Newbie here, some help please?

So..what do I do with the Magnum?

And if I remove the Mag from Leo, since it's configured for Knife, uh won't that be bad since the Thunder has a reload time and not that accurate beyond 100m? 

And if I remove the Cossak, how will I cap beacons? 

Just asking since I dunno the game very well, please don't take offence..

As for the WSP buys, what should I put the Tarans and Mags in?

DROP THE NORICUM!!! It's 「dookie」

He does not have a Taran. That's why I suggested the Pinata Thunder Vityaz to replace to Cossack. 

I ground out a 5th slot while holding onto my Cossack (it's still there now, too). It doesn't get as much use as it used to, but it's pulled a few games out of the gutter with late-game caps. 

I would swap the Patton to quad pinatas. Learn to follow a heavy around and fire salvos at stuff that they've already engaged. Typically, folks will prioritize a heavy as a greater threat, and tend to shoot at those FIRST (but not always). Fire half your load, then the second half. I found that 1) This reduces the danger of missing and 2) sometimes folks will hide/dodge the first salvo, then walk right into the second one. After you fire, move behind cover (even if that cover is a friendly heavy) while you reload. Remember: the Patton isn't a knifer, it's a support bot. If you're alone, you're doing it wrong.

I'd run a Thunder on the Leo, plus some mags. If you don't have the WSP necessary, make it a priority. Mags are handy. In the meantime, pinatas are a solid option as well. Your Leo is a knifer, but a slow and lumbering one with no mid range capabilities. Use cover, to approach, fire a salvo, then return to cover. Practice corner shooting as well. On Canyon, get to the middle and use the bridge footing as your shield. 
*Edit* Also, if you're going to run a pair of pinatas plus a magnum or molot or whatever, pair the pinatas on the same side. That way you can fire the full salvo from cover (corner shoot) or maintain constant fire from the opposite corner. As is, with the pinatas on each wing, you have one side that does a single burst of damage and then becomes useless.

As far as a the Cossack, stop leading with it. It's not going to last long in the opening salvos of the battle. The reds are looking for soft targets, and your happy little bounding butt fits that bill perfectly. Plus, everyone is looking at beacons in that first 120s, so running to them is a bad idea. Drop it as #3 or #4 in your lineup. The battle will be raging and attention will drop off of side beacons. That's when you bound in. The Punisher loses usefulness pretty quickly, so get a Taran or Orkan for it. The Taran deals more damage per minute, but the Orkan is a better salvo-then-run-away weapon. You shouldn't ever try to Duke it out in a Cossack; either ambush and hide or corner shoot. You've not got enough armor to fight fairly.

That Griffin is solid. I'd probably lead with it from the start. Shoot for groups of reds, if possible, as you'll splash damage everyone (free damage!) Maintain a 415-580m range from the targets, and save your jumps for a quick escape. Again, remember to salvo then hide.

I would NOT suggest getting g a Vitz. They won't hold use very long and aren't terribly popular outside of base leagues. I retired mine long before I retired the Patton (and I still see the occasional Patton in mid silver. Never any Vitzs though). 

Good general advice is to go ahead and get those tarans and another mag that you talked about; plenty of options with those but putting them all on a Griff works nicely.

I wouldn't bother with a Rhino, certainly not at this stage. Stalkers aren't everyone's cup of tea but can be fun and effective - but only get that after the weapons.

The earlier suggestion of a Boa is a good one; taran/thunder works a treat. I miss mine

The Cossack CAN still be used - I was using mine very effectively in old silver tier with a taran or orkan.

Patton is versatile. If you like the molots, put 4 on there or, alternatively, with 4 x pinata's it makes a nice little DB starter pack. Later you can upgraded it to aphid's.

Never really used my Leo - always found other options like the Boa better suited to the task - so can't help with that one, sorry!

I found that, in the initial rush, everyone runs their cappers. So your Cossack is competing with Garys and Stalkers (both red and blue) for beacons. At most, you'll grab three before you get put down, but really, it'll be more likely 1-2. If you wait until later on, However, everyone is in heavies, so you get speed on your side. A side beacon late in the game is worth more than early on, because you're probably the only person running for it.

I've won several games on Yama by doing an 8th min beacon run while everyone else fights for center.

I used to run two Cossacks, but with the volatility of playing random matches, I needed the extra damage capacity to keep every third game from being a -20 pointer

I miss the old days when I could just focus on capping (I really enjoyed it) instead of trying to deal as much damage as possible (plus, you know, there isn't much Ag in capping). 

I will get enough WSP for a Taran by tomorrow. Since I have used my WSP to buy only  magnum, I'll still have a lot of checkpoint rewards to pile up. 

Gold, well, 500~  since I bought a Gekko for some god-forsaken reason..

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Wow lotsa good advice here. Will get crackin' on it asap. Good thing I have like 10.5 Mil Ag saved.

So...any advice on how much should I level the bots and weps?

The old logic behind keeping weapons +2 over bit level is gone with the new MM system. Upgrade as you can, there's no penalty. I'd focus on upping stuff that will have a long life (Tarans, Mags, Orks, etc) rather than stuff that will fade away in upper levels (Spirals, etc). Caveat: you can probably take anything up to level 8 or so, as long as it's useful at the time. After 8, costs grow incredibly fast, so you'll want to really be sure.

Nope, upgrade away. MM looks at damage stats now, not equipment.

Cannot recommend a Rhino

I also recommend 2 Orkans and a Galahad before the 5th slot.  Have fun playing now, and avoid the grind and don't listen to these "5th slot" guys.

Are we gonna argue about the 5th slot? Really? You cannot make a mistake by saving up 5000 gold for that 5th slot. You CAN make a mistake by a gekko you'll hardly ever use or a Galahad that gets blown to bits every 30 seconds into a battle by everybody's tridents and what not, and run out of bots before the matches are over. Do it now and you'll never need to do it again, unless we get a 6th slot someday. ?

I agree with the 2 orkans before the 5th slot.  The Galahad for me is a 50/50 thing.  Cos I do agree that it might help with earning gold faster, but it depends on your skill with it and also the tier you are in.  You might even wanna buy a Gepard.  LOL

While I agree you MUST have fun, if u wanna play this game long term, then keeping gold aside for the 5th slot will be important eventually