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Being An Assault's Best Friend Or How I Learned To Love The Kitfox

Kit Fox

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#1 Ursh

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 03:16 AM

I bought the Kit Fox package a week ago, and I've just finished speed tweak on all three of them.

I don't agree with people saying the speed cap is a limitation, as I feel it's plenty fast enough for what it's meant to do. Also, I'm terrible at aiming at high speed, and I've learned to enjoy doing something with a light besides packing a bunch of medium lasers or 2xERlarge.

My loadouts all include ecm. Pretty standard stuff: (ER large lasers make you stare at someone long enough for them to send pain your way, so I don't use them)
ERPPC + 2 ER meds with ecm and 3 ams...
2x ERPPC
ERPPC + 2xSRM6
2x Large Pulse Laser
ERPPC + narc + TAG + ams

I specifically look to team up with the Dire Wolf or another assault that isn't a missile boat. He needs me, and I need him to live long enough to gun down the heretics and sinners populating the other team. Leave no whale behind, that's my motto.

For solo dropping, keeping the big gunboats alive is pretty fun. If someone is sniping at my pet assault mechs, I snipe back at them. If a light runs in to shoot them in the back, I shoot the light in the legs. For me, it's all about breaking up what the enemy is expecting to do in solo drops. Dire Whales are expected to be LRM magnets and Jennerbait because solo players usually leave them in the dust. When you can prevent that, and allow your big assaults to reach the fight with weapons and armor intact, your chances of victory increase. Also, your heavies and mediums will often slow down a bit when they realize the ecm bubble isn't following them, and they get the dawning realization that hanging out with a dire wolf, stalker, or Atlas could be good for their life expectancy.

I know, I know, what the heck am I doing trying to be a team player in solo drops? I'm trying to win, and it's working so far. My average match damage is pretty weak, but my W/L record in solo drops with my Kitfox is around 65%, which is much better than my Stormcrow. Maybe there is something to trying to make your teammates better, after all.

#2 Gorgo7

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 04:27 AM

Excellent post!

#3 Tarriss Halcyon

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 04:52 AM

Your strategy is the total polar opposite to the current "meta-Raven", which runs off and sits alone, where it's ECM shroud helps nobody but itself, and snipes. I love your idea, because THIS is how ECM is supposed to be played.

#4 Artax33

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 05:21 AM

I was leveling a Cicada 3M, and did something like this with 2 Dire Wolfs. They loved me, and they made it known.

#5 Emperorcleon

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 06:26 AM

I really agree with you. In solo drops teamplaying is the key to overwhelming the opponent, pug or not. Staying with the bigs lets you use ECM (For it's original use) as well as me moblie enough to kill any big boy harassers. The problem comes in when your big boy helper makes bad choices, gets into more trouble than he/she can handle and gets pounded.

I usually add Radar deprivation, advanced sensors/seizmic as well as the zoom/scope mod (Name escapes me).

#6 InspectorG

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 06:39 AM

Had an excellent PUG match last night on alpine. We took the hill. Set up near the back. The other team let it all hang out and rushed the hill with all their heavies/assaults. This was gonna get ugly.

Now, at my underhive elo, when this happens, 2-3 run off chasing some lights across the map, 3-4 more run off trying to snipe, and the rest are usually dead at this point.

Not last night. There were no chats because we didnt need them. It was like a miracle. Everyone converged fire onto the big targets. Twolves fell, Altas fell. That silly Jenner trying to spot from atop the peak.

I kept thinking, "when will it fall apart" over and over. The body count rose. Oddly enough, the count was fairly even. 3-3, 5-4, 9-7...

We won 12-9. In my kitfox i got 3 kills, at least 9 assists, 635 damage.
Loadout was ECM, 3erml, 1uac5.

How?
Well, you are not a spider or a jenner or a raven.
You hang near the heavies. You shower them with your golden ECM.
You hide behind them and when the enemy's weapons are on cooldown, you pop out and shoot.
Your Atlas buddy is blasting away and some stormcrow rapscallion wants to run by and strafe him? You give him a dose then fade behind a hill.
OCCASIONALLY you can go alone and harass or vulture a lone assault or crippled heavy. But the kitfox is more a fire support proposition.
Think 'option' from Gradius or Lifeforce. You wander off and get in trouble, you are likely too slow to get out of trouble.

#7 Pekiti

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 05:40 PM

I play my KF as a support mech, period. ECM cloak, AMS umbrella, sometimes NARC if dropping with a premade that has LRMs, otherwise lasers+MGs. I stay with the main group, and I kill crippled enemy mechs every chance I get. I don't post big damage numbers, but my W/L in the KF is significantly higher than my other mechs...which means my teams are winning more often.

And that, my friends, is what the game is about - winning as a team.

#8 Black Razer

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Posted 22 July 2014 - 10:23 AM

Great post. I wish all the pilots of those Ravens I see running off by themselves would read this.

I love piloting my Kitfox. Doing exactly as descibed above, shadowing the heavies and taking care of the light work. ECM the way it was meant to be used.

#9 Gorgo7

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Posted 22 July 2014 - 01:48 PM

Spent the last three nights doing as Ursh has suggested and it has proven to be very effective.
Clan UAC5, 3xERMed lasers, ECM
Again, excellent post!

Edited by Gorgo7, 22 July 2014 - 01:50 PM.


#10 RazorbeastFXK3

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Posted 22 July 2014 - 02:38 PM

When I first started working on my Stalker Mech Vars I noticed 2 out of 3 drops I'd find myself left in the dust by my own team only to get raided by random enemy light mechs who took it upon themselves to circle around the map to get behind their enemy forces.

Now that I'm working on locust and commando I'm finding myself hanging out around solo assault mechs so they stand a fighting chance when ambushed. After watching a few youtube videos I'm realizing the reason why the com(munication)s are so quiet.. it's cause most parties I drop with are using voice with each other leaving everyone else in the dark as to what's going on and what the plan is.

I'm sure I'll learn to adapt and get better at reading the movements of the team so I don't get lost so often but still frustrating how it all works.

View PostUrsh, on 18 July 2014 - 03:16 AM, said:

I specifically look to team up with the Dire Wolf or another assault that isn't a missile boat. He needs me, and I need him to live long enough to gun down the heretics and sinners populating the other team. Leave no whale behind, that's my motto.

For solo dropping, keeping the big gunboats alive is pretty fun. If someone is sniping at my pet assault mechs, I snipe back at them. If a light runs in to shoot them in the back, I shoot the light in the legs. For me, it's all about breaking up what the enemy is expecting to do in solo drops. Dire Whales are expected to be LRM magnets and Jennerbait because solo players usually leave them in the dust. When you can prevent that, and allow your big assaults to reach the fight with weapons and armor intact, your chances of victory increase. Also, your heavies and mediums will often slow down a bit when they realize the ecm bubble isn't following them, and they get the dawning realization that hanging out with a dire wolf, stalker, or Atlas could be good for their life expectancy.

I know, I know, what the heck am I doing trying to be a team player in solo drops? I'm trying to win, and it's working so far. My average match damage is pretty weak, but my W/L record in solo drops with my Kitfox is around 65%, which is much better than my Stormcrow. Maybe there is something to trying to make your teammates better, after all.


#11 Cold Cash

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Posted 22 July 2014 - 04:05 PM

finally set my foxes up as follows.

1xcppc 2erml ecm ams tc2
1xclpl 2erml ecm 2ams tc1
1xerll 2erml 2mg ecm ams tc1

found the benefit of targeting comp and direct fire nullified the use of missiles.

1st build ranks highest as ppc shooting means more time in cover.
2nd build is best as support with small face time on lpl and 1200 range and kills meds and lights very nicely in close.
3rd build gives xtra range at the cost of facetime, but also is an excellent light harasser at all ranges also useful as a finishing mech.

Decided agaisnt ac builds for reliable all game support/harass.

#12 Ursh

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Posted 22 July 2014 - 10:04 PM

View PostGorgo7, on 22 July 2014 - 01:48 PM, said:

Spent the last three nights doing as Ursh has suggested and it has proven to be very effective.
Clan UAC5, 3xERMed lasers, ECM
Again, excellent post!


That was someone else's build, but I tried it out to and it works really well.

#13 IraqiWalker

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Posted 22 July 2014 - 10:31 PM

View PostUrsh, on 18 July 2014 - 03:16 AM, said:

Leave no whale behind, that's my motto.


If all of you heathens out there take nothing else from that marvelous OP post, take that ONE line.

#14 Jacon Ceronia

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Posted 23 July 2014 - 02:45 PM

Dear Ursh,

Can you drop with me, and my DWolf? Pretty please??

...!)

Awesome thread, brother!

#15 Tarriss Halcyon

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Posted 23 July 2014 - 07:12 PM

Once I get comfortable with my Kit Foxes without ECM, I am going to start building them with it, and I shall be doing the same thing. I already play assassin in my Streakmando-2D, protecting my bigger mechs when I'm not off throwing missiles at the enemy ECM lights to keep them off my assault buddies.

#16 Templar Dane

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Posted 11 August 2014 - 05:49 AM

A problem I run into when I'm piloting an ecm light in a pug is people complaining about not having the benefit of my ecm because I'm harassing the enemy line...

It's like they expect my spider to give an ecm umbrella, scout, chase off lights, spot for lrms, harass the enemy line, etc.

Okay, not a problem. BUT we can't do it all at the same time. The way I see it if a group wants some ecm for the slow movers, bring a ddc or something. Just a couple hours ago we were playing on forest colony and my team decided it would be a good idea to pile up behind the ship and sit there. I was called out by name, saying it was my fault we lost :)

While I do change my play style depending on the group's composition, I msyelf am of much MUCH more use harassing the enemy assaults. They have to decide between firing on my team or getting cored in the back, and I can usually keep an entire lance worth of assaults busy for quite a while....practically indefinite depending on how long it takes for any enemy lights to find me. Heck, just earlier I had 3 stalkers backed up into a corner afraid to turn their back on anything lest they be shot in the back again.

When a match starts the first thing I do is find the enemy team and broadcast their position/s. Then I keep tabs on them from the shadows, always behind. If I feel I can break some of them away from the main group and lead them on a wild goose chase or into the jaws of my team, I do. If not, I'll be plinking away at the rear armor of the scariest mech I can see with my ppc/ERLL until he tries to find me...then I will relocate and do the same to another. If one of them is smoking pretty badly I'll lock him up and if I can finish him off I will. When/if things turn into an epic brawl I'll circle strafe the heaviest hitters they have to distract them from my teammates. Though things change quite a bit if my team has a lot of lrms, then I'm pretty just a lrm spotter.

But anyway, lights have a lot of jobs that need to be done and they can't do most of it if they're having to babysit the team.

#17 Mad Ox

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Posted 11 August 2014 - 06:59 AM

Swapped over my Kitfox D to have ECM Arm. and loaded the LRMs in other arm. Was quite amusing to watch map and see basically the entire team revolve around my ECM sphere of influence.

#18 SethAbercromby

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Posted 11 August 2014 - 07:36 AM

I think it says a lot bout our community that we even need threads like this.

It's speed and hardpoints make the Kit Fox and obvious choice for a small skirmisher to hunt with the Mediums and escort the Heavies and Assaults. I've been running for a while in two skirmisher configurations:
ECM + 2MGs + 1ERML + 2SPL (tripple AMS + 6JJs)
LB5X + SRM2 + 2MGs + 2SPLs (2JJs)

It's an evil little short range skirmisher that preys upon weakened targets and tears their exposed apart to either weaken them or kill them outright. The ECM version is more passive and focuses on ECM support wile the LB version is much more independent and hunts in a longer radius, but still sticks closer to the big guys like a medium rather than a conventional light scout.

#19 Zelumbras

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Posted 11 August 2014 - 07:36 AM

Nicely put Ursh!

I have almost the exact same loadouts and playstyle with my foxes except for the D-variant which i run as a "Splatfox" with 4x SRM6.

#20 Spencley

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Posted 11 August 2014 - 07:50 AM

View PostUrsh, on 18 July 2014 - 03:16 AM, said:

Awesome Stuff


Agree 110%. A long time ago before ECM was fully implemented I made a Raven 3-L Build in preperation which can be seen here - http://www.mechspecs...php?topic=238.0

2x SRM6
2x Medium lasers
Tag
ECM
BAP

I played with this exactly as you have described above. I hung back with the bigger mechs effectively orbiting them. Upon a brawl engagment I would break of the orbit and begin harassing the brawling enemy, All the time providing ECM/BAP/Tag Support. The 2xSRM6 + 2 Medium lasers really punished mechs who decided to ignore you as your shot them in the back.
Outcomes of battles were hugely favoured towards myself and the mech being supported.

Having returned to the game and playing Assaults Mechs I truly wish the community had more light support players like yourself and what I used to do.

The fact you are using a Clan mech to do this is even better! /Salute





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