12 replies to this topic

[DavidStarr]

Seeing that all hero mechs are on sale (and I have enough MC for one or two, no more), I again wonder which are the great ones. Please list your top 5(-ish) favorite / strongest hero mechs.

I will start with my opinion of the heroes I already have:

• HMN-PA (Pakhet) is S-tier
  
• MAD-BH2 and WHM-BW are A-tier, although these platforms overall are strong and I don't necessarily think the heroes are so much better than other MADs and WHMs.
  
• COR-BR is also A-tier, and maybe MCII-DS (I'm on the fence, but it is a good solid mech with the right loadout).

These are only 5 heroes of the 16 I have, the other ones I can't recommend (and I don't hate that I have them, but would rather spend those sweet dollars on the good ones).

Edited by DavidStarr, 29 December 2023 - 02:34 PM.

[ScrapIron Prime]

All the following is in my humble opinion. You have been warned. =)

• Charger Number 7 - what's not to love about 100% crit reduction. No crits ever, interal structure = armor.
  
• Banshee La Malinche - Just look at those quirks, baby. You can build almost anything with it.
  
• Archer Tempest - heck of a brawler, 6 energy hardpoints and 20% damage reduction on the side torsos if you go easy on the missiles. Makes a good MRM and LRM platform (if you use LRMs in direct fire)
  
• Locust Pirate's Bane - this is one of the finer light mechs. If you want to light mech, a Pirates Bane is a great choice.
  
• Awesome Pretty Baby - 70% crit reduction... buy it up, love on those energy weapon quirks, add missiles.

And an honorable mention to the Highlander Heavy Metal. There is no jump jet shake on this mech. Nuff said.

[martian]

DavidStarr, on 29 December 2023 - 02:32 PM, said:

Best Hero Mechs?

Seeing that all hero mechs are on sale (and I have enough MC for one or two, no more), I again wonder which are the great ones. Please list your top 5(-ish) favorite / strongest hero mechs.

So best, strongest or favorite?



For example, "Lacerator" is one of my favorite Hero 'Mechs, but it is not among the strongest.

[DavidStarr]

Every category, please! If it is your favorite there has to be something good about the mech, even if it's not objectively the best.
What's your Lacerator build? I have it and I'm not feeling it. Tried lasers, then tried UACs. I can see yours has both ballistics and lasers of some sort.

Edited by DavidStarr, 30 December 2023 - 01:37 PM.

[ambosen]

First of all: the Urbie street sweeper is fun and hilarious. You should buy this one no matter who you are.

In the light clan category, I'd have to go with the Kit fox purifier. High energy weapons mounts that make it a really effective sniper or TAG spotter, a surprisingly good balance of speed, armor, agility, available tonnage and weapon space and thanks to omnipods in most clan mechs can be easily kitted out with other systems so you can pretty much turn it into anything you'd want to try with a light mech.You can even run it with or without jump jets and ECM if you want.

For medium inner sphere I'd go with pretty much any of the wolverine hero mechs. They're all decently balanced all around and give you a lot of room to play around with builds to your liking on on. The Viper medusa's a pretty fun clan medium which plays more like a light except with additional armor coverage.

For heavy, I'm going to be honest, Inner sphere side straight up wins in that category of hero mechs that are fun to play or at least stand out visually, playstyle wise, or thematically (sorry clan heavy fans but you know it's the truth).

The Archer tempest for example makes a very fun brawler, you can literally cosplay as the bounty hunter with one of the hero Marauders, and more.

For assaults, clans definitely win out on the fun to play ones, having several that are relatively fast, tough, and well suited for bringing a lot of pain up close, like the Spirit bear, which even throws in a MASC or the Ultraviolet Dire wolf which could until the stone rhino bring the most ballistic weapons of any assault mech in the game, period.

Don't get me wrong, the Boar's head Atlas is quite a powerful and versatile brawler, but it also handles like well, an Atlas. That affects some of the fun.

[DavidStarr]

Thank you! I've been wanting to get Ultraviolet for a long time, but never have quite enough MCs. I'll get it one day.

I've had the Spirit Bear pretty much since it came out for MCs. I used to love it, but now it feels weak for 100 tons. Maybe I'm not playing it right.

P. S. There's only one Wolverine hero - Quarantine. Did you perhaps mean some other mech chassis, one that has more than one hero?

Edited by DavidStarr, 31 December 2023 - 01:52 AM.

[martian]

DavidStarr, on 30 December 2023 - 04:34 AM, said:

What's your Lacerator build? I have it and I'm not feeling it. Tried lasers, then tried UACs. I can see yours has both ballistics and lasers of some sort.

It is almost stock, with some minor adjustments. I used it during the Christmas challenge to destroy components and LRMs.

[w0qj]

If you've purchased any amount of straight MC from MWO website or Steam for the 2023 Annual (Loyalty) Rewards Programme (which has now closed), you're already entitled to any one of the Hero Mechs!
https://mwomercs.com/profile/content
(Need to redeem it on/before 31-Jan-2024; see the details in above URL link)

I would strongly recommend getting a Dire Wolf UV Hero Mech in such a case
(It's one of the most expensive Hero Mechs if you ever have to buy one, and with unique ballistic arm hardpoints!)

DavidStarr, on 31 December 2023 - 01:35 AM, said:

Thank you! I've been wanting to get Ultraviolet for a long time, but never have quite enough MCs. I'll get it one day.

I've had the Spirit Bear pretty much since it came out for MCs. I used to love it, but now it feels weak for 100 tons. Maybe I'm not playing it right.

P. S. There's only one Wolverine hero - Quarantine. Did you perhaps mean some other mech chassis, one that has more than one hero?

Edited by w0qj, 31 December 2023 - 04:55 AM.

[DavidStarr]

Actually, I take that back, double UAC-10 Lacerator is pretty good!

[Mark Yore]

An Ultraviolet with 8 ballistic weapons just punishes everything, so it's great to get while the bonus skills are running.

I'm a huge fan of the Rancor in LRM mode, as long as you're interested in raining death from above. It can also be fairly easily converted to an overpowered energy build. I tried running it in a mix of ATM/LRM but it ends up having major heat issues. 4x15 and 2x20 LRMs on chainfire with 2 Tags (in case one get shot off) gives you massive damage in the middle of your team between 400 and 600 metres from the enemy. Don't hide in the back because a) the lights will get you and 2) you give the enemy too long to hide.

The Black Arrow makes a decent light killer when you equip it with 6 machine guns and a couple of decent energy weapons. I'm using 6 LMGs with 2 LXPLs. It also runs fairly cold so at close ranges you can outlast those annoying mech with flamers.

If you don't have the Urbie K9 then I just feel very sorry for you. :-) It is a fun, tanky and very irritating mech. You can build it in a variety of ballistic/energy mixes for close up or long range damage.

Edited by Mark Yore, 31 December 2023 - 09:19 AM.

[DavidStarr]

Now I want Rancor! It's over my MC budget, but I'll get it some time. Thanks for bringing it up. I have BAS-B and it's definitely one of the better assaults.

[PointmanSF]

DavidStarr, on 31 December 2023 - 11:57 AM, said:

Now I want Rancor! It's over my MC budget, but I'll get it some time. Thanks for bringing it up. I have BAS-B and it's definitely one of the better assaults.

Without the RA omnipods, that BAS-B can be anything from a missile carrier to an amazing all-rounder.
Stock BAS-B favs : HLLx2-4 + DHSinks and TComp / ERLL x 4 / Dual Gauss highmount hillhumper.
If you get the Rancor and have a BAS-B, buying BAS-Prime Omnipods will let you fit an amazing amount of ATM/LRMs in it.

Good Hero picks :

Locust Pirate's Bane
Kit Fox Purifier
Vindicator St. Ives Blues
Crusader Crael
Warhammer Black Widow
Marauder IIC Scorch
Fafnir Wrath

The Crael and Black Widow work woneders as R/AC + X-Pulse or in the Crael's case - 10LMGs and 2 LXPL.
LCT-PB - Just google builds, lol.

KFX-PR - Anything large and lasvom, high mounts and big speed.

Vindy SIB - Poptart with insane laser cooldown

MAD-IIC SC - Classic brawler

FNR - W - Super modular, keeps ECM, can run MRM 90-120 or go full HPPC x 4, downside is one and only one Dakka mount in the right ST.

Edited by PointmanSF, Yesterday, 07:37 PM.

[PointmanSF]

Mark Yore, on 31 December 2023 - 09:16 AM, said:

An Ultraviolet with 8 ballistic weapons just punishes everything, so it's great to get while the bonus skills are running.

I'm a huge fan of the Rancor in LRM mode, as long as you're interested in raining death from above. It can also be fairly easily converted to an overpowered energy build. I tried running it in a mix of ATM/LRM but it ends up having major heat issues. 4x15 and 2x20 LRMs on chainfire with 2 Tags (in case one get shot off) gives you massive damage in the middle of your team between 400 and 600 metres from the enemy. Don't hide in the back because a) the lights will get you and 2) you give the enemy too long to hide.

Remember those TAG lasers give your Blood Asp two huge "Bunny ears" to shoot and damage your STs. It feels a little dependant running missiles without TAG, but try running LRM 15x4 with Artemis.