63 replies to this topic

[Nik Van Rhijn]

I'd rather see a lot more mediums and a few more heavies and lights added before more assaults. This would fit in with the sort of force mix that was traditional and fits with Role Warfare better.

[Trevnor]

Mason West, on 30 March 2012 - 05:37 PM, said:

So True

Hahaha, damned straight! lol All I know is that if I end up fighting a Lyran unit, I'll be using mediums or lights, and lost of indirect fire support from some Catapults! LOL

GDL Irishwarrior, on 30 March 2012 - 06:25 PM, said:

Personally, I support the Cyclops as the next new assault (because it has both extra speed and a command specialization not yet seen in ANY of our 'Mechs), and the Victor after that (because of the maneuverability granted by its jump jets). If those are put in, I figure anything's up for grabs afterwards; we just need to have something unique before we start adding assaults that do the same things as what we already have.

Hell yeah! I've always loved the Cyclops. Also, for heavies, I love the Cerberus!

[Watchit]

GDL Irishwarrior, on 30 March 2012 - 06:25 PM, said:

Well, out of our current choices, we have:
Atlas - Slow, heavily-armed and -armored. Ideal for brawling, but it can deal decent damage at any range.
Awesome - Slow, heavily-armed and -armored direct fire support 'Mech

So, things like the Stalker, Zeus or Banshee would be largely redundant - our current assault 'Mechs can do the same things, and in some cases do them better. The weight class needs something new. I figure more maneuverability and/or a specialization in command would be perfect.

Personally, I support the Cyclops as the next new assault (because it has both extra speed and a command specialization not yet seen in ANY of our 'Mechs), and the Victor after that (because of the maneuverability granted by its jump jets). If those are put in, I figure anything's up for grabs afterwards; we just need to have something unique before we start adding assaults that do the same things as what we already have.

Well, just because some mechs seem redundant, doesn't mean we shouldn't include them as well. For one thing people need something to work towards, no one's going to start out with a top of the line mech right off the bat. I imagine the starting assault mech to probably be the Banshee or Stalker.

[Seabear]

The fact that some (6 in the 3025 TRO) mechs in the assault class move at 4/6 (TT) means that they are as fast as most heavies and some mediums (7 in the 3025 TRO). These are not blazing fast, but neither are they low plodding targets given the speed range shown in the lore.

[osito]

I believe right now the devs are just trying to give us mechs in all speed ranges and styles. As well as using some of the most common and popular mechs. They will have some updates soon in game to bring more then just 12 mechs for us to see. We will get the 4/6 assaults eventually. Although we really need some speed in the medium weight not the assault weight right now.

[Grithis]

osito, on 31 March 2012 - 10:41 AM, said:

..Although we really need some speed in the medium weight not the assault weight right now.

I couldn't agree more! No way am I piloting a medium that can't outrun the average heavy/ assault! I'm leaning towards the Dragon, so far. While that fits for my faction, it's definitely not one of my favorite mechs.

[Watchit]

what we need... is SHADOW HAWK!

(╯°O°）╯FUS RO DAH! ==== ┻━┻

Edited by Watchit, 31 March 2012 - 01:15 PM.

[facium]

Shadow or Phoenix, both would play very well, but the speed of the Phoenix hawk could compromise the only advantage light mechs have.

It's all going to depend on how well they can balance speed vs chance to get hit

[Ravana]

Speed vs chance to hit is pretty irrelevant with the change in lasers. Since our lasers will be a constant beam now all you have to do is aim where the light is running, then fire and hold your aim there. The light mech will literally run into your laser beam and damage itself. Since lasers are a constant beam now you don't have to be quite as accurate. You can sweep your laser across an area and still get a hit even if it is a breif one.

As for adding more assaults. I would think that the next assault mech will be the last one we see till the game starts. Since the are planning on a starting line of 12 mechs and we have 4 weight classes that means only 3 mechs per weight class. Unless they plan to have an imblance between the weight classes such as only two starting light mechs and 4 meds or heavies, etc.

There are plenty of assault mechs with half way decent speed to choose from in this era though they tend to only be slight upgunned/uparmored from heavies.

[Watchit]

Well, you could hit someone with a laser by sweeping it across the field, but it wouldn't do much damage. Like you said, the laser's will be a constant stream (pulsing for pulse lasers) but they don't do full damage unless you keep them on target for the full length of the blast. So sweeping the laser into a fast moving target will do some damage, but only a fraction.

[Mr MEAN]

You move fast
You move slow
No matter..
I Blow Off Your Leg

'Cause that's MEAN

[Dihm]

3/5 (30ish kph walk) is pretty much the standard for Assaults, especially before the return of the XL engine.

As far as why take a medium over the Dragon, the Devs have said that mediums, do to their lower tonnage, will have a much easier time turning and manuevering. So, a mech that's just as fast as the Dragon but lighter would be "quicker" on its feet.

Edited by Dihm, 02 April 2012 - 08:57 AM.

[GrimJim]

Dihm, on 02 April 2012 - 08:56 AM, said:

3/5 (30ish kph walk) is pretty much the standard for Assaults, especially before the return of the XL engine.

Hmm... I think my OP and several after point out there were more assaults moving 4/6 than 3/5 in 3025. Certainly a larger variety in maneuverability than what we've seen so far.

[Dihm]

Is it considered a necro when it's the OP?

[Orzorn]

It personally seems to me that the developers are going for a slower experience at first. Many of the mechs, even the mediums (both of which only go 64.8 km/h), are rather average in their speeds. Additionally, the loadout of most of the mechs are pretty spread out as well. Some lasers and some autocannons. The only real exception so far is the Awesome. I definitely understand the reasons why, though. They want each weight class to be able to stand on their own and to be accessible to new players. I expect to see more specialized designs pretty soon after the game comes out, so that players can specialize much better.

[Morang]

Devs clearly stated that "you may sell your engine and buy and install another with a different rating" to your mech in the MechLAb. So the speed of the default variant doesn't really matters. Only "inherent" maneurability factors of the chassis then are the torso twist angles (and perhaps twist speed - will it change together with engine ratings or not?). Perhaps different chassises (even of same tonnage) will have different lower and higher limits of engine rating, though?

[-Ramrod-]

I hate having to pick and choose between mechs. I really hope as the months go by they pump out mech after mech. The need for a greater number of mechs is even more important with the addition of role warfare. The earlier mech games all seemed to be restricted to a select few mechs. I hope dozens and dozens of mech will be available by this time next year.

[Aegis Kleais]

Speed has always been important to me, but as I choose a larger chassis, it becomes something that just is too expensive to have due to massive engine sizes taking up too much space.

When you see a Hunchback whose variants have it moving at 65K, and a Mech like the Atlas which is 2x the weight only moving 17% slower at 54K, it either makes the Hunch look abnormally slow, but even if you made a variant that did 5/8 86K, knowing that when clan tech comes and you can have a HEAVY move at that speed (and still have an amazing armament) must have really come as a shock to pilots when they first saw it.

[3Xtr3m3]

Steamroller Stig, on 30 March 2012 - 03:49 PM, said:

Out of curiosity if speeds are canon based what would be the point of the meds when the dragon could out run, out gun, and out tank them?

Ah! Answer that question young Grasshopper, and you will have achieved wisdom!

[SideSt3p]

Playing an Assault 'Mech, I expect to be ponderous. You would always read in the novels about how an exceptional pilot (Morgan Kell, Yorigana Kurita, Justin Allard, Kai Allard-Liao, Phelan Kell, etc) can make an Assault 'Mech move like a Medium with a fluidity and grace normally unseen. And I believe that this is something along the lines of what MWO will be.

What I mean by this is as you level and utilize certain modules your Assault will handle better and so on. But you should expect to feel like a giant monster. I mean you're piloting 80+ tons of hulking war machine. I don't expect something that heavy to handle like a pretty butterfly