it was overpowered, I said it was borderline overpowered only in the right hands, which, in my personal opinion, it is. If I get less than 650dmg in a match in my dire I feel bad because its so easy to do.

650 damage is not the threshold for when mechs are borderline OP.

believe me daishi is not even close to borderline OP.

I routinely do 1300+ damage in my Annihilator. And I would only consider the Annihilator borderline OP after they nerfed its quirks. Because as powerful as the Annihilator is its still abysmally slow and unagile.

The annihilator is actually at the level that all other 100 ton mechs should be at. Most other 100 tonners could use a buff. Especially the Atlas and King Crab. And to a lesser degree the Dire Wolf. KDK3 and Fafnir im unsure of whether they should be buffed.

Edited by Khobai, 10 March 2019 - 05:08 PM.

[Prototelis]

Khobai, on 10 March 2019 - 04:59 PM, said:

I routinely do 1300+ damage in my Annihilator.

Maybe in Tier 5 lol.

https://leaderboard....search?u=Khobai

[Jman5]

The Direwolf has nearly identical agility stats to the Annihilator. and the Clan XL 300 vs LFE 300+Endo is a wash in terms of tonnage. The only difference is the yaw, but the Direwolf makes up for that by often having lots of arm mounted guns, while Anni is usually torso. If you can succeed in one, you can succeed in the other.

It's a fine, serviceable clan 100 tonner whose only crime is a couple clan assaults came out that slightly eclipse it.

[Lykaon]

panzer1b, on 09 March 2019 - 10:08 AM, said:

Not saying IS doesnt have its share of "meta", but ive found that at least in QP i can make most IS mechs work to some degree, and that they have way more viable builds then clam has, everything from full on SRM brawl (clam SRMs suck beyond useability in my experience),

Get real close...

The clans by FAR have the best SRM bombers in the entire game. you can put together a 40 ton ACW-1 that will erase pretty much anything you get behind and anything at 60 tons or lower from any angle. The Huntsman can do this as well .8X SRM6 is an incredible amount of front loaded damage 96 to be precise.

The I.S. simply can not match this much damage delivery with that much mobility.