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So, you have an Atlas. Good for you. It's a 'Mech that's said even to make a MechWarrior veteran break into a sweat at the thought of facing one down, and for good reason: it's essentially a walking fortress, carrying around several tons of armor and having virtually any set of weapons you want. Cramming multiple firearms into the right torso, stacking lasers into the arms and/or the middile torso, piling missile launchers into the left torso; it's all possible.
This thread is about those who want to focus more on the missiles than on ballistics or lasers.
Despite the Atlas meaning to be a jack-of-all-trades 'Mech that crush anything that tries to brawl with it, it's able to play the role of the LRMboat with the best of them. There's a couple of advantages to doing so too: firstly, you'll act as a hard-counter to any other LRMboats out there simply because you're a walking brick; anything that tries to get into a straight LRM war with you is going to be on the losing end barring some big disaster. Second, the Atlas' huge tonnage cap means you can fit several sidearms on it for anything that manages to get past your minimum range (200m in this case), though don't get too carried away since your focus is going to be on missiles.
So, how to put a LRM Atlas together? It depends on the variant:
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AS7-D/AS7-RS: Sans some hardpoint shuffling, these two are similar enough to be described together. Both can hold two LRM 20's at most for a group of 40 missiles per salvo, which is pretty good for something with only two missile hardpoints. These variations are meant for versatility though, so you may consider going with LRM 15's instead to fit more close combat alternatives on.
AS7-D-DC: If pure offensive power is more your speed, then this will probably be your choice. There's no reason not to go all-out on LRM placement if you choose this variant: the most you can stack on is two LRM 20's and a LRM 10 for salvos of 50, since that's all you can fit in the Left Torso. Putting all of them on the same weapon group and holding the button down will produce a nearly-constant stream of missiles for your target to deal with.
AS7-K: This one is more meant for pure defense against missiles, but that doesn't mean you can't still launch your own even if the most you can put on is a LRM 20 due to only having one missile hardpoint. The kicker, however, is that you get two Anti-Missile Systems, along with the extra room for any sidearms you want. Just make sure you carry a lot of AMS ammo though. Partner up with another long range 'Mech on your team who has an AMS of his own - it doesn't even have to be another Atlas - and laugh as you both pelt the enemies with missiles while most if not all of theirs that they shoot at you collide with a wall of bullets instead of your torso.
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Some tips and tricks:
-Don't be afraid to go with the lightest Standard engine you can. As a long range bot, it won't usually be necessary for you to go to the front lines, and it doesn't take that long to get to a good launching spot.
-This is probably a given for any Atlas user, but rearrange your center, left and right torso armor to have more in the front than the back. Also consider Ferro-Fibrous armor if you can fit it on with your weapons. The longer you can weather the enemy's long range bombardments, the more likely they'll fall to your own. Don't be afraid to duck and hide/power down if things get too hairy though.
-Keep in touch with your scouts and TAG/NARC users, and tell your team to keep lock-ons. You yourself don't need to see the enemy to hit it with LRMs so long as they remember to spot for you.
-Priortize ranged enemies and enemies that aren't getting ganked by your allies if there are any you can target. More often than not you'll cause them to think twice about helping the unfortunate ganking victim, and if the ranged enemy in question decided to target you for interfering, all the better: more often than not, he'll lose in a straight range war with a LRM Atlas.
-If you want to be cunning, try slipping a TAG or a NARC into your Atlas. The range buffer between them and the LRMs is small, but if you can pull it off the unlucky target will eat every one of your missiles.
-Pile on lots of LRM and AMS ammo. You'll need enough of both for a sustained long range fight. Remember to use C.A.S.E. unless you're cramming all the ammo onto the arms or something.
-Don't forget the sidearms! LRMs are useless under 200m, and most players - whether they're aware of this or not - will rush at you until they're close enough to hit you with small or medium lasers. Pack something at least decently-damaging to deal with such nuisances, especially Light mechs.
-Request a bodyguard of some sort, be it something light, something huge or even another LRMboat. Two heads are better than one, and it'll make dealing with pests that get past your minimum range much easier. Also try to bodyguard other LRMboats if they ask for it.
For the sake of discussion and reference, my preferred LRM Atlas is a AS7-D-DC with two LRM 20's and a LRM 10 - 8 tons of ammo for 1440 missiles total - and a ER Large Laser on each arm. It works beautifully: I vomit missiles constantly and can bring down 'Mechs from 100% to cored with just those in a few seconds (the most I can destroy like this per round is four) and dual ER Large Lasers is a great sidearm/finisher for whatever is within their 600m+ range.
Edited by SL the Pyro, 30 October 2012 - 02:33 AM.
