34 replies to this topic

[Phoenix 72]

Most of the Mechs from the Solaris Pack are not exactly considered Meta. Not sure how competetive the Kraken ist. Either way, I would suggest to start with a different Assault, something with more mobility. If you have enough money to kit one out.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Redshirt4Life, on 06 March 2019 - 01:57 PM, said:

Buut I do have these two solaris assaults, and I'll have to take them out someday.

So, waiting for the right moment and "Releasing the Kraken." Well, suppose I should actually play the Kraken then. So you think a good idea would be to keep a low profile early on? Stay in the middle front and avoid peeking into multiple enemies until the time is ripe, then just go all-in to the death?

I like the Kraken 'cause it can dish out 80 alpha strike (2 MRM 30 and AC20) which is sustainable. It is a sturdy mech as well. Skill it out with Survivability as the first and foremost thing and you'll start doing well with it.

The Siren, however, I'm not too sure about. I haven't used it at all 'cause I can't get the right kind of loadout but I eventually tried this one and feel that it could do the job by using MRM and UAC20 primarily and then using the MLs for the finishing touches. I feel that the Assaults are supposed to have big burst damage and this one delivers (90 damage if you double-tap the UAC20). You can switch the MLs for MPLs but you'd need to reduce the engine rating and remove DHS only for 4 extra damage but the Laser duration is shorter to get the damage out well on point. So, it's up to you.

Skill Survivability and 3 nodes of Cool Runs while working on UAC20 Jam timer reduction. Extra magazine capacity will help for both the MRM and UAC20 and get some Heat Gen. nodes along the way while picking up Cooldowns. Cool Shots as consumables are great so get one point there to bring two of them along. If you want, tweak things around and get 60% Radar Deprivation if required.

Note that you need to splash all the incoming damage so, torso twisting like crazy will help. I had to learn and use that while piloting my Kraken and I did reasonably well but overall like I said before in my previous post, keep one on the mini-map and stay within the group.

The Kraken is easy to skill if you want to go my way of using 2 MRM 30 and AC20 + LAMS.

[Weeny Machine]

Sell you on assaults? What this game doesn't need is yet another assault mech. The bigger is better program of the devs bears fruits finally. Most drops consists of 4-6 assaults. My oh my...the fuuuuuuun /sarcasm

[ShiverMeRivets]

Bush Hopper, on 07 March 2019 - 12:35 AM, said:

Sell you on assaults? What this game doesn't need is yet another assault mech. The bigger is better program of the devs bears fruits finally. Most drops consists of 4-6 assaults. My oh my...the fuuuuuuun /sarcasm

Hellofalot better than a swarm of 200 kg power armors with a “20 ton” sticker on them.

[Redshirt4Life]

Bush Hopper, on 07 March 2019 - 12:35 AM, said:

Sell you on assaults? What this game doesn't need is yet another assault mech. The bigger is better program of the devs bears fruits finally. Most drops consists of 4-6 assaults. My oh my...the fuuuuuuun /sarcasm

I dunno, I have a pretty good time mulching them down. They go down pretty quick from the rear. I've had a good share of games where I got behind the enemy assaults and activated "lawnmower mode" on my mech, clearing the landscape of red markers.

But I have purchased the solaris pack, so I do feel a little obliged to actually use the mechs I own. Getting into a different playstyle will probably help me improve overall. The devs didn't force this upon me. I just want to enjoy the full experience.

Edited by Redshirt4Life, 07 March 2019 - 05:14 AM.

[ingramli]

The problem of assaults is that they dont fit well in the current "single player mode" (QP solo queue, which is pretty much the only real mode aside from NA prime time), lack of speed to catch up, unable to get out of bad situation and lack of ability to deal with lights make them poor choice for the current game environment, period.

Back in the time when faction warfare and group queue was popular, they are the power class to play (when team is well coordinated), but with the decline of population, hit of engine desync, they are no way as useful as they used to be IMHO....

[RickySpanish]

The first rule of Mad Cat MKII club is not to talk about Mad Cat MKII club.

[El Bandito]

Bush Hopper, on 07 March 2019 - 12:35 AM, said:

Sell you on assaults? What this game doesn't need is yet another assault mech. The bigger is better program of the devs bears fruits finally. Most drops consists of 4-6 assaults. My oh my...the fuuuuuuun /sarcasm

Shooting at Assaults is more fun than shooting at Lights.

[YueFei]

Speaking as a 100% medium pilot with short-ranged weapons, I really appreciate when a friendly assault lays fire down a lane. I don't expect them to push down that lane and get crippled or killed, and in fact I'd prefer if they didn't, but I just need them to lay down some pain and draw a bit of long-range enemy fire, and then I'll be merrily bounding up that lane a moment later. Without friendly assaults creating opportunities like that for me, I'm pretty useless.

After that, I'm more than happy to tank for the next trades and draw fire away from friendly assaults. My mech is 100% ammo based anyway, it's better for me to die swinging rather than running out of ammo while other teammates who have energy-based weapons die first.

What I'm trying to say is that the way I've seen assaults used especially well is to utterly control certain sectors of a map with sheer firepower. You do have to be careful how and where you setup though. Line of sight is a double-edged sword. The more of the map you can see, the more angles you can potentially be shot at from.

Edited by YueFei, 07 March 2019 - 09:06 AM.

[dario03]

ingramli, on 07 March 2019 - 05:27 AM, said:

The problem of assaults is that they dont fit well in the current "single player mode" (QP solo queue, which is pretty much the only real mode aside from NA prime time), lack of speed to catch up, unable to get out of bad situation and lack of ability to deal with lights make them poor choice for the current game environment, period.

Back in the time when faction warfare and group queue was popular, they are the power class to play (when team is well coordinated), but with the decline of population, hit of engine desync, they are no way as useful as they used to be IMHO....

Some assaults are the best solo QP mechs in the game. Some have little issue with lights and the high firepower and armor makes it so even if you do get left behind you can put out a lot of damage before dying. Actually I would say instead of getting left behind, most of my "low" damage matches in something like a MCMKII-B are because my team ran over the enemy so quick, giving me less time to get damage. But since a MCMKII doesn't have to be that slow and you can have decent range its still not that big of an issue and you can do 400+ damage. Then in a good match you can put out so much damage in a short amount of time, that 1200+ isn't uncommon.

[VirtualRiot]

I'd like to add my thoughts into this as someone who has exclusively played quickmatch, about 80% of the time as an assault, for the past 4 years or so, ranking in the top 200-600 for assault average match score every season I decide to play in depending on how much I decide to tryhard or try new things.

In my opinion, assault is the most unforgiving class to play, but it is also the most powerful out of all classes in the right hands.

The key to doing well in assaults is this: get into a good position on time, and use it to do a ton of damage. The issue that arises is that since assaults are so slow, in order to get into position, you need to be knowing EXACTLY where you will be heading to immediately upon the match starting. Even being slightly off schedule to avoid the inevitable light rush, or line yourself up for when the entire team is going to cross into your selected firing corridor, is going to put you in the position of trying to play catch-up for the rest of the match, and I guarantee you will do horrible. Assuming you accomplished that, you now need to know the perfect moment to begin moving to a new position where you can still be relatively safe, and yet still have a firing line on the enemy. Repeat this process until the match is over. The problem is that this inherent knowledge about map layouts and likely enemy movements really only comes from experience.

In terms of how to build assaults, my ideas are pretty off from what many in the community think is the right way to go about it, but I also think thats why so many are so bad at piloting assaults. You want to focus on two things: Mobility (allows you to get into position faster) and Firepower (increases your damage once in position).

Why not surviveability you ask? Surely the most heavily armored mechs in the game receive the largest absolute benefit from percentage based quirks, no? Yes that is true. The problem lies in that, especially in recent years, mech firepower and player skill has only gone up, which has reduced the time to kill substantially. If you are caught out in an assault, an extra 13 armor on your CT is not going to save you, you should have never been in that position in the first place. Instead focus on having skills that allow you to be in a better position which affords you cover, allow you to move in and out of that cover more quickly (kinetic burst, anchor turn, etc.), and do more damage when you are out of that cover.

Follow my tips, and you too can do 644 damage per match on average out of 260 matches in a Direwolf.

[Verghast]

Annihilator with Rotary Cannon and Quad AC2 build

Dakka dakka dakka dakka dakka dakka dakka

[Redshirt4Life]

Omg its worse then I thought. Best of luck to you assault players.

[FupDup]

It's important to remember that not all assaults are created equally. There are a lot that actually have pretty good agility, rivaling that of an average heavy or sometimes even surpassing. These include most 80-tonners (excluding Awesome and Warhammer IIC), Warhawk, Battlemaster, Highlander, Highlander IIC, Banshee, Executioner, and Cyclops (it may depend on a variant-by-variant basis with each mech listed).

These would be much easier for you (the OP) to get into than something like the Annihilator and several can just be outright played like big heavies (namely the 80-tonners).

Edited by FupDup, 07 March 2019 - 07:02 PM.

[The pessimistic optimist]

Lots and lots of weapons!