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A Taxonomy Of Light Pilots

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#1 Grayson Sortek

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 11:32 AM

I was inspired by Cnaiur's A Taxonomy of Assault Pilots: https://mwomercs.com...assault-pilots/

I've been working on an MWO Builds series on YouTube and I've recently spent a LOT of time as an IS Light Pilot... Soon I'll be delving into the depths of Clan Lights: https://www.youtube....NVaracO7J_bJhYa

I've noticed some peculiarities since I've been running light 'mechs, which I will admit I'm not very good at. I'll even start with myself.

The "Whoops, oh sh*t, that's a wall" Pilot:
Running in a sleek fighter jet with legs, this pilot obviously does not have the dexterity or nimbleness to navigate the terrain of the battlefield going at Mach speeds. Speed is life, which is why this pilot often faces a quick demise as he or she gets stuck on level geometry or starts grinding on a wall like a bad Miley Cyrus joke. Thank God PGI never implemented realistic falling, tripping, or other physics that would spell certain doom for these pilots. Often falling and shattering what remains of their legs, or even worse running into team mates and causing collateral damage, this pilot is a danger to him or herself and others... Just not the enemy team.

Known Battle Cry: "Oh GOD, why can't I move, no, no, no, don't shoot, arrrrgghhhhh!"


The Bad-*** "Commando":
No, not the Commando Battlemech. This is the elite killer within the lightest units of the game, this is the rambo of giant stompy robots, the Arnold of the jungles. This pilot is here to kick some *** and chew bubble gum, and guess what he/she is all out of?
Packing enough machine guns, pulse lasers, flamers, and other assorted "stabby-stabby" weapons of the Battletech universe, this pilot actually has the skill to go it alone on the battlefield. LRM-Boats, "Fatties", and even other light 'mech pilots fear this destroyer of worlds. Never saying anything to their team, never gloating or groaning, this pilot is out to do one thing and one thing only: Kill.

Known Battle Cry: *There is no recorded Battle Cry of the Bad-*** Commando, because no one has ever lived to repeat it.


The Pilot Fish:
This pilot understands that most c-bills are actually earned with supporting roles. There's no need to attempt to actually kill the enemy, or even get a component destruction. No, the only purpose for lights is to guard the heavier teammates and gain protection bonuses. This pilot is an absolute god-send to the LRM boats and Assaults that roam the battlefield, without this little pilot fish they would be vulnerable to quick strike attacks. The humble Pilot Fish often helps carry the team to victory as they often guard and guide their larger cousins into the soft underbelly of the enemy base while fending off other small 'mechs.

Known Battle Cry: "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swim, swim, swim."


The Elite Sniper (Sniper Elite parody):
Often ignoring any plan of action from their teammates, and usually ignoring all positioning on the battlefield. These elite of the elite, the dead-eye, crack-shot, 2.00 K/D pilots are the best of the best when it comes to shooting bright blue beams long distances at unsuspecting enemies. Usually perching themselves on terrain that takes 5-10 minutes to reach and scale, which is already a known camping spot, they are kings of all they survey. They never communicate enemy troop movements to their teammates, because they don't want someone messing up their shots or taking all their damage. These pilots aren't here to help their team, they are here to get lots of damage points so that they can taunt heavier pilots about how they were able to do more damage.

Known Battle Cry: "Common noob, I'm in a _____ and I was able to pull 900+ damage!"


The Zoom, WHOOOSH Pilot:
Living purely for speed, this pilot has sacrificed almost everything needed for the battlefield in order to put the largest size engine in their Battlemech. They have next to no armor, and the bare minimum armaments, but they can out-run and Imperial Cruiser any day of the week. These are the pilots that equip themselves with UAVs, artillery strikes, and other machinations to cause absolute chaos on the enemy team within the first 30 seconds of the game. The poor Reds never knew what hit them, when all of a sudden massive explosions rock their machines in their slow death march to the center of the map.

Known Battle Cry: *in the annoying kid whisper* "zoom, zoom"


The Cheese Pilot:

This Pilot's got it figured out... Who need speed when you can drop that engine down for a massive RAC5 or CUAC20, or a bunch of PPCs? Sure, they might go as slow as a Daishi (Dire Wolf), but they aren't as noticeable as a Daishi! They have a master plan to use their team as a distraction while they get into the perfect position to blow away the enemy pilots with whatever incredibly massive weapon(s) they've outfitted themselves with. Surprisingly sometimes this tactic works as no one notices the lowly Urbie skulking around behind the Warhammer or Timberwolf. Most often than not these poor pilots find themselves out of position with no backup, no armor, and no speed to save themselves.

Known Battle Cry: "The Power! The UNLIMITED POOOOOOOWER!"

*Edited for layout

Edited by Grayson Sortek, 13 April 2018 - 02:01 PM.


#2 Grus

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 11:35 AM

LOVE IT!

#3 Nightbird

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 11:48 AM

The Deer:

Aiming while moving is hard, so why not slow to a stop in front of that assault to line up the perfect shot?


Rambo:

Immediately leaves the team behind at match start to solo the entire enemy team.


The Crooked Spear:

Light pilot leaves to flank the enemy team, only to find his entire team is following him down to the last assault, in a winding line around the edge of the map.


The Fanatic:

Lots of SRM tubes? Check. Big engine? Check. One ton of ammo? Check. Override? Check. This light pilot's only goal is take out an assault before exploding from heat.



#4 oldradagast

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 12:13 PM

Yep. My other favorite is:

"Oops, I'm supposed to cap/defend the base/etc."

We all know this one. 1 or 2 lights on the team, and the first thing they do is run off in random directions. No capping on Conquest, no hope of defending your base on Assault or Siege. Nope. These lights are too busy for that!

#5 Daurock

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 12:27 PM

View PostNightbird, on 13 April 2018 - 11:48 AM, said:

The Deer:

The Fanatic:

Lots of SRM tubes? Check. Big engine? Check. One ton of ammo? Check. Override? Check. This light pilot's only goal is take out an assault before exploding from heat.



This gives me inspiration - I'm going to make a Javelin 10P With 6 Rocket Launcher 20's, and see if i can gank myself some unsuspecting heavy. I'll name it "Jihad Jeep"

#6 Humpday

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 12:51 PM

I really enjoyed this post. haha good stuff man!

#7 Brain Cancer

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 12:55 PM

View PostDaurock, on 13 April 2018 - 12:27 PM, said:



This gives me inspiration - I'm going to make a Javelin 10P With 6 Rocket Launcher 20's, and see if i can gank myself some unsuspecting heavy. I'll name it "Jihad Jeep"



Drop it down to 4 RL20s and add in a pair of SRM2s with ammo. You'll still gank the heavy and be annoying afterwards (or clean up that last scrap of structure and pick up the spare instead of the strike).

#8 Mcgral18

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 12:56 PM

You forgot the Leg Humper

#9 Nightbird

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 01:06 PM

The Squirrel

A harmless, cute, cuddly light mech. Irresistable to the enemy team, this light is always hunted down with <50 match score. However, squirrels that manage to elude their hunters for a few minutes somehow leads their team to victory by drawing 3-4 enemy mechs away from the main fight. When this happen, the hunters having savored their prey turn around to see the rest of their team has died, and faces 11 mechs by themselves.

#10 JediPanther

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 01:06 PM

The Loco Locust Pilot: A hybrid of The Bad-*** "Commando" and The Zoom, WHOOOSH Pilot.

This pilot maximizes the scariest traits of both prior pilots into an ungodly terror on the battle field. Using all the Weapon types of the Commando searching for that perfect dps while combining the maximum speed of Zoom. Eagerly attacking any distracted enemy mech on sight this pilot's mech is a blur of colors and weapons fire. Unlike most other lights, this pilot loves engaging the enemy for the thrill of battle and is often seen as a Hero To Assaults crying in corners rushing to attack those 'weak' enemy lights. This pilot's sole goal is to cause as much damage and chaos to the enemy as possible while moving beyond all known limits of Speed or Sanity.

His theme song: Shoot to Thrill.

His battle cry: "WOOOOOOO!"

#11 Xiphias

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 01:18 PM

You've missed a few common types I see pretty often.

The Kamikaze

Runs straight at the enemy team and dies. Appears to be competing for the record of fastest death in a match.

Battle Cry: *Player has disconnected*

The Survivor

The opposite of the Kamikaze. This pilot goes who knows where on the outskirts of the map and always the last person alive, likely with double digit damage. May power down in a remote location to hide. Usually a spider.

Battle Cry: Total Silence

The Capper

Believes in "playing the objective" to a fault. Spends the entire match running to various cap points. Will continue capping even when team is down 10 to 1 and 200 points behind. Will also continue capping the base when their team is up 11 to 1 on kills. Will loudly proclaim superiority when they occasionally win a losing map through capping.

Battle Cry: "I'm playing the objectives!"

The Shark

These lights have an innate sense that allows them to detect weakness. Usually unseen at the start of the match when mechs are fresh, as soon as a weak target is identified these lights will dash in for the kill. Favorite foods are slow isolated assaults, LRM boats hiding in the back, legged mechs, and anything with an open torso. Sharks will often travel in groups and once sensing blood will attack in a frenzy. The movie Jaws for assault pilots.

Battle Cry: "Target is crit! Go go go!"

#12 Hal Greaves

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 01:27 PM

is it bad that i do infinitely better in my Grinner than my Piranha?

#13 kailii

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 01:32 PM

The Melter

Knowing there is a need to maximise firepower in order to actually break that dreaded 250 damage mark, Melters prefer Lasers over Heat Sinks and SRMs over MGs.
The result is a Hot Rod indeed, meant to Hit and Run which is a staple of life for any true Light Mech Pilot.
Yet the temptation to just fire one more Alpha in the back of your enemy often becomes too strong, and the inevitable Shutdown occurs - usually only if there are at least four Red Mechs within 200 metres.

The Jumping Jack

Needless to say, Light Mechs need two good legs in order to survive, which is exactly why they are shot at routinely.
Of course the counter to limping are Jump Jets.
If you can't evade the enemy anymore because you got legged, why not jump up and down in front of an Assault Mech to throw off his aim - and kill his confidence at the same time!
Twice the shock value if using an underperforming Mech. Totally demoralizing.

(The author of this posting pleads guilty of the latter, facing off an almost undamaged Atlas in a Jenner which lost a leg in his fourth attack run in Canyon Networks years ago being the last Mechs standing. The blue team won.)

#14 Kanil

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 01:48 PM

View PostXiphias, on 13 April 2018 - 01:18 PM, said:

The Capper

Believes in "playing the objective" to a fault.


... and of course, in Incursion he's hauling around the power packs, because what the team really needs in the middle of the massive brawl is for a dropship to strafe the enemy's base.

#15 Grayson Sortek

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 02:22 PM

lmao, some very awesome responses on this thread, thank you to everyone for the laughs!

#16 Alexander of Macedon

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 02:30 PM

The Cicada
"What do you mean it isn't a light?"

View Postoldradagast, on 13 April 2018 - 12:13 PM, said:

Yep. My other favorite is:

"Oops, I'm supposed to cap/defend the base/etc."

We all know this one. 1 or 2 lights on the team, and the first thing they do is run off in random directions. No capping on Conquest, no hope of defending your base on Assault or Siege. Nope. These lights are too busy for that!


TBH if I'm the only light on the team and people voted for Conquest, I'll usually give them the first two light-side caps and then leave them to their own devices while I kill things. Not gonna screw my score match after match because people vote for objective modes when they want to play TDM.

Only exception is if it's already late in the match and most people have died.

Consider it incentive to push PGI to increase objective rewards. If caps aren't giving the equivalent of ~150 damage worth of matchscore, exp, and CB per, no sane light jock will do any more than the bare minimum.

#17 Nightbird

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 02:34 PM

View PostDaurock, on 13 April 2018 - 12:27 PM, said:

This gives me inspiration - I'm going to make a Javelin 10P With 6 Rocket Launcher 20's, and see if i can gank myself some unsuspecting heavy. I'll name it "Jihad Jeep"


I just used it in QP against a Mad Cat MK2, OMG BOOOM!

#18 Brain Cancer

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 03:16 PM

RLs do take some positioning to do properly, so it's nice having a gotta-go-faster light to strap them on. Even a medium like the Blackjack, Kintaro, or Bushwhacker will do, but the real choice is...

The Locust-3S. It even gives you an excuse to use single heat sinks for the room you need for maximum armor and the 4 RL20s you'll deliver at 145.8 kph straight to your new favorite friend. (Afterwards, annoy with the rapid-fire ERML thanks to your quirkage).

https://mwo.smurfy-n...32c378d00671c9d

#19 Requiemking

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 10:36 PM

View PostBrain Cancer, on 13 April 2018 - 03:16 PM, said:

RLs do take some positioning to do properly, so it's nice having a gotta-go-faster light to strap them on. Even a medium like the Blackjack, Kintaro, or Bushwhacker will do, but the real choice is...

The Locust-3S. It even gives you an excuse to use single heat sinks for the room you need for maximum armor and the 4 RL20s you'll deliver at 145.8 kph straight to your new favorite friend. (Afterwards, annoy with the rapid-fire ERML thanks to your quirkage).

https://mwo.smurfy-n...32c378d00671c9d

Where'd you find that? I posted that build ages ago in the facepalm builds thread back before newtech dropped, and I only just recently built it in game.

#20 Brain Cancer

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Posted 13 April 2018 - 11:21 PM

View PostRequiemking, on 13 April 2018 - 10:36 PM, said:

Where'd you find that? I posted that build ages ago in the facepalm builds thread back before newtech dropped, and I only just recently built it in game.


Parallel development- RL's were one of the the big things for lights when they came out in tabletop, and applying that to MWO meant the Locust definitely was on the list. The -3S can do it, but as you know it's a very narrow build tolerance that gives you a slightly upgunned version of the tabletop's -1V2 (which is a straight swap of the original -1V's MGs for RL 10s, rather than 20's).





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