Higher leagues and small fast bots - Still playable?

Well I'm on iOS, Expert 3 and there are plenty of Gary's, Rogs and stalkers. I usually always run a Rog and currently working on a Gary.

Last time I was in expert (android) my hangar was plasmahad, orkan doc, zeus carnage, thunder carnage, hellfire rhino (all 9/9 except rhino which was L7 with L9 weapons). Then I dropped the rhino for a plasma gary and sort of naturally dropped to diamond. Dropping doc for aphid jesse caused me to drop even lower in diamond. then I swapped the thunder carnage for a mag stalker which settled me firmly in gold 1.

Still in Gold, but I started getting a little tired of all the heavy bots, too.

So, I just started a second account. Bought a Gepard and a Galahad and run them with a Boa in a 3-slot hangar. Been having a lot of fun. Not leveling them above 6/6 so I can stay in the leagues where they're still viable.

Whenever I need a break from the slow-as-firetruck heavies on my main, I'll just switch over. Run around in my Gepard throwin' Pinatas in everybody's face.

Good times.

Edited to add: I know this doesn't help you reach upper tiers with your light bots, but it's one alternative option.

Only the Rog is viable. It has enough HP, speed and jump to ambush and retreat. I see alot of them in Expert.

Gary is almost killed in 1 full RDB salvo

Stalker can survive if piloted well, but cant hold a beacon.

I have an aphid Jesse and I dont like it either.

Here's two questions:

1: What is the single most detrimental aspect that keeps Light mecha from the Top Tier?

AND ..

2: How would you compensate for it, to get it there?

I wish Pix comes up with "light-robots-only" maps..

I entered expert league using a Gareth. Still using him from time to time for a change of pace. He can still be used effectively, but is no longer MVP.
I still keep my 5th slot for an experimental/fun setup. Very often it's a light (read Gary, Stalker, etc).

Recent MM changes regularly pit together expert, master and champion players. Rogatkas are very common in expert. I'm at 9/9 mostly, bouncing between expert II & III. Honestly, I think this is as far as lights can go without being a hindrance to your team. At some point I ran two lights and clearly felt the hit in my effectiveness.

That said, I refuse to let the MM dictate my style of play, for the shake of competitiveness only. My league points are somewhat stable at 3500, I'm having great matches using bots i like and occasionally performing better than 12/12 players with meta setups.

I run only medium and light bots and am in Android Diamond II. My experience matches what most others here have said.

It is much more fun IMO running fast bots. The downside is that you have to be extremely careful and aware of what is going on around you. One bad move and you get hit in the face by a DB or a Treb shot and you are dead.

Rogs are one of the best of the non-heavy bots. They are fast, can jump often, have a lot of health, and carry two medium weapons so they have good firepower.

My current hanger has bots and weapons all level 8-10. I have an Orkan Rog, Aphid Gep, Zeus Carnage, Plasma Galahad, and Punisher Rog. If I had to order them according to how solid their spot is in my hanger, I would do it this way: Rogs, Carnage, Galahad, Gep.

I have also toyed with a Stalker, a plasma Gareth, an Aphid Patton, a Golem, and a Vityaz. The Stalker just cannot hold a beacon and that is a liability. Sure, you can sneak around and pester people and occasionally steal a beacon briefly, but that is not enough to win games most of the time in my experience. I have tried magnums, pinatas, geckos, and aphids and I just cannot justify the slot in my hanger no matter how fun it is to play. Gareth is loads of fun, but just dies too quickly. Patton is too slow - it might as well be a heavy. Golem and Vityaz are decent, but not as good as Rog, Galahad, and Carnage IMO because they lack any special ability (jump, shield, ancile).

Everyone's play style is different, so YMMV, but the Rog, Carnage, and Galahad seem to be the best for me. Rog is my main capper and fighter. Gephard and Carnage are for support and flanking. Galahad is to protect against Trebs, Zeus, and Geckos, and to kill Carnages and Fujins. I have not tried a Fujin, but my guess is that I would love the firepower but hate the immobility of using the ancile.

Moving up in leagues is a slow process for a beacon capper. When my team loses, I tend to lose a lot of league points, and when we win, I only gain a few league points. The up-side of that is that you tend to plateau until your play style and tactics improve. When that happens you start to creep up the ladder.

Occasionally I will get depressed by the slow climb (like several games in a row where I cap 6 or more beacons and we still lose and I lose a lot of league points). I will throw a Griffin, Butch, Natasha, or Leo in my lineup for a while. Usually my win rate will go down even though my damage goes up. And I am reminded why I can't stand those bots and switch back.

I expect that I will get into Diamond I in a little while because on average my trend is still upwards. By the time my hanger is maxed I expect to be able to compete fine in Expert or higher.

An important consideration for me in running no heavies is whether or not I am helping my team. I rarely mech out before a battle is over. When I do I am usually one of the last two or three left. I also am almost never last in damage. I am most often 4th or 5th, but occasionally I will make it in the top two and even sometimes take the top spot. If I was being reckless and just rushing for beacons and dying then I would not be of much benefit to my team. To be useful in a higher league you have to stay in the game as long as possible trying to keep your team with the beacon advantage. This is particularly important on big maps. Stealing a beacon can win the game since it can take a heavy red 2 minutes of match time to lumber over there and recapture it.

But overall my advice is to play in a way that brings you the most fun and to not worry about league.

If I could ask Pix for one change that would greatly help light and medium bots survive, I would suggest that no weapon should auto-hit. Treb, Gecko, Hydra, etc should all be able to be dodged (even if only partially) by a fast bot with a good pilot.

Don't tell me clan mates! 

I run 2 stalker both lvl 9 with 1 aphids lvl 7 and the other piñatas lvl 7 and I love em. I also have a Gary lvl 8 with lvl 8 punishers and it shreds ancile shields. I get a good 600k plus damage every match.

I am in champion league and I use 2 orkan rogs in my primary hangar and they do very well - good beacon runners and excel in close combat maps like moon, dead city or power plant.. And even on Springfield, where there is enough cover and far stretched lines to run.

Also very good counter against rdb griffins, db griffins and orkan lancelot - anything with rockets is prey to the rog but if you see plasma users, you have to run!

Master 2 and often run 2 Rogatka and a thunder carnage (Workin on a second) usually with Griffin or two or a lance. Currently staying between 54-64% win rate, damage range from 350ish to 800ish, plenty of beacons and always try to be impactful. Under the current system you won't get a lot of silver most of the time but that doesn't mean your not contributing to the win. After I get my 3rd Rogatka & second carnage in the hanger I'll let you know how that works out ?. Just enjoy your hanger bud.

Going to run a Stalker, 2 Rogs a galahad Gareth & a Thunder Carnage tonight, see what kind of shenanigans I can get up to Let you know how it goes.

Dear all: 

I´m overwhelmed by the number of responses and the sheer amount of suggestions. Thanks a bunch! I guess my personal verdict on your input is: Play the game as you like it, using the bots you like and see where that goes. Maybe I´ll never move away from orbiting around the 3000 mark - fine with me:)

Have a nice day!