18 replies to this topic

[Psyrex]

Hi all.

I've once again come to you all for some advice regarding buying a new Assault Mech.

First of all let me just explain a few things so you can understand where i'm comming from.

I started this game and took a liking to my Raven 3L...
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...9aa5e62f8b74eb5
I loved moving fast and sniping at people.

I moved up to the Cicada 3M as it looked like a bigger version of the Raven 3L...
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...2de7ba7fde839ab

I then wanted something with a bit more firepower as i felt i was just picking away at people and not really doing any significant damage, So I bought a Stalker 5S and kitted it out as such...
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...80f04b7db43d3b5

This didn't really work for me, probably due to pilot error but I just kept dying all the time and never getting any good fights. I felt it was too slow and I spent most of the time being blown apart and never doing any damage once again.

So I'm now using the Stormcrow Prime, which i'm loving...(stock loadout)
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...5b302fa3897320c


So now I'm looking at Assaults again to get something that really does hurt.
I keep looking at the Direwolf - B and changing the arms to Primes, but then I also look at all the others and wonder if I'd be better with something that doesn't run so hot, Or maybe the Atlas with it's ECM.
I'm really not sure.

All i know is that I would like something that I wont get instantly blown apart, something i can do lots of damage, and a Mech/setup that wont cook itself every time i fire.

Ghost Heat and Overheating the Mech is something I often worry about, I'm trying to manage my shots but sometimes in the heat of battle I want to fire everything.

Well I've bored you all enough, Are you able to help?

Thanks all.
Psy

[Redshift2k5]

Do you plan on joining a unit and joining Community Warfare mode? You'll be limited to only one faction (IS or Clan) for CW so which Assault mech you'd rather use for CW might be a deciding factor. If you just plan to continue playing regular queue then it won't be relevant.

The Dire Wolf can be unforgiving, it's easy to get left behind by your team and as a noob to Assault mechs you may find yourself rarely in the proper position to use your mech's firepower but often in a position to get dismantled by a light mech that flanked your main force. That said, if you'rein the right place a DW can lay down a terrifying cone of fire. (I like 4 UAC5s and 6 ERMLs, you can fire the UAC5s all day but be careful of the 6 ERMLs)

DDC is always a solid choice, and less likely to get left behind since you can mod the engine to get a little more speed out of it and allies will want to huddle in your ECM field.

Alternatively one could wait a few months for the new 100-ton mech coming in Dec/Jan, the fabled King Crab.

They'll all be slower than the Stalker though.

Edited by Redshift2k5, 28 September 2014 - 01:13 AM.

[Psyrex]

Hi Red,
For now i'll just stay in the regular queue, I don't actually know anything about the CW apart from what you've just told me. (still a lot to learn it seems).

I'll have to take a look at the new Mech's that are coming out.

I'm still debating if i should get the DW-B but there are so many other mech's out there that i know nothing about so i'm just not sure. Maybe i should be looking at the Heavy Mech?

[That Dawg]

Redshift2k5, on 28 September 2014 - 01:11 AM, said:

DDC is always a solid choice,

Innit tho?

With all the new scary clan assaults (I kill them all the time) The DDC is STILL a serious work horse in trained hands.
My only advice is dont try and build a long, medium, short range combo do all mech, it will do none of those well.
It always, always comes down to a brawl. ECM, and allies will hug you, shotguns dont run hot, SRM's do, but chain fire, back up with a couple of mediums and its a solid performer, especially now with module "upgrades", arty and UAV, its a good solid performer.

[Arn0ldSchwarzenegger]

Ok, Raven 3L and Cicada suggest you like to hide at the back and dont offer a lot to the team. Dont argue with me, its a fact thats all those mechs do in pug drops.

What i suggest you do is stop fitting large/ER lasers and encourage yourself to get close... No lrms, no ER lasers. no gauss, no pcc, get close with SRM's and Medium lasers, you want a punch, I suggest you get an Atlas DDC, AC20, 3 x SRM6(A) 2 x ML and learn to brawl and support the team, the idea of an assault is to, funnily enough, assault,


Sitting at the back sniping with ERLL is pretty pointless in a pug match and just means the rest of the team have to soak damage whilst you tickle the enemy mechs and spready damage over every single component. So get brawling! a DWF is going to continue to encourage you to hide at the back. Your stalker has SRMs and ERLL, thats just pointless and if i saw you on the battlefield I would know your easy prey. If your using SRM's you dont want long range weapon with them, pick a role.

If you need more advice on it, your more than welcome to PM me.


Summary of this post:

Pick a mech out of your comfy hiding zone and get close up and brawl, try it with say a griffin, you might like the speed to get in a punch and move away again, hit and runs might suit you and be easier for you to learn than going full on brawl in an atlas

I can tell you now, an Ember doing 500 dmg is 4x more effective than a Raven 3L doing 2k dmg.

I can quite happily spread the damage from a assault mech hiding 1k away all over my mech keeping me nice and fresh, I cannot spread the damage so easily when a pack of SRM6's at 100m hits me, because whatever it hits, is going to be cored.. QUICK



EDIT:

Learn your thresholds, go on training grounds and find out where you can fire what weapons at what heat before overheating, that way you can fire your last salvo without overheating and know that your going to get into cover to cool off or use coolshot. ALWAYS ALWAYS know your heat threshold E.G. Mines 70% firing 4 ML in my Ember on the hottest maps

Edited by Arn0ldSchwarzenegger, 29 September 2014 - 04:38 AM.

[Psyrex]

Arn0ldSchwarzenegger, on 29 September 2014 - 04:28 AM, said:

Ok, Raven 3L and Cicada suggest you like to hide at the back and dont offer a lot to the team. Dont argue with me, its a fact thats all those mechs do in pug drops.

Hey Arn0ld,

You're right at first i did like keeping my distance and taking the pot shots at people, i started to notice that my damage was just being spread all over the place so wasn't doing much good. This made me think of PPC's but i never had much luck with those so I figured a bigger mech would help get me closer as i could take more damage.

The Stormcrow, Although having ER lasers all over it has helped me get closer to the fight and help take some of the damage while doing more damage. I've had a lot more kills since I bought the Stormcrow then i had with any of my other mechs.

I found that i couldn't get too close to the fight otherwise i'd just get blown to bits. Being a Medium mech that's not surprising.

But all in all you're right. I need to kit out for close range and do the damage.

It's funny you should mention the Ember as i've been considering getting that or a Jenner so I speed around while still hitting pretty hard (for a light).

I'll admit i'm a little hesitant to go full close range as I often see people with ERLL and i feel i'll end up getting picked off by those and not be able to return fire due to not having anything long range, but i guess that's just the trade off and i'll have to position myself correctly.

Thanks for the help.

[Arn0ldSchwarzenegger]

Psyrex, on 29 September 2014 - 05:02 AM, said:

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I'll admit i'm a little hesitant to go full close range as I often see people with ERLL and i feel i'll end up getting picked off by those and not be able to return fire due to not having anything long range, but i guess that's just the trade off and i'll have to position myself correctly.

Thanks for the help.

Thats Why going with a good mech like a griffin is not too expensive and theres plenty of people who will be willing to teach you brawling basics like torso twisting etc

[Psyrex]

Arn0ldSchwarzenegger, on 29 September 2014 - 08:34 AM, said:

Thats Why going with a good mech like a griffin is not too expensive and theres plenty of people who will be willing to teach you brawling basics like torso twisting etc

So i'm thinking Sparky or the 3M?

[n r g]

Psyrex, on 28 September 2014 - 12:54 AM, said:

Hi all.

I've once again come to you all for some advice regarding buying a new Assault Mech.

First of all let me just explain a few things so you can understand where i'm comming from.

I started this game and took a liking to my Raven 3L...
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...9aa5e62f8b74eb5
I loved moving fast and sniping at people.

I moved up to the Cicada 3M as it looked like a bigger version of the Raven 3L...
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...2de7ba7fde839ab

I then wanted something with a bit more firepower as i felt i was just picking away at people and not really doing any significant damage, So I bought a Stalker 5S and kitted it out as such...
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...80f04b7db43d3b5

This didn't really work for me, probably due to pilot error but I just kept dying all the time and never getting any good fights. I felt it was too slow and I spent most of the time being blown apart and never doing any damage once again.

So I'm now using the Stormcrow Prime, which i'm loving...(stock loadout)
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...5b302fa3897320c


So now I'm looking at Assaults again to get something that really does hurt.
I keep looking at the Direwolf - B and changing the arms to Primes, but then I also look at all the others and wonder if I'd be better with something that doesn't run so hot, Or maybe the Atlas with it's ECM.
I'm really not sure.

All i know is that I would like something that I wont get instantly blown apart, something i can do lots of damage, and a Mech/setup that wont cook itself every time i fire.

Ghost Heat and Overheating the Mech is something I often worry about, I'm trying to manage my shots but sometimes in the heat of battle I want to fire everything.

Well I've bored you all enough, Are you able to help?

Thanks all.
Psy

Who are you and what are you credentials to give advice? (past experience competitively in other games, play for a top team in this game, very skilled player/high stats in MWO, gaming for multiple years? etc...)

[Psyrex]

E N E R G Y, on 29 September 2014 - 10:17 AM, said:

Who are you and what are you credentials to give advice?

I'm not giving advice, I'm asking for it.

[Eaerie]

try a stormcrow with a guass rifle and 5ermls, its a fun mech to run

[Elizander]

The Banshee is a good option,. You can get mobility by risking the 400XL. The Battlemaster can be a mobile platform for this as well. I run around with my Awesome 9M sometimes with 4 ER Large Lasers due to the quirks it has with energy weapons.
Direwolf will be slow no matter what happens. When you pilot one, you pick a spot beforehand where you will fight because you can't play the tag-along game with your group due to your speed.

I suggest you look at some wubshee videos on Youtube to see if you like the playstyle.

E N E R G Y, on 29 September 2014 - 10:17 AM, said:

Who are you and what are you credentials to give advice? (past experience competitively in other games, play for a top team in this game, very skilled player/high stats in MWO, gaming for multiple years? etc...)

He is asking for advice and he was just explaining what mechs he piloted before so that people can help him pick an assault mech that he can pilot. Please read the original post more carefully.

[terrycloth]

If you want to hang back and snipe, a good stalker build is four large lasers (or ER large lasers) and the rest heat sinks.

I also put on LRM5s for extra long-range fire support, but the version used by experts is just the large lasers and ALL THE HEAT SINKS.

Anyway, 4* LL is enough to 'brawl' with as much as you really want to brawl. You do need to learn to fire them in two groups of two, usually 'left arm'/'right arm' groups for better corner-peeking.

I also like the catapult K2 with 2* ERLL, 2* UAC5. It's not a sniper, but it is mid-range fire support. If enemies ignore it (and the UAC jamming gods are kind) it can seriously mess people up, since the UAC5s don't generate much heat.

[That Dawg]

Arn0ldSchwarzenegger, on 29 September 2014 - 04:28 AM, said:

Ok, Raven 3L and Cicada suggest you like to hide at the back and dont offer a lot to the team. Dont argue with me, its a fact thats all those mechs do in pug drops.

Sorry, I quit reading the rest of your......what, "post"

both of those mechs are game changers.

I've been on teams where we have a nice tight group, a raven shows up snipes our backside, then 4 of our group go off chasing it never to be seen again.

I've seen 2-3 ravens and cicadas in pugs magically join up and focus fire on rear echelon LRM boats, tilting the game.
I've seen a couple ravens/cicada's effectively keep pesky lights OFF our rear echelon lurm boats.
your comment about dont argue with me thats all they do is indicative of those ArmChairGeneral(dead) that tell us how much we suck.

OP. Banshee with big engine is a hoot.

[That Dawg]

I think I'm an "average" player in the 3M



OP, if you're getting an assault to "have an assault", excellent. If you're getting an assault to do more damage, get more kills, be more "valuable" to your team.....then an assault isn't always a mandatory win

E N E R G Y, on 29 September 2014 - 10:17 AM, said:

Who are you and what are you credentials to give advice? (past experience competitively in other games, play for a top team in this game, very skilled player/high stats in MWO, gaming for multiple years? etc...)

[Psyrex]

That Dawg, on 04 October 2014 - 04:08 AM, said:

OP, if you're getting an assault to "have an assault", excellent. If you're getting an assault to do more damage, get more kills, be more "valuable" to your team...

This is exactly what I'm looking for.
I want to be able too move around with a bit of speed but have a good amount of firepower when I come face to face with someone.
I've thought about having a really high alpha but I don't want to spend most of the game standing around waiting to cool off.
Ive been thinking of a mid range brawler (if therevis such a thing).

I think im asking for too much as I want firepower, speed and not squishy, all while not overheating.

[MisterPlanetarian]

E N E R G Y, on 29 September 2014 - 10:17 AM, said:

Who are you and what are you credentials to give advice? (past experience competitively in other games, play for a top team in this game, very skilled player/high stats in MWO, gaming for multiple years? etc...)

What did we say about this ****?


And read the OP.

[Dauntless Blint]

Hey mate (OP) not assault but I find my Heavy Jagger DD is easy mode with 2x lbx10's,2x ML's,4x Machineguns.It's a glass hammer that often gets me between 400-900 damage,it's hard to overheat because of the shotties and MG's and the ML's give you a touch of precision to remove weakened modules.It can hit and run or has high Alpha and DPS in a close ambush.My other suggestion would be a K2 Catapult with UAC 5's the fastest engine you can fit after ammo and a laser arrangement.
Both these mech require less skill in my opinion and that's why they are a couple of my favourites.

Consider these Mech's foot hold's to the game they will teach you how to protect your cockpit in the least...

[Dauntless Blint]

I don't pay much attention but I think it's more damage,more credit's...am I right?