14 replies to this topic

[morowins]

Hi there,

I was wondering if someone could make recommendations about what mechs to consider with the current sale?

Just started playing and I have been very happy with the game. Have mostly been playing the Arctic Cheetah and Arctic Wolf, the former as a flanker with Stream SRMs to harass and skirmish, the later as a LRM boat that I like to get in close with for more direct fire at middle ranges. If I am interested mostly in faction play what mechs might help me diversify my options while remaining simple enough to learn?

Thanks.

[1453 R]

Since you're already invested in the Clan side of FP, I'm a big fan of the Hellfire. At sixty tons, Hellfires aren't too chonky in a Faction Play drop deck, and the chassis has a lot of variation in it. The HLF-1 and HLF-A are slower 'Mechs with a pretty heavy armament; the other Hellfires have a much higher engine cap while still being pretty decently armed. Recently I've been tearing people up with a new HLF-2 I got from the sale.

Now, I don't have too much (read: any) experience with Faction Play and from what I hear it's generally dominated by maximum-range snipers and trading 'Mechs (with "trading" in this case meaning 'Mechs designed to peek out from cover for a moment, fire, and then duck back into cover as quickly as possible), in which case the only real option for a Clan drop deck are Nova Cats. Especially the Nova Cat Prime, with its extra-ERLL quirk.

That said...Nova Cats are fragile and tend to require careful timing and a lot of patience to work. Hellfires are much more forgiving, and while their hardpoints aren't optimal for it, they can take a bunch of ERLL if you end up in a trade situation. Plus, you get to experiment with M.A.S.C., which is a pretty rare capability for 'Mechs to have. Hellfires can make up for their not-ideal-for-trades hardpoints by being able to duck in and out of cover much more quickly with proper use of M.A.S.C., which can be a useful skill to learn.

I'd look into either the HLF-1 (tons of energy hardpoints and a surprisingly high missile count, but slow), the HLF-2 (a much faster version of the HLF-1 with one less beam and one less missile rack, but with a great quirk for ATMs if you like those), or the HLF-A (the one with a very good ballistic mount and a bunch of energy and missile for backup). Avoid the Hero, Void, for now - it's good but also kind of a complicated mess to pilot. The HLF-1 can be had for under four million C-bills right now, and while many forumites will disagree, I'll say it can be played perfectly fine stock or pretty near stock. Trade the scattering of random lasers in the arms for a quartet of ERMLs, max out the armor on your torso and arms, and drop the last half-ton into a light active probe to help defray ECM issues, and you have a perfectly usable HLF-1 without having to muck with structure upgrades or engine swaps at all.

I personally prefer the HLF-2 or the HLF-A, but those are pricier both to buy and to kit out. That said, the HLF-2 does come stock with a very valuable cXL300 you'll never not have a home for, and engines are half off during the sale, too. For a brand new player on a limited budget, buying a HLF-A and a cXL280 to cram into it lets you have a 'Mech that can reasonably run a wide variety of different armaments to experiment with and move at a decent clip, boosted with M.A.S.C. My own HLF-A is (currently) configured as a fire support 'Mech, like so: HLF-A. It's proven a solid design when fighting in the murderballs common in Quick Play and has enough distance punch to make itself a threat at range without being helpless in close. I like it quite a bit, though again - remember that my experience is exclusively Quick Play, so take my word with all necessary grains of salt.

Beyond that, the Incubus is a very good light 'Mech that's been superboosted by its new durability quirks. it takes a very nimble mind to pilot, and the standout best one - the INC-4 - isn't nearly as durable as the others now, but any Incubus is crazy fun. if you like the Arctic Cheetah, you may well also enjoy an Incubus, and snagging one is very cheap right now with the sale. The INC-1 is a good generalist platform.

Insofar as Sphere 'Mechs go, both the Centurion and the Shadow Hawk are workhorse 'Mechs everybody should have at least one of. If you complete this month's Free 'Mech Event, which you still have two weeks to do (the HLF-A I linked above can do all three damage-type challenges for ya!), you can get a free Shadow Hawk all your own. The CN9-D got huge buffs to its LBX cooldown and its a great deal of fun to drive, plus it also comes with an XL300 that's commonly held to be one of the best grades of engine to have floating around your 'Mechlab. The assaults are...eh, and I generally don't recommend brand new players get into assaults right away anyways. if you do want one though, the Stalker is a well-known championship long-range 'Mech for Faction Play (if on the Sphere side). Dire Wolves are expensive as hell even with the sale and they take up far too much weight in a FP drop deck, but nothing in the game has yet beaten the Dire Whale for sheer, stupefying firepower. A DWF-W, DWF-S, or if they're selling it for C-bills yet the new DWF-C are all good picks to Experience True Fatness.

Hopefully that's a start. A lot of words, I know, but hey - better than no words at all, mebbe?

[Kiiyor]

1453 R, on 25 August 2021 - 03:47 PM, said:

Insofar as Sphere 'Mechs go, both the Centurion and the Shadow Hawk are workhorse 'Mechs everybody should have at least one of. If you complete this month's Free 'Mech Event, which you still have two weeks to do (the HLF-A I linked above can do all three damage-type challenges for ya!), you can get a free Shadow Hawk all your own. The CN9-D got huge buffs to its LBX cooldown and its a great deal of fun to drive, plus it also comes with an XL300 that's commonly held to be one of the best grades of engine to have floating around your 'Mechlab.

Great summary. I'll give a +1 for the Centurion. It's not as great for faction play, especially if you're in a standoff fight, but it's a blast in the right circumstances.

OP, Those LB10x blamhammer quirks are hilarious fun. Load up with an LFE, some Medlas and SRMs, or, if you're feeling daring, an XL for some additional ammo and firepower. You can swap around with a couple of MRM10's too, if you want the extra range. An LPPC fits well in the CT if you want some more poke-ability.

You have to pick your moments, and being a more brawly build, it can very much be feast or famine in QP - just bear in mind that it doesn't run as well if you're in a stationary poke fight; as even with it's outrageously awesome survivability buffs, it's still a medium, and you rely on DPS in a meta flooded with titanic alpha strikes. Mobility is your friend.

If you can get into a nice swirly fight where you can keep the W key mashed and use your speed to weave around mechs while cackling madly and using that ~1 second skilled and quirked LBX reload to high pressure sandblast components off, you'll have a fat old time.

Edited by Kiiyor, 25 August 2021 - 05:26 PM.

[morowins]

You know, people told me that the community in MWO is probably the best part of the game, and while I am still at Pilot Level 5 where I am sure things are less stellar I must say what I did not expect was such a detailed and thorough reply. So thank you for that.

I will definitely pick up the hellfire, and look at the Nova Cat. For my part Im sure that my piloting skills are likely to be my biggest limiting factor. The Arctic Cheetah has worked well for me I think because I can focus on getting into weird places and using that to my advantage. While it works at this level, I doubt it will serve me well at higher play levels were people will both aim better and be more attentive. I have gotten multiple 600+ damage games out of that little guy just by shooting people in the back who are already taking fire, causing them to not notice me. In much the same way, My LRM boat has been consistently 600-800 per game.

What this says to me is that much as with other games of this type I try to compensate for my lack of tactical skills (Aim, movement control, ect.) with good strategic skills (Picking good fights, positioning well, ect.). As such getting the HLF-A Strikes me as a good bet so that I can fight at any range and remain flexible, helping were I am most needed at that moment. I will also give some consideration to the Dire Wolf if only because I think that I can make better positioning choices than most newer players might, and therefor overcome some of those disadvantages of lower speed. Though truth be told I dont think I will do that right away.

The recommendation on the INC is good for me as well, considering I have been looking at it now for awhile. With so many recommendations it seems like an obvious light for me to grab next.

LB10Xs have caught my eye too, if only because they seem like great weapons to punish players with if you can set a good ambush. In most FPS games I tend to be an ambush hunter, seeking to always fight an unfair engagement to offset my lack of skill. Almost any player I match against will have better aim and faster reflexes than me, so hiding in a good spot with a shotgun and unloading a massive alpha strike to the rear armor definitely sounds like my kind of thing.

I mostly want to be consistently good so that I can move up to the higher levels of play were I often really start to enjoy a game. Thanks for all the help, its nice to be able to get some pointers.

[w0qj]

Hmm... so you seem to like fast light/medium mechs, and like Faction Play (FP)!

You can check Youdu Udonta's FP guides which are both excellent and update!
https://mwomercs.com...tion-play-guide

Youdu has suggestions for entire Faction Play drop decks:
https://docs.google....KgQM/edit#gid=0

Youdu is also known as "Yondude" on Youtube, streaming MWO FP games for all to see!
As he's good in FP, so you get to see his cockpit view all the time in Youdude's MWO Youtube videos!
You might one day see yourself from Youdude's cockpit, being on the receiving end of things

[PocketYoda]

Stay away from Hellfires as a new player even with +10 extras its a weak mech..

Adder
Incubus

Arctic Wolves
Centurions (AL is my fav)

Thunderbolt
Timberwolves

Awesome
Highlander
Highlander IIC
Marauder II

Maybe
Supernova
Victor.

Top new player friendly list imo..

Edited by MechaGnome, 26 August 2021 - 03:33 AM.

[Gagis]

Shadow Hawks are my personal favourite chassis.

SHD-2D2 can do a mean LB10+4SRM4 for brawling
SHD-2H can do 3RAC2 or 3AC5 for dakka

[1453 R]

Ahh. Somehow I completely forgot that the Timberpuppies were on sale this week, too.

Yes, Timber Wolves are generally going to outperform Hellfires on average, though I stand by my recommendation for trying a few specific Hellfires. They're a lot of fun, and for a Faction Play-oriented collection the extra fifteen tons you save in your drop deck taking a Hellfire over a Timberpuppy can be important. That and frankly I've had better runs in my HLF-2 than in a good few of my Timber Wolves, on top of the HLF-A being better for most standoff builds.

Still, depending on how much cash one can scrape up or one's willingness to buy 'Mechs with MC (I do not recommend obtaining non-Hero 'mechs with MC, but it's an option, especially during sales), a Timber Wolf is also one of those "everyone should have one" 'Mechs. The -C or -BH have a CT energy that makes them theoretically the 'strongest' base chassis, while the -S has a CT jump jet that gives it microhops even when it doesn't carry its normal S-shoulder jump jets. Any Timberpuppy will be able to do 95% of all Timberpuppy builds though, and getting one really good OmniMech can be a godsend to a new player trying to experiment.

On reflection and with reluctance, I will change my advice to securing yourself a Timber Wolf while the pricey bastiches are half off. One good OmniMech can replace a dozen BattleMechs early on while you're experimenting and have limited bays and funds, and the Timber Wolf is a very good OmniMech indeed. Expensive as hell most of the time, but that's why they invented sales.

I will also note, as someone else who suffers from godawful aim and has to generally try and compensate with clever loadouts and superior brainpower: have you adjusted your mouse sensitivity, Morowins? The game defauls to the maximum value of 1.0, which is beyond twitchy and spastic. Many experience competitive players recommend dropping it to 0.4 or even 0.3 if you have enough space for large movements of the mouse; I recently dropped my sensitivity to 0.6 and it's made a world of difference in my gameplay. My aim is much more certain and reliable, especially at longer ranges or against fast-moving targets. It's getting to the point where I'm close to making Tier 4 and not knowing what to do with myself anymore, heh. But yeah. Adjust your mouse sensitivity - the game's default is way too high and it never tells you otherwise.

[morowins]

Been watching some of Yondude's videos and picking up a few key ideas. In general I am getting more of an idea of what I need to do maximize my damage and time. I do think that I will start to lower my sensitivity overall, one of the larger issues that I have is with turning. Lights need to move erratically and all that turning makes it super hard to keep my aim on point when I want to shift my legs over somewhere else.

I did just take advantage of the special offer for GSP with MC, so that means I probably will pick up a SABRE or something. I think it will be a good platform for me to learn movement in. I also picked up a Timber Wolf, it was pricey but I have enjoyed playing the Hellfire a little and figured it would be good to have two heavies to pick between.

Considering I am planning on faction play the Shadow Hawk I unlocked with the even is still sitting with a default config, but if I get together an IS deck I will definitely look to include it. People tell me its a good brawler.

[Sjorpha]

This is still very useful, the recent balance pass changed things a bit but all the top listed mechs and builds there are still good.

https://grimmechs.is...ts?list=general

[PocketYoda]

I'm loving the Hellspawns now.. They are like the IS versions of Arctic wolves.

[Bud Crue]

If you have the MC, get a Jester. Funnest heavy in the game imho.

[Wid1046]

Bud Crue, on 30 August 2021 - 05:17 AM, said:

If you have the MC, get a Jester. Funnest heavy in the game imho.

Which build do you use on it? I bought one, but haven't been enjoying it as much as I expected.

[Bud Crue]

More often than not of late, I run 2 lol and 4 erml (2 ams and 2 jj), though I still also play 6 Mpl, std engine build a lot too.

[Valdarion Silarius]

If you care about faction play as a clanner, you can get 3 Rifleman IIC's for your FP drop deck and a light mech. Honestly not a bad way to go since all of the Rifleman IIC variants hit hard. Same thing with the Hellbringers if you have the money to dish out since they are omnimechs.