36 replies to this topic

[Atlas3060]

XenomorphZZ, on 04 December 2012 - 09:51 AM, said:

Stalker hero mech...

mmmm J. Elliot Jamison from Wolf's Dragoons.
If MWO decided to use notable pilots for inspiration could you even imagine what fun the Stalker would be like that?!

[Karl Streiger]

Only the most grim and most determined should be allowed to own a Jamison Stalker... when everything goes to hell... take strength out of the knowlege that everything does come to an end.... so you can move right into the mouth of hell - and take that darn wob precentor with you...

[Strum Wealh]

dal10, on 04 December 2012 - 12:53 PM, said:

I would personally be extremely worried on putting the atlas danielle in game. at 9 arm crits, and 3 laser hard points per arm, you could actually run 8 large lasers, or potentially 8 ppcs. that would HURT...

or imagine an atlas with gauss, 2 srm 6 and 8 medium lasers, 270 meter death machine indeed... 40 damage alpha from the med lasers, 30 from from the srm2, and 15 from the gauss. 85 point alpha on an atlas, which can actually mount enough heatsinks to use such an arsenal. that is for all intents and purposes the same firepower as a hunchback 4g with a gauss instead of ac/20 and its head laser removed, plus a 4sp hunchback with its head small laser upgraded to a medium.

Specifications and record sheet for the AS7-D "Danielle"
The minimum hardpoints would be x6 energy (x3 in RA, x3 in LA), x1 ballistic (RT), and x1 missile (LT).
With most of the other Atlas variants having a total of 7-8 hardpoints, it seems reasonable to believe that Danielle Rondema's 'Mech would be limited to its minimum hardpoints (a total of 8).

It only has 8 open criticals in each arm (12 total, minus 4 for a full actuator set), and it does not have the CT-mounted lasers.
It couldn't run with three PPCs or (IS-built) ER-PPCs in each arm due to lack of critical spaces (requires a total of 9 criticals, while only 8 are available).
Also, with only 6 energy hardpoints, it wouldn't be running 8 of any kind of laser (or other energy weapon).

The advantage to its layout, though, is that it can carry more lasers (or other energy weapons) than any of the currently-available Atlas variants (though, it is light on ballistic and missile hardpoints), and all of those lasers (or other energy weapons) will track on the same reticle - the faster-moving arm reticle.

The "Danielle" has the potential to be powerful and potent, but (IMO) is far from necessarily being significantly unbalanced or overpowered in comparison to the other Atlases.

[Imagine Dragons]

Strum Wealh, on 06 December 2012 - 05:16 AM, said:

Specifications and record sheet for the AS7-D "Danielle"
The minimum hardpoints would be x6 energy (x3 in RA, x3 in LA), x1 ballistic (RT), and x1 missile (LT).
With most of the other Atlas variants having a total of 7-8 hardpoints, it seems reasonable to believe that Danielle Rondema's 'Mech would be limited to its minimum hardpoints (a total of 8).

It only has 8 open criticals in each arm (12 total, minus 4 for a full actuator set), and it does not have the CT-mounted lasers.
It couldn't run with three PPCs or (IS-built) ER-PPCs in each arm due to lack of critical spaces (requires a total of 9 criticals, while only 8 are available).
Also, with only 6 energy hardpoints, it wouldn't be running 8 of any kind of laser (or other energy weapon).

The advantage to its layout, though, is that it can carry more lasers (or other energy weapons) than any of the currently-available Atlas variants (though, it is light on ballistic and missile hardpoints), and all of those lasers (or other energy weapons) will track on the same reticle - the faster-moving arm reticle.

The "Danielle" has the potential to be powerful and potent, but (IMO) is far from necessarily being significantly unbalanced or overpowered in comparison to the other Atlai.

Hmm very interesting...

[Tarriss Halcyon]

An Awesome mounting ECM... with tri-PPC...that there basically puts all sniper loadouts to shame. Especially considering the ASD-D-DC is PATHETIC at sniping. LRM-boating, sure. Sniping, not so much.

[Riordan Lionheart]

I think an Alexander Kerensky Atlas would be a nice thing to release right at the end of Beta. Other good hero mechs would be a Rhonda Snord Highlander and a Kristen Marik Hunchback

[Strum Wealh]

Riordan Lionheart, on 10 December 2012 - 11:36 AM, said:

I think an Alexander Kerensky Atlas would be a nice thing to release right at the end of Beta. Other good hero mechs would be a Rhonda Snord Highlander and a Kristen Marik Hunchback

Alexandr Kerensky (commander of the SLDF) piloted an Orion.
Nicholas Kerensky (Alexandr's son, and founder of the Clans) piloted an Atlas II (a different 'Mech from the original Atlas, and one that isn't available in the IS again until the 3070s).

Snord's Highlander (IMO) wouldn't be a very good choice for a Hero 'Mech, since it's canonically just a standard HGN-732 with a pink paint job and tower speakers glued to the head.

Kristen Marik is a relative unknown, and her Hunchback is never described beyond "a captured Lyran Hunchback" or "a captured Steiner Hunchback"; given that and the lack of a named variant, it would seem that hers is just a standard, uncustomized Hunchback (and thus also not good Hero 'Mech material).

[Tarriss Halcyon]

Strum Wealh, on 10 December 2012 - 03:34 PM, said:

Kristen Marik is a relative unknown, and her Hunchback is never described beyond "a captured Lyran Hunchback" or "a captured Steiner Hunchback"; given that and the lack of a named variant, it would seem that hers is just a standard, uncustomized Hunchback (and thus also not good Hero 'Mech material).

Yes, but there's another relatively unknown listed on Sarna as a "notable Pilot" of the Hunchback that the devs. could use to make a Hero's Hunchback... although Kristen is a second option, I'm thinking more of Isoroku Kurita. He has a similar lack of detail to Kristen, however, it does point out that he won a number of fights with it. Not to mention the fact that as a member of the "royal family" of sorts, his mech could be modified giving both the devs (and, should it come to it, us, the player-base) the opportunity to decide on the loadout.

I personally support the AWS-8Ma (Awesome with ECM FTW! And a non-Cappellan Hero mech!) as the next Hero 'Mech, however something else I'd like to see is an Awesome with one of the PPCs replaced with at least one ballistics hardpoint, considering how hard it is to run an Awesome in fear of Caustic Valley.

The other Hero 'Mechs I'd like to see would include:

Dragon Yoshiri, (energy-missile Dragon, because I see Grand Dragon being a new chassis)
An Atlas with Jump Jets (THE LOLS! IMAGINE!! ATLAS FLYING!) or, as they'd likely work, manoeuvring jets due to an inability to lift the 100-tonne behemoth from the ground.
A community-developed Dragon for Minobu Tetsuhara

Mostly, this is due to my status as a Dragon pilot. The Atlas was one I was discussing with my cousin, the guy who got me interested in BattleTech in the first place, and the person who is currently waiting for his new computer build so he can join me on here (once clantech arrives at least)

[Imagine Dragons]

I doubt they will put in any grand dragon. 60 tonnner with a 400 XL is not something anyone wants to see at this point.

[Sol Fin]

While can't really point to any specific setup for a hero Mech, just looking at mech lineup it's clear that the Dragon is seriously lacking of a Hero variant. Standard Dragon has only 3 variants, so getting an Elite perk for the one requires piloting all 3 variants, which is not so great

The only hero Dragon that got mentioned is "DRG-2Y Dragon Yorioshi", but it's loadout is strange to say at least

Another existing option is a "DRG-1G Grand Dragon Emory". First iteration of Grand Dragons were just updated Dragons (at least wiki says so). So maybe it's possible to use this one.

XenomorphZZ, on 11 December 2012 - 11:11 AM, said:

I doubt they will put in any grand dragon. 60 tonnner with a 400 XL is not something anyone wants to see at this point.

Yesterday I saw a Cicada sporting similar config. And really, world didn't turn around

Edited by Sol Fin, 12 December 2012 - 10:54 AM.

[Tarriss Halcyon]

I detect twins coming up - anyone else seen the screenshots of the "Flame" and "Fang" Hero 'Mechs in the hero mech list? Both 60 tonnes...

TWIN DRAGON HERO MECHS!

Edited by Tarriss Halcyon, 14 December 2012 - 05:28 PM.

[MavRCK]

Viable competitive grand dragons would allow for:

360XL engine

4 laser hardpoints 2 missile hardpoints or 2 laser hardpoints with 3 missile hardpoints

plus 1 ballistic hardpoint

Edited by MavRCK, 15 December 2012 - 03:32 PM.

[Stonefalcon]

XenomorphZZ, on 11 December 2012 - 11:11 AM, said:

I doubt they will put in any grand dragon. 60 tonnner with a 400 XL is not something anyone wants to see at this point.

I greatly miss my Dragon build mounting an XL400 4 medium lasers and an SRM 6, it was punchy, quick and survivable.

Speaking of custom hero mechs, last night I was cruising through matches with some chaps from my company (TPL) while using my mech called the "Thor's Hammer" and we began recalling it's rough upbringing which I'll share here.

Originally built as a long range direct fire support mech, this mech began life as an Awesome AWS-8Q, originally mounting 17 single heat sinks, 6 PPC's and running a Standard 100 engine. It had a top speed of roughly 32kph and would always shut down when alpha striking. Over the course of several days after it's initial inception we began experimenting with ways to improve it's heat dissipation while continuing to mount a direct alpha of 60 damage, twice that of a Gausspult.

Success, after numerous debates one of TPL's crafty pilots devised a way to mount 20 heat sinks onto the chassis - Due to security concerns of the build I won't say what they were. Now some of you will say "Only 3 extra sinks PAH, that won't do anything" but you would be wrong. It was here back in August I believe just after the Awesome was introduced where we discovered the craftiness of PGI and that they did in fact give Heat Sinks the ability to contain heat vastly boosting the mechs longevity in battle.

Let me put that in perspective for you. Using 17 single heat sinks and firing 6 PPC's on Frozen City would cause the mech to power down for about 3 seconds, on Caustic Valley this number was closer to 15 seconds. 20 heat sinks come along and we were dreaming of the moment when all 6 of those luscious PPC's would fire simultaneously and the mech would stay powered up, but disaster. The map was Frozen city and still the mech powered down but something remarkable happened, another pilot running the "Thor's Hammer" build didn't power down. After carefully evaluating the situation we learned that PGI did in fact add mech heating by certain actions, one of those actions would be the throttle, we learned that if the throttle was at 0% the mech did indeed stay powered up with the heat spiking to a terrifying 98%. Note: With the 20 SHS on Caustic Valley the shut down time was reduced to 5 seconds while throttle remained on 0%. Yes I did try ERPPC's and the shutdown time on Caustic Valley was closer to 50 seconds.

And so the "Thor's Hammer" continued to thrill us, disappoint our foes and provide a powerful mech that any sane pilot knew would be disaster to hang around for too long as was the case when anything 50 tonnes or lower found out when standing in front of the behemoth as seconds later their mech was a smoldering ruin of flame and thunder.

Then a miracle happened. PGI announced double heat sinks, instantly I swooned at the chance to mount DHS onto the "Thor's Hammer" but there was disaster, they didn't work as intended. While they provided a double heat dissipation value their heat threshold value was not increased at all, mounting only 17 DHS the mech returned to it's struggle of shutting down. To combat this problem I gave in to a suggestion a friend made and reduced the power to a measly 5 PPC's. This allowed me to max the engine and provide an equivalent 27 heat sinks using DHS.

Last night though I returned the mech to it's original glory, mounting the 6 PPC's and the correct combination of engine, armour and DHS. With PGI's continued changes to heat sinks the design was brought back to life and yes it does not shut down anymore when alpha striking, even while moving on Caustic Valley.

How much I would laugh if a hero mech similar to this was brought out and so we continued to think of what mods the mech could have to make it a true hero mech. Turning speed and torso twist boosts seemed to be the norm of hero mechs but they didn't really suit the "Thor's Hammer", what we eventually thought of was to boost it's heat threshold and heat dissipation by 5-10% in addition to a paint job that represented what the mech was all about, thunder and lightning. A colour scheme of light and dark blues with a white base and a giant hammer striking down on the CT with thunder and lightning sparking all over the mech. Somewhere in all that was a suggestion to add ECM (I admit, I suggested it) but that's asking for too much.

And so continues her grand story, my ultimate dream for the "Thor's Hammer" is 6 Clan ERPPC's, a Clan XL Engine and Clan Double Heat Sinks.

If you guys like this idea thumb the post, hopefully somebody at PGI is reading.

Good day.

[Ragor]

Redshift2k5, on 28 November 2012 - 03:59 PM, said:

OP

PGI/IGP could even use this as a cheap but effective marketing trick by involving gaming magazines.
Win/Win for the community AND the marketing budget.

[KitK]

Oh, just for fun, my suggestion for a Stalker Hero mech.

Based on the 3F

Stalker is symetrical so pick a side, left or right.
Add endo steel
Remove all arm weapons and equipment from selected side
Replace torso large laser with medium laser
Add AC20 to arm
Add 2 tons of AC20 ammo to torso
Replace single heatsink in torso
Replace remaining large laser with ER large laser

-1 missile, -2 energy, +1 ballistic, giving it jump capacity might be cool

Its not OP becuase:
To get an AMS in this base, sacrifices will have to be made.
Arms don't have full range of motion.
It would be tough to carry more than 13 enhanced heatsinks without also downgrading the structure.

End result it's still 3/4 Stalker with a big gun

EDIT More Details: sample critical locations

RA: AC20
RT: 2 SHS, ML, SRM6, SRM ammo, 2 AC20 ammo, 4 Endo-Steel
CT: 2 SHS, Standard 255 engine
H: Endo-Steel
LT: SHS, ER Large Laser, SRM6, SRM6 ammo, 5 Endo-Steel, open critical
LA: SHS, LRM10, LRM ammo, 2 Medium Lasers, 4 Endo-Steel
RL: 2 SHS
LL: 2 SHS

(Total heatsinks = 20 (10 internal, 10 external)

Edited by KitK, 03 April 2013 - 07:34 AM.

[KitK]

It needs fluff to to catch Dev attention.

Solaris mech that got arm blown off and severly damaged torso during a devesating loss.
During repairs pilot decides he needs something with a little more "punch."
Result the Stalker 3F "Magnum"
Uses a Kali Yama Big Bore AC20, so owner paints "Big Bore .44" on the side of the arm pod. You can guess what opponents call it.

[KitK]

Well, with Heavy Metal released I still have time to lobby for Big Bore .44 (See posts above).

Yes, PGI I suggest an AC20 toting Stalker hero mech. A brief description is above. And remember, all my words already belong to you by the terms of use etc. So, I could never claim you stole my idea. Besides, I'm sure that in brainstorming sessions this has already been tossed around anyway. All of the Stalkers are so similar it's just the obious direction to move to get something different.

Oh, and here is a suggestion for the promo video too.


[Duncan Fisher]: Oh! And <hero name> goes out in 3^rd place. That last shot obliterated ‘ol Magnums’ <left or right> side. I judge it to be 10 to 14 months of repairs if that 3F can even be salvaged.

Fade to cut screen: 10 Months Later

Fade in and circle around mech while Duncan talks

[Duncan Fisher]: It’s SOLARIS TIME sports fans! And we have a special treat for you tonight in the assault competitions. It’s taken 11 months, all of last years winnings, and the best technicians House <sponsoring faction> could spare, but tonight <hero name> returns to the arena with ‘ol Magnum repaired, rearmed, repainted and renamed! The buzzer is about to sound, so keep your eyes on <hero name> and Big Bore .44.

Cut to usual collage of hero mech kill shots and sale points.

Edited by KitK, 03 April 2013 - 07:24 AM.