Good beginner mechs

[Cyber Diver]

Sooo as the title says, what are some of the best beginner friendly mechs in this game.
I personally really like the Jenner IIc mech with it's 4 SRM6s. The only thing I can think it can improve to better fit me is a faster jumpjet. Soooo what do you guys think.

[Aw Shucks]

Well, definitely not the Jenner IIC.

Aim for mediums and heavies. Personal favorites that are actually suitable for beginners? Marauder, maybe. Roughneck possibly. Shadowhawk, hard maybe. Dervish definitely.

I think my personal non-hero favorites in those classes were the Marauder-5M, -5D and -3R, Shadowhawk-2K, -2H and -5M, Enforcer-5P and -4P, Hunchback-4G, Cicada-3M, Dragon-1N, -1G and -5N, Dervish-7P, Blackjack-1X and -3, Phoenix Hawk-1 and -1B, Roughneck-3A, and Catapult-A1. Not necessarily all good beginner mechs.

[Reuenthal]

Crab IIB with 6 medium pulse lasers. Once you get the skill tree filled out it's very durable and deals good damage.

[🎃MaximusBlastalot🎃]

As a relatively new player (and only really having the chance to mainly play clan) myself I have found vgl-1(c-erppc), lbk-prime(c-erppc) and hbk-iic(uac20s) have been the easiest to do well with and win matches.

That may simply be due to me having a back ground in things like tribes and "boomer shooters" thought (and thus poptarting/projectiles is "home" for me). Part of its also definetly not always having a good idea on where to set up/reposition too (or do to what my team does). Jump jets help with that by quite bit. Thats not to mention the amount of info you can gather which helps with not having as much "game sense" due to a lack of experience.

As far as other things I have played, the hellbringer with a laser alpha set up is also pretty forgiving as far as heat management compared to its contemporaries as is MCII-DS with a gaus/lasers build (however im still learning the gaus projectile, and its a hero mech). That being said by far the Mad-iic is prob the easiest assault ive played (thought I really like my warhawk prime and Christmas Maruder with 2 cerppcs and 3x uac5s).

As far as srm stuff, I have no clue as I never play them. Currently Im torn between getting a acw-1 for srms or another cerppc/gaus focused mech (ntg-d/cou-h/mad-iic-d). Adder can be fun with streaks thought thats about the closest to srms I have been.

[salamatmahal]

Probably one of the easiest mechs to play in my opinion has to be the laser-vomit hellbringer.

Something like this is reasonably mobile, reasonably armored, has good hardpoint locations, good cooling, decent alpha, ECM, and single-button-firing.

You won't want to get into anyone's face with it, but it's a good peeker/poker/mid-ranger.

https://mwo.nav-alpha.com/mechlab?b=1cdc0f2e_HBR-F

[Ishan451]

Originally posted by Cyber Diver:

some of the best beginner friendly mechs

That will entirely depend on you and your playstyle. People will likely recommend you a lot of heavies and some might even recommend you assault mechs... but generally it is not advisable to start in either light or assault mechs.

That being said... i started in a light mech and i loved it, because i really can't stand the walking coffins.. if its slower than 80kph i am feeling uncomfortable.

Starting in a light mech means two things: You are a glutton for punishment and you love the "gotta go fast"-life style.

Originally posted by Cyber Diver:

I personally really like the Jenner IIc mech with it's 4 SRM6s. The only thing I can think it can improve to better fit me is a faster jumpjet. Soooo what do you guys think.

Having played all the light mechs in this game, and being primarily focused on light mechs, i can tell you that the Jenner IIc wouldn't be my go to mech. That being said, it all depends on how you use it and if you enjoy quad SRM6 and the mech itself, there is nothing speaking against it.

Most important thing is for you to have fun. Personally i would recommend an Arctic Wolf, but it's a bit slower (and some variants do not have JJ) than the Jenner IIc, but also has a bit better hitboxes and armor. Also the Viper needs the Medusa Hero mech to have the parts for 3 SRM6...

So in that way the Jenner IIc is the best it will go when you want that combination of speed and mobility, while bringing quad SRM6.

If you are willing to compromise and go a bit slower, then i would recommend the Arctic Wolf (ACW-Prime) or the Huntsman (Huntsman has no good SRM quirks but i'd buy the C variant as it will give you a LRM platform on top). Or you go over the IS mechs and grab yourself something like a Vindicator (1X), Griffin (1S) or Wolverine (7D) with a MRM40 (be it dual MRM20 or single MRM40), all 3 of these come with about 20% missile cooldown quirk, and the MRM gives you basically the behavior of a SRM launcher but at 450 meters, so you do not need to get as close. MRM40 also does about 40 damage (where an SRM6 does about 12 damage, so you'd trade 8 damage for almost twice the range). The IS mechs come with JJs but only run in the region of 85kph, unless you risk it with an XL reactor (and IS XL reactors means you blow up if you lose a side torso), making it a bit more risk reward. But IS mechs, compared to Clan mechs are a bit more durable.

If you can life without the Jump Jets, there is the icebox.. i mean Ice Ferret would be an option, unfortunately you again need the hero mech for quad SRM6, so you would have to again settle for triple SRM6, but it has more armor and runs 126kph without Skills. The hit boxes are a bit better, than the Jenner (both Jenner, the IS as well as the Clan version suffer from a super large CT... it feels a bit as if that mech is made out of CT).

And if you are willing to compromise on the SRM6, i would suggest trying the Arctic Cheetah (Prime). You could run it with dual SRM4 and quad heavy medium lasers. Gives you the same engagement range, quad medium heavies gives you that 40 point damage punch, and the missiles on top... plus an ECM. That isn't the best loadout for this mech, but it respects your wishes in terms of what you enjoy.

And my personal favorite Light mech is a Frankensteined Kit Fox with quad SRM4 and an ER PPC. It only runs 97kph... and is primarily a fire support mech, but i really love the little bugger. You buy the Kitfox C and replace both side torsos with the one from the G variant and the left arm with the D variant. Then slap in SRM4s, the ECM and the ER PPC. And if you ever need an AMS mech, you can just restore the C-variant to a pure variant and get all that sweet, sweet Set bonus. Before the G variant came out i would run mine as pure Kitfox C, with ER PPC and two ER medium lasers, AMS and ECM. It is a bracket build and bracket builds are generally not recommended, so i won't be recommending you this mech either.


So the TL;DR...
...of all the mechs i mentioned, i would probably would say the Jenner IIc is the best its gonna get for that particular 120kph, quad SRM6 playstyle. If you are willing to compromise on that, i would recommend the Arctic Wolf (Prime) or the Wolverine 7D.

[Sar]

Not like salamatmahal needs me seconding his opinion, but lasvom Hellbringer is the first thing that comes to my mind when talking about good beginner mechs, for all the reasons he mentioned already!

[Harukage]

Honestly is till think that the best IS srm mech is an Assassin 21. I run one with quad SRM4s, because it allows bigger engine and jump jets, and it is not about dishing more damage with alpha, but about shooting more often and from unexpected angles. But a lot of people like to go 4 SRM6s on it. You need XL engine though, but hitboxes on the thing are still god tier.
Another thing is Vindicator 1X. Though a bit slower you can go MRM40 on it with twice the range of srms, and you can also slap a pair of medium lasers just for some extra touch, and 3 light machine guns for crit seeking at medium range. Combined with JJs you can get a very annoying jumping skirmisher. Still needs an XL engine, and is a bit slower, but has enough armor for a heavy and great hitboxes.

[Aw Shucks]

Before I tapped out I was eyeballing the Vindi. I already had the Assassin hero but it was mostly a goof-off mech because I loved screwing with the (single) AC2. Absolutely suboptimal but funny. Kind of wish it was quirked for UAC2 (or LGauss maybe?) instead, but there's already an Assassin (the -26 I think?) quirked for UACs. Darkdeath is kind of okay as an ECM-capable MRM mech, but I mean... everyone runs it that way. Darkdeath's one gimmick to set it apart from the other variants is the ballistic arm and it's specifically quirked for the AC2 I think... with 1 B hardpoint in there. And it won't fit an AC20. Though it does sit at the confluence of ECM capable and ballistic capable, since I don't think the 26 has ECM.

E: maybe RAC? A RAC Assassin could be funny. Though single RAC2 is... unexciting. Single RAC5, maybe. Keeps it from being redundant with the 26. Idk. It'd need ammo quirks.

[Wingnut Mcmoomoo]

Hellbringer is a good starter omni, was one of my first mechs and i feel it was a good choice

-you can try out all types of weapons by purchasing a few of the omni pods
-its easy to fit with all sorts of different setups that work well
-its got easy to use weapon placements if you use the torso hardpoints as they're right next to the cockpit

[Gallen]

I'm a beginner! The few mechs that I really enjoy are:

Lights:
- Piranha 1, mgs, lasers and 2xflamers. Hilarious to watch the big mechs shut down and you and your crew pummel them. Really squishy though, and I have to bide my time before attacking. If not, one good legging and you're outta the match.
- Kitfox Purifier: two builds, ecm/ams/medium lasers and ecm/hmlx2, mlx4. Just stick with the team, shielding them with ecm, and using the high mounts, pop up and snipe with the heavy medium lasers.
- Urbanmech (K9, 60 are the ones I have). Many builds.... rac5, rac2x2+lasers, mg + mls, light gauss etc. Surprisingly tanky for a light mech, and its fast. The K9 has working sirens even.

Mediums:
- Hero Uzriel - lppc x4 + jumpjets to poptart is fun.
- The current free hunchback iicA - hmlx4 on the high mounts really fun to play with
- Nova NVA-S - mount up nothing but micro and small lasers in the arm mounts and you can take off an arm with an alpha strike. Omni, so mix and match parts.

Heavies:
- Archer ARC-2R - 3xlrm15, 4ml. Easily keep up with the team, lrms, and the 4ml puts out damage for when you're out of lrm ammo/in close
- Marauder - I personally have the 3R with 2xrac5 + 4ml build, its fun!
- Mad Dog Prime - similar setup to the archer above, but it moves a lot quicker.
- Timberwolf BH - I'm using the setup with ecm/lplx2/mplx5. Kind of boring but it does good damage and the ecm is great for shielding your team.
- Warhammer BW - UAC5x2, UAC10.

Assaults:
I suck at playing assaults, but these are the ones I found some success with:
- Mad Cat MKII DS - dual gauss and pulse lasers.
- Corsair 7A - 4ams plus racs and mls.

[TiberiusGaben]

jager mech with 2 ac 20s and 3 small lasers plus acm

[Haman Karn]

Hellbringer, 2 large pulse lasers, 4 medium lasers, ecm

[DarkRacc00n]

I'm kinda new and I love playing de Night Gyr D. Very simple for long range and fun. But Overheat easily.

[MagpieOAO]

Ideally mechs that are cheap but versatile to help players explore playstyles they might enjoy while surviving mistakes. Fast enough to reposition when you've taken a wrong turn or your team wipes.

With that in mind I'm thinking; Centurion, Shadowhawk, Wolverine.
Centurion is a great way to learn torso twisting, it's obvious right off you should be blocking with your arms to protect your torso when you get one. Then you learn how to do it on all mechs.
Shadowhawk has a good few models that have all torso weapons so you can use your arms only for blocking and they're well placed on the high torso to boot.
Wolverine is a bit underwhelming on firepower but can be extremely tough while remaining relatively agile.

All 3 of them also have variants, if not most variants enjoying all hardpoint types (ballistic, energy, missile).

[JC]

If you like that jenner SRM build i would highly suggest trying a Javelin with 4 SRM4's It's a great mech with good hitboxes and great jumping ability. It's a great SRM bomber.

For a medium SRM bomber the assassin on IS side and the huntsman with a 4ASRM6+2SRM2 (it dodges ghost heat) It's an extremely tight cluster that works very well. they have a bit more armor to help save you if you get out of position too.


That said in this game short range builds are pretty hard to run. for someone just learning i'd really suggest some mechs that run LL or LPL's and even MRM's.

One of my personal favorite mechs is the Crab 27 i think, It's a medium IS that can run a STD engine and 6 EML's. It's very tanky and fun to play.

if you have MC and want a really fun mech, the Quickdraw IV runs dual MRM30's which is a fantastically fun mech and a great money earner. Though there are some C-bill mechs that also do dual mrm30's well. One of the wolverines is a fun one too and makes a great MRM medium.

For heavies with lasers like the others said clan side timber and Hellbringer are great, but after the buffs i find the black Knights to be a pretty solid laser mech again as are the grasshoppers. 3LL's+EMLS is a nice burn.


Good luck and happy hunting!