37 replies to this topic

[BahamutSin]

(Disclaimer: The players mentioned in here are definitely not the same players who will read this. Article written totally and completely from my point of view and does not reflect the thoughts of spider pilots everywhere.Hopefully at least one person will learn somehting from this. )

I have been a spider pilot for almost 300 matches (or 1 day, 4 hours, 25 min,33 sec). I have tried other mechs here and there but I keep coming back to the spider. I know 300 matches doesn’t make me an expert by any stretch of the imagination but it does give me some insight to pass on to newer players and some interesting views on player habits regarding the spider...
Loadout is a follows:
XL 255 engine
3 MPL
Guardian ECM
6 JJ
DHS
FF Armor
ES Structure
Max Armor
Full tree unlocked
Advanced Sensor Range (2)
Target Info Gathering (1)
Third slot up for grabs

I have tried it with the ERPPC, ERLL, ML. The pulse seems to work the best for ME (I stress the ME part). I usually average 175 dmg on a loss and around 25-300 on a win. ERPPCs are hard to hit light mechs I inevitably encounter though it does wonders against the bigger guys. The ERLL was nice for range but between CD time and heat it was a little less than optimal to me. The pulse are great for drive-by’s as you don’t need to hold it quite as long and the dmg is marginally higher than a normal laser. Really the loadout comes down to what you want and how you play. I have no affiliation. I am a pugger: I like to scout, haul ***, and annoy things Which brings me to:

How to get yourself killed:
Run directly for the enemy base. Don’t try and circle around and come in behind or anything. What are the odds 8 enemy mechs are going to see you at the same time and reduce you to a fine metallic powder? …approx 99% I think

Run in a straight line at any time. There is always some other mech you don’t see…by murphy’s law it usually an Atlas or Jager.

Stop moving at any time you aren’t behind cover. Snipers will love the addition to their KD ratio.

Be directly in front of any enemy mech for than .5 seconds. See above and fine metallic powder.

Forget that when you get close to enemy it reads “Low Signal” on their radar. Ever wonder why that mech turned around and beat you like you owed him money? Most mech pilots don’t notice. The ones that do however seem to be insanely accurate.

Fight more than 1 other light mech at a time w.o backup. While the two of you are circling each other the third light mech will gleefully stand there and pound you. However if both of the other light mech pilots are silly, they will both circle you and odds are you can kill them or escape or watch them shoot each other. That is fun too.

Use your jump jets all the time when scouting. No one is going to notice that giant cloud of smoke that just appeared on the map.



Things to consider so you can (theoretically) Survive / Win:
Don’t think you are *that* fast. Speed in this game is not even within nuclear launch range of real life physics

Imagine a line following your mech (like the light cycles in Tron) Now imagine an epileptic snake. That’s how the line behind you should look.

You can turn on a dime, accelerate like a rocket, and your torso twist is amazing. Unlock your arms.

Set an opposite type of course to the mech you want to target and spin your torso to shoot them. Turn back. Keep running.

6 JJ’s. You can jump over someone’s head. They can only raise their arms so high. Whereas your arms can almost go straight down.

Break line of sight often. Don’t just circle something choose a different direction that the enemy wouldn't expect when you leave cover. If you do this you may notice they have alpha strike pointed at the area they thought you were going to come out of: Shoot them in the back. Laugh.

Cover. Love it. Caress it. Wear protection.

Try and pay attention to where the enemy is. If you were just shooting at 2 mechs and you round the corner and only see one of them: Statistics and experience say…the other is behind you. Run. Swerve. Pray.

Actively Target whatever you are shooting at. Odds are they have been damaged and you can blow off something important on the way by.

Don’t try and leg someone (Whoever told you that legging a big mech was the way to go: Lied. A lot.) that hasn’t already been damaged. Leg armor is higher than almost any other armor on a mech. Ex. Atlas (default armor RT/LT: 64. Default LL/RL: 82) Highlander (default armor RT/LT: 56. Default LL/RL: 76)

Don’t try to fly. They are called Jump Jets for a reason. Use them to get over terrain, make pinpoint turns, pop up out of nowhere, and leave a small smokescreen behind you as cover. That smokescreen is a little more helpful than you may think.

Learn to jump over an enemy mech, shoot down, spin your torso, then realign your legs. When you land this will leave you facing the back of the mech you just jumped over. Oddly enough this confuses some enemy pilots and it takes them a while to find you again and it gives you a free shot. Then run a different direction.

Never align your legs in the same direction you jumped if you are trying to escape and not get hit. Try for a right angle. Jump -> torso twist->align legs (your path would look like this ________|

Fair fights are for mech’s with armor. Shoot the enemy in the back.

Kite any persistent enemies back to your group (Be polite and warn them ahead of time though)

Ignore the ***** that tells you to cap the enemy base when it is 7/0 against and no one has been to the enemy base yet. You won’t cap it. The Light mechs will be there soon. They will find you. They will kill you. It is a lousy way to die. Have fun and go annoy them ‘til they take your base or finish you.

You aren’t, single handedly, going to stop anything other a light mech or damaged medium/heavy ((and sure hell not an clean and shiny assault)Unless they are just T-totally terri-bad pilots) from taking your base. They will stand in one place. If you stand in one place you will die. Each time you circle them you will leave the borders of your base and it will cap a little more. Call for help.

Go get stray mechs…the ones that fell into the canyon, tripped over a rock while following the pack…the damaged guy trying to run.

Start of the match: See that lone ‘mech over there? The heavy..he’s slow. He isn’t paying attention. Go get him..His friend will alpha you. They were waiting. It was a trap. Frakkin’ premades. Just a thought to keep in mind.

You are not a glass cannon. You are not a cannon at all. Even with one big gun. You are, however, made of glass.

It only takes one mistake to get you killed. You are going to die. Especially in the beginning. A lot.

One lucky (or unlucky, depends on where you are standing I suppose) Dual PPC or Guass or AC20 will leave you insanely close to death. If you sustained any damage before those found you, you’re dead. When you see those mech’s be very, very, very, careful. Alpha from one of those = dead spider and a small amount of mumbling about lucky shots…

In almost every group there is ‘That guy’: The one that didn’t adjust his weapon groups so he feels the need to test fire, usually, for some unknowable reason, with an alpha strike. When the match starts you should run. You’re a scout anyways. Go scout. If you don’t Murphy says you will be in front of the ‘That guy’ and start the match ¾ dead.

Once you feel you are really moving up in the world as far as maneuverability / insanity goes try this:
Look at a line of enemy mechs and approach the line from the side, shoot the closest one, so you get noticed, then thread around the legs of the rest taking pot shots where you can. It causes some confusion in the enemy ranks. Some random pilot will (without fail) hit one of his teammates with a weapon (it is precious if they fired an ac20) while trying to hit you. Do not try this attack run from the back as your exit vector would then be in FRONT of all the mechs…(that’s experience talking BTW, it didn’t end well, it just sounded good at the time)


Player quirks:
You pilot a spider: The opposing team hates you. Every Heavy and Assault class mech on your team gives you a dirty look and remembers the spider that killed them.

People hate you: Use this to your advantage*:

*One or two strafing runs through an enemy line or a ‘shoot in the back / duck / shoot in back’ will peel some player(s) with a grudge and vain notions of glory to chase you. Lead them on a merry romp. If they are chasing you, they have turned their back on your team. Your team will then (hopefully) shoot them in the back. Sometimes they bring a light with them. They will both chase you. You have now deprived the enemy team of at least 2 mechs from the battle lines which should give your team an advantage..In theory

*Shoot over the head of an enemy mech so they will notice the beams flashing by. Sadly a lot of pilots don’t quite notice your lasers hitting them until the third or so volley. Let them turn around and make sure they see you. Run for their base. Do a loop (they can’t track an ECM at range and you went behind cover to break the lock) drive through their base. Just long enough for it to warn the enemy team. By now the guy you shot at has told his team he saw a spider heading for the their base. The warning proves it. Sometimes a second drive by is required. They will send something over there. Again you have removed mechs from the front line. And who doesn’t want to kill a spider that is supposedly standing still at their base? Vengeance! Only you have left that base and went back to the real fight.

*If you feel like dying in a blaze of glory. Sneak up on the rear echelon of the enemy team before they really engage yours. Spend the next minute (Your last BTW) weaving in between them. This will delay everyone with a grudge while they kill you. Just don’t leave. Keep weaving around their legs and firing. You are so annoying at this point they don’t care who the hell wins the battle. As long as you die their mission is complete. You have delayed them. Your team has whittled down the mechs that weren’t trying to stomp on you. GJ. Funny thing is they could have probably smoked your team while leaving you shooting them in the back and most of them would live. But who does that? Kill the annoying thing…

Light mech pilots like to test their skills against other light pilots. It’s a thing. It’s a lot more fun to smoke a little guy like you running across hell’s half acre than to hit a mech the size of a skyscraper. Learn to duel the little guys. It is a fairly rewarding kill.

When shot by a friendly and they apologize: believe about 30% of them. The rest of the apologies are fake and they have been eyeing you since the start of the match. Just kidding…Sort of…but friendly fire is exponentially more accurate than the enemies.

That guy on your team. The Atlas pilot? He is a better spider pilot than you are or will ever be. He can tell you exactly how to take your spider to a crushing victory over the other team. By yourself. He has time to tell you this because he got his Atlas killed in the first 30 seconds of the match and is spectating you.

I have been the last mech on my team standing in a few matches and we still won. I am not saying I am a hero. I am saying those final mechs got so frustrated chasing me around I eventually (Stressing that word) killed them. The more you frustrate those last few mechs the more mistakes they make. Usually. If it is you and two others and you destroy one of them the last guy (usually) gets nervous/annoyed with you/annoyed with his team yelling at him and goes down pretty easy.

If you get legged some players like to savor the kill. If someone legs you, cross your fingers it is this kind of person. They will start to walk towards your one legged mech and open slow chain fire, some just walk forward (Maybe they are going for ‘Doom approaches or some crap. I dunno). Morons. Move your reticle to their cockpit hitbox. No matter the mech, the cockpit has 18 armor max. Fire. Fire again. You win… From experience it is particularly warm and fuzzy when an atlas does it (From the perception of a spider, looking at the front of the atlas. Zoom in and shoot his right eye)

Don’t ever give up. Ever. Be spiteful. Be cruel. Fire everything you have until you are dead. Have fun.

[Spiketail Drake]

Quote

(From the perception of a spider, looking at the front of the atlas. Zoom in and shoot his right eye)

Interesting write up, but shoot the LEFT eye on the Atlas, NOT the right one. These tips do apply to other lights too, especially the upcoming Locust! That one will make the Spider fell armored!

[Fishhawk]

Good write-up ... I have thought about piloting a spider. I enjoy speed.

BTW, I think he was meaning his right, the Atlas' left.

[Lugh]

Still can't wait for HSR and your hit boxes to be fixed but this is good advices for ALL mechs, especially lights.

[Nothing Whatsoever]

Walk softly and carry a big laser.


Nice OP, lots of good points for lights to strive for, especially Spiders.

[Victor Morson]

Your biggest problem is suggesting Adv Sensor Range over Seismic Sensor, which is infinitely more important. Not horrible past that though.

Also Spiders, remember: You're not going to be doing a lot of damage, or getting many kills. What you actually are is an extremely durable, very hard to kill light that can harass capture points in Conquest and be almost impossible to dispose of in a timely fashion.

A good Spider pilot can tie up entire light teams for long enough to screw over games.

Basically, if you are running a Spider right now, you're running a light 'mech "tank."

Lugh, on 25 July 2013 - 11:34 AM, said:

Still can't wait for HSR and your hit boxes to be fixed but this is good advices for ALL mechs, especially lights.

I almost don't want them to fix the Spider as it's survivability is the only reason it's not a joke anymore.

[BoPop]

got ya beat at 573 matches in a spider! I do love that mech.

[DegeneratePervert]

My Atlas loves to inhale the metallic columbian spider powder. Good guide.

[BookWyrm]

Similar to the 3MPL build I run, but I suggest using only 2 Jumpets, adding as many heat sinks as possible, and using seismic coolshot9 + coolshot 6 for modules. When you find a good target to carve up those things will run hot.

[Felio]

BahamutSin, on 25 July 2013 - 10:26 AM, said:

If you get legged some players like to savor the kill. If someone legs you, cross your fingers it is this kind of person. They will start to walk towards your one legged mech and open slow chain fire, some just walk forward (Maybe they are going for ‘Doom approaches or some crap. I dunno). Morons. Move your reticle to their cockpit hitbox. No matter the mech, the cockpit has 18 armor max. Fire. Fire again. You win… From experience it is particularly warm and fuzzy when an atlas does it (From the perception of a spider, looking at the front of the atlas. Zoom in and shoot his right eye)

Oh, I once got legged by two mechs and cockpit killed them both. I bet they were surprised.

[Zerberus]

Excellent write up, almost like a spider bible.

One thing to add, though:

You are already dead and have been so since the moment you pushed reactor ignition. Embrace this fact, but do everything you can to run away from the reaper. Make him work for your soul. The other team will hate you for it.

[Liquid Leopard]

Zerberus, on 29 July 2013 - 05:49 AM, said:

...You are already dead and have been so since the moment you pushed reactor ignition. Embrace this fact, but do everything you can to run away from the reaper. Make him work for your soul. The other team will hate you for it.

Indeed...Very similar to a description I once read of flying a jet fighter:
"The moment you take off you're out of gas and on fire, and it only gets worse from there!"

[Hammerhai]

What Jenners were, the Spider is ...
HATED.

Good Guide

Edited by Hammerhai, 29 July 2013 - 06:24 AM.

[Curccu]

Hammerhai, on 29 July 2013 - 06:24 AM, said:

What Jenners were, the Spider is ...
HATED.

Good Guide

Only difference that Spider got only ½ or less of weaponry than jenner.

Edited by Curccu, 29 July 2013 - 06:39 AM.

[Gevurah]

Good guide, pretty much covers everything and more.

Personally I only have 160 games on my spider but strive for it to be one of my best mechs; I maintain a 1.1 win/ 1.3 kdr on it. Not bad, but could easily be worse given the propensity of the spider to go boomy boomy.

Personally I try to pilot my spider (there's only one model in game, right?) like I'm trying to put on a show. Mostlybecause 9 times out of 10 I'm the last guy on the team alive (Unless you've got that one spiteful jenner/Raven pilot who hates raven more than anything else). So I figure if they're all watching, let's give them a good show...

[CaveHermit]

I have also found that roughly 50% of teh time your running away or have your backside as the most viable target.. I've swapped my armor around. I've got twin 5D's in my mech lab. Both outfitted the same except for armor. On my harasser style I'm running 50/50 armor. (50% on front and back), on my scout/capper I dropped a ML and picked up a TAG, I also run 2/3 armor (2/3 or more on the back.) It work great for kiting, I once managed to kite 3 lights from Eps on Alpine to far corner beyond theta.

Great write up and you also need to remember everyone wants to squish the bug.

[Tuann]

Good write up, good advice, nice tongue-in-cheek writing style,... I smiled,.. Even though i honestly hate spiders...
Dunno what it is, but two er-peeps or even an ac20 and gauss full in the face seems only like to kill em 50%of the time.

Happy hunting!

[Vellinious]

Tuann, on 29 July 2013 - 10:28 AM, said:

Good write up, good advice, nice tongue-in-cheek writing style,... I smiled,.. Even though i honestly hate spiders...
Dunno what it is, but two er-peeps or even an ac20 and gauss full in the face seems only like to kill em 50%of the time.

Happy hunting!

The hit boxes on the spider are borked....that's why they're hard to hit, and why competitive teams are using them in comp drops now instead of the Raven. Sometimes, even before a Jenner, just because they survive those shots so much better than the Jenner. I have 2 ECM Spiders...one with 3 MPL's and one with 1 LL and 2 ML's. The straight beam weapons are for more inaccurate, but give you some punch from medium range, so as to keep the enemy at arms length. Great fun.

Good write up, OP. Was a fun read.

Edit: Forgot about the legs....DO shoot for the legs. Many, MANY heavy and assault pilots will strip some armor off the legs to try to fit that one extra ton of ammo, or one extra heat sink in the build. A legged assault or heavy becomes so much easier to kill for your teammates it's not even funny. It's too much fun to NOT at least test the armor. Invariably, there'll be one or two each match that think, "who shoots the legs off an Atlas?" and stips a ton of armor off. Uh, yup....that'd be me. Centurions....shoot the legs exclusively. The legs are the ONLY area of the body on the Centi that doesn't have as borked up hitboxes as the spider you're running, making it the easiest way to kill them.

Edited by Vellinious, 01 August 2013 - 06:30 AM.

[Mindwipe]

Great guide, thanks for making it.

I'm one for targeting legs though, I'll never claim to be a crack shot and for whatever reason I have a very hard time getting side torsos unless hitting Jagers from the side. Legs on the other hand are visible from all angles and you never have to wait for more than a half second to bring your targeted leg back into view. It's a poor marksman's focus fire. That and a legged mech is generally done for as even a terrible PUG will aim at the crippled mech.

If you're a good shot, I'd agree that side torso's are the way to go on an undamaged mech.

[mailin]

BookWyrm, on 28 July 2013 - 01:38 PM, said:

Similar to the 3MPL build I run, but I suggest using only 2 Jumpets, adding as many heat sinks as possible, and using seismic coolshot9 + coolshot 6 for modules. When you find a good target to carve up those things will run hot.

Totally bragging here, but I am rapidly approaching 1600 drops in my 5D. I use two jump jets and have an increased number of DHS as well. I have found that Advanced Seismic, Advanced Sensor Range and Capture Accelerator are the best modules to use. The only time that heat should really be a problem is when you have another light to fight. In that case, remember, they are probably having the same issue. Put your 3 lasers in two groups, one with 2 weapons, the other with one. Have both groups set to alpha strike. During normal combat do full alpha strikes by pressing both mouse buttons. When you get the heat warning, only fire the weapon group that has one mplas until you cool down a bit. If you need to, move a away for a bit to cool off, or slow down a bit. Dropping your speed a bit lets you cool off faster. A full stop is even better for this.