My Semi-Annual Uziel Rant

[CHHš Rampage]

The Uziel was my favorite Mech in MW4. I was thrilled when it was introduced into MWLL but that excitement was short lived as I never use the Mech in game. Every other Meduim and some Lights are a better choice when you have the C-Bills to spend on an Uziel. Here is why I think so.

1. Impaired vision - Piloting the Uziel is like driving a 1960 era Volkswagon Bug from the back seat. It has one of the most restricted views in the Mod. This hinders the pilot's ability to track his target in any close fighting.

2. Cockpit bob -  The Uziel has the most pronounced cockpit bob of any Mech while moving at slow to medium/fast speeds. It borders on ridiculous. Any pilot of this Mech would have his innards turned to jelly by the jarring gait before he even reached the battlefield. This really struck me after piloting mechs like the Loki, Bushwacker, Timberwolf and Catapult which seem to glide on air in comparison.

3. Bad Variants - The Prime is reasonable. The LT Gauss version (Poke) is weak. The Gauss do just enough damage to draw attention but not kill anything. The lack of JJ on this variant means that you have to stand out in the open to pot shot which means that the big tall Uziel will make a prime target for much higher damage weapons from your opponents. Plus it is very ammo dependent. The RAC/MRM version would be great for medium range except that the Uziel is lightly armored for its class and presents a large target area for a medium. Again very ammo dependent. The RACs will run dry before you can kill anything bigger than a Light. The Laser version is just OK. All in all the Uziel can stand up to most much lighter vehicles but is a poor choice against anything within ten tons of its weight or larger.

4. No speed advantage - The Uziel is supposed to be fast. Tell that to a ShadowCat or a Loki!

5. Combination of 1 and 2

Suggested fixes:

Move the camera position closer to front of the Mech (viewscreen).
Reduce cockpit bob and shake by at least half.
Introduce a couple new variants that make for a more versatile and better rounded load out. Example:
ERPPC
AC5
SSRM6
2xML
JJ

or

PPC
LT Gauss
2xML
SSRM6
JJ

Or just one of the other canon variants listed on Battletech Wiki.

 What brought on this rant was that I was testing Mechs the other night and tried out all the Assaults, all the Heavies, three Mediums and two Lights. When I got into the Uziel for testing I once again came away with the impression that it is far inferior to all the rest. In fact, I thought it was terrible but maybe my opinion is colored by the fact that I wanted it to be great. I just hate to see it sitting in the hangar collecting dust as everyone takes Shadowcats, Bushwackers, and Puma Primes out to the battlefield. Does anyone use this Mech?

[=KoS= Saber15]

I sometimes use the Uziel C, but the problem is that they have such terrible cockpit visibility + huge torso compared to other mechs of its class; it's the Thanatos of the medium class.

[Az]

4. No speed advantage - The Uziel is supposed to be fast. Tell that to a ShadowCat or a Loki!

What?

Uziel: CBT 6/9/6, MWLL 97 km/h
Shadow Cat: CBT 6/9[12]/6, MWLL 86[120] km/h
Hellbringer: CBT 5/8/0, MWLL 86 km/h

The Uziel is the fastest of the bunch (without using MASC), and the Scat is 10 km/h slower than it should! Also, the Shadow Cat Prime is missing its MASC.

Can't disagree with anything else in your post, though...

[=KoS= Saber15]

4. No speed advantage - The Uziel is supposed to be fast. Tell that to a ShadowCat or a Loki!

What?

Uziel: CBT 6/9/6, MWLL 97 km/h
Shadow Cat: CBT 6/9[12]/6, MWLL 86[120] km/h
Hellbringer: CBT 5/8/0, MWLL 86 km/h

The Uziel is the fastest of the bunch (without using MASC), and the Scat is 10 km/h slower than it should! Also, the Shadow Cat Prime is missing its MASC.

Half of the Scat variants have MASC, which none of the Uziels have.

[Warhammer WHM-6R]

I use the iPoke to snipe from unexpected places to great effect. I do not get any kills but that is not it's job. It is a direct fire support mech and IMO works that way.

The LRMs are useless on it though. I used them once when I was caught (very well) in a short range fight and my light gauss and machine guns were out of ammo. I actually run out of ammo for the gauss often. Give it GECM, Extra ammo and/or SRMs and it would be vastly improved.

[=KoS= Saber15]

The LRMs are useless on it though. I used them once when I was caught (very well) in a short range fight and my light gauss and machine guns were out of ammo. I actually run out of ammo for the gauss often. Give it GECM, Extra ammo and/or SRMs and it would be vastly improved.

You can dumbfire the LRMs where you think enemies are, and it'll trigger their LAMS turrets, exposing their position.

[Squibby]

I fully agree,
I'd also add a few more points:
Weak armour + huge profile for a medium mech
Guns that are so wide apart that they are very sensitive to changes in centering distance,
Turns and accelerates quite slowly, maybe this is a perception thing (Uziel has a very 'slow' run animation) but it seems very ponderous.

[xInVicTuSx]

Problem with the Uziel is that nothing on it is really a quick fix.
Less cockpit bob means redo animations....which is a nightmare.
Smaller profile also means resizing which could also be difficult.
PPCs are not as strong as they should be imo, nor are Lt.gauss.
The Laser variant is good super early game for taking out Ullers but that is about it.

I too would like to see an AC5 on the Uziel, just not the complete shit AC5 we have now.
I would prefer a LPL to an ERPPC myself though.

I use it and honestly the only thing that slows me down are the poor variants. You can get used to the cockpit bob.

[~SJ~ Amarus]

I still do not know why the Uziel was put in before the Griffin which is obviously a waaaaaaay better IS mech...discuss

Actually I just like the Griffin because it was a Lyran workhorse, and If I was not clan...I would be Lyran

[=KoS= Eldragon]

Course, part of the problem is cost. The Uziel costs the same as the Shadowcat variants. Most players take a Shadowcat variant over any of the uziel variants. So there are 3 easy fixes for the uziel that come to mind that would help make up for its profile and cockpit problems: 1) Reduce the Cost 2) Better turn radius 3) Increased speed/Acceleration.

[~SJ~ Amarus]

I would chose number one, because as it is the scat is already slower than it should be (without MASC) so there is no need to make the Uziel all vroomtastic

[(TLL)Siilk]

+1 to number one, any current Uziel variant should be available at WR rank.

[Nitro_R]

Reduced cost and better turning radius would definitely make the Uziel a more used asset.

[EagleFire]

Also DHS please!

[~SJ~ Griffin]

I still do not know why the Uziel was put in before the Griffin which is obviously a waaaaaaay better IS mech...discuss

Actually I just like the Griffin because it was a Lyran workhorse, and If I was not clan...I would be Lyran

<<< but the Griffin is here??  (likes the Griffin more than the Uziel as well)

It would be great to see the Uziel made better though, needs to be equipped with ERPPCS or something to give the prime variant more range.