7 replies to this topic

[Emery]

Hey all,

I am looking to add an Assault mech chassis (3+ variants, so I can master it out) to my garage, and am looking for suggestions. Generally speaking, I drive light mechs. Jenners, Commandos and Ravens, primarily. That said, I also own Griffins and Catapults, which are both mastered out, and aremy go to mechs for missile boats.

My preference in mechs is reasonably mobile, and I have a complete love affair with missiles. Streaks and LRM's are my mainstay in most fights. As an Australian player with generally high ping, having weapons that lock on for me and don't miss due to lag is a plus. With that in mind... I sort of would like the following, in an Assault chassis.

1. Missile boating capability (not necessarily all missiles, but enough to utilise them)
2. Doesnt' feel like you're driving a cargo carrier.
3. Has at least 3 variants that are viable in current meta.

I have considered the Atlas and Stalker, but as a player who has never really touched on Assault, or even very many Heavy, mechs... I feel I'm better off asking you guys what I should go for, than just blow 30mil+ cbills on something I may not enjoy piloting.

Regards,
Eadon

[rangergord]

I'm not sure there is anything anything that is going to completely satisfy you. The closest you're going to come to #3 is the stalker or king crab, and they are slow. Battlemasters can go faster and the 1S makes a good missile boat, but most of them are tier 3.

[Emery]

So, i've gone with the stalker and dropped some MC on the stalker bunlde. Now the proud new owner of a Misery, Stalker-5M and Stalker-3F(C). Next question is the obvious 'now what'. My unit leader had some good suggestions for the misery, and I was thinking to do a 5 ML and 5 SRM 6+arti build for the 5M, but no clue for the 3F.

[PocketAces]

You could go LRM boat for the 3F, it is a popular build.

[Tiamat of the Sea]

I'd actually recommend Awesomes.

If you're planning on running LRMs, there are at least three Awesomes that do well with them (one quirked specifically for LRM-15s), the barnface doesn't matter as much when you're operating as fire support, and the massive structure boosts make the barnface problem much less severe anyways. There's the added advantage of Awesomes being an 80-tonner for favorable engine investment even compared to the Stalker, much higher mobility than the Stalker, and having way better torso twist to boot.

Plus, the variants aren't as sameface as the Stalkers- there's very little difference between Stalkers in terms of hard points, it all winds up down to weapons quirks (which themselves aren't all that varied in Stalkers either).

That said, Stalkers do have favorably high energy hardpoints while the Awesome has low-slung arms.....

So I would say consider Stalkers and Awesomes. You'd be deciding between the hardpoint locations, consistency, and mild durability edge of the Stalker and the interesting quirks, variability, and mobility edge of the Awesome.

[Voivode]

First, regardless of chassis an assault is not going to have the same ability as a light to get in and out of combat. Generally in an assault once you move in to engage, you are in it until that fight is done. There are a few fast assaults that can engage/disengage but those are anomalous variants, not the rule.

As a player who also appreciates a high level of mobility in my mechs, I would second the Awesome as a great choice. The hitboxes aren't particularly great but the quirks are strong and it is the most nimble of the assaults. If you prefer mobility, be sure to get the 9M, it can equip engines that take it up into the 80s as far as speed. The Awesome is somewhat XL friendly (not as XL friendly as mechs like the Dragon or Catapult, but more XL friendly than the rest of the assaults).

I purchased the hero variant, Pretty Baby, and haven't regretted that. The hardpoints on PB are very limited but the quirks for LL are stupid good. Twin LLs that literally fire faster than small lasers. Couple that with a max engine size of 400 (89.1 KPH top speed) and you get an assault that moves like a medium.

[oldradagast]

Stalker are better for tanking and high-mounted weapon points, while Awesomes have better mobility.

Personally, I prefer the Awesomes (just as I prefer Banshees with 325 rating engines vs. Atlases with 300 rating engines.) I can accept dying now and then because I'm not super tough, but dying because I can't twist fast or far enough to get weapons on target... ugh, no. Stalkers are great, but that is their one weakness - don't let things get too close to you.

That being said, from a purely competitive viewpoint, the Stalkers are better.

I'm not sure about Battlemasters - they seem good, somewhere in between Stalkers and Awesomes, and they do have high-mounted energy hardpoints. The Zeus (not yet available for c-bills) looks nice as well, though it has few high-mounted weapon points, but it is rather small and tough for its tonnage.

Edited by oldradagast, 16 April 2015 - 03:26 AM.

[Rollup]

Try the 3H. It has in my opinion the best quirks and is very flexible.

LRM40

Quad LPL

Glass Cannon

Edited by Rollup, 16 April 2015 - 06:51 PM.