11 replies to this topic

[Gummers31]

Hi guys

I've been playing the last couple of weeks and have decided that I think my sweet spot for mechs is the heavy class, I like the fire support role (Atlas charges into theta on tourmaline[color="#525252"][/color]ended badly. I'm torn between the Jagers and Pults, and they seem to have a lot in common:

• Same weight
  
• Fixed arms
  
• Obvious weapons in said arms
  
• Tasty wide torso?

In the Jagers favour:

• One hero mech available for extra Cbill earnings (how good is it? could it be my 'main')
  
• Ballistics friendly (I'm a massive fan of the UAC5s)
  
• Has a variant that can carry a few LRMS when I get tired of blasting

In the Pults favour:

• Jump jets
  
• Can LRM boat (I have a buddy who likes playing lights and will tag for me )
  
• One direct fire variant when LRMing sucks
  
• Already have plenty of XP on the A1 and C4 thanks to the trial mechs

Can someone help me make up my mind? Any comments on the playability of each chassis? Which is quicker, which is safer with an XL engine? Are no jump jets that big of a deal?

Edited by Gummers31, 13 August 2013 - 04:02 AM.

[Hammerhai]

What I am qualified to comment upon: No Jump Jets are not that big of a deal on the large mechs. They really come into their own in the lights for maneuvering. Heavies and such mainly used them to poptart, which is now much more difficult due to nerfs.

In my experience, ballistics are the killers of the battlefield. They allow you to get component destructs, damage and all the other nice stuff such as lots of xp for kills and assists. I played lasers only on the dragon and jenner, and when I migrated to a Gauss build I was absolutely astounded at how p..s easy it was to get into the fight and get kills. Lasers, even 4 Large, are DoT and simply do not stack up, bear in mind though I joystickzzz. It may be different with a good mouse. You need at least one ballistic weapon to back up your lasers, and chew through the armour.

LRM's are actually not no skill, contrary to popular belief, and can be rather difficult to use properly in a PUG environment. You will get tons of damage, but it is spread around, so less component destructs, kills and so on. Your choice really. The Gausspult was an absolute horror in its' day, and is the bane of any light.

Many is the time I have cursed the Boomjagers very existence. Nowadays you are well advised not to alpha strike due to the enormous heat penalty on AC40's. But being judicious about firing goes a long way. The main trick is when to make that judgement call to alpha strike in any mech, really. It is a mainstay of any savvy mech warriors' arsenal.

One thing about the Jager: When facing a Dragon on level ground bear in mind that your cockpit is exactly the height of his arm weapons. Move wrong and its' over for you.

[Redshift2k5]

We all had a discussio of Cats vs Jager the other day, you may want to check it out: http://mwomercs.com/...6-cat-or-jager/

Personally I like them both and have three of each! The Firebrand hero mech is pretty snazzy and can do lots of builds the other Jager's can't. Overall there is a lot of overlap between the Cats and Jags, of course, but some important differences:

• Catapults have smaller side torsos more suited to XL engines
  
• Catapults can have jumpjets
  
• Catapult A1 can load up to 6 missiles
  
• Jagers can load multiple ballistics but you hardly ever need more than 2
  
• Jager ballistics are mounted very high on the mech but the K2's are very low; important when you are firing from behind partial cover

I think the choice comes down o "more missiles or more dakka?" obviously there is a ballistic cat and a missile jager, but when it comes to needing to invest in THREE of each, you'll have Cats that have no option but missiles, or Jagers that have no useful strong point except their ballistics

[Hotthedd]

One point not mentioned so far is the cockpit of the Catapult. It is by far the worst mech in the game as far as getting head shot. For this reason alone I would choose the Jagermech.

[Nebelfeuer]

Quicker due to good XL engine capability is definitely the Catapult.
JJ are extreemly nice to have in a fast CAT
Jagers can get away with XL engines if you play them at range and constandly move but overall it shortens your life quite a bit.

Both chassis are able to perform quite well. Jagers are better with ballistics (by far best dps in game) while Caterpults are better missle carriers (JJ for targeting/targetrefreshing + option to fire indirectly=no incoming dmg)

Personally I prefer the CAT since it is much more agile and offers better supportoptions IMHO.

[Redshift2k5]

Hotthedd, on 13 August 2013 - 04:52 AM, said:

One point not mentioned so far is the cockpit of the Catapult. It is by far the worst mech in the game as far as getting head shot. For this reason alone I would choose the Jagermech.

I never get headshot my in catapults.

[Koniving]

'Cause people like me play nice and deliberately avoid your head. I'll shoot above and below it in the name of good sportsmanship.

If you're a hill popper with ballistics, Jager. Hill popper with energy, Catapult k2.

That aside, as Red said the Catapult is safer for an XL engine, yet the Jager almost always must carry one.

Both are support mechs. Jager is more direct fire while Catapult is more indirect support. The Catapult's design is very friendly with torso twisting to spread the damage. The Jager's design assures that so long as the enemy is within a 170 degree arc of your front side torso, they can hit it.
...\ | / / /
...(^) - -
...... \

That's the arc for hitting the right front side torso. That's how screwed the Jager's side torso is. Most will never aim for it as it looks like a shield panel. That aside, you can run an XL engine in a Jager and still carry 2 AC/20s. In the Catapult you must use a standard engine to do so. Good combo right now is an AC/20 + 2 AC/5s

Edited by Koniving, 13 August 2013 - 06:18 PM.

[Jzaltheral]

Speaking from my own experience, I chose the Catapult C1 to master rather than the Jaeger. It feels more maneuverable to me, and the with two LRM 15s and four medium pulse lasers, it can deliver a decent amount of punishment.

[Szkarlat M]

Hmm depends on what you like doing really. In my opinion Jagers are better for balance builds and brawling while cats are good at long range support.

Jager - All ballistics (apart from AC20/MGs) give you fairly decent range. This allows more flexibility in your engagement profile. Can boat missiles too. One of my favorite builds is packing AC5s/SRM4s/and med lasers... gives you a good range of fire... deadly up close (good alternative to ac40 build!).

Cat - Missile boat! Pack LRMs + Tag enough said.... sadly most models don't let you pack enough decent backup weapons. K2 is an exception... plays more or less similar to a JM-6S but hardpoints are reversed between arm and torso.

TBH if you don't need/want jump jets... I would just go with the Jag. It can be a missile boat to with the JM-6A and it actually makes a better "Splat" chassis than the cat. Since there are no missile doors, there are no delays to launching SRMs/LRMs.

Have a play around!

[Hotthedd]

Redshift2k5, on 13 August 2013 - 05:24 AM, said:

I never get headshot my in catapults.

I had a span of something like 10 games where half of my deaths came from head shots. I was not standing still, nor brawling, and one of those head shots was from an enemy just blind shooting while charging around a corner, (before seismic)lol. I have also gotten nearly all of my head shot kills on Catapults.

[Yankee77]

Personally I prefer the Catapult. It's a wonderful mech with excellent characteristics.

That said, I think the first thing you should look at is whether or not you prefer Ballistics over other weapon types. If Ballistics are your favourite, then definitely go with the Jagermech. They are ALL Ballistic mechs, whereas only the Catapult K2 does Ballistics.

Conversely, if you prefer missiles you should definitely go with the Catapult. It's a wonderful missile platform with great mobility (jump jets!).

The above should be your first criteria when making your decision. Love Ballistics, go Jager, love missiles, go Catapult.

Beyond that, here are the reasons I prefer the Catapult:

- The small side torsos make it a natural XL machine. You will survive a LOT longer with XL engines in a catapult than in a Jagermech. Sadly, in order to mount decent ballistics in a Jagermech you pretty much have to load an XL engine... which means you will die very quickly if focused. Catapults can get away with it much more easily.

- Jump Jets. JJs add a significant edge to a mech, and even a single JJ will make your mech significantly more mobile. Furthermore, poptarting is still very viable with LRMs, allowing you to clear many obstacles.

- Variety. The different catapult variants cover most roles extremely well.:

* Catapult C1: An excellent Missile/Energy hybrid. My favourite mech of them all. It allows you to load a TAG while STILL carrying some hefty energy firepower. Try LRM10s or 15s with PPCs or LLs or LPLs. Or 2 LRM 20s with 3 MPLs and a TAG. Or, conversely, load a couple of SRM6s and load up PPCs and MLs or MPLs. Lots of possibilities in that package.

* Catapult C4: An excellent missile boat. It's unique feature is it has 40 actual LRM tubes, allowing you to fire 2 LRM20s at once in a single "cloud". The energy hardpoints allow you to load a TAG, but since they're in the CT you are very limited. I use it for my pure LRM boat.

* Catapult A1: We all know the Splatcat, and it works. No energy HPs makes it a sub-standard LRM platform however, as it cannot mount TAG. But it certainly splats well.

* Catapult K2: Basically an energy sniper. It has 1 energy HP in each arm, which is mounted high up, just like the Jagermech, which makes it excellent for PPC sniping. It's 1 energy and 1 ballistic HP in each side torsos give it added versatility. Nearly everything's been done with this baby, and it generally remains relevant even with the Jagermech's introduction. The Jagermech does have better hardpoints in the arms (the firebrand has energies there too), but the K2 maintains its small side torsos, making it a better XL engine mech.

Oh, and Catapults are much more huggable.

[El Death Smurf]

it really is about what wepons you want to use. If you are a fan of ballistics, the jagermech does Gauss, ac20, and UAC5s better. The K2 can do these things too, but nearly as well, especially since Gauss in a side torso can quickly end in death, and UAC5s can only be paired up on the k2, but you can pack 3 on a Jagermech (only non hero who can.) jagermech-A can do anything the catapulst can do with missles that you really want to do (4 SRM6, or 40-60 LRMS) and then some (machine guns/UAc5s/Large lasers) the c4 catapult only has 2 lasers in the CT. Where the catapult wins in my book is with its smaller L/R torsos, so it does handle XL engines better. my vote is Jagermech.