MechWarrior Online: Clan Collection Wave 2

I am a sucker for mechs with C-Bill bonuses and I HAD to buy the Man-O-War collection in order to get the Vulture / Mad Dog Prime Invasion mech (I own the Masakari collection too). The typical bonuses like Premium Time and two variants per chassis are nice, but the four Faction Content packages are a great bonus.

Don't know what I'm talking about? Check out the lower half of the Clan Collection Wave 2 page and click on each of the Clan Wolf, Clan Ghost Bear, Clan Jade Falcon, and Clan Smoke Jaguar links. Skins for these pre-ordered Clan mechs, four more war horns, the colors for all mechs, and cockpit coffee cups was too much to pass up.

And for the record, I am not a dirty "clammer". The mercenary unit I belong to, Death's Hand Brigade, is an Inner Sphere unit and, based on what we have told, will be restricted to Inner Sphere mechs during Community Warfare. But, we will still be able to use our Clan mechs in non-Community Warfare matches. So, I am covering all of my bases by owning whatever Clan mechs I can get my hands on. :D

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Update: November 19, 2014

The first two mechs of the Clan Wave 2 pack are now in the game and I figured I would take the time to talk about each of them.

Mist Lynx / Koshi (25 ton light mech)

I am not a big fan of light mechs in general mostly because the quick bouncing movements of the cockpit while going 130+ kph give me a headache after about 15 minutes. The base speed of the Mist Lynx is 113 kph and I played one for over two hours without problem.

I know 113 kph (about 124 kph with Speed Tweak) is not very fast for a light, but based on the time I have spent in a Mist Lynx, I think they will be alright. I say that because all three variants come with six permanent jump jets and these things practically fly. They are very maneuverable and make great "peek and poke" mechs.

Their major upsides are:
-Small profile
-ECM
-Plenty of jump jets

Their major downsides are:
-Permanent Clan Active Probe (would be nice to be able to remove this when running ECM)
-Do not have a lot of space of weapons (about 7.5 tons)
-Do not have a lot of armor
-Hit boxes are not messed up (you can hit them) like the Spider and Firestarter

Overall, the Mist Lynx has been fun and I look forward to playing it more often.


Ice Ferret / Fenris (45 ton medium mech)

The Ice Ferret is a fast medium mech with not a lot of space for weapons. A lot of people complain about the lack of weapon space, but I am finding their speed and armor very useful. Combine their base speed at 129 kph (142 kph with Speed Tweak) and the near max armor in the stock builds, and you can focus on putting in the right weapons to match the hit and run tactics they are meant to use.

So far, my favorite builds are:
-2 Medium ER Lasers and 2 SRM 6 for brawling support
-3 Streak SRM 4 and 1 Small ER Laser for light mech hunting

Their major upsides are:
-Speed
-Armor

Their major downsides are:
-No jump jets
-Not a lot of space for weapons

Overall, I have been happy with my Ferrets. They are fast, pack a solid punch for their weight, and are typically ignored when bigger mechs are around.