The Torrent Mecha Review

The Torrent is one of the best, well-rounded mechas on the battlefield today. There are several reasons for this, but the main ones are: 1) Strong mix of weaponry allowing pilots to use several different kinds of weapons or tailor them to their specific strengths. 2) Balance of equipment slots available and 3) a good 2X and 3X damage bonus. Most pilots will augment the damage bonuses with equipment and weapons to gain an even higher damage counter making the Torrent able to take out other Mecha with a single blast. Combined that with the ability to do splash damage for its missile systems, and at higher levels wide fork, the Torrent is even more fearsome to its enemies.

On the defensive side, it offers several chassis slots that enables a pilot to stack up the dodge factor, while the inherit Laser and Fire shields at level 50 give it the ability to take damage as well. Currently the main choice for most upper level pilots, many of whom have complete lines of formidable mecha, the Torrent made by Star Factories is the preferred assault mecha on the battlefield today as I see it.









Submitted by Bob Schlomer #355341

Snaige Weapon Review

For minimum levels of 10 and up comes this ice weapon with a Damage of 35, a speed of 100, and the abilities of Freeze at 4% as well as Slow of (3). It will cost you 355 Ferrite, 270 Bioptics, and 17 Niodes to buy one. Or go the bulk buy route of 5 for 68 Niodes. At the time of this writing there are 99 left out of 250 so the supplies are dropping fast.

Alright lets talk stats for level 10 minimum a damage of 35 is pretty darned good, the famed Blue reaper only does 29 Damage and is available at level 20 minimum. Speed of 100 is aces period for an ice weapon the biggest gun in the ice arsenal, the Khron only has a speed of 99. Both the Khron, and the Blue reaper are both niode ice weapons as well so it is a fair comparison. Speaking of the Blue reaper it has a Freeze of 8% compared to the Snaige which is 4%, but the Reaper has to come out on top some where right? So all told this is a good solid buy for the low to mid pilot range interested in ice weaponry, as you can see it compares well with other niode weapons from both ends of the level spectrum. And as with most ice weapons toss in the slow ability and you have the means to seriously gum up you opponents attack speed. So over all consensus here is yes it is worth the niodes and yes it is a definite buy for levels ten and up.








Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Interview From Clan Zeon With T.J. Ritter

Steve Ross - Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the first ZEON behind the lines interview. This is Steve Ross#162076 reporting from the Zeon conference room and with me I have Clan Leader T.J. Ritter#3367345. T.j. Good to speak with you.

T.j. Ritter - Good to be here! Kinda strange to be being interviewed by my Second, but hey, gotta try new things and all that jazz right?

Steve Ross - lol Very true and quite strange indeed. Now, we are standing on the cusp of a bit of a mile stone in the clan wars data-base, the big two zero. Twentieth wars and competition for such an event will be high. How do you feel the current clan mood is in this regard?

T.j. Ritter- Well, after the blowout that Zeon handed everyone in our division last time the feeling is pretty good I'd say. Lots of confidence in another Zeon gold.

Steve Ross - Sounds like you're gearing up for another sledge-hammer performance then. The fans will be looking forward to such. There were some very impressive points margins during the last outing and ZEON were a hot division favorite in the betting stakes. Do you believe you can deliver such a storming performance again, and are you anticipating any surprises from your opponents based on those results?

T.j. Ritter - Well in Zeon terms we're gearing up for another colony drop but yea, looking to pound our opponents into the ground. Always appreciate the confidence our fans and those placing bets on us give. Aye, I believe we had at least one that was almost a 300 point lead. Don't know about any surprises, but I'm hoping that last CW has spurred some of our competition to regroup and bring their top guys to bear against us.

Steve Ross - A very fair opinion and things can swing rather radically in this game. One thing that will have been noticed by the fan base is you have a number of newer members. Do you think such a high number of relatively fresh members could prove a slight Achilles heel, or are you resting safe in the knowledge that your clan is tight enough to have everyone pulled close for this competition?

T.j. Ritter - Aye, we've filled our ranks to the limit the game allows. With the people we've picked up I don't believe we have any weak points to worry about. They're all pretty great players. Even our low level folks have been able to work the specialist system to be able to pull defensive wins from players 20 levels or so higher than themselves. So yea, I think we've got the team about as tight as we can get it at the moment.

Steve Ross - Excellent, good to hear. Speaking of the specialist roles, this war sees us with an available six slot spec-cats. Will this move a few goal posts for the ZEON clan in terms of performance, or do you predict 'business as usual'?

T.j. Ritter - Well, that would all depend on our opponents. I believe that most of our folks are geared up to handle pretty much any specialization thrown at them, so it should be business as usual. You never know though, somebody could be sporting some bomb 50 ton line or something.

Steve Ross - Agreed; Nothing is certain. Now, something the fans will be watching will be the clear AFF/Zeon friendly rivalry. In past wars there have been some close run wins/defeats. The last outing saw a land-slide ZEON victory. AFF are renowned for their size and ability to shuffle members to suit a situation. Are you wary of such action this time, or do you think things will be in your own ball-park?

T.j. Ritter - They damn well better reshuffle! They're the freakin AFF! I expect them to reshuffle and try to stop us from taking another gold! I wanna see them bringing everything to bear against us they can! I want to see oil and sprockets flying every which way! I want to see explosions and lasers blasting back and forth from both sides of the field! In short...I want war. The kind that people speak of for generations!

Steve Ross - Wonderful answer and a clear shout for cataclysmic combat. Love it!
Final points for you; Do you feel the new mech (the Magnus) will make any great difference to the rounds, and do you have any personal points for our viewers and fans?

T.j. Ritter - If it's not cataclysmic then it's just a slaughter! Bwuahahaha! *clears throat* Anyways, a few of my clan-mates have started leveling some of them and are pretty optimistic as their capabilities. Haven't picked up any myself yet, but from what I'm seeing they look to be a pretty good successor to the Rook. And for the viewers? Keep your levels tight and never stop gunning for the top!

Steve Ross - Excellent. A great personal aspect. Well, thank you T.J. and I'm sure the guys and gals in the bleachers will be watching with great interest. Good luck to your clan and we look forward to the fighting. Take care sir.

T.j. Ritter - Thanks for your time! I'll be sure to have a whiskey waiting on you post war!

Submitted by Steve Ross#162076

Gorgon Weapon Review

Switching gears here we go from fire to ice for weaponry. Meet the Gorgon which has a level requirement of 93. It will cost you 2,500 Ferrite, 1,600 Bioptics, and 69 Crystal. As always there is a bulk buy option of 5 for 276 crystal, with a limit of 60. This has a Damage of 67, and your typical ice weapon Speed of 99. It has for abilities Freeze at 6%, and Slow of (4).

Rare for a crystal weapon to be packing dual abilities but this has them so no complaints there. It has better damage than the Crystalion, but isn't on par with say the Creeping Chill or Khron, again that division of niode base to crystal base weaponry. Although it is a leg up and something to follow the Crystalion with. The speed is fairly comparable to most of the ice weaponry so no real change there. The abilities are decent, good for stacking up a Nifthel, Freon, Frigis, or a Jotton with for extra kick. For higher damage and larger ability status though you will have to look into niode weaponry, this isn't too shabby for crystal though.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Helios Forge Weapon Review

This hot beast of a weapon is minimum level 97 to purchase, and will cost you 1,900 Ferrite, 1,900 Bioptics, and 57 Niodes. Bulk purchase of 5 for 228 Niodes, with a limit of 45. It sports a damage of 115, a Speed of 104, and has Burn at 40%, as well as Splash at 13% for abilities. A very solid fire weapon all around for the higher levels in truth.

The straight damage is very respectable, it is on par with the Lizard Brain flame weapon for speed and only a point slower than a Kojin Stove. The burn and splash percentages are both solid although burn is the stronger of the two. All in all this weapon is perfect for mechas like the Ignis, Gigus, Inferno, hell even the Cindron for lighter tonnage KOTM (no pun intended). An all around solid weapon which will allow you to roast your enemies in style.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Ideology Of Two Transmogrification Cults

Amongst the Antihumans, it can be noted that Kellek, the Norunners, and their doctrine of conquer all in front of you, has left a rather indelible lasting impression on their culture.

Having already had conquered and subjugated pretty much everything in their entire known universe for thousands perhaps even millions of years and integrated it all into one vast empire, this left the factions somewhat at a loss for where to go next from that.

The moderates amongst them, they realized that the only place left to conquer was inside oneself, and through the brutal tools of cybernetic grafting and personal gene modding they went about trying to carve themselves new forms as a means to go about self-improvement with the same ruthless efficiency as their ancestors had when "settling" the negaverse.

The reactionaries, believing themselves to already be perfect and perhaps indeed the closest still living link to their divine NoRunners as well as Kellek himself, through twisted reasoning, found this approach as adopted by the moderates (of limiting the conquering to improving upon yourself instead of ones neighbors) to be downright disgusting.  If nothing outside remained to be conquered, which was impossible, then one simply has to start over, and reconquer. Somehow.  The (large) opening of a gateway between our two dimensions has served as a force to awaken this long dead theologic conflict... as a massive mutated crusade between moderate and extremist shakes the core of Antihuman society.

Where the rat people fit in with this is far more mysterious. They are enacting a very ancient protocol, in essence unknowingly behaving as living software resources, making the system environment for a primordial program that was established to try and solve their dimension's environmental problem from long ago.
What lies at the core of these three set ups though... and why it is that the rat people seem to be much less affected by the pollution than their mutant Antihuman neighbors, are things that remain to be figured out.

Submitted by Mycobacter#712744

Story Time Part 6

*Note - This is a direct follow up to my previous piece

Nova's ships are currently flying us away from an extremely pissed-off small army of mechs.

"I said STEALTH incursions, not a full-blown assault!"

"Same difference"

"Shut up Kardin, I'm talking to your boss, who, up until now, I had ASSUMED was the only person in your squad with a tiny amount of sense."

"Tory has been getting on our nerves for some time now."

For once, the rest of the squad actually agree with me, instead of taking up every single imaginable position on the statement like usual. Nova gives us a death glare.

"YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO ANNOY EVERY SINGLE SECURITY DETAIL ON THE PLANET!"

"At least they won't know who we're affiliated with, right?"

Most of the squad agrees with Jen on this. Garron, Clanise, and myself drop our heads into our hands. Nova appears to swell in size, and several veins pop out on his forehead.

"YOU BLUNDERING FERRITE-HEADS! MY SHIP PICKED YOU UP, AND YOUR MECHS ARE PAINTED WITH YOUR CLAN COLOURS! TORY HAS EVEN PERSONALLY DETAINED YOU!"

We had done many stupid things while trying to do stuff for Nova, but this was the angriest we'd ever made him. Unfortunately for us, Kardin has made angering Nova a favourite pastime of his. The rest of the less sensible members of the squad also enjoy it so much, Daine even stops her personal rivalry with Kardin whenever they get an opportunity. I see her opening her mouth.

"Daine, can it or we're airdropping you."

She speaks anyway, and I prepare for an explosion from the general's head, "At least it wasn't as bad as the time we got lost on Vupa 6 trying to kill the mad commander guy."

Nova has made a visible effort to calm down, and a look of hate comes over his face. His next few statements are spoken in the soft voice of someone who is resisting the strong urge to murder eleven idiots.

"Somehow, this was worse, despite you purposely ditching your commander, and his first mate, when you knew that they had the long-range Comm units, and the map, and the connection to my GPS satellites. The only reason you were rescued then was because we couldn't find enough people to replace you on a short notice, and the only reason you were rescued now was because wee needed a group of pilots with a negative average IQ score."

There are protests at this. I call for them to shut up and listen.

"What do you want us to do, Nova?"

"We need maps of the Yomi Reefs."

"The gravity reefs?"

"Yes."

"We may be stupid, but we're not insane."

"Well, I supposed we could always hand you over to Tory..."

"Tory is easier then the Reefs."

"Sounds fun. When do we get started?"

I look at Kardin to see how serious he is. He manages a full ten seconds of pokerface, before losing it.
"You weren't serious?"

Nova is suppressing his anger. The sport is over. My sixth sense for predicting a Daine/Kardin argument is buzzing.

"What's wrong, Kardin? Scared of something?"

"Only of your mother's face. That could give ANYONE nightmares."

"You were going to back out of the Reefs, weren't you."

It's not a question, so much as a statement designed to piss him off, "Of course not. anything the commander thinks is a bad plan is automatically a brilliant plan. You know that."

"HOLD up a moment here. WHAT did you just say?"

You weren't supposed to mention that in front of the commander!" hisses Jen.

"Everyone to the damn brig, right now. Lets go, move it before the stupidity spreads to Nova's team. GET MOVING, Kardin!"















Submitted by Toby Easterbrook/844872

Reindeer Sweater Equipment Review

Another holiday piece if chassis equipment this one lasting for 4 weeks and 5 hours at the time of this writing. It will cost you 304 Ferrite ,140 Bioptics, and 34 Niodes normal price. Keep in mind at present there is a sale going on so the prices are lower. This is for mechs in the 30-55 ton range containing the abilities of Dodge (6), Ice shield 33%, Trample Shield 60%, and a Splash Shield of 10%.  It seems the lower tonnage mecha are receiving love this time out while the higher tonnages have to deal with kickback.

Solid stats all around really not much to be said as the numbers speak for themselves. Lower tonnage pilots should be all over this as it makes your mechs a lot harder to blow up with the big guns if everything works in your favor. Trample shielding at 60% is where this really shines especially if your mechs keep getting nailed in the back rows before they are even up to fight yet. Splash isn't bad but kind of low percentage, and Ice shielding is about mid range. So gear up your smaller mechas and go for a holiday holocaust with this piece of chassis equipment.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Santas Little Helpers Equipment Review

A new seasonal piece of chassis equipment with a price of 888 Ferrite, 555 Bioptics, and 51 Niodes, with one week and six days remaining to purchase it. This is for mechs 80-95 tons and allows for auto repair of 3, speed of +4, kickback at 12% odds for 40% damage, and a trample shield of 30%. Once again I have to say sub par equipment. Any thing with kick back is just not worth it especially when paying out over 50 Niodes in regular price. Yes there is an equipment sale going on but even at that why waste niodes on a piece of chassis equipment that has the potential to damage your mech or blow it up if it has already been damaged in battle?

Auto repair is solid but with crit-kill rather useless, speed is alright but not that big a boost, the only real benefit here is the trample shield, but that is only if you don't get a bad turn of luck and get blown up by kick back first. The fact that kickback even is still around is rather confusing. Not like enough equipment doesn't already come with vulnerabilities as is. Now we keep putting kick back in just to see who is dumb enough to buy this for their nice new shiny mech and blow it to hell. Personally I say if you want to round out your holiday collection go ahead and get it and let it gather dust, aside from that there are better pieces out there that won't blow up on you.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Xmas Tree Mecha Review

Specialty (Not available for sale)

If you are lucky enough to have won a Gold Medal in the wars of 2013 at Christmas time, your crew won this mecha. It can also be obtained for the lucky few who gamble in the raids after wars end. When fully leveled to its max potential, this will have bonuses that include slow, shielding, fork, splash, freeze, slight speed boost and ice shield but will be fire vulnerable. The possible combination of weapons for this are great.

At this time of the end, it may roll around again as a favorite for the raid prize. If you have hot rod engines, this mecha will carry three when fully leveled. You're sure to make a splash this holiday when you put this mecha on your line. Time to decorate for the season.

Submitted by David Cox # 64964

Vupa Cannon Weapon Review

Vupa Cannon Damage 24, Speed 105 Crystal (Common)

One of the newest cannons on the market, this speedy projectile will do some damage when you hit your target. At a reasonable 10 crystals, 375 ferrite and 300 bioptics, you can purchase a weapon with 24 damage. Put it on your favorite bullet mecha and watch them fire.

If you can't afford niode items, the crystal are your other option. As the newest cannon, this will give the best results for your purchase. You can save ferrite and bioptics buying in bulk, a few crystals are saved as well. The ring of fire will sound off and you'll watch your enemies drop when you upgrade to this level 25 weapon. No limits mean you can buy as many as you need, when you need, without fear of them selling out.









Bryan Haycock # 138789