68 replies to this topic

[So You Say]

I have played dozens of games piloting the ANH 2A and 1E. Here is my feedback on the mech.

• The mech is incapable of climbing over even the smallest of terrain elements. Seems to get caught up in even small boulder piles. Why would a 100 ft mech have an issues stepping over things much smaller mechs routinely walk over?
  
• Weapons mounted in the arms are next to useless unless you are on flat terrain or willing to expose your entire body.
  
• The mech does not possess enough pod space to sufficiently cool the weapons you mount using double heat sinks. I have resorted to using single heat sinks on the 1E.

100 ton assaults are not as much fun to play anymore due to engine decoupling. Add the problems above and it puts the ANH in a bad spot. I would not recommend this mech to anyone. Am I the only one who isn't happy with the ANH? Your comments please.

[Chaotic_Harmony]

I personally love mine. It can be very frustrating a lot of the time you play it, but it's very similar to the King Crab and the Dire Wolf.

You HAVE to be positioned well, and you cannot do it alone. It's a tough mech to pilot, all those problems you mentioned are very real for the chassis. However, it can work wonders when applied correctly.

[Lord0fHats]

I think it's even more like the Dire than the King Crap. Standing in front of an Annihilator and trying to out DPS it is suicide. You will be annihilated.

[Aggravated Assault Mech]

Annihilator is excellent.

Great hitboxes, great firepower.

[MagicIndex]

2xHPPC+3xLPL works fine

[Sjorpha]

So You Say, on 07 August 2017 - 03:40 PM, said:

100 ton assaults are not as much fun to play anymore due to engine decoupling.

The Annihilator would probably be less agile if agility was still tied to engine, since it has such a low engine cap, engine decoupling is a good thing for it.

Also it's a really strong mech.

[Lord0fHats]

I think the issue is that 100 tonners are like their own little world in MWO. Piloting them is completely different from piloting anything else, and the game isn't exactly forgiving on the learning curve cause 100 tons of mech is a giant bullet magnet.

[Kiiyor]

I love it.

OK hitboxes from the front, terrible from the side, which forces you to stare down your foes.

Needs the armour buffs, and after piloting the thing and receiving the attention the Annihilator garners, the quirks aren't nearly as extravagant as they appeared on paper. Melts quickly if fired at from any direction but direct front, and is slow to reposition to avoid incoming fire. I like that. You have to think about where to put that waddling carcass, because your firepower won't save you from more than one enemy.

Great, useable firepower thanks to well mounted torso hardpoints. The arms aren't great, but they're serviceable.

Terrible mobility, and terrible hill climbing - but I used to play Stalkers, so i'm used to avoiding any terrain protrusions higher than three pixels.

Overall, good. Not the best assault, but good.

[The Lighthouse]

Better than Dire Wolf in many ways.

If you can play Dire Wolf, you can play Annihilator no problem.

[VirtualSmitty]

I love my Anni, great hit boxes, tough as nails, fantastic hardpoints, it really brings the pain.

[MadRover]

Slow, reminds me of Godzilla, slow...

[Angel of Annihilation]

Well all I can say is that I am not afraid of a Kodiak and I am not afraid of a Direwolf. Annihilator on the other hand, I am giving a crazy wide berth.

The difference between the Kodiak and Direwolf is that I can easily pick apart both of them because they have big, very easy to target hit boxes that aren't backed up by structure or armor quirks. The Annihilator on the other hand has good frontal hit boxes and it fairly easily spreads damage with just a little torso twisting, kind of like a Marauder. Also the sheer armor and structure you have to burn through is crazy. Basically you can try to pick and poke at it but due the amount of armor and structure you have to deal with, eventually he is going to catch you with a solid burst of fire and its is going to hurt.

Also the Annihilator has a much wider firing arc as well with 90 degree torso twist and another 40 degrees on the arm vs a mere 60 degrees torso twist and 30 degrees on the arms for both Kodiak and Dire Wolf which offsets its lack of mobility quite a bit as unilke both the Direwolf and Kodiak it often doesn't have to physically turn to bring targets at its flanks under fire.

Its drawback is it is slow but without a doubt it is the best 100 ton Assault mech in the game currently, in my mind at least. I won't go as far as to claim it is OP because I don't own one and as such haven't had the opportunity to evaluate it from all perspectives but I will also say that the entire reason I don't own Annihilators is because I honestly feel they are going to get a nerf at some point.

[El Bandito]

Anni carries more ballistics than any previous IS mechs, but that's cause it is stuck with the slow *** 300 engine. With such sluggish movement, it is not even serviceable in CW--indeed they are very rare sight in that mode--even less so, once IS tonnage is nerfed.

[visionGT4]

Who cares? MCII sh1ts all over it

Firepower of a clan assault
+
Protection of a clan assault
+
Mobility of an IS heavy
= BAU clan easy mode

Edited by visionGT4, 07 August 2017 - 05:04 PM.

[El Bandito]

visionGT4, on 07 August 2017 - 05:04 PM, said:

Who cares? MCII sh1ts all over it

Firepower of a clan assault
+
Protection of a clan assault
+
Mobility of an IS heavy
= BAU clan easy mode

MCII is actually rather fragile compared to Supernova, or MAD-IIC. It is an overall better mech than the Anni.

[Stonefalcon]

The Annihilator does two things extremely well, area denial and staring contests.

I would believe it if someone said their Annihilator won a staring contest with the sun

Does it have it's flaws? Sure but all mechs have a weakness. For the Annihilator it's speed, for madcat mk2s is gullible pilots believing they can 1v1 an Annihilator.

Honestly the only things that scare me when I'm in my Annihilator are locusts and commandos that hug my legs, half the time you just think you're stuck on terrain.

Essential skills wise, Hill climb is a godsend, I have it on all my Annihilators and it makes a noticeable difference.

Can you say it's the best mech on mwo? No, but it's the best at the job it has, annihilating.

[Humpday]

Love mine. Plus once you go a couple rounds in it, everything feels much easier to drive.
The only thing is I'm not very consistent with it. I'm either completely wreaking face, or I'm falling on my face.

You really got to pay attention to your positioning, bc once you are there, you're stuck.

I'm far more consistent in my MKII since its less reliant on the team and able to poke.

The Anni, well, you just have to get your timing right and just stare at people and kill them.

[Angel of Annihilation]

Stonefalcon, on 07 August 2017 - 05:48 PM, said:

The Annihilator does two things extremely well, area denial and staring contests.

I would believe it if someone said their Annihilator won a staring contest with the sun

Does it have it's flaws? Sure but all mechs have a weakness. For the Annihilator it's speed, for madcat mk2s is gullible pilots believing they can 1v1 an Annihilator.

Honestly the only things that scare me when I'm in my Annihilator are locusts and commandos that hug my legs, half the time you just think you're stuck on terrain.

Essential skills wise, Hill climb is a godsend, I have it on all my Annihilators and it makes a noticeable difference.

Can you say it's the best mech on mwo? No, but it's the best at the job it has, annihilating.

That winning of a staring contest is kind of a big thing though. Just for Giggles the other day I decide to square off against an Fresh Annihilator in my Fresh Supernovas. My Supernova runs 2 x HLL and 6 x MPL with 29 DHS. I can fire a 78 point Alpha all day in it so it has firepower to spare. Also we are taking a 90 ton mech vs a 100 ton mech which isn't a huge margin. My Supernova didn't even have a chance. Even full out 78 point alphas plus twist shielding between shots to spread damage didn't help me. I went down without even cracking his CT armor and exposing his Structure. Also it isn't like my Supernova is all that much faster that the Annihilator either. I think I am pushing 62 kph in it with Tweak vs what...54 kph? As the results of my showdown indicated, that 8 kph speed different didn't make one hoot of a difference in a brawl because it wasn't like I was going to out circle him and get past that 90 degree torso twist he has going for him.

That's the thing though, no other mech Clan or otherwise aside from maybe fast lights that can get behind it and stay behind it, can out fight an Annihilator. I have seen Direwolfs, Kodiaks, Supernovas (personal experience as noted above), Executioners, Maulers, Battlemasters, Stalkers, Atlas, Banshees, you name it, all try to square off against a Annihilator and each and every one went down to the Annihilator. The only way to kill an Annihilator is to put sustained, concentrated firepower on it and keep shooting it over and over and over and OVER until it dies. Of course while your doing that, the rest of his teammates are busy killing your team off without having to deal with any return fire whatsoever.

Edited by Viktor Drake, 07 August 2017 - 07:23 PM.

[LordNothing]

i think the engine cap is too low. 52 kph is 8kph too slow to run in fp, and it doesnt do that great in qp ether because nascar. full speed tweak, much mobility, and max engine are neccisary in every build just to do slightly worse than a dire. take it up to 325 on some varients pls.

Edited by LordNothing, 07 August 2017 - 07:58 PM.

[Jun Watarase]

What im confused about is why the annihilator gets massive durability quirks "because its slow" while the direwolf gets nothing despite being the same speed. The direwolf even has the disadvantage of the nose and CT mounted cockpit that is super easy to blind with weapons fire.

Marauder IIC looks like a Marauder, marauder gets massive durability quirks, Marauder IIC gets nothing.

Edited by Jun Watarase, 07 August 2017 - 08:33 PM.