72 replies to this topic

[CocoaJin]

The mobile skirmisher, the hard-hitting flanker...they are the re-new brawlers. It's not the slow, lumbering Assault...it's not utilized in the typical straight ahead steam-roll.

No, the new brawler is that guy that appears out of no where and smashes dudes in the mouth while they are fixated on their peek-a-boo engagement, fades away and then strikes again...just asses, elbows and weapons fire, then gone.

He is the guy patiently biding his time amongst the pack. You know him...head always a swivel, you can tell he is doritio surfing his allies' data links, always shuffling his feet but not really going anywhere...and then bam! Like he was shot out of cannon, he breaks ranks and commences punishing some poor ******* with open armor and tunnel vision.

You can tell he is doing it right, you'll see it in his opponents body language...because even DWFs wheel back on their heels, torso twist and start back pedaling...not because he is putting out so much damage, but because his timing was so good, the opposing pilot was just caught of guard...frankly, he doesn't even know what's hitting him yet.

I'm loving it!

[Sergeant Random]

Bravo!

Hey devs, cheapest way to implement role warfare is to fire the imagination of the player. Practical knowledge like this might need to be made accessible to players... Or we can leave them floundering online for know how... And let them suffer in the PUG queues and games.

Wikis mostly concentrate on builds. But the FPS knowhow (and maybe military squad tactics) ... hardly no one takes the time to exploit adding the flavor...

Coz if the average pug gamer can have better awareness of how to play better, the fun levels would definitely rise.

Hoping more people shepherd the new blood.

[TheCharlatan]

Perfect description of my favorite playstyle (not always that effective, but I'll learn and get better sooner or later).

It's why i love this game: role warfare is not the old distinction of light/medium/heavy/assault, but it's based on playstyle and loadout. When you get bored of a mech, just fire another up and try something completely different.

BTW, the old brawler is still out there: it works best as a counter-pusher, and can really punish skirmishers that over-extend.

[Yosharian]

Brawling never died. It just requires more coordination and teamwork than ranged combat and LRM spam. Making it very difficult to do well in a pub environment.

Good brawling teams are extremely difficult to beat.

Edited by Yosharian, 27 May 2015 - 02:19 AM.

[Thunder Child]

As a Summoner Prime (almost Stock) Player, I understand this play style. It's how my Dragon used to run. It's how my Victors ran before the Agility nerfs (which they have lost recently. Much fun was had). It's how any Under-gunned Over-Engined Heavy should operate.

In fact the only thing that ruins it for me is the Lack of Jump Capability. Yeah, yeah, Jumpsnipers, and mechs running a single jumpjet and flying through the air. Old record, with heaps of grooves. But seriously, all they need to do is boost the thrust by the number of additional jets.

Sorry, sidetracked. Totally agree that Brawlers and Skirmishers are still alive and well.

What we do need badly, is more Tutorials (in-game) for new players, and an easier way to find them in the UI.

[MeiSooHaityu]

That's a hit and fade combined with scavenger type tactics. I don't know if I would go as far as brawler. It sounds like traditional light and some medium mech tactics.

The traditional brawler still exists though. You just need a tanky mech with good firepower (and a STD engine if IS).

Some think blindly running away from their team into the enemy line and picking out one opponent is brawling. People think brawling is dead because they get focused down by the other 11 enemies watching that lone brawler taking on their one team mate by himself lol.

Really, to me, a brawlers are tanky mechs that can lead a team push and take on an enemy assaults or heavies to buy a team time to execute an aggressive coordinated push.

A brawler really needs to get in close, lay down good fire, and agro so the team can get superior positioning and win the match.

This is not the PUG way though, so it appears dead because this coordination is almost completely non-existant in solo queue.

[Matthew Ace]

I call this particular role/playstyle "Commando" (because it requires you to be effective at going behind enemy lines and then quickly taking out enemy in a surprise move) or Assassin (because you aim to quickly kill an enemy and fade out of their sight). Basically causing chaos in an enemy formation.

It's one of the most enjoyable ways to play IMO.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

A lot of people confuse Bruisers with Brawlers. Really, though, Bruisers area subset of Brawlers, designed to tank hits while dishing out close-in damage. Atlases and prime Bruisers, for instance. As the OP says, though, there are other kinds of Brawlers, including Ambushers, Hit-and-Runners, and even Brawler Poptarts.

[Apocryph0n]

There is a reason why even top units freak out on comms on their streams when they see 2 Huginns blip up behind them.

[Hit the Deck]

OP:

CocoaJin, on 27 May 2015 - 01:17 AM, said:

....
TL;DR: Firestarters or Hugginn

I'm loving it!

LOL.

[xDust]

This is... exactly me (though I shuffle through data links regardless of how I play). Especially in the brand new Stormcrows I picked up. MPLs right into torsos. Mmm.... arms falling off.

It's not brawling though. Brawling still exists when mechs decide to tank and twist damage/stay in the fight without retreating, which is just as important when you need to push an attack, or are stuck in the too-often corner fights.

Edited by xDust, 27 May 2015 - 02:54 AM.

[MeiSooHaityu]

People probably think brawling is dead because everyone has a different opinion of what brawling actually is.

Everyone claims it is alive, and that they see it, but others disagree on their definition so they claim it is still dead (or something else entirely). Lol

Edited by MeiSooHaityu, 27 May 2015 - 02:55 AM.

[LordDante]

@ OP : Thats how i roll in my YLW since november 2012

[StraferX]

What the Op described to me is a skirmisher not even a brawler. As a medium pilot I use the skirmish tactic most often waiting in the wings spotting and keeping lights at bay then my medium lance opportunity knocks and and we roll in. Hit and Fade, Juke and hammer. Distract ~ Disarm and Dismantle.

Brawlers imho are the tanky assaults and heavy that take the attack face on, pushing and smashing into the enemy line, Twisting and turning and dropping heavy alphas to push them back, they will not survive unless the skirmishers are doing there job which will cause the enemy mass cornfusion and dispersement.

Edited by StraferX, 27 May 2015 - 03:02 AM.

[Triordinant]

These tactics have been working for me for years, especially since I only play solo.

[Weeny Machine]

Striking then vanishing...that's harassing tactics not brawling imo.

[Y E O N N E]

I'm with Bush Hopper on this one; what you describe is a striker, not a brawler. Brawling is a close-quarters slug match; you don't hit and run, you stay there and duke it out in a messy exchange of SRMs and AC/20 with lots of circle-dancing and twist-and-fire. Swording and boarding with high durability and max sustained DPS rules the day, here. An Atlas D-DC is an exceptional brawler. My STD225, 2x MPL+1xLPL, 6x MG Arrow is a pretty decent brawler.

A striker, on the other hand, typically has both high alpha and high DPS in combination with speed at the expense of durability and heat. It's a hunter. It gets in, it clobbers a single target, and then it bails because now it's too hot to engage another or too fragile to sustain any level of focus that it has now probably drawn. It's the ultimate ambush build. The Griffin 3M and Huginn are exceptional strikers. My XL300, 2x AC/10+4x MedLas CPLT-K2 is a capable striker.

And for the sake of comparison, a harasser is the same thing as a skirmisher, and it combines speed with high alpha, low-DPS to keep enemy heads down while friendlies move around. It can withstand a moderate amount of focus, enough to leave a bad trade and reposition somewhere else outside the focus arc. It uses medium- to long-range poke for this job. The Blackjack in general is an excellent skirmisher. My BJ-1X with 6x MedLas is a highly competent skirmisher.

[Jaeger Gonzo]

Apocryph0n, on 27 May 2015 - 02:49 AM, said:

There is a reason why even top units freak out on comms on their streams when they see 2 Huginns blip up behind them.

yeah there is, crazy overquirked mech.

[Damien Tokala]

as someone who follows this method to a T, i must say i love it, pulling off a great brawl or getting engaged by one, it just makes the battlefield FEEL like a battlefield, and less like a game of cowardly laser tag.

[Nightmare1]

The only time I felt like brawling was dead in this game, was when we had the LRMAggeddon meta.

Right now, the game feels pretty good. You have a lot of long/mid-range skirmishing as the teams close on each other and maneuver for position. Then one side starts to push, bringing the two groups together and letting those brawlers go wild. It's great!