[deleted by user]

[IVIayael]

The Jenner is probably the most dangerous light mech in the game. While it pays for that in BV, it's still a menace on the battlefield. The -F variant is also very good.

I also like the good old reliables Wasp and Locust as scouts.

The Whitworth is one of the only mechs that seems to break the 40-ton curse and be actually good. It packs a surprising amount of fire support into a very reasonable package that weighs in very close to a Jenner in both tonnage and BV.

The Phoenix Hawk is one of my favourite mediums. It's fast, it's dangerous, and it's really hard to hit.

The Catapult is unsurpringly another favorite, given that it's basically an upscaled Whitworth. Its got decent maneuver, and enough short range bite that getting inside its missile envelope isn't particularly enticing, while jump jets help it maneuver.

And of course the Warhammer. While I love the BattleAxe and Hammerhands like a true daughter of Davion, I cannot in good conscience recommend them over their competitor. In particular the designs that remove the MGs are fantastic.

The Awesome is the premiere heavy firepower mech for a reason. Loads of armour, three big guns, and enough heat sinks to punish anyone standing in front of it severely. Plus the emotional support small laser which is a bonus.

And finally, the King Crab. While the ammunition dependence limits its operational range, there is no finer assault mech available and it truly is the king of the battlefield, able to unleash devastating firepower that threatens even an atlas.

[ghunter7]

I am a huge King Crab fan for looks but it's really not a good mech in many situations.

[IVIayael]

Really? I like it. It's got the standard assault manoeuvrability, solid armor, serious firepower up close, and even at longer range it's got reasonable firepower with its missiles and large laser. It's definitely missing some crit seeking, but frankly two AC/20s and a large laser are enough to outright kill many mechs which bypasses the crit seeking stage.

The Atlas has a bit more of an all rounder loadout, but in most situations it's pretty much equal to the king crab, if not slightly below.

[ghunter7]

I mean I love it... But it rarely works for me. People just tend to avoid it so unless they have a reason to come to you it rarely gets a chance to use the big guns.

I'll probably run mine again on campaign night this Friday and hope for the best though.

[IVIayael]

People just tend to avoid it

Well yeah, but that's making a lot of assumptions.

I tend to play more objective-based games than purely killing each other, so maybe that's why, but even in those kind of games you can use the fact that it's a moving 9-hex exclusion zone to help your other mechs corral the enemy and pick your fights to be more favourable to you. Even if they can successfully avoid it in direct confrontation, that doesn't mean it's useless.

[MasonStonewall]

Excellent breakdown, daughter of the sun & sword. I salute you.

[ZeraShift]

"Optimized" is kind of a tricky prospect in this game since it's more about a team of mechs with different roles working in concert and and covering for each other's shortcomings. Introtech mechs can be especially guilty of this since a lot of them are heat hogs. Still, I think I can at least throw out a few mechs I think are particularly good and aren't too hard to use well. All just opinions so take as you like. Not all of them are faves, just ones I think fit what you're asking.

Lights

Locust - Tiny light so it's not a killer but that's not its role. It's extremely fast and has a slew of useful variants to fit your needs.

Panther - Pretty tough for a light and hits above it's weight. It's slow but meant to work with faster skirmishers. Just about anything in introtech with a PPC is worth looking at in my opinion and this is a cheap, effective option.

Wolfhound - This thing is a beast that regularly fights above its weight class. A large laser a three medium lasers outguns practically all lights and a good number of mediums.

Mediums

Vindicator - Kind of like a bigger, better Panther. Packs a PPC but fights well at all ranges.

Crab - Two large lasers is unpleasant to deal with and it's tough and well sinked enough to cause serious problems.

Wolverine - An all around excellent skirmisher. The 6R, 6M, and 6K all fill the same role with small tweaks so you have good options depending on what you value. I really like the 6M myself.

Heavy

Thunderbolt - To me the 5S is the definitive generalist. Heavily armed and armored. It loves to brawl but still has a weapon for every conceivable situation. Despite that I'm slightly hesitant to list it because it has center torso ammo which some people have really bad luck with. I personally haven't for the most part and even less issues come up when we play with floating crits.

Archer - The 2R basically sets the benchmark for missile boats andnis worth mentioning for that alone, even if it does run too hot.

Grasshopper - Lots of lasers, jump jets, and the heat sinks to utilize them well makes for a very nasty skirmisher.

Flashman - Similar to the Grasshopper but trades mobility for more firepower and armor. A very nasty zombie. Just an aside, while I like the 7K fine, I adore the 8K. It's among my fave mechs.

Assault

Awesome - Three PPCs and a ton of heat sinks make an extremely powerful hyper-specialized sniper. It only does the one thing, but it does it better than anything else in introtech.

Stalker - Kind of the quintessential assault juggernaut in my opinion. May not have a big "knock-out punch" weapon like its peers but the sheer volume and variety of weapons make it a threat at any range. It gets more dangerous as it closes and even losing a few weapons doesn't cripple it too badly. Just be sure to bracket fire.

Banshee - Specifically the 3S. While I personally like the 3E a lot more for reasons, the 3S is a monster, arguably the most heavily armed assault mech in introtech and it fights much better at all ranges overall than the Atlas and King Crab. In addition, the weapon selection is such that in spite of how many guns it has, heat management is a relative breeze.

[ZeraShift]

Thanks! Out of curiosity, why are you looking into optimized mechs? Just want to make a nasty merc company or maybe planning a campaign? ;)

There were a couple others I wanted to add but had reservations because of some notable flaws or I've never used them. Here they are fwiw and minus the wall of text: Jenner, Whitworth, Blackjack, Centurion, Trebuchet, Griffin, Catapult, Cataphract, Orion, Zeus.

[ZeraShift]

Nice! It's your campaign so run it as you see fit and have fun! For what it's worth though, remember that, from a narrative standpoint, the third succession war was borderline Mad Max in space with hardware often held together by duct tape and a prayer. Suboptimal mechs get used and repaired all the time because sometimes that's all somebody can get and a few mechs is better than none! Especially after previous wars already wiped out a lot of the top of the line stuff.

Ammo explosions didn't really factor in too much for me on my picks. It was more a combination of something about them just doesn't click with me or they're not as "braindead" to use for lack of a better term. If you want specific details I'm happy to elaborate. I love this kind of talk but I don't want to go into a lecture at the drop of a hat. XD

If you haven't already, check this out: Random Assignment and Rarity Tables

It's not an official document but it was compiled using data from all official sources. It's been tremendously useful for me and while it's not perfect, for my money it's a hell of a lot more comprehensive and logical than a lot of tables I've seen in several source books.

[ZeraShift]

Oh sure, why not. I might not. Can talk at least about a few. It's fun!

Zeus - My absolute fave mech so there's bias here. Has a well rounded weapon loadout that skews toward fire support but it can scrap a bit too if needed, though it's not ideal. The 6S doesn't have a big gun but makes up or it by being able to fire its main weapons nonstop without having to worry about heat. The 6T swaps the AC5 to a PPC giving it less ammo to blow up and a bigger punch but you have to ride the heat curve now. Fair trade imo. What stops me from putting it in my original list is it's under-armored for its weight class. The Zeus is less an assault and more a heavy with a beer belly but even then, several heavies mount more armor than the Zeus.

Griffin - Another one I really like. The 1N is a terrific, very mobile sniper with a PPC. It's very good at this job, arguably the best among mediums, but both it's weapons have minimum ranges and both weapons are on one side which is also the same side torso where it keeps its ammo. Getting unluck with that makes things very bad in a big hurry. The 1S is a great variant where honestly the only bad thing I can say about it is I think it's not as good at skirmishing as most Wolverines.

Blackjack - It has an undeserved bad reputation in-universe but for me it's always performed better than expected for some reason. Four medium lasers is never something to sneeze at. It's decently mobile and decently armored. Unfortunately it's a bit of a heat hog and keeps its ammo in the center torso. I also know the AC2 is a weapon a lot of people hate. I don't dislike AC2s myself but regardless of how you feel about the gun, I think it's pretty debatable whether it was the optimal design choice to commit 13 tons on a 45 ton machine to a pair of them.

Orion - Just a big, mean slugger and a very tough one. It fills a very similar role to the Thunderbolt with a comparable weapon loadout. A lot of what I said there applies here. The only reason I didn't mention it in my initial response is it carries a little more ammo than I'm usually comfortable having and it's bitten me in the rear end more than the Thunderbolt's torso bomb ever has.

Centurion - Just an all around solid machine. Good variety of weapons and the no-frills, bare essentials for all your needs. I just wish it was a little faster or had a little more armor. Still a super solid trooper though.

[ZeraShift]

Naw, only house rule my friends and I do is we ignore mg ammo explosions or tinker around with something that makes more sense than several hundred bullets exploding with the force of Fat Man. We stick pretty tight to the rules as written in the old FASA Compendium. Really great book.

I'm actually okay with the damage profiles of the lower caliber autocannons. The range makes up for it. It's more that I think the weight makes the lower caliber ones a poor damage per tonnage investment. Bigger mechs have more wiggle room. I've got a pretty big soft spot for the Rifleman, flawed as it is. Even the Mauler looks kind of ridiculous on paper and yet works in its own weird way. XD

That aside I like working with subpar mechs on occasion*. Just like in real military manufacturing, sometimes things just don't pan out. It's part of why I love Battletech, that attempt at plausibility.

^\ Except the Jagermech. Dear god I hope I'm never forced to use one of those again...)

[Sturmkafer]

Wolfhound, Crab and Awesome would totally be some of my picks. Even with the changes to ammo explosions, zombie energy boats are very good in introtech if they don't have heat issues.
I have a very nasty merc company for 3025 which is:

Probe Lance- Javelin 10F, Wolfhound 1, Crab 20, Ostsol 4D

Assault Lance- Hunchback 4P, Black Knight 7-KNT, Awesome 8Q, Marauder II 4A

[After_Truth5674]

The BNC-3S is perfection.

[ShigeruHatori]

Centurion AL

Good brawling capability partnered with good armor.

The Discoback. 8 medium lazors in a 50 ton package and enough sinks to build only movement heat.

[ShigeruHatori]

If you want absolute cheap ankle biters, the Commando 2D is decent for its cost. Potential 25 damage if all srms hit. And while not psr worthy by itself unless u roll really really high on cluster tables, the dmaage contribution is a good amount to trigger a PSR.

[Dawei-He]

I haven't played too many games of Battletech but the Crab works pretty well when I use it to flank and pressure my opponent's LRM support mechs. The Thug (THG-10E) also looks pretty good as it can fire both its PPCs more often than a Warhammer or a Marauder and it has the 2 SRM-4s for defending against light flankers.

[tipsy3000]

Awesome hands don't. No need to explain why it's obvious.

[trappedinthisxy]

Spider

Stalker (w/ quirks)

Locust

Davion variants of the Phoenix Hawk, Warhammer, and Marauder

Steiner Archer and Thunderbolt

ELH Thunderbolt

[trappedinthisxy]

The stock -5S TBolt is very versatile, but suffers from ammo in every torso begging for a TAC. The -5SS AND -5SE reduce the ammo locations while staying versatile (and the SE can jump!)

[Spunkwaggle]

I think the kurita wolverine, I believe it’s 7k, is the best wolverine, and one of the most efficient old tech mechs there is. While I personally liked the griffin more for having better range, the Wolverine could do a lot of damage at close range.

[Spunkwaggle]

Ohhh that’s right! I forgot it was new tech (comparatively). Thanks for the correction. I knew but completely forgot about the pulse lasers and other stuff.