This thing is so much fun. Highlanders get incredible jump capacity for assault 'Mechs now, and Heavy Metal gets five jets instead of three for even more Mad Hops. This thing can easily make it from the ground to the top of the Wall in HPG, with juice to spare. it's got enough jump capacity to actually take advantage of the quick cycle rate on its weapons and make repeated bunny-hoptart attacks, aided by the fact that HM has absolutely no reticle shake whatsoever. Point, click, and if you're a better shot than I am your weapons hit the mark. Not to mention that you get the option of Spidering to the Stars if you need to, the jet endurance on this thing is bonkers. I have grabbed over two hundred meters of altitude to shoot down over a piece of tall cover at someone who thought they were safe, watched them twist wildly trying to figure out how the hell they got shot, and still had a little bit of juice left to cushion the fall and only take minor damage to my feeties.
it's not all roses, a'course. 25 damage alpha is nothing to write hom about and kind of anemic on a 90-tonner these days, and the weapons are real wide and real low. I'm still figuring out the clearances I need to properly connect, and my apologies to the Cauldron-Born pilot whose arm I slammed a double-shot of LAC/5 into on HPG while figuring that out. And yeah, compies are gonna snark about the SRM launchers and the too-big engine and the relatively minimal ammo, but y'know what? I dun' care.
I've been thoroughly enjoying this sucker, and it's honestly been doing really well for me even only half-skilled. It gets donkeyed taking a straight ground fight against other assault 'Mechs in the close to close-medium range bracket, but frankly if I'm in that fight in the first place either I've Severely Forked Up or the team's collapsed and there's nothing for it anymore. Planning on investing in Anchor Turn and Torso Yaw to help scrape lights, because the arm mobility on this sucker is surprisingly good at landing PPFLD blasts on twiggies who step to me. And just the sheer JOMPS this chungus screwball has and its utter lack of reticle shake means I can do things with it that are straight-up not possible on any other 'Mech. At least, not for me.
Robit is currently half off, only ~3300MC. Highly recommend for anyone who doesn't have one but is intrigued by JOMPlanders, could even be worth burning your Lucky Charms Hero pick on. Even if you don't use the LAC/5+LPPC variations, the thing has enough hardpoints to do work despite its age, and if you can leverage its advantages it's a fantastic midrange pokebeast.
Edited by 1453 R, 23 March 2024 - 05:01 PM.