115 replies to this topic

[MisterFiveSeven]

Having mastered the stalker, I expected the atlas to be bigger, slower, and have more firepower.

I was mistaken.

Its turning radius is abysmal. Its turning speed is worse. It has restrictive hard points. I can't stand its ridiculous gorilla arms turn every mole hill into complete cover for your target.

The way weapon balance has been tweaked means that you will always be able to carry more weapons than you can effectively use (think crits and double vs single hear sinks in the context of faster fire rates).

Moral of the story is that tweaks to the TT numbers have unintended consequences (I am not a zealot said please don't flame) and TT values are not perfectly balanced (no one ever customized a mech to carry 4 ac2's lol) but short of the ddc, the Atlas is worthless. The stalker is better in every way (hardpoints, mechanical response, heat efficiency).

What do you think?

[Captain Stiffy]

I think that it has ECM.

Atlas has other advantages over a stalker as well, like the fact that it has left/right swing on the arms, even if they are mounted lower. Definitely need full CT/ST armor and need to guard your CT with your arms - if you can do that well you can add about half your arm armor to your CT number.

Atlas is my favorite mech.

Edited by Captain Stiffy, 11 April 2013 - 05:15 AM.

[Name140704]

MisterFiveSeven, on 10 April 2013 - 05:05 PM, said:

Having mastered the stalker, I expected the atlas to be bigger, slower, and have more firepower.

I was mistaken.

Its turning radius is abysmal. Its turning speed is worse. It has restrictive hard points. I can't stand its ridiculous gorilla arms turn every mole hill into complete cover for your target.

The way weapon balance has been tweaked means that you will always be able to carry more weapons than you can effectively use (think crits and double vs single hear sinks in the context of faster fire rates).

Moral of the story is that tweaks to the TT numbers have unintended consequences (I am not a zealot said please don't flame) and TT values are not perfectly balanced (no one ever customized a mech to carry 4 ac2's lol) but short of the ddc, the Atlas is worthless. The stalker is better in every way (hardpoints, mechanical response, heat efficiency).

What do you think?

I disagree but I don't have time to explain why. Hope this helps.

[Stuii OCAU]

I agree - and the ease of coring the CT of an atlas makes it a very frustrating mech to pilot at times

[Team Leader]

NARCoMAN, on 10 April 2013 - 05:06 PM, said:

I disagree but I don't have time to explain why. Hope this helps.

+1

this post would change your life but I won't have wifi soon so yeah good luck

[jeffsw6]

MisterFiveSeven, on 10 April 2013 - 05:05 PM, said:

The stalker is better in every way (hardpoints, mechanical response, heat efficiency).

Atlas arms aim much more quickly than a Stalker. If you play the game with "arm lock" on, you may never notice; but it can be a big advantage when fighting fast-moving opponents.

The ability to carry some ballistics also makes Atlas a bit more flexible.

Easily-hit CT is certainly a big weakness.

[Royalewithcheese]

What size engine are you using? I run a 350 in mine, and it's one of those things that is definitely worth freeing up space for. Heat-wise, what sort of weapons are you running? The Atlas is usually very heat efficient because of those big ballistics.

[One Medic Army]

The atlas fights significantly differently from a stalker.
The atlas fights with alpha strikes and torso twist, the stalker fights by facing the enemy and trying not to overheat.
It's a function of the different shapes of the mechs, one can shield itself with it's arms, the other just gives the enemy easy side-torso shots.

[Sean von Steinike]

I started hating the Atlas in closed beta. I tried the Awesome in closed beta and hated it too. I decided I just hated piloting assaults.

[Hauser]

Yeah the arms are nice shields. I'm still trying to master the whole look-left-look-at-target-alpha-look-right thing but when it works it's great.

[Tennex]

stalker is just a very good assault mech.

with a very small profile size.


why do you think tanks are squat like they are
now if they sized it correctly...

Edited by Tennex, 10 April 2013 - 05:42 PM.

[Lyoto Machida]

As others have already said, I don't have time to get into it but I'll have to disagree with you. And an Atlas turns slower than a Stalker? What are you putting in your Atlas? Standard 175s?

[Jonathan Paine]

The stalker is an amazing mech at 85 tons. The Atlas is tougher, meaner and better looking.

[FoXabre]

I piloted lights, and I used to hate Atlai... Until I met AC20

[Siliconwolf]

I like the Atlas over the Stalker....it's pretty much the ballistic slot that does it for me.

[FerretGR]

I think it's cute when Stalker pilots think they can brawl with my Atlas.

[TehSBGX]

Well Op, maybe the Highlander will be more your kinda thing.

[Darrious Quinn]

I've spent a lot of time in my founders Atlas. To the point of picking up Master with it. So I bounce between my D(F) and DDC. It took quite a while and a lot of C-Bills to get them it to a reasonable fighting level that I was happy with and, just as with any mech, is a balancing act between heat, firepower at range and just knowing how the mech acts to situations. Am I in love with it? Meh, I wouldn't go that far, but I will say that its a fierce platform if you know what you're doing.

You have to work around your lack of mobility. So have a weapon that can reach out and touch someone as you close but that can also double at medium ranges.
Keep your AC to just an AC10 or AC20. Some people go goo-goo over multiple AC5 and Ultras, but with the Atlas, you need something to punch through the armor, not pepper it. Gauss Rifles are sexy and all, but I stripped mine out and put my AC10 back in after 5 matches of the Gauss constantly getting disabled after the initial salvo exchange. Way too fragile for what the Atlas needs to do.
I like to keep my missile slots filled with SRMs or SSRMs on my DDC. Though streaks have the weakness of being disabled by ECM, it makes life easier when you can use them and are in the middle of a swarm of lights
Also.. double heat sinks are a must. You can work around not having them for a while, but DHS really allows you to open up and sustain a constant rate of fire as long as you pace yourself and don't blow your load over everything that runs in front of you.

Also.. pay attention to your rear armor.. everyone will try to get behind you for obvious reasons.. so... prepare for it. And you aren't invincible just because you have 600+ points of armor. If you Noob-rush, you will be cored...quickly. Its hard NOT to see an Atlas coming over the ridge.

[Kaspirikay]

Stalker has much higher survivability due to its close hit boxes, however it doesn't have ecm. When it does, that's when I'll switch.

[armyof1]

Running an Atlas with the 300 engine was really painfully slow, the 350 really does make a nice difference and I'd never go back to the 300. I run 62.3 kph now with speed tweak and it's really not so bad for a walking fortress. The low position of the arms can be a bit annoying, especially compared to the Jager so you really have to use left/right sides shooting beside cover instead. Still it is pretty surprising how often you can pop up your entire upper torso over the edge of hills with the DDC and fire at someone before the notice you.