Yup, I'm asking this question for the new bros. A friend of mine is probably going to join MWO soon, so I was brain storming on what mechs he should buy after earning the last cadet bonus... If I remember correctly, there are a total of 5 free mech bays, so in order I would recommend him to buy... Hellbringer Prime: most versatile and easy to use heavy I can think of. It can swap omni-pods to test new builds and generally have fun (could be swapped with an Ebon Jaguar) Warhammer 6R: simply the best bang for the buck IS side. Can fit almost any meta or non-meta ballistic + energy build available to IS, both brawl and ranged Marauder 3R (2xLBX10, 4xML, STD300): IMHO the best mech to learn torso twist, "minimal" C-Bills investment for this brawl build. Can also be converted to AC5 / RAC2 build. Osiris 4D (6xERML, 1xJJ): very good skirmisher. Very fast, JJ capable, can boat DHS. Can be refitted to a MPL+ERSL boat. Could be swapped with a Piranha, Vulcan or Assassin or anything that is fast and can hit quite hard. Maybe even a mid-range skirmisher like a Shadow Cat Blood Asp B: ECM-ed clan assault with omni-pods. Quite fast, very high ballistic hardpoints, overall fun to use even with brawl builds. Could be replace with any other "versatile" assault or badass assault, like Mad Cat, Annihilator or Dire Wolf Honorable mentions: Ebon jaguar: very similar to hellbringer, but can fit more stuff. Has no ECM protection and wide hardpoints, but can fit multiple builds as well. Piranha: extremely powerful close range light, but I don't want him to join the dark side of broken mechs right at the get go, because once you play piranha, anything else doesn't have enough DPS. Also, it's a bad teacher because it's the only mech capable of winning a staring contest against heavies and assaults. Annihilator (1X or 2A): it's fun to dakka with it, despite being slow AF, plus I guess in lower tiers it doesn't really matter how slow you are. Can fit multiple meta or meta-ish builds. Vulcan 5T (5xMPL): best MPL boat. Good hit boxes, good tank, good speed optimal mobility with one or more JJs Bushwacker X1: dual UAC10, 3xRAC2, 2xRAC5, 2xAC10+1xLPPC... Simply a very good medium mech, but because it is best used with an XL engine, it could be a bit of a gamble to recommend it to him. Vapor Eagle: easily one of the easiest and best medium mechs to play, because it's basically a slim heavy. So what do you think? Any other honorable mention, fun or "versatile" mech that could fit multiple builds?
The Asp is nice, but that carries a pretty hefty price tag even with the 25 bonus matches to start, and both assaults and lights always felt like new player traps at first, until they adjusted to the way the game plays The Bushwacker is definitely a strong choice with its hitboxes and hardpoints, mine always felt quite a bit sturdier than they should. HBR and EBJ are both strong mechs in my garage, but so often when I've told people about starting out in the game, they've never felt like the best to recommend because of their vulnerability. They can run great builds, but if they aren't quick about learning to defend their primary STs, those chassis get peeled apart fast by anyone who knows where to shoot them. Generally speaking, I would say pointing them at a stronger medium or heavy is a good choice, but only after they really try out each trial mech and see where their skills lie. Who knows, they may hop into the trial Lights and absolutely tear up the game, and some of the quicker chassis might be better to recommend. Personally, I would say to push the Warhammer or Marauder if he likes heavies, or the Bushwacker for mediums...maybe the Hunchback 4P, which has always been a pretty simplistic newbie mech to farm up cbills in. Start simple, build up from there.
I play mainly assaults and can recommend MAD-IIC (9 energy hardpoints) as a good starter laser mech. Don't forget MCII-B - this is the ultimate newbie friendly mech. Make sure he learns how to toggle arm lock.
I own it and I don't use it anymore because it has bad mobility... IMHO you can achieve the same result with an Ebon Jaguar (2xLPL + 6xERML), that's why I didn't include it I thought about that Mad Cat, but you can achieve a very similar result with a Blood Asp... Mad Cat it's definitely better, so I think I should ask him first if he prefers flexibility (playing in the mech lab and try builds) over performance. I've noted it anyway
With the new patch you can run MAD-IIC with 4LPL and 5MPL. The damage boost is significant, which is why I suggested it. It can one-two shot many mechs. The arm aimed uacs are pretty unique on MCII-B. BAS has similiar with high torso mounts which has it's own advantages as well.
I would consider Sun Spider over Hellbringer or Ebon Jag. It allows the use of ECM and let's new pilots try out lots of different weapons (if they buy a few omnipods). You can do dakka, lasers (a bit short on hardpoints), ppcs, dual gauss, missiles.
IMHO, good starter mechs would have: 1. Versatile hardpoints: to have as many possibilities trying out for favourite weapon types 2. Easy to play: 2 weapon groups max 3. Forgiving: mobile, preferably armor quirks. Clan mechs have a pretty high upfront cost that can be prohibitive, but on the other hand maybe if you get one first, you other mechs seem less expensive in comparison? I'd definitely recommend to include the Bushwacker X1 over the Marauder. The Marauder is a really strong and chonky mech, but kinda slow, and the Warhammer can also do 2LBX10 4ML. The bushy has a similar profile to the MAD for torso twisting, plenty of strong builds, including some missile hardpoints to try MRM/SRM, and it fills the gap of no medium mech in your current lineup. It comes with an XL yes, but imho that's a very good incentive to help with the concept of engine swapping, which saves a lot of grinding when you start out and the cadet bonus runs out. The XL275 it comes with is perfectly capable in a 30-40 tonner, which saves a buck once he gets interested in those. Once he gets good, he can use it for dual UAC10 or RAC5 or something like that. Choice of BAS vs MCII is mostly down to 'do you want to buy omnipods or nah' in my opinion, though the MCII definitely feels easier to play in my experience, due tot he size of the BAS side torsos (much bigger than the optional missile pod on the mad cat ii). MCII-B is obviously very strong, though the MCII-2 may be a good option as well for the 2LBX20 4SRM6 kind of shenanigans. Blood Asp does that with 3SRM6 and it doesn't feel quite as nice. And, if all else fails you can enable the lock-on weapon crutch.
BSW-X1 and MAD-3R are in different mech classes (medium vs heavy). I started with a DWF-UV from a recommendation from competitive players, which a lot of players would not have recommended, and that taught me about mouse sensitivity, map and engagement positioning, and target lead times for autocannons. Ballistics is probably my least favorite style of play now that i have more experience, so that is a point for consideration as well. MAD-3R 3rac2/ermls is a pretty strong in any team fight. It is fast enough to position itself for multiple firefights and can add a lot of fire support. It does require face time so for that reason i put it as a newbie friendly ballistics mech. It will teach tactical repositioning for sure. Not many mechs short of assaults can support the rac2 and other heavy ballistics that MAD-3R does well. The tight convergence of the rac2s on the MAD-3R is also a plus. It basically comes down to does your friend like accuracy (lasers/gauss), inaccurate but heavy damage (ac/x), or missile barrages. I find that over time I've come to prefer lasers/gauss but everyone has their combat style preferences.
That's exactly why I recommend it over the marauder, currently the pool is 1 Assault, 1 Light, 3 Heavy. Whatever the marauder teaches in positioning, the other heavies can teach that as well. Instead I'd suggest to have a good mech in every weight class. The bushwacker's profile and armor quirks make it similar to the MAD in brawling situations. Good that it worked for you! I definitely wouldn't recommend the UV for starters, considering the hefty MC price (~$50 converted). I started with a HBK-4G and I liked the AC20 a lot, the recent patch change definitely rekindled that The 3RAC2 build is very strong and newbie friendly indeed. You just hold down the button and things die. But, it's also very specialized, with little room for changes. The bushwhacker can do 3rac2 and 2rac5 as well, and the warhammer can do 2RAC5 but both can do a lot of other builds too, while the marauder has all ballistics confined to one side torso and thus gets slot-constrained. Therefore, I think it's not as versatile. Versatility in hardpoints is number 1 on my list of requirements for a good new player mech. Due to the limited amount of mech bays, you want to be able to play your mechs in a variety of styles until you find one that sticks. Then you can start getting more optimized mechs for that style, like a MRM quickdraw, or 3rac2 marauder. I also think the high facetime (what makes it so newbie friendly) actively works against learning to torso twist (though I admit most players take a long while to practice that anyway). In the end, you're correct that it really depends on the player and his playstyle/skill level. If you like ballistic boating, the UV and MAD-3R are amazing mechs to play. But for a general list of suggestions where 'the player' is the largest variable, my suggestion definitely gravitates towards the more flexible bushwacker than going all in on ballistics from the get-go. That would help to discover laser+gauss or splat builds earlier.
This is an important factor I considered while writing down that list. In fact, Marauder 3R made it on my list ONLY because the 2xLBX10 + 4xML STD engine build is cheap (no LE or XL engine) and is great to learn torso twist, with the added bonus of being possible to refit to something else... But now that I got recommended the Bushwacker, I'm actually reconsidering it for the bushy: bushwacker is actually better as a RAC platform, if not one of the best RAC platforms, while also being great as a medium range dakka machine with AC10/UAC10/LPPC... But an XL engine is very unforgiving and unfun the first time you drop with it: I really had to learn to appreciate XL engines, in fact when LE have been release, I've tried them and then switched back to XL engine on most non-bralers mediums and heavies. In fact, I think there are very few bushwacker LE builds worth considering, one of them is the 2xLBX10 Now that I'm looking back at what I recommended, I've noticed now that is missing a mech capable of missile boating... I was thinking some fast like an assassin or arctic wolf. On a side note, my very first mech was a Timberwolf because I loved it since MW2 and it had omnipods, so I tried out different builds, including a wacky 4xSRM6+A + 6xSPL build... My next mechs were Raven 3L, Artict Cheetah, Huginn (bought with earned MCs), Thunderbolt and shadow cat... But to be fair I had a lot of bad choices and I would have changed them.
Assassin requires speed/XL to be effective: you could use the bushwacker's XL there. But that would also mean getting rid of another mech and not sure which one that would be. Same issue as the marauder in that it's a very specialized build to backstab with srms. I'd consider getting a javelin or assassin instead of the osiris maybe if you want that speedy srm action?
Updated list: Warhammer 6R: can pontentially fit any strong energy+ballistic meta I can think of coupled with excellent hardpoints. Bushwacker 1X: stock build has an XL275! Can fit most dakka meta builds, including RAC2/5 and UAC10/LBX10. Can be swapped with a Marauder 3R for the purpose of a more forgiving way to learn torso twist / shield. Osiris 4D: fast ML boat with JJs. Could be replaced with a Flea 20 (5xML, MASC, ECM) or Wolfhound (can fit almost any ML / ERML / MPL + ERSL), depending if he prefers speed, ECM or tankiness. Fafnir 5B: can fit 2xHGR + 5xERML or my favourite 2xGR + 3xERLL coupled with ECM. Could be swapped with Fafnir 5 (quirked 2xHGR or 4xLBX10 coupled with ECM), Annihilator 2A if he doesn't like gausses (UAC10 + AC5 or quad LBX10) or Mad Cat MkII B if he doesn't like the idea of moving at ~48 or 54 km/h. Either a vomit laser (Hellbringer, Ebon Jaguar, Warhammer 6D), a sniper poptart (Grasshopper 5H or 5P, any clan JJ boat) or a fast SRM boat (Assassin, Artic Wolf) or any of the previously discarded alternatives. I'll leave the choice to him because he probably now has some grasp on the game and maybe he wants to try something he has been killed by multiple times.
For missile boat - I recommend ARC-2R and the MDD-RV. Heavies tend to be better at missile boating since SRM/ATM boats require facetime and speed. LRMs as well are better on heavies, since assaults generally need more firepower contribution to the frontline. Assaults are usually too slow to boat missiles effectively. CP-10-Q comes to mind if you want an assault with srm/streak srm missile hardpoints. Also may want to mention MRM and ATM boats, QKD-IV4 and HMN (omni) come to mind. For maximum ATM boating Scorch is also good.
@CarloArmato Thanks asking the question. Im new to the game (2wks) and had the same question. The Bushwacker & Warhammer are two that I have seen suggested many times. The Warhammer will mostly likely be my next mech as I already have two mediums a KTO-18 missles & SHD-2H ballistic, so a heavy laser might be good. I must say I enjoy the SHD-2H currently running twin SRM6 and an LBX10. Easy weapon/heat managment and the LBX mounting ponit seems good for peaking. Weapons in the torso so I learning to twist. Thanks again.
As a beginning player, I play Trebuchet TBT-5J with decent results configured with 20xLRM and 5x Med Lasers. 20xLRM is the primary weapon, 5 Med Lasers are for occasional jabs and last resort combat, as not enough weight was left for strong heat sinking.
First two starter mechs that I got were a Hunchi (LRMs + Medlas) and an Ebon Jaguar (Lazors only). Especially the last one taught me a few things about the game, especially heat management and that override is sometimes your friend.
Missiles in general, but especially LRMs, are quite bad: they require lock and consequently face time to apply damage, which makes them bad: in any 1vs1 whoever your opponent is, it can focus damage on any component it chooses. IMHO there are very few noticeable missiles builds, and none of them features LRMs (to make LRM works, you need a group with a dedicated NARCer, but that's a whole other story). IMHO Laser vomit ebon jaguar is very nice mech, but not excellent for starters... You can still swap omnipods for any other build though, it's a nice to have.
1 LRM is not an "LRM" build", the mech is a close-mid range build with auxiliary LRM capacity. 20 LRMs is enough to get you through AMS, I get to clean my 900 missiles ammo supply in most matches in non-desparate shots. I use indirect fire 90% of the time. It simply gives you something to do when you are outside of direct line of fire and it is too dangerous to get involved directly, which it usually is early for a light mech. And when you can you jump into action with 5 medium lasers. I would never build an "LRM build", they are too situational, but LRMs seem to be a good weapon to pump damage, when you are out of sight. It takes time but you have time, since you are not doing anything else at that moment. I random matches getting into action directly very early gets you focused. It is better to use less careful players as ablative armor and just keep ticking your damage from a safe position - while having a mech that is not solely capable of doing LRM support, but can hold its ground in other situations, so you are not chained to the situational LRMs.Edit: think foremost about the reward system in the game, it is worth to make at least some damage to as many enemy mechs as possible, you are going to get "kill assist" for all of them, if you survive the match until they are dead. Furthermore, you can get a bunch of "protected..." or "flanking" bonuses.
