Orion vs Thunderbolt

[Rodi]

I see many players praising Orion as one of the best heavy mechs. For heavies, I think Thunderbolts are amazing as well, but I never read anything about them, only Orion :P
What do you think about Orion vs Thunderbolt?

[Darkaiser]

The Orion is the original Assault Mech according to the lore. Kerensky led the charge against Stephan Amaris in an Orion.

That being said, the T-Bolt is also very solid. It just happens that it's ten tons lighter. As a result, it carries lighter weapons and less armor.

Both mechs are very good designs.

[Takoita]

I haven't been able to assemble a Thunderbolt to my satisfaction in this game yet, besides a smorgasbord, heavier Shadowhawk-like, 'a little bit of everything' loadout for the S variant. Although it may be just a matter of getting energy-focused chassis I like more before I got one of these.

As for Orions, I have three of them right now with a little varied amounts of LRM and AC. They seem to work great either individually or all three together with a fourth mech chosen for the situation.

[Rodi]

Originally posted by Darkaiser:

the T-Bolt is also very solid. It just happens that it's ten tons lighter. As a result, it carries lighter weapons and less armor.

But his engine probably weights less because in the end I am not seeing much difference in the weapon loadout and armor of fully customized Orion and Thunderbolt... Although I haven't done a deep analysis to be sure.

[Sword_of_Light]

T-bolt, hands down.

The Orion is made of paper, and every time I fielded it, damn thing got cored. The T-bolt just has more staying power, and is surprisingly versatile in terms of modification. I fielded three different custom variants, including a support missile boat and a CQB brawler.

As OpFor, Orions go down as easily as they do on my lance, likewise, T-bolts are tough kills.

The long and the short of it, I've been a fan of the T-bolt since boxed set, and this game hasnt done anything to change my high opinon of the mech.

[Eagle_of_Fire]

I hugely prefer my Thunderbolt to any Orion chassis I found so far.

By a huge mile too.

[RodHull]

Orions made of paper?? Mine is solid as hell, you just have strip some weaponry and heat sinks, the Orion easily can go toe to toe with assaults its basically a sub assault that goes on initiative 2 imo, it has very flexible loadout options as well.

T bolts are ok but become obselete once you can get orions and assaults imo, even grasshoppers are better than tbolts

[Eagle_of_Fire]

Dude... Grasshoppers are actually good? We're definitely not playing the same game you and me.

Orions and Grasshopers are part of the enemy team. I destroy those mechs on a daily basis and their loadout are pure garbage...

[hammerinn]

This is an argument noone will win.

[RodHull]

Originally posted by Eagle_of_Fire:

Dude... Grasshoppers are actually good? We're definitely not playing the same game you and me.

Orions and Grasshopers are part of the enemy team. I destroy those mechs on a daily basis and their loadout are pure garbage...

Yeah the default loadouts suck a** on most AI mechs (looking forward to the AI getting custom loadouts btw)

Grasshoppers are pretty tough very very mobile (which becomes a big factor in certain missions) and can dish out nasty damage with a decent srm4 and all medium lasers, i dont use them much now but i still have two for escort missions nothing except my battlemaster can outrun them.

As for orions i have an AC20 orion and one with 2 x LRMs (20 and 10) on it that would like to have a word with you.

[Sgt.Fumble]

If we compare the raw data of Orion (K and V variant) and Thunderbolt (also all variants) then Orion is slightly better.
He has a usable tonnage of 42.5t and can mount 17.875t of armor, melee dmg. is 95 and DFA dmg. is 190.
TDR's usable tonnage is 39t, max armor is 16.375t, melee dmg. is 80, DFA dmg. 160.
Walk and Sprint speed is the same.

But still i prefer the TDR for my player character! I just dig his looks. Actually I would like a Thor.

[RodHull]

Ah yes it does look better thats for sure, orions look a bit s**t haha

[Kel'Ithra]

Both. My Orion is a walking turret that spews raging fire at everything far and close.

While my tbolt moves around spewing fire at everything the Orion hasn't killed. Their both win win mechs for me.

[MinenSpecht]

Originally posted by roninsoul:

If we compare the raw data of Orion (K and V variant) and Thunderbolt (also all variants) then Orion is slightly better.
He has a usable tonnage of 42.5t and can mount 17.875t of armor, melee dmg. is 95 and DFA dmg. is 190.
TDR's usable tonnage is 39t, max armor is 16.375t, melee dmg. is 80, DFA dmg. 160.
Walk and Sprint speed is the same.

But still i prefer the TDR for my player character! I just dig his looks. Actually I would like a Thor.

Thor has a 360° torso turn. Would be a crazy opponent on the field.

[Sgt.Fumble]

For who's interested, I got the data from this post, comparison of all mechs.
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/one-chart-to-rule-them-all-comparing-all-mechs-hardpoints-speed-usable-tonnage-melee-etc.1088884/

[Birdmancer]

Depends on the variant and the hard points available.

Thunderbolts and Orions are both solid ‘Mechs.