152 replies to this topic

[Homeless Bill]

Full disclosure: I ******* love Awesomes, and they're pretty much all I ever pilot. Not only do they look like a walking cardboard box with lasers, they can be epic killing machines when built properly. I have not piloted a Stalker or Atlas beyond trial builds, but I've seen both of them used well enough to know their capabilities.

Why don't I see anyone piloting Awesomes these days? The Stalker is a great platform, but I haven't met one that I couldn't obliterate once I was close. The Atlas is, indeed, a fantastic damage sponge, and it can put out some hurt. But I'd still rather have any of my Awesomes for the versatility they provide.

Why doesn't anyone else think the Awesome is awesome?

Edited by Homeless Bill, 29 December 2012 - 06:05 PM.

[Ptom]

Awesome Midsection too fat, attracts shiny bullets.

[GalaxyBluestar]

it's an energy plateform mostly or missles, and that leaves little choice for effective builds compared to other chassis. plus people don't like the large torso. it has handicaps and will always be the bridesmaid of MWO saddly.

[xxx WreckinBallRaj xxx]

It already had the problem of being an inferior Atlas unless you just really hated Ballistics. Now it's a full all around inferior Stalker, since that carries the same weapons, and more of them across the board. You're also don't put extra use into 1 arm and are less likely to lose them since the Stalker arms are really small. You then have more weight to spend on armor/weapons. Pretty much the only thing the Awesome can offer over the Stalker is a speed boost(which is neglectable unless you're slotting huge engines on a 9M) or the extra module slot.(which I doubt you care at all about)

Edited by Bluten, 29 December 2012 - 05:38 PM.

[MadPanda]

Homeless Bill, on 29 December 2012 - 05:28 PM, said:

The Stalker is a great platform, but I haven't met one that I couldn't obliterate once I was close. The Atlas is, indeed, a fantastic damage sponge, and it can put out some hurt. But I'd still rather have any of my Awesomes for the versatility they provide.

Why doesn't anyone else think the Awesome is awesome?

You don't seem to think so either. Pretty weak arguments for the Awesome in your comparisons. You can kill a stalker "once you get close"? Once you get close to a stalker, you will get smacked by 4x SRM6 in your big fat chest and die. Wasn't enough for a kill you say? Well he's packing 6x ML's too, 30 pinpoint damage to your "cant miss even if I tried" fat chest.
And you didn't even try to make an argument why pick Awesome over an Atlas, lol .

[verybad]

Sorry, but I'd rather brawl with an Atlas or a Stalker than an Awesome. It doesn't pack the pain those two do, but it packs enough, and it's a lot more maneuverable. I look at it as the biggest striker in the game rather than as a support mech like those other two are.

The Awesome has a better chance at surviving a one on one with a mroe maneuverable mech, while i think the Stalker is probably THE worst at brawling due to it's poor torso twist and stubbly arms.

The Atlases advantage is that it can carry ballistics and more armor, but it's not inherrently better.

You can't play an Awesome like you play a Stalker or Atlas, that's a problem for some people, but they need to adjust.

Edited by verybad, 29 December 2012 - 05:42 PM.

[Sears]

When the Stalker was about to drop with the Patch I was all ready to purchase it. But decided to XP up Awesomes. It was a bit of a slog, but taught me how useful the Awesomes arms are. That flat plate does a decent amount of protection to things coming your way. Like the Hunchback torso twisting is all you can do. Also once favoured with XL engines don't go near those with Awesomes.

If they extended the side torso hitbox to incorporate more of the centre torso it would improve it's survivability a bit.

Edited by Sears, 29 December 2012 - 05:50 PM.

[TruePoindexter]

The torso hit boxes are huge and easy to hit. The Head is also easy to hit given the opportunity. The weapon loadouts are ok but with the advent of the Stalker are inferior in almost every way. The only real perks are that it has proper arm swing and in the case of the 9M can achieve amazing speeds.

Really in the end the only Awesome worth looking at is the 9M due to the speed but this one variant can't save the chassis.

[bmulkshake]

I love my awesome. Right now I've got it outfitted with 3 ml, 2 6srms and 2 2srms. Packs quite a punch up close. gets lots of kills, do lots of damage each round if I'm on a decent team. If I'm on a bad team or the other team singles me out I'm dead pretty quickly but I think that can be said of any mech.

[Homeless Bill]

MadPanda, on 29 December 2012 - 05:37 PM, said:

You don't seem to think so either. Pretty weak arguments for the Awesome in your comparisons. You can kill a stalker "once you get close"? Once you get close to a stalker, you will get smacked by 4x SRM6 in your big fat chest and die. Wasn't enough for a kill you say? Well he's packing 6x ML's too, 30 pinpoint damage to your "cant miss even if I tried" fat chest.
And you didn't even try to make an argument why pick Awesome over an Atlas, lol .

I didn't try to argue one way or another since I wanted to see what people had to say first, but I'll go ahead an answer this. My philosophy towards playing the Awesome is this: I'm not playing the smallest assault 'mech; I'm playing the largest heavy.

Getting close is the biggest task of any Awesome. If you don't roll up somewhat unexpected, you will lose the direct fight with another assault 'mech. But after that, I'll take the Awesome over either of the others. You say a Stalker can shotgun me, but that's where additional speed and maneuverability come into play. If you're playing an Awesome with a small engine, you're doing it wrong, IMO.

The 8R can out shotgun any 'mech (or at least has a damn good chance to). 4x SRM6 + Artemis + 3ML + 60kph (before speed tweak) means I fear no Atlas (nothing like watching an Atlas start to back away as it realizes it's out-gunned), and no Stalker once it's no longer facing me (and I haven't seen many that manage to turn with me long enough for it to matter). The 9M is just that much better because with speed tweak, I'm going 84kph.

The other assaults only do more direct damage while they aren't overheated, which, especially in most Stalkers' cases, isn't long.

The Awesome's speed, maneuverability, and damage potential makes it by far the best heavy/medium hunter. There is nothing more satisfying than running faster than the poor, little Dragon trying to get away from you.

It also has the best potential as another assault's buddy. I often pick a Stalker friend, wait for it to engage, and then get on the other side of its target for maximum trolling.

I suppose you could make the argument that it's crappy in an assault 'mech's role, and I'd agree with you; however, I'd argue that it's perhaps the best at filling a heavy 'mech's role. It has a niche role as a striker / hunter, but when piloted properly, I feel as though it's at least as good as any other assault.

Edited by Homeless Bill, 29 December 2012 - 06:06 PM.

[Butane9000]

I really love the Awesome but I am a realist. It's simply a weaker platform. But that doesn't mean it's a weaker mech. With the advent of the Stalker and more mechs to come it will lead to more randomized matches and thus you will be more likely to see Awesomes in matches.

[Bishop Steiner]

In all fairness, the basic chassis and design is equal to the others. Or SHOULD be.

The issue is that between the imbecilic DHS issue, and PPCs being as reliable as Lindsay Lohan, the mech suffers for it.

Buff the PPC so they work right, along with DHS, and you will see a totally different mech on the Battlefield.

As it stands now, I find them to be my first target.

[Lefty Lucy]

Bishop Steiner, on 29 December 2012 - 06:17 PM, said:

In all fairness, the basic chassis and design is equal to the others. Or SHOULD be.

The issue is that between the imbecilic DHS issue, and PPCs being as reliable as Lindsay Lohan, the mech suffers for it.

Buff the PPC so they work right, along with DHS, and you will see a totally different mech on the Battlefield.

As it stands now, I find them to be my first target.

If you buffed PPCs, stalkers would still be a better PPC boat.

[Bishop Steiner]

Lefty Lucy, on 29 December 2012 - 06:44 PM, said:

If you buffed PPCs, stalkers would still be a better PPC boat.

At long range. Get close, and stalkers cant turn worth a damn. One of the few things PGI has thought out recently... all those weapons required slow rotation/turn rate to not make them the single baddest killer in the game.

Sucks to be in front of one when it has you dead to rights, but oh so darn easy to flank.

Stalkers, IMO, work best when used in mix energy/missile builds like they were designed. I fear 5 ALRM 15 or 5 ASRM 6 a heck of a lot more than 6 PPC stalkers. The 4 PPC ones are a little more worrisome, because they actually have something else in their bag of tricks.

[Sinjen Liao]

Awesome and their PPC's were one of my favorite mechs prior to playing MWO. After wasting millions of C-bills trying to fine tune them, I rage sold all of my awesomes and now have a stable of Atlas's that are far superior in every way, IMHO.

[Lefty Lucy]

Bishop Steiner, on 29 December 2012 - 06:48 PM, said:

At long range. Get close, and stalkers cant turn worth a damn. One of the few things PGI has thought out recently... all those weapons required slow rotation/turn rate to not make them the single baddest killer in the game.

Sucks to be in front of one when it has you dead to rights, but oh so darn easy to flank.

Stalkers, IMO, work best when used in mix energy/missile builds like they were designed. I fear 5 ALRM 15 or 5 ASRM 6 a heck of a lot more than 6 PPC stalkers. The 4 PPC ones are a little more worrisome, because they actually have something else in their bag of tricks.

It's not even about the number of max PPCs you can put on. I agree that 6 PPC builds are just downright silly. It's about the fact that for any given number of PPCs, the Stalker will be better than the Awesome.

[shintakie]

Bishop Steiner, on 29 December 2012 - 06:48 PM, said:

At long range. Get close, and stalkers cant turn worth a damn. One of the few things PGI has thought out recently... all those weapons required slow rotation/turn rate to not make them the single baddest killer in the game.

Sucks to be in front of one when it has you dead to rights, but oh so darn easy to flank.

Stalkers, IMO, work best when used in mix energy/missile builds like they were designed. I fear 5 ALRM 15 or 5 ASRM 6 a heck of a lot more than 6 PPC stalkers. The 4 PPC ones are a little more worrisome, because they actually have something else in their bag of tricks.

I've had quite a lot of fun pickin apart Stalkers because of that ridiculously terrible torso twist range and the lack of arms. You dont even need to move fast to do it. I watched a Awesome get into a Stalkers blindpost and blow it up despite the Stalker havin enough firepower to melt the Awesome into a pile of slag.

See, Stalkers are a good example of balance. They have a truck ton of weapon systems, but have the downside of needin correct positionin to use them. At close range they're basically fodder for anythin that can move even slightly faster than them.

[Homeless Bill]

PPC Boat - Stalker wins hands down. Again, the Awesome isn't much of an assault 'mech. It's just a really big heavy. Trying to out-shoop other assaults in an Awesome is an exercise in futility.

[Felicitatem Parco]

The Awesome has better torso twist than a Stalker, and has Arms that move left-and-right. That's it's "advantage" over the Stalker. Awesomes are also supposed to be cheaper to operate than Atlas Mechs with their smaller frame/less armor/smaller engine... but the removal of R&R kinda moots that one.

[Kaspirikay]

Its the large torso. Makes em too easy to kill.