42 replies to this topic

[Liquid Leopard]

I finally tried a Stalker after I had been playing for 8 or 9 months.
It's on my list of "I wish I had tried this mech sooner".
(Followed by Cataphract and Blackjack)

knightsljx, on 02 July 2014 - 03:23 PM, said:

Buying an assault mech as a newbie is a good way to get yourself to quit the game.

Start with a good light or medium then work your way up. Playing an Assault mech requires much more understanding of the game than how to build a mech and how to shoot things

That may be true if you're coming over from other 1st person shooters such as Call of Doodie.
It also depends on hardware; How many Frames Per Second you're getting and your internet "ping".
If I had started with light mechs THAT would have made me quit the game. Now that I have 40+ fps and a better network connection, I still don't like light mechs. Not playing them, or playing against them.

If a new player wants to play with a lumbering tank on legs, and is quick to learn the positioning for sniping, then a Stalker has the virtues of high-mounted energy weapons that can shoot over most terrain you can see over, and it has a small frontal area for its size.

...But, l admit the first time I spectated from a teammate who was driving a Stalker, it looked like he was playing in slow motion.

Edited by Liquid Leopard, 05 July 2014 - 08:04 AM.

[bayoucowboy]

Shadowhawk 2D2 - energy on both arms for PPCs/lasers, 4 missile hardpoints for any style (srms, ssrms, lrms) and a ballistic for when you want to test out AC's. IMHO. Welcome and see you on the battlefield

[Turist0AT]

Another Stalker pilot here.

Id say get Stalker. Its a beautiful, durable and very very powerful machine. But its up to you and your playstyle. Mobility or firepower.

I choose firepower.

[Tarriss Halcyon]

As a Stalker pilot myself, it's a great assault, but note that the weaknesses in the mech are major. Next to no torso twist means that the SRM-based loadouts have major issues if flanked, and the ultra-slow turning speed is another flaw. I've been running an SRM20 Stalker for I don't even know how long, and I'm working through re-buying the ones I sold while mastering the mechs.

That being said, Stalkers are designed for long-range combat, and using them with a lot of SRMs requires good timing and a fair bit of restraint on the trigger finger to prevent overheating from Ghost Heat. I'll see if I can't throw together some Smurfy builds for it and my Misery to give some suggestions, but note that, like Koniving, my builds aren't exactly easy to work with, and aren't designed for pilots who aren't quite sure what they are doing - my Misery has five fire groups for crying out loud, yet it still scored six kills against a team of mostly Clan mechs.

[Turist0AT]

Stalkers are very very capable at short range combat(whole energy arsenal and dem streaks son!) the beutifull thing with stalker is that you dont have to choose short or long range, you can have it all. Pair of ppc's and rest is brawling setup. excellent hitboxes, amazing loadout possibilities acros the chassies and did i mention the dual AMS.

Edited by Turist0AT, 06 July 2014 - 10:14 PM.

[Denolven]

REllana, on 01 July 2014 - 01:16 AM, said:

I'm very new to this game and I'm looking at buying my first mech
I've been experimenting with various builds in the machlab, and the stalker 5m appeals to me

Welcome to MWO. The Stalker is not a bad mech at all. It's good for both newbies and advanced players (easy to learn, hard to master). But as you just found out that other weight classes have their appeal too, you might want to check out this topic: Which Mech you should buy
It includes a list with common mechs and their strengths. Also, you are not the first one asking about Stalkers, so some of the answers might interest you

[PANZERKAT]

Atlas D-DC is the most wanted Assaults. You may get frustrated playing a Stalker right off the bat as it takes a bit more finesse due to its blundering crappy turns.

Good missile boats though, if that's your thing. It can be fairly vulnerable though.

[Brizna]

I actually think players should start playing the game in Assault mechs exactly becuase they are the most vulnerable to bad positioning so you learn the most important skill in this game: BATTLE AWARENESS.

In regards to which assault mech is bext: well I have only played atlas, victor and stalker. And seriously atlas suck, or more precisely stuck, moving around the battlefield in an atlas is a nightmare you constantly get stuck on pebbles you can't see and while you carry BIG guns, you carry few of them, victor is quite the contrary actually but it does pay a big price in payload and resilience, Stalker is in the assault sweet spot in comparison to atlas it feels like a gazelle (not like a victor though) and has twice as many strongpoints as an atlas leting you carry a loadout that makes atlases cry in envy, not so big guns sure, but so many of them that you'll look down at AC20s as low damage loadouts

Then you have the ECM question, the D-DC atlas is a must have mech in the long term as clumsy as it is but it is still a clumsy atlas.

The best 3 stalkers are 3F, 5M and of course Missery. I'd make the 3F into a brawler with lasers and SRMs while the 5M makes a perfect LRM boat with an insane array of 5 medium lasers as "back up" weapons that actually causes real concern in any sensible oponent.

[Kjudoon]

Welcome. I also agree with Kon and the other guys that Assaults need a very specific skill set and amount of bravery to run properly. You need to understand their limitations too. yes, they're big with lots of armor, but they're slow and relatively unmaneouverable.

I'd recommend going after heavy mechs first because they are so forgiving, particularly the Orion, Cataphract and even the Tbolt (though I suck at that one). They have good armor, relatively good speed and generally will bridge your time to get an assault.

If you must go assault, look at the Victor and the Battlemaster first. They give you speed, heavy armor and a good variety of weapons. If you don't care about speed and maneouverability, look at the Highlander, Banshee and Stalker, but remember, they all attract LARGE amounts of fire and attention. Victors not so much and LRM Battlemasters have "OMGKILLMENOW" tattooed on their heads

[Turist0AT]

Brizna, on 10 July 2014 - 11:52 AM, said:

The best 3 stalkers are 3F, 5M and of course Missery. I'd make the 3F into a brawler with lasers and SRMs while the 5M makes a perfect LRM boat with an insane array of 5 medium lasers as "back up" weapons that actually causes real concern in any sensible oponent.

IMO the best are 5S(2 AMS, 6 Energy,4 missile), 5M and Misery.

Edited by Turist0AT, 11 July 2014 - 01:43 AM.

[Modo44]

Turist0AT, on 11 July 2014 - 01:40 AM, said:

IMO the best are 5S(2 AMS, 6 Energy,4 missile), 5M and Misery.

3F, not 5S. Dual AMS is nice, but being able to actually shoot to the sides -- better torso twist range -- is much nicer.

[Turist0AT]

Modo44, on 11 July 2014 - 01:47 AM, said:

3F, not 5S. Dual AMS is nice, but being able to actually shoot to the sides -- better torso twist range -- is much nicer.

No, dual ams is much nicer.

Its like saying Jäger is Better than phract. Phracts fully articulated arms and +5 extra tons are better than those high hardpoint.

Different strokes or as they say in sweden, the butt cracks in the middle

Edited by Turist0AT, 11 July 2014 - 01:58 AM.

[Modo44]

You are funny in your wrongness.

[Brizna]

While I agree that AMS is now more usefull than ever before, you can certainly do with just 1 (or even without) with good positioning. 3F rocks, most assaults * are easy prey for lights this one makes jenners run away since the outstanding torso twist lets you hit them realiably.

* Unless they have streaks but they weight too little and are ussually a waste of hardpoints which are -most of the time- more scarce than tonnage in assault mechs.

[SethAbercromby]

I've dropped that information some while ago somewhere alse, but here's my personal observations of the various weight classes.

Light: Vulture, Harasser, Spotter. Extremely flexible in positioning and completing team objectives. Very vulnerable and usually stays out of frontal combat.

Medium: Harasser, Flanker. Mobile 'Mech with moderate firepower. Can quickly reposition itself and can quickly adapt to most combat scenarios. Very versatile.

Heavy: Striker, Sniper. A powerful cross between the mobility of a Medium and the firepower of an Assault. The primary offensive force of a team.

Assault: Brawler, Support. Massive amount of armor and heavy weaponry make Assaults the muscle of the team, but they are impaired by their sub-par mobility. Take the front line to keep the smaller 'Mechs alive.

Each 'Mech class also has a native vulnerability:
Lights hava a disadvantage to Mediums. Mediums are beaten by Heavies which are, in turn, vulnerable to Assaults. These can however by torn apart by Lights. Of course there are tactics and loadouts that will act outside the more common uses and might align them differently on the scale. Thus this caparison is not absolute, but handy to visualize the pros and cons of the various classes.

Lights and Heavies as well as Mediums and Assaults have advantages and disadvantages that set then on equal footing as polar opposites. Engagements between these are heavily influenced by skill and loadouts, even more than the list above.

But back to topic:
Given that each 'Mech class offers different playstyles, there is no absolute on which 'Mech you should start with, though in light of the pros and cons, heavies would be the best place to start as you can carry over a lot of the things you learned about positioning to Mediums and things you learned about rules of engagement and trigger discipline to Assaults. When I started playing, I bought an Assault and a Medium, which yieded roughly the same experience, though it feels more difficult to combine these two together when playing Heavy.

Among the Assaults, the Stalker is the most versatile and flexible when it comes to loadouts and allows for a lot of experimentation. The only exception is the 3H, which is clearaly designed to be a dedicated missile boat. If that is the class you want to start with, the Stalker in almost any variant (4N is still useless and 3H, again, is a dedicated missile boat) is an excellent 'Mech for that.

I personally hava a 5S designed for all range fire-support, a Misery geared towards brawling and front line support and a yet to be completed 3H missile boat. My builds are somewhat oddball, but they work quite well for me.

[Alaskan Nobody]

SethAbercromby, on 11 July 2014 - 09:00 PM, said:

Among the Assaults, the Stalker is the most versatile and flexible when it comes to loadouts and allows for a lot of experimentation.

I fully (and strongly!) agree with everything but this bit.

Due to the lack of ballistics the Stalker can no more claim the top spot for flexible loadouts than the Jenner or the Griffin.

You will either be boating energy, missiles, or a combination of the two.

Having said that, the Stalker does have the most forgiving hitboxes in the game currently (with a STD engine)
Trade off?
One of the most unmaneuverable chassis in the game. (Dire Wolf is worse, naturally)

[SethAbercromby]

YMMV on that point, but as far as my experience with the chassis has been, The lack of the ballistic point is made up for massive loadout flexibilty and near perfect hardpoint configuration. I don't really feel that on an Atlas or Highlander.

[Glenn Cain]

I have to say it is very true that the assault mech is not almighty as one may hope it is. it is huge, noticeable, a primary target usually, slow and cannot hope to dodge fire for the most part.

I started out with a lance of atlas in my stable, the most useful being the DDC due to its high alpha and ecm, but most of the other assaults i gathered had earned me little c-bills due to my inability to use the class properly. I realized too late that it was better to appear in the LOS of enemies as sparingly as possible and play like a mouse on a cat's back yard as much as possible to survive. staying alive is better than going out guns blazing, as it will earn nothing more than 300 damage in most match because you just die too fast even if there was more armour than most.

However i recently decided to try out a good light build and took the Jenner F medium laser boat, and surprisingly i was having alot of fun with the mobility and sheer accumulated damage from 6 laser, which is equivalent to a battlemaster's primary salvo. but that was all that was needed with a jenner's speed.

Most would just forgo the trouble to try and aim at me, though if there wasn't any other more threatening ally near me, or if i was just in a sheer bad position, i would still be gunned down. regardless, i was taking home upwards of 350 damage per match more often than not, and had the priviledge of putting through more damage component points, more assist points, and could afford to shift the tide of a conquest game.

then i bought an Oxide, and armed it with 3 SRM6, which was produced 36 damage per alpha. i could fire them more often as heat was no longer an issue, but of course i had to have better aiming as the damage is spread and missles are slower than lasers to reach the mark, so i had to lead my shots alittle. and then there was a limited number of ammo which meant it was really a test of skill. but it is just as fun.

after that I went back to assault, and i find that the dodging and quick thinking that applied for pilot a light mech brushed off in a good way.

maybe you should try a few different class of mech and that may benefit playing assault~

[Shatterpoint]

Don't pilot a specialty assault (full lrmboat, ppcboat, laserboat and so on) until you know assault inside out, you're asking for hatred in team chat.

You're meant to be one of the big hitters in a match, if you can't carry 4-6 kills as a standard you're a shield at best and dead weight in general.

Choose a starter assault mech with good general ability..mix of AC/laser and maybe missiles then learn it well, don't front line unless you have a plan before hand, tonnage doesn't matter..focused down you'll die as fast as a light will.
Massive dps is you're thing, MWO has no real tanks just slightly better tanks.

With PPC and SRMS you need a sweet spot within the ranges of each weapon so you're not gimping yourself from the start, I'd pick 1 or the other and use lasers to fill in the games personally, they're more forgiving. You need to learn where to be, when to be there and how to get out of there in a huge slow mech..throwing complicated range factors in is just an annoyance.

[Inveramsay]

I know this is a necroed thread but still. My advice would be that if you want an assault go for one of the less conspicuous assaults like the battlemaster. If you turn up in an atlas you will be the primary target and if you can't output the damage needed and dodge well enough in that situation you are going to die very quickly