19 replies to this topic

[1Exitar1]

I was wondering if you all could give me a suggestion for a mech to pilot. I mostly fly the MLX-G and love it! My only problem is that I would like to branch out. I bought a couple of assault and heavy mechs and found that I'm not good at all with sniping (I need new glasses) and I really dislike slow mechs. I guess piloting the Mist Lynx spoiled me for speed.

I'm hoping someone could suggest a mech with decent speed (75KPH or more) and fair agility. Jump jets are optional but make play more fun.

I just don't have the C-bills to try out all the different mechs, ya know what I mean?

Thanks!

[Escef]

The Assassin 21 with a bunch of SRMs and maybe a ML will probably help you transition to bigger mechs. It's fast, packs some decent firepower, good hitboxes. But at 40 tons, it also is more of a fat light.

The CN9-A and CN9-AH are both good choices for a pocket heavy. Both can carry a 255XL with 3xSRM4 and a decent cannon. I recommend UAC10 and 2xML for the CN9-A, and a UAC20 on the AH is a little risky (because that's a lot of firepower to have offline when it jams) but when things go well it really hits hard.

For a swift, mobile heavy, you probably aren't going to do much better than the Summoner. Though the Cauldron Born and Timber Wolf tend to trump it in available tonnage and hardpoint placement, and the Hellbringer's ability to bring ECM to the party is really worth it. (The Timber Wolf can also bring ECM, but you need the right torso off the BH, and I don't think that's easily available right now. Alternatively, there's also the Sunspider, with ECM in the D's left torso.)

You'll probably note that these heavy suggestions are all clan mechs, that's because it's difficult to get real speed in an Inner Sphere heavy without the use of the Inner Sphere's bulkier, more vulnerable version of the XL engine. That said, the Marauder series has good hitboxes and depending upon which one you take can do nearly anything. Especially with the 5D and 5M models both having jump jets. But in order to get real speed, you have to drop a 350XL in there. There are times where those blimp-like hitboxes that make it so easy to spread damage head on fail you (especially if the enemy jumps your flank). All that said, the 3R is popular for boating RAC2s, the 5D and 5M both make good brawlers, and the 9M... Ok, best use I've found for the 9M is to drop some MRMs and lasers in there for midrange fighting and remember that your primary job is to bring ECM cover to the main body of your group.

[ScrapIron Prime]

Check out the Phoenix Hawk 7S which is now available for cBills. Max jump jets, a MASC, 7 medium lasers, and good armor buffs.

if you want more punch and just over your 75kph speed requirement, a Shadow Hawk 2K is a tanky option, arm it with either 3 LPL, or 3LPPC + 3MRM10’s, and all those mounts are high torso. Sprinkle on a jump jet or two and go to town.

[JudauAshta]

speaking of mechs how come i see far few mad cat mk2 now??

did they get nerfed or something??

[B O O M E R A N G]

Timberwolf [TBR-S]
Omni build, Laser Vomit, and has center torso JJ

[LordBraxton]

The linebacker is a great mech if you want speed and agility but also want to bring something with a little more punch.

[pbiggz]

The black lanner and hellfire are both masc-capable laser assassination rigs. Very dangerous in the right hands and very fast.

The Orion-IIC hero has masc, and as a clan battlemech, can be fitted with a fairly large engine. It might be worth looking into.

I would not overlook the phoenix hawk. Its fairly tanky for its size, armed like a medium, and nimble like a light. There's a wide range of performance between the variants though, so have a careful look through and pick out the ones that will work best for you.

[Meep Meep]

Escef, on 06 February 2022 - 08:14 PM, said:

and the 9M... Ok, best use I've found for the 9M is to drop some MRMs and lasers in there for midrange fighting and remember that your primary job is to bring ECM cover to the main body of your group.

Not much of a fan of mrms so I settled on this fit and it works well enough if you have full cool run and enough heat nodes.

MadMan

Edited by Meep Meep, 08 February 2022 - 07:56 PM.

[Cerebus23]

catapult, like a bigger myst lynx,

[Captain Caveman DE]

1Exitar1, on 06 February 2022 - 07:32 PM, said:

I just don't have the C-bills to try out all the different mechs, ya know what I mean?

Thanks!

here's something maybe people haven't already told you:

you CAN run/test ANY mech with ANY build on it in the testing grounds, and it costs you NOTHING.
yes, it's not representative of a 'real' match, but in general you get a very good idea if that's a mech you'd like to run or not, and how it performs.

I myself run most builds I tinker with at least once over tourmaline; to the atlas, to the jenner, to the cent and so on.

[PocketYoda]

Um depends on how much you want to branch out.. Vapor Eagle is a good choice. maybe a Huntsman or an Arctic Wolf.. Even an Ice ferret all play like large Mist lynxs..

IS side some Cicadas, Dervish, Enforcers and Griffins are very mobile and jump capable.

Heavies and Assaults are very different to light play i guess a Victor or a Executioner might be your style.

Edited by Nomad Tech, 08 February 2022 - 06:07 PM.

[Mark Yore]

1Exitar1, on 06 February 2022 - 07:32 PM, said:

I was wondering if you all could give me a suggestion for a mech to pilot. I mostly fly the MLX-G and love it! My only problem is that I would like to branch out. I bought a couple of assault and heavy mechs and found that I'm not good at all with sniping (I need new glasses) and I really dislike slow mechs. I guess piloting the Mist Lynx spoiled me for speed. I'm hoping someone could suggest a mech with decent speed (75KPH or more) and fair agility. Jump jets are optional but make play more fun. I just don't have the C-bills to try out all the different mechs, ya know what I mean? Thanks!

I suggest trying the Timber Wolf or the Ebon Jaguar. Both of them run at 81 kph, have good agility and, as Clan mechs, can bolt on just about any loadout you prefer. They're heavies, but they handle more like mediums with enough armour to take a pounding.

For example, my TBR-C runs 6 ERML and 4 SRM6+Artemis for an alpha of 87. Enough poking with the ERMLs to stick with other mechs, enough missiles to chase away light wolf packs.

My EBJ-Prime with the A torsos runs an AC-20 on one side and 2 ERLLs on the other (with a micro laser to space both ERLLs). This puts almost all my firepower above the cabin line. The Alpha is only 44.4 but that starts a long way out.

For fun, try an Adder with 2 ERMLs, a LAMS and an AC-20 in the arm. It's just under 10 million CBills with the omnipod changes, but the first time you take out a light at point-blank range is memorable. It's also handy for assaults because it forces you to account for their weak spots.

[caravann]

Bushwacker P1

Pile it up with rockets and play something new.

If it's stupid but works, It's still stupid but works.

[Novakaine]

Oh wait we don't have these.....damn.

[Aidan Crenshaw]

caravann, on 09 February 2022 - 09:16 AM, said:

If it's stupid but works, It's still stupid and you just got lucky.

FTFY

[Meep Meep]

Aidan Crenshaw, on 09 February 2022 - 01:57 PM, said:

FTFY

I've seen streamers do this troll build. You can one shot a couple of assaults so trading a bushy for a couple of assaults seems a fair trade.

RocketsRedGlare

Edited by Meep Meep, 09 February 2022 - 02:48 PM.

[Aidan Crenshaw]

Meep Meep, on 09 February 2022 - 02:23 PM, said:

I've seen streamers do this troll build. You can one shot a couple of assaults so trading a bushy for a couple of assaults seems a fair trade.

RocketsRedGlare

Just for clarity, I wasn't considering the build at all. I was just referencing a popular quote from the Book "Seventy Maxims of maximally effective Mercenaries".

And yeah, I know the meme, it's funny, but I'd not consider a build that is a one-trick pony designed for exchanging one mech for another a truly viable build.

[ScrapIron Prime]

There’s only one build I use rockets on, a 3ERLL Centurion AL. I could swap them out for a pair of SRM 2’s or something, but the build isn’t meant to get close to things, so the massive one shot of a pair RL15’s is more useful. And it’s satisfying when you get jumped by a light mech to laser the leg off and then torpedo it.

[Ekson Valdez]

This topic seems to be better suited for the New Player subforum BattleMechs. Thread moved!

[VeeOt Dragon]

honestly i say grab a mech you like the looks of slap some weapons on it and go. meta is a joke if you want to have fun. try out all kinds of builds in the mechlab/ testing grounds (as has been stated you can do this with mechs before you buy them in the store). don't forget to look at the querks of each mech as some of them make them very good with certain weapon systems over others. if you have eyesight troubles or hand tremors (i have hand tremors that can get pretty bad at times) might i suggest the humble and much put upon LRM. don't be fooled they are very easy at lower tiers when people don't know how to counter them but as you go against more and more skilled players it takes a different skill set than other weapons. don't be afraid to get your own locks but also take any you can get even if its IDF. there are some really good Medium and Heavy class mechs for them that also have good speed

for a heavy mech you can't really go wrong with a Catapult or Archer just pick the variant with the best querks for what you want to do i like the CPLT-C4 and ACR-2R respectfully

(the Dervish-6MR makes an excellent LRM medium with 2 LRM-15 and 4 SLs (i use ERs but thats personal preference) even with an AMS its running at 78.1 before mobility tree, you can get a little more speed out of her if you forgo the AMS (i think at around 81 if i remember right)) this mech has lots of good Missile Querks including a 5% LRM Cooldown in addition to lots of general missile queks (including general Missile cooldown that stacks with the LRM cooldown)

Edited by VeeOt Dragon, 23 February 2022 - 01:07 PM.