11 replies to this topic

[Stalwart Spaghetti]

Just wanted to show it off as well as ask if anyone has any suggestions for a beginner friendly assault mech. So far I have a Hunchback 4P (pictured here), a Crab 27b, and a Dervish 6MR but I really want to try assaults, but they are very expensive and I only have one slot left so I want to make sure I pick a good one.

Thanks for any tips you can provide! See you out there.

Edited by Stalwart Spaghetti, 20 June 2021 - 06:08 PM.

[ScrapIron Prime]

Stalwart, congrats on skilling up the Hunchback! Hope you're having fun with it.

Before we start throwing out OUR favorite assault mechs, let's ask what you like? Energy weapons, missiles, ballistic, point and click, hose with fire... etc. Inner Sphere or Clan?

the big thing to remember about assault mechs is that they're big targets. The slowest ones are unforgiving to play at first, because you take a while to get into position and a while to get back OUT of that position. So choose wisely!

That said... what's your poison?

[Tarl Cabot]

As a new player, I am having difficulty suggesting any assaults. Kitting correctly it can absorb damage and dish out damage, provided it is not caught by itself. Assaults tend to be the slowest mechs and one of the two classes (lights) to really master successfully.

If you havent, try out the trial assaults first. Not as a preferred assault to purchase but more to get an idea of how they actually play. And because they are expensive, get that experience first. You went with IS mechs so far but once kitted out they are just as expensive as Clan assaults, both omni and battletechs. Omnis have the fixed engined/components but switchable pods while battlemechs treated like IS battlemechs.

Mauler w/Dakka
Direwolf w/Dakka
Warhawk w/energy
The Stalker w/MRM and ML.. is okay but is at the bottom of that pile.

In fact, I would say wait til PGI has a sale before actually purchasing an assault, but if I were to get an assault, Mad Cat II-B (Dakka) for Clan and Battlemaster G and C for energy. Cyclops, Anni,

Otherwise go heavy and there are many to choice from.. but we need more information.

Of the mechs you purchased and the trials you have dropped in, What is your preferences? Energy.. Ballistics.. Mix Energy/short-medium range missiles, etc?

And for your mechs. Front load the armor. Dependent on weight class, 4-8 in all rear torso and max out the front sections. Dependent on weight class, the lighter the mech max it out. For arms, are there weapons in arms or empty? Dependent on arm size, can they be effective used as a SHIELD to absorb incoming damage when torso twisting?

And as a final suggestion.. you can kit up mechs from the store ( DO NOT PURCHASE anything) and take it for a ride in the testing grounds.

[Stalwart Spaghetti]

Tarl Cabot, on 20 June 2021 - 06:40 PM, said:

<snip>

ScrapIron Prime, on 20 June 2021 - 06:35 PM, said:

<snip>

Thanks to you both for the reply. All three of the mechs I'm using are ER medium laser or medium pulse. I am enjoying the peak and shoot gameplay style with those weapons. So far the hunchback has been my favorite with eight ER medium lasers. I am not opposed to trying out ballistics and in fact I would like to for my assault choice, but since you guys say it may not be best for me yet I am open to any heavy suggestions. I do really like to be able to pinpoint parts and chop arms/side torsos off though, so maybe lasers is what I should stay with?

I don't know the maps so well yet so I usually find myself following others and providing second line supporting fire, so if there is a heavy mech that fits this style maybe it would be good.

Also thanks for the torso twist tip, I did find this out very fast when a Madcat ripped my hunch off in about 3 seconds, ever since then I been twisting like crazy.

Edit: As of now I have 2 open slots, so maybe I'll try a heavy and an assault when I get the c-bills or there is a sale like you said. I am unfortunately in the position where I can't spend much real cash on this game right now, so my options are limited for that I forgot to mention.

Edited by Stalwart Spaghetti, 20 June 2021 - 07:07 PM.

[martian]

Stalwart Spaghetti, on 20 June 2021 - 06:07 PM, said:

I really want to try assaults, but they are very expensive and I only have one slot left so I want to make sure I pick a good one.

Assault 'Mechs are not easy to use right, but if you are sure that you need one ...

Blood Asp

1. It is faster than some other Assault 'Mechs.

2. It is an OmniMech. That means that you can use various OmniPods to create diverse loadouts, while keeping just that one chassis. Later you can change OmniPods with different hardpoints, while still keeping that one 'Mech.

3. It can carry ECM (in selected models) and that is always a useful thing to have.

Edited by martian, 20 June 2021 - 08:00 PM.

[Aidan Crenshaw]

martian, on 20 June 2021 - 07:39 PM, said:

Assault 'Mechs are not easy to use right, but if you are sure that you need one ...

Blood Asp

1. It is faster than some other Assault 'Mechs.

2. It is an OmniMech. That means that you can use various OmniPods to create diverse loadouts, while keeping just that one chassis. Later you can change OmniPods with different hardpoints, while still keeping that one 'Mech.

3. It can carry ECM (in selected models) and that is always a useful thing to have.

That would be the -A variant if you want to include a JJ in your build or the -B variant for ECM only without JJ.

[Gagis]

I recommend using the -A for the dakka loadouts such as 3UAC5+UAC10 or 2UAC10+UAC20 and -B for 3UAC5+2ERPPC or 3AC5+2ERPPC, since the latter two are reeeeeally tight on heat sinks and ammo and can't afford the 2 tons for a JJ.

[ScrapIron Prime]

I agree with the above, the blood asp is a good choice. A clan omnimech allows you to make major load out changes without buying an entirely new mech, whereas inner sphere assaults tend to favor one build per chassis, and that takes up more mech bay slots.

the clan mechs also tend to be a bit faster than their IS counterparts (because they run XL engines which are a death sentence for IS mechs but not for clan) and faster is more forgiving.

[Tarl Cabot]

ScrapIron Prime, on 21 June 2021 - 04:49 AM, said:

I agree with the above, the blood asp is a good choice. A clan omnimech allows you to make major load out changes without buying an entirely new mech, whereas inner sphere assaults tend to favor one build per chassis, and that takes up more mech bay slots.

the clan mechs also tend to be a bit faster than their IS counterparts (because they run XL engines which are a death sentence for IS mechs but not for clan) and faster is more forgiving.

And what ScrapIron means by a death sentence is that PGI kept part of the rules from the boardgame, where if an engine is hit with 3 critical hits, the mech shutdown (destroyed in MWO). Thus with an isXL engine, the loss of a side torso with its 3 engine slots destroys the mech, engine crits are not generated any other way.

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 23 June 2021 - 03:42 AM.

[The Basilisk]

Hello @Stalwart, Assaults are my favorites.
While they are difficult to master they are also the most diverse kinds of beasts in game.
In the following wall of text I wrote up most cassis but only variants that i feel are worth discussing.:

--The 80 - 85T Branch can safely be described as Heavy on speed and while beeing just as fast as a slow heavy, they are also considderably larger and less agile...so careful with poking.

--> On Clan side there would be the Gargoyle, a 80T Omnimech with a serious weaponcapacity and size problem. Due to its movement model and scaling the mech is quite vulnerable for concentrated direct fire. This problem is enforced by its quite low hanging arm weapons. while there are some omnipods that give you relatively high mounted energy hardpoints and your speed makes tactical movements easy your overal viable loadouts are essentially limited to loadouts featuring large pulse lasers and maybe medium lasers for assistence. As troll/niche builds you could equip a myrriad of energy hardpoints to the arms with micro lasers to bring light into the day of very wannabe brawler. Wouldn't recommend that mech.

--> An other Clan side 80T but not Omnimech is the Warhammer IIC. While the A variant has 2 two ballisic harpoints in its arms all other variants are either missile or energy mechs. Its closest inner sphere relative is the Awsome but the whammy neither got the quircs of the awsome nor the advantageous movement or hitbox profile of its namesake on is side...my advise is stay away from it until you are a fan.

--> In the 85T branch of Clan Assault Battlemechs you may considder the Marauder IIC. It is uncanningly fast, can mount high ballistic hard points(Var-A) or features buffs for PPCs and energy wepons, and even got an ECM Variant (Var-D), its hero Var Scorch is one of the few assault brawlers that I would use on clan side with dual AC20 of your liking and 4 hardpoints waiting to be fitted with SRMs this thing will pulverize anything comming close to it. In addition to all that it can micro twist due to its advantageous hitboxes(micro twisting means you do not need to twist more than 15-20° in comparision to other mechs that need at leas a solid 45° to be effective in it)

--> The 85T Omnimech of the Clans is the Warhawk (Masakari). Its neither too slow nor its too large or has too low hardpoints...it is...ok...ish....as you might have guessed until now I'm not a fan. You can do a mix of Gauss, PPC, Quad PPC or Laser builds but I always feel just a bit too undergunned, just a bit too slow, just ...not quite right.

--> But Basilisk why did you not mention the MadCat MkII...you may ask. Well...because this mech is an atrocity and borders on exploiting obviously wrongly implemented code. Any remotely skilled pilot will effin rip through the enemy team until he meets an other MKII or gets imediately and relentlessly focused by the whole enemy team.

-- On IS side there are a number of Mechs in the 80-85T Branch of Assault mechs. (Awesome, Charger, Hatamoto Chi, Stalker, Victor, Zeus, Battlemaster) As far as I am concerned the Battlemaster, Charger and Awsome are the most viable mechs of the bunch, while Victor and Stalker are the weakest.

--> The BLR-2C Battlemaster features decent blend of mobility, high hardpoints and resonably good resistance quirks to make it an almost forgiving Mech to pilot. With 5 high energy hardpoints and one arm energy harpoint additionaly to two AMS hardpoints you can do medium range poking without getting too exposed and or too worried about missile attacks. It is fast enough to move within your casual deathball and will almost always be able to hit something that pops up within 450m with enough force to be sure that the enemy knows you are there. The BLR-1S is your mech when you are more into medium range missile fighting. 2 Hardpoints in your arms and two more on one shoulder can give you considderable firepower in condensed bursts (you can oneside the mech with MRM 60 left and two LPLs or LL on the right shoulder f.e.) Very recommendable.

--> The Charger is even more mobile than the Battlemaster and alows for a more...eclectic loadout that gives you options for missile+ large AC builds, MRM builds or energy only builds. Its main upside is its mobility while its downside is the more distributed and lower hardpoints. Also its hitboxes are not quite as good as the BMasters in my opinion. Its not a bad mech...if you like it.

-->The Awsome is the only mech that can effectively carry either 3 PPC/ERPPC or 3 HPPC and fire them at once without ghostheat. Nuff said ....ok there is more it also can do some missile builds/ LRM and MRM but its real strength is the PPC Boating capacity of its main Variant. Its primary downside is its geometry and low resistance quirks that makes it incredibly vulnerable to PPFLD builds.

-- The 90 to 100T branch of Assaults is filled with some of the oddest and most deadly mechs in game. The reason why some of those mechs seem so weired is that MWO (as its predecessors) failed hard at bringing some of the characterizing and necessary features of the BATTLETECH Universe Mechs to live. (stuff for an other post, it begins with physical close combat and the fact that low hardpoints are not relevant when you have arm weapons and that mech combat should be much much slower than the boom and zoom runaround but mechs beeing also much more agile than they are depiced in MWO)

--> The Highlander IIC is a jumpcapable 90T Battlemech Chassis with mostly mixed asymetric medium hight hardpoint layout. It has okish mobility for an assault, large but not crippling hitboxes and at least some durability quirks. All in all it tends to short ranged brawling builds with SRM and big ACs...Gauss and Lasers or PPCs is possible too but not easy to play...I would recomend keeping of it for now.

--> The Supernova is a slow energy or long range missile boat with not much tollerance for bad builds or bad movement. When used correctly it can dish out cruel, brutal damage over medium to long ranges but it is no good at all in close range fights and allways needs its team for support.

--> The Executioner is arguably the fastest Assault in game and also one of the oddest things you might encounter. Very high statue, very low armhardpoints very low podspace, masc and jumpcapable and the ability to dissipate ludicrous ammounts of heat. It is a trickster, a glass cannon for ppl that want to pull of the oddest moves while still driving a huge mech. HANDS OF!!!

--> The Bloodasp is a 95T Warcrime stuffed into an Omnimech Chassis. This atrocity has everything you want, beginning with decent movement, lots of podspace, high hardpoints, okish hitboxes, ECM and one of the uggliest appearances of all Omnimechs. Its big advantage is that its direct fire torso hardpoints all reside OVER the cockpit or at cockpit height. The only thing you have to do now is shed ridiculous ammounts of C-bills for that guy....20mio should suffice to get you going...and find the right combo of omnipods you want for either balisic, mixed or energy only high hardpoint action. (Be sure to pick either the A or the B Variant as base to get ECM capability)

--> The Direwolf is the Clans 100T Omnimech....it is quite slow, expensive, less durable than the IS 100T Assaults but it is the only mech that can field 8 Ultra AC2 when you buy its hero addon Ultraviolet...he can deliver unquestionable lots of dakka but you need a lot of team support...not a mech for beginners....Oh and it is the only Mech that is legitimatly able to field Quad Gauss without too much downsides.(trollalarm)

-- On IS Side of the 90 to 100T branch are some of the strongest and most notorious killers you will find in MWO as it is atm.

-->The Cyclops is a versatile 90T Mech that has a unique feature. Its build in starleague tacticom B-2000 command and communication phalanx buffes your teams sensors when they stay close enough to you (within several hundred meters) There are a number of viable Cyclops builds around going from SRM brawlers (Q variant) over Energy and Ballistics medrange supporter, Rotarry Dakka (11-A Variant), Ballistic/SRM shortrange (11-A-DC), ECM/stealth Energy Ballistic (11-P),
and last but not least the dualheavy gauss capable hero mech Sleipnir...one of the deadlyest mechs in game.
Hitboxes and mobility are decent on that mech but not great...not the best mech for beginners but doable and one of the most versatile chassis of the assault series.

--> The Highlander is much like its clan pendant a mixed hardpoints jumpcapable 90T mech that tends to be on the slow side while beeing resonably robust but overall always lacks something if you want to fully max out one of its aspects...its not what it could have been. Not inherently bad but overshadowed by others by a quite discernable margin. Wouldn't recomend it.

--> The Mauler is a 90T slow squishy dakka and missile mech with okish hardpoints but garbage hitboxes. It was very good when it came out but suffered from some nerfs and flatout better mechs that came later.

-->The Banshee....95T of...my advice would be to just keep your hands of it until you want to catch em all.

--> The Corsair is an other 95T high gain lots of pain mech. Slow but not super slow, some good hardpoints but a very very broad torso and easily discernable hitboxes. If you are good at poking and moving with the team its a dangerous mech but it is very unforgiving regarding your timing.

--> The Nightstar is an often underestimated 95T Battlemech with decent hardpoints, quite okish hitboxes and sufficent movement capabilitys. Piloting the Nightstar you will use a mix of ballistic and Energy Weapons that are either on hight with your cockpit or just slightly below. Its biggest downside is its large from top surface that makes it vulnerable for attacs from above and large LRM launchers or other spread weapons. The NSR10P will give you ECM capability and the ability to field a 2xUAC5/2UAC2 loadout in your arms with some medium backup lasers and enough cooling, ammo and speed reserves to get your enemy seriously annoyed of it. The 9S is one of the few Mechs that will allow for a ghost heat free dual Ultra AC20 layout with ample secondary weapons and cooling. The 9J enables you to fire 4 ERPPCs without ghostheat, the 9P gives you an 4 UAC5 layout on cockpit height and finaly the 9FC gives you a bigger engine max if you think 95T mechs should run up to 70kph and weapons are overrated. Finaly the Nightstar Hero the Wolf Phoenix gives you the ability to field LRM 60 or even 80 with enough ammo and still enough secondary firepower in its arms to make sure you can still do some considderable dmg when the enemy desides that cuddling big old assault mechs is a good idea. If you want to try slow Assaults this would be one to try.

--> The Annihilator is an overarmored walking 100T gunemplacement. Very slow, very large, lots of direct fire weapons. If a team gatheres around you and is patient enough to stay close you are their anchor and the ammount of dakka you may dish out ist hillarious enough to make even Direwolves think about running but you will often simply be eaten by a group of lights and mediums getting under your guns befor you fired a single shot. HANDS OF

--> The Atlas became actually quite good after the last patch but you have to be able to handle different weapons correctly to get the most out of it. This thing is tonn by tonn the most resilient thing you may encounter if the pilot is remotely competent and does not panic. Its layout is mostly MRM/SRM and ballistic med to short range themed but you can also do energy builds (Boars Head, RS and to an extend S ie tripple snub) The K Atlas fields 2 AMS and hast most armor quirks (use something along the lines of HGauss+MRM40 with quad M or Mpulse as backup) The D-DC will give you ECM and the ability to field MRM60 + AC20. The RS can field Gauss or HGauss with 3LPL1ML or 3LL1ML. The S will give you 4 missile hardpoints you either could fill with 4ASRM6 and AC20 or 4MRM10 and a HGauss.
Its not a bad chassis in quickplay but its also not realy easy to use.

--> The Kingcrab is a difficult to pilot mech due to its geometry making it the most vulnerable mech for any kind of spreadfire weapons that comes from just slightly above. Its main weapons are also quite low hanging in its arms or if you use its torso hardpoints very vulnerable concentrated in a large hunch on one side....hands of till you are realy profficient at this.

--> The Marauder II is just mean. It can micro twist has armor and or structure quirks, high hardpoints and isn't too slow.(All its variants are also capable of mounting JJs)
The 4A might be regarded as weakest of the Marauders since its an all energy mech but...weak is very relative here. Use it with 3LLasers and some ERMeds and you will melt face all day if you do not get separated from your team. Also be sure to max out your laser quirks since it brings a flatout 10% beamduration reduction from start.
The 4HP has 9 symetricaly torso based Missile hardpoints that screem MRM me.
The 4L has 4 Ballistic Hardpoints in its arms, 2 Energy in its Torso, ECM and stealth Quirks...it also can fire 2Gauss and an ERPPC without ghostheat thx to quirks. So hide and peek is a thing here.
The 5A can do some medium to shortrange Pulslaser + AC shenanigans.
The 6A is nice with 3 snub and an AC20. It also can do 2ERPPC and Gauss without ghostheat...that means 3 ERPPC and a Gauss with surviable ghostheat.
The Marauder II Hero Alpha has a 20%Ultra jam chance reduction and is pretty solit with 2U5 and 2U2. In my opinion the only Hero that gives you a realy advantage. Not a bad buy at all

--> And last but very much not least. The Fafnir.
It is compact for a 100T Mech good quirks and lots and lots of armor...it also fields dual heavy gauss.
It also requires solid movement and targeting skills but when managed that...oh baby.
I would still recommend not to start with this thing...its just too prominent and requires too much timing and situational awareness.

Edited by The Basilisk, 21 June 2021 - 06:27 AM.

[ScrapIron Prime]

The Basilisk, on 21 June 2021 - 05:14 AM, said:

--> The Highlander is much like its clan pendant a mixed hardpoints jumpcapable 90T mech that tends to be on the slow side while beeing resonably robust but overall always lacks something if you want to fully max out one of its aspects...its not what it could have been. Not inherently bad but overshadowed by others by a quite discernable margin. Wouldn't recomend it.

Actually, my Highlander 733P is my most reliable and best performing assault mech. But then, I'm odd, i like generalist builds that work in the brawl line. If you find a build that just WORKS for you and get really good at it, it doesn't matter that its not in the list of best mechs. What matters is that you deliver for your team and have fun doing it.

So, Stalwart, what are you angling for at this point, and how can the community help you build it?

Edited by ScrapIron Prime, 21 June 2021 - 08:47 AM.

[Leone]

https://mwomercs.com...ting-thy-enemy/ I've an old thread for newbs piloting assaults. You may wish to give it a peruse whilst deciding. Meant more for tactics than mech suggestion.

I'd also suggest hopping onto a mech build site and finding a two button build you could live with. Since you like the lasers and are considering ballistics, you could build something like this BLR-1G and post it here and we could come back with suggestions and tweaks and say "No, get the double heatsinks!" "The arm mounts are kinda low, I've another mech that can do the same thing better!" and help guide to towards something else that might be more what you're looking for, or just help tweak your proposed mech build to be more efficient.

Personally I'm a fan of Rac builds for ballistics, and don't think the assaults are the best platform for learning 'em. A marauder 3R or 5M has a decent ballistics torso a fairly forgiving design for receiving fire and can still fit a few energy weapons in the arms. If you don't want to get another hunchback (the 4G was my test mech for learning ballistics, back in the day,) I feel a marauder would not be a terrible choice. The best part about torso mounts is that a standard engine mech can try things like an lbx 20 or dual rac 5s or dual light gauss and give you a feel for all the weapons systems without having to buy any new mechs.

~Leone.