11 replies to this topic

[Flyby215]

First off, thanks so much for the game! It's great to be a Mechwarrior again!

So I've been playing the Trial Awesome and having a blast (no pun intended), dumping my missiles on poor suckers who aren't looking then sniping away with the large lasers... which to me seems to be the exact role a Catapult would play...

As such, I've saved enough money to buy one, but can't bring myself to do it since it's just another short stretch to affording an Atlas.

What are the benefits to being a Catapult driver over the Trial Awesome?

[Lyteros]

Cata is faster and smaller, thus harder to hit, Cata is also faster in twisting torso and defending against harassing lights. Cata has the ability to use JJ which furthers mobility and evasion advantage.

Cata has a somewhat lower armor tough (if you get cata near max its not that far from the awesome, only 60 points difference).

if its between cata and awesome: Take the cata or save up for the atlas. Atlas pretty much always beats awesome (except maybe you throw a newbie in vs a veteran)

Edited by Lyteros, 01 November 2012 - 01:53 AM.

[Commander Gravey]

Flyby215, on 01 November 2012 - 01:47 AM, said:

First off, thanks so much for the game! It's great to be a Mechwarrior again!

So I've been playing the Trial Awesome and having a blast (no pun intended), dumping my missiles on poor suckers who aren't looking then sniping away with the large lasers... which to me seems to be the exact role a Catapult would play...

As such, I've saved enough money to buy one, but can't bring myself to do it since it's just another short stretch to affording an Atlas.

What are the benefits to being a Catapult driver over the Trial Awesome?

Get a Catapult A1 and put 6 Streak SRM2's on it and you will rock the battlefield... even the pesky Commandos and Jenner will fall spectacular to your knees like this:

[Ran]

I just bought a Catapult yesterday to function as a missile boat. After being killed in a few matches, I realized that the money lost was far, far, far too much for someone without Founder+Premium credits increases. They are incredibly costly in upkeep.

Edited by Ran, 01 November 2012 - 01:53 AM.

[Lyteros]

The moment you dont rearm them and go out with the 75% the system gives you without cost, you'll keep the RnR to a minimum.

[Mastodonic]

You'll have a lot more flexibility if you buy an atlas or awesome. If you like the 8T then i highly recommend the 8R or if you can save double the coin, the glorious 9M. If you get sick of boating LRMs or want to save money, throw some SRM6s or streaks and MPLS and go brawling. Or throw in a couple PPCs and a few smaller LRMS. Same idea with the atlas.

Catapult is a bit more pigeon-holed into missile boating. You'd want to be certain that that was the role you want to stick with.

[627]

I don't recommend an A1 as first cat, or as first mech. this is nearly always a highly specialised build and always costly. I ran my C1 founder, a K2 and the A1, C1 and K2 are fine, but with the tweaked A1 i didn't earn money, after RnR it was some 10.000 cbills, if i won and survived(with bonus).

So, which cat? C1 is more flexible, you can tag your own targets and still have nice punch with three medium (pulse) lasers. Never tried the C4, only two energy hardpoints, and only in CT. Its between C1 and A1, but i see no sense in this thing. I like a energy backup when missiles are out (A1 is another story).

With the C1, i can do nearly everything, you can fit a brawler with srm6 and pulse lasers, you can go energy only with three large (pulse) lasers, you can mount PPCs or you go the LRM way or a mix with LRM20 and SRM6 plus lasers and on top of that you have jump jets. I really like my C1

K2... not much to say, Gauss it and get some fun, or AC5 and fancy lasers.

What makes the cat better than the atlas? nothing i would say. Atlas has way more tonnage to experiment with but is also slower, bigger and a number one target on the field.

I'd rather be the cat 100m behind the atlas

Edited by 627, 01 November 2012 - 02:20 AM.

[Shalune]

The main thing for a catapult is the added mobility from speed, jumpjets and torso twisting. If all you care about is being the biggest, baddest bunch of LRMs this side of the Mississippi you may want to use the Awesome that has 4 missile slots. I would strongly advise against an Atlas if your main interest is LRMs. It's much more limited than the Awesome for this because of the hardpoint layout.

A huge advantage to a catapult, awesome and even your own AWS-8T over a trial AWS-8T is that you can put much more ammo on them.

[EDMW CSN]

I have clear 2 catapults variants at the moment and I am looking at the K2 as the 3rd variant.
Yes the Founders and A1 are ammo hogs if you go the LRM / Streak route.

I am looking at like 81K C-bill re-arms bills for the A1, so unless I did stellar, rarely do I top up ammo.

[627]

try to not pay rearming cost - you get 75% ammo for free, not a bad deal.

I got 2 tons SSRM and it would cost 27.000 for those 50 Missiles missing. 150 is enough for my two launchers...

[Krondor]

I really like my C1, it's quite a versatile mech. For missile boating I've got it loaded with 3 ML, 2 LRM15s, and >1,200 missiles and the heat sinks for at least a minute of sustained, non-stop fire.

My second favourite config is 2 LL, 2 ML, and 2 SRMs/SSRMs and maxing the armour. A fully armoured cat is pretty decent and with a pair of large lasers is actually pretty deadly. I personally think it's one of the most versatile mechs in the game.

[DrVulcan]

Shalune, on 01 November 2012 - 02:51 AM, said:

If all you care about is being the biggest, baddest bunch of LRMs this side of the Mississippi you may want to use the Awesome that has 4 missile slots.

I have found that this awsome can support 65-80 LRMs depending on what you want to give up, but be careful, my best dps overall has been with the 65 lrm build far over the 80 build due to how slow / limited ammo / limited coolant that the 80 had.

Cat is a very versatile mech family, however each version is a little pigeon holed (C1 less so), less so with an atlas however even there you will see it due to limited missile slots / etc.
Cat is a fun mech to use however, if you haven't used one you will be very surprised how good the torso twist is (especially with the pilot upgrade).
There is a reason you see a lot of founders in it even though they have access to the Atlas