What mechs next?

Hello everybody,

I started MWO in december. This forum seems to be more for pros hopefully I am not wrong here.

After a hard start I found the raven 3 which worked fine for me. Do you have any suggestions for the next mech for me? More firepower but not so bulky. I like the speed of the raven.

Thanks
Steelbuddy

 

Wolverines maybe? Depends on how many c-bills you have.

Hunchbacks have good firepower, but you will be slow with the stock engine.

 

If you enjoyed lights then I'd try the Firestarters as they're fast, great hitboxes, jump jets and nice quirks. Their brawling nature would complement the longer ranged Raven's.

 

Hello Steelbuddy.
Don't worry this site is not for pros only, everybody's welcome.

You might want to tell us more about what you enjoy in the game and what do you want. For example, is there one of the trial mech you enjoy more than the others?
Also, how do you play with your Raven-3L?

Anyway, you seem to like light mechs, and I think the Firestarter is a very strong choice. They're a bit taller than the Raven but have a better hitbox, so they are less vulnerable in the end. And they pack a huge firepower for their tonnage. On the other hand, they're much more oriented toward close range combat, so it's sometimes not easy.
I suggest the FS9-S first, with 5 or 6 medium pulses. Or the FS9-A with 8 small pulses, but beware it's very close range.
few days ago I made a video showing builds on the different Firestarter chassis, click here and see if it's something you'd like.
(yeah, I know, that's some shameless self-promotion )

Of course, you can continue with the Ravens, especially if you want to unlock the Elite perks (you need 3 variants). The second best Raven is probably the -2X (3 LLas and XL255)(or XL245).

But are you sure you don't want to try another weight class? One of the good thing about this game is the variety of gameplay is allows, depending on the mech and how you build it.
There are some fine medium mech out there, with great mobility and firepower.

 

Not a pro, and really mostly just a lurker here...

What do you mostly play: solo, group, CW? Are you looking for a min/max type of mech or just something that's fun? How good are you at positioning and aiming?

I ask because some mechs can do a lot of damage, get kills, and be a lot of fun IF you know what youre doing.

I take it from what you've said you want something like the Raven 3L but with more firepower and armor. That probably means a fast medium, but sadly you won't find that because no fast medium has ECM, except the Cicada 3M and that's not really a better mech.

Honestly, if you want something like the 3L I'd give the Trebuchet 5J a try. You can put three large lasers in it and have enough room for a max engine, jump jets, and a few extra heat sinks. It runs cool and feels fast, even with a non-max engine. Just be aware, correct me if I'm wrong, that the energy quirks on the 5J only apply to small lasers, medium lasers, and large lasers. They are good quirks though (+20% range, -20% duration, -20% heat). So you can do full damage out to 540 meters, your large lasers fire in .8 seconds rather than 1, and generate 5.6 heat.

If you do buy this I'd put in an xl295, if you have one in your 3L, and two large lasers in each arm. Have two firing groups, one for each arm, and if you want a third firing group that only fires three of the large lasers to avoid ghost heat. Keep your distance and peck away. Just remember you don't have ECM so stay close to cover.

Dang, I might have to rebuy the 5J and give this a try now...

 

Yup, quirks only affect standard lasers on this mech. "Standard" as in "not pulses, not ER".

 

Realistically though it's hard to give advice to people because of different skill levels and play styles. I can tell you what works well for me and what worked well in the past, but you might find them boring and ineffective.

Still... I bought Shadowhawks after I had been playing for a few months and really found my stride in them. They might not be quirked to heaven, but they're still really good mechs.

 

Thanks for your answer.

The Wolferine looks great, what version is good?

 

All of them.

I personally favor the -6K, because the wub is life.

(in video)

But the -6R makes a fine AC/5 boat:


And the -7K is a nice brawler, with jump jets and SRMs:

(in video, with a slightly different build)

 

Just beware with the Wolvies, the right arm carries a lot of weapons and tends to get focus fired upon a lot of the time. Quirks helped the chassis a lot, but it still has some major weaknesses.

I'll echo that, depending on how you played your Raven, if you liked the speed the Firestarters should be good. They move at the same top speed with a max engine, and are easily the most dangerous light mechs in the game right now, but only at close range. I'll also mention that the Firestarter S is more forgiving about range since it uses medium pulse lasers in the "meta" build, but the A can generally put out better DPS since it generates less heat per alpha.

The Jenner is another decent choice for a fast light, but the addition of quirks last year kinda made them "ho hum" in comparison to Firestarters. They are slightly faster, but have HORRIBLE hitboxes. Capable mechs, but difficult to use.

Spiders tend to be the third choice for light mechs; less firepower, but they are fast. The Spider 5D carries ECM, which is always a nice thing for your team to have.

As far as other lights, you have the Locusts (only recommended for experienced light pilots, high degree of difficulty to pilot these well), and Commandos, which are outclassed by Firestarters. On the Clan side, Mist Lynx is awful, and a troll mech at best. Adder is sub-par, but Kit Fox can be a decent sniper with ECM. Doesn't scrap well vs. Inner Sphere lights though.

 

Not sure if you are in the market for Hero mech$, but the Huginn might fit the bill for fast and more fire power. With the added bonus of being a raven to help you will unlocking skills.

Otherwise the Firestarters are probably your best bet. I am probably going to burn the MC I have been saving and get the Firestarter bundle.

 

stormcrows!
I would say GRF or SHD. Both have decent mobility, lots of variated builds, and firepower.

 

Thanks the Trebuchet 5J was on SALE I got it.

 

I generally agree with this, but than I have no money...

Since you have the 5J Steelbuddy, mess around with builds on it. It's really quirked for large lasers and medium lasers, but you can certainly throw on a 10-20 LRM or an SRM4/6. Also, you should look at the other Trebuchet variants. You get the most out of a mech after you elite it.

The 7K is generally disliked, but it's actually one of my favorite mechs. I put a UAC5, an AC2, and 2 medium lasers on mine and snipe with it. It runs cool and moves quickly with an XL300. Plus it has more torso armor due to quirks. The arms shield the torso pretty well and I have nothing in them so an arm lost is not a loss of weapons. Finally, the torso movement is really good so it's not really hurt a lot by having all torso weapons.

As for the other trebuchets, I haven't used them a lot...

 

I kind of skimmed responses, but I'd vote SCR as well. 106~ kph means you're rarely picking a grave plot when you set a course, and it has tons of options. SSRM, SLas+SRM, Laser arrays, Laser+Gauss, even some LB20X builds hold merit. I wouldn't recommend LRMing with it, is the one thing.

 

Except in the event of JR7-D(S).

I would do it anytime it is available. And I suggest everyone to do that also.

Also, if you are into cool looking things and premium time, packages have nice camo, unlocked colors, bunch of other stuff like cockpit items and a few months of premium, but only if you get it really early. The deal kind of weakens if you do not have those few extra months of premium and what not.

 

Worth mentioning twice. The only mechs you should buy for MC are the hero mechs, it's not worth spending real cash on a cbill variant of a mech that you can get for free. Even most of the Champion mechs aren't worth it, since they're basically the same as the cbill variant with an XP bonus.

 

Welcome, Steel. As has been said, this is a community for everyone - not just the pros. This is also a calm, friendly environment with much better organization and moderating that some other MWO options.

A lot of good advice has already been given here, but, since you've chosen the Trebuchet, I'll give my 2¢.

The "Trench Bucket" was one of the first chassis I mastered. (Back before we had all the glorious medium options we have now) I prefer the 5J and 7M for their Jump Jet capability. These can make some great builds. I assume you will want 3 variants of the chassis to unlock the Elite Skills, get your 2x modifier for the Basic skills and get your luscious speed tweak!

The TBT-5J gets good energy quirks - Std. Laser Duration-20%, Std. Laser Heat Generation-20%, Std. Laser Range 20%. Assuming you'll use the XL295 from the Ravens;

Use your 3x LLas for your main damage and you can spam them all day from range - use the MLas sparingly once you're in close and you'll still have decent heat efficiency, good speed and agility, and those beautiful jump jets!

For the TBT-7M, the quirks focus you towards LRMs - LRM/15 Cooldown40%, Missile Weapon Cooldown20%, LRM/15 Heat Generation-20%, Missile Weapon Heat Generation-10%. However, I still prefer to use this as an SRM brawler or laser boat. The SRMs still get 20% faster reload and 10% reduction to heat...

GREAT alpha power, good speed, good maneuverability, sufficient ammo for most casual players, and the cooling efficiency is actually a little over 40% before basic skills.

You can, of course, go for an LRM build on the 7M, however, I just don't personally enjoy playing LURM boats.

For your third variant, I would suggest the 5N as a solid LPL boat. Quirks give you Energy Weapon Cooldown12.5%, Energy Weapon Heat Generation-12.5%, Energy Weapon Range12.5%, Laser Duration-12.5%.

Let me preface this - I am an LPL WHOOOORE! I love this weapon and will use it every chance I get. The power, duration, and intimidation factor make this a monster. NOW! To the build. 3x LPL (no ghost heat) gives you a 33-point damage alpha that is fairly pinpoint with the short Pulse duration. With the XL295 and three DHS, you'll have about 45% heat efficiency firing these, meaning, you can fire them quite often and put heavy damage out to about 400m. This can be a BRUALLY effective support and skirmish mech.

Good luck, and, happy hunting!

Chatt.