Here is a little thread to stimulate your Mech Engineering brains and let us do something productive together! See it as a Community Game. We keep it simple: 1. Three Categories: "Long Range" (>720m), "Medium Range"(270m-720m), "Short Range"(<270m) 2. Three Tiers each category meaning "Meta", "Strong", "Viable" 3. Everyone can join, post builds and "Like" other one's builds Every here and then i update a Tier List with the most liked Mech-Builds. Posting Format: Smurfy-build, Category, Tier Result: Something like a compressed Build-Guide. Have fun. ;-3
I'll do the lights! Legend: * Worth keeping + Worth trying - Not worth a 75 MC paint job x Obsolete/underpowered/I don't even want to think about it ? Little to no informed opinion, not passing judgement IS Lights Locust (20 T) - All Locusts now have a generous 16 point leg structure quirk, and 50% stronger arm armor. They also have 25% acceleration and 50% deceleration for incredible stop-and-go action when combined with the massive XL engine and tiny movement archetype. * 1E (6MLas or SPLas) - 20 ton mech problems aside (1 shot by gauss to rear, extreme allergy to red smoke), absolute demon. Disgustingly strong energy quirks and enough hardpoints to pack a punch, matching alpha with full size 35 ton lights. Laser duration quirks make the SPLas nearly a ballistic, and MLas pokes are lightning fast with the massive acceleration and laser duration quirks playing off the 170 kph and tiny movement archetype. Legitimately preferable to a JR7-F or FS9-H if I had to drop a MLas light in solo queue and get a win (or ace!). + 3M - (5MLas or SPLas) - The 3M gets a 20% boost to cooldowns, but has 1 less energy hardpoint than the 1E. The real problem is that this variant has significantly worse heat generation and laser duration quirks, and no range boost at all. The 1E is going to be more consistent and easier to get more out of, but this guy should be able to melt faces a little faster in an all-in assassination situation. I haven't played it to see if this is a major boon, but sometimes you're able to steal a return fire alpha before the enemy reloads, or before he can react and brush you off (esp with SPLas). I can't imagine that overcoming the rest of the energy quirk suite and extra energy hardpoint for alpha strikes that PGI threw at the 1E, though. + PB - (ECM, 4 MLas) - Picked this up during late June's hero events, and was sick of it by the time I mastered it. The torso mounted lasers are a hindrance to damage application, and PGI really held back on the offensive quirks because the mech has ECM. Honestly, I should have tried playing it without ECM, because it managed to run hot on a gimpy 4 MLas, no MG loadout. All this said, it's a utility mech, and SJR even used it as an ECM whore for the Firestarters who were rightly worried about streaks. X 1M, 1V, 3S, 3V - Not even learning which is which. They don't have enough firepower, and the multiple gunnery archetypes making applying said firepower a risky, tedious, difficult, and/or unrewarding experience. I did the ERLLas and SRM one to basic so I could master the 1E, and was not at all sad to see them go away. They do not at all overcome the 20 ton mech problems. Commando (25 T) - The Commandos have all recieved 8 points of arm and 12 points of leg structure. The bad ones (1B, 1D, 3A) got 10% turn rate, too. The humanoid torso shape and size makes getting one-shot in the back an even larger risk than in the lighter Locust, despite the increased tonnage/structure. - TDK - Played this a bit during the "I can be your hero baby" or whatever tournament, it was pretty meh. 4 MLas isn't really worth exposing with these days, and the quirks just aren't enough to make it worth bringing over a LCT or FS9. - 2D - I quite liked this mech when 3SSRM2 was something for any light except a Jember think twice about, but this mech just doesn't do enough against the heavier mechs, especially now that everything else is more powerful than ever. You could almost do an ECM SRM ninja, but it's too slow and can't jump and the tonnage would limit ammo anyways. -/X - 1B, 1D, 3A - Mixed bag laser/SRM speeders, quirks aren't really strong, and hardpoints are awkwardly spread to prevent... much of anything good and organized from happening. Spider (30 T) - All Spiders except the one you want to use (5D) have 12.6% increased reverse speed. Whoop-dee-doo. + 5D - Hard to shoot, and doesn't reg half the time when you do anyway! The most forgiving light, you can't even give yourself away too quickly because you've got ECM. It's pretty weak firepower wise, but you can brawl a bit with 3 MPLas, or stand off with an ERLLas and a pair of MLas. Dual ER/LLas builds belong on Ravens. -/X 5K, 5V, A - Low firepower, low ease of use. Nothing even tempting. Urbanmech (30 T) - All the Urbies have recieved 10 arm and 7 leg structure, 10% increased reverse speed, and 15% torso twist and tilt rate. -/X R60, R60L, R63 - You don't see many of these being played for fun, which should clue you in. The energy boat quirked one can do alright if left alone, but 106.9 kph max speed means they're going to be a sitting duck just like an Adder or KFX is if shit gets close up to you on the enemy's terms. Unsurprisingly, the laser boat variant had the highest scores in the Urbanmech leaderboard event. Firestarter (35 T) - No structure/mobility quirks, just pure offense shoving the variants into their pigeonholes. * S (5 MPLas asymmetrical righty or 2 MPLas in each arm, 1 CT) - Strong heat generation quriks behind the already cool damage per heat MPLas make the lack of DHS more than tolerable. If this mech hits critical heat, you know you put some good pews downrange. It could jump better, and the torso mounted MPLas can suck if you're not within spitting distance and on the same elevation, but it's just a strong brawler and half decent acrobat. The range is the main limiting factor. It's a simple mech, and worth using in the close/mid range striker role. * A (8 SPLas) - Even post nerf, quite the assassin/brawler. With a cool shot up your sleeve, you're looking for anything that strays too far from the herd and wouldn't like 32 damage applied every other second to its Achilles tendon. Simply worth using for a assassin/push/brawl role. + H (6 MLas) - You're probably better off in a more acrobatic and better exposure profile JR7-F; faster, cooler, and longer ranged LCT-1E; or even longer range and cooler RVN-2X; but if none of those mechs existed, this would be a decent medium range striker with brawl friendly hitboxes if that's the way your fight turned out. The main problem with the FS9-H is it's supposed to be mid ranged trading, but has an exposure profile large enough to catch significant return fire, and only mediocre firepower that runs hot going downrange. The FS9-S is almost a better poker despite the range because you can get 30 points all middle/right mounted and thin down your cornering profile. - Ember (4 MLas, 4 MGs) - Outstripped by other mechs that can do the assassination/brawl job better and safer. Needs more quirks, it's just not worth using at the moment. There's a lot of firepower out there, and trying to plink away with MGs is a good way to catch it. Every time I drop in this mech, I'm surprised with how quickly my cool shot finds a use, but doesn't really make much of a difference anyway. - K (8 SLas) - Quirks need upping before the smalls pay off over Small Pulse on the A. I'd be interested to see this mech as a mech that could run the 8 SLas and not have to dump so much tonnage into DHS that it could afford a nice quantity of JJs. Jenner (35 T) + F (6 MLas) - Utterly left behind in the quirk game, still has a decent exposure profile, mobility, and above average acrobatics if you drop engine to 295 or a lose DHS and go with extra JJs. Unfortunately, the walking slice of CT isn't quirky enough to try and make work. - K (4 MPLas) - MPLas quirks make this mech better at something it doesn't really want to do - brawl. The hitbox redraw really only made side of CT into side torso, you're still a walking wedge of 50% malice and 50% cowardice. X Oxide (4SRM4) - Huginn just does it better: with Artemis, JJs, and more ammo. X - D (4 MLas, 2SSRM2 or 2SRM4) - If PGI wants to make the D into a missile mech, they've got to step the quirks up. 2SSRM2 backed up by 4 energy weapons is far short of threatening other quirky lights, and nobody wants to SRM brawl with a Jenner to begin with. If I were PGI, I'd hit this mech with 50% SSRM reload, 25% of which were global missile for the 2SRM4 splat build for anyone brave enough. Panther (35 T) - Laser panthers recieved 12 points of Right Arm and 6 points of Leg structure, and the missile/ballistic one got a bit more brawl friendly torso buffs. + 9R - This mech got a little of every kind of energy quirk, and shines among the Panthers. For Pugs, I liked 2 LPLas, which seemed to be just about the right balance of heat generation and range for this mech's mobility and playstyle. If I saw a long range map coming, 2 LLas and 2 MLas wouldn't be too different, though at some point you'd be better off in a Raven, which can poke vertically as well as to the right. - 10K - The ERPPCs still run incredibly hot after the quirks, and there are too few hardpoints to do any other ranged loadouts effectively. The top speed of 127 just doesnt cut it for a brawler, so SRMs are out. - 8Z - No Energy Heat Generation quirks make this mech lackluster compared to the 9R, which gains more with the full energy quirk suite than this does with the LLas specific ones. -/X 10P - I admit I haven't looked too closely at this because it's behind a paywall for me, but I can't imagine it overcoming the likes of a Huginn. Raven (35 T) * 2X (2 LLas 2 MLas) - The offensive quirks were dialed back, but this mech's damage game is still in a good place. And they gave it torso structure quirks! 99% front-load the armor and reap the reward of even more poking with the same or better defense. If you lean on the LLas, you're going to have some nice safe ranged sustained DPS. Throw in the MLas when you need to drop something fast or make your idle heat pay off, or swat something off your tail, and you're in for consistently strong performances. + 3L (2 ER/LLas) - No real quirk love means this mech is going to need to put its ECM to work to outperform a 4X's range and duration quirks or the 2X's coolness. Still strong, sneaky, and great in the clutch on a long ranged enough map/mode. + 4X (2 ER/LLas) - Insane ranged ERLLas, and it can jump to get into snipey positions. In opens, it'd be hard to get good numbers because the max DPS is so low and it takes forever to cool off once you get hot. + H (2 SRM4+A, MGs optional) - The SRM light worth using, this guy can screen shake for days if you chain fire, or land a decent grouping at up to 365(!) meters with Artemis SRM4s. Insane quirks get enough out of the 2SRM4 that you can strip your arms of tedious MGs, and pack in kickass jump jets and ammo. Clan Lights - Mist Linx (25 T) B: 15% Accel/Decel C: 10% Accel/Decel, 9 degrees torso twist angle, 5% torso twist speed P: 10% Accel/Decel, 3 degrees torso twist angle, 10% torso twist speed A: 10% Accel/Decel, 7.5% turn rate D: 7.5% Accel/Decel, 10% turn rate The firepower is too damn low, and adding the ECM omnipod neuters you even further. Too many JJs locked in, and too small of an engine. No fun, you don't see them around for a reason. The beefy quirks don't overcome the shortcomings in any significant way (see KFX and ADR) + Kit Fox (30 T) C: 15% Accel/Decel, 9 degrees torso twist angle, 5% torso twist speed P: 15% Accel/Decel, 3 degrees torso twist angle, 10% torso twist speed D: 15% Accel/Decel, 5% twist speed S: 15% Accel/Decel The KFX has some 30 ton mech problems, but the armor/structure quirks on side torsos/arms/legs are helping out. It's slow so nobody aiming at a KFX is going to miss, but if you just stay out of people's sights, you can bring some reasonable firepower to bare. Standard builds would be ECM arm with either 2 ERLLas or 2 MLas 1 LPLas. Riskier builds would be SRM, SSRM, or MLas/SPLas+MGs. * Arctic Cheetah (30 T) P: 10% Accel/Decel, 5% turn rate A: 10% Accel/Decel, 2.5% turn rate, 2% twist speed B: 10% Accel/Decel, 4% twist speed C: 12.5% Accel/Decel Behind a paywall to me, and omnipods aren't listed in the store so fuck it, not going in depth. Tanky as fuck, partially due to shitreg on fast moving skinny mechs, partially due to humanoid shape, partially due to safe clan xl. ECM capability always a major plus, especially on a stealthy light route. Clan tech also gives this mech great firepower. + Adder (35 T) P: 20% Accel/Decel, 10% reverse speed A: 10% Accel/Decel, 12 degrees torso twist angle, 10% torso twist speed B: 10% Accel/Decel, 5% turn rate D: 10% Accel/Decel, 6 degrees torso twist angle, 20% torso yaw speed The ADR is getting pretty beefy with defensive quirks, and with the flamer unlocked, it has more room for activities. The offensive quirks are still pretty tame. I like this as a brawly SRM/SSRM boat in a group that's looking to push for engagement. In solo, you're probably better off with 5 MLas. I don't really love the 2 ERPPC build, it's way hot, and 33% of your damage is spread. Like... even on a 2 ERPPC Nova, it's too hot, and that guy has WAY more DHS.
Wow, i'm blown away. You are awesome!!! But wait, let me clear things up - we all should contribute by posting single Builds in one of every Post and place them into the bracket you think is right. Here is an Example Post: And then other mechspec'ers who agree simply press the "Like" to get it to the Tier List, which i update every here and then by the total count of likes. p.s. the Tier List will be created and posted later as a sticky Thread, when we got at least some few Build-Posts with some Likes
I will start with my highest rated build, the SCR-P Pentacle of Wubs. Medium Range, Meta. Good speed, good range, good damage, superior hitboxes, good cool cool. eff., shield side, 1 weapon system(this matters especially on a 3 modules mech), clan XL. It has anything you would want in a mech, minus JJs.
Spoiler: Reply: tfun90's Lights Review I would actually say that the R60L is actually quite capable for a number of reasons. It is true that you don't see many about, HOWEVER that is because they still have never appeared in anything but the real money store...and PGI has not announced if they will ever be sold for cbills, so until that happens they will be a sort of collector's item. It's also worth noting that Krivvan took the Urbie all the way to the finals in the Mech Masters 1v1 tournament, fighting Firestarters (A and S) almost the whole way (his first match vs Modcomplex was Urbie vs MLX): http://challonge.com/mmasterslight1 So it's actually a very capable mech, but it requires good play and build to be so. I'd say they can rate a + at least, just on the basis of what they can be capable of in the right hands.
My entry into this one goes to the Ebon Jag: Medium Range, Meta, Heavy Weight Class: @sandwichman called it the Wubdron Born, I call it "Blackfisher", but this mech excels at laser vomit expertise. The LPL twins let you poke out at very good range (can still do good damage up to about 700-750 if you have a module attached), but the SPLs are what makes this build so deadly, as they will utterly ruin anyone that closes on you. I use a SPL range module, so can hit at about 180 with full damage. This is a 62 point alpha, but 36 points of that recycle VERY quickly at less heat cost, which can surprise people. Heat CAN be an issue, but I was piloting this build before double basics, and with good discipline (and an emergency cool shot), it works just fine. The best part? Unless someone packs a LOT of back armor, this build can ruin anything Cataphract size or smaller with a single pinpoint shot to the rear CT. Anything lower than 50 tons will likely not even last through half the burn of the LPLs if you full alpha them at close range from the rear. Just one note, put the SPL in the left torso BEFORE the LPLs, that way the big guns will be in the higher mounts. My average per match with this thing in 3-5 kills (in solo and group queue), and about 700-800 damage. Haven't had a match under 650 damage in the last 10 or so drops as I got it through elites.
I'm going to cheat and just quote someone else's list: http://metamechs.com/mwo-tier-lists/comp-list/ http://metamechs.com/mwo-tier-lists/mega-tier-list/ I use their list for ideas and to see what I'm likely to face in my own elo. Where are the different weapons etc located on a competitive mech? What are the weaknesses and strengths. I also stole their Direwolf-W to try as its laid out very differently to my normal ones with the same armament....
Spoiler: Reply: Urbie & other Lights While I do have one of my only 9 kill battles in an urbanmech I'm not sure its because its a superior mech which is what is being listed here surely? I look at the Arctic Cheetah and that's obscenely op currently. I don't take seriously any boasts people make in that mech as it breaks the slow and hardy paradign for Clan lights. Its insanely agile, fast, carries good focused firepower, lots of jump jets, clan xl engine/targetting comp/heat sinks. In my opinion it entered immediately as a tier 1 competitive mech and is far better than the urbanmech. The fact that one pilot performs well in an Urbanmech doesn't make it a better chassis. PS: Been leveling non arctic cheetah lights this week from scratch and its been painful fighting them!
Spoiler: Soy's Opinion how about lets not tier it cuz that's what makes this website unique plus the game itself is not tiered plus most of these peoples ideas of 'tiers' are subjective what you're suggesting is a major major turnoff and not what this website is about tiers are fucking stupid, period
Spoiler: Reply: Soy`s Opinion I respect your opinion, and np if you don`t like the idea of tiers. Tiers are used in a variety of sports/business/gaming domains, especially in competition cases, e.g. Soccer, Leagues etc.. It surprises me, that you don`t like it, as i always thought of you as a competitive-like guy. If tiers are ****** stupid, why are they used anyway in real-world-scenarios? p.s. this thread is meant to be a community game - opportunity to give *subjective* opinions of building and posting great builds toward a single factor - Range. It doesn`t regard Weight Classes, Weapon HPs etc. So don`t take it too seriously, respectively don`t take the Tier List as the 10 Commendments. See it as chance to have some more Activity here on mechspecs. Cheers
Spoiler: Soy`s Opinion II this is a free to play game about customization. what makes this website unique is that it's about sharing build ideas rather than quantifying builds. you tell me what you think a competitive setting is, and i'll most likely respond that MWO is not that. asking why something is used in RL scenarios is conjecture. Elo is used in other scenarios, doesn't mean it's the best way for the MM to function. and another thing - i don't take it too seriously. why is that when someone is critical of something, they're taking it too seriously. i think people actually bothering to go thru with tiering shit are taking it too seriously. i'm just tired of that attitude, the one about how the mystery must always be answered, creeping into everything. i don't give a shit if you guys feel like quantifying everything along the subjective lines of some retard's opinions, go ahead. doubt i'd bother with the site by that point at all.
