MechWarrior Online Mech Specific Tips

MechWarrior Online Mech Specific Tips by Garth Erlam and Paul Inouye

Catapult: (A1 variant is crap :-)

DO:

Keep yourself at a distance. The Catapult is a long range fire support BattleMech.
Plan your weapon groups wisely. Try splitting your lasers into group 1 and 2 (2 each), and put the LRMs on groups 3 and 4.
The tricky part to keeping your heat under control is to not fire all your missiles at once. Fire one pod, wait about a second, then fire the next pod.
Having your lasers on two separate groups helps keep the heat down as well. It also allows you to fire all of them if required.
Have an Atlas closing in on you? Keep your distance. Your speed and agility are your saving grace. Keep a lock on him and rain down the LRMs while blasting it with the lasers.
The Catapult is one of the heaviest ‘Mechs in our game that has Jump Jet capability, use it wisely to get line of sight on enemies at long range and fire those missile pods.

DON’T

Stay still. You are a sitting duck to any enemy with LRMs. Act like a sniper and shoot and move!
Fire too many things at the same time. The Catapult will generate large amounts of heat firing its weapon systems.
AC/20’s are your worst enemies. If you get an Atlas or a Hunchback on your tail, do not run in straight lines. Use your turning speed and jump jets to avoid getting hit by a big slug-o-death.
Ignore Jenners. They are a pain in the butt and can close the gap between you very quickly. Try to bring your LRM’s down on their heads as soon as possible and alternate fire your lasers to keep a constant damage rate on target.
Use your LRMs at close range. When an enemy is within a certain range of you, your LRMs become as effective as beach balls. They will fire, but they will just bounce off your target.

UPDATE:

Cats come with two LRM20. I swap out for four LRM5 and load up with ammo about 4000. In a twenty minute bout I can fire all day and seem to get better damage. Granted its dispersed damage but hey, when an atlas is pounding the target too, it works :-) I also seem to have less heat build up.

Jenner

DO:

Be perpetually moving. The biggest advantage your ‘Mech has is mobility, use it!
Flank. Those four medium lasers and SRM-4’s absolutely devastate rear armour, and you can down even the mighty Atlas far quicker than you’d expect.
Fire and retreat. You can overheat extremely fast, so retreat in between volleys.
Constantly hug cover – all of your weapons are short ranged.
Be a difficult target; jump jet over and onto hills, around obstacles, etc. Make hitting you infuriating.
Target ‘Mech weak points wherever possible. Legging another Jenner is next to impossible with the speed you’re both moving at, but an enemy Atlas is a juicy target when downed.
Remember your advantages. At first fighting an Atlas will seem impossible, but remember that once you’re at its back, it’s your game to win. Manoeuvre quickly and confidently into position.
Attack from annoying angles. Enemy ‘Mechs all turn slower, move slower, and react slower than you – so make them do 180 degree turns, try to track you over a hill, etc.
Constantly hit and run. Take advantage of slower enemy movement by retreating every time you do damage. You can often frustrate your opponent into big mistakes this way.

DON’T:

Fire at will. You’ll overheat far faster than you realise, and then you’re toast.
Go out in the open. Your speed is useless if there’s no cover for you to dodge behind.
Idle around waiting for enemies. If you’re caught napping it’ll be over fast.
Be intimidated by larger ‘Mechs. Those guns are only scary if they can hit you, and if you’re flanking and dodging, they won’t.
Hold back behind your teammates. Your ‘Mech is most valuable hitting the sides and back of the enemy, not trying to pick them off from the front.
Circle-strafe. Once you’re behind the enemy, stay there. Circle-strafing puts you in front of them constantly, which is exactly what they want.
Stand and fight – you will lose every single time. Always skirmish, never stay in a fight longer than you have to.

Hunchback

DO:

Move at a deliberate pace – while well armoured, you are slow, so make it as tough to hit you as possible.
Learn to lead your targets with your AC/20. That is the majority of your damage, so make sure you hit!
Conserve your ammo! It’s easy to quickly run out of ammo pot-shotting at enemies; so make sure you’ll land a solid hit. The large amount of armour you have allows you to take a split second to guarantee a shot.
Concentrate your fire into one area. The AC/20 plus two medium lasers and a small laser mean you can very quickly wear the armour down on a single location.
Go into confined areas; while you’re not fast, you turn quite quickly – not to mention having a very scary AC/20 to use.
Keep your back to walls wherever possible. Keep your front arc on the enemy.
Remember that you can take on an Atlas and win – you turn faster, move faster, and pivot faster. It can be scary moving into close range, but once in a tight arc, you can out-turn the Atlas, making mincemeat of its back or legs.
Wait for shots against a Jenner. You can take a lot more punishment, so wait for a nice centre-torso hit with your AC, and pick at their legs with your medium lasers if you’re confident in your aim.
Hug walls wherever possible against Catapults and pick them off as they try to move away from you. They will have trouble in a tight-turning fight as they have no arms, and their LRM’s are useless at close range.
Force enemies into your kill-zone, IE. Your frontal arc. You have a lot of armour for lighter foes, and a good manoeuvrability against heavier ones, so use that to your advantage.

DON’T:

Fire every time you might hit with your AC/20 – you’ll be out of ammo very fast.
Wander in the open – you have medium/short ranged weapons, stay near cover.
Neglect your flanks – you’re not that fast, and a
Assume Atlas’ will destroy you with ease; close up you have the advantage.
Chase light ‘Mechs – position yourself so you know where they’ll be coming from, and cut off other angles.
Let up on your Medium Lasers – you can fire a lot before you overheat.
Neglect your Small Laser – it can be the straw that breaks the camels back!

Atlas

DO:

Keep your back to cliffs/sheer rock faces/etc. Whenever possible limit your open back.
Be in the vanguard: not only do you have the most armour, but the most devastating weapon mix too. People also forget that if you’re in the front, no-one can hit your back.
Volley fire as much as possible. Constant damage will throw off your opponents aim and force them to retreat.
Fire your LRM’s at distant enemies. Soften up anything you can, not just for you but for your teammates as well.
Conserve ammunition. Your AC/20 will run out mighty fast if you fire at any and every opportunity. Keep it for when you get a juicy shot at a ‘Mech that has fallen, overheated, or is slowly turning.
Stay in the open; not in a long passage, but with a wide view in front of you. The less places an opponent has to hide, the better.
Target individual areas: You have the armour to withstand more hits than any other ‘Mech – so use that time to pick your shots carefully. The faster that Hunchbacks AC/20 is out of commission, the sooner you can wipe the floor and move on.
Recognize how intimidating an Atlas can be: many players will simply withdraw when they see an Atlas. Use that to your advantage!
Position yourself facing your enemy. The Atlas is a ponderous beast to turn, so limit times that you have to turn whenever you can.

DON’T:

Walk around Alpha-Striking at every opportunity. An Atlas is a glorious feast for any quick ‘Mech if you overheat for even a few seconds.
Neglect your SRM-6; it can be a devastating hit to ‘Mechs that are trying to circle too close to you.
Walk into tight canyons. If you get hit from behind, you’ll have to do a 180 before you can hit back, and jump-jetting enemies will pick you apart while you lumber around.
Stand still; you will lose a leg or your head faster than you realise – don’t be an easy target.
Assume you’re invincible. I win 1v1’s against Atlas’ all the time because they assume having the most armour makes them impossible to kill.
Wander off alone. You are ten times as deadly with team-mates around.
Allow yourself to be flanked, ever, ever. Always keep an eye on where your enemies are, and where they could be. Do Jenner pilots love to flank around that hill? Always make sure you check.