Trailblazer's Assault 'Mech Tier List 3025 | BattleTech Strategy & Tactics

Music by Karl Casey @WhiteBatAudio

[drmcweazel]

So, if I recall, when Otto (that is, Nerdy Overanalyzed) was doing his tier lists, he also took Design Quirks into account for a number of 'Mechs, particularly in the Light category, since those 'Mechs had to be measured against the ability to shove two Locusts into a single 'Mech Bay. That in mind, I think the Cyclops does deserve a mildly higher ranking, owing to its ability to serve as a command & control 'Mech. I'd still never put above C-tier for the same reasons as you've got it in D-tier, but if we take Design Quirks into account, it does bring a unique, valuable asset to the table.

[ndrq]

I agree with most of this list. I probably would have ranked the Atlas higher, and the Victor and King Crab lower, but other than that I think your ratings are spot on. I think the Victor’s combination of poor range + terrible armor is a recipe for disaster, and it’s too specialized to be generally useful. It’s a sitting duck if it ever has to close on the enemy. The King Crab is intimidating but has criminally low ammo reserves. I have heard the King Crab called an “area denial tool” — and I think it fits. Wherever the King Crab is you will want to avoid, but it has too little effect on the battlefield outside its spot. I probably would have given the King Crab a C+, and the Victor a C-.

[kithran]

In 3025 the Dragoons were not selling Marauder IIs or Imps to anyone - it was only after the end of the 4th Succession War that Marader IIs were for sale. Likewise it wasn't until the Dragoons held Outreach that they started production of new Imps so I very much suspect none would have been sold prior to that point as they wouldn't have been able to replace any sold.

[StarShadowPrimal]

The Imp still looks like a kit bash where they were running low on parts, so they started with Gundam legs, added a gimballed mining laser for a left arm. Then they had nothing for the torso and head, so they just threw in their kids' Mandolorian helmet.

[mathewkelly]

9:06 my favorite Goliath tactic is to stand it in a wood with a elevation in front of it for the ULTRA annoying you wont be hitting my legs even if you hit, being a quad it doubles down on that

[LeftMech]

Definitely some interesting and well thought out takes. I do feel that the Victor is placed a bit low in your list for my liking, but considering that we're only talking 3025 variants I can understand that. Even so, I've found it very valuable in any kind of built up terrain. Because of its reasonably quick movement and the jumping ability it's better able to keep up with medium mechs and it pairs off well with mechs like the Griffin, Enforcer, and Vindicator. It's one of the heavier assets that can really keep up with more mobile formations and it's generally able to outgun other mechs with comparable movement. At least in close.

[ezariogerion]

Oh god, I waited for this for so long. Thank you!

[pauljukes]

Great video! Love seeing your assessments on these mechs (with only a few being ones I'd rate higher/lower). One thing I'd like to add for the Goliath: it's the best kicker in 3025. The +2 to PSRs only applies to falling down, but with a 4 piloting that turns a low chance to fall into a NO chance to fall. Really big deal! Add in the shimmy shenanigans (as well as opponents not expecting the long range mech to come up on them) and it's very effective. Works a bit how you described the 3E Banshee: shooting past the opponent you're brawling. Don't forget the donkey kick backward, either! With a sidestep it's pretty easy to setup and surprise an opponent. Kicked off the head of a Grasshopper once with a Goliath donkey kick. So worth it! Love the mech!

[JesterMotley]

The thing about chargers I always have to stop and remember, is that it's BV is insanely low (for reason) and given the right circumstances, it can be surprisingly brutal. An 80 ton mech charge at 8 hexes, is not something even an assault mech can ignore, but it has enough armor, and IS to soak up damage as its coming at you. And many of the "good" heavies and most mediums can't outrun it, much less have enough movement to run AND shoot at a charger coming at them. And if you're not running from a charging charger, you're going to be the bug on the windshield. And a Charger is less BV than most mediums and heavies.

When playing random rolled skill ups (like in some campaign games/merc games), this is a glorious place to stick that 4/3 pilot. And even with a pilot like that, the BV is not going to skyrocket badly.

[briank]

I am glad to see someone else appreciate the battlemaster. It's a great mech for putting weight on objectives, acting as a bodyguard and crit seeking.

[marcusshiffler]

Couple complaints for a 3025 Tier List - the Banshee 3S is 3026. It's Introtech and one of the better 4th Succession designs, but it's not 3025. In a similar situation is the decent Zeus ZEU-6T; solid fire support mech; redemption of the early chassis. Armor a touch low, but weight gives durability. Fire support shouldn't be slugging it out anyway. And enemies may regret it if they move to brawl. But it's a year too late; you're stuck with a lackluster ZEU-6S or 6A.

I feel like the Crockett should be rated lower. Firing the main guns at the longest range while walking is +20 heat and it sinks 15, putting it at a bad break with +5 and taking penalties. The AC/10 and LL's have the exact same brackets; it you're going to have weapons share the same brackets - be able to shoot them. Honestly, I'd downgrade the missiles to SRM4's, or remove 1t of SRM-6 ammo and both Small Lasers, and get just a couple more heatsinks on there. You WANT to use all three big guns, so you can trigger a PSR - it takes all three. Even one heat sink would be lovely and avoid the bad break.

A good mech, and an especially useful mech in Introtech, 3025, is the Atlas AS7-RS. It's like a better Crockett. Decent ranged damage. Good close and brawl. Good heat balance. It makes favorable trades with most mechs by having better range brackets. ... But out of Introtech, everything else outshines the AS7-RS and it's not even particularly good "for the price" like a Banshee 3E is. It has a niche; it's a solid predator in 3025, and nowhere else.

Yeah, the Victor has some flaws in 3025; I actually wouldn't want it even in the preferred hunting ground. But you know what I do want for that job in 3025? A Charger. The CGR-1A5 is doing most of what I want that Victor to do; the only thing it doesn't do is jump. I'd be happy to trade one of the SRM-6's for jump capability at 4/6/3 for urban combat, though. Heat's good, damage is good, mobility is good. Range is terrible, but the Victor doesn't have range either and the CGR-1A5 can play that rogue's game.

[Duv]

Stumbled across your channel and it’s exactly what I want to listen to. Love the tactic videos and find your videos can help me understand that higher level to battletech. Keep up the amazing work!!

[zr_]

You left out a couple of mech from this era:

Annihilator ANH-1A: Commonly described as "four UrbanMechs stacked on top of each other in a trenchcoat". It's slow, but heavily armored, and it hits like a truck. The 1E model is even better with four PPCs and enough heat sinks to fire all of them while walking without generating a single point of waste heat. Pretty much exclusive to the Wolf's Dragoons, but the Kuritans salvaged some after the Battle of Misery, so there's at least a handful on the market.

Titan TI-1A: Technically this design was almost extinct by 3025 since there weren't many made to begin with, but imho this is basically a better version of the Stalker. It's got two PPCs, six medium lasers, four SRM-4s and an SRM-6 with three tons of ammo, max armor, twenty-two heat sinks, and a 3/5 movement profile. Oh, and unlike the Stalker, this has ARMS, so you can punch things. This would probably be my pick of an assault mech to take into battle in 3025, given the option.

[Saucychemist]

Fantastic video, i just love battletech and this was very enjoyable. I hope you share more with us!

[WolfHreda]

The Charger: For mercenaries? No. For Solaris Gladiators? Oh, yes.

Also, if you have a choice between a Cyclops and an Orion, you'd probably be better off taking the Orion. They've got the same movement profile and similar weapon load-outs, but the Orion actually has more armor.

The Zeus he mentions with the PPC, the ZEU-6T, is definitely the way to go. Just remember, it's a fire support 'mech, not a brawler. Keep it near the back and try to keep its targets around the 6-10 hex range.

[martinjrgensen]

The Awesome is just awesome. The Steiner Banshee is also boss.

[jeffanderson]

Is it just me, or does the King Crab's cockpit look big enough from the outside to have a couch, fridge, big screen tv and a pool table?

[connornewman]

Yes thank you so much for keeping it going

[AronFigaro]

Yeah I really like Nerdy Overanalyzed's work too.

[StarlightSocialist]

The Goliath - 1 H can be made tremendously better by making two minor changes. The first is to combine the twin LRM-10 racks into a single LRM-20. Normally its better to have the redundancy in weapons, but not if it comes with heat issues. As it stands, the Goliath overheats by 1 even standing still and by 3 if it runs. Switching to the LRM20 drops the weapon heat load to 16, which makes the mech heat neutral at a walk. This would be good on its own, but it also synergises with the second minor change: trade the MGs for medium lasers. Firing both of them would be 6 heat, which coincidently is the heat of the LRM20. So now the mech has two solid weapon groups; always fire the PPC and add either the missiles or the lasers.

BV rises slightly to 1586 but thats a small cost compared to the gains in effectiveness. (Also, in cases like this where the mech has two tons of ammo I stick one ton in the side torso with the weapon and one ton in the head. CT houses both medium lasers)