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Assault Suggestions?


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#1 Chados

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 12:38 PM

I'm thinking of expanding into more personal brawly things. With the heavy queue at 40% at times, I'm thinking about an assault mastery pack.

What do you all think is the best assault class and why do you think so?

#2 Tincan Nightmare

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 01:58 PM

Well I currently have no Clan assaults so I can't speak about them. As far as IS goes, King Crab and Banshee are solid choices, only downside being the tonnage investement if your thinking of playing CW. Stalkers are also a very powerful mech. Victors used to be a strong choice until they got left behind by quirks. They can still be decent in pug games, but in CW they suffer from almost always using XL and getting side torso killed. Awesome also suffers from issues, mostly its badly designed model/hit boxes. I have never piloted one, but Battlemasters seem to be fairly tough with lots of weapons options (and I certainly see quite a few of them).

So basically King Crab, Banshee, Stalker, or Battlemaster would be my suggestions.

#3 Night Thastus

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 02:19 PM

My personal favorites:

The Warhawk. Has massive amounts of free tonnage, absurdly good quirks, is under-estimated in battle by opponents and can carry some Direwolf-esque loadouts, while maintaining good manuverability.

The Banshee. Durable as all hell, with great hitboxes, sheildy arms and almost exclusively torso-mounted weaponry. Great for a pulse-laser boat.

The Executioner. Extremely mobile, with high speeds, MASC, Jump Jets and generaly good movement. It's a little short on tonnage, but when used well, it's extremely effective. Better for shorter-term engagements, strike + fade.

King Crab: Has some serious dakka potential only rivaled by the Direwolf. Generally pretty durable and very, very fun to play.

#4 Audacious Aubergine

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 02:20 PM

Depending on which heavies you're transitioning from, I would recommend whichever one has the most similar speed, otherwise the sudden drastic drop in agility might drive you nuts. I went from fully mastered Cataphracts to Blackjacks and Hunchbacks and then went to Stalkers, nearly ragequit more times than I can count
EDIT: I came back when I realised you were thinking about a mastery pack. In that case I'd throw my vote for either the Stalker or Banshee bundles. I've not had experience with the Banshee beyond the old trial so I'm not sure how it goes, but from memory it's much swifter than a Stalker so it might be a smoother transition from most heavies. Just gotta be aware that you're now piloting one of the tallest mechs in the game. Otherwise if you're feeling brave enough to take the plunge into what is frequently called the hardest mech to use, go all the way and get an Atlas bundle

Edited by FreebirthToad18999, 23 August 2015 - 03:05 PM.


#5 Chados

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 03:56 PM

I'm a Catapult pilot. Decent with the missile Catapults...a laugh a minute with the Jester and K2. When I'm not accidentally shooting my own people in the back by accident, I'm getting focused down in seconds. But I'm determined to learn how to use direct fire weapons amd get in there and brawl. I want to tank, as that's been my favorite role in every game I've played. LRMs are a blast but you can't tank without getting in and mixing it up.

Had a decent match with the Australians in HPG just now where I was doing pretty good til a Direwolf backed me into a corner and I forgot I had jump jets :P

Edited to add that I've mastered the Catapult A1C and fully elited the C1 and C4.

Edited by Chados, 23 August 2015 - 03:57 PM.


#6 bad arcade kitty

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 04:27 PM

View PostChados, on 23 August 2015 - 12:38 PM, said:

I'm thinking of expanding into more personal brawly things. With the heavy queue at 40% at times, I'm thinking about an assault mastery pack.

What do you all think is the best assault class and why do you think so?


the best class to learn brawling it's mediums

stormcrow if you don't mind clans, hunchback if you do (4g for ac-20, 4p for thousand med lasers and 4j for 2 overquirked lurm 10)

#7 Chados

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 06:39 PM

I can't do the speedy Circle of Doom required to run mediums. I don't have the twitch skills or the hardware required to keep up with it. And I tried a Hunchback 4G and loathed it. Paper thin armor and not enough AC20 ammo.

After I got killed in the match I was just in I watched this guy in an Atlas D-DC totally wrecking faces in toe to toe standup brawls. No Circle of Doom. That thing took PUNISHMENT, and finally stood nose to nose with two Dire Wolves before finally going down. Now THAT is the gameplay that interests me.

Edited by Chados, 23 August 2015 - 06:40 PM.


#8 LoboSG

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 07:18 PM

View PostChados, on 23 August 2015 - 06:39 PM, said:

I can't do the speedy Circle of Doom required to run mediums. I don't have the twitch skills or the hardware required to keep up with it. And I tried a Hunchback 4G and loathed it. Paper thin armor and not enough AC20 ammo.

After I got killed in the match I was just in I watched this guy in an Atlas D-DC totally wrecking faces in toe to toe standup brawls. No Circle of Doom. That thing took PUNISHMENT, and finally stood nose to nose with two Dire Wolves before finally going down. Now THAT is the gameplay that interests me.


Well, the medium is supposed to fight WITH the Altas. Let him tank the incoming dmg, and you help deal the outgoing dmg. i.e hide in the shadow of assaults. No need to do circle of doom... that is more the domain of lights, with speeds reaching 150 or so.

#9 Alzarns Fire

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 07:18 PM

The atlases are pretty solid close range brawling < 270 meters. You gota learn to twist and shield and spread damage, but they wreak stuff in close. An AS7- DDC or S with AC20 and SRMS is the way to go. The S is better in terms of pure firepower - AC20, 4 SRM6s, 2 ML. Watch your heat and twist between shots.

The Crabs are not as good in the brawl, but a sniper or dakka crab can tear stuff apart at range like no other IS assault.

Banshees pretty solid choice, great at tanking damage, stalkers have also been mentioned.

#10 bad arcade kitty

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 07:21 PM

assaults are very slow for a newish player to play them as brawlers imo (try the trial banshee first... it's not even a brawler so is not that dependent on positioning, can shoot far and has a decent build)

well... gargoyle or warhawk may be? they are decent as brawlers and are relatively fast

anyway i would better suggest to pick timberwolf instead (stormcrow is easier to brawl though, but yeah, it needs some moving... i sometimes forget where my legs face when i brawl :3)

Edited by bad arcade kitty, 23 August 2015 - 07:22 PM.


#11 Chados

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 07:31 PM

Good God, I do too. It's disconcerting when you're trying to do four things at once and you have your legs and your face out of sync.

I did try the trial Banshee. Liked it. Liked the trial Gargoyle better, though. Want GUNS and MISSILES. Lasers are cool, but they don't go BAM when you shoot them. Though I like PPCs.

#12 bad arcade kitty

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 07:36 PM

don't pick gargoyle then, it has too less podspace for going dakka and it's most effective close build it's small pulses

a agree with night thastus then, go warhawk

#13 Kaptain

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 08:22 PM

I have every IS assault minus the Zeus... I hear they are the tankiest thanks to good scale/hit boxes, defensive bonuses and speed.

Personally I love the Atlas D in a brawl. std350, 4ML, AC20, Srm6, Lrm10, ams.

Stalkers with std300, 4xLRM5, 4xMPL, and 2XLL are also very fun to play from both close and far ranges.

#14 Leone

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 10:53 PM

Tell you what, next time you see me on hit me up and we can drop group queue. I'll show you the brawling 'goyles I have. I think I've already shown you my highlanders, and lastly, I'll show you the BNC-3E. Arguably my best mech, and a beast of a brawler with three Ac 5s and four medium lasers. Sadly, I'm not as huge a fan of the rest of the Banshees as I am my highlanders or 'goyles, but that one more'n makes up for it.

View PostChados, on 23 August 2015 - 06:39 PM, said:

After I got killed in the match I was just in I watched this guy in an Atlas D-DC totally wrecking faces in toe to toe standup brawls. No Circle of Doom. That thing took PUNISHMENT, and finally stood nose to nose with two Dire Wolves before finally going down. Now THAT is the gameplay that interests me.

Seriously, hit me up, we'll drop some, and I'll show you what it can do. The BNC-3E is my best mech. I admit, it's light on the missiles, but trust me, it makes up for it.

~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 24 August 2015 - 09:40 AM.


#15 IraqiWalker

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Posted 23 August 2015 - 11:36 PM

View PostLeone, on 23 August 2015 - 10:53 PM, said:

Seriously, hit me up, we'll drop some, and I'll show you what it can do. The BNC-3E is my best mech. I admit, it's light on the missiles, but trust me, it's makes up for it.

~Leone.


I'm no pro, but I can guarantee you guys that Leone is right on this one. The BNC is a friggin TANK. Tons of torso mounted weaponry, and gigantic arms that can block shots from the other side of the moon. It is a terrifying mech, with astounding firepower, and tankiness. The wubshee is living testament to that.

It's also one of very few mechs that can really use an XL 400 properly.

#16 TheLuc

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Posted 24 August 2015 - 12:07 AM

Like the guys wrote, the Banshee screams buy me.

:)

#17 The Basilisk

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Posted 24 August 2015 - 01:23 AM

While absolutely NO Mech can facetank against a competent oponent ( Banshee, DDC, Dire, Warhawk get focused a lot ) your main advantage over heavys is your ability to soak a lot of poorly targeted long and med range dmg but you go down as fast as every heavy when exposed to concentrated fire.
Think about it.
Most medium Mechs got alphas between 35 and 50 dmg.
Your Banshee will give you ~100 CT Front armor.
2 alphas and its gone.
Since you won't get away with that thing your front armor can take about 3 to 5 alphas from enemy mechs if you are able to distribute the damage properly.
You won't meet single mechs most of the time so...yea do not facetank.
Brawling in assaults is seldomly a good idea.

In this game assaults are either high dps juggernauts that don't leave any possibility of returning fire effectively ( multiple UAC Direwhales or Kingcrabs ), have extreme frontload pinpoint dmg ( wubmaster, dual AC20 or dual GaussCrab/ Dire etc.) or try to mimik an oversized heavy i.e. beeing fast heavily armored with mediocre armament and good heat dissipation. ( Gladiator, Gargoyle, Battlemaster, Victor ) Again there are no "Tanks" in this game cause there are no "Healers" !
If someone says an Assault can soak a lot of damage he either got no idea how to play an assault or he thinks of stray damage. Once focused your Assault goes down as fast as any medium or heavy.

If you want to retain some of your mobility of your Catapults with a variety of possible loadouts I think the Battlemaster would be a fine choice for you. Once mastered you can downgrade your standart engine to 325 without loosing much speed, while keeping your engine heatsinks. It also carrys a 350XL engine most graciously giving you unexpected speed while still carrying lots of weapons.

Some Battlemaster loadouts:

BLR-2C; Like an oversized Thunderbolt. But its an lasermech so maybe not your choice.

BLR-1S
Since there is no great difference in your survivability if you put in an XL you may try 350XL 2largeLaser instead of the meds and additional heatsinks. Pretty "brawly" and it got some *fwoshh* ( BTW if LRMs would be viable weapons this would be one of your best LRM carriers )

BLR-3S; Its a bit niche and more a fun Mech but if you are able to track and target quick enough you teach those pesky lights and meds some lessons they'll never forget. Try not to run into other assaults with this. Timberbacks are nice and most "fast" heavys are also fair game.

BLR-GHE; In the first phase of your averange pug match fire your PPCs in chainfire at everything that shows up. dont use the lasers. You can maintain chainfire at a rate of 0.7 to 0.9 per sec for 50secs to 1.5 mins depending your map. Nobody I saw found that to be funny. You can do only 2 successive alphas without shutting down but you are able to move fast enough and with some weapon group management you will be able to keep this in check. Enemys are unable to turn away or twist divert effectively in most cases. Its my favorite mech in pugs atm cause environmental temp does not matter much. Not many damage but lots of kills.

BLR-1D; The Forkmaster is an old build that never stoped to work....in Pugs. You get a lot of damage out but not many kills. But it has some dakka for shooting around corners ( new river city or forest colony.....)

Edit: Misslemaster: Played this a lot when LRMs where still viable weapons but now ... in PUGs you may reap some dmg and money if you are lucky. Remember to keep moving and get your own locks.
Also sensorrange and targetretention module will help a lot since lots of puggies are to poor to afford whooping 6 mio for a stupid radardeprivation module.

Edited by The Basilisk, 24 August 2015 - 01:51 AM.


#18 Chados

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Posted 24 August 2015 - 02:20 AM

The Banshee and Battlemaster seem to be the ones most folk are referring to. That's interesting :)

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the feedback.

Leone, I'll take you up on that offer next time I see you online.

#19 InspectorG

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Posted 26 August 2015 - 01:26 PM

View PostChados, on 23 August 2015 - 12:38 PM, said:


What do you all think is the best assault class and why do you think so?


IS: weaker guns, higher hardpoints, better quirks.

Stalkers- Lazor and/or SRM brawling. GREAT hitboxes for rolling damage.

Banshee- Lazor and dakka. SHIELD ARMS a go-go. M is good for laser poking/sniping. E is for Dakka. S is strange but does gauss+vomit pretty well for an IS mech.

Clan: Better guns, low arm mounts.

Direwhale. Slow as my dead grandma. But...50 tons for guns. If you can position and read Radar while fighting, you can whale.

Warhawk. Dire's little but faster brother. Even look the same. 32 tons for guns + nice quirks...BUT is squishy due to bad hitboxes. Poke at range for wins. Brawl with huge alphas for thrills.

#20 InspectorG

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Posted 26 August 2015 - 01:36 PM

View PostChados, on 23 August 2015 - 07:31 PM, said:



I did try the trial Banshee. Liked it. Liked the trial Gargoyle better, though. Want GUNS and MISSILES. Lasers are cool, but they don't go BAM when you shoot them. Though I like PPCs.


Stalker Misery is one of the few viable heroes. You can run the 'Classic 40' AC20+2PPC-asymmetric load to deadside damage. With the proper skill it can tank like mad and peeks very well.

Warhawk can Dakka with a 30%cooldown+module but it is squishy and is a better striker than brawler. You can also put 4ASRM6 loadouts on it.
Dual UAC10 is also nice but thats range support. Dual Gauss. DualUAC20!!! watch that heat! 4ERPPC with cooling to match + TC for velocity + quirks for cooldown.

Sorry you no like lazors...Wubshee is classic. XL400 Wubshee is moar classic.





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