New Phoenix Mechs have me completely underwhelmed

I think unless the devs decide to implement MASC to make the Locust can make short speedbursts to go over 180kph or simply to strafeburst to a side avoiding incoming fire, the Locust is and will always be the worst Mech ever. Don't understand why they introduce this Mech when they don't make it special against the other Mechs, but instead far inferior. They are easier to shoot than Spiders and even easier to kill. If Locust.Pilots ever participate in Teamfights - and i see a lot of them - they die sooo ridiculously fast (most times legged first and then Pop with an AC20.Blast), simply because the loaded weapons are limited in Firerange (if using Max.Engine) forcing you to go up close & Personal, what is a guaranteed suicide in most cases.

C'mon devs, give us MASC!!! I want to burstjump!

 

That's not really a consolation to know that stock loadouts suck even before annoying nerfs are applied -.-

 

Somehow I think they are working on MASC...
But before that I think they should fix the lagshielding.
The thing is, the only thing really good going for Locust right now is the lagshield.

 

Spiders are still OP as shit with their lagshield but Locusts seem extremely easy to register hits on. Don't expect that to change, really.

And these Phoenix mechs are fucking garbage. A few come across as average or maybe a bit above that (a couple of the Thunderbolt and Shadowhawk variants) but otherwise I'm in agreement with the OP. I'd never use any of these if I didn't pay for them already---ugh

 

The Tbolt 9Se is fantastic. Haven't had this much fun in a heavy mech in a while. For me it has a nice balance of speed, armor and weaponry options. Even with an XL engine I haven't found myself feeling outmatched or outclassed yet.

I've been tinkering with the Battlemaster with some success and am looking forward to focusing on it down the road.

Not a light mech fan so don't really have an opinion on the locust. My brief experience with the shadowhawk variants hasn't impressed me yet but I haven't given them a fair shakedown yet.

 

I doubt I'll ever use the Locust, plus I think its a rather shit mech in the current game.

The rest of the mechs seem pretty awesome, good mix of everything.

 

Locusts have been the most supreme pain in my ass ever. One hit, from anything other than a SLas, and you are pretty much vaporized. You can duel only the most inexperienced other light pilots but anyone with half a brain roflmstomps cause of the paper thin armor. If I had the GXP I would just buy my way though the chassis LOL but alas I don't. I'm half way though Basic on my 2nd one and still have #3 to go. Boooooooooooooooooo

 

I'm loving my Shadow Hawks so far. I have a HBK-4G with JJ, a Streaktaro with JJ and an AC, and a shotgun that's fun to play, but incredibly squishy so I'm looking at turning it into a dakkabot instead. I also have some TDR-9SE and BLR-1G/S builds that I'm itching to try out once I can get enough cbills to build them. So broke ><

In short, I love jump jets. Also, my only previous mechs were a trio of Cataphracts, so buying Phoenix for me gave me a lot more to play around with.

 

I have some GXP and I'm considering using it to unlock basic perks on the two variants I don't know what to do with. I'll give them more chance to prove me they worth something, but for now it's just painful.
The 3M variant is nice though, the double AMS is pretty neet, and with 4 lasers you can deal some damage. I think I'll keep this mech in my garage. But will I have the patience to grind the others?

 

I've only played the Battlemasters so far but I've been pretty happy with all of them. The 1G is just good all around. I've found success with the 1S as both an LRM and a Streak boat. The triple ac/2's on the 1D has already been mentioned, although I don't say no to a shotgun either

The energy hard points in the chest are really nice. They're up high enough that you can use a bit of a hull down tactic on them. There have been probably two dozen times already where a friendly mech walked into my line of fire and I was able to shoot above their heads with the chest lasers.

The hot maps have been no more trouble for me in a Battlemaster than any other mech.

 

I GXP'd the Locust and regret that decision more than eating Mexican for lunch before a date! Even fully elited, I see no reason to pilot this mech over a Jenner or Spider. If I want a light missle boat, I can rebuy my Commando...

Should've used that GXP on Batlemasters. At least that Hero mech with earn some cash.

 

I for one am relieved that the phoenix mechs are just side grades or just a different option. Frankly I am tired of devs that release unbalanced content to inflate numbers then have to come back and nerf said content to bring them back in line.

Below are my opinions on the mechs.

Locust = Very squishy compared to other lights. Completely different play style to a spider/jenner.
Shadowhawk = this thing is a beast, can zombie like a champ and pack an AC20, it's basically a lo wang with JJ and the ac20 in the torso
Thunderbolt = CT is tiny and easy to shield with L/R torso and arms, IMO just as tough to take down as a centurion. Very responsive and agile for a heavy, it feels like a med. Love this mech.
Battlemaster = CT is huge, too easy to get cored, can be very fast for an assault.

I bought the overlord package for the looks of the mechs, I wasn't looking to buy power or a win. My only regret with these mechs is that more don't have ballistic hardpoints that can mount AC20 or dual UAC/5.

 

Shadowhawk > Thunderbolt > Battlemaster > Locust
Need more tests on the battlemaster.

 

I got the speed tweak unlocked on my locusts finally, so we'll see what kind of difference that makes with them. I've not been having all that much difficulty myself with them, but I am playing very, very carefully in them. I broke 500 damage in the 3M with a couple of kills last night.

Heh. I took one run with one at full speed with tweak, just to see how fast it felt. I managed to get across the map and into the enemy base area... while they were still all milling about there. I died so fast.

Time to look at the shadowhawks now, although mediums seem to be my worst mech class to play.

 

I've only played the Battlemasters so far, but it's very tough for me to NOT get over 500 damage. I don't think I've been cored in mine yet and frequently get well below 40% armor left and have been as low as 19% and still had a couple of torso lasers left

 

I think I would enjoy the new mechs more if they weren't so laser intensive. I have never been the pilot that reaches for his laser when he could reach for his cannon simply because heat is a pain in the arse to manage on big multilaser builds. Yes these mechs have other hardpoints but come on...3 ballistic hardpoints in an arm with a hand actuator? Great if you want to install 3 AC2s but that plus the lasers would make it extremely difficult to manage heat which for Mr. Nubbins here, the poster, is a near impossibility...come on you have seen my videos lol me n' heat aren't the best of friends.

The point I was trying to make was when starting the post is; A summer blockbuster may be hyped to outer space and you may be dying to see it but how many actually get an oscar or were as good as you thought they would be when you saw it. This to me is a case of "Captain America the First Avenger" Excited as all hell when I heard it was coming out but when the movie was over I was like "what? is that it?"

With a couple standouts, shadowhawk (1 or 2 variants) and maybe the thunderbolt (1 variant), the rest are in my opinion just some mechs with pretty paint jobs that if I hadn't spent 80$ on them wouldn't still be in my hangar.

 

I've really only played the Shadows so far:

SHD-2H Very Good. Throughly enjoying the Dakka
SHD-2D2 People keep calling this a good zombie but it just seems to lose slowly rather than WIN anything. I might switch to a Large Laser build or something to grind enough to get Elite
SHD-5M 2x AC5 and well balanced.

 

What build are you using?