448 replies to this topic

[StalaggtIKE]

@Sir Wulfrick: Very well said. You sound like an experienced Atlas pilot. I just wanted to add something to what you said below.

Quote

The LAST thing the Atlas pilot should to is to charge in to battle. The role of the Atlas pilot is to engage cautiously until a point is reached where decisive employment of the protection available and the damage possible will be of maximum use to the team. Heavy mechs with their far superior manuverability are the chassis that should lead the charge. Knowing when and where to engage is a very specialist skill and one that is absolutely vital for the Atlas pilot to learn. Do it wrong and the slow speed of the mech means that it's impossible to disengage from a fight. Do it correctly and you can make an absolutely crucial difference to the progress of the match.

Momentum. The Atlas is all about momentum. Once he starts heading in a direction he must be ready to commit.

[Profiteer]

I don't care if I group with an Atlas who hangs back and won't be a meat-shield.

What I care about is that they do some serious damage and contribute to us winning.

If they are going to achieve that by raining down 1500 LRMs and doing 800+ damage then I'm perfectly happy.

Edited by Profiteer, 13 March 2013 - 12:16 PM.

[Josef Nader]

Bring a Stalker. It's got far more tubes and a far better profile for raining death, plus it's far less likely to get insta-focused by the enemy team.

[Oni Ralas]

"Your Atlas is not an LRM boat"

The hell it's not. I'm raining down on the enemy from the word go. I'm activly moving my bubble to that sweet sweet 400m mark. Why? Because it's between 140 (yes, I know activation is at 180... just listen) and 400 that I have the flight times mentally times. I can know exactly - based on your estimated transverse speed - when you will break cover from that building. That's why my missiles are already in flight, and why all 3 volleys nail you center mass when you come peaking out. You then close distance on me, then (like most do) break off when you take LL to the side torso. The moment you do, you're usually at 140m. I let the next batch go. By the time they hit, you've (in all likelyhood) moved right outside the 180m active range and will eat the full hit. If not, no biggie -- I've got lots more.

Some use big guns, some use flashy lights - I use a bunch of metal minions to do my business.

[SkyCake]

Royalewithcheese, on 13 March 2013 - 12:13 PM, said:

My main issue with lurmDDCs is that they're basically terrible at it. They can't get back into cover fast enough if they get counter-sniped, they're not fast enough to control the range of an engagement, and they don't have the Stalker's saving grace of ridiculous numbers of hardpoints.

Good insights here... if you want to lrm IN PUGS, atlas ddc might not be the best mech to take, and according the way the match maker puts together pugs, an assault lrm might be bad as well... treb 7m is my new favorite FOR these reasons

[Royalewithcheese]

Oni Ralas, on 13 March 2013 - 12:21 PM, said:

You then close distance on me, then (like most do) break off when you take LL to the side torso.

I have no idea why anyone would do this. A lurmboat DDC has all the fearsome short-range fighting capabilities of a slow, giant hitbox Yen Lo Wang.

[Elandyll]

Josef Nader, on 13 March 2013 - 12:18 PM, said:

Bring a Stalker. It's got far more tubes and a far better profile for raining death, plus it's far less likely to get insta-focused by the enemy team.

A Stalker generates about the same hate as a non ECM Atlas, sometimes more, knowing they tend to be the ones raining death from behind and having tremendous offensive power compared to an Atlas.

If we are talking about a DDC vs Stalker, it's a trade off. The Stalker has similar armor (talking Center Core, the difference is about 16 armor points tops) and has a crazy amount of firepower, but is even slower than the Atlas to get back under cover and doesn't have the ECM cover -unless- someone hangs out with him. Both are viable Sniping/ LRMing platforms imo.

[Oni Ralas]

Royalewithcheese, on 13 March 2013 - 12:25 PM, said:

I have no idea why anyone would do this. A lurmboat DDC has all the fearsome short-range fighting capabilities of a slow, giant hitbox Yen Lo Wang.

People do, all the friggin time. Then again, I've had some fantastic shots with the 2LL's since I actually know how to both aim and hold steady. Very fond of headshotting fellow Atlas pilots.


Mech' Matches Played Wins Losses Ratio Kills Deaths Ratio Damage Done XP Earned Time Played

ATLAS AS7-D-DC 149 106 43 2.47 215 46 4.67 73,811 171,025
14:03:44

99% pug drop in an LRM boat.

Knowing how to fight trumps any loadout.

Edited by Oni Ralas, 13 March 2013 - 12:33 PM.

[Sangson]

Show how you soak damage when the whole enemy team aims at you ( the AS7 of the team) as if you had some magical superpowers while you´re surrounded by your whole team,just as if none of the other possible targets existed.
With an Atlas,you stay in cover or you die first.Most armor in or out,it´s as simple as that.

[M4NTiC0R3X]

Attention, I hold my fork properly when I eat... if your family doesn't then you all fail.

[Royalewithcheese]

Oni Ralas, on 13 March 2013 - 12:32 PM, said:

Knowing how to fight trumps any loadout.

Hey, people do good in Yen-Lo Wangs, too. I'm just confused as to why someone would attempt to close with a lurmboat DDC and then run back into the lurms when confronted with its medium-tier short-range firepower.

[Oni Ralas]

We can't speed tank, nor can we face tank honestly. Something that slow with such a large hitbox can't just sit in the open. I can make a 50kph 100 to mech friggin dance baby! Only time you'll find me out in the open is after I've checked the map and noticed all my targets are in the open. I'm there to get that LoS spiral of doom on the push

[Yokaiko]

Royalewithcheese, on 13 March 2013 - 12:35 PM, said:

Hey, people do good in Yen-Lo Wangs, too. I'm just confused as to why someone would attempt to close with a lurmboat DDC and then run back into the lurms when confronted with its medium-tier short-range firepower.

Indeed, if I get under the LRMs on ANY lrm assault I'm damn well staying there until one of us is dead....hell I've used the guy I was attacking as cover before.

Worked like a champ, his atlas buddie blew him in half.....with LRM lol

[Woska]

I've seen Atlas LRM boats that have been instrumental in our team winning. The Atlas has the space for lots of ammo for those launchers.

I've also seen Atlas brawlers that couldn't contribute all that much because they were shut down half the time.

Don't rag on an Atlas just for being an LRM boat. Some of them contribute wonderfully.

[Oni Ralas]

Royalewithcheese, on 13 March 2013 - 12:35 PM, said:

Hey, people do good in Yen-Lo Wangs, too. I'm just confused as to why someone would attempt to close with a lurmboat DDC and then run back into the lurms when confronted with its medium-tier short-range firepower.

Some of it's panic, the other part is I'm not typically alone. Punching a dumptruck works only if you have enough fire power, and the longer you sit there trying the greater the chances someone else is going to engage you. ECM blocks whom ever else is in range, so rushing may find yourself face to face with a splatcat or something.

I also don't pull off my primary just because a 4sp decides tor ush me

[TK42Kahn]

Atlas pilots.
You have enough tonnage to field impressive short and long range firepower.

Atlas RS
Gauss or AC20
2 LL
2 ML
2 LRM 15
AMS
Endo, DHS13

No engine is large enough to make you truly maneuverable. Embrace that.

You also have a metric fecal-torrent of armor.
It is a primary role of yours to make the critical push through the enemy lines.
However, the sniping phase is completely in the meta. Generally 2 whole minutes of pop-tarting, scout hunting and sustained lrm fire.

Having the lrm support is crucial to your armor surviving the initial minutes. They also help distract and force cover when an option is presented. Or do massive damage if anything gets caught out.
When the time does come to push, you can initiate it from 1k-800m.

The trick to pugging is guessing when your team is ready. And then being super ballsy because screw it...Atlas attack.
If they are paying attention, your team will back you up. If they are paying attention, the enemy will engage.
Then its rock paper scissors all the way.

[Walter Soebchak]

Too many mmo players talking about tanking in a game where you cannot regain health. You have a finite, nonreplenishable amount. If you are in an atlas then you are going to take a lot more DPS than a smaller mech so you will die just as fast if not faster when you get focused. Everyone needs to play to their strengths and play somewhat cautiously, Atlas being no exception. If you're going to speak in mmo lingo, there is no healer or buff caster keeping the Atlas alive, it gets hit those hits are irreperable.

[Lyoto Machida]

Joseph Mallan, on 13 March 2013 - 03:41 AM, said:

We have two Jobs.
1) Kill the Enemy
2) Take his Stuff

After that everything else is icing on the cake.

old proverb;
Young bull to old bull: Lets run down there and get us a cow!

Old bull to young bull: I'll walk down there and get them all instead!

The version of that proverb I heard was a bit more explicit...

[RiceyFighter]

Dear atlas pilots,

GROW SOME BALLS!

Your sincerely,

Hunchback pilot.

[Cest7]

Dear <100ton pilots.

Follow me and keep the lights off me.

Sincerely,
Your friendly neighbourhood vanguard.