good heavy mech to upgrade to?

[ambi]

All I got are mediums and I've begun tackling missions where heavies now appear. Just wondering what heavy mechs would you recommend that I should focus on building?

I've heard good things about the Marauder since it gets a bonus to called shots, and I like using ballistic weapons to snipe or one-shot enemies.

[pete]

With out mods - IT is the heavy mech to get - DO NOT use 60 ton mechs - you have been warned

[maerchen]

Marauder, Warhammer, Archer if you like LRMs.

Marauder wins by 3 lengths at least because of the headshot and damage reduction capability (10% flat to the whole lance), Warhammer has a +20% energy weapon bonus, an ER PPC does 72 damage then but lacks the headshot accuracy of the Marauder.

I just hate LRMs.

[pete]

Originally posted by maerchen:

Marauder, Warhammer, Archer if you like LRMs.

Marauder wins by 3 lengths at least because of the headshot and damage reduction capability (10% flat), Warhammer has a +20% energy weapon bonus, an ER PPC does 72 damage then but lacks the headshot accuracy of the Marauder.

I just hate LRMs.

but LRMS are your friends!

[maerchen]

ECMs and AMS (Roguetech mod player here) are the way to go, LRMs are a nuisance then, and in vanilla the ECM is the most satisfying part to install in a Mech.

LRMs? Just say no.

[pete]

ok not a Roguetech player!

[maerchen]

My aversion comes from the very first vanilla missions I did. Foolishly I accepted ambush convoy missions with rookies and stock loadout Mechs, and getting just shredded from afar from LRM carriers in a lot of missions made me really really dislike them.
Then I found a free floating ECM in a shop and had the cash to grab, try and love it.

Thanks for listening to my ted talk.

[glasnerven]

Unmodded player here.

I swapped out the PPCs for Large Lasers in my Marauder, for heat mitigation purposes, and I am really loving it right now. It'll blow a side torso out in one good called shot salvo if I'm close enough to use the Medium Lasers, and I can afford to fire all the big guns every turn.

More importantly, she looks damn good while doing it!

[drivver44]

so as long as you avoid the quickdraw and the dragon (both 60 tonners)
all have a purpose that can be made meaningfull
Marruader is the best with a high skill pilot (35% chance on head hits with called shots)
Rifleman good for direct fire sniper with a range buff iirc on all weapons
jagermech ballistic and missile versions are avalable the missile varriant is the prefered IMO
Catapult do i need to say anything
thunderbolt you cannot go wrong with these for the most part
Grasshopper one of the melee mechs in the game because of the amount of support weapons you can mount
Cataphract couldnt give you a verdict as i havnt found a good loadout for it that i like
archer for better missiles overall
Orion both varriants are worth getting V for firesupport 3xlrm 15 for example K varriant is a good brawler
BlackKnight can be skipped
there are 2 SLDF mechs in the heavy catagory that i am aware of (it is worth noting that all SLDF mechs in the base game all sink 60 heat base instead of the regular 30)
BlackKnight 6B good for large laser spam
marruader 1r (i could be wrong on the number) this mech isnt worthwhile for the head sniping as you only have 1 balasitic hardpoint

thats my rundown of the heavys IMO

[pete]

Originally posted by drivver44:

so as long as you avoid the quickdraw and the dragon (both 60 tonners)
all have a purpose that can be made meaningfull
Marruader is the best with a high skill pilot (35% chance on head hits with called shots)
Rifleman good for direct fire sniper with a range buff iirc on all weapons
jagermech ballistic and missile versions are avalable the missile varriant is the prefered IMO
Catapult do i need to say anything
thunderbolt you cannot go wrong with these for the most part
Grasshopper one of the melee mechs in the game because of the amount of support weapons you can mount
Cataphract couldnt give you a verdict as i havnt found a good loadout for it that i like
archer for better missiles overall
Orion both varriants are worth getting V for firesupport 3xlrm 15 for example K varriant is a good brawler
BlackKnight can be skipped
there are 2 SLDF mechs in the heavy catagory that i am aware of (it is worth noting that all SLDF mechs in the base game all sink 60 heat base instead of the regular 30)
BlackKnight 6B good for large laser spam
marruader 1r (i could be wrong on the number) this mech isnt worthwhile for the head sniping as you only have 1 balasitic hardpoint

thats my rundown of the heavys IMO

No you misunderstand - the points to be made are
1) Avoid ALL 60 tom IS mechs - they are either too fast or over armed with poor armour/hear properties
2) if there is any doubt - refer to point 1)

[drivver44]

rifleman isnt that bad
its an easy take over all of the 60 tonners as it can have the firepower without major heat issues

[pete]

Originally posted by drivver44:

rifleman isnt that bad
its an easy take over all of the 60 tonners as it can have the firepower without major heat issues

From a TT background - in its basic version - useless - paper armour and heat issues with its standard loadout - it is marginally better in this game but the the point remains avoid it like the plague - keep to the 55 tonners until you can get 65 tonners or better

[danko9696]

Originally posted by drivver44:

archer for better missiles overall
Orion both varriants are worth getting V for firesupport 3xlrm 15 for example K varriant is a good brawler
BlackKnight can be skipped
there are 2 SLDF mechs in the heavy catagory that i am aware of (it is worth noting that all SLDF mechs in the base game all sink 60 heat base instead of the regular 30)
BlackKnight 6B good for large laser spam
marruader 1r (i could be wrong on the number) this mech isnt worthwhile for the head sniping as you only have 1 balasitic hardpoint

thats my rundown of the heavys IMO

Archer isn't very good as support mech but as main damage dealer, so it competes with other mechs that would spend resolve for Precision Shots. If you focus your lance on that aspect then it can be very good, but it's not your typical LRM boat.

Black Knight is very good, as massing energy weapons is really good, particularly in the late game. The lostech version lacks the damage quirk of the lostech Warhammer but on the other side it has more available weight. That doesn't fully compensate for the Warhammer quirk but it gets close.

The Marauder 2R is better for headcapping than the non lostech ones. Energy hardpoints are super duper good late game, overall better than ballistics.

Orion are very solid but cannot really compete with energy spam once you have the resources for that.

About the Grasshopper you don't really have to melee with it. You can use the support weapons as extra efficient supplementary firepower for CT core, headcapping or backstabbing. Before HM this was a staple of a heavy capable of fighting in the assault league. Now it is vastly outshined by other heavies but it is still a decent mech.

[New Moon On Monday]

The Marauder, any model. Though you should not pass up an opportunity to get a Marauder MAD-2R in the Black Market- the double heat-sinking helps support your headshot loadout.

Between the other two models, I actually like the Marauder MAD-3R for the ballistic hardpoint. The ability to load in a ballistic weapon helps with heat management.

And though there are quite a few great heavies, the reason you start with a Marauder is that your Marauder generates salvage and money. The Marauder helps you obtain other heavies and assaults.

Kills through Precision-Strike headshots maximize your salvage. Headshots all the time can be high-risk though, especially without an ideal loadout. Taking out an enemy mech's legs is often a more reliable alternative when you are in danger- the Marauder takes out one leg, and while the enemy is knocked down, a friend takes out the other leg.

After a Marauder, I like the Warhammer WHM-7A (Black Market only). That mech is actually good at cleaning up a situation where the Marauder damages but does not take out an enemy head- with 7 lasers firing on a Precision Shot with Tactics 9+, you have pretty good odds of one hitting the head. (You can load a bunch of lasers on the other Warhammer models of course, but with more heat complication).

I wouldn't buy any other heavies, because the Marauder will help me salvage what I want soon enough. But when it comes to the others:

I ike the Archer ARC-2R as a closer-range mech to do lots of stability damage (Snub PPC, 2 SRM6s, the premium versions of each that enhance stability damage.) I don't remember now why I preferred the 2R version, I suppose one could do the same thing with either version.

I liked the Orion ON1-K. Again I don't remember why I liked it better than the other version. The Orion is on the high end of the tonnage scale and flexible as to what you can put in it.

[wesnef]

Originally posted by pete:

Originally posted by drivver44:

rifleman isnt that bad
its an easy take over all of the 60 tonners as it can have the firepower without major heat issues

From a TT background - in its basic version - useless - paper armour and heat issues with its standard loadout - it is marginally better in this game but the the point remains avoid it like the plague - keep to the 55 tonners until you can get 65 tonners or better

Yes, but all mechs are to be refitted, so their default/stock values mean nothing.

The Rifleman is a fine mech, since it avoids the issue the Quickdraw and Dragon have - too large an engine taking too much weight.

Sure, the stock Rifleman is lousy. But quad UAC2's, or LBX2's, works just fine. (well, the UAC2 version runs a bit short on ammo with max armor. Plus requires sourcing four UAC2++. Plus extras for when an arm is inevitably blown off because ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ You Murphy! :D )


That said, if the OP doesn't have the Heavy Metal DLC, all this discussion of Riflemen and UACs/LBXs is moot. ;)


edit: really, "<insert deity here> Damn" gets censored?

[HurtfulPlayer97]

I like the Thunderbolt. Yes all the other heavier Mechs are better, but at 65 tons it's a bigger tougher Centurion.