Right now in Mechwarrior Online, there is an event going on which rewards you with a hero mech of your choice if you get most of the way through the event. In my Discord we had a discussion about what mech to pick up. We all agreed that an assault mech was the right choice as you get more bank for your buck, but then the question became which one? The DireWolf Ultraviolet was generally considered the first choice if you did not already have one. Now the meta build for the UltraViolet is to load up the arms with a large number of Class-2 Autocannons (LBX, Ultra, or standard), however, I do not subscribe to that line of thought. Build mine with two LBX-20s and two LBX-10s. As we got a little further along, one of my subscribers, papachicken, suggested a duel that night. Of course I agreed.
During the stream papachicken arrived and we loaded up a private lobby and decided on a best of three format. We chose Vitric Forge as our map as it was big enough to allow for different approaches and ranges. So how did it go?
Match 1
In the first match it took a while for us to find each other. When we did it was at long range up high in the structure. We exchanged some fir as I tried to close the gap. Papachicken dropped down low, so I raced forward to do the same. I turned as I dropped, trying to predict where he might be, but I chose poorly. My back was to him and he dropped me seconds later.
Papachicken – 1 Innocenteric – 0
Match 2
Match two saw me taking the high road and Papachicken staying down low, but when we ran into each other he was on one of the ramps heading upward. I caught him up close and we fired into each other like a pair of brawlers. He took one of my legs and was after the second while I was shotgunning his torsos. I protected my remaining leg well enough to allow my bigger guns to do their work and tore out his center torso.
Papachicken – 1 Innocenteric – 1
Match 3
Match three turned out to be the best of the three. We found each other fairly early, down low around a cluster of buildings. We engaged, separated, circled and moved about the buildings seeking advantage. We ambushed each other, dropped artillery on one another and it was a seriously intense match. Eventually my bigger guns wore down his armor and my jump mobility helped me avoid some damage. When Papachicken tried to separate and get some distance between us I caught him in the open and finished him off. It was an absolutely amazing match and was a whole lot of fun.
Papachicken – Innocenteric – 2
WINNER: InnocentEric
My bigger guns won out here (it certainly wasn’t my skill), but to be completely honest, there is a reason the multi-AC2 build is the meta. In a 12v12 match the meta works great over the course of the entire match since you are not alone in the fight and can work with your teammates to great effect. My take on the Ultaviolet works well enough, but it shines late in the match, so being in a brawl early on certainly shows the weakness of the build.
I want to give a shout out to Papachicken for the great match and the support.
I also want to shout out to AstartesFanBoy for providing the color commentary during the matches. He had both of us laughing and it really added to the fun. Watch out Duncan Fisher.
Here is the build code for the mech below: AS75<:b1|NRp:1<K7|bB|LR|NR|NRq:1dI7|bB|LRrX0YE7|cB|NRsX0gI7|cB|NRtX0GQ7uZ0HQ7|bR|`Rv:0AQ7|NRw:0:0:0
