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Good Is Scouting Mechs?


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#1 Zephonarch II

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Posted 01 May 2016 - 07:43 PM

Thought the IS community needed this. There were no threads in the build-forum just for the keywords "Good, IS, Scouting, Mechs" so I just had to make this. Seriously, it's 9:30pm UTC 6:00 for me and I'm seeing a late night Clan-crush about to unfold(Clans almost at 90% intel on 4 IS planets)(LT).

So I just thought that maybe uncoordinated pug drops were being stomped. Seriously, what builds do IS light/med pilots need to use for SCTs to be successful?
The ecm/srm4 Griffin-2N?
A heavy-med drop? Crabs? Enforcers?
Go very light and fast?

#2 M Ghandi

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Posted 02 May 2016 - 12:59 AM

3 brawly mediums - Griffin, Shadowhawk, Hunchback, Crab, and Blackjack are all platforms that I've seen success with. I've had a lot of good scouting games in the Griffin 2N. SRMs, AC/20s, and pulse lasers are your best bets for weapons. I've heard of people kiting clanners around the map, but it's too easy to hide in most instances for that to consistently work well.

1 ECM light with speed well on the plus side of 140kph. ECM Ravens and Pirate's Bane come to mind mostly. Might be able to outfit a Cicada that way. Pack weapons you feel comfortable legging mechs with (pulse lasers and SRMs come to mind).

Try to outfit a mech from each category for scouting. Is your group light? Grab your brawler. Full of brawlers? Grab your light. You will want to fight even on a gather mission - otherwise it's just not worth the time spent.

All 4 mechs need to fight, but the light is useful on protect if you have to chase someone. The light is also useful on gather if your group is getting hosed, The light pilot needs to stay aware of the situation and when to disengage from the main fight. During the fight, the light should add DPS when possible, but prioritize legging the fastest mechs on their team once you've identified them.

Hope that helps!

Edited by M Ghandi, 02 May 2016 - 01:01 AM.


#3 invernomuto

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Posted 02 May 2016 - 01:44 AM

Please post builds if possible.

For brawling.
1) Griffin 2N (XL280 + 3 ASRM4 + 2 LLs + ECM)
2) Griffin 3M (XL300 + 4 ASRM4 + 2 MPLs)
3) Blackjack 1X (XL 275 + 2 LPLs + 4 MPLs)
4) Trebuchet 7K (XL 275 + 2 ML + 2 SRM4 + 1 AC/10)

For gathering intel:
1) Oxide (XL280, 5 ASRM4)
3) Blackjack 1X (XL 275 + 2 LPLs + 4 MPLs)

The BJ-1X is good but 45 tons is too light and the build is too hot. You go down very fast if you decide to brawl with clan Storm Crows.
Need to revise the 2N build, 2 LL does not work. 3M is better but I have hard time aiming with SRM with a ping around 200ms, so I'm trying something different with the Trebouchet. It's early to say if it's a successfully build.
For intel gathering Oxide is very good.

Edited by invernomuto, 02 May 2016 - 01:46 AM.


#4 Diddi Doedel

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Posted 02 May 2016 - 02:27 AM

All Mechs belonging to the "Flaming Church of Boom" qualify greatly...
AC/20 for the legging and Flamers to grill the Clan mech. Hunchbacks, Enforcers, Centurions, Shadow Hawks and BlackJacks come to mind here.
As for Griffins, go with ASRM6 and use max missile slots possible, go for ASRM4 if they get better quirks. IS can of course also go Woobster, e.g. on the Sparky... 6 MPL rock and are nicely concentrate fire.
Augment with Range and/or Cooldown modules to improve performance.

#5 DivBy0

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Posted 02 May 2016 - 04:07 AM

When you are not in a organisised group... please dont scout! You will loos most time against the splat-and skillcrows and feed 2 to 3 clanner groups. Your fast looses help them to get Long Dumb early after ceasefire, which shutdown the invasion-mode and wins them the planet.
Problem is... Splatcrow, Skillcrow oder Pulscrows are easy to pilot, but you must build a hot and fast and difficult to play glascannon.

For Protect-Mode my unit have success with:

Griffin-1E (Sparky) with XL350/XL340/XL330 and 6 MPL
Griffin-2N with XL350/XL340/XL330 and 4x4 SRM or 4x6 SRM (you need not much ammo... the fight is very short. I prefere 4x4 over 4x6)
Crab 20 (XL350!) and Crab-27 (Dual AMS but only XL325 possible). Both with 5 MPL
Shadowhawks (i dont pilot them... big Engine! needed)

Slow medium are useless... a Skillcrow runs around 105 km/h
AMS is a must have!

When you are in a coordinated group you have good chances against the clanner. Stay together, Search&Destroy (collecting has no priority), fokus fire and aim for legs! You must go All In.. in a very ugly brawl with glascannons against the best medium mech in the game (stromcrow).

For Gathering take ECM-Mechs:
Locust-PB as fast as possible
SDR-5D as fast as possible
Cicada-3M with XL340

Avoid fight at any cost, spread out, hide and get into the extraction zone in the last possible moment from more than one site. Stupid... but works most time

Edited by von Haudegen, 02 May 2016 - 04:13 AM.


#6 Rushin Roulette

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Posted 02 May 2016 - 04:13 AM

Talking as a Merc on the clan side (at the moment), there are many mechs which really, really hurt if the opponent is organised.
It all comes down to what you want to do.
Fighting mechs
Griffin
Shadowhawk
Blackjack
Trebuchet
Hunchback
Crab
Centurion
Oxide

Gathering mechs (if you time it right, you just run into the extraction point a second or 2 before the timer runs out)
Any light mech with ECM
any light mech over 140KPH

If you want to cry in the forums afterwards,

Basically any mech not in the list or incapable of a high alpha (not LRMs) together with moderate to high speeds or pilots incapable of aiming for legs (You know.. the things hanging out of the *** of the mech and not mech dingleberries).

Edited by Rushin Roulette, 02 May 2016 - 04:17 AM.


#7 Clideb50

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Posted 02 May 2016 - 05:17 AM

I've had surprisingly great results from the CN9-D Centurion equipped with the lb-10x and a large pulse laser. The lbx's spread makes hitting lights easier while still packing enough of a punch to damage the Stormcrows, and I've just had overall better results with a large pulse vs 2 medium lasers, and some SRM missiles.

For modules, I run radar deprivation, target info gathering, lbx cooldown, and large pulse cooldown. Radar dep, and target info are personal choice, but the cooldown mods are critical. The build is tuned towards a higher damage per second vs high alpha.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...639db988a2d96b8

The AMS I just added so I'm not sure how it'll do, but it might help reduce damage from streak missiles.

#8 SamuraiPope

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Posted 02 May 2016 - 12:05 PM

i find this wrecks stormcrows all day

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...22bcca768b3e65c

best part is clanners are used to seeing slow enforcers so they tend to put me low on their target list, and in any 1 on 1 fight i can face tank them and win (there has been 1 exception so far but that involved an iceferret who was smart enough to headshot me....)

Edited by SamuraiPope, 02 May 2016 - 12:11 PM.


#9 Zephonarch II

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Posted 02 May 2016 - 07:43 PM

Thanks guys! I was thinking of buying just 1 more new med for this, either going with a Crab or Enforcer.
I guess I'll go with an AC20-Enforcer or LB10-Enf for speed since I have some experience in it.

Edited by Zephonarch II, 02 May 2016 - 07:44 PM.


#10 Assault One

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Posted 04 May 2016 - 05:46 AM

I use this Shadowhawk quite a bit: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...8dd603f71089980

Slower compared to the other posters' recommendations but it has good firepower (4x SRM4, 2x MLAS) and is very durable (STD Engine plus your left side is a shield side). Been in a few games in scouting where I was down to 20-30% before being killed but I was still combat worthy because two of the SRM4s are in the CT and head, respectively and/or I was also able to protect my RT.

#11 PerfectDuck

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Posted 05 May 2016 - 09:25 AM

BJ-1X 6ML 2MPL

114kph, 18 heat sinks, 42 damage. If you are perfect, two alpha-strikes can leg a stormcrow and then you have enough mobility to stay in their rear blindspot. It's a great combination of mobility and firepower.

#12 Tordin

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Posted 05 May 2016 - 09:30 AM

Bring baps against hiders and single ecm calnners.

#13 crustydog

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Posted 05 May 2016 - 09:53 AM

Fighting the IS scout groups the last couple of days, it seems to me that most of the mechs are fine. In the hands of cooperating warriors, any lance of IS mechs can destroy any lance of Clan mechs - but the opposite is also true.

In 4 v 4, the determining factor is not really the mechs that are being driven. The determining factor seems to be the skill and knowledge of the pilots, and the tactics they are pursuing in the match.

As in 12 v 12, coordinated groups are generally far stronger than mixed pug groups.

Some important considerations: faster is generally better, ecm is a huge benefit on faster mechs, but whatever mech you bring, it should carry enough firepower to win in a brawl, as there is a lot of brawling. Stand-off snipers and LRM type mechs are not as useful when the enemy team can close the gap very quickly if they chose to.

AC20 is a fantastic weapon if you can actually hit what you are shooting at (very fast light mechs.) The same is true for SRM's.

So, for whatever mech design meets your personal skillset, you will want to combine speed (to collect the intel and intercept the enemy) with adequate firepower ( to actually defeat the enemy when you need to.) It's a balancing act.

#14 Tordin

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Posted 05 May 2016 - 10:15 AM

Thats very true. All of it.

#15 Aethermech

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Posted 05 May 2016 - 10:59 AM

I like the good old Crab 27B. http://mwo.smurfy-ne...27b0b49c06f034c runs solid has ams for the streakers, moves fast enough. hits hard'ish and often, and best part is you can alpha 3 times and not overheat, 4 if you don't mind sitting still. and you can chain fire the MPL for a good long time before heat creeps up on you. You can even switch it over to an XL and pack in more sinks. http://mwo.smurfy-ne...90abd33815cb65a Now you're faster than crows, you need to watch your torsos but in the fast and furious scout matches xl is less a problem cause it's a clusterf*ck from start to finish

Edited by Aethermech, 05 May 2016 - 11:07 AM.


#16 MovinTarget

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Posted 05 May 2016 - 11:07 AM

I've been dropping a lot in scouting and seriously, we can have a 4-crow team go sideways if the IS out teamworks us.

Yes 1v1 clan mechs can be devastating, but they are also more fragile (most are, anyway) so focusing fire, TARGETING LEGS, and just staying close for support will all increase your success rate.

Like invasion mode, these are truly teamwork-oriented games. If you don't want to be a team player, you are doing a disservice to the other 3 players. Don't pug drop unless you have to. If you do, find players you mesh with and form a permanent group. Trust me, it trumps any build and costs nothing...

Well lrm oxide is still awesome <cough>

#17 Barantor

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Posted 06 May 2016 - 02:26 PM

I've been using mechs that sync up to my Marik tendencies....

Wolverine-6R - xl300, 2 jjs, lbx10 (2 tons ammo), 1 medium laser, 3x SRM4 (2 tons ammo), 95 kph with tweek

CDA-2B - xl325, max armor, 5x Medium Pulse, 1 heat sink, 141 kph with tweek, 36% heat efficiency

SDR-5D - max engine, ecm, 3x medium pulse

I use the faster ones when I'm gathering intel, usually the spider only if there are mostly other mediums in my group too, CDA otherwise.

Wolverine shreds the armor off and helps my team or me finish them off easily enough. Keeps up with other mediums rather well too.

I wear a little bit more back armor in scout mode than other modes with these since you will often times end up in a furball rather than a battle line.

I have a Trebuchet 7M built up with SRMs and medium lasers but I have yet to try it.

Edited by Barantor, 06 May 2016 - 02:27 PM.


#18 Allouez

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Posted 06 May 2016 - 02:46 PM

HBK-4SP has been working very well for me. Has a large STD engine so it's fairly fast and won't go down if you lose a ST. The 5 ML helps when legging opponents. Only drawback is it runs kind of hot.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...ae748dfe505fd28

#19 JohnnyBlue07

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Posted 06 May 2016 - 05:31 PM

Here's a winning formula that works 99% of the time for IS scouting.

Lance composition: Use 3x BJ-1X (6xML+2xMPL) and 1x 140+KPH Light mech (Oxide, preferred).

Tactic: (Works on either gather or defend intel mode)
  • Regroup immediately.
  • Hunt down/find all four enemy clan mechs as soon as possible. This is where the fast light becomes useful.
  • Destroy 3 clan mechs (preferably by legging).
  • Leg and/or disable (ie. no more weapons) last remaining enemy mech, then scout remaining intel on the map.
  • Profit.
Of course, like any successful match, strong coordination and focus fire is key. If even one enemy mech gets away and keeps both legs in-tact until evac countdown, then your team failed the strategy.

To be frank, any other strategy is garbage or not as effective, imo.

#20 ImperialKnight

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Posted 06 May 2016 - 05:36 PM

GRF-2N with 4x SRMs and 2x Flamers. It's hilariously good. Force heat shutdown with Flamers and smash the back with SRMs





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