Media Release - Inner Sphere Fafnir Assault Mech

[Serious Table]

Gorgeous and awe-inspiring, Defender.  Very very very nice work.

[Profane Arbiter]

Looks awesome....


...but....

...does this pic have anyone else thinking...



TITS or GTFO!!!!

[Steelbarrage]

Defender, Hands down the best and most anticipated mech I want to pilot. Thanks for bringing this to the community. You get Dev of the month award for the next three months. 

[=KoS= Tripod]

I have one question about off-center cockpits...

In game, is it also off center, or is the first person view in the middle of the mech with a "fake" high quality cockpit? Was just wondering because I never really felt off to the side in a Holly, so I probably won't notice it at all here

[Defender]

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone. It was a fun model to work on.
In appreciation for your appreciation, he's a couple more renders from a different perspective I had lying around.

[=KoS= Saber15]

I came.

NOW FOR WILD MASS GUESSING ON VARIANTS AND ARRIVAL
0.6 release

Prime - dual IHGRs, dual large lasers, triple small lasers (going by model)

Innersphere version of the beatstick

[KingLeerUK]

Improved heavy gauss though... Is that really necessary? I mean I'm assuming that the Fafnir will still be mounting two of the things. Surely twin heavy gauss is already plenty of hurt without giving it a longer range on top of that?

We talked about this internally and we decided that if any platform would be capable of mounting the Improved Heavy Gauss, it would have to be the Fafnir (and limited to only it).  The reasoning being that it will be relatively slow and when mounting a pair of the iHGauss it probably won't be able to mount much else.  If you are going to spend the time (and money) to bring one of these things to a forward firing position, you should be able to eke out every scrap of damage potential from it.
 
Alternate configs will probably be 2x "regular" Heavy Gauss with assorted small arms, 2x Gauss with larger weapons in the arm assault pods, and a 2x UAC20 config.  It's really a bit early on to be discussing that aspect of things.

[Aidan]

Defender nice high poly. How many tris is this dude?

[Defender]

Defender nice high poly. How many tris is this dude?

About 50k faces unoptimized. I only work in polys, not tris.
The Low-Poly is roughly 7-9k and will most likely be optimized further before entering the game.

[DFDelta]

I. LOVE. YOU. GUYS.

Seriousely, Steiner tech at its finest. 


Can we have a 2xLGauss/5xUAC5 Variant with tons of ammo and extra armor? As some sort of IS Siege Engine? 

[=KoS= Tripod]

The whole "I. Love. You. Guys" works better if you say it like this:

I

LOVE

YOU

GUYS

Looks a LOT less weird than periods

[sgnl05]

Improved heavy gauss though... Is that really necessary? I mean I'm assuming that the Fafnir will still be mounting two of the things. Surely twin heavy gauss is already plenty of hurt without giving it a longer range on top of that?

We talked about this internally and we decided that if any platform would be capable of mounting the Improved Heavy Gauss, it would have to be the Fafnir (and limited to only it).  The reasoning being that it will be relatively slow and when mounting a pair of the iHGauss it probably won't be able to mount much else.  If you are going to spend the time (and money) to bring one of these things to a forward firing position, you should be able to eke out every scrap of damage potential from it.
 
Alternate configs will probably be 2x "regular" Heavy Gauss with assorted small arms, 2x Gauss with larger weapons in the arm assault pods, and a 2x UAC20 config.  It's really a bit early on to be discussing that aspect of things.

I agree that it sort of makes sense to put it on the Fafnir if you're going to put it on anything, but honestly I'm not sure many people would feel hard done by if the iHGauss just wasn't in the game. It's tempting to be all MOAR BECAUSE MOAR when it comes to mechwarrior (because there's always MOAR ) but for balance sometimes less is more.

Still it can use the regular HG model and effects so I suppose it's easy to add and easy to remove if it turns out to be too good. I'm looking forward to playing with this no matter what sort of ridiculous cannons you decide to duct tape to it 

[Virt]

Nice looking Mech, Defender.   

It's interesting, Devs, that you're planning to add the first new set of leg animations for this.

Any plans for using those new legs on any of the existing chassis...?

[Aidan]

Man can you see this monster heading out on the field with some air cover and some Bushys protecting its flanks !!!

OMFG ... just stay in the hangar cause this thing will clean your clock !!!

[Defender]

Improved heavy gauss though... Is that really necessary? I mean I'm assuming that the Fafnir will still be mounting two of the things. Surely twin heavy gauss is already plenty of hurt without giving it a longer range on top of that?

We talked about this internally and we decided that if any platform would be capable of mounting the Improved Heavy Gauss, it would have to be the Fafnir (and limited to only it).  The reasoning being that it will be relatively slow and when mounting a pair of the iHGauss it probably won't be able to mount much else.  If you are going to spend the time (and money) to bring one of these things to a forward firing position, you should be able to eke out every scrap of damage potential from it.
 
Alternate configs will probably be 2x "regular" Heavy Gauss with assorted small arms, 2x Gauss with larger weapons in the arm assault pods, and a 2x UAC20 config.  It's really a bit early on to be discussing that aspect of things.

I agree that it sort of makes sense to put it on the Fafnir if you're going to put it on anything, but honestly I'm not sure many people would feel hard done by if the iHGauss just wasn't in the game. It's tempting to be all MOAR BECAUSE MOAR when it comes to mechwarrior (because there's always MOAR ) but for balance sometimes less is more.

Don't care! iHGauss were my idea, my nagging, bitching, pissing and moaning for months till I finally coaxed enough leads to agree with me. It makes sense if you think about it. It's slow, well armored, has no jump jets, and very limited load-out possibilities. It's one of the only mechs in canon to actually have a weapon specially developed for it and is a direct counter to one of its main weaknesses.

Besides, it may only be on one config as I'm adamant about variety. So far I've come up with a variety of stock configs, such as 2xiHG, 2xHG, 2xG, 2xUAC20 with room for more, but as a default, I want it to feel like a variety vehicle with weapons to match its epicness. Considering how situational it is, and how limited its movement capabilities are, I feel it will be an excellent addition.