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The Medium Mech - Where does it fit?


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#1 Phros

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 05:52 AM

I'm sure those of you who have played the older mechwarrior games may be wondering this as well. In the past it has all been about the arms race really, the majority of players playing games online getting into heavies and assaults to duke it out. Some of the more skilled pilots messing around in lights.

I am ecstatic that this isn't the case any more, the smaller mech chassis are something I find a lot more interesting than the bigger ones, but I have a query, in MWO where does the medium fit?

Why am I asking this?

Well we have this great sounding Role Warfare system, with modules and specialisations that allow a player to customise their mech to their playstyle, or even mix a couple of roles together.

Lights are clearly the goto Scout mech, and I can see them possibly being used as a command platform as well. Having the speed to get out of a dodge might be very handy.

Heavies and Assaults are clearly the Attackers and the Defenders, with the Heavies probably leaning a little more to attack roles due to speed issues. They are good candidates for a command platform as well with the heavy armour and weight allowances for possibly heavy command modules.

So where does the plucky medium fit in? Looking at the Centurion, he has some solid firepower, but a heavy will always outgun him, he is fast, but not quite as fast as a light, and his armour isn't quite up to scratch compared to a heavy as well.

Am I right in thinking they will be best used in multiple roles? Traditionally (in the fluff) they are pretty much the backbone of this era lances (mediums in general, not soley centurions!), with heavies being Big Deals and assaults catastrophic, this won't quite be the case in MWO, that "arms race" still exists a little. If you can afford a Dragon or an Atlas and you are playing an attacking role, why wouldn't you take one?. Apart from Light Mech Hunters, which they would excel at, I can't find a direct role for them.

I don't have a problem with this, but I would really like to see peoples thoughts, where do you see the Centurion fitting into the battle? A fast response defender that can double as a heavier scout? Is flexibility the hallmark of the medium? I hope so.

#2 fallonsky

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 05:59 AM

well i think a med is the balance of a heavy and a light. its not as unarmed as a light but still not as heavy to have that 64 max speed that is really jest way to slow. you can use the med for scouting since some can be fast (all are faster then 64 kph thank god) and can be used for scouting or they can be used for asault and can flank or take pot shots at heavys and asaults. what are they going to do if you fire some lrms or archer missles at them by the time they get there you are all the way across the map and are fireing more missles at them.

#3 DaZur

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 06:03 AM

As you eluded to, I see the Medium ensconced in the "Jack of all... master of none" role...

That said, because PGI is the first Mech game to knowledge the class advantages and disadvantages, the Mediums will actually be more viable and valuable than in previous iterations. Fast enough​ to out-manuver the heavy and the Asault and armed / armored enough to out muscle the lights.

Mediums finally are not the read-headed step-Mechs that we begrudgingly saddled up as we waited for the opportunity to move up to a heavy or and assault...

It's a good thing for sure! ;)

#4 Artgathan

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 06:08 AM

Medium mechs are extremely versatile. They boast enough tonnage to load on the biggest weapons in the IS (such as the Hunchback's AC20), while at the same time retaining a good amount of speed to allow them to react quickly to the battlefield situation. Obviously lightmechs will outrun them and heavy/assault mechs will usually boast more armour and weaponry, but that doesn't make medium mechs useless. Many of my favourite mechs are mediums (Centurion, Bushwacker, Hellhound, Stormcrow) and they can ruin a heavy or assault mech's day in a hurry.

They offer a nice mix of mobility and firepower in my opinion. I'll be piloting a Centurion for sure.

Just like light mechs you need to play to your mech's strengths and weaknesses though: obviously your hunchback is going to have trouble engaging a catapult at long range. It's up to the pilot to make the most of their mech.

#5 Win44

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 06:08 AM

I bet mediums will fall into a very nice "money maker" category in this game.

With good damage output, scouting abilities, etc.. the opportunity to rack up the profits with a much lower repair cost than heavier mechs will be this class advantage

#6 Thorn Hallis

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 06:20 AM

I see medium mechs in nearly every role. They can be scouts, they can be raiders, they can be defenders...they are perfect support machines, fast enough to react in time to help their lancemates.

#7 BadgerDrool

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 06:23 AM

Here's a fun question.

Is an Assault mech equivalent to a Light mech in terms of what you can fit in a team. Like say 6v6 mechs...Is it possible to have 6 Assaults vs 6 Lights?

I haven't seen anything about what restrictions will be placed on what mechs you get to bring to the battle. Having a restriction could really bring Mediums into a role.

Granted we've been hearing a lot about the Atlas...but for good reason. It's both well known and it's large and diverse armaments showcase the cockpit's functionalty well. Seeing stuff from inside a Jenner with the initial blitz of screens isn't interesting. The reality of the game could be us being forced to use a core of Medium mechs in any given match.

#8 The Bounty Hunter

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 06:24 AM

It fits under my Marauders foot........

#9 Mason Ventris

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 06:27 AM

Mediums can fill multple roles.

Force Recon- generally they have decent enough speed to follow up on lighter mechs. Plus they have the firepower to make a an impact once the enemy is found(if that's the commanders game plan).

Quick Reaction Force- this plays to the same strengths. Decent speed and firepower will allow an able commander to have a very mobile force that he can use to either exploit an enemy's flank and rear or to help reinforce a weakened front.

#10 GrimRATS

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 06:29 AM

I think they are best as an all rounder or maybe as a rapid response fire support to turn tides or maybe one or two battles across the map, thats what I will be playing as when I am in a medium mech anyway but I don't know for sure so yea.

#11 Jack Gammel

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 06:32 AM

I would imagine that the medium class will offer cost-effective mechs capable of bringing a wide variety of possible roles to the battlefield. I am guessing that some form of weight restrictions will be in place for matches in MW:O. I would bet that these weight restrictions for lances will require most teams to limit what they are bringing to the battlefield in terms of assault and heavy mechs. In this situation, the medium would become extremely useful. Many medium mechs would be fast enough to serve as scouts, but they often carry far more armor which would keep them in the fight longer. Mediums are also able to carry very heavy weapon load-outs, possibly making them specialized scout assassins or allowing them to act as low-weight attackers.

#12 FEK315

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 06:40 AM

Take it from a medium pilot, like myself. The roles are, like you said are, numerous. My favorite was support, since my fave mech was a Chimera I couldn't attack on my own so I was the bate for my Assault wing men. Some thing to lure the enemy Black Knights and Gladiators in with and then then around the corner was my wingmen...KA BLAMO!

Next was long distance sniper. They can't really see you well, your a fast so you can shoot and disappear quick, and when I was piloting a Chimera few people recognized the shape of the Chimera so they would mistake me for a building or rocks. The Puma and Shadow Cat were made for this role.

The best thing about a medium attacker is that you are always underestimated by the unskilled pilots. They will just pass you bye on some occasions, as if to say your not worth my time I want some thing big to fight...MISTAKE! I have had so many battles were I was taking on a Large or Assault, were they had me down to 10 percent armor and they abandoned me because they saw a larger mech joining the fight. They ignore me long enough and I always got the kill then limped away.

Mediums are AWESOME the are the best way to pack hunt.

#13 Vexgrave Lars

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 06:41 AM

I like to think of mediums as the Cadillac of scout mech's personally. I am not a fan of lights.

#14 zCrispy

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 06:46 AM

Medium mechs are versitle enough to virtually play any role. Even though they do not belong to a specific class, keep a lookout for them on the battlefield

#15 Sprouticus

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 07:00 AM

I see lots of potential roles, but it really depends on the mechanics:

For instance,

1) flanking would be a great option, but if rear attacks are difficult to pull of or not that rewarding, that reduces the viability.
2) The value of inside lines in a 12v12 will be important. For those not familiar the basics are that if you have less distance or are faster, you can move to engage a foe who has superior number or firepower. A basic example would be one force having another partially encircled. The defensive group has a shorter distance to go form one end of the flank to the other. Alternately, if you have faster force, you can have the same effect.

This of course assumes your foe will be split up in some way, which depends upon the type of game. For instance, if you have to defend multiple points, being able to shift form one point to another faster than your opponent means you will be able to bring more effective force to the party. This is where a medium lance would excel. The best example I can give form a recent game would be Arathi Basin in WoW. The team that could coordinate movement form one flag to another (either by speed of movement, deception, or just listening to others on their team) usually won.

Being able to react faster (and thus have the inside lines) is a huge advantage when you are dealing with defending multiple goals. Imagine you have to control 2 areas to win an engagement. The defense is setup with one lance at each location, and one lance 'floating' as needed. You send out a scout or two and determine that the enemy is sending the majority of their force at point A. If your floating lance cant get there in time, the defenders at point A will be over whelmed. (yes thats super basic, but it shows the value of speed).


Of course all of this assumes the speed difference between heavies and mediums will make a difference in reaction time (vs firepower brought to the party) and that you have maps/mission types where this matters. In a straight up deathmatch where the groups will probably not stray much it would not matter a great deal

3) If drop limits are used (and Im guessing they will be), I would expect numbers to count. In a 12v12 with a drop weight max of say....600 tons, I would expect you to bring mediums and end up with 12 mechs vs bringing all heavies with a few scouts and end up with 9 or 10 mechs. Again, this assumes 3x50 tonners can beat 2x75 tonners most of the time (through flanking, speed, weapons load-outs, or other factors). If there is no value in going with 12 mechs vs 10 (or 8 if you use assaults) then you will end up with 1-2 scouts and the rest assaults..

4) Force recon as Mason describeds above

5) screening. Being able to protect and hide a couple of lances with a screen of 1-2 mediums will give you tactical advantages with minimal loss of tonnage on the off chance a mech is caught by itself.

6) striker mechs designed to take out scounts will have a high value assuming scount have value.

#16 Jacob Carlyle

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 07:06 AM

I see the different weight classes, with some exceptions, falling into pretty distinct categories:

Light Mechs are built for scouting, no real way to get away from this. They're small, fast and lightly armoured compared to all the others. Sure they can pack a punch, but against any sort of concerted effort they can't stand up to the firepower that basically any other Mech can put out. They are there to find the enemy, relay that info back to their lance mates, call in support fire, harass enemy artillery and take advantage of any opportunities that present themselves during firefights to make trouble for the enemy (and once we get the tech, jam enemy sensors, NARC enemy targets etc.).

Medium Mechs are built for denying the enemy the use of the battlefield, they're patrol Mechs that carry enough firepower and armour to make a difference in a fight and are fast enough to get there before it's too late. They are the "Light Mech" killers and form "Heavy Mech" hunting packs. They out-maneuver Assault Mechs, disengage while calling in artillery, or distracting them till their team's Assault Mechs arrive.

Heavy Mechs seem to be gun boats, relatively slow, but with the range and firepower to really put long range hurting on whatever the Scouts identify. Their general lack of close range weaponry coupled with their speed would make them vulnerable to basically any enemy that can get close.

Assault Mechs are the line breakers, they are pointed at a strongpoint and let loose. Generally packing firepower to hit at all ranges, they engage as soon as possible and pour on the hurt as they get close, letting their armour soak up enemy responses. Their lack of speed will usually allow Medium and Light Mechs to escape, and they are sitting ducks to artillery or support fire if they are spotted early enough.

So, I see the Medium Mech as the mainstay of any fighting force in the game. You'll want them to chase down Heavies, shoot up Lights and harass Assaults.

#17 CoffiNail

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 07:12 AM

We laughed about this thread in IRC


[10:09] <[NGNG]Cattra> "The Medium Mech - Where does it fit?" really?
[10:09] <[NGNG]Cattra> its the workhorse!
[10:09] <[NGNG]Cattra> /end thread

#18 Black Sunder

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 07:12 AM

View PostJacob Carlyle, on 12 March 2012 - 07:06 AM, said:


Light Mechs are built for scouting, no real way to get away from this.


My Panther wants to have a PPC with you.

#19 Bloody Moon

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 07:16 AM

As much i'd love to play a Centurion the fact that according to the sarna.net the base variant moves with roughly 65km/h while the Atlas moves at 54 makes me doubt its viability so i hope there will be some advantage for the medium mechs aside from the size/cost/sometimes speed trio.

#20 2bad

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Posted 12 March 2012 - 07:22 AM

View PostBadgerDrool, on 12 March 2012 - 06:23 AM, said:

Here's a fun question.
Is it possible to have 6 Assaults vs 6 Lights?


I remember from somewhere seeing that a side could field all Atlas. But that they should get killed by a good mixed force.

So yeah it could get to 6 Atlas Vs 6 Jenner by that logic !





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