20 replies to this topic

[Nikkoru]

I know, I know, the first commandment of MWO is "Thou Shalt Not Place an XL Engine in thine Atlas, for it is an abomination."

Well, I have sinned, and I am loving every minute of it.

With speed tweak the thing moves nearly 72 kph. Compared to the 300 Standard I was rocking in my D-DC, that feels like greased lighting. You have the speed to keep up with the pack, and I think that is what I like most about it.

When you are slow, you feel like you have no control over the game. Everything feels left to chance. Your teammates leave you behind and it's a simple roll of the dice whether or not a couple of lights find you and ruin you. By the time you reach the battle, half the time the winner has already been decided. One team is down by five and there really isn't any recovering from that. When you engage, you have to stick it out, even if it is a bad situation, because you don't have the speed to disengage.

Well, toss in a 400XL engine and all those problems go away.

The first thing to understand is that it doesn't play like an assault. You don't brawl with it. Instead, you play it like you would a Catapult K2 or a Jager. Fire off some shots, reposition. Fire off some shots, reposition. The difference is you have waaaay more armor and a wider variety of weapons and tools to work with.

Here's my current build:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...54aa325f22c4ed8

Edited by Nikkoru, 13 January 2014 - 09:11 AM.

[AlmightyAeng]

Running with a 400 XL DOES feel like you're suddenly the roadrunner That said, if you really wanna cruise, I've found that a STD 360 or possibly a 370 gives the best mix of speed, loadout, and survivability.

When everyone shoots for you 'big gun,' Atlas XL's are hard to keep alive.

[Turist0AT]

why not take the K2 or Jager then? Hugging all that precious tonnage for yourself. But im its not DDC so i dont care THAT much
Little light on firepower and ammo, dont you think?

Edited by Turist0AT, 13 January 2014 - 09:32 AM.

[Nikkoru]

Turist0AT, on 13 January 2014 - 09:14 AM, said:

why not take the K2 or Jager then? Hugging all that precious tonnage for your self.

Well, if my Atlas is just as fast as my K2 and my Jager, but has more armor and better weapons, why not take it instead?

I mean, we all know the matchmaking system doesn't take tonnage into account in any meaningful way, so I'm helping my team by bringing a better weapon to the fight. At least, that's how I see it.

[oldradagast]

Generally speaking, the XL Atlas is a bad idea. However, now and then a fast-moving Atlas that is someplace it should not be (because it shouldn't be that fast) can turn the tide of a game.

I remember one Conquest game on River City where we saw incoming enemies on radar closing fast on one of the capture points not far from the start (this was before the spawn points changed.) A few mechs were heading there, and we assumed it would be a few Lights vs. similar tonnage on our side... Instead, at least one insanely fast Victor showed up and basically wiped out the guys we sent there. That only happened because nobody expects an insanely fast Victor to be capping near the start of a match. So, same theory can apply to a super-fast Atlas... Either way, have fun!

[Nikkoru]

Ghost Badger, on 13 January 2014 - 09:12 AM, said:

Running with a 400 XL DOES feel like you're suddenly the roadrunner That said, if you really wanna cruise, I've found that a STD 360 or possibly a 370 gives the best mix of speed, loadout, and survivability.

When everyone shoots for you 'big gun,' Atlas XL's are hard to keep alive.

Personally I find my XL Atlas more survivable, but that might just be a playstyle thing.

[Altairis Debin]

@Oldradagast: When the Clan chassis are released, we're going to have to adjust to this more and more often, as the Summoners and Timberwolves will be running all over the place stepping on our "traditional cappers"

[Turist0AT]

Nikkoru, on 13 January 2014 - 09:16 AM, said:

Well, if my Atlas is just as fast as my K2 and my Jager, but has more armor and better weapons, why not take it instead?

I mean, we all know the matchmaking system doesn't take tonnage into account in any meaningful way, so I'm helping my team by bringing a better weapon to the fight. At least, that's how I see it.

True. Just dont sit back and let mediums and heavies take the hit, okay. We still need the big guys up front with us

Edited by Turist0AT, 13 January 2014 - 09:29 AM.

[C E Dwyer]

We're you the xl atlas on my team this afternoon, that scored 0,3 and only managed slightly over 150 damage, and when you dropped, two of the other team went F me an XL Atlas

For the love of all that mech warrior stop contaminating the scrubs, they play atlai badly as it is

Edited by Cathy, 13 January 2014 - 09:31 AM.

[Nikkoru]

Turist0AT, on 13 January 2014 - 09:14 AM, said:

Little light on the firepower, dont you think?

It looks like it on paper, but in practice it works like this:

Poke your nose out, 60 point strike to the CT.

Back behind cover, count to four.

Poke your nose out, 60 point strike to the CT, target dies.

Plus, the variety of weapons really appeals to me. I toss out LRM's when approaching the fight and getting into position, or just when I'm pinned down or need to cool off. I use the large lasers for the snap damage at long range targets of opportunity, and for short range brawling when it does happen I just stick to the autocannon and medium lasers.

I'm no expert player or anything, but I find I average about 600-800 a match, so something is working here for me. Your milage may vary.

Cathy, on 13 January 2014 - 09:30 AM, said:

We're you the xl atlas on my team this afternoon, that scored 0,3 and only managed slightly over 150 damage, and when you dropped, two of the other team went F me an XL Atlas

Nope.

Edited by Nikkoru, 13 January 2014 - 09:51 AM.

[wanderer]

Nikkoru, on 13 January 2014 - 09:03 AM, said:

I know, I know, the first commandment of MWO is "Thou Shalt Not Place an XL Engine in thine Atlas, for it is an abomination."

Well, I have sinned, and I am loving every minute of it.

It's not a sin if you're putting that motor to the max. I've had LRM Atlai do this all the time, and the extra speed (and all that room to stuff DHS into!) is a blessing, even if you're going down if you lose a side torso. People don't expect the thing to manuever much better than a beached whale, and even stuff like a 350XL is going to improve your abilty to twist and get into the action.

[Nikkoru]

Turist0AT, on 13 January 2014 - 09:28 AM, said:

Just dont sit back and let mediums and heavies take the hit, okay. We still need the big guys up front with us

You got it.

[Turist0AT]

Im sure is jealous of those 6 energy hardpoints in the arms. If i was an atlas pilot i would get me some of that delicius yummy

[NRP]

The XL400 Atlas can be fun, and I still run one from time to time when I feel like doing something different.

However, at some point in your MWO career you'll start to run into enemies that aim for nothing but your STs, and the really good ones with hit you with coordinated high pinpoint alphas simultaneously, thus making damage spreading via torso twisting impossible. They do this to every Atlas. It just happens to be a kill shot for an XL400 Boar's Head.

Im just saying. It will happen eventually.

[xengk]

Nikkoru, on 13 January 2014 - 09:03 AM, said:

I know, I know, the first commandment of MWO is "Thou Shalt Not Place an XL Engine in thine Atlas, for it is an abomination."

Well, I have sinned, and I am loving every minute of it.

If it works for your play style and you are scoring kills, good for you.
Everyone should have their favourite none-meta build that work great for them but not other.

I too am a sinner who put XL engine in Hunchback and STD engine in Blackjack.

[Deathlike]

xengk, on 13 January 2014 - 11:01 AM, said:

If it works for your play style and you are scoring kills, good for you.
Everyone should have their favourite none-meta build that work great for them but not other.

TBH, as long as you KNOW you are completely responsible for non-standard (or just bad) designs (like XL on an Atlas), it should not shock you if people chuckle at your misfortune.

If you can get away with it on the battlefield, congrats. If you can't, "we told you so".

Quote

I too am a sinner who put XL engine in Hunchback and STD engine in Blackjack.

I don't see a lot of XL engines on a Hunchback (at my ELO level), and when I do, I chuckle.

The STD engine on a BJ on the other hand doesn't seem crazy... as long as it's on the BJ-1X IMO (losing half your firepower doesn't mean you have to go kaput if you are side cored).

Edited by Deathlike, 13 January 2014 - 12:16 PM.

[The Unknown Pilot]

If I ever see an Atlas sprinting 72+ kph, I now have twice the urgency to shoot off his ballistic side. And announce it to my team first.

[AlmightyAeng]

The Unknown Pilot, on 13 January 2014 - 01:24 PM, said:

If I ever see an Atlas sprinting 72+ kph, I now have twice the urgency to shoot off his ballistic side. And announce it to my team first.

Truth...a 'fast atlas' calls out for a side torso to explode

[Nikkoru]

NRP, on 13 January 2014 - 09:47 AM, said:

The XL400 Atlas can be fun, and I still run one from time to time when I feel like doing something different.

However, at some point in your MWO career you'll start to run into enemies that aim for nothing but your STs, and the really good ones with hit you with coordinated high pinpoint alphas simultaneously, thus making damage spreading via torso twisting impossible. They do this to every Atlas. It just happens to be a kill shot for an XL400 Boar's Head.

Im just saying. It will happen eventually.

Oh, I'm sure it will. There is a trade off, to be sure, but premade groups that call out targets might as well be playing Aion for how often I run into them. It just isn't part of the game I play, so I don't worry about it.

[Sagamore]

I've never been brave enough to try the 400XL in my own BH, but kudos to you for making it work with your playstyle. That's what is great about this game and the degree of tinkering that the mech lab allows.

In my Boar's Head I run the old 2xPPC 4xML AC20 build for maximum destruction. Nothing like 2-shotting everything in the game (and overheating).