14 replies to this topic

[Johny Rocket]

Saw the Piranha on sale and thought ya why not. Late in this games life why not try out clan scum mechs and have some evil fun. Ya know, dirty little secret.

20 ton light this is right in my lane, run it like a Commando but more firepower. It's not an omni so build it like an IS build so I did this
A@:E60D0|Ze|LC|iRpB0|iR|iB|iB|iB|iB|iB|iBqB0|iR|iB|iB|iB|iB|iB|iB|h^r<0|LCs<0|LCt@0|h^u@0|h^v@0|URw402020

Basically stock with smaller lasers for more ammo.

THEEEEN I RAN IT. Wow this thing is no Commando or Flea even. Squishy very squishy. Yeah I trashed the first mech I saw for 300 damage and the kill but the 2nd guy one shot me.

In the Commando I can soak 350+ damage and still be killing with at least my CT weapon. I can turn on stealth and run circles around right in their Charlie lance taking hits and dishing the pain right in their faces.

Piranha yeah no.

So to you guys I see doing 600+ damage and 4-5 kills sorry I ever underestimated your skill, this is not easy mode you earn that.

[JediPanther]

People who learn light mechs with ecm and stealth will never be as good as the ones who learned on the non ecm and stealth-less light mechs. I've avoided the pir since it came into the game. Same for the ach and pretty much the other "faster" clan lights. I've found clan lights in general to be the easy mode of lights having learn on the Jenner and other xl is lights.

I'll run the adr as a mini-catapult the kfox triams for the lols during events for easy rewards. When I go back to my is xl lights I have to work those for the score. That's why I like my non-stealth lights. Its a challenge to live longer and do better than the last match.

Map awareness,positioning and a decent team can do a lot for getting triple damage scores and those kills in a light. Clan lights and stealth-ed lights are the easy mode of the weight class. Many lights particularly on the is only got nerfed over the years into just trophy mechs. I pretty much write off most 35t lights as subpar because of all the nerfs. Why use a 35t when a 20t can do the same thing but better?

[Prototelis]

Oh god no.

Do's it like this

A?:D40E0|NC|UR|ZepA0|iB|iB|iB|iB|iB|l^|l^|iBqA0|iB|iB|iB|iB|iB|l^|iBr90|NCs90|NCt@0|URu@0v10|URw303030

https://mech.nav-alp...05e78892_PIR-1S


You pretty much can't overheat with three heavy smalls. You want the range and cooldown nodes out of firepower. You can pretty much go to flavor out of the remaining trees.

[Brizna]

It's not just the ECM and stealth, in fact hit boxes are a lot more important as are armor quirks which are pretty huge relatively speaking for light mechs.

Commando has good hit-boxes and nice quirks, hence you can soak a lot of damage very easily.

But if you play a Flea, stealth or not, one good hit and you are toast.

Then you can play a Piranha, have no stealth and be twice as easy to hit as a Flea. Yeah Piranhaing is hard, yet highly rewarding.

Personally my sweet spot is Flea, it's fragile as hell but it also tiny and extremely agile, with good sit awareness you can avoid being hit and do great.

PS: Adder and Kit Fox are not lights from a role perspective, they are under weight mediums. Decent enough to perform in good hands but nothing extraordinary.

Edited by Brizna, 24 October 2019 - 04:00 PM.

[Capt Deadpool]

No light has the survivability of a commando IMO, as far as taking damage, with it's tankiness combined with spreadability combined with hitboxes.

And yeah, a Piranha's hitboxes are far, far worse than that of a Flea or Locust.

Many lights play very differently from each other and require different play styles.

[panzer1b]

I have a pir (albeit im not a fan of the cheesy mg variant, myself i run the 50 alfa strike ERUL model, and the hero which isnt 100% MG), and i say its a extremely deadly mech, but unlike most other lights you really need to choose your targets and engagements well otherwise you WILL be 1 shot killed.

My other lights i play are the ACH/MLX (both 3HML+6MG) and wolfhounds (5MPL/6MPL depending on model), former being fast and very deadly (but also have some versatility due to HML range and not have to commit every time (reason i dont use the HSLs which are technically more efficient), not to mention good punch out of limited hardpoint count, and the wolf is obviously very tanky and hard to kill not to mention PPFLD damage (.5s burn time is NOT spreadable by like any mech for all intents and purposes).

I also run the cutefox, but that doesnt count as a conventional mech since it plays like a smaller shadowcat or medium, and unlike all of the above, actually requires ECM to not be annihilated in solo games (aside from wolf hero, none of my other lighst have ECM on them whether they can equip it or not as its a waste of tonnage and in case of the ACH, removes 1 of the essential shoulder hardpoints).

ECM is a crutch, and outside of QP and certain mechs that really need it to compensate for extreme fragility, it isnt really worth running all that often (unless ofc on heavier clam mechs that have so much spare tonnage you may as well bring it like the MAD-2C-D or BAS-A/B. Hellbringer also needs it (that thing is beyond easy to neuter if you get spotted outside of cover for even a instant), but in general most non heavy/assault fare better without ECM due to etra tonnage for DHS/ammo.

Edited by panzer1b, 26 October 2019 - 10:16 AM.

[Burning2nd]

JediPanther, on 24 October 2019 - 03:25 PM, said:

People who learn light mechs with ecm and stealth will never be as good as the ones who learned on the non ecm and stealth-less light mechs.

this is so true... I became a light pilot in a spider, which is a flying tank....

then i discovered the Pirates bane... and well i found my nitch....

but this is very true.. put me in my pb vs a spider.. and ill get the spider..

put me in my spider vs a guy in a firestarter.... and well.. its up in the air

[Charles Sennet]

Prototelis, on 24 October 2019 - 03:30 PM, said:

Oh god no.

Do's it like this

A?:D40E0|NC|UR|ZepA0|iB|iB|iB|iB|iB|l^|l^|iBqA0|iB|iB|iB|iB|iB|l^|iBr90|NCs90|NCt@0|URu@0v10|URw303030

https://mech.nav-alp...05e78892_PIR-1S


You pretty much can't overheat with three heavy smalls. You want the range and cooldown nodes out of firepower. You can pretty much go to flavor out of the remaining trees.

Sure, as long as you never get shot, like ever. One shot you die. One arty you don't see, you die. I've seen 6 people fire alphas and hit the Commando and it still lived. Crazy and OP as hell. The most OP light in FP by far.

Edited by Charles Sennet, 26 October 2019 - 10:53 AM.

[Johny Rocket]

A lot of this discussion hinges on what you are trying to do with a light mech. I consider myself only average but have been playing this game since right after it came out of closed Beta. I don't see ecm as a crutch I take it depending on what job Im wanting to do. I am most comfortable in a medium mech which is why I own more mediums than I do heavies and assaults combined but have always enjoyed lights.

I have played every IS light chassis and variant and have developed a niche role I like to play and ecm and stealth are worth the firepower trade. I don't fight enemy lights unless I have to, I go for bigger game in the enemies backfield. ECM and Stealth means they can't target you for their lights and I can slip away when I need to. The score often doesn't reflect the value of keeping eyes and pressure on the enemies back line. It's not a job for glory hunters but I know I've turned a lot of matches by keeping their assault lance focused on me.

The Piranha is just a different game altogether and the point of this post was props to guys who do it well because it's not an easy role.

Edited by Johny Rocket, 26 October 2019 - 11:58 AM.

[LordNothing]

its not all rainbows and unicorns. make a mistake and you are dead. you don't exactly have time to think either. at that speed you can get yourself into deep **** really fast and get out of it again without noticing. but keep moving until you find a gimp to pork. your speed should never drop below 120.

Edited by LordNothing, 26 October 2019 - 02:01 PM.

[Johny Rocket]

BTW I am getting the hang of it, this afternoon I've had some good matches, 1 was River City 3 kills (2 solo) 4 assists with 807 damage and another Terra Therma 4 kills (3 solo) 4 assists 666 damage.

There just isn't an average match it's either **** them or fail hard.

Edited by Johny Rocket, 26 October 2019 - 03:04 PM.

[Prototelis]

Thats just kind of how 20 tonners work.

You are either noticed by someone reasonably competent and get deleted or you savage all the butts.

[LordNothing]

Johny Rocket, on 26 October 2019 - 03:02 PM, said:

There just isn't an average match it's either **** them or fail hard.

^ this.
such is the nature of bottom end lights. there's slightly more margin of error in the 30 and 35 tonners, but thats a different animal, especially with the slower tankier lights.

Edited by LordNothing, 26 October 2019 - 03:19 PM.

[Prototelis]

Only the ones that have armor quirks tho.

Cheetah for example not nearly as good with uber-gimped CSPL.

[JediPanther]

Burning2nd, on 26 October 2019 - 10:21 AM, said:

this is so true... I became a light pilot in a spider, which is a flying tank....

then i discovered the Pirates bane... and well i found my nitch....

but this is very true.. put me in my pb vs a spider.. and ill get the spider..

put me in my spider vs a guy in a firestarter.... and well.. its up in the air

The Ember is the only fire starter I kept. Pgi stealth nerfed it's mg rof. Then decided almost any mech with a ballistic slot should get an mg rof quirk. Spiders can be fun when you just don't care to do much. 12 jump jets and ll or erml can be fun but won't let you win a 3 vs 1 and win a match like the good times before rescale.

A lot of light vs light depends on the build and how damaged they are before they get into it. Most my lights now days are dps to counter other lights as I find myself constantly getting into duels with the enemy alpha lance. 4spls and mgs on Ember still does a lot.

My most recent run with the j7r-d got me 640 damage and a few kills. Some many light now just try and face tank with mgs forgetting they still have all the weaknesses of a light. COD isn't just a military shooter but the most common tactic used by lights. Breaking it is very easy.