This series of posts is mainly for people who make decisions on buying mechs in terms of how good they are, rather than if they adhere to a chosen playstyle, or how cool they look.
Epic Assault Sale: From August 11 to August 17
This sale puts all assaults (including heroes and I guess champions) 35% off. Unfortunately, this doesn’t include the Kodiak (because it’s not yet out for C-Bills), so there’s not even going to be a “Must-Haves” section in this Bargain Bin. But there are still some solid mechs that you can pick up, if you have the coin.
Not-Quite-Kodiak(s)
The Kodiak may dominate the Assault slot, but some other mechs are still powerful.
Battlemaster
It’s still in a pretty good place, and is one of the mechs least impacted by the latest nerfs.
Dire Wolf
It’s not OP anymore, but it’s still quite a strong mech, particularly now that dakka is in vogue.
Second-Stringers
You shouldn’t feel bad for not having these, but if you’ve got the C-Bills to spare…
Mauler
The recent nerfs and introduction of the Kodiak have really hurt this chassis’ position, but it’s still good.
King Crab
I think this chassis has actually been on the rise – it’s not in as healthy a place as the Kodiak or Dire Wolf, but I think it might currently be at parity with the Mauler.
Banshee
Even more than the Mauler, the Banshee’s been gutted by the nerfs and the re-scale. But with something as strong as this was, not even gutting it will kill it.
Still Good
These mechs aren’t high priority, but they’re well worth a pick up if you’ve got the coin and have the mechs I’ve already gone over.
Stalker
I still think this is a badass mech, even if it’s been the subject of numerous nerfs. But its mobility and quality-of-life issues keep it down in this rating for now. The Misery has a long tradition of being pretty good but never the best, so if that interests you, you can throw down on it while it’s on sale.
Atlas
This is still the most powerful brawler in the game, as far as big beefy badasses go. There might be better choices in most situations, but none are as cool as the Atlas. I do think that the Boar’s Head is the third-best Atlas , but…it’s a lot of MC and only the third-best.
Highlander
It certainly has its issues, but the Highlander still has some great options for it. The re-scale hurt it quite a bit, and its blocky hitboxes are even more egregious, but its guns still work.
Warhawk
Its hitboxes are still crap, but it has retained its quirks, which means it’s one of the most heavily-quirked Assaults out there.
Not Not Worth It
These are far from priorities, but for anyone that already has everything else, you might as well pick up some fresh robots. Also, these are the mechs that I will get hate for not putting them higher up.
Executioner
This is pretty borderline on moving up a category, but I don’t think it has the power.
Highlander IIC
I can’t stand this mech. I simply can’t stand it. But it’s really not that bad, so if you think you can live with it, go for it.
Awesome
While it has historically vied for the spot of “worst mech”, the AWS-8Q is actually a pretty good PPC platform, and the AWS-9M isn’t bad. Fuck the AWS-8R.
Gargoyle
This one was on the edge of being off the list, but I think it’s still interesting enough to be worth a go. The structure quirks are sweet, and the mass of hardpoints and offensive quirks make it serviceable.
And all the rest…
Sadly, I consider the Victor and Zeus to be not worth it. Which is mean. ‘Cause the Victor does have a special place in my heart, and I actually liked the Zeus, but I don’t think either of them are either good enough or unique enough to merit a purchase, unless you have a particular interest in the mech or are a collector.
Over 30 years of fixing mechs, Mars had picked up a few things. One of them was that, the younger the MechWarrior, the more work she’d have to do fixing up her favorite ‘mechs. And her unit’s new young commander certainly didn’t seem like he’d change that pattern.
Heh, maybe he’ll just get cockpitted right away. Repairing that ain’t easy, but it’d save me work in the long run.
“So, which of these machines is mine?” Chuck asked with a shit-eating grin, interrupting her reverie. “My old man always told me he’d pass his ‘mech down to me, but he never specified exactly which it was.”
Mars rolled her eyes and gestured to AS7-D in the mechbay to their right, nicknamed “Overload” by the late Commander Getman.
“Wow,” Chuck’s voice was barely a whisper, until he cleared his throat and joked to the tech, “Now there’s a stompy robot!”
The Atlas dropped to one knee and its fist slammed into the ground next to Chuck, sending shards of concrete to pelt him and Mars. Chuck collapsed to the floor in shock, scrambling back from the behemoth as it leaned its skull-like face in close to the young MechWarrior and its speakers boomed.
“That’s our word.“