Round Table Discussion Of Crystal Mecha By The Galaxy Gathering Editor Staff

While sitting around the G.G. offices we decided to discuss what the best crystal mech was in each weight category. What follows is the transcript of said conversation....

David - Ok, I'll start off and you can chime in.

Light category I'd have to go for the Hoplite. Ants are one shot death traps, Anzus even worse because they just blow themselves up as soon as you sneeze and while the Shocklite is a decent little missile mech, its a touch too under-shielded for my liking.

The Hoplite however has decent shielding, reasonable dodge and most importantly is the first light mech that gets access to Beta grade shields which makes it a good survivable point mech for a good few tonnage levels.

Medium has got to be the Oggun. Pound for pound its one of the strongest crystal mechs out there, and is one of the only ones that can really hold its own against its niode counterpart, the Fides.

I do feel however that the Luison deserves an honorable mention as it makes a better point mech in its weight class than the Oggun does, even though the Oggun has access to a higher grade of shield.

Heavy has got to be the Ammonite. Again brilliant shielding and a higher grade than others in the class, its a solid workhorse wherever you put it.

Huge is a very difficult category, because the mechs are all so very different. I haven't had a brilliant run with Gigus or Ballista,and while the Jottun is a brilliant ice mech and served me well as a utility specialist, I think I'd have to plump for the Harrel. Again a good point mech but instead of a generalist like the luisons and ammonites before them, this one specializes in a nice fast projectile payload so it can start killing things quickly rather than perhaps stand and take shots first before it replies.

And onto the BFM's. In a word, Urgh. Now the caveat is that I'm not a high enough level to have played in a Balrog, so of the others... umm... actually the Glaccus. Its got the best shielding available, and while it is certainly eclipsed by the Boreas as an ice mech, we aren't bringing niode mechs into it... and as a crystal chassis, it does its job as an ice mech very nicely indeed.


Pat - Granted I haven't used many of these lighter mechs for a long time now. Hell I've sold most off, but my list will be from what I remember.

For light I have to give it to the Shocklite. Yes David has a point about the lack of shielding, however with newer equipment coming out, faster weapon systems, and dialed in level stats this still has my vote for the top player in its weight class.

Medium is Oggun hands down, always was the major work horse of its weight class and major ass kicker to boot. As long as we're doing honorable mentions mine for this category would of course go to the Nifthel. Remember I can recall a time before equipment and back then this mech was an ice monster. After equipment got implemented I can only imagine it getting stronger.

Heavy for me is a tie between the Krampus and the Ammonite. Both solid mechs, both utilize fast weapons in the projectiles they use. Both have nice equipment slots (Ammo yes has an extra or so but it is a higher weight by 5 tons) and both can deliver solid damage while retaining their position on the field very well.

For the Huge ranking there aren't many crystal choices to be had. Out of the Gigus, Harrell, and the Jottun choices the only reasonable one to me is the Harrell. Again fast firing weapons with projectiles, and nice damage built in to the guns even before adding in mecha bonuses, or damage multipliers that the mecha gives you. Tack on your X2/X3 damage, equipment boosts and modifiers, and shielding and well you just have one solid mecha.

For the BFM class I would pick the Magnus. Yes it has limited equipment slots. So no it'll never haul a lot of ass or dance a jig in a dodge, but it will give you seven shield slots to play with, it packs Freeze, Fork, with Trample, and Splash shields as in built mecha bonuses. Plus it uses again projectile weapons, and if you can get the higher end faster missile systems this mech packs a nice boost to that damage as well.

Ron - laser/jadoon.....missile/typhoon......projectile/magnus......fire/yallan.....ice/glaccus...........10t/red ant......50t/oggun.....the rest.....I'm a bit undecided on......for overall heavy I would have to say....its a tie between magnus and glaccus for me. In crystal that is, niode is a whooooollllle other ball of wax

Pat -No lie there niode is an entirely different beast.

Kenneth - Like in all things, judging the "best" can be broken down into style of play, rolls, versatility, Att/Def, and aesthetics. Let's take a look:

Light: Ant, Anzu, Shocklite, Hoplite.
Ants have been given their niche as a 10 ton specialist. Fast, one shot machines, be it giving or receiving, they have only one purpose, the 10 ton spec. This alone makes them more useful than either the Anzu or Hoplite.

Until the day they let us reconfigure Anzus to carry Hand held nukes, they are even less than useless. So my vote in the Light category will go to the Shocklite.

I've blown up many the preening Axebot with my Shocklites, as they can be set up with very decent speed and freeze weapons depending on what equipment you set up. And in my book, a crystal mech who can stand toe to toe with arguably the best mech in it's weight class niode or crystal, gets my vote.

Medium:iMech, Holmes, Zadok/Nephilax, Nifthel, Luison, Oggun, Xmas Tree

Zadoks and Nephilax would win easily, but while they are "technically" a crystal mech, they really aren't. More weapon slots, more bonuses, these two prize mechs signify bragging rights as to a pilot's prowess in one of the countless arenas. Because of this, I don't think they fit in this judging.

There are a lot of really good crystal mechs in this division, but my vote has to go with the scrappy Oggun which time and again has proven to be a solid competitor against whomever wants to take a shot at it.

Heavy:Warg, Namtar, Orester, Krampus, Freon, Ammonite, Bishop

This Division is a combination of laughable vs what role you need in this division.

Laughable: the Orester and Namtar.

The rest: My personal favorite is the Bishop. My Bishops have proven extremely good at dodging and have great accuracy. Load them with Eyes of the Galaxy and you have a very serious threat.
Huge:Gigus, Ballista, Jottun, Harrell.

I always wished that the Gigus had better capabilities. This mech has one of the coolest back stories, including a detailed description of how they actually ingest a pilot to link. I mean really, how cool is that (unless you're the pilot of course.)

My vote has to go to the Harrell though as they are a certified workhorse that can take punishment as well as dish it out. My Harrells have been able to stay in my lineup longer than any other crystal mech in their weight division.

BFM:Jadoon, Magnus, Yallan, Glaccus, Typhoon, Corsair
This category breaks more into what roll you need. Jadoons are one shot, laser killing machines that can dance, duck, dip, dive, and dodge across a battlefield.

Typhoons also show great ability in the dodge department, and can carry some of the most devastating weapons utilized at this level efficiently.

My vote goes to the Magnus however for a couple reasons. One, it's built to be a front line fighter, capable of taking damage. Many have shot this beast with what should have been a kill shot, only to see it rise from the smoke and commence to whooping butt. Also, it has imho the best versatility of the weight class. Truly a well balanced performer.

Submitted by your Galaxy Gathering staff, Ron Frye#879655, David McCallum#701548, Kenneth Hicks#846092, Pat Willis#224534

In Depth Equipment Round Table By The Galaxy Gathering Editorial Staff

This week's topic for the round table discussion is a follow up discussion to the arguments surrounding the issues of penalties to weapons, gear, equipment and mechs. How do you feel about the concept of balancing the game and reflecting the size and power of higher tonnage mechs and gear by increasing the amount of slots that heavier gear takes up? For example: A 50 ton engine takes up one slot, but a 100 ton capacity engine would take up two slots *twice the power, twice the size, twice the amount of space required*. The floor is now open to questions, responses, and commentary.

(the beer is in the ice cooler to the left of the snack table and the hard liquor is in the cabinet under the bar)

Ken -  I'm all for common sense penalties with gear and weapons as , well... they make sense. Examples being flying gear being susceptible to missiles, freeze gear being susceptible to projectiles, etc. I even agree with niode gear and weapons having a significant advantage over it's crystal counterparts.

What I find highly annoying (I believe I used the phrased "Pissed Off About") is limitation on the numbers of certain weapons that you can obtain. Do you have a full line of Fexts? Well unless you dump a shit tone of $$ into niodes, you'll be using lasers 40 levels below you to compensate for the numbers. Have 5 Ignis? Which is even more plausible since it's been a prize for so long? Same thing. You end up filling weapon slots with weaksauce flame-spitters. Unless a factory was taken out due to sabotage or incursions, putting a limit on the number of weapons manufactured is just idiotic.

Ron - Limitations on weapons is a raw topic for all of us....the previous round table on that one left us all with a bad taste in our mouths....I'm with you....if there are going to be any limitations on weapons there needs to be a sound and solid reason for it.....but, what I am asking in this discussion is should heavier gear require more slots than lighter gear

Ken - In a way, I feel the limitations are built in. An engine for a light mech will give you +25 speed while the comparable engine for a 100 tonner gives you +5. Why? Size.

Processors for light mechs will give you a +4 or +6 precision while processors for larger mechs go up over +10. Why? More room for processing chips.

Now at the same time, I do see inconsistencies to this formula. mech cockpits over 80 tons seem to suffer in the precision department as opposed to getting better. Why...

Without going back through, several pieces of gear exclusively made for 100 tonners suffers as opposed to the 80-95 ton gear range, when it had been doing nothing but improve up to that point.
This is an inconsistency that makes no sense. It's like we're being punished for fielding larger mechs.

Pat -  Bigger equipment pieces to take up more slots and deliver more actual stat mods as opposed to the crap show we have now hell yes I'm all for it. Limits to me make no sense as I said in the last convo if you can afford it you should be able to buy it. Now if said item is on sale in the mystery vortex you have a chance at getting it so technically it is still available beyond the limits listed in the shop. But that is a one in however many chance. I want an option past the shop, past the pirate controlled vortex, gimme....a junk dealer! Yeah a junk dealer don't you see? Then we can go over the limits listed and the parts make sense to be vulnerable or take negatives to stats because they are refurbished parts.

Also we need to know basic stat limits of mechas . Okay for instance does the formula for mecha speed have a top number the rng just doesn't go above? What is it? What is the upper limit for things like Precision? Where is the line for dodge?

See that is what makes this game so frustrating, we have an idea of what we want the mecha to do in game and how it should look stat wise. But unless you seriously crunch the numbers and get all spread sheet with it no real explanation has been offered up. For instance.... Okay what does dodge do? It allows you to avoid incoming fire. But how? your number has to beat theirs and throw in some random luck with the rng. Okay well how do we build those numbers up, what effects what, where are the numerical cut offs and what past that is a waste of resources? Cause by rights I have a 129 Precision rating on my fave Boreas, and he hits maybe 50% of the time. I want to understand in game rules why he is missing, what I can do to correct this and how to pad for future fights. See that is a problem I'm level 117 been playing for over two years and still have very simple basic rules questions. Imagine what it is like for a newbie?

Ron -  Now that opens up an entirely new possibility Patrick....used and refurbished parts.....bonuses and penalties based on the quality of the item in question....examples: poor, standard, above standard, premium.....giving mod.s of -5, 0, +5 and +10 to the speed bonuses on an engine.

David - I'm just making sure I have the topic right in my mind... would you be wanting to fit a 100 ton piece into a 50 ton chassis, on the understanding it will take 2 slots on the 50 instead of 1 on the 100?

Because to me, you already have larger 'sized' slots on bigger mechs, that's why they can take gear in the larger tonnage range.

Besides, bigger mechs have more slots anyway, so as an example, to get +10 speed, a 100 tonner has to use 2 x kinetic converters at +5 each vs a single Max Torque in a 75 ton.

Ron - True.......but if that is the case, then why does a 100 ton mech use one slot to equip an engine that is geared for 90 to 100 tonnage and also uses the same entire slot for an engine that is geared for mechs 50 to 95 tons? Seems to me you could fit two of those smaller engines in a space that large....or vice versa.

From there the discussion devolved into a comparison of mecha schematics and builds mixed with copious amounts of alcohol. Tune in next time....

Submitted by Ron Frye#879655, Kenneth Hicks#846092, David McCallum#701548, Pat Willis#224534

Round Table Topic Weapon Limits By The Galaxy Gathering Editorial Staff

Round Table Discussion Summary
Recorded by Sgt Ron Frye from the minutes of the meeting

Here is recorded the minutes of the second weekly round table discussion, summarized, but still containing all of the burps, warts, farts and cursing. So, if you have either a delicate constitution or an aversion to a group of greasy, smelly, ill mannered wrench jockeys scratching their itchy places and spitting in the corners of the room....stop reading and run......run far........run fast......and pray you escaped its clutches.......

Topic of Discussion:
Should there be limits on the number of specific weapons or equipment owned by a player, or should the max caps be raised or even lifted entirely.

David McCallum:
I think in terms of game balance it is a very sensible idea to have limits in place... I also like the fact that the limits can be broken if the extra's are given as prizes.
I think the thing missing is an "in game" or "lore" explanation as to why... and it can be as simple as a government imposed arms limitation to ensure nobody builds up enough force to form a breakaway kingdom.
The thing is if you do that, you'd almost be forced to start limiting numbers of mech type as well, which would hurt revenue, cause the top end wallet pilots to have a hissy fit and at the lower end, seriously mess up the specialists.

Ron Frye:
you know..........after being in several of these forums over the past few months i am seeing over and over that the biggest issue in game is this........a reason.......i think we need more lore....and i mean core lore....how things work.......why they work the way that they do......etc

Patrick Willis:
Agree on the lore portion we need it plain and simple. Pertaining to weapon limits I personally feel if you can afford it you should buy it. Now say you have a limit of 60 of a given laser type. Your formation packs in Regis, Fext, Bishops, etc. Laser users basically, and you want them all decked out with said laser. However with weapon slots on the bigger mechas being more, which makes sense given the size, you may want to stock more in to them than the other models. But even at that those mechas who receive laser X are fine but as you go down the line you get thinner and thinner on who can pack what, as a result most of you heavy weapons move into your first couple lines and everything after that by default gets progressively weaker as you stock them with whatever is available, given you have passed up the limits available in the shop. (Possible with the mecha build signature weapon installed at purchase of a new mecha or very slowly and painfully in the mystery vortex.)

Ron Frye:
i could see some weapons being limited in availability.....for example a weapon that predates current tech levels being found in a large cache somewhere and being sold on the black market....perhaps the arms dealers ration out the maximum per customer to appease all of their client base, and it would explain the total available for purchase......the only thing i argue is a weapon being dropped into the game with no rhyme or reason behind its existence or an explanation as to why there are only a few of them and why a player can only have an even fewer amount than that..........i am sure there are reasons for it.......i am sure there is a story in there waiting to be told........i just want to hear that story instead of buying a load of digital bullshit.

Patrick Willis:
Just playing the numbers game say weapon x has a limit of 40 to it, you run a 30 mecha formation. Say 5 guns to a mech thats 8 mechs with great guns and the rest of the formation SOL.

Ron Frye:
i feel your pain mate.........myself, i can handle being SOL in my formation IF someone can tell me WHY i am SOL lol lol

Kenneth Hicks:
limit's on weapons is really starting to piss me off. I can't think of a single reason in game lore or common sense physics why this should be a thing.....same goes for equipment....

(it was at this point the meeting began to ramble off topic due to excessive indulgence in the free beverages offered to them at the meeting....said beverages being the sole motivating factor involved in their attendance.....the rest of the evening dissolved into a blurred rampage ranging from the board room off the mech bay, out into the street, thru several local pubs, and ending in the living room of some sweet old lady who made the mistake of opening her door when they knocked.....any follow up questions you may have on the above topic of debate should be clearly printed in large type on a 3x5 index card and mailed to Sgt Ron Frye, inmate number 014482, cellblock 6a, cell 4, in the care of the Cogworthy Correctional Institute, Gamiedy Prime)

Contributed by Ron Frye#879655, Kenneth Hicks#846092, David McCallum#701548, Pat Willis#224534

Round Table Discussion On Equipment By The Galaxy Gathering Editorial Staff.

Round table topic - Premium gear and mechas coming with vulnerabilities and negatives.

So how does everyone feel about paying out premium prices (niodes) for gear and mechas that have vulnerabilities, negatives, or even the dreaded kickback that can blow you up? In my opinion that should be more on the crystal/free gear. I mean we're paying out real cash to get access to supposedly the best on the market and you wind up with gear that reads as though you got it from a disreputable junk dealer. Shouldn't niode gear/mechas be free of such things as we're paying above and beyond the standard in game currency by buying niodes?

I realize there is a game balance at hand and you can't go too far one way or the other with it. However with that said I personally can't help but feel jilted especially at the higher levels/tonnage/gear when just about everything is vulnerable or has negatives attached to it in some way. To be perfectly honest that one factor has had me wondering multiple times how much more I want to deal with as opposed to just saying, Why am I bothering with these pieces at all?

Ron - My only real issue is with kick back items......that particular effect should be relegated to crystal gear and work as an incentive to upgrade to either higher end crystal gear or go niode with it....otherwise....I don't have much of an issue with the checks and balances out there.....a good follow up round table topic for the future comes to mind tho; should there be limits on the number of specific weapons or equipment owned by a player, or should the max caps be raised or even lifted entirely

David - You know Pat, I'm not even sure I understand the topic.

And I think its because you are using the word 'price'.

Y'see, it doesn't matter if I'm paying crystal, niode, cash or seashells. If a piece isn't worth it, i won't buy it.

And I guess it starts with the chassis. Some are good, some are rubbish. I'd spend on a Dreadnought before I spend on a Potatotron and as you mentioned, lighter mechs tend to have better gear. Its almost a knock on effect.

Then again, you can take something like a Fext and work around the gear deficiencies, offsetting one against the other to make a very nasty greebly indeed. That makes it worth it.

Or did you want to re-define the question?

Pat - Ok redefinition it is. Niode gear and mechas supposedly top of the line billy bad ass stuff for the player to get a hold of. Yet most of the niode stuff has a vulnerability, negative etc attached to it. Especially as you go up in tonnage. This has always struck me as odd as it should be harder to micronize something as opposed to putting it in the big shells of heavy mecha. So do you feel that is really the way to go with it? I mean niode gear and mechas are supposed to be the best in game yeah? So if it's the best in game why does so much of it come defective? Why are all the negatives on the niode gear as opposed to the crystal, and why switch out vulnerabilities for a mecha when it never really solves the vulnerability it just moves it around to another stat.

Good example one of my Reaper mechas has an innate vulnerability to missiles. That's just the way it is built. At level 70 something it was at 20%, now fully leveled it has raised to 26%. So on a niode mecha that I have to spend niodes to upgrade I'm getting not only a vulnerability in my mecha but I'm paying 140 niodes for the thing out of the box and 3 a level to get it up to par. Does this seem right to you? Seems a bit off to me, as I said I realize game balance, blah blah blah. But we all know niode gear and mechas are supposed to be the elite stuff to get a hold of. So why for such elite stuff is so much of it basically messed up in some way, and are you comfortable shelling out basically real world finances for what breaks down to in game damaged gear?

Ron -  maybe the mechs themselves should have more bonuses.....and the weapons and the slots available for gear should be less.....that way the player would have to concentrate more time and effort to build up a lesser tonnage mech to compete with a higher tonnage mech, and a player would also have to ensure that the few items equiped on his ultra tonnage mecha were top of the line so as not to fall behind the ball curve against lesser sized mechs.

David -   Ok, I'm going to take an opposing viewpoint and say that to my mind its actually realistic.

And I shall back that viewpoint up with 2 example analogies.

Consider automobiles. Your normal family sedan would be a crystal model. Cheap, reliable and in most cases just goes and goes with no issues as long as you do regular basic maintenance.

Then compare it with a Formula 1 race car. That is very definately a niode model witha prcie tag so high, normal people would have to mortgage their house just to buy a wing mirror for one.

You are paying through the nose for it to do something very very well. Speed. But for all its price tag, it has drawbacks. Passenger carrying, fuel consumption and the ability to break down in spectacular fashion after a very short distance traveled spring to mind.

To me that sounds very similair to what we have.

Here's the second example, perhaps a little more pertinent.

The precursor to mechs, the main battle tank.

Sherman vs Panzer V (no, I'm not going to start quoting model numbers or variants because going to that minutae would be like us discussing a variation on niode refits on mechs).

Generally looking at the base models, the Sherman would be a crystal mech with crystal shields and weapons. The Panzer was considered superior so we can say its niode with similar niode shields and weapons.

Head to head, general consensus is that the Panzer wins... unless the Sherman can get a shot at the weak rear armor.

Lo and behold, the niode monster has a drawback. Its still a superior tank.

I guess that's the point I'm trying to make. Niode mechs and gear are generally speaking superior to the crystal equivalents and the cost goes up. Yes, most of the niode pieces have drawbacks of some form but they are still generally better than crystal equivalents.

Whether or not the are _worth_ the cost for what you get is down to the person footing the bill.

It always comes back to buyers choice.

Ron -   I like that...........one major point that hits me is the fact that a larger mech equals more space....more space means more room for modular upgrades........finding a balance between bigger means better and smaller but more workmanship is a helluva a scale to make equal up......as much as I hate to admit it........some negative attributes seem to be necessary in the larger gear....I think that the negatives are too major however.

David - I think you have a very valid point here Ron.

I mean, if you think of it in very simplistic terms we can all understand, a car engine is small but if you scale that up to a truck engine, not only is it far more complicated and costly, but the performance vs size goes way down (speed) and it has a heck of a lot more vibration which would equate to a penalty of some sort.

Ron - perfect analogy!!!.............the larger a vehicle is (a car, a truck, a tank, a mech, etc) then larger that frame is and the more it can items can fit into that space.....of course the bigger an item is, the heavier it is, and therefore requires more power (a larger engine) to move, and more force to navigate or drive (a larger transmission....in this case chassis items), and the more exotic the control system required to operate it (the cockpits).....so, I do not think it is the items themselves that should suffer, but the mech itself....penalties should reflect in the innate slowness, delayed response time, and complexity of operation of the mech itself......stop dropping engines that run the risk of exploding and give us a mech that needs multiple powerhouse engine blocks to perform at optimal capacity.....I mean, shyte, if you buy a '56 chevy rag top, you are going to need a 350 rocket or better just to move the damn thing, and at least a three core radiator and five speed heavy torc transmission to keep it from overheating and have the ability to control.....if you go popping a four cylinder engine in the bastard, yes the engine will overheat eventually, but before that ever happens the bastard will just move at the speed of turtle... lol.

Pat - See my issue with it is simply to me more size equals more room in which to pad things. So you have more room in a 100 ton mecha to put stabilizers, insulation, whatever is required to balance out the piece. It should be harder to fit such into smaller components and mecha as they have limited room. Yet in game we see the complete opposite with smaller having the advantage and bigger parts being "weaker". If I have a 100 ton mecha chances are pretty good it is reinforced in chassis and armor depending on the type of 100 tonner the vibrations, insulation, etc should be taken into account given the design. Many of the mechas as are if you look at base stats in your garage don't have a lot of the vulnerabilities (minus the Reaper of course), until after you start slapping equipment on. Then you start picking up vulnerabilities and negatives to speed. Again that makes no sense to me. Okay this mecha is fine until I try adding things to it that are supposed to enhance and modify its performance overall. What I get is a crap shoot of penalties and vulnerabilities. Seems to be just my way of thinking though.

Ron -  I agree mate........the more I think about it the more I come to the opinion that a heavy tonnage mech should equal more equipment slots and the gear should be big enough and powerful enough to match that big ass monster......maybe the devs should look into reflecting the actual size of these heavy mech equipment items by making one item take up more slots......example.....a 50 ton type engine would take up one gear slot.....a 100 ton engine would take up two......twice the power equals twice the size.....just an idea that popped into my completely mental melon. lol

Pat - Now that I could get behind!

David -  Ron, just looping back to a comment you made earlier...

"the mech itself....penalties should reflect in the innate slowness, delayed response time, and complexity of operation of the mech itself."

Innate slowness... we have that, most of the big boys start with negative speed

complexity of operation... again, we have that with pilot skill. Bet it's that long since you had to think about it you'd forgotten it?

Now moving onto size vs weight etc... you already have that in the tonnage ranges for gear... so using our simple analogy from before, you can't fit a truck engine into a car or a tank... size difference is just too great. But if we start stretching that analogy, there is the space to put 1 or 2 engines in a car, 4 in a truck and 6 in a tank, because the bigger the mech, the more engine slots we get.

Ron - exactly.......I replied to that in other responses, but my posts are so scattered throughout the discussion that it got a bit garbled lol.......cheers I agree mate.

Ken - My initial reaction is to design a 100 ton mech that looks like a giant fist with one middle digit raised seven stories into the sky. It's bad enough that to get any truly decent gear that competes with the upper echelons, you have to pay precious niodes for. But then you're going to make me take negatives and vulnerabilities with it...

Then, after calming down, I began to think. Some things just make common sense. You have an engine that powers a 70ton mech at +20? That might give you some heat issues. You have a chassis that boosts your freeze by over 10%? That could cause some brittleness to your frame making you vulnerable to high impact projectile rounds. Jump Jets? Yeah, you might have a missile issue.
I guess as long as it makes sense, then yes. I can see it. Besides, part of the fun is mix and matching your gear so as to compensate for these issues.

Ron - I think the big bottom line is that the more powerful an item is the more the devs have to find a way to make it balance within game play.....otherwise everyone would just build up a bunch of 100 ton mechs and either sell off all of their lower mechs or let them rot in their stables....supposedly that is what specialists are for, but a lot of lower level players get screwed over by CWs, etc due to their limited inventory....perhaps the key is not to limit or penalize mechs and gear, but to improve the CW system itself... in other words.....lets stop playing Nerf football and just update the league rules.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534, Ron Frye#879655, Kenneth Hicks#846092, David McCallum#701548

Clan Wars Round Table By The Editorial Staff

Another day at the Galaxy Gathering headquarters. Things were rather quiet around the office as they usually are after clan wars. But this last clan wars had ruffled some feathers and was the topic of some debate. Which got me thinking about clan wars in general. What they were, and what they turned into. So, I called a meeting for another round table discussion. To make sure the guys were more receptive to another meeting I allowed mid-morning drinks, provided no one was armed.

Gentlemen the subject on the table is Clan Wars and the frequency in which they happen. Back in the day CWs were like faction wars. Once every three or four months. A lot of prep time and troop movements could be made with little to no difficulty. Also, it leads to more and more trash talk on the boards as clans built up and got things ready for war. It was a spectacle truly. 

Now it's just another monthly event, usually highlighting the rule change of the month not everyone agrees on or likes. It is virtually meaningless now as far as who climbs to the top of what division because they'll not stay there long. And it leads in to a raid that generally makes no sense as to why the NPCs are attacking after a galaxy wide clan skirmish. Bottom line for me, it has lost its charm, its fun, and is regulated now to a clockwork event with no spontaneity. 

More often than not a weak story line behind it to boot given there is only a month to just mesh everything together and present to the community. So what say you gents? Let’s lay it all out no bones about it, Cws and their frequency of rinse and repeat, good, bad, indifferent, and of course why?

David- Oooh goody, Patrick is on his soapbox! Shove over, because I've got loads to say on this one. Now, unlike Pat, I haven't been around quite as long. All I can remember is the format of once a month Clan Wars, and to me it makes perfect sense.

For solo play, you have missions and PvP.
For individual solo play tournaments you have the KotMs.
The only time you really get to play as part of a team is the clan war.
To me, that covers all the bases and the regularity of Clan Wars is not overwhelming.

Now to me, this year has been refreshing. Strong or weak storyline is a matter of taste, but we have at least had one... there has been a story arc, progression, rule changes have been given a basis in the storyline and old enemies have been tied together and in some cases given their own place in the standard missions.

It’s not exactly a reboot, but it has gathered them together cohesively. Compare that with previous years where a bad guy would just pop up out of nowhere then disappear again, it is a step change in the right direction as far as I am concerned.
I'm liking it.

Now, as for the raid following a clan war for no apparent reason... doesn't have to. In the run up to Faction War 1, we got hit by an auto-started Drake raid, and faction chat was like, "Um... I think we might be under attack??!!!" Hit us with surprises like that, I'm all for it!

Which leads me to what I think is Patrick's big bone of contention, given recent happenings. 

The rule changes. 

Now I will remind folk up front that I am an advocate of the occasional unlimited Clan War. There are players who prefer this style, and I don't think they are really being catered for.
That being said, I personally want to pit myself against good players. Good does not equal rich. I have no interest in the size of somebody’s wad.

And to my mind, a good player is somebody who is flexible, adaptable and can cope and do well in any scenario they are given.

The first "Rise of the Specialists" threw the cat among the pigeons and produced some very surprising results and caught a lot of the so called 'elite' on the hop. Mechalympix was the same.

Ladies and gents, this is a war game, and if there is one thing history tells us it is that very rarely is there a plan that survives contact with the enemy, and that all too often the commander in the field must 'make do' with what they have rather than the ideal wish list of what they want. The regular rule changes to my mind simulate that quite reasonably.

Pat- True the rule changes are one thing I have a problem with no argument there. The core of it though is what I have been saying since day 1. If every game is the Superbowl then what the Superbowl represents loses its meaning.

Clan wars used to be about bring your best slug it out, let the dust settle and regroup for a bit until the next one. That seems to be what Faction wars is now.

But what would be the harm in having the clans go on the offensive for a change? Take a clan war off for a month. Institute a clan raid that is started by the clans against an opponent. Have us be the aggressor for a change. Story line gets advanced with us tracking them down, we get to do something other than react, and it allows for a build up like the old days.

Make Clan wars something to look forward to for all involved rather than the same old same old. Especially for a monthly title of the best that just doesn't mean anything anymore.

David- You know, I could cope with that in principal, but I would still want some form of bragging rights. The Clans go on the offensive, but you still want to count coup on your rivals. You know, like the over-dramatised Patton vs Montgomery rivalry.

To make it really interesting though, is working out how to play to your strengths?
Because that is what you would do on the offensive, use your strengths and hit the oppositions weaknesses.

So you would almost have to have mini raids for each player with cumulative totals, but you can set specs if you want and the raid has to abide by those rules!

Then the unlimiteds get to do what they want and the specs get to pitch in with what they do good.

Pat- Bragging rights are easily solved with a reward based system like we have now based on kill count, and medals could be had likewise for tonnage specialists and kill count. But it would at least break up the endless cycle of rinse and repeat we are in now.

Ron- I am going to be the bad guy on this one.......I like more frequent CWs because I get a chance to have a raid once per month and show off as well as test my current formations.......but......I think FWs should be cut back to once every six months instead of once every three months.....this would give players like Patrick that feeling they used to get from rarer CWs and still keep the monthly events for those of us that prefer a regular event.

Pat- Kenneth anything to add to this?

Kenneth- Having monthly clan wars, bi yearly faction wars is a great schedule to an otherwise slow game. It gives you help in building, tests formations, makes you talk and learn tactics, develop new mechs for new formations, etc, etc.

However, there are a few areas that could most certainly see more variety to help keep it from developing "plod" syndrome.

One, more variety in prizes. While it's nice for D1 to get 1st crack at new BFMs, and the Banshee and commisar coming in the bottom ranks, I feel that there's stagnation in the upper middle ranks. Why not switch that Ignis up with some Aspis or Regis? How long has the Frigis been a 2nd place prize? There are several things that could be done in here to increase interest.

Two, more variety in specializations. KothM is currently setting a wonderful example in shaking it up, so why not CW specs? More variance in limited tonnage, Front Line spec, 1 mech, 2 mech, 3 mech, 4 spec, again, the possibilities are endless. It's high time we had something to shoot for other than 20T, 55T, 950T, 1200T, etc.

And finally, there is rumor that Chef will be making 5 minimum / 7 maximum clan sizes for the upcoming war. Now mind you, I personally haven't seen the official statement on this, but I know several clan family's who are puckering their nether regions in anticipation for this possibility. How's that for a shake up to keep it interesting?

Pat- Good gods gimme an old fashioned unlimited slug fest any day..lol. Well alright seems I'm in the minority here as you all seem perfectly content with monthly CW.s. To each their own and thank you for all sharing your opinion. But someone please answer me this... Should it still be called Clan Wars, or turned into something else?

Cause as stands Clan Wars is best of the best for the clans, come out and prove it. But because it is on a monthly basis and changes so often no real best of the best can be determined save those upper tier division clans. We're essentially having Title bouts once a month, but because it happens so much, and so often it has no point and no meaning should you get the title belt, cause it's just going to be turned around and up for grabs again in about three weeks.

 David- Not 100% sure what you are driving at here Pat, and I'm wondering if it is to do with your personal experience with your division rather than what is happening elsewhere? I mean, for the longest time, the AFF were the dominant force in D4, then they moved up and Heroes took over for a few wars only to be beaten by Black Star who moved up from D5.

There's also the Chessmen run, and the current Dragon dominance, so those are other examples of the title not changing hands.

I'm wondering if your view is in some way limited by the huge clan shifts and re-alignments we have seen over the past year in D1 through 3, making things look less static than what the rest of us are seeing?

Pat- The basics of it are really what it used to be vs what it is now. It used to be best of the best reigning for a few months and either holding the title or loosing it to a challenger. It was an event, hype over who would win, speculation, rumor, strategy all over the game page and any where else you looked. It just seemed to mean more back then. Now it's monthly and okay but why? What is the purpose of a monthly clash, if not to establish best of status why are we even fighting? And yeah not a lot changes in Div 2 where I usually fight.

So basically if the event is the story line driven raid why have clan wars to get to the raid and not just promote a raid to the monthly event? Fine tune Cws for whatever rule tweaks you want to make and allow a little build up with say bi monthly wars. Give it some of the importance and weight back it used to carry. Lately it just seems light if not empty.

David-  Because in balance terms, the strength of the raid depends on the strength of your clan, based on the result you got in the division you were in.

Otherwise without ranking, even on a month by month basis, everyone from low to high would get the same rewards...

 BUT>>>

I will concede on point... it does seem a bit daft that we see an enemy on the horizon, hell bent on Galactic domination, therefore our first instinct is to all fight amongst ourselves then go deal with the greebly as an afterthought...

Kenneth- Oh! What about a beat-down CW? Straight up "the most wins you can dole out in a 24 hour period"

David- No point, totally negates spes and defensive wins.

Kenneth- But the beatings...
 

Pat- Good idea but I think the bitching on the game board from such would reach a new level of epic.

Kenneth- Don't care. This can serve multiple purposes. One, it helps you figure out your clan activity level (which a lot of clan leaders with they could do). You'll get an idea of who attacks, how frequently, and from what time of day. Lots of valuable info right there Also, you learn who your true gamers are. Who's the ex WoW, Halo, EQ player that puts in "raid camp" hours to guarantee a win.
Hell, either turn off xp or cut it in half to help promote full participation

Ron- How about this...........Why not make clan wars exactly what the name implies....clan wars......write up a stand alone story line for the game lore stating that the clan wars are a monthly engagement designed by the many smaller governments of the galaxy to decide matters of conflict via combat in a manner that effects only the mechs, clans and pilots involved rather than resulting in planetary destruction.....this explains the term clan wars....this opens up the monthly clan war event to permanent status without question.....it explains why it happens so frequently and why the pilots are rewarded with such lucrative prizes....and it makes the faction wars far more impacting in their rarity and nature.

Pat-  Hell of an interpretation, as well as an explanation. Got to say makes sense all the way around. Well put.

Kenneth- The pilot's story pokes fun at weird, arbitrary things that get decided by Chef for events, lol

Ron- I still say that faction wars should be less often though.....twice yearly makes them far more important and anticipated....and I definitely agree that the story lines, plots, and narrative arcs are going to complete hell.

David-  I just had the most startling idea, and It must be brilliant, because I though of it. We are getting used to rule changes, so no biggy on adapting. We have the camp of heavy hitters who just want a good old fashioned unlimited battle.We also have the clans who use specs in an attempt to remian competitive against said heavy hitters.

Sooo...

What if your clan had the ability to choose their battleground? Do you fight on open ground in an unlimited pitched battle (all unlimited), or do you prefer the dense terrain and uncertain footing where the specs come into play (all spec)?

Chose one at registration!

Clan sizes would have to be smaller so you get a reasonable grouping of each type level wise, but at least everyone gets catered for. That would definitely throw the cat among the pigeons for the campers and level riggers, because you don't know who is going to be fighting in what bracket!

And it is also going to show once and for all how many actually want it unlimited or want specs to be present. 

Kenneth- Ron, I agree about FW. Twice yearly is enough. Oh, and NEVER! Never Mechalympics ever again. Never ever.

Pat- Ughh ,oh hell no got to agree with you there Kenneth.

Ron-  Kenneth Hicks.....just for saying the word mecha*edited*ics....you are going to hell!
 

Kenneth -Wow. Well, let's just call that little piece "resume padding" because that destination was set for me a long time ago, lol.

Ron-I still can’t get the image out of my head of that horrific cartoon of the Glaccus mech running the 100m hurdles.

David- LOL, bunch of bloody lightweights. Mechalympics sorted the adults from the kiddies alright. While it may well have been a grind in terms of time frame, it had you on your toes the whole time... no foregone conclusions and a heck of a lot of lightning raids and spoiling attacks made it extremely interesting. It was a very nice change and very imaginatively done. I certainly would back another event that was as far away from the norm as this one. 

The length of time for Mechalympix aside, the one thing I really did like about it was the fact that in terms of forces, everyone was catered for.

Yes there were a lot of spec based events, but there was also a whole slew of unlimiteds so the heavy hitters could pull on their big boy undies and strut their stuff.  
 

It was at this point Ron started foaming at the mouth while getting a crazed look in his eyes. He advanced on Kenneth and David hurling Brotherhood curses of the God Mecha for having spoken of the hated mecha....well you know.

 Kenneth looked like a deer in headlights, David just backed away slowly. It was then I realized next time, don’t serve drinks at a meeting and just take everyone’s word that they are not armed
. 

Apparently, I should have at least patted them down, because Ron now had a gun in hand was waving it at Kenneth, while still screaming about the not to be named event.

Eventually Kenneth made a break for the door, Ron gave pursuit, David ran after them both. I heard shots fired in the hallway, a couple of groans, and a thud.

I just shrugged, poured another drink, and went over the lay out for next week.

Contributors : Pat Willis #224534, David McCallum #701548, Kenneth Hicks#846092, Ron Frye #879655

40 Ton Specialist by the G.G. Editorial Team (and various hangers on)

Oh great.


After the last one provided some fruitful discussion, Patrick decided to get all keen, including throwing around heretical phrases like 'Regular Staff Meetings', 'Topical Discussion Points' and 'Invite People In'.


Joy.


Kenneth was actually looking ill at the prospect of having to do some work for a change.


So, onto this weeks round table discussion, and the subject matter:


40 ton specialists... is this the purvey of multiple KotM winners only, or can others use this effectively?

Associated question, what are the best mechs in this class and what would be the lightest you would realistically use? Also consider equipment load-out, are there any do's or don'ts?



Kenneth : One of my favorite 40T specs I've seen out there is run by a clanmate of mine and it's all crystal mecha. All crystal you say? That's because he runs solid Nephilaxes with Zadoks as back up. Tons of guns, leveling abilities for higher levels, a lot of bang for the buck.

Of course the traditional 40T lineup has to be Keradons. Tough, scrappy, at 35T they really do withstand and dish out the punishment.

I've recently seen a lot of people incorporating the Buccaneer which is the best laser mech for it's weight class. Also, the Buc has leveling bonuses well into the 100s so it just keeps getting better with age.

Orcuses and iMechs get used, but my personal opinion is they melt away to a good Keradon barrage, and I've seen a select few people pull it off with Axebots.



David : There's no doubt that Nephs and Zadoks are effective, but I wouldn't exactly consider them as crystal mechs per se... you can only get them through repeated gold medals in 2 events.

I have seen those formations, and they are either run by long term campers or pay players (both of which tend to have a negative connotation to the newer members of the community) or in one very notable case, a crystal based hard leveling KotM junkie.

I guess that loops back to the first question... do the KotM winners essentially have this division locked out from everyone else?



Joel : Yeah, I can't call either mech crystal considering it usually takes a niode expense to pull off a win to acquire either



Kenneth : Considering the weight class, I agree with your statement that campers and veteran accounts definitely have this class sewn up. Unless someone wants to spend $1500 on solid Keradons and Bucs with gear and weapson, then they could do it. But there are so many accounts with 1-4 years in lower ranks that have done nothing but gain these mechs as clan war prizes, KoTM prizes, etc., that there's no piercing it as an "average" new account coming up.



Joel : Pretty much yeah.



Patrick : Honestly the lowest tonnage mechas I own are a Vizi, Zadok, ( 45&35 tonners respectively) and a Megazome at 65 tons. Only reason I keep them is they are winnings and every now and again I find it fun to equip them with big toys and let them run amok in the enemy lines. With that said however I don't go for lower tonnage, like at all. My play style has always been... I've out grown it? What can I get in sell back, cause I'm not going to realistically use it much any more. Yeah, yeah, but everyone should have a formation of whatever for clan wars and KOTM. Okay knock yourself out getting that many mechas. Me I can barely keep up with the upgrade costs on what I have, much less a whole hanger of obsolete mechas I only kick the dust off of once a month. Admittedly I am more comfortable in the 75 ton and up range.

But if I HAD to pick a 40 tonner to use I'd choose the Nifthel. I love ice mechas that's a solid choice. Don't remember all the slots and what goes where, been so long since I had one. I do remember the few I had were work horses and could take an ice arsenal and make it a thing of destructive beauty. Sorry on this one I couldn't be more in depth but as I said once I have decided I'm done with a tonnage range, for the most part it's sold off.



David : Actually Pat, you are possibly more help than you imagine (and I never thought I'd hear myself say that..).

On the understanding that you are a reasonably experienced pilot and know how to put a formation up when sober, if we had a hypothetical situation where the Powers That Be hit us with a mandatory 40 ton spec in a war and Joel turned round and said, "Pat, you're going to be fighting as a 40 this war, to bad, so sad, sucks to be you...", would you go for a solid Nifthel wall or try and mix and match?

And of course if its the latter, what would you use, where and why, building from the ground up?


Joel : 40t's are one of the trickier spec's to flesh out well......if you're going to talk ABSOLUTE crystal you're talking a Nifthel for sure......if you're talking prize mechs you're talking a Nephilax hands down HOWEVER for clarity here on which mechs perform best there should be "crystal [*coughs* or rather...niode] clarity"



At this point Joel popped some vid slugs into the machine to show us some noteable 40 ton battle replays.

Or rather he did after a few false starts; I'm reasonably open minded but even I was reaching for the brain bleach...



Joel : So what I'm saying is Nephs are great...especially when properly & equiped BUT you can't overlook the flying purple people eater.

Now it's more reliable for most gold medal winners to fill their 55t spec with Vizi's where possible but you'll all have to watch those MMI & Zeon replays in your own time if you've not already (if you've not the battles are fun to watch) pew pew pew!

Although the Buccaneer is decent I don't believe it will ever be a more viable mech when compared to a Keradon for instance and although I've seen some Banshee heavy formations I wasn't impressed when considering the costs.......unless you're willing & capable to swallow oceans of xp hunting mechs in limited availability missions you'd better have the gold medal wins to back up the formation with those mechs that can only be won if you're intent on running a strong either 40t or 55t with confidence.



Patrick : Alright I have given it some thought. Given it's me I'd probably do a wall formation of Nifthel mecha. I'd weaponize them much like my Boreas with ice and projectile combos. So I'd have Polar Vortex's going off with Winter Grasp's, and add in Chronysis Rails, Vadhars, etc to top off the damage front. Make an ice sculpture out of the enemy and smash it is the basic effect I'd be going for. Load them up with Zirconium Windshields, Hip Hopper Hips, and mix up the engines with Scrub Grubs, as well as Omnigrav Rotationals.

Or switch it up slightly and lean towards the laser damage with some of the big bastards they have available. Then add in a full compliment of shields either crystal or niode. I'm still of the opinion equipment is mainly useless as long as it is detrimental to your mecha in some way (Speed negatives, vulnerabilities etc)

So by and large I try to save time and resources by pretending those pieces don't exist/ never happened. I honestly resent the fact they charge us such astronomical prices for crap that actually can hurt your mecha, but that's another rant for another day.



Kenneth : The crystal account I talked about earlier belongs to a Lvl 108 who loves his comics and loves his KotMs. The Buccaneer is the only 40 T that I know that gets upgrades as far as it does.


David : Unfortunately I don't own one of the Buccaneer's although I have seen it at low levels and it does look a bit tasty, but further than that I can't really comment.

Tell you what I can comment on... the Banshee. It's got those same long upgrade paths that the Buccaneer does, and even though you might consider it too light in this weight class, mine is carving up Nifthels and Holmes.

Now admittedly with it being that light (10 tons underweight for the class we are discussing) it has access to unused freebies I've gathered over the years, so it is not skimped on for gear... but it is currently destroying or mission killing 3 or more mechs per fight on average, which is a pretty fair exchange rate in anyone's books.

I'm looking forward to seeing how it fares against the niode and prize mechs.

It's fast becoming a favourite.


It was at this point that Kenneth and myself realised that the Brotherhood contingent were not necessarily playing with a full deck. I know that the Smurfs and Bunnies run some serious contraband stimulants, but these guys had been imbibing something decidedly dodgy.


Joel : By the way, the dinner table that I have in the kitchen....it's a round table......

Thing is....I don't like tables that aren't round.........worse yet those rectangular ones I frequent where I'm asked to sit at the head of..........it may provide me a better view but I've never appreciated feeling like a spectacle or center piece and I really dislike past experience or knowledge dictating that I assume the head of the table......having said that I believe that it is well past time that most of this information was publicly available but my loyalties are as they always will be to the brothers & sisters that join us in war from the hood alone.

There was in my opinion only one absolute master of the specialist & it's not <redacted> <giggles>....it never was....that guy still doesn't test all the options when it comes to equipment & weapon combinations.......let alone apply needed theory so he just ends up throwing niodes at problems........now <redacted>  on the other hand.....now we're talking some theory application to get me interested.....but still pales when compared to the true master of the specialist.

Having said that.......yeah....there are PLENTY of do's & don'ts for 30-55t equips & weapon load outs......hmmmmm can I smell a Multifuel Turbine vaporising itself again or is it the scent of my last smoke calling me towards another

Okay......55t....don't try to outWarg a bunch of Vizi's... It's a health hazard.....



Ron : One sentence of four words, six syllables total....."Nifthels with Holmes support"...maybe not as hard a punch as an all KotM reward mech formation....but, it can, and has, beat one as well as hold its own.

This is an example of how equipping and arming your mechs can many times be far more important than the mechs themselves.


David : Positioning and arming in the line? or would that be giving away Brotherhood secrets?


Ron : I don't think that's a big secret mate.....positioning your mechs, arming them, equipping them, etc etc etc. is the most important, hardest to learn, and longest to get down, skill that every player needs to have in their arsenal.....

What I am saying is, yes a formation composed entirely of 40 ton KotM prize mechs is a Goliath to fight, but a formation of 40 ton Nifthels with Holmes support, if properly equipped and armed, as well as being appropriately deployed, can be the David that kicks that Goliath's <redacted> into the dirt


Joel : Just don't argue with the purple people eaters!


Kenneth : <Pops in a vid slug>

Here's one example of a solid Nephilax formation. And while he levels slow, I wouldn't really call this account a true camper.


Joel : Oh Kenneth....he camps harder than than a refugee detention centre. If you're looking for total nephs just look at his hits....unimaginative as they are <giggles>.



At this point the conversation degraded into the never ending slanging match around levelling versus camping.


But I think at the end of the day, everyone agreed that the best 40 ton mechs to have in your formation are...


Novums!


And on that bombshell, GOODNIGHT!

Contributors : Pat Willis #224534, David McCallum #701548, Kenneth Hicks#846092, Ron Frye #879655, Joel Parras #637457

The Big Five by the G.G. Editorial Team

So it was a slow day at the G.G. offices, which in itself was quite different, but it was different in other ways too.

Kenneth was bouncing around the place with his usual enthesiasm akin to a kitten being gently electrocuted.

Ron Frye had wandered in, supposedly for a social visit, but we all knew he was sniffing around to see if anyone had handed in any photos of the inside of the Valkyries locker room.

Even Patrick was having an unusual sober moment and decided that since we had a visitor, he should attempt to look professional (why I have no idea... Ron has known him for years and is well aware of his tendencies...) and called a staff meeting to see if we had any ideas for articles.


David > Yeah, I got something. since the release of the reaper we now have a full compliment of niode mechs up in 95-100 ton, one for each weapon type. Fext, Rumbaba, Notos, Reaper and apparently the Boreas is included in that list to round it out.

Whats the most useful/best/favourite or what is a lemon? etc... discuss.


Kenneth > Don't forget the Apatatron (Brontosaurus)


David > According to Molly, the Potatotron doesn't fall in the same class as its a dual rather than single weapon type platform, but it may fit in with comments further down why you wouldn't bother with a Rumbaba


Kenneth > Which is in my opinion ridiculous making the slowest mech on the table paired with the slowest weapon system.


Patrick > With that line up I have to go with the Fext. 9 times damage and the availability of weapons that can dish out high damage for higher levels is a great mix. They aren't as slow as many would think given the equipment now becoming available, they have nice armor and the slots aren't bad at all. That and the intimidating look of them, yeah the Reaper looks slick as well but it does seem a bit of a Fext copy cat but a Projectile one. Never mind smart pilots have been using high damage projectile weapons on the Fext since a couple days of it being available to all.

Kenneth > Yeah, the Fext is my favorite, but I always have been a sucker for the lasers.


Patrick > Lemon for me would be the Humblahblah, just missile based crab looking tetris mecha doesn't impress me using and specializing in the slowest weapons in the game.


David > Maybe the method to their madness was to make it so ugly you couldn't get a lock on, therefore it actually gets a chance to fire...?

Kenneth > For me the Apatatron is the loser. It's so slow that mechs in the 80T range can pick them off fairly easily.

Also: The Humbaba looks fantastic when you get 3-4 in a line twerking in unison. ;-)


David > And I'm guessing Boreas as top pick, seeing as how wall of Boreas has taken over from wall of Torrent?


Kenneth > The definite 95 ton workhorse.


Patrick > Actually I've been moving my Boreas to the 2nd and 3rd lines and moving my Fext up front. Trying a wall formation of Fexts have seen them in action and they seem to be more devastating in effectiveness than the Bores wall.


Kenneth > I can't wait to be able to do this. But how do you get enough lasers to pull it off?


David > Is that in terms of quick kills from overcharge shots? Because I know that the Boreas guys tend to rely on keeping you frozen until they can grind you down...


Kenneth > Freeze and fork. Deadly combo.


Patrick > Mostly crit kills and overcharge shots for the Fexts.


David > Yeah, see I'm not getting that with mine.... far more regularly its my Boreas that do the higher damage, and crits are spaced out among everyone, but mine are admittedly rigged for ice damage rather than freeze with a fast weapon type.


Kenneth > I've seen some fantastic projectile/freeze builds with the Bors.


David > Yeah, Steve Ross over in the AFF shared that build a few faction wars ago.


Patrick > Fexts are actually monsters with projectile and laser combos, but you need to spend some niodes to do it up right. So yeah probably the more accessible option would be the Boreas all things considered


Kenneth > The fact that the Boreas being 95 ton helps a lot since it has access to more equipment to help with it's builds.


David > Ah, that's an interesting point... all 5 have been designed to showcase a particular weapon type with each one, but it seems like pilots are ignoring that and going for a more hybrid build... two we've just touched on are Boreas with projectiles and Fext with a laser/projectile combo...


Kenneth > I don't personally know enough about the Nacho to know of hybrid builds yet. The Bor has kind of a cool fire hybrid you can do with it, which is freakishly deadly when you stack the freeze component onto it.


It was at this point that Ron stopped trying to slide small and easily pawnable items into his pocket and delivered one of his sermons...


Ron >  The Boreas and the Fext are awesome in my book....one is a freezing machine and the other is a crit killing nightmare with heavy DPS to back it up....both also have the armor platform necessary to stand up to major assaults.....

As for speed....when you are running a mech that big you are going to have to sacrifice speed, but the equipment slots in both more than help compensate for that obstacle....

As for the Humbaba....it just feels like another version of an Apatotron....if I want a 100 ton missile mech, I would do better to save my niodes and grab a Typhoon instead, which is an overall better missile mech in my book anyway.....

I am on the fence with the Notos....it is definitely a kick ass fire mech, but fire is just a raw damage attack and lacks the finesse delivered with crit kill or freeze weapons and just gives you splash or burn which are not as good as trample, fork, wide fork etc. that you can get from missile weapons....so, I have never been that excited about fire weapons...that is a preference issue however, so I will not say it is a good or bad mech due to my jaded opinions on the matter.....

And finally the Reaper......it is a good projectile mech....it delivers a massive direct damage assault and it has a nice trample, combined with the formidable armor platform of a 100 ton mech...but.....it is just a slightly jazzed up version of the Corsair....why waste niodes on a mech when you can pick up a crystal mech that does the same thing with only marginally lower stats.....

Myself, I am aiming for a formation of Boreas, Fext, (for crit kill lasers and freezing ice weaponry) and Typhoons (for area effect missile weaponry) with support from Corsairs or Magnus (for projectile weapons and raw direct damage)....with (for special formation fillers or to field special weapons I have collected along the way) Yallans or Ignis (for flame).....

Yallans, Regis, and Jadoons are also great heavy mechs to fill in gaps if you don't mind dropping down to 90 or 95 tons instead of 100


Kenneth > For my money, the Anubis is the best missile chucker with the highest surviveability out there. I've been told by a couple Fusion guys that the fire hybrid Bor outperforms the Notos because of the high percentile freeze component. The best Apatotron build I've seen are projectile builds simply because that behemoth needs all the speed help it can muster, but I'd like to see this projectile/laser build for the Fext that Patrick is talking about.


David > I was wondering how many folks were sticking with the Anubis... I know I haven't bothered with a Rumbaba because I've already got Anubii doing that duty, and like the Boreas, at 95 tons they have just that slightly better access to equipment


Kenneth > I agree. With the equipment access, I feel the Anubis is really hard to beat for top slot in the missile deployment classes.


David > Guys, any more comments, because this is getting close to being able to collate and publish. From what I can see, Anubis over Rumbaba, the Boreas and Fext are good, undecided on Notos and the Reaper is good but expensive for what you get.

I'm also seeing that people aren't going with what what weapon type the mechs were actually built for, so what the top level players might actually want is a generic platform niode mech, like a 100 ton Keradon


Patrick > I got nothing to add really, I'm all for the Boreas and it may be more economical to get one and outfit it but for my money nothing beats a fully loaded Fext with projectiles and lasers. So yeah that's my take...


Kenneth > Hmm, next time, what about a hybrid build challenge for us? Like come up with a flame based Potatotron  or a laser based Anubis, that sort of thing?


Patrick > Sure why not. If someone wants to mess with their builds to give us a more accurate run down that would be interesting.


Kenneth > Let's see... who's high enough level that could really show some great percentages on new hybrid BFM builds..... rhymes with Mavid ShuLackum...


David > Sorry mate, we both know that it's Pat that skims the percentage off the top... all he would have to do is divert a small amount from his alcohol fund and he could either retire or make any build he wants.

Besides, unfortunately that Reaper is above my grade as well <grumble> ... but I've got my eye on them to start replacing my Dreadnought fleet.


Patrick > I'll put in a solid review of the Reaper when mine is done. It's only level 45, with 2,2,1,2 for equip slots and 26 for weapon slots. Thus far looks to be a solid build.

And leave my alcohol fund alone, it takes a lot of liquid courage to ride with the Brotherhood...


Anyway, you know I'd volunteer but sold my Tatertron and Anubis for niodes and went on an equipment spree.


Kenneth > I need to do that. I'm sitting with an Ignis, Anubis, and Nacho waiting on my Fext leveling, which should be in time for the Clan War.

I could use about 5k niodes right now for equipment to balance out the leveling...



And so, with the conversation looking as if it was going to turn to Kenneth once again forlornly trying to hit Patrick up for a pay rise (instead of the usual embezzlement or blackmail that previous editors have gone in for) we wrapped things up.




Contributors : Pat Willis #224534, David McCallum #701548, Kenneth Hicks#846092, Ron Frye #879655