24 replies to this topic

[KaptinOrk]

Kiiyor, on 18 August 2021 - 04:49 PM, said:

Though the Cauldron buffed some under performing weapon systems (including a lot of shorter ranged options) In my experience, bias is tending to longer range pinpoint builds, or mixes of pinpoint and laser vom. You can still do well with shorter range builds if the planets align, but it's getting harder to advance under the curtains of PPCs and Gauss blotting out the sun, with the occasional stab of cerulean blue from LPLs or clan ERLLs for flavour.

PPC Veagles are stupendously powerful mediums - though not-Veagle mediums in general are hurting at the moment (IMHO) with their fragility and the abundance of whopping great alphas. Range is your friend.

As someone that likes to play shortish ranged mediums, especially those with AC/20s, SRMs and/or MPLas, this is absolutely, painfully, accurate; the long range, pin-point, front-loaded damage (LRPPFLD, for short) meta is hell.

I just want to brawl...

Edited by KaptinOrk, 04 September 2021 - 12:56 PM.

[Kiiyor]

KaptinOrk, on 04 September 2021 - 12:50 PM, said:

As someone that likes to play shortish ranged mediums, especially those with AC/20s, SRMs and/or MPLas, this is absolutely, painfully, accurate; the long range, pin-point, front-loaded damage (LRPPFLD, for short) meta is hell.

I just want to brawl...

Yeah, you still can, it's just.... harder. I've heard arguments from people in game saying it's still possible, but those arguing are almost always in some form of group...

...and i've found that you can indeed brawl just fine if you have a few friends on comms who know how to support each other.

Which doesn't help at all if you're running solo.

Centurions are in a reasonable place though if you do enjoy the rush of a good knife fight.

Just try and teach yourself to not stick your neck out at all until there are at least a few kills on the board - it takes a while for all the enterprising wall snipers to have been tickled enough that they are considering cover more than just blowing great holes in your armour from a gridsquare away.

Also, you need to think a lot more about your exit strategies for a brawl or strafing run. Admittedly, for me, most of my exit conditions for a fight are "one of us dies" but i've found it's better for my mech-health if I make myself pay attention to where friendlies are, or at least some cover I know has no baddies in it, so i've got somewhere to scamper off to if I'm receiving any sort of attention from the enemy.

The lure of the dark side is great though. It's so much easier to mechlab a Dire or Hellbringer or Veagle or BloodAsp and load them for bear, so you can just "use gun on mech" like you're in a point and click adventure game.

[KaptinOrk]

Kiiyor, on 04 September 2021 - 11:27 PM, said:

Yeah, you still can, it's just.... harder. I've heard arguments from people in game saying it's still possible, but those arguing are almost always in some form of group...

...and i've found that you can indeed brawl just fine if you have a few friends on comms who know how to support each other.

Which doesn't help at all if you're running solo.

Centurions are in a reasonable place though if you do enjoy the rush of a good knife fight.

Just try and teach yourself to not stick your neck out at all until there are at least a few kills on the board - it takes a while for all the enterprising wall snipers to have been tickled enough that they are considering cover more than just blowing great holes in your armour from a gridsquare away.

Also, you need to think a lot more about your exit strategies for a brawl or strafing run. Admittedly, for me, most of my exit conditions for a fight are "one of us dies" but i've found it's better for my mech-health if I make myself pay attention to where friendlies are, or at least some cover I know has no baddies in it, so i've got somewhere to scamper off to if I'm receiving any sort of attention from the enemy.

The lure of the dark side is great though. It's so much easier to mechlab a Dire or Hellbringer or Veagle or BloodAsp and load them for bear, so you can just "use gun on mech" like you're in a point and click adventure game.

I'm exclusively a solo player and finding a PUG that's willing to brawl or at least cover the brawlers has been difficult, it doesn't help that everyone wants to play the new HPG Manifold and Polar Highlands with their wall sniping and peekpoke builds.

I'm having the most difficult time sitting around in the early game, I can wait until the team pulls a few kills, but I feel like I'm dead weight until then. Waiting for my team to land a few kills has proved problematic too, there are some times my team goes 1-4 in the first minute of combat and I feel like I'm kinda stuck at that point.

[VeeOt Dragon]

honestly i say play what you enjoy. perhaps take inspiration from some one else's build ideas but don't feel you have to stick to whatever "Meta" someone tells you. just have FUN.

also you can always use the "View in Mechlab" tab in the store to test build ideas. you can even test it in the testing grounds at no cost (i rarely ever look up build ideas from others, though i do accept suggestions that might fit what i am going for better). i used to spend hours just going through mechs in the store and testing out different builds. still do from time to time when i am looking to get a new mech or have an idea for a build that one of the mechs i already own can't quite do.

Edited by VeeOt Dragon, 05 September 2021 - 06:52 AM.

[Kiiyor]

KaptinOrk, on 05 September 2021 - 01:40 AM, said:

I'm having the most difficult time sitting around in the early game, I can wait until the team pulls a few kills, but I feel like I'm dead weight until then. Waiting for my team to land a few kills has proved problematic too, there are some times my team goes 1-4 in the first minute of combat and I feel like I'm kinda stuck at that point.

Yeah, I have the same issue. I KNOW that I need to be a little patient, but... mech front need shooting ug. Thing is, if I DO make myself wait, I tend to do better anyway, even if we're a little down on kills, because the enemy will likely still be banged up from initial trades.

I'm getting better at it. You can fight early if you want, but the biggest issue is that fights in the first few minutes of the match will invariably see both teams (reasonably) clumped together, before everyone spreads out after first contact to try and secure fire lines. Peeking at a clumped team = probably getting shot at by more than one mech, which means those snipers already having overwatch on the battlefield are more likely to orange a component on your fragile mediums whilst you can't realistically trade with them.

If you do like to flirt with danger, as I do, make sure your mech or playstyle lets you get away with it. If you have JJs, you can poptart a little. If you have a lot of speed, you can use it to spread damage better while you dart back into cover.

And most importantly, if you get away with a short ranged trade early on, reposition if the enemy notices you. Seriously. It can be hard to find a decent spot to shoot from without starting a rotation, but if you shoot an enemy and their pointy bits or the pointy bits of their allies turn towards you, move on.

If i'm a brawler, I tend to take the most effective damage when I push my luck poking at the same spot too many times. If i'm something mid/long range, I almost always do the most damage against pilots who peek more than once in the same spot.