Thoughts on the Panther and the Enforcer specifications

PGI released the final specifications of the Panther and Enforcer 'Mechs from the upcoming Reinforcements pack, complete with quirks and first images. I had a look at the specifications and I thought I'd post my first impressions here.

The Panther

Now that's a mean looking 'Mech

I really like how the Panther looks. It looks menacing and its limbs seem to be properly sized, except the "main" PPC arm. I'd imagine that arm will catch a lot of bullets under fire. Jaava on Reddit has compared the size of the Panther and the Firestarter. Considering how fast you lose your arms in a FS with comparably tiny arms, It's a point of concern, but this 'Mech is meant to keep its range.

Unfortunately this 'Mech comes with a huge speed disadvantage compared to other IS lights (its speed is capped at 127.3 KPH with speed tweak), therefore its quirks are very important in keeping this 'Mech in-line with other IS lights. I'll cut out the irrelevant ones and will just give you the essential quirks:

Quirks: 25% ERPPC heat reduction, 25% ERPPC cooldown reduction, 40% ERPPC speed.

25% heat and cooldown reduction. That's 11.25 heat per shot with a 37% reduction in cooldown with the module. If you mount only one ERPPC and use the remaining 7 tons on DHS(not even counting JJs) you'll be able to fire it for a decent amount, but it'll suck at killing anything (good luck landing consistent shots on specific components). If you mount two or bring back-up lasers, it'll simply be unsustainably hot to be any use. Try it out yourself.

Most people reacted with this being the "return of the ERPPC Spider". The appeal of the SDR-5D ERPPC build was the combination of ECM+ERPPC combined with a very hard to hit chassis. You could just pick at targets at long range and remain undetected. At close range the survivability of the Spider would allow you to either escape or last long enough to land the killing blow. The Panther lacks ECM, the maneuverability of the Spider, it's pretty big and slow. Whenever it tries to snipe, a huge red doritos will appear above it and enemy lights will be watering in their mouth to get this delicious hot and slow cookie. The ERPPC is low mounted, so it'll suck at hill humping and will be limited to poptarting and side-peeking.

If it had 50% reduction in heat, then we'd be in business. But at 25% on a light chassis, I'd say forget it. Heck, look at Cicada-3C with its -50% ERPPC heat reduction. Does that make it useful or effective? Absolutely not. A Panther with -50% ERPPC heat reduction and with 2xERPPCs though, that'd be a thing to behold.

The Enforcer

Dat chest, dem legs

On the paper, the Enforcer seems to be alright. A big engine cap (same as the Trebs), jump jets and an abundance of ballistic and energy hardpoints. The quirks are nice too, with 20% buffs to the LBX. Other than these there's nothing much to be said at this point.

I'll be bold and take a look at that picture though. That hexagon CT structure is pretty worrying from a survivability viewpoint. The bottom part of the legs are fat and the left arm is just gigantic. You can see what fat legs do to a Wolverine or a Summoner, those things are ridiculously easy to leg. The fate of the CT will depend on the hitbox distribution, I hope PGI tests them properly to achieve a balance.

Share on Google Plus

About Rak

I'm an engineer who likes to write extremely long articles about games that border simulation and mainstream.