23 replies to this topic

[Ilfi]

Hey! I'm sure this gets asked a lot, but I wasn't able to personally find an older thread regarding this.

I just finished the 300 loot bags unlock and have the option to select from a huge pool of Hero Mechs, none of which I am familiar with. With that in mind, what are some of the best Hero mechs currently available and why? I'm mainly looking for things that other mechs can't duplicate. I don't mind playing meta, and I usually gravitate to UAC/RAC boats since they do well at 540m.

All suggestions appreciated! Thank you.

[martian]

Ilfi, on 22 March 2025 - 09:25 AM, said:

Hey! I'm sure this gets asked a lot, but I wasn't able to personally find an older thread regarding this.

I just finished the 300 loot bags unlock and have the option to select from a huge pool of Hero Mechs, none of which I am familiar with. With that in mind, what are some of the best Hero mechs currently available and why? I'm mainly looking for things that other mechs can't duplicate. I don't mind playing meta, and I usually gravitate to UAC/RAC boats since they do well at 540m.

All suggestions appreciated! Thank you.

Inner Sphere or Clan?

Light, medium, heavy or assault?

[CFC Conky]

I have most of the Hero mechs. I'm on the fence between the Longbow Spitfire and Supernova Seraph.

Good hunting,
CFC Conky

Edited by CFC Conky, 22 March 2025 - 10:31 AM.

[Ilfi]

martian, on 22 March 2025 - 09:56 AM, said:

Inner Sphere or Clan?
Light, medium, heavy or assault?

My hope was to get the most objective list possible-- the kind of heroes that you might see in competitive play. But sure, I can list off some of what I like:

I don't like Lights, brawling or LRMs. I do like high DPS weapons and weapons with high burst DPS. I like high torso mounts and peeking from the side.

I don't like Mechs that are oversized for their tonnage, or with easy-to-hit geometry. I do like mechs that are shaped like a fish-- things like the Bushwacker or Marauder.

Hope that helps.

[KursedVixen]

if you like High DPS there's the Aksum stone rhino or the Dire wolf UV which can both carry 8 ac2's or in the case of the aksum uac 2's

[martian]

Ilfi, on 22 March 2025 - 11:02 AM, said:

My hope was to get the most objective list possible-- the kind of heroes that you might see in competitive play. But sure, I can list off some of what I like:

I don't like Lights, brawling or LRMs. I do like high DPS weapons and weapons with high burst DPS. I like high torso mounts and peeking from the side.

I don't like Mechs that are oversized for their tonnage, or with easy-to-hit geometry. I do like mechs that are shaped like a fish-- things like the Bushwacker or Marauder.

Hope that helps.

Perhaps you could check following 'Mechs:

• Dire Wolf "Ultraviolet"
  
• Stone Rhino "Aksum"
  
• Marauder IIC "Dreadnought"
  
• Mad Cat Mk. II "Moonwalker"
  
• Executioner "Sovereign"

"Ultraviolet" and "Sovereign" are OmniMechs, so you can experiment with various OmniPods to get various hardpoints. However, you can not change the engine type and size or chassis and armor type.


Stone Rhino, Marauder IIC and Mad Cat Mk. II are BattleMechs, so they have hardpoints that can not be changed. But you can change engines, chassis and armor.

All of them can boat autocanons and they are more-or-less fishlike (with the exception of the humanoid "Sovereign").

Fafnir "Juggernaut" can boat autocannons, but it has that typical brick-like form.

[Ttly]

Ultraviolet isn't picked and played on its own, people just pick it to take the arm pods to stick into their DWF-C (ECM DWF)
Aksum is deservedly glass nowadays.
Gausszilla is certainly unique and even got buffed last week, but if you don't like 4Gauss builds you won't like it.
Sovereign (Executioner in name only, actually an Annihilator with JJs) is still stupidly strong and is probably the best cheeseboat pick if you just want something stupid strong to farm damage and win matches with, its main strength comes from PRIME LT pod and EXE-B-A arm pods (unique to the Sovereign, not to be confused with the EXE-B-C arm pods) that gives it -20% b.cd% on an chassis that runs Annihilator loadouts (albeit in the arms like the ANH-1P) oh it also has more armor quirks than the Annihilator on top of the regular Executioner's agility (already one of the most agile 95t to make up for its drawbacks which the Sovereign doesn't have as much of)
Moonwalker is whatever nowadays, I guess if you prefer your Aksum to have more ground speed.
Dreadnought is usually just run with builds that blast anything that comes close like 4C-LB/AC10.
Try the Scorch instead if you want 2C-LB/AC20+SRM24 that can delete stuff.

My personal recommendation is just the Gausszilla or even Heavy Metal (IS Highlander without JJ screen shake, run it on XL, you can build it for PPC poptart or 2AC5+whatevers) if you just want something actually unique and not just boring cheeseboats as far as the assault picks go, maybe even the Zeus Skokomish (MASC Assault in name only, playing more like an unusually tanky heavy) or Victor Li Dok To (fast for an JJ assault).
There's also the Stone Rhino Koloss (MASC 36SRM+couple of ballistic hardpoints on an 100t) but it's really just a fatter Dreadnought/Scorch.

For heavy, the picks are either Mad Dog Bandit (2C-UAC20 high hardpoint abuser, deletes enemy heavies and assaults), Crusader Crael (short range extreme DPS through HMGs and SRM/MRMs), or Timber Wolf Howl (funny 500m ATMs with actual damage), and even Grasshopper Mjolnir (7ERML+AC10 poptarts) now.

The medium heroes are very whatever you ask me, though the Vapor Eagle Rival (MASC *and* quirks on a Clan vehicle for whatever reason) does stand out.

Lights has a lot of variety in non-heroes pick already, though I'd have to say it'd have to be Pirates' Bane as far as unique gameplay go (though the FLE-20 does play similarly if you were to build it on 4ERML).

Edited by Ttly, 22 March 2025 - 04:11 PM.

[1453 R]

Behemoth, the I.S. Stone Rhino legend. It gets four spinal mount autocannons, as well as an exceptionally rare RAC fire rate increase quirk. More DPS for your DPS. Pair two RAC/5 with two LB-X/5 for powerful DPS at that 500m mark, with the ability to sustain a bit of pressure when the rotaries jam. Something to try out in the Store, at any rate

DON'T do Sovereign. It's extremely powerful, but the arm omnipods that makes it powerful are exclusive to the Battlepass. You need to spend the fifteen bucks to do Dakka Sovereign.

Edited by 1453 R, 22 March 2025 - 03:14 PM.

[Ttly]

1453 R, on 22 March 2025 - 03:13 PM, said:

Behemoth, the I.S. Stone Rhino legend. It gets four spinal mount autocannons, as well as an exceptionally rare RAC fire rate increase quirk. More DPS for your DPS. Pair two RAC/5 with two LB-X/5 for powerful DPS at that 500m mark, with the ability to sustain a bit of pressure when the rotaries jam. Something to try out in the Store, at any rate

DON'T do Sovereign. It's extremely powerful, but the arm omnipods that makes it powerful are exclusive to the Battlepass. You need to spend the fifteen bucks to do Dakka Sovereign.

Wrong.

Anyway it's really still something they haven't nerfed for months already now.

Edited by Ttly, 22 March 2025 - 03:39 PM.

[LordNothing]

i grabbed a behemoth like a lot of other people seem to have. there are only 2 heroes (available for mc) i dont have, both heavies. if you stack mc to fund hero purchases, get the more expensive ones for free when they do a pick a hero prize.

Edited by LordNothing, 22 March 2025 - 05:03 PM.

[LordNothing]

Ttly, on 22 March 2025 - 03:34 PM, said:

Wrong.

Anyway it's really still something they haven't nerfed for months already now.

now if they would do that with hero omnipods. at least make them available for mc if you own the hero.

[TELEFORCE]

Ohhh, so now I DON'T need the Sovereign Battlepass to get those pods? Maybe I'll get the old Burrock Executioner then

[Quicksilver Aberration]

I would not recommend the Crael for newer players, or really even upper tier players. Mech is fragile and slow for the DPS which means if you are running solo you will likely have a bad experience. Scorch is better but is similar compared to the Dreadnaught which is much better given you can run it like a poor man's SR-1 (AC5/AC10+Plasma). Ultraviolet is also pretty overrated at this point with so many better dakka Clan assaults.

Mediums have a dearth of honestly good/interesting heroes, but the Blackjack Arrow and Vapor Eagle Rival are good, with the Arrow being pretty flexible of the two. For heavies the Orion IIC Skoll and Marauder Bounty Hunter II haven't been mentioned yet but are worth it. The Bounty Hunter II in particular is pretty much a better Mjolnir (because it isn't nearly as squishy, and I would not recommend the build that was suggested earlier as it is undergunned, BLC or LPL + 6 ERML + SB Gauss is a much better build).

Honorable mentions include the Mad Cat MKII Deathstrike (still solid but a bit squishy in the current meta), Warhammer IIC Maul (got nerfed but still probably going to be a solid performer with HAG40s), Bullshark Mako (gauss vomit or dakka are solid builds on this thing), Atlas Warlord (best short range assault that isn't necessarily brawl-y, like the Koloss), Cyclops Slepnir (mobile dakka platform, got nerfed for a reason), Longbow Overcharge (if you want a hefty laser vomit mech with mobility), and the Stalker War Emu (which is super tanky with solid firepower now).

Edited by Quicksilver Aberration, 22 March 2025 - 06:32 PM.

[TELEFORCE]

LordNothing, on 22 March 2025 - 05:04 PM, said:

now if they would do that with hero omnipods. at least make them available for mc if you own the hero.

I think that was one of the ideas mentioned about the omnipod system when it first came out - pods for MC. It hasn't happened after all these years

[w0qj]

Recommend get your favourite Assault Hero mech that you don't already have (some of which are Hero versions of the new Legendary Mechs)... those are the most expensive MC-wise...

Here are some review/recommendations for Hero versions of Legendary mechs for your consideration:
(Be careful to note when the video was produced--new Legendary mechs are coming out hard and fast!)



https://www.youtube....p&v=1y3OrFyMH-E

Addendum: I'm not supporting any particular MWO streamer(s)... just crank out more "best" Legendary mech reviews and I'll do my best to quote the better videos!

[nanashi0110]

I'm not a great player so I don't know if this helps much...
If you want to exchange, I think you should choose from Assault or LEGEND.
I think GAUSZILLA, STONE CRUSHER, WARLORD, and SPITFIRE are particularly interesting.

Although not assaults, APACHE and HOWL have enough power to be recommended.
RED REAPER II is my favorite because of its unique playing style.
I recommend heavy metal in HERO. Its peculiar characteristics and unique kill sound are worth the trade. Above all, it is the most expensive assault, so you can say that it is the only one you can get for free.

[CFC Conky]

LordNothing, on 22 March 2025 - 05:01 PM, said:

i grabbed a behemoth like a lot of other people seem to have. there are only 2 heroes (available for mc) i dont have, both heavies. if you stack mc to fund hero purchases, get the more expensive ones for free when they do a pick a hero prize.

That's exactly what I did, the Spitfire costs more MC than the Seraph so I redeemed the Spitty and will wait for an MC sale or future loot bag event to pick up the Seraph, if available.

Good hunting,
CFC Conky

[Samziel]

Ttly, on 22 March 2025 - 03:34 PM, said:

Anyway it's really still something they haven't nerfed for months already now.

They nerfed it in February patch. With a whopping 5% total nerf to ballistic cooldown...

I think its still one of the best assaults in the game at least for QP. But it does suffer from the knuckle dragging mounts.

There has been lots of good suggestions in the thread. I'd say pick an assault for their cost and assaults really arent lacking of good options. Feels like its easier to list the bad ones. But, just to name few (good ones):

Executioner: Sovereign
Annihilator: Gausszilla, Stonecrusher
Stone Rhino: Aksum, Koloss, Behemoth (classed as its own chassis in game)
Atlas: Warlord
Warhammer IIC: Maul
Supernova: Seraph, Boiler
Mad Cat MK2: Moonwalker, Deathstrike
Stalker: War Emu
Marauder IIC: Dreadnought, Scorch.

Edited by Samziel, 24 March 2025 - 02:09 AM.

[VeeOt Dragon]

well most of OP's criteria seem to be in and around the meta stuff if not out right meta. though i can give a few that i enjoy.

just putting them in alphabetical order. since most are giving assaults i think i will give a couple heavies


Archer-Tempest; makes a great MRM boat (mine right now runs 2 MRM-30s and 6 ER Smalls)

Catapult-Butter Bee; another good MRM boat just lighter

Roughneck-Bolt; great high mounts and ok geometry. (currently running 4 L-AC/5s and 3 MLs)

Roughneck-Powerhouse; has a nice mix of hardpoints and if you don't mind running no energy back-up you can strip the one arm for other things (i run mine with 1 AC/10, 3 MRM-10, and 2 MLs)

Warhammer-Black Widow; good tight mounts in the torso and kind of fun (though if you have been playing any amount of time you already have one as PGI has handed them out a good 3 or 4 times since they started the more regular free mech events) (i run it at the moment with 4 L-AC/5s, and 2 LPPCs but it does have an nice 10% LBX spread quirk that could make those viable as well)

[Ken Harkin]

Marauder MAD-BH2 75 tons of whatever you need. Want to brawl, go with ML, SPPC, and AC20, want range go with PPC and Gauss.