The engine weight is a primary factor. Are the extra tons gained from the XL choice worth the loss of 'durability' for having two more locations on your mech where you can be engine cored. Reducing the weight of a gigantic engine by 50% and giving more speed and firepower as a result could be worth it, maybe, depending... Doing the same with a much smaller engine isn't as big of a deal.
This is something I put together for the board game back when I was playing it. The numbers may be different, but they seem to more or less match (in MWO, for example, the cockpit and engine weight seem to be added together with the engine instead of being counted separately):
https://docs.google....ZiUnhoQVE#gid=6
Explanation:
- The chart has a breakdown on each tab with standard engines and standard internal structure on the top, and Excel Engines and Endo Steel being used on the bottom.
- The tabs are based on the board game speeds. It doesn't match up perfectly, but if you were to multiply the max speed of a tab by 10 and add the words "or more" you get a rough approximation of the MWO speeds. For example, the standard Atlas speed is 3/5, the standard default speed for most heavies and most of the current selection of slower mediums is 4/6, and the default speed for a Jenner is 7/11 (11 x 10 ---> 110 kmph "or more").
The Point:
- Although there is much more to a 'good mech' than just the amount of tons to work with for armor and weapons, the chart focuses on these sorts of 'bang-for-your-buck' returns.
- In Battletech, and it seems Mechwarrior Online, there seems to be a 'bell curve' of optimum tonnage for choosing to move at 'this speed' or 'that speed' directly connected to engine size and what you have left over as a result to work with.
So, for example, if you wanted to play a Dragon * and * you wanted it to move fast (perhaps at that mechs' maximum MWO speed of 90-97 kmph before speed tweak), have an Excel engine and Endo Steel, then I would recommend a 360 XL engine for that mech. It will have more tons for armor, weapons and other equipment for a mech meeting all those criteria (moving at that speed with an Excel and Endo Steel) than almost anything else out there attempting to have the same thing. Not a staggering amount of firepower, to be sure, but one of the best for moving at that speed with that tech.
If you wanted a Dragon to be more of a head-on hold-the-line brawler and were OK with a top base speed of 80-something, then I would recommend a 300 standard engine for the same mech.
Yeah, so my choice of engine would depend entirely on various factors:
1. The tonnage of the mech
2. The range of speeds I want it to move at
3. What role I want the mech to focus on
4. Whether or not that engine is actually allowed by MWO for that mech (the board game was a bit more generous in what it would allow)
Usually, my engine choice options will present themselves as a result of asking myself these questions. When I try to figure out what I want the mech to do, there are usually a only a few viable options left as a result.
Edited by Mel Mad Dog Winters, 19 January 2013 - 07:11 AM.