66 replies to this topic

[Whiskey Dharma]

So I'm new to MW:O but not BT/MW. I've always liked the Catapult and playing a support role, and lo and behold one of the Cats is on sale.

What is the general consensus on the chassis? Are LRMs generally effective, or has AMS neutered them?

Thanks for any help...

[Revorn]

Personaly i like LRMs, but they are not always easy to use. Cover, ECM, AMS and Teams who know how to use them, can make any Misslers Day a hard one.

A Catapult as LRM er should be nice, because of the 20er Tubes.

[Alistair Winter]

The Catapult C1 and K2 are great. The Catapult A1 is a bit more of a challenge. The Catapult C4, which is on sale, is probably the most challenging Catapults.

It only has 2 center torso energy hardpoints, which usually means 2 medium lasers or 1 large laser. You can also use a TAG, to make the LRMs more effective. I've been playing a bit with the Catapult C4 lately, before it got on sale. I tried LRMs for a while, then SRMs, then back to LRMs.

AMS isn't really the problem. The problem is that if enemies get closer than 180 meters - and they will be desperate to do this as soon as they realise you mostly have LRMs - you're dead. And unless you have TAG, you can't target the enemy if they have ECM, so you're left with no long range weapons and no short range weapons, so no weapons at all.

If you're playing with friends who can assist you, provide targets and help drive off anyone who gets close, the Catapult C4 can do a lot of damage. If you're playing alone, I think you'll find that you'll do very well on some missions, and you'll be completely helpless on other missions, depending on your team and the number of ECM mechs on the other team.

The key to playing a Catapult LRM boat is positioning. Always stay as far away from danger as possible, and bring enough ammo to just spray missiles over the enemy, forcing them to stay in cover while your teammates advance.

Edited by Alistair Winter, 16 June 2013 - 04:47 AM.

[Zerberus]

The C4 is actually my favorite Cat chassis, I load mine with 2x LRM 20 +Artemis, 2 Streak launchers, 2 medium lasers, and a Beagle.

As others have said, positioning is everything, and you have the necessary speed to control the range of most engagements (80+ w/ 300XL engine + speedtweak). Use it. Often. Standing still is your worst enemy, becasue everybody can see whwere the LRMs are coming from, and teh enemy will generally tend to orient tehmselves in that direction. Fire once, maybe twice, maybe even 3 times, then be somewhere else

For the most part, you want to stay at 4-700m and let the scouts and brawlers acquire targets for you. Ideally you yourself will be behind cover and simple pop up with your jumpjets and fire, or stay put and bring the rain, depending on how hig your own cover is. JJs are also excellent for getting a visual confirmation that you can even hit the target in the first place, no sense lobbing 40 lrms into the side of a buiilding.

Should something manage to close to under 300m, let the ****** have it all, Streaks, LRMs and lasers all together pack a good punch and will drive off many lights.

When one decides it`s still a good idea and closes to <180m, go for the legs w/ the lasers, keep the streak tubes hot, and remember that you have jumpjets and with them a surprising amount of mobility for a 65 ton mech. THis makes it easier for you to drag the little ****** towards the rest of your team, as well as making it easy to take down unskilled lights, or at least avoid their laser fire every so often.

If a heavy closes the distance, do your best to get away, or at least to 180m+ so you can use the LRMs again. But again, try to get to your team.

Most of the rest is just practice and comes with playtime.

As far as AMS goes: I don`t understand all the hooplah. 5 missiles off a single LRM 5 is a waste, but 5 missiles from a 40 missile volley is just as negligible now as it was before the AMS buff....

*Edited for brainfarrt on engine size, had spiders on my mind*

Edited by Zerberus, 16 June 2013 - 06:13 AM.

[Muz0079]

The C4 isn't a bad chassis but it isn't the easiest to use straight off the bat. Assuming you're buying the C4 with MC from the sale then you're still going to need 8million+ cbills to equip it properly as you need to upgrade to double heatsinks, endo, artenis and get an XL engine (the XL300 is a good workhorse and can be used in multiple mechs. If you don't mind spending more MC then one fast way to get an XL280 would be to also buy the CTF-3D in the sale and stick that engine in the catapult).

Generally if you're playing in pugs then you want to be able to rely on yourself to get out of tight spots. To that end, a good setup for the C4 is to run 2xLRM 20 (with artenis upgrade) alongside 2xstreak SRM2's and put a TAG with an optional medium laser in the centre torso. You should also equip BAP both to get faster locks and to counter any ECM lights who want to jam your targetting system. I also recommend installing some jump jets for added mobility.
This lets you fire off a 40-missile LRM salvo but also gives you some short range defence in case you get in the middle of a brawl or find yourself being harrassed by lights.

edit: posted at the same time as zerberus. His post pretty much covers it. I prefer to swap out a ML for a TAG so I can get missile locks on ECM-touting atlases but again thats down to personal choice and if you have a decent team supplying you with targets then you should be fine without one.

Edited by Piemei, 16 June 2013 - 05:21 AM.

[Tsula]

I enjoy the catapult and hate it at t.he same time. All re ally depends on if your team mates understand your fire support and relay info. A1 to me is hardest one to play given u have all missile hard points and nothing really for close in un less u got splat cat 6 x 6SRMbut i don't like it. Main thing is if your team mates understand your fire support. If they leave ya hanging then it suck but if they help get info and help protect u u can tain fown some love.

[BoPop]

catapult is the easiest mech to cockpit in the game. other than that, sure they're cool. heheheh

[Redshift2k5]

I don't have a C4 but I do enjoy my other Catapults. Put a 300xl engine in there, you've got great speed, maneuverability, and plenty of tonnage for weapons. Their body shape, speed profile, and torso turn are excellent.

[Xeno Phalcon]

I don't actively use catapults but from a technical standpoint they are solid machines, their biggest drawback being easy to hit vital areas ("ears", CT and cockpit) and slow speed (78kph with the biggest engine they can take prior to speed tweak talent). Past that however they are obvious choices for fire support but are also pretty good infighters despite having no horizontal movement for the arms of any variant, this is accomplished by a fantastic torso twist radius (120 degrees for most, 110 for the K2) that is formidable on its own but when fully elited up they can nearly twist around far enough to fire into their rear arc (but not quite). Jump jets help further enhance their nimble footwork so while they might not be the perfect machine if its a mech you enjoyed in previous BT/MW settings its still a solid choice for you here. (Just stick to your guns and don't let early games get to you, most mechs only REALLY start to shine when you learn about all their ins and outs through combat, and get enough XP to complete the Elite Trees.)

[scJazz]

Zerberus, on 16 June 2013 - 05:13 AM, said:

The C4 is actually my favorite Cat chassis, I load mine with 2x LRM 20 +Artemis, 2 Streak launchers, 2 medium lasers, and a Beagle.

As others have said, positioning is everything, and you have the necessary speed to control the range of most engagements (80+ w/ 250 engine + speedtweak). Use it. Often. Standing still is your worst enemy, becasue everybody can see whwere the LRMs are coming from, and teh enemy will generally tend to orient tehmselves in that direction. Fire once, maybe twice, maybe even 3 times, then be somewhere else

For the most part, you want to stay at 4-700m and let the scouts and brawlers acquire targets for you. Ideally you yourself will be behind cover and simple pop up with your jumpjets and fire, or stay put and bring the rain, depending on how hig your own cover is. JJs are also excellent for getting a visual confirmation that you can even hit the target in the first place, no sense lobbing 40 lrms into the side of a buiilding.

Should something manage to close to under 300m, let the ****** have it all, Streaks, LRMs and lasers all together pack a good punch and will drive off many lights.

When one decides it`s still a good idea and closes to <180m, go for the legs w/ the lasers, keep the streak tubes hot, and remember that you have jumpjets and with them a surprising amount of mobility for a 65 ton mech. THis makes it easier for you to drag the little ****** towards the rest of your team, as well as making it easy to take down unskilled lights, or at least avoid their laser fire every so often.

If a heavy closes the distance, do your best to get away, or at least to 180m+ so you can use the LRMs again. But again, try to get to your team.

Most of the rest is just practice and comes with playtime.

As far as AMS goes: I don`t understand all the hooplah. 5 missiles off a single LRM 5 is a waste, but 5 missiles from a 40 missile volley is just as negligible now as it was before the AMS buff....

Listen to Zerberus... although I only used LRM15s on mine. Some combination of SSRM2s, LRMS, 2MLs and a Beagle will work nicely.

HINT: That 2nd set of Missile Hardpoints is not there for you to boat more LRMS it is there for you to stick SRMsumthin on your mech so you don't faceplant when someone gets close!

[Zerberus]

tsula, on 16 June 2013 - 05:19 AM, said:

.... A1 to me is hardest one to play given u have all missile hard points and nothing really for close in un less u got splat cat 6 x 6SRMbut i don't like it.

It`s a but offtopic, but after numerous permutations of a1 loadouts, literally everything from 6 SSRM2 through 6 SRM6 all teh way to a 6 LRM 15 (yes, 90 LRMs, and they all come out in one cloud. But it has significant disadvantages, for example 2 tons of armor on teh entire mech and a 200XL engine), what I`ve come to really enjoy is 2LRM15 + 4SSRM2 +BAP. Plays like a C4 without the lasers. I highly recommend it for anybody who`s not feeling as much love for the A1 as they`d like to. It actually kept me from selling mine.

Edited by Zerberus, 16 June 2013 - 06:30 AM.

[Corison]

The Cat is one of my fav' mechs. It can do a large number of roles fairly well at low ELO's.

Its crippling weakness is the Dev's were #$(*#$ enough to give it a super large hit box in a game were its pretty easy to aim. I frequently head shot Cats at 1000m, and should one happen to shutdown or stop moving at closer ranges the odds are better than even that its head will get blown off in the next shot or two. Its stupid, but the dev's keep assuming oh look in a TT game were everything has the same chance to hit a given area we should model hit boxes based on how something looks.. yea a good idea there.

Over all though, great mech for flexibility. Once you tire of your head getting blown off every 3-4 matches though you may wanted to consider the Jagg. It has the same flexible loadout, reduced head hit box, at the price of torso twist/firing angles.

FYI Don't limit yourself to LRM's.. The Cat is a great general mech, depending on your style there are many popular ones.

AMS is pretty much a joke and you can ignore it. ECM is what you have to worry about for LRM's and that's were your Tag/Beagle comes in.

6 SRM6+A is nasty (Or 4 SSRM2 + 2 SRM6a)
6 SSRM2's+A + Beagle to ruin those lights day.
Dual AC20/Gauss is very fun
Dual LBX10 is great fun though not as effective as above, it still works well.
4 Large Lasers or 4 PPCs (3 on some variants) works very well.
Dual LRM20's/3ml/tag is also common, along with Dual 15's with Beagle/tag.
4 LRM10's + 2 SRM4's or any combo really. I like 2 15's and 4 ssrm2s myself.
A nice hunter is 4 ML+2 SRM6A's

One I currently run for fun is 3 LL + 2 SRM's of your choice


Good Luck and have fun!

Edited by Corison, 16 June 2013 - 06:47 AM.

[Tsula]

Zerberus, on 16 June 2013 - 06:21 AM, said:

It`s a but offtopic, but after numerous permutations of a1 loadouts, literally everything from 6 SSRM2 through 6 SRM6 all teh way to a 6 LRM 15 (yes, 90 LRMs, and they all come out in one cloud. But it has significant disadvantages, for example 2 tons of armor on teh entire mech and a 200XL engine), what I`ve come to really enjoy is 2LRM15 + 4SSRM2 +BAP. Plays like a C4 without the lasers. I highly recommend it for anybody who`s not feeling as much love for the A1 as they`d like to. It actually kept me from selling mine.

I'll try that i have a A1 with. 2x LRM10 and 2xLRM5 and 2x SRM6. Works great if team helps get info. I'll try yours thou thanks.

Edited by tsula, 16 June 2013 - 06:45 AM.

[Rashhaverak]

The Cat is my favorate chassis. The C1 is my workhorse, but the C4 isn't bad. The most difficult thing is that to really excel at LRMs you absolutely must be able to self tag, so one of those precious energy slots really needs a tag in it. The C4 with a combs of long and short range missiles is a great build, with a nice mix of maneuverability and firepower. It was better when it had the full torso twist (before the nerf), but it still does a great job. Don't be too afraid of the xl engine either. A cat has a low profile on the side torsos, and most of the time your center will go before the sides will.

[Benyamin]

I enjoy my catapults. I've played some variation of the K2 since closed beta, from the twin UAC 5 terror back when it wouldn't jam, all the way to a 4X ERPPC, and everything inbetween. The C1 isn't a bad platform either, and for leveling purposes, I bought a C4. Once again, not a bad setup, but it took some getting used to for me.

[Shiro Matsumoto]

The K2 was my first self-brought mech ever. not sure what to do with him now.

I hated the C4...but now, with 2x Med Pulse Laser, 2x Artemis-LRM15 and 2x Artemis-SRM4 it starts to be fun, though slow to get Close to the front.

My favorite so far ist the C1.. Dual Large Pulse, Dual Medium Pulse, Dual LRM10...plays like a Vulture with reversed hardpoints.

All in all, one of my favorite Mechs, only Meh-point the huge head window.

Edited by John McFianna, 16 June 2013 - 07:00 AM.

[Koniving]

Whiskey Dharma, on 16 June 2013 - 04:19 AM, said:

So I'm new to MW:O but not BT/MW. I've always liked the Catapult and playing a support role, and lo and behold one of the Cats is on sale.

What is the general consensus on the chassis? Are LRMs generally effective, or has AMS neutered them?

Thanks for any help...

LRMs are fairly effective, much more noticeably in large numbers. Anything less than an LRM-10, however, willl be completely obliterated by a single AMS. Twin AMS or two mechs with it will stop an LRM-10 or two LRM-5s. The list goes on. For the best results, make sure your target does not read "Anti-Missile System" in his weapon display in the upper right, and that it does not have a "ECM" or a (o) next to it as those are indicators that you'll likely lose your target before you hit it.

This build was a joke inspired by someone. However it's gone through 17 matches so far. 9 of them pugging, the rest with 4-man groups. Of those 17 matches I lost track of the kills but the greatest number in a match thus far has been 8 kills, so it's fairly effective. It has died 3 times. It has less armor than a stock commando, no jumpjets, and no close range defense. For me this 'joke' which I adopted the title given to it by someone else -- the ROFLPULT -- is a skill building exercise that has worked quite well. In most areas it has no more than 6 armor, with most of it concentrated on the CT LT and RT front. Its worst enemy is either a sniper with a good shot (happened once), or a spider (happened twice). Its ammo, though plentiful, is still limited when every volley pumps out 90 missiles at once. Every match it runs out of ammo, and comes out with with lots of cherry red body parts or a missing limb or two.


A single volley can strip the CT armor off an Atlas with ease. Mediums who are stationary don't survive the first volley. Lights don't survive two volleys that hit, even in motion. Heavies don't survive two volleys with the exception of Dragons, who strangely take 3 volleys (likely due to their speed). It can fire two alphas back to back but shuts down after and requires 3 seconds to sit before it's safe to start up. Even so, unlike most cheese builds, this one trades its 'skill' in pin-point aiming for random chance in missiles hitting and restraint in firing until just the perfect moment. There isn't enough ammo to squander or take chances. So in my eyes, there's no greater skill builder than this. The closest thing is piloting a stock Awesome, but even then that's easy compared to this.


The words on its right pod (your left) fit rather well. Missiles Everywhere. "When my catapult descends upon you, my missiles will blot out the sun."

Other than that, Catapults are crafty specimens. They are fast, and feature the best torso twist range and speed, rivalled only by the Pretty Baby of the Awesomes so far.

Contained in the spoiler are lots of catapult pictures for your pleasure.

Spoiler

Though by lore a fire support platform, the Catapult works very well as a brawler. K2.

This rig uses twin ER PPCs, 1 MG, 1 LB-10x, and 2 ML. K2.


Isn't my kitty pretty? K2.


Gauss Cat. (Not me.) K2.


Do you like the nose cone? C1 (founders).


As it turns out, it's been mentioned that sometime after launch we'll see exterior aesthetics added to the shop. Swappable Atlas heads. Nose cones for Catapults. So eventually you could look like a founder, without being one. C1 (Founders)


Cats can be scary. A1.


Catapults know how to get around. C4.


Cats also love to sit on your shoulders. C4.


Ride Jawas sand crawlers. C4.


Cats love dark places. C4.


Standing on top of your dropship (I'm the one with the biggest launchers) C4 and A1.


Cats have a bite, too. (Biggest launchers, red lasers). C4 and A1.

Shots by Lordred. All but one of those shots of catapults included me in the picture. It's been named. I've pointed out which one I am in shots with more than one catapult.

Hope you like the kitties, and do check out Lordred's thread for plenty more Catapults as well as just about everything else.

Edited by Koniving, 16 June 2013 - 08:57 AM.

[Koniving]

As far as catapults being on sale, remember that's an price (real dollar) sale on a (game points) mech. It's a shortcut, indeed, but with a little bit of time you can get that mech for free. So long as you're new, you'll make more than enough to get it within just 25 matches (your cadet bonus). Once you have it, you should have at least 2,000,000 cbills left over to give it the first upgrade (double heatsinks) and to give it a try.

Edited by Koniving, 16 June 2013 - 08:28 AM.

[Whiskey Dharma]

Hmm, OK. Thanks for all the feedback. It sounds like the C1 is a good place to start for a new guy.

[Zerberus]

Koniving, on 16 June 2013 - 08:17 AM, said:

This build was a joke inspired by someone. However it's gone through 17 matches so far. 9 of them pugging, the rest with 4-man groups. Of those 17 matches I lost track of the kills but the greatest number in a match thus far has been 8 kills, so it's fairly effective. It has died 3 times. It has less armor than a stock commando, no jumpjets, and no close range defense. For me this 'joke' which I adopted the title given to it by someone else -- the ROFLPULT -- is a skill building exercise that has worked quite well. In most areas it has no more than 6 armor, with most of it concentrated on the CT LT and RT front. Its worst enemy is either a sniper with a good shot (happened once), or a spider (happened twice). Its ammo, though plentiful, is still limited when every volley pumps out 90 missiles at once. Every match it runs out of ammo, and comes out with with lots of cherry red body parts or a missing limb or two.

I may not have inspired you to build the mech, as I`m probably not the first to do so, but I`m fairly certain that "Roflpult" is my doing...

Edited by Zerberus, 16 June 2013 - 08:31 AM.