24 replies to this topic

[ZenTrickery]

So you've closed the distance to a Cata and then suddenly realize it's an SRM boat. At this point, what do you do? How do you gain range before you're blown to bits?

I try to keep my range and know what I'm facing before I engage, but I still find myself face-to-face with SRM Catas on occasion. Do I just need to be more patient? Or is there a good way to avoid the massive incoming damage?

[shadevarr]

hit R, this will let you target it and get info on it before you get within the 270m killzone.

[Snib]

Cats are trivial to head shot, so if you cannot avoid running into one just keep your cool and one-shot him.

[TankHamsta]

ZenTrickery, on 05 February 2013 - 04:13 PM, said:

So you've closed the distance to a Cata and then suddenly realize it's an SRM boat. At this point, what do you do?

At this point, realize that you has made the critical error of not recognizing what type of catapult it was until YOU closed the distance & that you deserve to die for making such a noob mistake.

Many SRM cats have a habit of peeking out to see where the enemy is. When they peek out and you recognize their speed + giant box arms & the fact that they're not launching LRMs at you, you should recognize that they be an SRM boat.
(Box arm = missile boat of some type. Nonbox arms be K2.)

As such, either snipe with whatever weapons you has. Even med lasers will work, all you has to do is attempt to damage any part of their body before they close the distance. If you deal sufficient damage, you can either kill them outright (Head or side torso be preferable) or make them weaker than a medium mech (blow out an arm)

The other way to deal with the SRM cat be to recognize they be down 1 heavy mech past ~200 meters. See if you can out range them & attempt to take down one of the enemy's own ranged mechs.

And finally, many noob SRM cats like to Leeroy. Simply stand back (to avoid friendly fire), focus on the only possible target your team has and move on.

[PhDGreg]

Don't stand in front of them within their effective range.
It isn't rocket science

A half decent light pilot can stay behind them or duck in and out of cover. A heavier mech is likely to have something longer range to use against them. And as it has been said, always be sure to have target info (or at least have your wits about you) before advancing.

It's always worth "gently scanning" them with your lasers for weak spots - I've run into SRM Cats with almost no leg armour - once they lose a leg, they lose any chance of getting good shots on a light mech.

[Kommisar]

I love how many guys make these big sweeping statements about how "easy" something is. Like:

"Just keep the range."
"Just shoot off the ears."
"Don't stand in front of them."
"Always know what type of Cat it is."

Oh... I just have to win? Man, if only I had figured that out months ago. Now this game is easy!

Come on. Unless you are a troll or a noob, you know better. Things are messy and never absolute. And even the best pilot can have an SRMCat that he didn't see pop up on his flank. Or three. Or you have the battle where there are, what, four to six Catapults running around. Good luck keeping track of which is which when they are all relatively fast and hugging that ECM blanket close. Or, yea. ECM. The thingie that hides what a mech's loadout is.

Now, add to this that not all of us are in premade drops with Vet players. You know, the ones that will talk to you and support you when you get hung out. For a lot of players, they are doing their best by tucking in close to an assault (preferably a DDC with ECM of their own) and screening him. And, not every map is Caustic Valley with long view distances.

*GASP* Sometimes, the other team is good and/or gets lucky and can sneak in.

So, let's dump all the chest bumping fools that pretend that they are immune to getting stuck in a bad spot during a fight.

What do you do when you have a nasty AC/20 or SRM6 Catapult pop up inside his optimal range to hurt you?

To be honest, not a whole lot. He's likely going to tag you to some extent.

If you are fast, you should try to blow right past/by him. A LOT of factors to consider in this split second decision. But, if you try to stop, he has you dead. If you try to back up, that means you have to stop first... same result. If you turn and run, he gets to see your back while you are trying turn and flee. So, like a wide receiver in football or a striker in soccer, you punch through and force him to turn to keep up. Mind you, this works best if he is danger close.

If you are slow (assaults, most heavies, some mediums) and cover is not available; your options slim even more. First, prepare to take a hit. It's going to hurt. If you survive it, you had better have already made up your mind as to what you are going to do. Fight or flight. If you lean towards flight, you best have 2 of 3 very important things.

• Speed. If you are slower than, say 65 kph, you're just going to die tired. You are not escaping this guy.
  
• Cover and Terrain. Something to give you that break in LOS. Or even a significant change in elevation can do the trick. Something you can use to buy you time and delay that follow on alpha that will finish you. Or better, if you are lucky and the guy is not patient, actually miss with that next shot. Does happen.
  
• Friends! Friends near-by that can and will help you. Can and will; both.

If you don't have 2 of the above, then fight is your highest probability choice. Very few builds actually pack enough of an alpha strike to reliably take off an arm in one hit. If you have one, then go for it and hope you have enough armor to survive the 3x SRM6 hit coming. If you don't, then stop. Full stop. Aim. And hit that cockpit area. It's a long shot; but possible as long as your alpha is pumping out more than 20 and you don't have serious convergence issues. Head popping a Cat use to be simple; since they shrunk the hitbox back in December, not as easy. If you hit, win! If you don't drop him then he gets another alpha and you most likely will not get a second shot.

If you are unfortunate enough to have more than one on you; your best option is to use your remaining seconds to allow your teammates to kill/cripple them. Lead them out in the open if you can. Or ram one and stop them from moving. Let your friends use your burning, screaming death to get easy shots on them.

Most of the SRMCat pilots use to be Leroys. Rushing out to find their personal Valhalla or something. I've been running into a whole lot of smarter ones of late. In premade teams that run wolf-pack. Smart, quick and talking. It's a lot of the guys that use to run Raven 3Ls all the time that miss their lag shield or got bored. Problems is, they are still good pilots that know timing and how to pick a target. And how to hide and not give up the game like the above guys seem to always assume.

Hope this helps. Not the most optimistic outlook here, I know. But, if an SRMCat gets that close and has the jump on you, you're getting hammered.

[RenegadeMaster]

Aside from everything else mentioned here, the Target Info and radar range modules may help with identifying mech builds sooner. Those have been extremely helpful with my heavy & assault builds that run slower...aside from my SRM cat

[PlzDie]

Kommisar, on 06 February 2013 - 09:04 AM, said:

I love how many guys make these big sweeping statements about how "easy" something is. Like:

"Just keep the range."
"Just shoot off the ears."
"Don't stand in front of them."
"Always know what type of Cat it is."

Oh... I just have to win? Man, if only I had figured that out months ago. Now this game is easy!

Come on. Unless you are a troll or a noob, you know better. Things are messy and never absolute. And even the best pilot can have an SRMCat that he didn't see pop up on his flank. Or three. Or you have the battle where there are, what, four to six Catapults running around. Good luck keeping track of which is which when they are all relatively fast and hugging that ECM blanket close. Or, yea. ECM. The thingie that hides what a mech's loadout is.

Now, add to this that not all of us are in premade drops with Vet players. You know, the ones that will talk to you and support you when you get hung out. For a lot of players, they are doing their best by tucking in close to an assault (preferably a DDC with ECM of their own) and screening him. And, not every map is Caustic Valley with long view distances.

*GASP* Sometimes, the other team is good and/or gets lucky and can sneak in.

So, let's dump all the chest bumping fools that pretend that they are immune to getting stuck in a bad spot during a fight.

What do you do when you have a nasty AC/20 or SRM6 Catapult pop up inside his optimal range to hurt you?

To be honest, not a whole lot. He's likely going to tag you to some extent.

If you are fast, you should try to blow right past/by him. A LOT of factors to consider in this split second decision. But, if you try to stop, he has you dead. If you try to back up, that means you have to stop first... same result. If you turn and run, he gets to see your back while you are trying turn and flee. So, like a wide receiver in football or a striker in soccer, you punch through and force him to turn to keep up. Mind you, this works best if he is danger close.

If you are slow (assaults, most heavies, some mediums) and cover is not available; your options slim even more. First, prepare to take a hit. It's going to hurt. If you survive it, you had better have already made up your mind as to what you are going to do. Fight or flight. If you lean towards flight, you best have 2 of 3 very important things.

• Speed. If you are slower than, say 65 kph, you're just going to die tired. You are not escaping this guy.
  
• Cover and Terrain. Something to give you that break in LOS. Or even a significant change in elevation can do the trick. Something you can use to buy you time and delay that follow on alpha that will finish you. Or better, if you are lucky and the guy is not patient, actually miss with that next shot. Does happen.
  
• Friends! Friends near-by that can and will help you. Can and will; both.

If you don't have 2 of the above, then fight is your highest probability choice. Very few builds actually pack enough of an alpha strike to reliably take off an arm in one hit. If you have one, then go for it and hope you have enough armor to survive the 3x SRM6 hit coming. If you don't, then stop. Full stop. Aim. And hit that cockpit area. It's a long shot; but possible as long as your alpha is pumping out more than 20 and you don't have serious convergence issues. Head popping a Cat use to be simple; since they shrunk the hitbox back in December, not as easy. If you hit, win! If you don't drop him then he gets another alpha and you most likely will not get a second shot.


If you are unfortunate enough to have more than one on you; your best option is to use your remaining seconds to allow your teammates to kill/cripple them. Lead them out in the open if you can. Or ram one and stop them from moving. Let your friends use your burning, screaming death to get easy shots on them.

Most of the SRMCat pilots use to be Leroys. Rushing out to find their personal Valhalla or something. I've been running into a whole lot of smarter ones of late. In premade teams that run wolf-pack. Smart, quick and talking. It's a lot of the guys that use to run Raven 3Ls all the time that miss their lag shield or got bored. Problems is, they are still good pilots that know timing and how to pick a target. And how to hide and not give up the game like the above guys seem to always assume.

Hope this helps. Not the most optimistic outlook here, I know. But, if an SRMCat gets that close and has the jump on you, you're getting hammered.

Very nicely put.

[Daggett]

Kommisar said it all. 'Stay out of range' and all those hints are futile against a well driven SRM6-Boat because he will stay hidden until the brawl starts and then flank you while you are occupied. Only bad SRM-boat players run frontally in your direction and give you time to 'stay out of range' or 'shoot his ears off'. They instead will suddently pop up behind you and wipe the floor with you

Even an average SRM6-Boat pilot WILL most likely kill the first enemy he encounters. That's his strength.
And then it's up to the enemy team.

If they realize the threat, they will focus him down to prevent him from killing a second mech.
If not the SRM6-Boat will totally dominate the match.

Been there and done that. If they focus me when piloting such a beast, i'll do 'only' 400-600 dmg before i die.
If they don't, my dmg raises up to the fourth digit easily.

Of cause there will be the occasional headshot or a sniper taking out his Arm/Torso before he is able to wreak havok, but in most games focusing him down is the only reliable way to survive.

Sure, if you are fast you can run and escape him. But then he just shrugs his massive shoulders and kills a slower target instead unless he gets focused down quickly...

SRM6 boats are always my primary target, they have to fall as quickly as possible or they will carry the enemy team to victory.

Edited by Daggett, 06 February 2013 - 09:58 AM.

[Mordin Ashe]

+1 to Kommisar.
Things are messy and you don't usually win with builds, but quick thinking and some luck. Against cheesy builds and high enemy numbers you usually need both.

As regards running away from SRM boats, it depends on what you are driving.
If you are faster than some 80 kmph, you can run away. It will require quick thinking and something to hide behind while running. Also, if there is another enemy Mech on you, even this won't help you and you are probably dead.

If you are slow, you should have some SRMs on you to give those catas a taste of their own medicine. Assault with at least 4xSRM6 is capable of killing 6xSRM6 Cata simply by outlasting it. If you are playing in group, you can try focusing fire, but fighting usually takes a lot of attention and SRM Catapults can be pretty sneaky.

What kills SRM boats is long range fighting, since they can't fight back and Catapult is very fragile when in crossfire. In some cases LRMs are useless and gausses aren't as common as they could be. But given how many PPCs are in battles since patch, it gives you some chance. Try not to get surprised and expect the worst. SRM boats are pain in the lower back, but still somehow balanced since to run them properly, you have to be sneaky, play smart and never get caught in the open. It may sound harsh but if they tear you apart, you did something wrong, either by playing godmode or lack of team cooperation.

[1453 R]

Kommisar has the right of it.

If you don't spot him coming, or peg his ears off at range, or any of those other things that were mentioned above that have nothing to do with the question at hand...if you're already within SRM range of him and are trying to get away...well, you're going to get hurt. Probably badly, with a good chance of being hurt right to death. That's what Splattercats do, its the one thing they're built to excel at. I agree that trying to blow past him is about the only reasonable option you have, dependent on a large number of factors. If he's got you in front of him about a hundred, hundred-fifty meters...take note of what you did wrong and try not to do it again in your next life. Nobody'll blame you for getting blown up by Splatters, everyone's been there at least once.

If you do get away from him, remember to tell your team he's there. Even if all you can manage is blurting "Splatcat" in team chat as you run away like a leetle baby man, then at the very least you've alerted your allies that there is such a beast on the enemy team and they need to be cautious around Catapults. This is also something you can do if you don't get away from him, at which point you can be a bit more specific; i.e. "Splatcat in D6 w/bad left arm. Avenge me!"

[Novawrecker]

Face your least desired part of your mech towards that cat as you move out of 270m. Just pray the cat doesn't see you as his mouse

[StalaggtIKE]

shadevarr, on 05 February 2013 - 04:17 PM, said:

hit R, this will let you target it and get info on it before you get within the 270m killzone.

NOPE. ECM.

[xxx WreckinBallRaj xxx]

It's a cheese build. It basically auto wins any fight on slow targets. Best I can tell you is don't try to 1vs1 and try to strip arms. If you can take an arm down quickly off an A1, they lose half of their entire build. If not, you'll probably drop dead after 2-3 alphas.

[Kaldor]

WRU knockdowns? Would help immensely against the face hugging noobs that most of these pilots are... Come to think of it, would help fix alot of the issues in game atm....

But Kommisar pretty much hit it on the head.

[Kiiyor]

Well, if he can get that close to you, you're already dead. Spider, fly, web, dinner.

[Hex Pallett]

I made a post under Battlemech subforum a few days ago. LOL what a debate.

At current stage, it's fundamentally impossible to escape a Splatcat since it could easily get a XL300 engine which is almost impossible to escape from. All you can do to counter an SRM cat is...Teamspeak. Drop with a few people who knows what he's doing and the Splatcat's ears will be gone before long,

[SC1P1O]

If you can see that his bay doors are open on the ears that's a good indication he is boating srms. It might help you spot them before you can get an info read or if they are under some ecm.

[Jman5]

Assuming you are faster, but not that much faster:

• Priority 1 is putting 150 meters between you two. SRM 6's have crazy-high spread, but can absolutely obliterate you at under 100m. Just beeline it in a straight line for the first leg of your escape. Make sure you are swiveling around randomly to spread the damage during the most dangerous part.

• Once you have put the minimum distance between the two of you, try to get a feel for his timing. The SRM 6 has a 4 second cooldown. Right as his cooldown expires, do a wild turn or suddenly duck behind a rock and hopefully he blows his shot. The ideal scenario is that you are only in his crosshairs when his missiles are on cooldown.

• Make damn sure you are running toward your allies and not away. Early in the encounter hit the big map and find friendlies. The catapult will think twice and at the very least you can use your teammates as cover.

• Sometimes, you need to run straight toward him to escape. If you're cruising along and suddenly mr. A1 is staring you in the face, it can often times take more time to stop, turn around, and accelerate back. Just bolt right by him and take your 1 hit. By the time he turns around and gives chase, you are long gone. Remember, keep a straight line for maximum advantage. And swivel your side in case he lets one go at 50 meters.

[joedawg39s]

Sometimes all you have is the lucky headshot. Even if you can only get through the armor, the next guy might have better luck.

Edited by joedawg39s, 10 February 2013 - 06:29 PM.