The Canis

Today is filled with much delight. The review selected today is one that many see on the battlefield. Many of you hate to face them down, but love it when you see that reactor finally blow. Many of you, me included, have a hard time putting these things away. What mech am I talking about? The Clan Canis.

The name Canis is used in astrological terms meaning dog or sometimes wolf or even coyote. I prefer the dog or wolf term; it seems to suit this battle mech. This Canis as presented to us is an 80-ton beast, equipped with good slots, average to good speed, jump jets if desired, all on a squatty endo-steel frame.

Lets take a look at the electronics offered for the Canis. Jump jets, LAMS and Enhanced Optics are your choices. BAP and ECM are not given to this wolf and I think the designers and play-testers should be saluted for that choice. Adding either or both of those radar enhancements would simply have put this mech over the top. It is my opinion that jump jets are what makes this mech part of the offensive powerhouse it is. LAMS, of course, are something that I think should be on EVERY mech, or at least should be an option. Enhanced Optics is an option that CAN be very deadly for you long rangers or snipers. This mech can be a very deadly sniper, or pop sniper even, and the EO option allows you to zero in on the weak spot of the enemy.

Offensively, this mech has good slots and can take a very menacing load out while maintaining speed and agility. Each arm houses a 5-slot energy while the overhead guns are each 3-slot ballistic. There are no torso slots, but this mech does not need them. Missiles are not an option for the Canis, but again, in my opinion, this mech does not need them.

A very popular config for the Canis is to put 2 Clan Gauss Rifles in the gun slots and an ERPPC in each arm. This allows the pilot full FF armour, 2 heat sinks, jump jets, LAMS, and 71kph speed. That gives this beast a 66-point alpha from 800 meters, or a 30 point shot from 925 meters! (EDIT: THESE NUMBERS HAVE CHANGED SINCE THE REVIEW WAS WRITTEN, THEY HAVE INCREASED!! D’OH!) Does it get hot? Sure it does, but the 2 heat sinks help to bring down the heat relatively quickly and all the weapons will be recharged in 8 secs. The Gauss rifles will recharge sooner allowing you to slam another 36 points of damage into your opponent while you are still cooling from the ERPPCs.

This mech is also very agile. It moves and handles well and the cockpit view is big with no obstructions. If one elects to drop the ERPPCs and add ERLLs instead you can gain another 5kph and additional heat sinks allowing you to continue to move and shoot without much concern for heat problems unless you are on the hotter maps. This wolf is no dog; it is one superb offensive machine.

I mentioned earlier that this mech was built on an endo-steel chassis. Normally that relates to a faster mech, but one that does not hold up under fire as well as others with a standard framework. That does not seem to be the case for the Canis. It handles damage very well, often spreading out the incoming shots and making it difficult for opponents to zero in on ‘a’ spot to take it down. The major weakness of the Canis? I would have to say that the arms are the weak spots. They do seem to be blown off much easier than either of the torsos or the CT of this Battlemech. The legs also seem to be a bit on the weak side, but it is rare that you leg a Canis because you are too busy trying to reduce the firepower, i.e. blowing the arms off, or shooting for the gun racks.

Once the arm goes, the side torso then does begin to show damage much more rapidly than before the arm loss. This usually results on the death of the Canis, but even then, it takes a long time to kill this wolf.

I have found the best way to defend against this thing is in numbers. Concentrated fire from 2 or more mechs will put and end to the Canis threat, but expect to take plenty of return damage yourself or at least some of your teammates.

The Canis has many uses, sniping is just one, long-range fire support or fire suppression is another. As mentioned, the Canis can take a nice array of long range weapons and handle the heat fairly well allowing the pilot to spray the enemy while your teammates work their way in close.

One role not often explored with the Canis is that of a brawler. Some of you may laugh at that statement. A Canis can house 2 Clan LBX20s, or 2 CUAC20s, or CUAC10s, or Clan LBX10s, or 6 Clan LBX5s. Along with that you can mount a few heavy lasers, be it large or medium and rip opponents apart. Because the Canis is squatty and compact as well as agile, you can shoot and move pounding the crap out of an enemy. The Canis is definitely a bruiser.

I consider this mech to be the Ares of the Assault Class. It takes a beating and keeps coming at you like a German Panther tank. It can carry and very nice load to the battle and unless the pilot is completely lost, this thing will be one of the last standing. Two or three, or more on a battlefield make it very hard to win whatever the battle is. Legging or arming the animal seems to be the best way of stopping it.

Time now to put a rating to this mech. Vettie hates to see these things in groups on mission play, they are simply to hard to stop. I don’t use one very often myself, but when I do, I have better than average success. The mech can be killed, it just seems to take more effort to do so than others of its class, even more so than some larger than the Canis. Vettie’s rating? 4 to 4 ½ minutes. Very good for any class.


The Canis

I know Homer does not share my view on the Canis. I have no problem with that, in fact, that is what these forums are for. Vettie’s Views is a place to state my view and then let others speak their mind as well.

MP3 did not change the Canis very much. The slots, armour, body size and overall speed were not changed at all. There were some changes made, 1 directly to the Canis and another that affects all mechs.

The one change directly to the Canis was that it got a turning radius speed boost. Now you can jump shoot and twist a little faster. The second change was to the heat scale. Things run a bit hotter now than they did before. Those Canis pilots out there that run the 2 Clan Gauss and 2 ERPPC config will find yourself shutting down more often now unless you chain the firing or run that config on very cold maps. You might even see a few pilots slow the mech down and add a few heat sinks, nah…

In the 1st review of the Canis I gave hit some high marks. I said it was tough to kill. I said something to the fact that even though it had an endo-steel structure, it did not seem to take damage like an endo steel mech. I intend to revise those marks but certain aspects still are very true.

I mentioned above that MP3 had very little change for the Canis, but something seems to have changed. Either we see less of them in the opens now because many are driving the Behemoths with the Rail Gun and popping mechs at a 1000 meters, or we have all discovered what Homer was saying all along. Blow away the Gauss Horns and arms and the mech is worthless. I am not taking away anything from Homer, or his tactics, but I have found it difficult to blow those horns away. I mean, occasionally, I get a lucky shot in and knock off one of them, but I have actually had more success stripping the arms.

Back to what I was saying, either we see less of them or they have become easier to kill. It’s like anything else, given enough time, people will figure a counter to a potent threat. I think its some of both. I think some of the Canis pilots have left their mechs for the promise of 2 shot kills with the Behemoth. I think those that still pilot the Canis are a bit more reckless and don’t travel in packs. They seem to expose those big arms and horns more so than in the past, leaving them clear for a shot. Of course it is easier to kill 1 Canis than it is to kill 3 or 4 in a swarm or pack of them. But I also think the new heat scale has toned down their usage.

For many pilots that frequent Sunder, they may not be aware that the heat scale has changed. They may be running the same configs as pre-MP3 going with the thought that it worked well before MP3 so it should work now. That may be a reasonable thought until you look at how frequently you run hot, or totally shut down from the heat. Most pilots know that when your mech starts running hot and it gets to a certain temp, you actually begin to lose speed. Many do not know that if their temps scale in the red and they still try to push their mech to full speed that your mech simply stays hot longer. IF you are out of coolant, you are going no where fast and run the risk of taking on more heat from enemy PPC splooge or Inferno Missiles. When my mech has reached that point, I almost always back off the throttle a little. It helps the mech cool faster, that is, barring outside heat sources. At that point, I am already going much slower anyway, so 1 to 5 kph is not gonna help me get out of the way of anything, but it will help my reactor cool down quicker.

What I am getting to here is that I think we are seeing fewer Canis in the opens than we did pre-MP3 and those that we do see seem to die a little faster. Homer does not care for the Canis but I think he does agree that they are a threat. A decent pilot in a Canis is a decent threat, a good pilot in a Canis as a serious threat.

Vettie’s Views on the Canis have not changed very much. I still think it is a tough mech that carries a deadly load out. This mech is only an 80 ton assault mech. I think what has happened is that many have figured out the key to victory over a Canis is not always killing the mech, but disarming it and moving on to the next target. The Canis still gets a 4 minute rating. I dropped the ½ minute because of the heat scale and because I have seen more Canis die quicker now. Never mind the source that caused the death is a mech with 20 ton on it and 200 meters in range, or that the Marauder II is now catching on and pilots have figured out that the Cow Config is the most deadly; an alpha from that thing will rip off whatever the body part you were pointing at, be it a horn, a leg or an arm.


Canis Round 3

In my mind, this is still one of the hardest mechs to KILL. Sure, you can disarm it and leg it and make it worthless, but it is very hard to actually kill. The Torsos of this mech just spread the damage; a capable pilot (such as Mini Me) can add to this with their ability to twist and turn, avoiding a smooth hit.

I know this is one of Mini’s favourite mechs, and I am not trying to piss him off, I am just calling out what I see in the Canis.

This mech, in my opinion is way over powered for a 80 assault mech. Either that, or several of the other 80 tonners are very under powered. Let me show you what I mean. Take a look at the Thug. 80 tons, BAP, LAMs, a couple of big arm slots and a couple of big missile slots in the torsos, substitute speed for jumpies. The thug is not as powerful as the Canis. The Canis can carry and effectively use two clan gauss rifles and 2 erppcs. That is a 72pt alpha (me thinks, not at my gaming machine to verify (eeeek Im at work!)). A Blood ASP can carry that much with ECM and BAP, but no jumpies and it weighs 90 tons, I Glad Bag can carry it, but only goes about 51 or 57 (with full armour) carrying ECM and jumpies all at 95 tons. I don’t believe there is an IS mech (in puretech) in the 80 ton category that can carry two regular gauss rifles and two ppcs. A Warlord can, with jumpies, but it weighs 100 tons and it would only go 51kph. Come to think about it, there may not be an IS Mech less than 100 tons that can carry the IS load out equivalent (two gauss, two ppcs). Hauptman is a maybe and I simply don’t remember that mech without going to look at it.

Again, I say the Canis is too much. It can go 71Kph with the load out we mentioned with jump jets and full or near full armour. Take away those 2 heat sinks and shave a bit of armour and you can get this thing up to 77 (I think is the next speed increase). And I wonder why when one of these things gets a shot on my Victor why the armour goes WAY down or I lose an arm.
The Canis is a formidable mech, no doubt.

I know nothing really changed much in the Canis from the MP302b patch, but it does seem to be a little easier to kill. I used to run a Victor with 2 regular gauss rifles and a PPC. The difference in a Clan Gauss and an IS Gauss is the weight (Clan weighs less) and the IS version recycles 1 second faster, but both have the same range and damage output.

Since the last patch, I have become a bigger fan of the mini gauss rifle. The number of shots and the range, as well as the travel time, make this a very smooth weapon. I am wondering what the difference is (in MekTek terms) of the size of the slug. The reason I bring this up is that I seem much more precise with my shots from a mini gauss than from a regular gauss, so I am wondering of the actual ‘slugs’ are smaller.

Why that tangent? Well, it relates to my ability to zero in on ‘spots’ on the Canis. That is, I can hit the horns much easier now anywhere from about 900 in to about 200, or even a particular torso panel. With the standard gauss rifle I could hit those areas but it SEEMED like the damage spread over a larger area (maybe the slugs are bigger?) (I need to learn to use my zoom. I rarely ever use zoom, except for missile boats , and I bet I could even get more accurate if I could zoom, that’s why ‘light amp’ doesn’t bother me too much, I don’t zoom much.)

With my current favourite Victor, I can take the horns off or an arm off a Canis quickly and bring it down to the same level of fire power that I have. Those minis and that ppc seem to needle right in on the spot I am trying to hit and either damage it pretty good or take out or off (in the case of arms or horns).

What I hate is being blind sided by somebody in a Canis either running passive or on non radar friendly maps. One well placed shot from a Canis can strip an arm, or a leg, or a torso and knock the crap out of you in the process.

Yes I think the Canis is overpowered, but I have learned to kill them. It’s a split, sometime they kill me, sometimes I kill them, all depends on the other factors of the fight like taking damage from others (either way), ambush and skill factor. The Canis is a mean machine and in the right hands can be very dangerous. Because of its (well deserved) reputation of danger and toughness, many pilot concentrate on taking a Canis out quickly.

I stand behind my rating. I stand behind my view that a Canis is overpowered. I also think about it like this, if you took away the firepower of this mech, would it get used? Probably not. Think about it, if you could not mount 2 Clan Gauss or 2 erppcs (or at least that combo) what would make this mech stand out in the 80 ton class? I may not LIKE it that it is so tough or that it can carry that firepower, but I think that is what makes the Canis a Canis. A good pilot makes it tougher, a great pilot makes it deadly.

Not only that but this mech has w00t factor!!