39 replies to this topic

[Serapth]

With all the ongoing hatred of the SplatCat ( Catapult A1 with 6xSRM6 ) I decided to give one a shot for the last couple hours.

First off, it is effective, but not overwhelmingly so. It's actually a mech I recommend taking in PUGs, as even if you get rolled, you can easily get a kill or two in. I will say, the torso twist is *VERY* powerful in a knife fight, probably too much so.

Second, heat is a trick. An Alpha leaves you pretty hot, but after making an Alpha strike, the whole friggin world turns on you! You can put a world of hurt on anyone, but after that shot, you are kinda useless for a good 20 seconds or so.

Third, it's an easy mech to play, it really is StreakCat v2. I played REALLY REALLY REALLY badly a couple matches as I struggled with the heat curve, and still walked away with 3 kills. Really, the mech is all about running up someones hoop, unloading, waiting for heat to be OK and unloading again.

Some of the details about the Splatcat seem exhagerated, both good and bad. You dont always put out 1000+ damage rounds every round, my average seemed more like 4-500 or so. I think for high damage rounds, LRMs are still your best bet. On top, you don't lose your ears near as commonly as people said... its generally your massive noggin that does you in.

One thing I will say... running this build causes massive hatred. I got some incredibly vile comments thrown my way while riding this mech. Never experience this with other mechs I've ridden.


In the end though, it's not as powerful as people make it out to be. If you are a good pilot, you will probably be more effective in other mechs. The need to facehump is just too much of a limitation of this build, and you are really the most hated mech out there now that the Raven 3l is shootable again. You will draw a hell of a lot of fire once your presence is known.


On the other hand, if you are a newer or less skilled pilot, this is probably the easiest mech to be "somewhat" effective in.

Just be ready for just about everyone to think you are a complete *****. You will get bashed for piloting this mech, so if that's the kind of thing that bothers you, stay away. Then again, almost every time I got snarked at, it was by someone I killed, often people I think were part of a premade. So, if you like feasting on premade tears, you will enjoy this mech.


TL;DR version -- it's powerful, but as you get more skilled, it becomes more of a limiting factor, you will do better in other mechs. It's probably not as powerful as people currently claim. If you are looking for an easy to pilot mech, this is probably the easiest there is, but it's also kinda boring. Finally, people WILL hate you.

[Nicholas Carlyle]

I think the fact that it's boring, easy to use and very powerful in chaotic situations.

It just puts a magnifying glass on the small maps and lack of true objectives.

[Chavette]

Thanks for telling us, we really didnt know any of that.

[Davers]

It can be a real hit or miss mech. I was dropping with someone running one the other night. Matches seemed to go one of 2 ways, either he did 1200 damage and got 5 kills, or he lost his ears and ran around looking kinda pathetic until someone finished him off.

The main reason Splatcats are effective is everyone loads up on medium lasers and SRMs and tried to get in close, which is playing right into their strength. I like watching them getting LRM'd to death, or sniped out by long range builds.

[wynce]

Its a decent mech, im way more scared of a dual ac20 cat though.

[Roland]

Quote

Second, heat is a trick. An Alpha leaves you pretty hot,

Are you not running double heat sinks?

[Darknight99]

I see one and I think kill it now even if its on my own team... it will get my beloved C1's torso twist nerf'd bah.....

[BLUPRNT]

I have no issue with this build, except when on its receiving end I feel ***** by an ape. I learned not to drop the soap in the shower (be more aware next time).

Very nice post. Well worded, well presented, and with good character. Thanks for trying one out before you posted your thoughts. I agree with all of it.

[Gallowglas]

Serapth, your experience echoes my own. It's powerful in certain circumstances and probably seems a lot more powerful in the hands of less experienced pilots, but as your skill goes up, you'll likely get just as many kills, be more prepared for different operational parameters, and have more fun in a more versatile build.

[Praehotec8]

Serapth, on 11 February 2013 - 01:53 PM, said:

Some of the details about the Splatcat seem exhagerated, both good and bad. You dont always put out 1000+ damage rounds every round, my average seemed more like 4-500 or so. I think for high damage rounds, LRMs are still your best bet. On top, you don't lose your ears near as commonly as people said... its generally your massive noggin that does you in.
In the end though, it's not as powerful as people make it out to be. If you are a good pilot, you will probably be more effective in other mechs. The need to facehump is just too much of a limitation of this build

I agree, I run all four variants of catapult, and while I do lose "ears", more often I just get cored due to the huge size of the core torse.

I also agree that the facehumping mechanic is what overpowers this build. One idea I have is to add a minimum range to SRMs or to add splashback damage to the launching mech for explosions within a cerain distance (say 25m). Adding collisions back in would also help.

[ConnorSinclair]

Roland, on 11 February 2013 - 02:04 PM, said:

Are you not running double heat sinks?

probably not,

The only real issue I have with my A1 is my XL, theres tons of loadouts.

[p00k]

and then you start joining 4mans that all run it

[Rhent]

Serapth, on 11 February 2013 - 01:53 PM, said:

With all the ongoing hatred of the SplatCat ( Catapult A1 with 6xSRM6 ) I decided to give one a shot for the last couple hours.

First off, it is effective, but not overwhelmingly so. It's actually a mech I recommend taking in PUGs, as even if you get rolled, you can easily get a kill or two in. I will say, the torso twist is *VERY* powerful in a knife fight, probably too much so.

Second, heat is a trick. An Alpha leaves you pretty hot, but after making an Alpha strike, the whole friggin world turns on you! You can put a world of hurt on anyone, but after that shot, you are kinda useless for a good 20 seconds or so.

Third, it's an easy mech to play, it really is StreakCat v2. I played REALLY REALLY REALLY badly a couple matches as I struggled with the heat curve, and still walked away with 3 kills. Really, the mech is all about running up someones hoop, unloading, waiting for heat to be OK and unloading again.

Some of the details about the Splatcat seem exhagerated, both good and bad. You dont always put out 1000+ damage rounds every round, my average seemed more like 4-500 or so. I think for high damage rounds, LRMs are still your best bet. On top, you don't lose your ears near as commonly as people said... its generally your massive noggin that does you in.

One thing I will say... running this build causes massive hatred. I got some incredibly vile comments thrown my way while riding this mech. Never experience this with other mechs I've ridden.


In the end though, it's not as powerful as people make it out to be. If you are a good pilot, you will probably be more effective in other mechs. The need to facehump is just too much of a limitation of this build, and you are really the most hated mech out there now that the Raven 3l is shootable again. You will draw a hell of a lot of fire once your presence is known.


On the other hand, if you are a newer or less skilled pilot, this is probably the easiest mech to be "somewhat" effective in.

Just be ready for just about everyone to think you are a complete *****. You will get bashed for piloting this mech, so if that's the kind of thing that bothers you, stay away. Then again, almost every time I got snarked at, it was by someone I killed, often people I think were part of a premade. So, if you like feasting on premade tears, you will enjoy this mech.


TL;DR version -- it's powerful, but as you get more skilled, it becomes more of a limiting factor, you will do better in other mechs. It's probably not as powerful as people currently claim. If you are looking for an easy to pilot mech, this is probably the easiest there is, but it's also kinda boring. Finally, people WILL hate you.

You are playing it wrong, there are two tactics to play an A1. First, size up your group and map. Next decide what is the best way to fight, you have two good strategies:

1st) Fight with the main group but hold back at least 30 sec to 45 sec in the fight and wait for your team to do damage to a number of mechs torsos. Hit W and look around the field for the closes/most damaged red mech and beeline and destroy him, rinse and repeat. If you go out into the fight too soon, you are a priority target just like the hunch cat and A1's are the easiest mech in the game to disable.

2nd) Go the stealther route. All maps have heavy cover. If you start seeing a lot of Sniper or LRM fire, you know there are going to be mechs who are zoomed in and will be easy targets to kill from the back. Take the Trench/Cave in Ice Map, the Tunnel Forest, or the left path Caustic and work your way to the farthest back sniper/LRM boat and unload in their torsos. You actually will get 2 to 3 volleys on some idiots who just keep sniping or LRM firing rather than deal with you.

You will get a lot of bile from the poorer players. I've seen snipers who would follow a damaged brawler behind a building to get an easy kill and allow themselves take a point blank and completely avoidable attack just to get a kill and die, and then they ***** about dying to a "Splatcat". Who in their right mind as a sniper, would go point blank range blind behind a building and fight a brawler?

As to heat, you are running way too many SRM's. Run 5 SRM6's + 14 DHS + 2 JJ + 700 SRM rounds, and you can fight a lot longer, and you are lot more survivable. Have a 3 SRM6 firing group available once you start overheating, because once you overheat you are dead. You can use cover to sneak up on a Sniper or LRM boat who have no Short Range weapons, kill them, take some damage from their friends as you are running for your ears to take cover and try another attack later.

[BlueSanta]

I love my Splat and it is my favorite ride. I have no problem with being the object of hatred because it's the greatest troll mech.

And as an experienced pilot of one, it sounds like you were being really stupid about heat management.

[Carnivoris]

I'll have to agree with pretty much everything OP said. I rolled a splatcat a couple days ago and have been enjoying it as it's just kinda fun to pilot the FOTW every now and then But, it's by no means an instant-win button. You have to pace yourself and wait for the right time to strike, otherwise, you're gonna get off a couple alphas and be immediately focused down. I had a game earlier where I BARELY broke 100 damage.

OP, I think you might have a bit of a wonky build if all you can get off is one alpha before you have to stop and cool down. My alpha generates right at 33% heat, so I can get off about 3 before I have to stop (on any map besides Caustic, anyway). And, for some reason, my ears get blown off more often than I get killed via headshot.

The Splatcat really is a run and gun mech. Get in, alpha, get out. You have to use cover to your advantage and WAIT for the right time to strike. It's a patience build.

I'd say your average damage output is about the same as mine. If I was running with a 4-man, I could probably get consistently 700-1k damage but, in pugs, I'm shooting for 700 most of the time. That being said, I've been getting 1k+ damage in some pugs, but I'm pretty sure there are 4 mans on my team during those times.

Is it the best thing ever? No. It's got limited range and doesn't 1-shot everything it hits (except lights... oh, those delicious little light kills never get old!). It IS, however, an interesting way to play that I've not experienced before. I'll also have to state that I was much more effective with the splatcat than the boomcat.

[Serapth]

Roland, on 11 February 2013 - 02:04 PM, said:

Are you not running double heat sinks?

I am running DHS. I dont pretend it is an ideal build, but it had a heat efficiency of 1.35ish so I focused more on ammo and even armour over more heat sinks. If I kept playing this build I would certainly down armour a bit, maybe drop a ton or two of ammo in favor of heatsinks.

p00k, on 11 February 2013 - 02:08 PM, said:

and then you start joining 4mans that all run it

Thats premades, not the build. 4 premades in Ravens or D-DCs are equally cheese.

Edited by Serapth, 11 February 2013 - 02:15 PM.

[Vasces Diablo]

The moment we were allowed to change the load out of a mech, boating (and this concepts like the splatcat) was gonna happen. I'm one if those stubborn jerks who wished PGI went with static variants, so that people had to learn the role of a mech and play it thy way, but that ship has sailed.

I ran a version in beta and it was fun for a while, but ultimately boring to play pretty quick.

Good post OP.

[Gallowglas]

Vasces Diablo, on 11 February 2013 - 02:16 PM, said:

The moment we were allowed to change the load out of a mech, boating (and this concepts like the splatcat) was gonna happen. I'm one if those stubborn jerks who wished PGI went with static variants, so that people had to learn the role of a mech and play it thy way, but that ship has sailed.

II suspect at some point we will have stock-only match options. It may be a while, but I would bet that there will be enough of a demand for that that PGI will put it in at some point.

[Serapth]

Gallowglas, on 11 February 2013 - 02:19 PM, said:

II suspect at some point we will have stock-only match options. It may be a while, but I would bet that there will be enough of a demand for that that PGI will put it in at some point.

I would play that mode in a heartbeat *IF* it auto backconverted your mechs to stock, instead of making it do it yourself.

I would also like to be able to make minor alterations... Just trivial stuff, like adding more ammo. Some of the stock builds in this game are downright useless if you cant change ammo load outs.

[Inviticus]

I have a Splatacat. I don't really care for it. Missile spread is too erratic for my taste. I've figured out the 125-150m distance is the sweet spot since the missiles more or less all hit the same location but the Mech is too situation for me to really enjoy it. I've also come to realize that SRM4s behave in a more consistant manner than SRM6s. I'd happily trade two of those missile hard points for ballistics.

Edited by Inviticus, 11 February 2013 - 02:30 PM.