42 replies to this topic

[Aethos]

PRETTY BABY


I've decided to put up a quick guide for the best AWS chassis in the game, The Pretty Baby. It has been my favorite mech I've played [Ravens, Cent, AWS, Atlas] and it rarely get's any of the credit it deserves.

My build is a pure run & gun brawler. I've tried other loadouts [longrange, mixed-range], But none of them really achieved the performance numbers that the brawler setup did.

1 LPL (Rarm)
2 MPL's (head/Ltorso)
2 ASRM6 (Rtorso/Larm)
1 ASRM4 (Larm)

XL380
19 DHS
Endo
Artemis

Modules: Seismic Sensor, Cap Accel, Cool Shot 9 + 9


My PB does one thing exceptionally well, DAMAGE. Over 480 games, I've done 196,194 dmg which has brought my avg damage up to 408.7 per match. The true potential of this build lies in the exceptional matches when the playstyle works and you get your full payload out.




In good games, 500-600 dmg is expected, great games 700-800, and exceptional games 900-1200. [I've had 3 matches breaking 1000, most are in the 700-900 range]

Even in bad games, 300-400 is easy to bust out if you find yourself outnumbered if you keep slinging as many ASRM's as possible, torso twist like crazy, and stay at full speed.

Playstyle:

Rule 1. Patience. Follow the group. Play as a flanker. I play Conquest [more brawler friendly] and I never charge theta. I run with Cap accel. and almost always go to one of the flanked bases. Matches are long, no need to be the first one to deal dmg, or first one to die.

Rule 2. Patience. Never start a brawl. Always jump in on one. Look to get as many assists as possible. Kills are great, and they will come, especially from 16 Asrms coming at a softened target, but don't get caught up trying to get the kill on an enemy mech who is focusing you, still has max armor, and has more firepower than you. Take your shots and let your team distract him while you get into a better position. You can play more agressive as the match progresses and enemy armor is weaker.

Rule 3. Outgun what you can't outrun. Outrun what you can't outgun. AC40 Jagers, BallisticPhracts, and other things that carry AC20's generally tend to be really effective against the massive AWS CT. I would try to avoid 1 vs 1 with these. A victory is certainly possible if you are nailing your aim right, torso twisting away and such, but chances are you will not last past the next engagement. Mechs I enjoy going to town on include Hunchbacks, Stalkers, LaserJagers, Catapults, and all the light classes. The pulses can be very effective against the lights, but I like to really put my payload into the mechs that have a profile that I can repeatedly hit with all weapons and put massive dmg into.

Rule 4. Arm Lock, often. I split my firepower into 2 groups. Lasers & SRMs since each require different aiming lines. I use armlock for the 3 lasers in a group, as well as when unleashing all 3 SRM's at once. Everyone loves to complain about the PB hardpoints, but with the introduction of arm lock, it's actually quite strong since the convergence at close range is good. I release armlock whenever I want to track a fast target with the LPL.

Rule 5. Torso twist whenever taking damage. If you are ending matches with both arms and no side torsos, you aren't spreading the incoming damage enough. The side profile of the AWS is extremely thin compared to its front profile, so not only does it help spread the damage by turning away from the target, but you also reduce the chance of even being hit.

Things you'll see that will confirm you're having a great match:

1. You're alive till the end. Or almost till the end
2. All aSRM ammo depleted and spent on accurately hit targets.
3. 5-8 assists.

I hope this helps get more people to start playing the PB chassis, and the AWS chassis for that matter.You can run the 9M in a very similar build. Some say it's more effective. But it hasn't been for me. Plus my PB just looks cooler.

AWS-9M

Edited by Aethos, 26 July 2013 - 02:21 PM.

[Elizander]

I love the PB myself! It's my favorite thanks to the paintjob. I'm glad to hear that you did well with it. I can't pack on as much weaponry on it due to my preference for the 400XL but I might go and buy a 380XL later.

I run mine with a Large Laser, 2 Medium Lasers, and 1 SRM6+a and 2 SRM4+a with 3 tons ammo only and 18 DHS.

Well here is a slightly weaker and hotter version of yours with a 400XL. I should really buy more engines.

[Bront]

Does the Artemis make that much of a difference in SRM fire? Between the added tonnage and crit slots, I've always thought they wouldn't be worth it on a direct fire weapon. like the SRM.

[Modo44]

I love how the tournaments were not pay to win at all.

[Fenris Krinkovich]

Modo44, on 28 July 2013 - 08:41 PM, said:

I love how the tournaments were not pay to win at all.

How were they?

[New Day]

Do you use arm lock?

[BookWyrm]

Obviously pay to win. The man had to have a job to purchase a computer, beer, and Cheetos to sit down and play the tournament with, duh.

[Modo44]

Fenris Krinkovich, on 28 July 2013 - 08:50 PM, said:

How were they?

Paid mechs used for winning prizes -- for more MC. Not pay to win at all.

[Kiiyor]

Modo44, on 28 July 2013 - 08:41 PM, said:

I love how the tournaments were not pay to win at all.

Good lord. The PB is not in any way OP. That the AWS portion was taken out by one speaks more for the skill, grit and determination of the pilot than their skill with the MC button, ESPECIALLY in an awesome, and even more so as a brawler.

You're like one of the old men in the muppets.

Well done to the OP, especially with that non-meta build! I cracked the top 10 early on with my 9m, but faded into obscurity after that. Wish I'd had more time to have a crack, but stupid RL intruded. The AWS is my fave mech, might have to give your build a try, but I just never got used to the stop time on the PB. Maybe that's MWOs way of telling me never to slow down.

[1453 R]

So Hero 'Mechs shouldn't be eligible for tournaments?

Dude, the Pretty Baby is considered by many to be one of the weakest variants of one of the weakest chassis out there. There's folks that'd call Pretty Baby Pay 2 Lose. Seriously. Get over yourself and marvel with the rest of us that an Awesome pilot beat out all the Highlander jockeys.

Aethos: I have no idea how you did/do so well with that particular BattleMech...but good on ye regardless. Always cool to see someone sticking to his guns. Even when they're bad guns

[Koniving]

Commenting just to throw a PB paintjob in.


My PB. o.O;

[Kiiyor]

Koniving, on 28 July 2013 - 11:07 PM, said:

Commenting just to throw a PB paintjob in.


My PB. o.O;

Holy crap! That's the best PB paint I've seen! Awesome!

[Koniving]

Oh, thank you!

Got more here spoilered.

Spoiler

This is an older PB color design, I didn't like it as much though.


You may like this one. It's an Awesome 8V.


My Awesome stash.

And if you would like, I keep a little folder of various builds when I snapshot 'em, which means the paintjobs at the times also get snapshotted. So check 'em out if you like. Many of them have been in pictures of some sort on Lordred's Perfect Screenshot thread. 26 pages of awesome screenshots.

Edited by Koniving, 28 July 2013 - 11:20 PM.

[BookWyrm]

I'd call it more of an "ugly baby", but I'm not a purple fan unless you're a lousy Marik:)

[Shiro Matsumoto]

hm.. wonder if that works too, on Victors...

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...003ffc7c40b3e9f

Edited by John McFianna, 28 July 2013 - 11:31 PM.

[Shiro Matsumoto]

Bront, on 28 July 2013 - 12:59 PM, said:

Does the Artemis make that much of a difference in SRM fire? Between the added tonnage and crit slots, I've always thought they wouldn't be worth it on a direct fire weapon. like the SRM.

Actually, they make SRMs tightly bundled.. i dare to say they make SRM-6 useful at all.

[Zolaz]

If you think the PB is pay to win ...

Edited by Zolaz, 29 July 2013 - 01:36 AM.

[NRP]

Congrats to Aethos! Thanks for sharing your build and play advice.

The PB is my favorite AWS too, but I've really soured on it lately. In fact, I've been afraid to run it lately because I find the Victors to be so much more effective. You've inspired me a bit though, so I might roll my PB again and see how it goes.

For what it's worth, the PB build I found most effective is very similar to yours (a little faster, and a lot hotter):

XL400
2 LLs
1 ML
2 SRM6s
1 SRM4
Endo, FF, 16 DHS, 4T SRM ammo

The LLs give me a bit of standoff range, but I am intrigued by your build with pulse lasers. I may have to give it a try.

Edit:
Oh yeah Koniving, that paint job looks great! You always seem to come up with great ones.

Edited by NRP, 29 July 2013 - 07:04 AM.

[Koniving]

Thanks.

[Void Angel]

Aethos, on 26 July 2013 - 02:17 PM, said:

Playstyle:

Rule 1. Patience. Follow the group. Play as a flanker. I play Conquest [more brawler friendly] and I never charge theta. I run with Cap accel. and almost always go to one of the flanked bases. Matches are long, no need to be the first one to deal dmg, or first one to die.

Rule 2. Patience. Never start a brawl. Always jump in on one. Look to get as many assists as possible. Kills are great, and they will come, especially from 16 Asrms coming at a softened target, but don't get caught up trying to get the kill on an enemy mech who is focusing you, still has max armor, and has more firepower than you. Take your shots and let your team distract him while you get into a better position. You can play more agressive as the match progresses and enemy armor is weaker.

First, congratulations on your win! The Awesome is one of the favorite whipping boys of the professionally dissatisfied, and it's nice to see you out-scoring all but the top ten Newblanders. Especially since I hate Highlanders with a passion, and not in a "they're too awesome!" way. I hate to see them on my team. This isn't because they're underpowered, but because of the feckless cowardice unique playstile most Highlanders bring to the game. Most Highlanders rely on the other team exposing itself - if that doesn't happen, they tend to sit in their coward hole sniper nest until the match is already lost or won by others.

Which of course brings me to the points quoted; not because I disagree with them, but because they're good advice for the tournament environment - which actually can lead to some very negative behaviors in tournament games, when everyone is trying to do this. It's an unfortunate side-effect of the scoring system, and it makes playing a brawler just hellish. Then again, I was only able to play a few hours on Sunday, toward the end of the tournament, which almost certainly made it worse.

Regardless, well done! I was particularly interested in how you used arm lock to make focusing your damage less attention-intensive. I'm not an Awesome pilot, but I can see how having a lot of hardpoints on the arms can make coordinating your torso and arm weapons with each other difficult. Well done, and congratulations again on your win.