44 replies to this topic

[WolvesX]

Wales Grey did a very good job there, explaining the weakness the YEN-LO-WANG might have:

Wales Grey, on 30 January 2013 - 05:16 PM, said:

Appologies for a late reply, but my reasons are pretty straightforward:

• The AC/20's space requirements result in no lower arm actuator. This means that you have zero lateral traverse, and being able to aim up and down further than a torso can is of dubious utility, particularly on a mech without jump jets. This is a poor trade-off because:
  
• The gun-arm is tragically easy to shoot off. When I encounter a YLW, my first reaction is to saw off its right arm, denying most of its firepower because:
  
• The YLW has only four hardpoints. Two of which are ballistic points in the same location, the other two are energy hardpoints in its center torso. This means that the YLW can carry, at most, a pair of medium lasers (pulse or otherwise) in addition to its cannon.I know some people are advocates of dual AC/5 or dual UAC/5 loadouts, but the YLW isn't really suited for either.
  
  • The Centurion just doesn't have the armor to run a DPS ballistic build, which is why you frequently see Cent-A's with a pair of mediums and a triple rack of SRM-6 launchers, while ignoring ballistics entirely.
    
  • Dual UAC/5 is inferior to triple UAC/5, for a reason that isn't immediately obvious: triple UAC/5 on chainfire takes juuuust long enough to not trip the double-tap while still using the UAC's higher rate of fire. I run triple UAC/5s on my Illia Muromets, and I don't have them jam, ever, because of this quirk of fate. Unless you're using some kind of hotkey script, dual UAC/5 will eventually jam if you hold down the button on chainfire.

That said, the YLW does have some advantages over the regular Centurion, in the form of its superior torso twist and larger maximum engine, but those advantages have always felt rather marginal to me. This is because those two factors, under optimal circumstances, mitigate some of the irritations of not having lower arm actuators.




Oh yeah, there's also the 30% C-Bill boost, but the Muromets is just so much better for your money. Looking at the cost of a single purchase of MC, the YLW is in the same "purchasing bracket" as the Muromets. Even doing two purchases to get a lesser amount of MC saves you about nine or ten dollars tops. If you're going to shell out for a hero mech, bite the bullet and get the Muromets instead. Heck, I'd even recommend the Fang over this, and I think the Fang is a pretty poor idea for a hero mech. (Flame can be pretty okay, I guess. Muromets is still better.)

Oh yeah, the pilot is also a poorly-written Mary Sue who does nothing of interest for several books, and utterly fails to provide a story that is engaging in any meaningful fashion. I will, however, say that the Warrior Trilogy isn't bad by Battletech fiction standards. This doesn't really mean much, but should tell you how low that particular bar is set.

TL;DR:

YLW doesn't do anything better than any other mech, and is a pretty sub-par design, if I do say so myself. If you're hell-bent on driving one of these Solaris deathtraps, use one of these loadouts, I guess.

Edit: Oh yeah, no TSM or Hatchet. The hatchet is half the charm of the original, and the TSM provides... something... to the updated one driven by HANSE DAVION. (A much better character than Kai-Allard-Liao)

Of couse, its the only CENT that can mount a AC20, some do extemely well on it.

But, is that mech good enough of a hearo mech?

Does it need a buff?

Edited by WolvesX, 31 January 2013 - 12:06 PM.

[Wizard Steve]

I thought he did a very good job of explaining what little he knows about the glorious Wang.

[Havyek]

According to my ex-GF my Wang is extremely underpowered and lacks the punch she was looking for.

She upgraded to an Atlas and hasn't looked back

Edited by BDU Havoc, 31 January 2013 - 12:18 PM.

[Nathan Foxbane]

I does not need to be an exceptional 'Mech. It is there to provide an earnings boost not to be the master of the battlefield.

[Solomon Ward]

WolvesX, on 31 January 2013 - 12:05 PM, said:

But, is that mech good enough of a hearo mech?

Does it need a buff?

Are you assuming Hero mechs should be better because they cost money?

[Bishop Steiner]

YLW is probably still my favorite mech (though Flame is vying for that love from daddy).

And I say NAY. YLW has some limitations, but it is also the only mech currently that can use the arm to depress and elevate that AC/20 so you can shoot down the caldera face and actually hit.

The CT lasers mean you pretty always have something until you get cored and killed. The armor is adequate when in skilled hands since a good YLW will be running a maxed out XL engine, and with Speed Tweak be just a smidge under 100 kph.

Used properly, YLW is a flanker, and the "role" is not to toe to toe slug, but to use terrain and such to come at them from the side and behind, nail them with an alpha, and fade away to do it again from a different angle (or to walk up and plug their cockpit if they overheated trying to hit you the last couple of passes).

You always keep you're left flank to the enemy, as the sole role of the left arm is to be your shield.

People have tried to knock YLW since the day it was added, but I gotta say, either they never tried Him, or they just don't know how to properly use a Medium Mech.

**Edited for **** retentive lawyers and accountants.

Edited by Bishop Steiner, 18 February 2013 - 06:39 PM.

[TheForce]

HELL YES! I don't own one, but I would NEVER buy one because I can group 3 SRM6+Artemis together and do way more damage than an AC20. This makes buying a wang in its current state a waste of MC.

[Dr Killinger]

The way I see it, it fills a niche. If you want a Centurion with an AC/20, this is your mech. It's not an overwhelmingly huge advantage, and this fact alone is what makes it perfect for the hero mech: it's as far from P2W as possible. Yes, some people do incredible things in them, but it takes a special warrior.

When comparing it to Ilya, I'd say that the Ilya is similar, in that it fills the niche of having 3 ballistic slots. I think it's niche is wider, but is still something most people don't want. If you want it, you go here, but it's not standing head and shoulders above any other Cataphracts- it's a marginal advantage at best.

[Tice Daurus]

Wizard Steve, on 31 January 2013 - 12:09 PM, said:

I thought he did a very good job of explaining what little he knows about the glorious Wang.

BDU Havoc, on 31 January 2013 - 12:11 PM, said:

According to my ex-GF my Wang is extremely underpowered and lacks the punch she was looking for. She upgraded to an Atlas and hasn't looked back

I am waiting for more Wang jokes to be posted in here about how they would like their Wang buffed.

LOL!

But seriously, I do agree that YLW does lack power. It also completely ignores the fact that YLW also had two rear mounted lasers. Since they could not be used because the DEV's do not want rearward weapons, they have to be moved elsewhere on the mech. I would prefer adding two more energy slots, say one energy slot on each right and left torso and just move them to the front if possible. Does this violate canon books? A bit, but one could just say that Kai-Allard Liao just moved them to the front for battle against the Clans. Easy peasy.

[Cerlin]

It needs its melee weapon, the end.

[Solis Obscuri]

Wang can suck it. I want my CN9-AH back!!!

[Nonoka]

I find your lack of Wang...disturbing....

But seriously. Have to be really careful not to cross that P2W line.

[Voridan Atreides]

ehhh I could care less. I just love how easy it is to kill them.

[Khobai]

YLW needs a third energy hardpoint IMO

[Kin3ticX]

I do drive a Hunchback 4g and a Y-L-W which I consider direct competitors

YLW pro's:

Can Take a XL engine and a AC20
The "only" 2 Energy are Center Torso
Faster
No arm actuator but there's extra torso twist over the Hunchy
Better aiming up and down.
4 module slots

Cons:
Easier to disarm the main weapon
has less hardpoints



4G pro's:
AC20 slightly harder to crack but only slightly
1 Extra Med Laser

Cons:
Slower
Cant take XL with AC20
When you lose the AC20 soon goes another Med Laser
Can be turned into a 1 laser candlestick with both side torso's gone
Cannot hit low targets with head or torso hardpoints

my ylw
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...4e93c5af50b6383

my 4g
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...5895afd499aafb8

I think it really evens out over the long run average but for sure you do get the C-bill bonus on top of everything here.

My only buyers remorse with the YLW is that there isnt much else you can do with it.

If the developers took out 1 hardpoint from ct and put in on the shield arm you could get more creative with it...but....maybe it would be op?

Edited by Kin3ticX, 18 February 2013 - 05:19 PM.

[Soulscour]

needs jump jets

[Tarman]

Only hookers want a Pay To Wang. It's fine as it is.

[DocBach]

By canon, Yen Lo Wang should have energy hard points in the left arm, too. That'd make it a bit more useful for something you have to pay close to $20 for.

[Captain Midnight]

I tend to get between 400-600 damage in my Wang and that's in line with other centurions. I'd rather they buff stuff that is WAY underpowered, not "well it might be underpowered hmmm". They need to hammer down the outliers that are overperforming, and boost the outliers who are underperforming before we can balance the ones in the middle.

The mechs that really need buffs are the ones that we can unanamously agree on, like the spiders, the non 2D commandos, the cicada with 5 lasers instead of 6 for no reason whatsoever, THOSE mechs and the others like them are the ones that need help.

Edited by Captain Midnight, 18 February 2013 - 05:17 PM.

[Nutlink]

Absolutely. I love using it, but it just feels so weak compared to other Cents. Without the ability to use melee, it'd be nice to have a missle slot or two (Danai's variant has these a century later or so) or at least one more energy slot, preferably 2 (the eventual upgrade that Kai Allard Liao receives). Or put in some sort of melee.