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| Being a Good Host | Assault Mechs | |
This strategy guide is designed to assist MA players with becoming familiar with the four assault Mechs that are available in MA. These Mechs are the Atlas, Prometheus, Ragnarok, and Ymir. This guide will assist you with learning the weapons and the defenses of each of the four assault Mechs. Each one is designed to stand in the middle of combat if needed, but each also has other weapons that can be used for different approaches to combat.
An assault Mech is a Mech that weighs between 85-100 tons. All four of the assault Mechs currently available in MA weigh in at 100 tons, making them the largest Mechs available. Assault Mechs are the slowest moving Mechs, but they carry the largest amount of firepower. Ironically, in a lot of circumstances, the biggest danger to the assault Mech is not another assault Mech, but a light Mech. The speed of a light Mech will often prevent the slowness of the assault Mech destroy it while the light Mech keeps firing on the assault Mech. If you can learn to destroy the light Mechs that do this, then you will have truly learned to use the power of the assault Mech to its fullest.
The Atlas is one of the original Mechs from the BattleTech game that MA is based on. For its defense, the Atlas has chaff, for its weapons, it armed with four pulse lasers, four autocannons, and two javelin missiles. This combination gives the Atlas great firepower when in close and allows it to attack from a distance. When powered up, the pulse lasers are very good for close quarter combat, and the autocannons and javelins give the Atlas excellent firepower from medium to long distances. The autocannons also give the Atlas the capability to knock down its opponents. When this occurs, switch over to the lasers and fire upon your enemy as fast as you can. If powered up, the lasers will cause large damage in a short amount of time. The lasers also generate less heat than any of the other weapons that the Atlas uses, keeping your heat level low. While the other Mech is down, you should also alternate your other weapons with your lasers, this will raise your heat level up, but will add further damage. For dealing with light Mechs that are the bane of all assault Mechs, try to use your lasers and missiles mostly. If you can get a shot in with your autocannons, take it, as you may knock the Mech down, but the lasers recharge faster and you will have a better chance of hitting as you are able to fire faster. The javelins will also track your target once you get a lock on them.
The Prometheus is an alternate version of the Atlas, and like the Atlas weighs in at 100 tons. The Prometheus keeps the chaff as its defense, but its weapons are three lasers, two gauss rifles, and two hammer missiles. The Prometheus has some advantages over the Atlas, but it does overheat slightly faster than the Atlas does. Strategies for the two Mechs are similar, but the Prometheus is better as a sniping Mech than the Atlas, as the gauss rifles have a longer range than the autocannons of the Atlas. The Prometheus also has the highest damaging weapons in the form of the hammer missiles available, once they have been leveled to their maximum capabilities. The draw back to the hammer missiles is that they have no tracking capabilities at all, but they have a high splash damage capability. The gauss rifles have the capability to knock your opponent down, and once they have been knocked down, try to hit them with the hammer missiles, then switch to the lasers until your heat level has lowered, then fire the hammers again. The hammers and lasers also make it easier to deal with light Mechs as well. They do not have to have a lock on to damage them, they can damage by the splash of the explosion. Beware of this though, as if the missiles go off too close to you, you will also take damage from them.
The Ragnarok and the Ymir are both only playable once you have completed the Campaign mode of MA. The Ragnarok is armed with two gauss rifles, four javelin missiles, and a lava cannon. It uses the shield as its defense. With its gauss rifles, the Ragnarok is one of the best sniper Mechs there is, it also an extremely powerful opponent in close, often being able to eliminate all of its opponents on the field with no problem. The Ragnarok is potentially the most powerful Mech on the field of battle, but like all other assault Mechs, it is the target of light Mechs, which it will often have a difficult time handling. As with all other assault Mechs, it has the capability to knock its opponents down, but the Ragnarok possesses two means of of doing this. The gauss rifle is one, and the lava cannon is the other. Once the opponent has been knocked down, follow up this with your lava cannon and javelin missiles. Be careful when doing this though, as the Ragnarok will overheat quickly, and you may be left with no weapons to defend yourself with. The Ragnarok's shield will allow you to avoid all damage for a short period of time. By timing this right, you will be able to avoid the most damaging attacks that are made on you. To deal with light Mechs, your best defense is to use your javelin missiles and occasionally your lava cannon. Always remember one thing regarding the Ragnarok, it overheats quickly, so you will need to watch your heat on this Mech.
The Ymir is a variant of the Ragnarok, and like the Ragnarok, uses the shield as its defense. The weapons on the Ymir are two PPC's, four autocannons, and a lava cannon. This Mech may seem to be all-powerful, but this Mech will overheat very quickly. The Ymir is a Mech that is very powerful as a sniping Mech, as it can use both the PPC's and the autocannons to do this. It is also an excellent Mech that can be used for close combat as well with its lava cannon. Watching the heat that is generated by this Mech is the key to using this Mech successfully. If you can balance this, then you have moved one step to mastering this Mech, and it is one of the hardest to master. As with the Ragnarok, this Mech can knock down opponents with its autocannons and its lava cannon. The lava cannon is once again the weapon of choice if you have knocked your enemy to the ground. This Mech is also very easily targeted by light Mechs, as its best weapon for dealing with them is the lava cannon, and the lava cannon generates a high amount of heat. The PPC's can be used, but it is often hard to lock onto the target with them to damage them. The PPC's will also generate high heat when they are used. To deal with the light Mechs that will attack you, stand your ground, it is easier to target when you are still then when you are moving. Use the shield to block out their attacks when possible, and use your PPC's and lava cannon to destroy the attackers.
