New comer looking for advices.

Hey guys, new player here, i played a lot during the beta, but i quit a bit before release.
Since i almost mastered my Timbers, EU prime time is crap for my nova, i'm waiting for my mates to log in to use my Kit fox while my brawler Atlas F is taking some dust, I'm looking for a new toy to play with.

I'm more a direct med range support (not the kind of guy hiding behind his team with dual gauss cheese), so i was thinking about the K2 and the Jaggermech. Are these chassis good for that kind of gameplay ? You guys have any chassis to advise me to play with that role in mind with any particular loadout ?

 

I don't own any JMs just yet, so I can't help you there. However, some good mid-to-long range support mechs (that you may or may not have, depending on if you bought a clan pack or an a la carte order) would be Dire Wolf (in some specs), Nova (specced right, it is nasty in any time zone ), and Kit Fox...Summoner can also do well in those ranges. As far as IS mechs, I've made some nasty mid-range Cicada builds for the CDA-3M, as well as Shadowhawks and Griffons, which both do well loading up SRM builds. Generally, any mech that is good at med range is also good at either close or long range as well, depending on the build, so you might also consider the Jenner or Firestarter as brawler mechs, or the Spider or Raven as med-to-long range sniper support mechs (with the ECM models, teams will love you...even if they don't realize it).

Edit: I feel I should clarify something...really, ANY mech can be a powerful mech at any range, if you outfit it and learn how to play it right. For instance, my favorite Nova build is probably not considered one of the 5-star builds (see the Roaster Toaster build in that subforum), but it is the build with which I do best by far. My Kit Fox prefers a long range 3ERLL build, my DWF does best with 2Gauss/2PPC, while my Jenners/Embers all have extremely close range builds. Pretty much all of these either came from this forum, or came from experimentation to find what worked best for my playstyle, so you'll have to spend some time adjusting some builds to find your niche as well. I know plenty of people who could barely operate in a JR7-F with 6 MLas, but could easily break 800-1000 damage in the same mech with PPCs or ERLLas, for instance.

One easy way to figure out if a mech works for you is to watch for it to come up as a trial mech...had I done that, for instance, I'd have known that the Cataphract was not going to be my best mech long before purchasing it. Try those mechs out, and find something that hits a sweet spot for you.

Most importantly, don't judge any mech by the first few games you play in it. I've made several builds that started out awful, but ended up carrying games once I got used to how they played.

 

Welcome back.

Direct medium range support? We're talking large and medium lasers, AC10's and LBX, LRM'ing in sub 500 range? Medium range is commonly defined as somewhere around 300-600 meters.

Heavy
The Catapult family should serve you well, getting up in the faces with all of the above. The Jagers is mostly about ballistics but yes, it's a good platform too even if it is a bit fragile with the need for a XL to get the most out of the heavy AC guns. I've always liked the Quickdraws for their playstyle, armor and agility. The K model can hit with 2x PPC's and 4xMLAS for a world of hurt and then bounce away again. Thunderbolts are worth every C-Bill and all kinds of builds can be done on this variable chassi.

Medium
You can do extremely well in the 55 ton mediums, Stormcrows, Shadowhawks, Griffins, etc. They have the speed to hit and run, not stand your ground and take it but instead deal and dodge.

Light
Yes, why not? A Firestarter is fast, agile and packs a insane wallop. You can literally sneak between the ranks and lay down a 40 MLAS Alpha.

Good builds? Choose the mech chassi and we'll give you tips but honestly, just go to the mech subforum and sort by rating?

 

On lights, you can go for a good old Jenner.
On medium, yes shadowhawk is sweet. For clan mech stormcrow is nice and cast, no JJ though.
On Heavy, catapults, some thunderbolt, and DEFINITELY MAD CAT!

The good thing about IS is that the lights are actually fast and powerful, and clan Lights are just lightly armored fast mediums (not even that sometimes, since IS medium can go ~140mph and clan lights barely breaks 100mph)

 

I'll go on cat's (K2) since i already have the mad one. How about the jester ? Still 20 hours or so before the end of the sale.

 

The Jester is essentially a K2 without the ballistic hardpoints, but it can mount jumpjets. It's a decent mech.

 

You know what the Jagermech and K2 (to a lesser degree) are good at? Dual gauss.
You know what is really good for medium range (350-550m-ish) support? Dual gauss.

Welcome to a min/max site, lol.

 

What the heck? 6 replies in and no one has mentioned the Phracts?

The CTF-4X and CTF-IM are a couple of the best ballistic platforms in the game, and the CTF-3D is almost as good and mounts jump jets. Yes, you have to expose more of your torsos then with the K2 and the Jagers, but I feel the ability to load more ammo and armor makes up for this.

 

My Recommendations for Direct Combats (More Brawlings, less Poptarding/Lurming):

Lights: Jenner or Firestarter (The Emberstar is legendary!)

Meds: Shadowhawk (The King of the Meds!)

Heavies: Cataphract (My favorite Heavy, Chainsaw & Quad5')

Assaults: Victor & Battlemaster (Good Mix of Speed & Dakkapower)


The Catapult & Jagermech are definitely very viable on the Battlefield, but if it comes to Brawling Power, the 'Phracts can soak a bit more Damage with a risky XL Engine, while keeping a high DPS Direct Firepower.

 

I meant no offense to gauss users. I used it a lot during beta, but i don't like to be that guy 'You can all die as long as i can be 1k behind the frontline doing nothing 'cause you know i'm a "sniper" with an Assault mech'.

I'm not the kind to hide behind every one, but i'm not a frontline grunt either, i prefer to give support to the rest of the team on the 2nd line and taking shots when needed. And i have nothing against min/max, since i'm a min/maxer myself.

Thx for the advices. I'll go for the Catapults first, since all three chassis i'll use bring different gameplay, and then i'll do some more chassis.

 

No worries, there are many playstyles and many opinions. Gauss for example is something I have played with on all ranges, I have CQB builds but due to the risk of explosion I still prefer it at range.

Good luck and have fun! The Cats are great fun.

Here's a few builds:

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=13&l=8b8a12e0f60daea6feffb5f45faa57a397432213

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=12&l=e2d80e1bbb514996dcbb21b4a2565d43135a1b07
Too little ammo now, I'd drop the AMS but it is definantly a second line supporter.

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=12&l=eee180b9c510481e81ea180e9d8344f33222119a

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=24&l=1703d425d1035e670bf49a944f473e54f72cb6c7
Not a good pugger as you need a bodyguard, may work as you plan to be in the middle of it all.

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=19&l=155315ff43998a525065590c8c6bc5c4a8e16a22
Only 25 shots for the Gauss, strip a DHS for more but it will cost you with the ERPPC's.

You can do a lot of different playstyles with the Cats!

 

I do not like assault that stays behind mostly (with a few exceptions like that dual gauss dual ERPPC monster)
But it is reasonable for Heavys to stay behind and do some snipery things if they can be good at it. That helps the frontline mech and the assaults to move in.

 

Now that the trial 'mechs are decently spec'd, they're worth trying out.

Other than that, the Jager completely obsoletes the Catapult (unless you really like JJs). There are a few 'mechs that are a pain to pilot, the Dragon, Awesome, and Locust.

Lastly, Blagg hits the nail on the head. The Shadowhawk, Cataphract, and Battlemaster are some of the most versatile 'mechs in the game. They each have variants that are radically different from the base model, and that helps keep things fresh.

 

Not sure you can be as blanket as that - 2 of my 3 warhawks are long range boats (Soy's dual ERPPC/triple ERLL and Lan/Bashiba's quad ERLL/dual LRM15). Both play far better at range and I frequently use them to tie down a flank. You specifically want to force people to cross open area's to approach you. Approaching them simply reduces your advantage in most cases. My third warhawk is a brawler so....

 

I ragesold my CTF-4X after trying to see if it could carry worth a damn and my Ilya still has LBX30 build on it as a punishment for being so bad. If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times, I'd rather do ANY CTF-4X/IM build on a JM6-S.

 

That still leaves the 3D, 1X, and 2X. I suppose there is an argument to be made that the JM does everything that the 2X can do, but for less tonnage. However, I cannot overstate just how useful elbows (wider yaw range) can be.

 

As much as you cannot overstate how useful the yaw range is, I cannot overstate how important it is to be able to point your barrels at targets instead of speed bumps.

 

Only replying to OP:
For direct support, you can do Cataphract or Jagger. Both are good. Catapults are more LRM boats, which means you will hide, and you will pray for that target lock from your teammates.. (K2 and Jester being the exception) Also, be prepared to die in a Jagger or Cat if you go too far into enemy lines, they are slow and can be killed fairly easily. The Phract carries more armor and more weapons and is harder for enemies to deal with. I would pick the Jagger over the Cat for you, it has a good range of options and a lot of good builds to select from. The Phract packs an extra 5 tons, which might not seem like much, but actually matters a lot.

Blagg said it though, go Medium, Shadowhawk. Best mech in the game and can do direct fire support roles very well. It's fast, carries good armor and can scare the living day lights out both lights and heavies alike with a good build and a good pilot.


my $.02 if i am understanding OP correctly.

 

The best thing about the stock Shadowhawks, Griffins and Wolverines (with one exception) is that they have a decent speed, and have jump jets. Their loadouts are so good that you can build similar builds across the chassis, and that makes levelling the skills very easy. They can also be pretty much anything you want: in-your-face brawler, jump-sniper, striker, lrm-boat, laser-boat and so on. Probably the best mediums for facing off against clans as well, their hit boxes are favorable to XL engines, and you will love getting an XL 300 into them. Their arms are great for using as shields too.

 

Just a few tweaks, a bit of ammo and DHS upgrade and you get a decent mech.