14 replies to this topic

[Xenoeas]

I've been getting back into this game after a long hiatus, and have been wanting to try and pilot an assault mech. It's the weight class I have the most trouble with, and I want to see if I can get a little better with it.
The first hurdle is getting a Mech put together, and I was hoping I could ask some of you for some pointers. I picked out the Atlas D-DC, because I want a Mech that can do a fair bit of Tanking, but also has a good Movement speed. I eventually settled on the D-DC because while it has less armor then other mechs in it's weight class, it comes with an ECM and can put on a 360 Engine, making it decently fast. I'm aware that with assaults you want to try and have a weapon for every range, so my initial build is shaping up to look like this:

https://mwo.smurfy-n...967bc7466c93bcf

If you don't want to click the link, it's an Endo-Steel LE 360 with 4 Double sinks slotted in it, ECM, AMS with a ton of ammo, AC/5 with 3 tons, a MRM 40 with 2 tons and 2 Medium Pulse Lasers.
I was thinking about using a Gauss Rifle instead of the 2 AC/5's, but I'm terrible at aiming the Gauss and the AC/5's provide better DPS anyway.

I plan to max out the Survival tree to get all of the armor quirks as well as rushing down the Mobility tree to Speed Tweek my speed to 60+, what I wanna know is if I'm on the right track here, or if there is something I could be doing differently/ better?
Also, if there's any tips you could give me for leading a push and actually surviving long enough for it to do anything, that would be appreciated! Thanks for reading!

Edited by Xenoeas, 12 April 2019 - 12:41 PM.

[Feezou]

The D-DC used to be one of the best picks as far as Atlases go, along with the S for its 4 missile hardpoints. The problem is that the D-DC and S have structure quirks, unlike the other Atlases. It seems you were setting up a midrange build, and I can see why: its compensating for its weaker durability. The build you posted doesn't seem like it has much of a punch, and Atlases tend to struggle with midrange because of their low mounts and combination of ballistic and missile hardpoints. Personally, I run an AS7-D with armor quirks. You can always run an AC20 with srms, but in today's meta with new tech and stuff like that, that once tried and true atlas build falls short.

Even though it syncs up well, it lacks the sheer damage output of some other builds being flung around.(At least in my opinion.) I personally love the setup I run, as it can beat down almost anything face to face and come out alive. I use a UAC20 and 2xMRM30s. This gives an instant 100 damage that is deadly, albeit quite hot. Another chill build that is semi-common is Hgauss, mrm40, and some medium lasers. This is cooler, even though it has 3 weapon groups to manage.(which i dislike.) The former of them can take an LFE, often a 350, but you can probably make space for ECM.

Back to the build you posted, atm smurfy doesn't want to work for me so I can't really see nor post builds, but you were going for a midrange dps setup. The problem is that 2 AC5s aren't all that impressive for the range you presumably would use those for. The MRMs are quite useless for midrange on larger mechs that can't position themselves well, so you might as well drop those. You best bet is swapping to 2 UAC5s since they fire one shell, which would be accurate, and throwing on some LLs or LPLs. For the kind of build you want to run, an Anni would be far better suited.

On the Atlas, the survival tree is a must. There's no compromise with that. On the other hand, mobility is completely useless on the Atlas. Speed tweak is a waste because you won't be gaining much from it. The points can be spent elsewhere, such as survival, cooling for when you're in a tight brawl, and firepower. On my atlas with A UAC20 and MRM60, I run full survival and full cool run.

Leading a push isn't necessarily my strong suit either, but I'll try to help. The Atlas can be a joy to play, but it is plagued by the problem of low mounts. It can't really apply its damage properly. I like to play a more defensive Atlas, waiting for the enemy to come by so I can punish them. If you want to survive a push, you're gonna need to play quite well. You need to call a push for your teammates, and try and shake off some damage. The Atlas got hit hard by the engine desync, so its twisting speed is trash. The Atlas mortality rate is terrible, as you'll rarely survive the rounds you play, but you either gotta hope the pushes you do break the enemies' lines and your teammates can follow up if you survive.

That's really all I have to say about the Atlas, good luck!

[Koniving]

The link didn't work
"ERROR: Sorry this loadout could not be loaded. Service Unavailable"
Not sure if it was the link or the mechlab. But I can start a mech.

[Feezou]

Also, one thing that I learned while playing an Atlas is that if you can, single out an enemy mech. If you can get into a 1v1, you'll almost always win in an Atlas.

[Xenoeas]

Thank you both for the feedback, I went back through and I believe I fixed the link, but we'll see if it stuck. It's sad to hear that the Atlas has fallen out of favor; it's definitely one of the best looking mechs in the game and I won't lie that that was part of the reason that I wanted to try and make it work for what I wanted. My mission is to make a tanky mech for pushing with, and from what I've been reading it sounds like the D-DC isn't it, or at least not a popular choice. What other mechs might you suggest that better fit into what I'd like to do?

[Feezou]

Xenoeas, on 12 April 2019 - 12:48 PM, said:

Thank you both for the feedback, I went back through and I believe I fixed the link, but we'll see if it stuck. It's sad to hear that the Atlas has fallen out of favor; it's definitely one of the best looking mechs in the game and I won't lie that that was part of the reason that I wanted to try and make it work for what I wanted. My mission is to make a tanky mech for pushing with, and from what I've been reading it sounds like the D-DC isn't it, or at least not a popular choice. What other mechs might you suggest that better fit into what I'd like to do?

The Atlas hasn't necessarily fallen out of favor. It just has its drawbacks. I also love the Atlas for its looks. When I bought mine, I was quite frustrated with its hardpoint mounts, but I learned to play around it. The Atlas isn't that rare, but when you see Atlases out in game they often have bad mixed builds. One thing you can do is buy another Atlas. Imo the armor quirks are worth it. You can also just stick with the D-DC. I'd again recommend the UAC20 MRM60 combo, with maybe a smaller engine for ECM. For me, its a blast playing an Atlas, and there are mechs that are far worse than it. If you want to play midrange, an LB10x or UAC5 Anni as well as a Fafnir or King Crab can fill that role. I'd still personally take my Atlas, as the other mechs aren't as durable. Once you can get in close with the MRM and UAC20, it tears apart armor. My suggestion is just roll with the D-DC, even though imo its ecm is much less valuable with the new lrm changes. I've never played a D-DC, but from playing some IS mechs with only structure quirks, it doesn't seem structure quirks would fit the Atlas playstyle well.

One last note: It seems that you're in tier 3. I'm in tier 2, and from what I've experienced, people can only start to outplay you in tier 2. In tier 3 you can bulldoze through everyone with a good Atlas build.

[Phoenix 72]

I am a bit wary when I see people with an Atlas DC. For some reason, the majority of players do not seem to know what to do with it... In 90% of the games I see that Mech die with 120 damage to its name. And then all of a sudden, when I have given up on that Mech, I see the rare match with 1000 damage and 5 kills. I do not actually own one, I am just judging from seeing other people play it. I do not know what the 90% do wrong and the 10% do right, but I would suggest that the DC is better suited for gameplay when you got your groove back, after the long break.

[Gagis]

How about something a bit more simple, such as this? https://mech.nav-alp...7ce68b_AS7-D-DC

More dps, higher alpha strike and good synergy between cooldown times but fairly short effective range.

Generally, doing one thing really well works much better than trying to do something at every range.

Edited by Gagis, 12 April 2019 - 11:57 PM.

[The Basilisk]

Atlas D-DC
I used this one to some effect but honestly whith all the Madcat MkII Annihilators and Bloodasps loafing around the Atlas is simply out of date regarding its hardpoint placings and loadout mix.

If you just want to drive it cuz its classy use the 7K and frustrate some missile boats.

Edited by The Basilisk, 13 April 2019 - 02:45 AM.

[Roland09]

Xenoeas, on 12 April 2019 - 10:33 AM, said:

[...]I picked out the Atlas D-DC, because I want a Mech that [...] has a good Movement speed. [...]

?

If it doesn't have to be an Atlas, you could also look into an Cyclops-11-P.

https://mwo.smurfy-n...1928f9f5d2604e1

Has ECM, with speed tweak from the skill tree, you can get it to ~70 kph, reasonably tanky.

Edited by Roland09, 13 April 2019 - 03:14 AM.

[Catnium]

I find Ultra ac20+ mrm60 is to hot for atlas d-dc
I use artemis 3x srm6 + ultra ac20 instead.
I also put 2 er meds in the arms for fighting annoying lights and a STD 350 engine with 4 extra heatsinks.

But if i'd really recommend a build for pug play id be ulta ac20 mrm 40 & large laser in arms
some ammo and some heatsinks and an engine to give you around 50kph speed.

because pug play means no one actually backs up an assault anyways so you run a good chance of getting kited at range and whittled down and eventually killed .
With the large lasers and the mrm 40 you can actually fight back at longer ranges.
and you can brawl with mrm 40 + ac20 .. its still 40 splat and 40 ac damage if you double tab the ac20 for a total of 80 brawl damage.

[Lykaon]

Catnium, on 18 May 2019 - 06:27 AM, said:

But if i'd really recommend a build for pug play id be ulta ac20 mrm 40 & large laser in arms
some ammo and some heatsinks and an engine to give you around 50kph speed.

I used to use this build but over time it got refined.

I found the lack of UAC jam duration quirks had a tendency to shut my firepower down far to long when I needed it most.
The heat generation prevented sustained combat
the mobility was lacking

So what I ended up with was a D-DC with

355 LFE
Endo Steel
about half ton (standard) armor stripped off from cap
15 DHS
Swapped the UAC20 for a regular 20 w/ 3 tons ammo
cut the MRM launcher down to a 30 rack w/ 2 tons ammo
retained the arm mounted large lasers
And of course the ECM

Faster
better sustained firepower
more reliable AC

Fixed my problems.

Edited by Lykaon, 20 May 2019 - 08:41 AM.

[rook]

Honestly, the D-DC is a lot weaker due to not having the armor quirks, even though it has ECM. Also, with the D-DC and S, I'd still go with SRMs over MRMs. AC20+3 SRM6, or UAC20 + 3 SRM6 is a pretty strong punch.

2x AC5's is not very strong here, you could at least swap out those for UAC5's to up your DPS.
I would swap your arm "backup" weapons from pulse lasers to ER med's
To save a little bit of weight, you can strip from your legs 1/4 to 1/2 ton (per leg) and same with arms. Your main weapons are in the torsos, and unlikely anyone will shoot your arms anyway.

Pick up a D and go with UAC20 + 2x MRM30, or pick up a K and go with LBX20/HGauss + MRM40

[plodder]

It was mentioned about Atlas D-DC pilots getting low scores. I love the mech, but it is a mech others concentrate to take out on the battle field. Tanks with ECM are troubling if left not focused.

This can be fun. Runs HOT. You can cool it, but a fun runner as is.

https://mwo.smurfy-n...e745173cc1335ac

This one does a good job even with less weaponry. Use the cooldown in skills to speed the fire rate.

https://mwo.smurfy-n...dfc9c177d83a266

On skills I will use mobility tree heavily with most Atlas builds, Mostly for movement of twisting, reversing,stop/start, and maximum pitch and yaw. Slow motion dance, and your best opportunity to take out the light.

#1 rule to me when brawling a significantly faster mech opponent is to do it in reverse. Tighter turning angles enabling destructive hits. GLHF

[Void Angel]

Why do you need ER Medium Lasers in a heat-limited build?