Orion

Orion
Class:	Heavy Mech
Faction:	Inner Sphere
Ticket cost:	10 upon destruction
Tier:	11
Tonnage:	75 tons
Speed:	65 km/h
Torso yaw:	250°
Torso pitch:	-28° to +31° while standing -28° to +41° while crouching
Variant Armament
Variant	Weapons	Equipment
Prime: Price: 85 900 CBills Total armor: 70 257 Engine Size: Light Fusion Vlar 300	1x UAC10 3x ERML 1x LRM20 1x NARC 1x B-Pod	EOptics 5 DHS 2 free tons 14.5t Armor
A: Price: 90 750 CBills Total armor: 70 257 Engine Size: Light Fusion Vlar 300	3x LAC5 2x PPC 3x TBolt5 1x B-Pod	EOptics 3 DHS 0 free tons 14.5t Armor
B: Price: 87 900 CBills Total armor: 68 456 Engine Size: Hermes 340 XL Speed: 76 km/h	1x HPPC 2x RAC5 1x SRM2 1x SRM4	EOptics 6 DHS 4 free tons 14t Armor
C: Price: 92 000 CBills Total armor: 70 257 Engine Size: Hermes 340 XL Speed: 76 km/h	1x Blazer 1x HGauss 2x MRM10 2x Mgun 1x B-Pod	EOptics 2 DHS 2 free tons 14.5t Armor
D: Price: 85 750 CBills Total armor: 70 257 Engine Size: Hermes 340 XL Speed: 76 km/h	1x HVAC2 1x HVAC5 2x LRM15 1x TAG	EOptics BAP 3 DHS 2 free tons 14.5t Armor
E: Price: 94 900 CBills Total armor: 65 434 Engine Size: Hermes 340 XL Speed: 76 km/h	2x ERSL 1x LBX20 1x SSRM4 2x SSRM6	EOptics iJJ GECM 3 DHS 3 free tons 13.5t Stealth Armor
F: Price: 92 400 CBills Total armor: 70 257 Engine Size: Hermes 300 XL	2x ERPPC 1x Gauss 4x LAC2 1x B-Pod	EOptics 2 DHS 1 free ton 14.5t Armor
G: Price: 87 550 CBills Total armor: 68 456 Engine Size: Light Fusion Vlar 300	1x DSRM6 2x AC10 4x SL 1x B-Pod	EOptics GECM C3 BAP 0 DHS 0 free ton 14t Armor
Armor Points Distribution
BT HD LA LL LT CT RT RA RL INT 6232 2760 5973 5973 7946 6752 10387 6752 5973 7946 4768

All stats current as of release 0.19.1

The Orion is Inner Sphere Heavy Mech. Though in production for well over 500 years, the Orion remains a mainstay of the Free World’s heavy ’Mech forces, as its mix of firepower and resilience appeals to a wide range of MechWarriors. Over the centuries countless thousands have poured off the production line, but the last two decades have seen something of a renaissance for the Orion as the inclusion of recovered technologies has allowed the design to push its way to the forefront of the FWLM’s military exports. The Orion is a dependable workhorse design that can handle almost any combat role, thanks to its mix of long and short-range weaponry and its Valiant Lamellor armor. Unlike other Mechs that have diverse engine options, the Orion actually has different max speeds based on which engine each variant is equipped with. Orions with the more common XL engines travel at 76 km/h, the F Variant carries a smaller XL engine and travels at 65 km/h, while Orions with the less common light fusion engine also travel more slowly at 65 km/h, but benefit from greater survivability. Between the engine options and the Orion's 14.5 tons of armor (tied for the highest armor of any Inner Sphere heavy Mech) the Orion is a very durable Mech.

Note: Only the variants with a light fusion engine (Prime, A, F, and G) can be bought at forward factories.

Roles and Gameplay Hints

Prime

A mid range generalist with self-NARCing capabilities. Strongest when fighting with your team.

Player Comments:

This is a strong teamplay mech, but weak on its own. Try to take a mid range position and skirmish with your weapons. Punish targets in the open with your UAC10. If you manage to score a hit with the NARC, stay behind cover and let your LRMs do the work. Beware that this thing can easily be overrun by most brawlers, even some lighter ones.

Willow

Variant A

A mid range skirmisher. Alpha strike from cover, or chain fire in open field engagements.

Player Comments:

A versitile poking mech. Alpha strike your LAC5s and your PPCs together and then twist and back into cover to wait for heat and refire times. Your weapons also cause great screen shake so chain fire them to support your team or when moving between cover.

Willow

Variant B

A great DPS brawler with a poking option. Focus on close range engagements and isolated targets.

Player Comments:

The HPPC is an interesting addition on what would otherwise be a cool-running brawler, but it does give it some amazing versatility. You have 6 DHS, so on colder maps it's possible to fire it once to open an a brawl, or you can use it as a skirmishing weapon to soften up targets before switching tactics to brawling. Otherwise, look for flat terrain and situations that affords you long engagement windows where you can stare with your RAC5s. Try to get as close as you can to mitigate their convergence issues, and also and also don't jam them. Fire the SRMs between cooldowns to cause screen shake.

Willow

Variant C - "Imperator-6"

A mid range skirmisher with strong poke weapons. Great for defending control points and then retreating before an incoming push.

Player Comments:

I think this is a good tank hunter because the Blazer does bonus vehicle damage and the MRMs can easily hit some of the larger tanks. It's also a good heavy mech to take for its HGauss because it is torso mounted and therefore cannot permanently loose it.

Willow

Variant D

LRM boat and ballistic sniper with a TAG. Expect frequent rearms.

Player Comments:

Try to find elevated positions for this mech because as a sniper, it struggles due to the low mounts of its guns. Prioritize tanks because the HVAC2 and HVAC5 can deal some bonus vehicle damage. You can also fire the LRM15s without a lock and surprise some enemies without a missile warning tone by guiding them in with the TAG.

Willow

Variant E - "Tiberius"

A stealthy ambusher and twist fighter. Comes with stealth armor and iJJ to make the most of its short range weapons and weaker armor.

Player Comments:

Focus on surprising isolated enemies. Chain fire the SSRMs to cause as much screen shake as possible during the fight. Twist to mitigate damage in between volleys. I think the two small lasers are there for emotional support and would probably be better off melted down into an additional heatsink for generous iJJ usage or for more armor. Be aware that you have no coolant because of stealth armor, and that you have less armor than the other Orions plus an XL engine, but perfect ambushes should mitigate those issues.

Willow

Variant F

A strong sniper with extremely high burst DPS.

Player Comments:

Poke from cover with this mech because most opponents aren't going to be able to compete with your alpha, even some assaults. Chain fire the ERPPCs after your first alpha for extended engagements and for screen shake. Don't bother chain firing the other weapons, but just try to keep them all grouped with the ERPPC in order to minimize your exposure time.

Willow

Variant G - "Tacitus"

Outstanding support mech with a heavy electronic warfare suite. Focus on causing screen shake from mid range. Expect frequent rearming.

Note: This asset has both C3 and GECM, meaning there is no benefit to using passive radar except when covered by allied AECM.

Player Comments:

This is the premier electronic warfare support mech to take in the late game. It can spawn from forward factories and instantly bring BAP, C3, GECM, and insane amounts of screen shake to the table. Fire the DSRM6 in between AC/10 volleys in order to keep up the screen shake, or fire the AC/10s one at a time. Remember that you can jam the AC/10s and you won't suffer any DPS loss, unlike some other jammable weapons. No free tons, so try to save the DSRM6 for good opportunities or for emergencies.

Willow

Trivia

As the folklore has been told:
Since his time of conception into the world of Mechwarrior, Invictus has felt the calling to battle with one of the most formidable mechs ever... Thus the Orion was gifted to the project director to be included into MWLL.

According to CW/Γ Andrew co-director the reality is. "let me change this up a little: thus in october of 2019 CW/Γ Andrew started Project Orion together with [SA] Bird_Thing™ and [CJF] Leeko. Previous active artists (Nighthawk, Chezzar, Pajama Boy and Nathan) consulted and created the mech secretly over a time frame of roughly 2 and a half years. When it was ready it was gifted to project director invictus."

An as they say the rest is History!

Canon

Sometimes called “a poor man’s Atlas” since the introduction of that behemoth, the Orion is a venerable, general-duty heavy ’Mech—and a famous one. Everyone has seen the images of Aleksandr Kerensky storming Amaris’ last defenses on Terra, making the Orion one of the best known ’Mechs in history. Commissioned by the Terran Hegemony in response to improving ’Mech designs used by other Houses, the Orion is nearly half a millennium old. The roomy chassis has allowed it to be readily upgraded and maintained over the centuries. The Orion remains a mainstay of the Free World’s heavy ’Mech forces, as its mix of firepower and resilience appeals to a wide range of MechWarriors. Like the Marauder, the Orion's armor is Valiant Lamellor, less massive and better able to distribute heat and kinetic energy than other armor types, though the secret of its manufacture has been lost to time.

Date Introduced 2453 during the Era known as "Era Age of War" (2005 - 2570) - Unit Role: Brawler

BattleTech Reference