How are the Mist Lynx, Osiris and Locust?

[Frosk]

For varying reasons, the mechs listed in the topic line have been a topic of interest for me (either I've considered getting 'em or just wanted to know a little more about them). I'm going to talk/ask about each of them individually though, so bare with me.

Mist Lynx
I remember people used to joke about this mech, however I've been seeing a few of em in quickplay recently. Is the mech still considered terrible? (I mean, I guess you can do well with any mech but still)

I am particularily interested in the variant with 8 ballistic and 4 energy hardpoints, the MLX-G.

Locust
My only IS light mech is an urbanmech, which is more of a medium mech masquerading as a light mech (probably a bad analogy, but what I'm trying to say is it doesn't feel like the other lights I've played), so I've been looking at other light IS mechs and for some reason this teeny tiny one has caught my attention, although I haven't looked up builds for it or even taken a closer look at each variant yet. Is the Locust worth a go? It's not exactly an expensive mech (although I guess the builds for it could end up increasing the cost significantly) so it's not that big a loss if it turns out I hate it and end up selling the mech.

Osiris
Last but not least, the Osiris. I can't recall ever actually seeing one of these in a match. Is it just a terrible/bad/terri-bad...? mech? Or is it just a strange coincidence that I haven't seen any?

[Shadow of the SPQR]

I like the mist lynx and would give it a go, but just like the locust, prepare for a crash course in manouvering to be effective. Locust is a classic great little mech that can get just about anywhere, but be careful that nobody looks at you funny. I simply don't see the merits to an Osiris; to my knowledge, it doesn't really do anything useful, and is a bit bulky/easily disassembled at that.

[Frosk]

Originally posted by CommodusIV:

I like the mist lynx and would give it a go, but just like the locust, prepare for a crash course in manouvering to be effective.

The more I look at it, the more appealing it becomes, however I worry that with the variant I've been most interested in (the MLX-G) I won't have much room to muck around with builds (due to tonneage/slots pretty much the only thing it seems to be able to run is it's stock build or a "super stock" build").

Originally posted by CommodusIV:

Locust is a classic great little mech that can get just about anywhere, but be careful that nobody looks at you funny.

Haha that might explain why I've occaisonally caught Locusts trying to get to... rather odd places.

Originally posted by CommodusIV:

I simply don't see the merits to an Osiris; to my knowledge, it doesn't really do anything useful, and is a bit bulky/easily disassembled at that.

Fair enough.

[Ishan451]

Mist Lynx is still meh. With all damage concentrated in the arms and everyone knowing about it, that is what people target. And it doesn't get any bonis to protect those arms. So between you and loosing that arm stand 25ish damage...

Anything that sneezes into your direction is damaging your arms. The number of slots available to you is also really, really small, meaning you can't really deviate much from the build everyone runs. You are married to a Beagle Active Probe and 6 jump jets..... and stuck at 113kph. The 100-120kph area is what i am calling the dead zone. Its fast enough to get you in trouble, but not fast enough to get you out again.

That being said... 8 MGs are fun to use, but i am struggling to find a build i actually enjoy. I mean really enjoy... and 8 MGs is not it... as i keep running out of ammo. Its a Mech, to me, that has a damage ceiling. Admittedly i am not patient enough to make the most use out of this mech. It shines the longer it survives... late game you can really tear people to shreds.

Problem with the Mist Lynx in the early game is... with 20 damage it doesn't have the speed or the punch to do much. At 113kph.. you are not fast enough to slip behind the enemy in the start. A commando or a Locust might be able to pull this off, but they also run almost 50kph faster than you do.

Hunting other lights is out of the question. You will win a prolonged trade, thanks to your MGs... but you are guaranteed to loose an arm. Everyone will shoot your arm instead of your leg. Its just a thing people do..

Hunting LRM boats in midgame is fun.. when the enemy is mostly occupied with the rest of the team.. you get to go to work. Weave yourself around the enemy... find the guy with the most girly scream and give him a dose of surprise b*****x. Problem is... in all likelihood... some enemy light mech will hang out and try to stop you... and that is where you are back at the point of fighting other light mechs that will target your arms. You loose an arm... or two... you probably win the engagement... but once your arms are gone... you are pretty much out of the game. Your two small flash light lasers aren't gonna impress anybody.

If you somehow made it through the early and end game without loosing an arm.... chances are you are almost out of ammo for those MGs.. but this is where you'll shine.

My problem with the MLX is how situational it is. Compared to my other light mechs.. its just fast enough for me to overextend and end up in a situation i didn't want to be in... and its not fast enough to use it like a Locust in which you bob and weave between your allies, exploiting weaknesses in the enemy line. The MLX.... i dunno... it almost requires you to leave your allies in mid game and try to come at the enemy from the back. If it works... great, you gonna tear them apart... if it doesn't... you are either shot to pieces or another light mech shows up. Yeah, you'll win that trade.. but... the way your weapons are set up...

And from the enemy light mechs perspective... i am not looking to destroy an MLX... its a scary mech to face. What i am doing, going in, is aim to disarm it quickly. Just like i am not looking to fight a Piranha... for the Piranha i aim for the leg, take a leg and leave. Let my team deal with it at range. With the MLX... i go in, aim for the arms... and THEN go for the kill.



Locust..... dancing on the battlefield. That is pretty much it. Playing a Locust is playing a rythem game.. if you stop you lost. You needs to always be moving and not just a little bit.. i mean really moving. If you stop for a second and someone you didn't even know was there gets half a good shot on you... you are done. Your entire arm and side torso do not even have 50 points of damage... and... quite frankly... i've died from eating dual Gauss. Not heavy Gauss... normal... regular.. bog standard... dual Gauss. That is 15 damage a pop... and those 30 damage are all its needs to pop your side torso and that is the game. Game... match... set. They punch your ticket and you go home...

So why play a Locust? Because its fun. Really, really fun. You are most likely only running 4 medium lasers... or small pulse lasers... but you will be going 150-160kph... speed is life... speed is joy.

Get some free MC... safe it up for the next hero sale and buy yourself a Pirate Bane for 500 MC or so. Hands down the best light mech in the game. No other light mech will teach you how to be a light mech like the Locust... because if you stop you are dead... if you make a wrong choice.. you are dead.... if you peek at the same spot more than once.... you are dead.... quite frankly.. you are dead man walking... nay... running.


Osiris... much like the Firestarter its a boring mech. Everything it does.. the Locust does better. Basically... if you always felt like "man i really wanted jump jets on my Locust" then the Osiris is pretty much your choice. It as a smidge more armor than the Locust, but is also a bit larger.

[Frosk]

Originally posted by Ishan451:

Mist Lynx is still meh. With all damage concentrated in the arms and everyone knowing about it, that is what people target. And it doesn't get any bonis to protect those arms. So between you and loosing that arm stand 25ish damage...

Anything that sneezes into your direction is damaging your arms. The number of slots available to you is also really, really small, meaning you can't really deviate much from the build everyone runs. You are married to a Beagle Active Probe and 6 jump jets..... and stuck at 113kph. The 100-120kph area is what i am calling the dead zone. Its fast enough to get you in trouble, but not fast enough to get you out again.

That being said... 8 MGs are fun to use, but i am struggling to find a build i actually enjoy. I mean really enjoy... and 8 MGs is not it... as i keep running out of ammo. Its a Mech, to me, that has a damage ceiling. Admittedly i am not patient enough to make the most use out of this mech. It shines the longer it survives... late game you can really tear people to shreds.

Problem with the Mist Lynx in the early game is... with 20 damage it doesn't have the speed or the punch to do much. At 113kph.. you are not fast enough to slip behind the enemy in the start. A commando or a Locust might be able to pull this off, but they also run almost 50kph faster than you do.

Hunting other lights is out of the question. You will win a prolonged trade, thanks to your MGs... but you are guaranteed to loose an arm. Everyone will shoot your arm instead of your leg. Its just a thing people do..

Hunting LRM boats in midgame is fun.. when the enemy is mostly occupied with the rest of the team.. you get to go to work. Weave yourself around the enemy... find the guy with the most girly scream and give him a dose of surprise b*****x. Problem is... in all likelihood... some enemy light mech will hang out and try to stop you... and that is where you are back at the point of fighting other light mechs that will target your arms. You loose an arm... or two... you probably win the engagement... but once your arms are gone... you are pretty much out of the game. Your two small flash light lasers aren't gonna impress anybody.

If you somehow made it through the early and end game without loosing an arm.... chances are you are almost out of ammo for those MGs.. but this is where you'll shine.

My problem with the MLX is how situational it is. Compared to my other light mechs.. its just fast enough for me to overextend and end up in a situation i didn't want to be in... and its not fast enough to use it like a Locust in which you bob and weave between your allies, exploiting weaknesses in the enemy line. The MLX.... i dunno... it almost requires you to leave your allies in mid game and try to come at the enemy from the back. If it works... great, you gonna tear them apart... if it doesn't... you are either shot to pieces or another light mech shows up. Yeah, you'll win that trade.. but... the way your weapons are set up...

And from the enemy light mechs perspective... i am not looking to destroy an MLX... its a scary mech to face. What i am doing, going in, is aim to disarm it quickly. Just like i am not looking to fight a Piranha... for the Piranha i aim for the leg, take a leg and leave. Let my team deal with it at range. With the MLX... i go in, aim for the arms... and THEN go for the kill.



Locust..... dancing on the battlefield. That is pretty much it. Playing a Locust is playing a rythem game.. if you stop you lost. You needs to always be moving and not just a little bit.. i mean really moving. If you stop for a second and someone you didn't even know was there gets half a good shot on you... you are done. Your entire arm and side torso do not even have 50 points of damage... and... quite frankly... i've died from eating dual Gauss. Not heavy Gauss... normal... regular.. bog standard... dual Gauss. That is 15 damage a pop... and those 30 damage are all its needs to pop your side torso and that is the game. Game... match... set. They punch your ticket and you go home...

So why play a Locust? Because its fun. Really, really fun. You are most likely only running 4 medium lasers... or small pulse lasers... but you will be going 150-160kph... speed is life... speed is joy.

Get some free MC... safe it up for the next hero sale and buy yourself a Pirate Bane for 500 MC or so. Hands down the best light mech in the game. No other light mech will teach you how to be a light mech like the Locust... because if you stop you are dead... if you make a wrong choice.. you are dead.... if you peek at the same spot more than once.... you are dead.... quite frankly.. you are dead man walking... nay... running.


Osiris... much like the Firestarter its a boring mech. Everything it does.. the Locust does better. Basically... if you always felt like "man i really wanted jump jets on my Locust" then the Osiris is pretty much your choice. It as a smidge more armor than the Locust, but is also a bit larger.

Thanks for that response, basically answered all my questions in one fell swoop haha.

Also I particularily loved your description of playing a mist lynx

[Gralzeim]

Jeez Ishan, stop making me want to get a Locust. I need those cbills for other things!

[Ishan451]

Originally posted by Gralzeim:

Jeez Ishan, stop making me want to get a Locust. I need those cbills for other things!

Aww... but its super cheap and cuddly... cute and cuddly.

[BURN PALESTINE]

heh if im playing im usually found in my pb or 1e locust, so much fun , play mwo like its a twitch shooter xD

[tutzdes]

I don't play classic squirrely lights usually and are more into hit-n-run ones.

Mist Lynx MLX-G is the best of the Lynxes and the only one of those which is a great mech IMO. On maps with a lot of verticality and cover it rocks. It is also an endgame mech, as it is best used against damaged and isolated foes. The mech is really hampered by it's maximum speed, sometimes you may not be able to survive the encounter/run away vs Urbie, Stormcrow, Crab, Assassin, Fridge, and 30-35t light mechs.

Locust is the reigning king of the squirrels and requires a very good pilot to be effective. It can decimate low tier enemy teams by itself as some players are lrgitimately unable to hit the Locust, which knows how to move. PB is the best locust for a sole reason that lots people are unable to see targets that they can not lock on. If the people can aim the Locust which is too ballsy dies fast.

Osiris. I actually like the Osiris (yeah, and the Firestarter too). It is the mech which is just as fast as Locust, can jump and mount pretty solid firepower. But it is twice as big as Locust and almost just as squishy (hitboxes are bad, like Raven-bad). It can be a very effective mid-range harasser (5-6xERMLs are no joke). It is worse than Locust at not being seen while poking at people but if you are able to pull it off, that can be a great mech to play (I like it more than Ravens, Jenners, Spiders).

[BWS2K]

I have days of playtime in Mist Lynxes and I've been playing them for years. The MLX-Prime is a virtual tank. Get the armor tree and bring 2xMGs and 2xSRM4s and you'll do pretty well. The ERPPC build(s) require accuracy but can also be fairly decent. The MLX-G is an excellent 'mech but it takes a lot of flak because a) people don't understand how Mist Lynxes are supposed to be played, and b) it's very good at doing one thing - but that's about it.

Now you can put 2xER Mediums in the torso with two Micros in the arms and 8xMGs and do really well. I have full mobility and armor trees with the nodes for extra ammuntion capacity and absolutely wreck in it. Folks know to shoot your arms and when they do... you've still got two very decent ranged weapons and those jump jets. You can't play to live in a Lynx though. Our lives are worth nothing if they last a whole drop. You wait, assess, and then commit to taking down a 'mech at all costs. This will often cost you a lot of armor if not your life but most folks will either ignore you, which lets you get in the first volley, of turn towards you for the easy kill.

So give it to them. Learn to dance like everybody's watching so that when they do your buddies can blast them to smithereens for daring to take their attention off of your much bigger teammates. Tactical death. I'm working on an updated guide for YouTube but the bottom line is the Lynx is an excellent 'mech but it takes time to learn. It's not a pick-me-up-and-win 'mech. The tactics and strategies are much more subtle and fluid. You have to adapt on a dime. Sometimes you squirrel, sometimes you charge, sometimes you distract a whole lance, sometimes you lead a charge, etc. Never be afraid of attacking something four times your mass. If you can kill it (and you will learn how to kill it) then it's a very acceptable trade. Don't skimp on your back armor either - spinjumping will spread damage and help you stay alive a little longer. Set bonuses should not be overlooked either - you don't have the speed of other 'mechs but you can get some great mobility/agility (accel/decel) and that's really what you need.

Good luck! ;)
#mistlynx4life

[Judasilfarion]

20 tonners at max speed turns the game into a fighter pilot simulator. The thing's fast as hell and when you meet another light mech it literally just becomes a Star Wars style dogfight, your screen shaking all over the place as you try to keep a bead on the enemy mech while they zigzag like crazy weaving through building alleyways and between the legs of enemy mechs.

Describing the Urbanmech as a medium mech in disguise is accurate. Its max speed isn't even higher than 100, but the thing has armor quirks up the ass and is about as tough as a 50 ton medium mech when you give it the right skills, while retaining the size and hitbox of a light mech

[Frosk]

Originally posted by Judasilfarion:

Describing the Urbanmech as a medium mech in disguise is accurate. Its max speed isn't even higher than 100, but the thing has armor quirks up the ass and is about as tough as a 50 ton medium mech when you give it the right skills, while retaining the size and hitbox of a light mech

Glad to see my analogy wasn't as terrible as I thought haha

[Gralzeim]

Had no idea the Urbanmech got armor quirks. This explains why it's surprisingly tougher than you'd expect a light of its weight to be. (Makes sense, since it's slow for a light mech)

[Frosk]

How's 4x Small Pulse Laser and 2x Med Lasers/ER Med Lasers on the Locust LCT-1E?

Saw someone do freakishly well with 5/6 Small Pulse Lasers but I'm not willing to go the full mile and only shoot people from the back, I'd prefer to have the med lasers just in case.

I'd prefer the hero Locust but can't afford it currently.

[Ishan451]

I ran mine with 6 pulses for a while... Stopped because the range is limiting. Same reason why I wouldn't do 4 pulses and 2 mediums. Not enough range. I would either go all in on the mediums or the pulses, but... Why not try and see how it works for you.

[BWS2K]

One of the greatest strengths the Locust has is speed. I agree with Ishan451 above - specialize and you might have more success simply because you're able to get to whatever range you need, alpha, and then escape (usually). Slower 'mechs need to consider viability at different ranges but Locusts are small enough and fast enough that they can usually maintain the range they want.