21 replies to this topic

[JC Daxion]

So i finally saved enough cash to get one.. (ECM version) I kept the stock engine.. went with 2 medium pulse, LRM 15, 2 SSRM, AC-20.. AMS and upgraded to double heatsinks. I launched into testing, and the firepower seems pretty decent, but with this engine it is pretty slow.. I'm considering saving for internal, to upgrade the engine, as long as there is space.. kinda hard to tell as i am about 1.5m away from enough money to try it, before i try it anyway...


I have yet to launch into a match with it.. I finally feel like i can pilot my HBK decent enough to be a good teammate, and the last thing i wanna do is be a total noobie again. I have to think the play style between the two is vastly different.. So i'm here to ask for some tips for my new ride.


One thing i noticed is how slow the twist/stop is.. would an engine upgrade increase twist speed? I really don't want to get destroyed by some circling light my first match..


Any thoughts on this load out, or tips that can help me make the jump from the HBK-4G i have become attached too? Very different rolls i'd have to think..

[Dalziel Hasek Davion]

Bigger engine = better twist speed.

I prefer medium lasers to MPLs for the longer range, lower tonnage and better heat characteristics. You might be able to get some more of them into the chassis.

You will attract incoming fire, and ****-sure light 'Mech pilots, like an oasis attracts camels and flies. Revel in it. Your team will follow you like lost sheep. You set the pace, you pick your battle ground. Insist on someone riding wing-man to pick of pesky ankle-biters.

You'll want to get used to committing to a course of action in the Atlas. Once you're moving in a certain direction, you lose a lot of time slowing to a stop, and then putting her in reverse. I suggest this would imply taking on a more cautious style where you move with absolute decision only once the intel is clear. Let the faster 'Mechs pop their head over the cover - deploy patience and then powerful moves from point-to-point.

[Wintersdark]

To expand on the above: Dont scout with an Atlas. Never turn a corner or crest a ridge without already knowing what's on the other side. Because once you make a move, you are committed to it. Dont stop and back up, standing still (which you do for a long time when trying to back up)will get you dead fast.

This is the hardest part to leqrn about Assault mechs: despite having the most armor and weapons, they are tye leaet forgiving chassis with regards to piloting errors.

[Moku]

Engine and there are two elite skills that help.

Just got to get used to the slower twist speed and time or anticipate shots. If you absolutely can't hit the lights then use Streak SRM 2's (if they aren't ECM jammed) and they'll usually bug out if you start hitting them with it.

For the most part stay next to or near your team (heavy-light). Most decent light pilots will do circles on you so just accept it and watch your armor or at least protect your center torso the best you can. Learn to use the terrain or buildings or doing complete stop/reverse turning into them and tracking them with your arm weapons (If you have L or M lasers)

Some pilots just back up into a wall or building and stand there, but I recommend always moving since you'll be an easy target for everyone.

If the light is jumping around there is a split second when they land that they're easier to hit.

Don't sweat it if you do get owned since it happens to almost everyone.

Moku [10SR]
10th Solaris Rangers

I forgot.. shoot their legs off.

[Koniving]

Engine upgrades increase twist speed (to test, swap the Hunchback's engine back with the old and then put in the new; launch into testing grounds and just feel the difference).

Worried about lights? Many Atlases carry Streaks for that very reason. Remember to have your arm-lock off; you will perish quickly if you leave it on. Personally I find the carrying of streaks to be a waste of power, but if you have a cannon then it's fine. If you don't, go with SRMs / LRMs.

That said... I'm sure you've seen this.
Basic efficiencies only. Standard 300, AC/2, AC/5, 4 medium lasers, LRM-10, SRM-6.


There's more but from first person that I'm uploading of default Atlases that I can provide.

Spoiler

Playlist of default (trial) builds; starting with Atlases.

The only issue I see with your loadout is the lack of range for your laser weaponry. Given medium pulses I believe your idea is to be able to do rapid damage to enemy lights as they breeze by. Combined with the streaks it will be very effective. I'm not sure if you'd ever reach an enemy assault to tangle with it using all your weapons, though. Use stealth! Ninja Atlas!

Stop/twist etc. can also be improved using the pilot lab. Trust me, any heavy and assault mech with default settings suffers from very slow stop times. I actually like it...if only if everyone didn't have pilot lab efficiencies.

Some advice related to the Atlas:

• Calculate your moves. Once you move you are committed. Judge your chance of survival for every position change. There is never any retreat if cover is beyond 60 meters away: if it's bad enough to make an Atlas retreat, you won't survive the trip to 61 meters. You'll be crippled and lucky to even make it to 60.
  
• Be wary of lights and mediums that are On Your Team. If a friendly light or medium is running toward you; they're bringing some trouble with them and they came to you as their big brother to save their hide. Keep your eyes peeled in the direction they came from.
  
• Always bring BAP.
  
• Sometimes you can go with cannons and missiles. Sometimes you'll live longer if you choose one or the other.
  
• Your shoulders are broad. XL engine is suicide unless it's a 360 rated engine. Even then it's like spitting in the face of Death and then rolling downhill in a metal coffin against a firing line of 50 cal machine guns that are less than 100 meters away, while laughing maniacally about their mothers being snow blowers (Short Circuit reference).
  
• Sometimes you must sacrifice yourself so the team may win.

Spoiler

A recent match of mine had an enemy team of overwhelming missile superiority. We lost two within seconds of the first volley. It was Caustic Valley. Me and my team of 3 (plus 2 pugs who were frightened by the missiles) went around the Caldera, looped behind the advancing LRM assaults, and though spotted instantly I charged head-on literally ramming their Highlander and freaking out their twin stalkers. I put all 4 large lasers into his chest, fired my twin streaks, and overridden after the first shutdown. This drew the attention of all 8 enemy mechs who rushed to take me out. It allowed my team to get in close. I self-destructed delivering the finishing blow to the Highlander. My team was too close for the Stalkers to defend themselves, leaving their team with only a heavy, 2 mediums, and 2 lights. With the stalkers now unable to use their main firepower, my team butchered them. The cheesebuild Cataphract 3-D was the main focus of the team and he didn't last long. This left the other mechs who could not stand to our remaining DDC and Misery or our Centurion and Hunchback. We also had a Jenner and a Raven 2x.

• "You've called down the Thunder. Now deal with it." Whenever you bring an assault, the other team is guaranteed another assault. This tends to mean a 6 PPC stalker or an LRM boat.
  
• Equip your ECM. Ditch the command console.
  
• ECM cancels your bap out when it's on. Switch to counter (J by default) to disable your ECM and enable your bap's anti-ECM capabilities. You can only counter one ECM mech even with the combo. But you need that range increase anyway.
  
• Go for the eye; the fastest way to deal with any Atlas is to go for the left eye.

Edited by Koniving, 31 May 2013 - 07:26 AM.

[Kommisar]

Putting in a bigger engine will speed up your movement and torso twist speed. But, beware! Increases in engine size do not provide linear improvements to these speeds. As your engine gets bigger and bigger, it is giving you less and less improvement per ton.

For the following, I'm not including speed tweak.
For a 100 Ton mech like the Atlas, the 300 STD engine will get you going 48.6 kph. Moving up to a STD 325 will get your mech going 52.7 kph. All for an additional 5.5 tons of weight. The biggest engine an Atlas can mount is the 360 for a max speed of 58.3 kph. 10 kph faster than the 300 engine; but costing you an extra 15 tons.

If you want speed, then the Atlas is not your mech of choice. You will sacrifice far to much to get not enough speed in the end. The STD 325 does offer a 3rd internal engine heat sink! That is the best draw for upgrading to this size. Otherwise, I would stick to the STD 300 you have. And XL engines... well, just don't do it. Not in your Atlas.

To get those brawling weapons into the fight is going to require being a smart pilot. Keeping your head down! Seems very counter-intuitive for an Atlas, I know. And some of your "teammates" will try to remind you that your job is to get shoot at and take hits. Don't listen to them. Your armor is your value, don't go giving it up easy to some kid in a poptart sniper!!! You don't want to give up that armor until you can pound him right back. And, with your build, that means being at about 200 meters or so.

The LRM 15 rack gives you some range to shoot back; but I'm not sure it is doing you any favors. You are probably feeling the need to use those missiles early on. Which is causing you to poke your head out, get locks and hold them to land the missiles. The down side there is you are opening yourself up to sniper fire and coming out way behind in that trade.

Personal opinion here from a guy that has mastered the Atlas, drop the 15, get a third Streak launcher and BAP.

Kommi's DDC

I love large lasers. I'm also a really good shot with them and can keep them on target against even fast movers. The extra range, in my opinion, helps the build a lot. You are hot, though. You will need to watch that. With the AC/20, though, that is the price you pay. Strip a bit of armor off the leg and you can swap out for a Gauss Rifle and improve your range and heat a lot.

[JackPoint]

Trouble with the Atlas atm is its suppose to be front line assault unit, sadly that's not the case when 2 shots to your left or right torso can practically kill you. Only advice I can say is never go alone, always take at least 2 more mechs with you, now they have locked ECM into a slot you will be focused on to disable that ECM so always hang back and support fire with your team, never ever be the pointy end of the spear, gone are the days when we could wade in guns blazing safe in the knowledge the ECM unit in our legs would be the last item to pop.

[scJazz]

Koniving, on 31 May 2013 - 06:27 AM, said:

• Be wary of lights and mediums that are On Your Team. If a friendly light or medium is running toward you; they're bringing some trouble with them and they came to you as their big brother to save their hide. Keep your eyes peeled in the direction they came from.

I wasn't going to post in an Atlas thread for obvious reasons. Then I read this part. In the initial stage of a match if I've found the enemy group and turned around and ran back to my Atlas... yeah... they are all right behind me. Otherwise, I've just found one of them and I'm going to go it alone

[Captain Katawa]

1 When you're one on one with a faster mech so you can't turn fast enough to aim at it when it runs in circles try turning different directions so when it's running to the left turn right to meet it when it runs a full circle around you. Hitting them is hard but if you hit them with your cannons and big lasers it will get enough. Try turning unpredictable. Avoid running away since it will expose your low armored back to the chasers.

2 never go for an XL engine. It will make you extremely easy to kill but you won't benefit from more tonnage since you have few hardpoints. IMO standart 300 engine is a perfect choise for any Atlas. If you bought Atlas K which comes with an XL replace it with 300 STD. Going for the big engine is pointless because it will make you useless in fight since you will have to sacrifice weapons/ammo/sinks.

3 Don't go for a build that has everything for all purpose. Stock build has a bit of this and that, I'd advice replacing it with something for solid close range or solid long range. You can't hit two birds with one stone.

Edited by Captain Katawa, 31 May 2013 - 07:06 AM.

[Captain Katawa]

Also your job is vanguard.
Don't wait to see who goes to fight first. If you're an atlas you start this.

If your base is being capped you don't turn back to go there, you can't get there in time so leave it to anyone else and proceed fighting.

[Koniving]

Koniving, on 31 May 2013 - 06:27 AM, said:

A recent match of mine had an enemy team of overwhelming missile superiority. We lost two within seconds of the first volley. It was Caustic Valley. Me and my team of 3 (plus 2 pugs who were frightened by the missiles) went around the Caldera, looped behind the advancing LRM assaults, and though spotted instantly I charged head-on literally ramming their Highlander and freaking out their twin stalkers. I self-destructed delivering the finishing blow to the Highlander. This left the other mechs who could not stand to our remaining DDC...

Koniving, on 31 May 2013 - 06:27 AM, said:

This left the other mechs who could not stand to our remaining DDC...

Koniving, on 31 May 2013 - 06:27 AM, said:

Atlas DDC...

Yes. I caught it. We did, in fact, have a DDC (and on teamspeak with me too). However his left side was destroyed very early on due to a PPC / LRM combo. The ECM was destroyed as was most of his firepower. Forgot to mention that otherwise my sacrifice and thus the story wouldn't have been necessary

[Joseph Mallan]

Captain Katawa, on 31 May 2013 - 07:09 AM, said:

Also your job is vanguard.
Don't wait to see who goes to fight first. If you're an atlas you start this.

If your base is being capped you don't turn back to go there, you can't get there in time so leave it to anyone else and proceed fighting.

This isn't necessarily true. As an Atlas you are by far slower than the bulk of our team. Hard to lead when the rest of your group is 250m ahead of you! I would swap the AC20 for a Gauss. Less heat, more range more ammo, less explosion. cool running. This way you have two long range weapons, one of which is still deadly in close.

[Mycrus]

when you are are more comfortable with your atlas & have generally more awareness -- try 1pt armor CTR / RTR / LTR

[Joseph Mallan]

Mycrus, on 31 May 2013 - 07:31 AM, said:

when you are are more comfortable with your atlas & have generally more awareness -- try 1pt armor CTR / RTR / LTR

Are you Mad!?!

[Mycrus]

Joseph Mallan, on 31 May 2013 - 07:36 AM, said:

Are you Mad!?!

maybe...

i typically come out on top on an assault 1v1 though.

http://mwomercs.com/...__fromsearch__1

[Joseph Mallan]

Mycrus, on 31 May 2013 - 07:39 AM, said:

maybe...

i typically come out on top on an assault 1v1 though.

http://mwomercs.com/...__fromsearch__1

face to face with another assault you will... but you are toast to anything with some semblance of speed!

[Dalziel Hasek Davion]

Dalziel Hasek Davion, on 31 May 2013 - 05:44 AM, said:

****-sure light 'Mech pilots

I didn't swear there, by the way. English often contains words which have both a sweary and a non-sweary character. That particular four-letter word rhymes with mock and is used in front of the following words to create perfectly natural words that can be used safely in front of your grandmother.

-sure
-robin
-a-hoop

[Kommisar]

There are those that pilot fast, wee mechs that roam the battlefield looking for weakness. We will dart in and give a big mech a sounding shot to the back and/or legs to see if they got greedy in their need for tonnage on their build. When we find that mech, we will run it down like a pack of starved wolves that found a wounded grizzly.

In my Spider, I will often tap the back of each assault mech I can reach. Sometimes, it is just to slow them down as they turn around. Against your 1 armor point in the rear build, you're a 2 to 3 volley kill for my little mech. Easy meat.

[Koniving]

Mycrus, on 31 May 2013 - 07:31 AM, said:

when you are are more comfortable with your atlas & have generally more awareness -- try 1pt armor CTR / RTR / LTR

Done this. Kicked lots of mech butts.

But this does not work during missile metas.
Back in the day when it my Atlas ran about 4 points of rear armor. Skip to 2 minutes for good atlas versus atlas action.

Edited by Koniving, 31 May 2013 - 09:20 AM.

[mailin]

Kommisar, on 31 May 2013 - 08:19 AM, said:

There are those that pilot fast, wee mechs that roam the battlefield looking for weakness. We will dart in and give a big mech a sounding shot to the back and/or legs to see if they got greedy in their need for tonnage on their build. When we find that mech, we will run it down like a pack of starved wolves that found a wounded grizzly.

In my Spider, I will often tap the back of each assault mech I can reach. Sometimes, it is just to slow them down as they turn around. Against your 1 armor point in the rear build, you're a 2 to 3 volley kill for my little mech. Easy meat.

My Spider has 3 medium pulse lasers. When I circle strafe, I try to hold my fire until I'm at the enemy's back. I don't think putting so little armor in the rear is a good idea either. I know I wouldn't do it.