MA - My Hangar Thoughts

Ok, something’s gotta go here. Just when I think I’m getting somewhere, I realize I am getting nowhere. The more crap I upgrade, the worse my games get. Seems like I always have the wrong mech. Whatever I drop, the whole f’n red team has something to counter it, and I have nothing to counter whatever they’re running. I’m just not getting it. As soon as I run into a team that’s any kind of coordinated, I can’t do squat. NOTHING. Go after a beacon, there’s a zephyr or a surge, and boom, Killshot’s gone without firing a shot. Go out with anything slower and they get center beacon first. Every time, like NOBODY ELSE but me can go after it. Then once they’ve got the majority of beacons, it’s all Ares, Shadows and Juggys, with some a-hole in the back spamming RM’s that somehow manage to kill me through walls now. Last couple of days I’m just getting wiped out game after game. Any suggestions? Time to end the Lancer experiment? Go long range, even though my long game SUCKS worse than the rest of my game? Or just find myself some better teammates? Cos I’ll tell ya, the ones I’ve had today have been real doozies. This has been zero fun, and I’m at a total loss on how to improve it. And please don’t say clans and comms, because I just can’t do comms. Not an option. 

Only problem there is, my Ares is still only R3. Once I decided to go with Juggy for a tank, Ares pretty much got ignored. I’ve got so much other crap that needs upgrading and so few resources to spread around, Ares is just one of a pile of stuff that barely got touched. 

My latest thought is to maybe replace Lancer with a Zephyr. I mean, at LEAST half of my deaths are by a Zephyr. Seems like I spend half the game frozen and the other half waiting for the spawn timer to count down. Put the javs back on Killshot and MR8’s on a Zephyr and see what happens. Lancer is fun as hell, but I can see it getting less and less effective as I go on. Might be time to quit fighting the tide and join the EMP party. And maybe give a RM another shot on the Killshot in the process. I don’t know, I gotta do something. 

I went the Shadow route myself instead of upgrading my Lancer. With JR6, it is my best mech in CPC games and the most fun. In most CPC games, my KS is pretty much only used to grab the first couple of beacons so that I can get the Smooth Operator achievement. If I happen to kill another mech or two while doing it, then great. Last night I got steam rolled by a close to full squad. My team of AI couldn't even get out of spawn and we got 19 Influence Points. It happens. If you're getting frustrated in a game, don't be afraid to leave. Tanking is virtually impossible in this game and most of your team mates and opponents are AI and they will keep fighting without you just fine.

I think the Lancer is definitely the weak link in your hangar. I would replace it with the Zephyr as that will get you the most bang for your buck the quickest. Any other mech will be pretty low rank and you will have to spend oodles of resources to get it to a playable level. Put the JR6 on the KS and run the Zep with MR8.

Zephyr with RG16 is viable as long as you use it as an ambush mech. 3-4 shots from the RG16 does more damage that two full salvos of MR8. You just have to pick your targets carefully and space out your shots as much as possible and don't get tempted to fire at distant targets or fast moving ones. It was a good way for me to practice with the RG16 until I went the Thanos route.

Well if ya can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. I’m sick of being the freezee. The Zephyr offer came up. I bit. It’s time for me to be the freezer. Unfortunately that means my beloved Lancer goes on the shelf, cos it just doesn’t make sense to take Killy, Juggy, Panther or Guardian out of the lineup, though I can see it replacing the Guardian on occasion and for specific challenges. And Javelins are back on the Killy, first game out got it MVP, so all is right in the universe again.

Only played the Zephyr once, and it’s only up to R4.3, but with MR8’s I think I like it. What’s everybody else like on it? I know AI likes LA’s, so that’s always a possibility.

I've run Zephyr with LA8/10 and it's not a bad build. It's not a great build either though. Here's why:

Pros
- Zephyr's speed makes it a decently swift yet stable sniper platform
- LA8/10 is slightly more powerful than dual LA8
- EMP is used more to enable retreat and firing while retreating to give the LAs a bit more kick
- EMP duration/cooldown syncs up pretty good with LA reload

Cons
- Zephyr's lack of longer ranged protection makes it a soft target against counter snipers
- LAs lack punch at Zep's EMP range of 30m
- LAs are hard to use at close range unless target is frozen
- During EMP cooldown and LA reload, you are COMPLETELY helpless

The best way to play this build as a human is to try for those side and rear shots against targets as much as possible. Don't try to sniper too much cause you are very weak against counter snipers. 

MR8 is also my fave build for the Zep, but it lacks punch against tanks and you have to be careful in crowded melees. It's still a great ambush bot in TDM games, but not so good in CPC games. Depending on the map in TDM, I'll swap it in and out with my KS.

Though I've never run this, I think arguably the best build for the Zep would be CB8/10. This gives decent burst damage, kiting ability, and good sustained damage and fast reload. My next goal is to save/buy enough A-coins for CB10 first and then CB8 so that I can do this build.

So ... either my hangar switch-up is paying off, or I’ve gotten lucky with some very good teammates, or a little bit of both, but I’ve been on a bit of a tear today. Started when I got to squad with a bunch of DieMF guys earlier. Had a couple of crappy games until I got used to how to play with a whole team of aggressive players, and then I got to kicking butt with the best of the rest of them. They all just went balls to the wall, which meant that I could just go balls to the wall. No need to play cautiously, because there was always somebody right behind me or close by. Man that was fun. Then had a bunch of other good squads with GD folks.

Anyway, there’s still nothing like javs on the Killshot. Tried a RM12, didn’t like it. Spent too much time and attention trying to line up targets and ended up getting killed way too early, and to me it just detracts from the advantages of the mech. So until they come out with a Javelin 8, I’m sticking with the 6’s. And the Zephyr, as much as I’ve come to hate it, is fast becoming one of my favorite mechs. Not only am I getting better with it every time out, but it’s also helping me get better with the Guardian.

I’ve also switched weapon sets between Guardian and Panther - Panther now has 2xCB12’s, and Guardian has SB16+CB8. Both are working out better for me, especially on today’s tournament map - Panther was killing it. In fact a couple of games we had 3 Panthers at once, just choking up the middle, and it was a total kill zone. I usually don’t do well on that map, but Panther got a bunch of MVP’s. Not mega kills, but enough along with a ton of assists.

Again, I don’t know if I’m hitting my stride with my hangar, or just a good run of teammates, or the fact that I didn’t run into any ridiculous maxed out killer death squads, but it’s been a pretty decent day so far.

Still running Jav6's on my KS as well. It just works! I believe Charlie Daniels would trade his fiddle of gold for Jav8's. I have hit and miss solos, but running with an aggressive bunch of real guys is always a game changer. Figure out what frustrates you the most from reds, and consider that in your builds,,,,
IF IT FITS YOUR PLAY STYLE. You have done that with Zephyr, so what else trips you up?

The RM's are annoying at least with the new heads up, you can try and adjust. Sadly that is my Guardian's nemesis. Just not fast enough.

I could never get the hang of RMs. I liked the RM8/12 combo well enough and I've been tempted to try the dual RM12 on a Guardian or Panther, but it's such a boring build after the initial novelty wears off.

I did JR6/RM12 on a Jugg today on TDM and it was a yawn fest too. I guess it's either personal preference, or I'm just missing something.

I still plan to max my JR6 though. It's been a solid weapon for me for ages, and I want to give it as much punch as possible. Anyone know if the critical change goes up at R6? Or is 30% the best I can get?

    I've seen builds with one RM one MR that gave me fits in tournaments.  On occasion I used it and it worked. 

I ran a Guardian Arc 10 + RM 12 for the Hell of it in the one game I played today... I def don't recommend as it's not ideal, but it was actually fun on that map. And it was nice to have the ability to kill in CQC just as fast as RMs do in long range. Today's map is pretty good for RMs but unless you are on a KS or have a Close Range weapon to defend yourself with, it's easy to get run down.

So, if you want to test RMs in a less boring scenario, Tourney today provides that opportunity

      I put together RM10 and MR6 on Guardian for tournament today.  This map is good for this build.  I do want to try that Arc10.