So after seeing all of the resistance mechs in action both on my and the opposing side I was wondering how my fellow MechSpecers are feeling about the latest IS mechs? I for myself am quite impressed by at least one variant of each chassis and am thinking about getting the pack now. Is it worth it? What do you think about those for chassis and can you recommend about them? Please let me - and other readers - know about your experience and leave some feedback.
IMO, the Enforcer is the worst of the pack...not awful, but not great, and takes a lot of skill to make it useful in a match. The Panther 9R and 8Z are amazing snipers with LLas/ERLLas, the 10K is...alright, but the others do it better. For Grasshopper, the 5N and 5H are both amazing with MPL builds (1 SRM4 for the 5H), but the 5J is lackluster in comparison. Haven't played the Zeuses enough to get a feel for them. The one thing that I've noticed about ALL of the chassis, however, is that the "Prime" 30% cbill bonus variant is the worst of the trio in my opinion. That, more than anything, is disappointing.
I got the Fury Pack. The panthers are all very good mechs, I have all mine elited. In particular the 10K is an excellent light mech that can put out some serious damage, in a mobile chassis with good hitboxes. I actually rate the Enforcers (All basic'd), the 5D is the poorest of the three which is a shame as it is also the (R) mech. The 5P with its dual U-AC5 is a one trick pony, but pretty fun to play and will get even better when they 'fix' the jam chance on the mech, from my understanding it should have a 10% jam chance but currently sits about 13% due to some math related issue. The 4R is the best Enforcer by a long way. I am really enjoying it. I would run one of two builds. I have yet to try the grasshopper, mostly because of the shitty heavy queue but the feedback seems to be good.
Added a last option to make the poll a little less biased. Some of them are good, some of them do suck.
Panther: Good chassis, all 3 variants are good but they are more difficult to play than other lights. They are a difficult to level, but as soon as you got all elite skills unlocked (and double basics) they rock. Enforcer: The overall opinion says, that the Chassis is not bad, but not good either. I think they are great, I like all 3 of them. They are very XL friendly and can deal out good damage. The 5P is in my opinion the weakest (2UAC5), but still a lot of fun (fastest one I leveled). The 4R is great (5 ML, AC10) but the 5D (3MPL, LBX10) is also pretty good and a fine (R) variant. The only Problem with the 5D is the LBX10 quirk - LBX10 is just a weak weapon, but alltogether I shred lights with those pulses and the LBX. Grasshopper: The only chassis I haven`t tested once - my lack of XL eninges in the propper size and the waiting times for Heavy Mechs. But it seems to be a great mech, XL friendly, fast and good laser firepower. Zeus: They are good, but they could be better. The 6T is a SRM brawling monster, in my opinion the best variant. The 9S and 6S aren`t bad, but the hardpoint palcement is... crap. The single missile hardpoint just isn`t enough for both SRMs and LRMs and all other hardpoints are concentrated on the left torso and arm, which makes the mech very vulnerable.
Panders: Really fun, really really fun. Most quirk build are nice to start with even. 2x ERPPC is a bit crap, but that variant is for non-quirk build I think. May not be a champ mech, but I like. Enforcers: Hit and miss. Ballistics are good in its own way, though arm is a bit low. The multi ballistic made-up variant is better than I can hope for without ruining the feel of a battletech mech. The LBX10 quirked version is a bit... quirky, but still fun. Grasshopper: The least special group of the set. But they are ok. 70 ton JJ energy boat with lots of hardpoints is a nice thing. I would still perfer the Black Knight with JJ, but oh well. Zeus: You can stick it anywhere you like! You get a nice LRM/SRM boatie with good energy support. You get a good ballistic-energy brawler. You get a reasonable energy boat. Better than the textbook Zeus. Oh, your single missile arm is meant to be a shield. Remember that.
Panthers Damn good mechs, feels a lot like a Commando with JJ's. Enforcers These are the least useful in the pack, there's maybe one or two good builds but the mechs feel very sluggish for a medium. Will see once elited and that will take a effort. Grasshoppers Fantastic mechs, wubwubboats with JJ's, XL friendly even though they are taller then some assaults. Zeus Good mech, some very nice loadouts for a STD engine with a shieldside. Haven't seen real badass performances yet but ppl will learn the mech and it'll come.
Hey no defaming the ENF-5P is superb... until you run out of ammo. In the meantime you've ripped into their team and your buddies should easily be able to clean up the rest. These were my LEVELLING stats: ENFORCER ENF-5P 37 26 11 2.36 65 23 2.83 16,013 70,262 03:26:20 1.76 kills and 433 avge damage per match while levelling is nothing to ignore when its burst based. I also barely use UAC's due to the jamming. Only real problem is actually that with just two of the uac's you quite often have no firepower or just 50% available, Interested to see if the 5% change to 14.25% jam rate helped at all. Panthers aren't bad - great hitboxes, decent mid range firepower and jump jets. Slow... Ok not tried the other two yet.
Panthers are pretty good, like bigger commandos or spiders. The Enforcer 4R is beast, but you're wasting it's potential if you use it's ballistic slot. It's not as good as the LPLaser and MLaser blackjack, due to weak torso pitch, and many torso mounted weapons, but it's pretty deadly still. (haven't played the grasshopper or zeus yet)
I absolutely LOVE the Panther. Well, not the -8Z, I find standard LLas boring, even though most players like them and are performing well with it. But the underestimated -10K jumps like crazy and makes a great narcer (plus ERPPC). As for the -9R, it's by far the mech I played the most last weeks. Loads of fun. I also have the Enforcers, but meh. They probably aren't bad mechs, but there are already so many great mediums, they don't add anything fresh to the field.
@Remarius, I thought the UAC5 jam chance was supposed to be 10% on the 5P? Have I got that round my neck. I regularly find both my UACs are jammed. But like you say it is a great mech with great burst potential. I enjoy playing it and chewing up mechs.
I'm just going off this post that @L3mming2 made. https://www.mechspecs.com/threads/5-uac-quirk.8948/#post-70289
Once PGI fixes the quirk, it should be down to 10%...right now though, it's just plain wrong. Honestly, I found that the ENF-5P works far better with regular AC5's anyway, simply because you have tonnage to fit more weapons on the build as a result. The UAC quirks are wasted since the mech kinda needs that tonnage elsewhere to do well IMO.
8Z is performing well, but they are less interesting yes. There are many mech that can do 3x LL. Problem with the 10K is not the jumping, but the heat of ERPPC. Having only one seems undergun, but having 2x ERPPC is hot indeed. As a narcer it is nice though. Will comment again after I got it elite. Also tried 1xERPPC+2xSRM4, performs better, but seems to be a waste of the ERPPC range. 9R has quirk for 2x PPC, which is better. That said, 8 JJ of the 10K is impressive.
As I posted in the reveal thread, I actually like the choices for which chassis became the (R) variants...however, this is a pretty extreme matter of personal preferences and playstyles. My vote is for "worth it!", but as a qualified statement. Personal notes: PANTHER: What folks have said about Panthers is pretty spot on, they feel like very close to Commandos with JJs. The arm mounted energy is what it always is, an extremely aim-able but extremely lose-able asset. Good hit boxes, reasonable quirks, even the weakest of them are solid. Even missile-included builds can run hot because of the energy focus though. I almost kinda wish I had two 10K(R)s just so I could keep one loaded as Narc and one as super-sniper at all times...but it's not worth the money. I'll swap when needed. ENFORCER: These guys are really odd ducks in MWO, and while this isn't truly bad it's not good either. They feel very much like small assaults considering their handling, and aren't as versatile in their builds as the rest of the pack...or even most other mechs, which hurts considering their competition in the same class and even the same exact weight. The low-slung arms on a medium can also make firing awkward. The builds they do sport are acceptable performers though, and some will be much better when things like jam-quirks get updated. So why do I like them anyway? Because I don't feel locked into either STD or XL...you'll oddly still feel sluggish while going fast, but either choose to be a really tanky STD shredder or a more tactical mover. Both options are good, and when you find what you like these guys can really pay off. GRASSHOPPER: I wanted the Black Knight Predictably good, there's only so much to say. It's a good boat, and can be annoying to take down. ZEUS: Extra armor = win and kept this one from being DoA far more than the weapon quirks...without that armor no one would have the chance to find good builds, they'd just get shredded. Also, when did being like a Griffin become a compliment? Shield side, strong side, and because of that seems to preform best using standard engines. I think folks are getting hung up by the hardpoint incongruity peculiar to each variant and it's detracting from their play right now. The 6T should be SOME KIND of missile boat, because it's not just the only thing it does better than its brothers, it just can't compete with the left side firepower of those two except by mimicking big energy builds, which really, why aren't you doing on the 9s anyway? XL LRM support platform or STD SRM 12-18 brawler, I've seen both succeed and expect to see them find their niche in the coming month. Depending on how you use tonnage, the missile shield arm can be worth it on the 6s/9s but should probably not be a heavily used system (pun intended)...left side firepower go big or go home.
I would still say the 2 LLas 1 MLas build is better for the 8Z...pretty much never overheats, and can do very well (plus allow for the top engine).
Well the Grasshoppers are really good and fun... the Zeus... it feels like I'm pulling out my teeth levelling them most of them... Just to clarify... wow they're truly awful with no xp on them.....
