Seriously, with the quirks that they gave the Thunderbolt, I have to wonder why there isn't a hero mech yet? Also, what Hero would make a good fit for this mech? Loadout?
Going with lore mechs, the Tsakalotos would be a good balancer for the Hellbringer (since it comes with ECM), but that's a 3082 mech (the 10M variant), so we're a long way from that. The only lore-appropriate TBR that could come out right now would be the Tallman (5S-T), which was a mech from the third succession war that was mainly an energy boat, which wouldn't be too different. In 3049, the TDR-7M did appear though: /shrug...best I can do lore-wise, though in 3050, a clantech version (the TDR-5S-C) appeared as well
TBR should be soon as they're steadily filling in Phoenix/Sabre pack mechs with hero versions. 4/6 done now. Locust, Griffin, Shadowhawk and Battlemaster are in so just the Wolverine and Thunderbolt to go. Lets be honest every Inner Sphere Light, Medium, Heavy and Assault chassis already has at least one hero except those two. More curious when the clan Hero mechs will start.
That makes me wonder if the Wolfhound will ever come in game...and if they make Grinner the hero, will it be the IS or the clan version?
Not gonna happen as that is mixing tech. That may be one they make a clan AND an IS variant. Remember the ilKhan had Grinner rebuilt from the data in the ejection module so it is essentially completely clan tech.
Yeah, Grinner is a nice example for a mech which could be done with mixed technologies among it's variants. Just an idea: A possibility could be to create something like 2x IS variants and 1 Clan variant PLUS one hero mech each (five Wolfhound mechs total), all of them sharing the same chassis and skill tree. This - would allow the playerbase to choose from those 5 mechs in total for leveling purposes, - leaves the freedom not to purchase a MC mech at all to complete the chassis and - would also allow PGI to cash in from two more hero mechs a lot of people would happily spent money for. It'll require some thoughts about the variants, but ultimatetivly those could even be taken from the books. The underlying thought processes which led to the final design of the Wolfhound are described there, for example the idea of adding AMS and such (but which was revised in aiming to create an ammo independent mech). As PGI was quite creative in making up both hero mechs and variants this shouldn't be much of a problem at all.
BTW Eridani Light Horse had a custom Thunderbolt variant so just pick a random ELH pilot and write some pseudo ok background on what a hero they were. It had JJ and a LRM 10 instead of the stock LRM 15, SRM 2 and 2 MG. Basically shit but its still a hero mech and with JJ.
It's more than likely that the 7M would come out. But to be fair, the all energy Thunderbolt Tallman would be rather interesting, especially if it comes out after the Clan Warfare intro. 18 DHS, 4 energy in each torso, and a LL in the right arm, that's 9 energy hardpoints.The most another TBR has is 7, which is the 5SS. Which is better, 7M or Tallman?
The problem with both the 7M and Tallman is that they are so similar to other existing mechs, so why bother? The Tallman would offer one less missile pod, and two more energy points than the 5SS, while the 7M is very similar in build to the 5S in a lot of ways. This is one of those cases where I wouldn't mind if they modified the original design just to provide something more unique to the chassis compared to the normal builds.
Tallman seems nice. 2 in each arm and 5 in torso, lets hope we get an extra energy hardpoint on the CT. 10 energy hardpoint seems fun, but not overpowered (due to heat)
I technically have a hero Thunderbolt (Phoenix) but I've never found a build I really liked.. One of those chassis I love but can't actually play.
It's actually not a hero mech, it would be classified as a Champion mech. You can even see this in the MWO mechlab, and the fact that you can buy one with C-Bills. But as for the Tallman, 10 energy hardpoints might be a bit much...but it would be interesting!
Vergere, I'm sorry to say that you're wrong on this one. The (P) is the phoenix variant mech of the 5S which cannot be bought anywhere anymore. Like the rest of the Phoenix (P) mechs, it comes with a 30% CBill bonus. You are correct that in the mechlab they are classified as Champion mechs, but like the Founder (F) mechs, Clan (I) mechs, and the Loyalty (L) mechs, they get a CBill bonus.