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What totes more weight in armor than many ‘mechs do in weapons? The Atlas - very aptly named - carries the team in more ways than one. This big guy is a respectable offensive piece, but it’s unique in its abilities in team defense. A good Atlas pilot will make the difference between a glorious stomp and a broken charge, and look hella good while doing it.
Nothing going up here should be a huge surprise for experienced Atlas pilots. Having mastered the chassis, I’m putting all my findings together in one place for the discovery and aid of new pilots.
This thread is also intended as a place for more experienced players to compare notes. I am creating similar reports (slowly) for the other chassis I have mastered, utilizing the same format.
I'd appreciate your feedback, and hope to start a discussion in the comments. "Like"s are appreciated, as always.
This is the smallest picture into which I could possibly fit an Atlas.
It's not a quirk; it's a feature.
Here follows an analysis of the Atlas's perks and downfalls in MWO.
General Overview:
A great strength and drawback of the Atlas is its savage, unrelenting, skull-headed scariness. You lead the charge, trampling the living *scrap* out of everything in your path, and you aren’t doing your job if you aren’t getting shot more than anybody else. Because of this, for better or worse, the Atlas kinda works like a discarding sabot for the team. Scariness is not a defense.
But 19 tons of armor is. You know what makes short work of an Atlas, short of a full enemy lance? Nothing ever ever ever.
In terms of weapons, the Atlas has relatively few hardpoints in comparison to other assault ‘mechs. The arms carry energy weapons, the left torso missiles, and the right torso ballistics. A couple variants have extra energy slots in the center torso, reducing the degree to which they can be neutered. Almost every good loadout squeezes the maximum of firepower out of these few hardpoints by mounting big guns, with the AC/20 being a favorite for close-in carnage.
There are five variants with the following hardpoints:
D: 4e, 2b, 2m
D-DC: 2e, 2b, 3m, ECM
K: 4e, 1b, 1m, 2AMS
RS: 4e, 1b, 2m
Boar’s Head: 6e, 1b, 1m
-where "e" denotes energy hardpoints, "m" missiles, "b" ballistic, and "AMS" cotton balls. Unless otherwise specified, all chassis have 1 AMS hardpoint in the left arm. Note that the Boar’s Head is a hero 'mech.
NOW FOLLOW THE RATINGS.
I've assessed the Atlas on five axes, each on a scale from 0 (sucks, crippling overall performance) to 5 (buy the 'mech for this alone). All these ratings are meant to reflect the degree to which that aspect of the 'mech helps or hurts its performance. If some aspect either is sub-par in relation to other 'mechs, or is damaging to the ‘mech’s performance, it will receive low marks. No composite score is given, due to the simple fact that it is futile to weigh any 'mech chassis against any other on an immutable rating scale.
Speed:
This scale measures the 'mech in terms of its stock speed and its average speed on level ground.
|▓|░|░|░|░| 1/5
The ‘mech has low speed, giving it its loving nickname “Fatlas”. Impatience makes it hard for many new and even old pilots to get the hang of the ‘mech. The better you and your team are, the less this slow speed bothers you. However, going slow means that it’s harder to initiate a brawl if you have to leave cover to do it.
With its stock STD 300 engine, the Atlas strolls along at a leisurely 48 KPH, about as slow as any stock ‘mech and much slower than anybody smaller would ever want to be. This isn’t a huge issue for a good pilot in a smart team: You can’t hide behind an Atlas that you’ve passed up. Since you dictate the team’s total speed, it’s often good to equip a larger engine - 340 is nice - to get you up to a modest 60 KPH with Tweak. The biggest problem with the Atlas’s speed is its vulnerability while crossing from cover to cover, which is compounded by pilot impatience. If you get antsy and cut corners on an open map, the enemy’s ranged units will tear you open while you meander desperately toward the next piece of cover.
Going fast is hard. The K and BH variants come with XL engines; if you’ve got half a brain, you’ll know that an XL will lose you the greatest part of your durability. Popping a big standard engine forces you to decrease your weapon load-out considerably. Pick your poison, but remember that in an Atlas, being slow don’t mean you’re stupid.
Maneuverability:
This scale considers the 'mech's ability to move across and target in terrain.
|▓|░|░|░|░| 1/5
The Atlas has is hard to get up hills, compounding its slowness. The arms are flexible and have a very wide arc of fire, but most builds don’t put much of their weaponry there. Worst thing about the Atlas is that all its weapons are low-slung, so cresting hills is painful.
If you get hung up on terrain and have to double back, you’re gonna waste ten or twelve seconds turning around or re-pathing. You cannot afford to waste that time when leading a push, so you have to pick your path VERY carefully. That’s the biggest challenge for the Atlas pilot, and once you’ve played for a long time you basically find there are only a handful of good paths between two points on each map.
On the other hand, the Atlas’s torso can twist 100 degrees to either side with efficiencies, giving it a great ability to control the side of its torso that the enemy can see. This allows it to strafe well and to spread damage very confidently.
Firepower:
This scale weighs the 'mech in terms of its damage potential during an average drop.
|▓|▓|▓|▓|░| 4/5
The 'mech has few hardpoints, but lots of tonnage to fill them with.
Free Weight (found by stripping all weapons, ammo, and extra heat sinks off the stock design):
XL 300: 55.5(+5) tons (but don’t do this)
STD 300: 46(+5) tons
STD 340: 37(+5) tons
STD 360(max): 31(+5) tons
-where the (+5) tons can be accessed by purchasing endo-steel structure.
Most pilots strip a ton of armor from each leg and another one or two from the arms, depending on the arms’ importance to the build. Endo-steel becomes a problem on this chassis more than on most others- with so much free tonnage available, crit slots are at a premium.
This is a lot of free weight, though. Favorite brawling builds combine AC/20 with SRMs for short range alpha carnage. The D and D-DC are well-suited to carrying dual LB 10-X ACs, giving a huge amount of firepower. Two or four or six medium lasers are a great secondary in a brawl.
Some people load up with LRMs and try to boat from range. This is not good for the team. Your Atlas is a lot of armor and tonnage to leave wandering around the backfield. You are needed at the front, soldier. Get up there.
The biggest thing to consider with the Atlas’s loadout is mixing long and short range. On a bad map, you may never get within AC/20 range due to your slowness. Bringing some LLAS is a good idea for all-range combat. A few LRMs are acceptable if you intend to use them mainly as a backup weapon.
Design:
This scale centers on the 'mech's shape and hardpoint layout.
|▓|▓|▓|░|░| 3/5
The Atlas has a wide torso and low-set guns, making it cumbersome. The CT is slim, though, so you can easily spread damage.
From the side, it’s nearly impossible to hit the CT, and the arm covers over half the side torso- a great shield.
The Atlas suffers badly from the old low-set weapons issue. If you’re peaking over a hill, the enemy can always shoot first. Try not to attack uphill when possible.
Survivability:
This scale measures the 'mech's relative ability to hold together under fire.
|▓|▓|▓|▓|▓| 5/5
19 tons of armor. That’s the whole weight of a Light ‘mech. A fifth of the Atlas’s great weight is dedicated to keeping it alive, and it works. Torso-twisting makes this brute a total damage tank.
A good pilot will often lose both his torsos before he goes down. With about 70 points of armor on each front side torso and over a hundred in the center, that’s as much as 240 damage required to bring this monster down. The short, burly arms are shields for the torsos, adding 68 more points of armor on each side to which to spread incoming damage. The legs have some sixty points of armor on an average build, and can have as much as 84. With a remarkably rapid and flexible torso twist, the Atlas is built to spread and absorb more damage than it puts out, and that’s exactly what is needed on the front line of a team charge.
This image comes from [GUIDE] HIT BOX LOCALISATION by Rainbow Unikorn.
---> http://mwomercs.com/...x-localisation/
Over all, the Atlas is exactly what it says on the tin. A lumbering god of unstoppable face-sc****. It can carry a whole team of pugs. Once you really get in tune with your Atlas, you can have more of an effect than any other member of the team on whether you will win the match, and it’s as simple as that. Fight back your impatience.
A big thing about the Atlas is that it doesn’t have the capacity to bring really high DPS to the table, and it often dies before it can break the 500 damage mark. This is a huge reason for its relative rareness. There’s not as much glory for the Atlas as for the Jagermech or Cataphract standing behind it, dishing out tons of damage and snapping up kills. Remember, just because you go down and fail to deal much damage never means that you’ve failed to do your job. You are a protector and a leader. You are a discarding sabot for your team’s push; by the time they bring you down, your whole team is upon theirs like a pack of wolves, tearing throats and guzzling blood. If you find and hit an enemy’s flank, your team can cripple or kill three or four enemies before you fall, turning the tide of battle and securing a victory. Leave it to them to roll up the enemy’s line and smash them before they know what’s happening. You didn’t deal 600 damage nor get even one kill, but you’ve won in a way that only your sacrifice could have enabled.
Tried and true, the Atlas charge is an art. There’s a zen to predicting where the enemy’s flank lies and slowly making your way there, even as other targets present themselves. Even when no team charge seems to be possible, there’s much benefit to putting yourself forever on the front line. Where an Atlas goes, others may safely follow. Lead your pugs to victory. I personally have a 2-to-1 win-loss in my DDC, even though I’m not that experienced a player overall.
Other notes on the chassis:
XL Engine Viability: No. Just no. You lose so much survivability when you can’t sacrifice your side torsos that you’re nothing but a Battlemaster with fewer guns.
Role/ Battle Location: Front line brawler. Do it right and you will see your win-loss ratio shoot through the roof. With an average Atlas brawler build, you can out-fight literally anything at close range. And then you can go outfight his friend as well. When you get in somebody’s face, you both know the other guy’s about to bite it.
Skill level: Pretty high. Making little mistakes will screw you over, and making a big mistake will scrap your team as well. Don’t trip over rocks, don’t snipe, don’t lag behind, don’t run off alone. Don’t charge at a firing line from any great distance, don’t walk away from the pugs, and don’t overheat ever. Your role is possibly the most crucial in the battle. The Atlas is the foundation of the team; it is the team’s heart and head. Lead and die well, and you’ll see your team to victory. Some other Assaults can have an almost comparable effect on the course of battle, but not as dependably.
Guides to specific variants:
AS7-D
Four MLAS and a bunch of guns make for a totally brutal brawler. The D probably boasts the best firepower options of all the Atlas variants. Overheating is a problem for this guy if you’re not careful, but you should be able to dish out major pain all the same.
My AS7-D is a good example of mixed ranges: 2x LB10X, 4x MLAS, 2x LRM10+Artemis, STD 300. It’s got lurms for supporting the team at range, but the LB10s and MLAS make it an absolute terror in a brawl.
AS7-D-DC
The DDC is the biggest ‘mech in the game which can mount ECM, and the fact that the team almost always stays close can multiply its advantages. This is hands-down the best variant for most applications. Your defensive capabilities are unmatched. You have two ballistic and three missile hardpoints; use the Law of Diminishing Returns * to your advantage since ranges are going to be short for you.
In competitive matches with a full premade team, the faster you can move to follow orders, the sharper and more decisive your victory can be. Let your pop-snipers and DPSers and missile boats deal the damage. You have more armor than literally anybody else, and being in the right place at the right time is your primary role. You are a specialist as much as everybody else in your hand-picked twelve-man, so trading guns for speed is definitely good.
My DDC goes for the middle of the road on the firepower-speed continuum, with 2x LB10X, 2x LLAS, STD 340. Much firepower here at any range under 540m. Moving at 60 KPH, it’s as fast as or faster than most other Assault ‘mechs, increasing the team’s total maneuvering speed. The sacrifice of firepower is minimized and totally worth it here.
AS7-K
The red-headed stepchild Atlas. It’s got the hardpoints of the Atlas D, but trades both a missile and a ballistic hardpoint for an additional AMS. Certain players may find this acceptable, but it’s generally just a bad idea. A build with a big engine, double AMS, an AC/20, and a bunch of Medium and/or Large lasers seems like a good idea, but you could still be taking a D.
AS7-RS
The RS boasts twin lasers on each arm. This makes it a pretty good laser boat; I load mine with a max-size engine and four Large or Large Pulse lasers. You might even add some SRMs. The arms of the Atlas are tiny, so losing them is rare unless your opponents are especially clever. This variant lets you take most advantage of the arms’ flexibility.
The Boar’s Head
This variant totes two more lasers than the RS with the same benefits. There are many possibilities, but this is the most expensive Hero in the game. Take your whole family out to dinner for the same price.
Six LLAS seems nice but suicidal. Six mediums and an AC/20 might be best. I don’t know.
Main tip: Sell your life dearly. Keep your team safe, and trust them to watch your back and follow your lead until the time is right.
---> _http://mwomercs.com/...fracking-atlas/
*Law of Diminishing Returns: The DPS-per-ton ratio of a weapon system decreases as the tonnage increases.
Corollary: Opting for a larger number of smaller weapons will increase DPS without necessarily increasing tonnage.
Example: One SRM6 deals 12 damage every 4 seconds and weighs 3 tons. Three SRM2s deal 12 damage every 2 seconds and have a combined weight of 3 tons. You can vastly increase your DPS by splitting the SRM6 into smaller systems, provided you have unused hardpoints. Other factors apply which I will not investigate here.
I’ll do an article on this eventually.
