28 replies to this topic

[Ihlrath]

Are so many assaults afraid to get their paint scratched? Why are lights and mediums doing all the tanking while assaults and heavies hide behind corners? I'm not talking about the snipers... brawl build assault and heavies hiding through the match. You do know you're eventually going to get shot and killed no matter how hard you try to hide right?

Is this some sort of new strat that I'm not aware of or something? I feel like I'm missing something here.

[Spheroid]

Perhaps because there is no incentive to die quickly in the pursuit of win? The reward structure of this game incentivizes damage for higher match score and in game currency.

Assaults with their generally amble payload are best suited to carry heavy hard hitting long range weaponry. Is this a real question?

Edited by Spheroid, 04 October 2023 - 03:15 PM.

[LordNothing]

because players in other weight classes like to use assaults to tank damage for them, use them as meat shields, and provide very little support. so i don't blame them at all fighting a lot more conservatively. keeping your assaults alive is how games are won. they would be more inclined to move up if it didnt mean certain death. assaults arent the only ones not wanting to get their mechs dirty.

Edited by LordNothing, 04 October 2023 - 03:13 PM.

[Ihlrath]

Spheroid, on 04 October 2023 - 03:06 PM, said:

Perhaps because there is no incentive to die quickly in the pursuit of win? The reward structure of this game incentivizes damage for higher match score and in game currency.

Assaults with their generally amble payload are best suited to carry heavy hard hitting long range weaponry. Is this a real question?

I quite literally said 'not the snipers' I understand why they sit back. But when they're rocking SRMS/large caliber ACs and they refuse to engage I don't get what they're attempting to do. Sitting back and letting the rest of the team die before you engage is not a winning strategy.

[Karhyy]

Not just an assault thing, plenty players in all weight classes who just press their S key at first sign of enemy and ending the game with sub 200 damage even when they were one of the last ones to go down while managing to scratch the back paint of everyone friendly in front of them. Funny how in these situations the team that presses their W key usually is the winner, excluding the cases where you have a good firing line and stay there, emphasis on the stay instead of running.

[LordNothing]

Ihlrath, on 04 October 2023 - 03:57 PM, said:

I quite literally said 'not the snipers' I understand why they sit back. But when they're rocking SRMS/large caliber ACs and they refuse to engage I don't get what they're attempting to do. Sitting back and letting the rest of the team die before you engage is not a winning strategy.

getting brawlers up to the front is difficult without team support, especially in an erll rich environment. as soon as someone starts shooting at them the support scurry away like cockroaches leaving the assault to soak up all the damage. the end result is you are now down 100 tons and you are no closer to destroying one of theirs. assaults can only put the hurt on the enemy if they are alive.

i tend to run my assaults more aggressively than others, but im not going to make stupid decisions, like relying on the team to do anything other than watch me die. or charging into no mans land getting a few scratch shots in before i die.

Edited by LordNothing, 04 October 2023 - 04:39 PM.

[Joanna Conners]

I tend to prefer heavy mechs, but I do love assaults. The problem is that whenever I try to advance first and tank for folks, no one follows or goes abreast to create a firing line and I die instantly. This is the issue for most people who aren't afraid to advance. Some folks are genuinely too scared to advance even with support.

[Ihlrath]

I dunno I guess I just don't understand how the game works anymore. Constant loses, constant bad performances where I feel like I'm letting the team down because I can barely break 300-500 damage and a couple kills each game on average. I dunno if I'm supposed to hang near the assaults and chase off lights, scout and get intel, or try to hunt down enemy snipers.

I honestly don't know where the meta is and what assaults have morphed into or where their role comes in and as a medium pilot how to support that these days.

[The6thMessenger]

Because you guys don't and won't support your assaults as a coordinated push.

Because you guys don't and won't escort your assaults to their positions.

Because you guys just selfishly expect sacrifice from your assaults, and give nothing in return.

Damn straight the assaults will only think of themselves when you do that. They will do more and better as clean-up crew.

Edited by The6thMessenger, 04 October 2023 - 05:31 PM.

[Joanna Conners]

The6thMessenger, on 04 October 2023 - 05:30 PM, said:

Because you guys don't and won't support your assaults as a coordinated push.

Because you guys don't and won't escort your assaults to their positions.

Because you guys just selfishly expect sacrifice from your assaults, and give nothing in return.

Damn straight the assaults will only think of themselves when you do that. They will do more and better as clean-up crew.

Sadly true. I try to escort the big folk whenever I can. Nothing worse than being away from the frontline and helpless while a light eats you alive and your team has abandoned you.

[Richard Hazen]

Wanna know why, I just pushed forward as an assault, did less than 200 damage took near 1k of damage, we were doing a push, other assaults didn't come, others hid behind me, push failed, I died I complained, I got "why are you whining, u were whining all game *crying sounds*" Sod that I'm not going to work for the team any more when I get that reaction for putting my enjoyment second to others and still get treated like ****.

Edited by Will Hawker, 04 October 2023 - 06:38 PM.

[CFC Conky]

One should't expect the assault mechs to just automatically push just because they are assault mechs. An unsupported push is a useless push.

I've also seen pushes fail because the assault mech(s) stop in a choke point preventing the rest of the team from firing/supporting said push but the former is usually more likely.

Good hunting,
CFC Conky

[The Mech behind you]

I play all classes and maybe it's just me, but I find it easier to attack, poke around corners or over hills or even stay alive in lights and mediums then assaults these days. Especially now after the introduction of HAGs and Blasers, which do the most damage to assaults, because they're big and slow. Those side torsos fall off so easily. Size and speed is a better protection now than armour.

Plus you can retreat in smaller mechs in case your attack doesn't go the way you want. You can't retreat in an assault. Once you engage in a push, you either win or die.

[martian]

Ihlrath, on 04 October 2023 - 02:50 PM, said:

Are so many assaults afraid to get their paint scratched? Why are lights and mediums doing all the tanking while assaults and heavies hide behind corners? I'm not talking about the snipers... brawl build assault and heavies hiding through the match. You do know you're eventually going to get shot and killed no matter how hard you try to hide right?

Is this some sort of new strat that I'm not aware of or something? I feel like I'm missing something here.

Some of them are probably simply afraid. On some maps this is warranted (for example, Alpine Peaks) since they do not want to be sniped to death after they leave cover. On some maps this is less warranted (Solaris City), since some assaults refuse to engage even when there are no snipers because there are tall buildings all around.

But there is probably nothing what you could with it.

[BumbleBee]

Assaults, funnily enough, die faster than many Mediums and Heavies.

Sure, they have more armour, but they are so big that shots that would have missed or spread around on Heavies often hit one location making them much squishier than some people seem to think. Heavies will often last longer than an Assault under fire.

IMO, they are best used as the "Big Guns" and move in just after the combat has already started. If they move in first, chances are that all that ordinance will be lost before it can be used as they are focused down fast, leaving the Heavies and Mediums at a huge disadvantage.

[LordNothing]

martian, on 04 October 2023 - 08:36 PM, said:

Some of them are probably simply afraid. On some maps this is warranted (for example, Alpine Peaks) since they do not want to be sniped to death after they leave cover. On some maps this is less warranted (Solaris City), since some assaults refuse to engage even when there are no snipers because there are tall buildings all around.

But there is probably nothing what you could with it.

solaris city is a problem because of all the choke points. you can enter an area and other mechs in the formation trade from the choke, and then you cannot retreat if there was more stuff there than you thought. you can be meters from your buddies and still be completely ******. i find it works out better to break away from the group on that map because they can get you killed easy, and controlling as many choke points as possible tends to result in victory. and a single assault with nothing behind it makes one hell of a gatekeeper.

that said i do not like chokepoint oriented maps, because mechs are large and easily succumb to traffic jams, or people stop to trade stalling the push and screwing over those who went in first. fp siege was bad for this but not nearly as bad as solaris city soup.

Edited by LordNothing, 05 October 2023 - 04:16 AM.

[martian]

LordNothing, on 05 October 2023 - 04:15 AM, said:

solaris city is a problem because of all the choke points. you can enter an area and other mechs in the formation trade from the choke, and then you cannot retreat if there was more stuff there than you thought. you can be meters from your buddies and still be completely ******. i find it works out better to break away from the group on that map because they can get you killed easy, and controlling as many choke points as possible tends to result in victory. and a single assault with nothing behind it makes one hell of a gatekeeper.

I meant brawling assault(s) that refuse to fight even if I launch UAV, so they can see that there are no enemies around except the one enemy 'Mech that I am currently fighting.

LordNothing, on 05 October 2023 - 04:15 AM, said:

that said i do not like chokepoint oriented maps, because mechs are large and easily succumb to traffic jams, or people stop to trade stalling the push and screwing over those who went in first. fp siege was bad for this but not nearly as bad as solaris city soup.

I agree. Maps with chokepoints, that barely one biggish 'Mech can move through, suck.

[Ken Harkin]

Ihlrath, on 04 October 2023 - 02:50 PM, said:

... brawl build assault and heavies hiding through the match. You do know you're eventually going to get shot and killed no matter how hard you try to hide right?

Is this some sort of new strat that I'm not aware of or something? I feel like I'm missing something here.

My preferred heavies are 310m brawl builds. SPPC, ML and AC20. Is there a reason I should be running out front to attract fire from the ERLL Direwolf looking for morons who are exposing themselves or otherwise attracting fire to no benefit. I have learned the most important skill in MOW is... PATIENCE! That eagerness to run in and make the kill, get first blood, etc. is what gets you killed. Staying alive and in the fight is what matters.

This does not mean I do not push when the call comes and sometimes I make it myself. It does mean though that I am not going to run out and expose myself to no advantage when there are others more than happy to makes such a mistake on both sides.

[bilagaana]

Ihlrath, on 04 October 2023 - 02:50 PM, said:

... brawl build assault and heavies hiding through the match.
... I feel like I'm missing something here.

Forgive the repetition, but....

It's because though not all assault pilots are timid and unskilled, all timid and unskilled players pilot assaults.

[Kamiko Kross]

The Mech behind you, on 04 October 2023 - 07:57 PM, said:

I play all classes and maybe it's just me, but I find it easier to attack, poke around corners or over hills or even stay alive in lights and mediums then assaults these days. Especially now after the introduction of HAGs and Blasers, which do the most damage to assaults, because they're big and slow. Those side torsos fall off so easily. Size and speed is a better protection now than armour.

Plus you can retreat in smaller mechs in case your attack doesn't go the way you want. You can't retreat in an assault. Once you engage in a push, you either win or die.

One of the reasons, that if your assault can take bigger engines-do so.
Most put teeny tiny engines in and pack moar gunz to get dem numborz.
I've found a 65+kph assault survives better than a 48kph one....