26 replies to this topic

[Chadamir Fitzkrieg]

I pretty much exclusively play mechs 50 tons or under, stick with your assaults, you are there to aid them in taking down their foe. I've been called an Atlas escort due to the fact I follow an atlas DDC every chance I get. He gives me ECM, I blast any lights silly enough to come near or slice off components on bigger targets.

[ManDaisy]

AS a medium pilot you should be fairly independent to make your own decisions. (SOMETIMES) this may include helping out heaviers mechs, but if they need or expect you to be attached by the hips then they aren't worth their salt.

The way I play medium mechs is by jumping around battle roles during a match, keeping the big picture in mind and fill in the spaces when they come up to help your team.

Mediums strength is that they aren't (usually) sticks in the mud like heavier mechs, so they can and wish and wash where ever they need be.

[Kahadras]

As a medium pilot it's aways worth remembering that you are driving something that is a pretty good all rounder. Most mediums provide a decent blend of speed, mobility, armour and firepower (although there are exceptions to this rule like the Cicada which functions as a slightly larger light mech). The rules of medium mechs, IMHO, are as such...

1. Stay mobile. You're going to be faster than most heavy or assault mechs so use that to your advantage. Don't get stuck into fights you can't win. Walk (run) away and try to find another angle to attack from where your opponant will struggle to bring his firepower to bear. Use your speed to maintain the ideal range for your primary weapon systems as well.

2. Chose a primary weapon system. Most medium mechs don't have the luxuary of mounting loads of weapons so I've found it best to decide on a weapon system or two that compliments a certain range and stick to that. My brawling Griffon, for example, mounts 3 medium pulse lasers and 2 SRM 6's. On the other hand my Shadowhawk that prefers to hang back mounts 3 large pulse lasers.

3. Don't be afraid of taking a few hits. While they aren't as tough as heavy or assault mechs don't concider your medium to be made out of glass. Most can take a chunk of damage before they are in danger of losing weapon systems, being legged, being destroyed etc. With a medium mech it's knowing at what point to 'spend' your damage absorbtion in return for the best possible gain.

4. Support the rest of the team. Medium mechs are great when working with other mechs. The can add their firepower to a firefight. They can maneuver to exploit a flank. They can draw fire if needed. They can react faster than heavy or assult mechs to changes on the battlefield so are more easily able to counter anything the enemy team does.

[Shadey99]

I've always played my mediums much like slower lights. So striking and fading, flanking, and keeping mobile for where I can be the greatest use is my primary set of tactics. It is also about being aggressive, but not to aggressive... Which is often a hard to find line as you try to make maximum use of your firepower while not dying. When you find that line you get results like this:


That match was my first ever in a Centurion CN9-A, I bought half my basics afterward. I soloed a DWF, headshot a HBR, Took both legs off a Kit Fox at once, rear CT cored a Cicada, finished a Summoner who thought he was safe from fire, then helped finish the Stalker 4N and Grffin 2N that were the only ones left. Though I'd long since run out of SRMs, so I had just 2 MPLs.

[Jman5]

High damage is as much about good aggression as it is about self preservation. You can have a mech with insane dps, but your required facetime means you wind up getting slaughtered. My advice is to take asymmetric pokey builds with emphasis on the alphastrike and not on the DPS or brawl.

The simple facts are that there are too many players with crippling damage output and too many players who will gladly suicide themselves to hurt you. Sure you win the DPS race in this fight, but by the time you roll around to the next enemy you're needlessly falling apart at the seams.

Never lose sight of the fact that there are enemies to deal with after the one in front of you. Conserve your very flimsy armor as best you can. Watch for enemy SRM and daka builds because they are very often piloted by suiciders.

However, you can't be passive. Your team is wasting away in front of you and it's a race against the clock to put down the enemy faster then they can put you down.

It's a fine line to walk and takes a lot of practice in the specific mech of your choice. You have to combine both insane aggression and carefully conserving your mech's hitpoints to get lots of damage.

Edited by Jman5, 25 May 2015 - 01:53 PM.

[Pezzer]

Cookiemonter669, on 23 May 2015 - 02:06 PM, said:

- do not stop moving
- do not engage in hillhumping contests

Let your arms and ST take hits between your alphas, do lots of torso twisting (take advantage of the fast torso twist that mediums have), pretend you're playing a typical FPS while keeping the torso/leg game mechanics in mind, watch your heat.

Whenever I'm in a Hunchback I typically play the game like It's a Insurgency or something, going from cover to cover and focusing on prime targets. Lots of strafing around Assaults. But it depends on your mech and build.

With Griffins I would suggest that you build SRM boats on most of the variants and use friendly Assault pushes as a distraction while lobbing alphas on primary targets/stripping armor for that Warhawk to finish off etc.
On the energy boat variant I go with 2 LPL 3 ML or something like that, if you dont mind the heat and are very good at torso twisting it's very effective.

Edited by Pezzer, 25 May 2015 - 01:51 PM.

[Johny Rocket]

Im a medium pilot, with the exception of a few Stalker variants, all my favorite mechs are fast IS mediums.

Learn when to disengage, that is the number 1 rule to playing mediums. When the Dakkawhale turns around to see who is shooting him, run, run like hell, and then approach him from a different angle. Use your speed as your primary weapon.

Thats about the best advice I can give on mediums in general because they're probably the most diverse weight class and no one answer covers all of them.

Griffins are insane jumpers, if you are not on the high ground you should be.
I despise srms on mediums, same with ballistics, imho both are just better suited to larger mechs, srms as a backup weapon and ballistics are to heavy.
I see no logic fielding a primary weapon that requires me to get that close to the enemy
On your 1N swap the LL for ERLL and the srms for lrm5s then play fast and aggressively from the flank or directly behind your fatties. This allows you to fight at every range possible.
No clue about the 3m I have the 1N, 2N and Sparky.

Edit, I don't follow most of the advice listed, I have a way I play and it translates across many games, don't want to repost this so Ill just link to http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__4377688
In this case its lrms and a big laser but its the same regardless of what Im using. Take an agile, fast machine that's just big enough to pack a punch and use the result to dominate the space. IS Mediums are not support mechs they are murder machines.

Edited by Tractor Joe, 27 May 2015 - 05:02 PM.