81 replies to this topic

[Vashramire]

Intimidated? Never. A good pilot will make it to be a force to be reckoned with but a poor pilot will use it's armor as a buffed for their poor ability. I have met some people who run them a lot over the years, especially during tournaments with weight classes and you see them at the top and it's not because it's a FOTM mech. Each variant can feel and play different and it's sad that most people instantly reach for their Dire-Whales before this graceful beast. Normally it's range is sub 300m for max damage on most builds but with a good team they can put you there and keep you alive to bring the firepower to bear with with devastating effect.

[Buzzkillin]

Piloting mostly mediums anytime I turn the corner and fresh Atlas is standing right in front of me, I know I am in deep trouble.

[luxebo]

Lordred, on 23 February 2015 - 06:37 PM, said:

When you first square off with an Atlas, does it still intimidate you initially, or is it the product of a bygone era?

Every time I see an XL Lurm Atlas I die a little bit inside. Even back in MW4/3/2 I didn't use Lurm Atlases, why now?

But if it's one that takes down 1-2 mechs with no issues and I know it's out there, I know to watch out for it. They are evil. Once they close the 270 m range if I am not in a better conditioned heavy or a decent conditioned assault I know I'm done for (well lights can scatter away I guess but most Atlas pilots know to stick with a team which probably have streaks or similar).

The thing to watch is loadout + which variant is what matters. AS7-DDC, BH, and S are variants to watch out for. BH less so along with D and RS (though D and BH/RS likely have different weaponry if the pilot knows the quirks, otherwise once again watch for the close up in range, you don't want em to get near you). The variant you don't really have to look out for is the K, but it's still an Atlas.

The reason why an Atlas is still so strong is the tankiness. Seeing signs of the pilot simply staring straight into your soul means that you might have an easy kill, while an Atlas that is twisting and turning will be hard to kill. An Atlas can twist more so than a Stalker or Banshee and esp the Dwf/Kgc, so it definitely has merit and is still to be feared.

[DivineEvil]

Not so much. In good old days when Atlai were the only 100ton mechs in a field, they were extremely intimidating, basically kings of the fight, not only damage sponges, but slashers as well. When Dire Wolf appeared, it taken Atlas space - more range, more focused damage, worse at tanking. It became necessary to seek and destroy all enemy DWFs as soon as possible, and Atlai were seen as the most trustworthy tools to eliminate them given the proper escort and diversion is provided on the way.

Now with King Crabs, Atlai is nothing but a damage buffer and an ECM assault. KGCs has pretty much everything better - they turn faster and wider, has heavy-outfitted arms with high pitch angle and lower stature, can handle XL efficiently and has potential weapon batch unrivaled by other IS mechs. Having some additional structure just doesn't cut it for Atlai to closely resemble what they've used to be - they need additional armor all around to make them viable line-breakers. I still haven't mastered loyalty-reward AS7-S just because piloting it feels like hulking a lead coffin on my back to the place of burial, with the only benefit of being able to choose that place. It's a magnet for Lights, LRMs and Artillery Strikes, and playing that role is quite depressing.

Edited by DivineEvil, 23 February 2015 - 10:00 PM.

[EvilCow]

Just free kills it at distance, if it is too close then you may take some damage but it does not have the potential to cripple you seriously like a DW or a Crab can, get at proper distance and then kill it.

[WazOfOz]

In the land of the Atlas, king crabs & direwhales rule. happy hunting mechwarriors

Edited by WazOfOz, 24 February 2015 - 08:33 PM.

[Davers]

Khobai, on 23 February 2015 - 08:10 PM, said:

I think everyone is intimidated by a 100 ton mech at least to some degree. But in the case of the Atlas youre mostly relieved its not a Daishi or King Crab instead.

The reality is the Atlas is never going to be the equal of the other 100 tonners in firepower. So instead PGI should significantly buff the Atlas' center and side torso armor to make it a better tank. What it lacks in firepower and hardpoint locations it should make up for in being completely obnoxious to kill.

I seriously dont understand why PGI gave the Atlas more arm structure; that was the LAST thing it needed since its arms are already extremely beefy. What it needed was more center and side torso structure. Instead of +9 to each arm and +11 to each side torso it shouldve gotten +12 to each side torso and +16 to its center torso.

You use torso twists to use the arms as shields- they act as much better armor than just a side torso boost (which they did get as well). A good Atlas pilot NEVER looks at an opponent- they are like a boxer who alphas, then covers until his weapons are back up. An Atlas pilot using LRMs is doing it wrong. An Atlas pilot using AC/5s is doing it wrong. Any build that requires a lot of face time is doing it wrong.

[Impyrium]

Unless you're piloting a fun build which isn't going to super efficiently cut down anything in front of it, no, an Atlas doesn't really invoke a whole lot of fear when you're fighting it. Especially now that it's a pretty straight forward process to disarm them. Kill that right torso, then eat away at their CT.

But there's always that "Oh ****" moment when you walk around a corner and one is staring at you. But it's not exactly unique, either. A Daishi is just as if not more frightening, especially when it's pointing directly at you.

[Fate 6]

D-DC is still useful because of ECM, but the mech itself is not scary. It has a role right now, and that is beefy protector. You should be leading pushes because you can roll damage the best, and you should be the frontline keeping the enemy from encroaching on your more fragile mechs.

Basically, the Atlas's entire loadout is not scary compared to some of the other assaults, but you have to respect it because it's enough to tear you up if ignored. It's hard to kill an Atlas, so you can't ignore it and have to put the effort into killing it. My groups prioritize Atlas's last of the 100 ton chassis, but we do focus them hard when we get the chance because we don't want it getting to us.

[Dauntless Blint]

Short answer NO,because its only good at point blank in my opinion,and I look down on people who boat IS LRMs on Assault platforms because you can render a 100 ton LRM boat mech impotent with cover and ECM when people get organised and take a "front man" out of your teams lineup.But then again even the typically shorter range of the Atlas can't stand against the Dire wolf's short range 100 damage alpha builds so meh.

[Sarlic]

I got a good story.

Yesterday i was fighting on HPG Manifold, shooting here and there till i took out a heavy mech with my Atlas then two lights rushed towards to me and began to bug me. One light got taken out fairly soon by a teammate as i have damaged him enough, and the other light one backrubbed me untill i turned around and we stood there for few a seconds face to face. He didnt even move. Not a inch.

I unloaded a AC10 bullet in his face and he was a goner.

Was he scared? Or not scared? He was shooting afterall. Who knows!

Anyway on-topic. I want the Red eyes back of the Atlas, i really liked that one. The Atlas can still be very viable in the right hands. But as many pilots have pointed out, other Assaults are far more interesting in regards of loadout, firepower and more.

Edited by Sarlic, 24 February 2015 - 12:22 AM.

[xengk]

I respect that AC20 purse under its armpit, tend to fear it less if it was missing.

[Joseph Mallan]

Lordred, on 23 February 2015 - 06:37 PM, said:

When you first square off with an Atlas, does it still intimidate you initially, or is it the product of a bygone era?


Discuss.

Being an Atlas Pilot. I like to face off against any boogieman Mech... Including other Atlases.

[Tahribator]

Only dangerous in point-blank brawling ranges and most people are not good at bringing it undamaged to a brawl (they mostly die on the way). It's the ultimate push 'Mech into a defending enemy though, the amount of damage it'll soak and give your friends chance to shoot is amazing. Otherwise it's just a damage sponge to pad the stats of the other team.

Some geniuses think they make good LRM platforms. An LRM boat Atlas on the other hand puts a grin on my face because I know they're essentially one assault short.

Edited by Tahribator, 24 February 2015 - 02:54 AM.

[Wintersdark]

Fate 6, on 23 February 2015 - 11:57 PM, said:

D-DC is still useful because of ECM, but the mech itself is not scary. It has a role right now, and that is beefy protector. You should be leading pushes because you can roll damage the best, and you should be the frontline keeping the enemy from encroaching on your more fragile mechs.

Basically, the Atlas's entire loadout is not scary compared to some of the other assaults, but you have to respect it because it's enough to tear you up if ignored. It's hard to kill an Atlas, so you can't ignore it and have to put the effort into killing it. My groups prioritize Atlas's last of the 100 ton chassis, but we do focus them hard when we get the chance because we don't want it getting to us.

This, largely.

Even non d-dc atlases aware useful and have a role, but Atlas's themselves are bot scary. A well piloted atlas can eat a shitton of damage, and carries a heavy enough loading that it can't be ignored, so it certainly has value however.

[Navid A1]

They are. up close.

Apart from being a weapon of fear. They remind me of the time before the clans... when Atlas was the ONLY chassis that i had along with millions upon millions of XPs in them.... ahh... good times. Clans forced me to try other mechs too, along side my beloved Atlases.

AS7-S brought some of its reputation back. I've yet to try the fake atlas (they call it the D-DC)... but people say it is good too.

Also, If you want to know more about atlases.... you'd better ask Sarlic.

[Blood Rose]

It depends. If one is well piloted then I respect them.
If one is poorly piloted then I laugh at them.
If I turn the corner and find myself running straight into ones face or my Jenner is legged and one is bearing straight down on me..... Well thats when it becomes the monster again

[PurpleNinja]

Yep, I got two permanent AS7 in my garage and I fear that someday I'll drop in then by mistake.

[The Dreaded Baron B Killer]

people talk about the range deal..

I have my "PUGKILLER" DDC build which is basically 2xERLLAS and 2XUAC5. Can dish out plenty of pain at a decent range and if the guy is stupid enough to charge me and engage, I finish them off with the 3XSRM6.

Yeah this build isn't the meta and I don't care for meta builds quite frankly. I've gotten 5-6 kills 1000 damage lots of times with it when I'm playing well and my team are on par.

All mechs have their ups and downs. the Atlas suffers from many, but at the same time, if it was such an amazing mech, two things would happen:

- everyone would complain how OP it is and it would just get nerfed (like the timberwolf)
- everyone would pilot them and you'd have tons of atlas's with bad pilots saying how crap it is (like what happened when the TW came out for Cbills....).

so yeah...

[Nostromodamus]

I just see a right torso that needs removing.