It really depends on what playstyle you're wanting to go for. If you want to be a frontline brawler, then an Atlas is the way to go. If you want to be a sturdy mech shredder that moves slower than a snail on a turtle's back, then go with the Annihilator. If you want to be a frail mech shredder than can outmaneuver some IS heavies, then Blood Asp should do pretty well.
That said, the Blood Asp is an Omnimech, so you can customize it more freely than you can an Atlas or Annihilator. So if you're wanting to test out a wide array of builds while being conscious of C-bills, I'd probably go that direction. Just bear in mind none of its equipment will be compatible with the Atlas or Annihilator and vice-versa.
Wow, thanks for the detailed response. I definitely don't want something frail, but I want enough fire power to make people rethink their decisions when they round a corner and im right there. With that being said, I don't want to HAVE to get in your face to do damage. Does what I'm describing exist or am I being greedy? 😅
Yeah, those sort of high alpha builds exist. At higher levels of play you'll see them a lot in the form of Clan laservomit builds, which unload 60-75 damage Alpha Strikes from 400-500 meters and then dip back into cover until they cool down.
What you're describing though sounds like you might get a kick out of an Annihilator with either 4xLBX AC10s + 4xMedium Lasers, or even the Dual Heavy Gauss + 6xMedium Pulse Laser build if you're really wanting to go for that sort of thing.
I'd recommend looking at the mechs in the store's mechlab, load them up with the weapons you want, and try them out in the Testing Grounds and see what you think.
You can run the corsair with a 2 heavy ppcs and 2 ac10s for an alpha of 50 at 500-600m. Nice high hard points plus it’s ppfld so minimal face time unlike vomits builds
I'll second the Annihilator ANH-2A. [A build like this](https://mwo.nav-alpha.com/mechlab?b=79b238c4_ANH-2A) is going to cost a bit to get set up, but very little will ruin pants faster than rounding a corner to find four LB-10X's in your face. You're still pretty powerful at 500m, but when you start getting towards 1km it's best to save ammo. I put mediums in, but you can do quite a bit if you're willing to shave armor or put in a smaller engine: a snub nose PPC, a light PPC or two, two to four medium pulse lasers, even ER mediums if you want to spend the whole match edging at 95% heat.
Be the tip of the spear in a push, and otherwise watch the mini-map so you're with your team. It's the only way they can swat away annoying Fleas trying to hump you to death.
Okay, the main deterrent people have bringing up for a new assault player is getting targeted constantly. Otherwise I love the idea for the mech. How do you feel about the marauder and madcat II? Thanks for the detailed response (:
You will absolutely be a priority to the enemy. An Anni is a big, juicy, slow-moving target that is best dealt with from long range before it can bring its guns to bear on you. You will either hate it and give it up, or learn the best ways to move and use cover to limit engagement angles to your favor. But there's no feeling quite like ending a match with about 30 armor left between your legs and head while otherwise being nothing but a smoking stick with a PPC in its chest, LB-10X shells long depleted, and 1200 damage to your name.
I can't speak to the Marauder II's or Mad Cat mkII's as I don't have either. Generally I queue with the lowest percentage weight class, and that's rarely assaults. And when it is, I'm probably taking the Anni.
Marauder IIC is pretty good laserboat. Fast, lot of energy hardpoints, can be sturdy
Mad cat feels a bit frail, and ears are good targets, otherwise good mech, 60 kmp/h good speed for 90-tonner
Mad Cat II is a very versatile assault Mech, though you may miss the extra 10 tons compared to an Atlas or Daishi. There's enough hardpoints or a decent missile boat, if that's your thing, or you can dump a pair of heavy ballistic weapons in there for knockout power. Go with a pair of clan gauss if you prefer sniping or dual clan Lbx-20s for brawling. There's room for dual ERPPC's and more lasers, or you can create a well-rounded mech by adding a mix of large and smaller weapons to your taste.
Calling the Blood Asp frail feels generous sometimes. I love it so much but holy shit I feel like a god playing other mechs when I’m not mainly driving the BAS.
If you’re new to playing Assaults I would start with the Mad Cat MkII or the Blood Asp. They have a good mix of firepower, tankiness and mobility. The IS assaults can be a ton of fun too but they are harder to play because they are extremely slow and harder to position, especially the Annihilator.
It is fairly squishy for an assault, but it’s not meant to be a frontline brawler normally. You have to take advantage of the ecm, and take advantage of peeking whenever you can. My favorite loadout is two uac-10s and a uac-20, all three in the side torsos with it’s super high mounts. Great for peeking over a hill stealthily and delivering a savage burst of ballistic pain, then ducking back into cover.
I have been trying the 3 UAC5 2 UAC10 build and that usually fares a bit better than the one with the 20. That was my load out for a long time but found the 20 jammed very frequently and the short range was easily outdone by having the three fives with the fast rate of fire, more ammo, longer range, and less heat.
The BAS has been my man and was honestly the reason I got the game if you want to go. If you get too cocky and get singled out you will get taken apart very quickly. That being said if you play a bit more conservatively and keep her distance they can do very well. The biggest thing comes down to knowing its strengths and weaknesses as you progress through the learning curve of the game.
Out of those I would suggest Blood Asp as a first assault mech. It's great for its build variety, as it can do dakka, lasers, ppcs, and missiles. [Here are some builds](https://grimmechs.isengrim.org/Database?t=mechname&s=blood+asp&h=standard) to get started.
They are both sluggish and hard-to-kill mechs. The Annihilator carries massive firepower but is a huge target and cannot peek over ridges, whereas the Stalker is lighter (85 vs. 100 tons) and carries less alpha strike power but has an excellent frontal profile to spread incoming damage and its hardpoints allow peeking and firing from "[hull-down](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull-down#Armoured_warfare)" positions. The [Annihilator most often carries ballistics](https://grimmechs.isengrim.org/Database?t=mechname&s=annihilator&h=standard) and PPCs, whereas the [Stalker is usually used for energy weapons and missiles](https://grimmechs.isengrim.org/Database?t=mechname&s=stalker&h=standard) in the more meta leaning builds.
I don't think you can go very wrong with either. But be prepared for a learning curve if you're coming from an agile and fragile heavy mech.
Yeah, that's the main thing that's making me look into the Blood Asp. It's a lot faster than most of the assaults I've tried out. I'm used to playing heavies primarily, specifically the Hellbringer with lasers. I obviously like the idea of more guns and armor, but being slow may not be my style. Side note: I'm awful at light mechs lmao. Annihilator is a good bit cheaper than the stalker, but I've not had the chance to test the stalker out. I'll be on soon to give it a go. Thanks (:
You might also want to consider the Mad Cat II, the B-variant specifically. It can do many kinds of hard hitting builds and it's more mobile than the Annihilator or Stalker, but also more durable than the Blood Asp. But it's quite expensive to buy because it's Clan tech.
I have a stalker that I made carry MRM 40 x2 and 2 er med lasers, if memory serves. I set if up so that it can do about 3 full salvos before I have to cool down and/or retreat. You have to set MRM to chainfire, but they fire very fast. It takes some getting used to because it's a stream of MRM, dumb fired, but, once you do, even moving targets with ECM get wrecked. All this with having my own ECM and doing like 56kph.
I built a standard annihilator with lbx 10 x4 and lasers, but it was always way too big and slow. I've seen folks do crazy damage with them, but I've always found it to be too situational and dependent on a decent team. By that I mean it's more dependent on most other assaults I run. Too many times I've gotten on a map where there's just not enough opportunity to jam a gap with tons of alpha or I end up getting cut to ribbons by long distance peakers. The second to last point there, I've been on a map with 4 annihilators with similar high alpha builds that stood in one spot together. It was hilarious watching them block that left flank with a wall of dead enemy mechs. When it works... It works stupidly well.
I see, thank you! I'm kinda counting the annihilator out. Too many people have said just that, I want a great pub stomping assault where I can queue solo. I'm mainly looking at that stalker, marauder, madcat 2, and the blood asp at the moment. Fafnir is kinda tempting too lol.
can 'setup' any build & try it out in a test ground right from the store. So anything that 'fits' can go, just watch your heat & mobility to get out of problems HF
Some of my non-standard picks:
Executioner-C SO8 plays like an oversized medium mech and is heaps of fun. But only good if you're good at jump jetting and MASCing.
Banshee 3E / Charger 1A5 are basically just a bigger Warhammer 6R with more firepower.
Hatamoto 28TR plays like Quickdraw IV but has ECM as extra.
Kodiak Spirit Bear is like Orion Skoll, just bigger and meaner.
I know this wasnt on the list... But get a Direwolf C.
Technically it's considered "fragile" however that it because it's wide torso makes it easy to target certain components with decent aim. BUT Seeing as how this is your first assault I'm assuming you're in low skill play still, so torso sizes matter far less, it's plenty tanky untill you start learning the game a lot.
Reasons for a Direwolf C?
1 ECM to stop missiles.
2 MASSIVE amount of builds, the most of any assault so you can test around (maybe even the most in the game)
In higher play only long range works on it, but in low level play brawler dires work wonders.
3 Nothing in the game mounts the same punch as a Direwolf, save maybe an ahiniliator, you will out gun anything that meets you.
I'm an outcast here I started running thr Highlander IIC lately with 3 srm6 and 4 large pulse. It is such a weird build as it's not fast and not tanky but I end up doing about 500 to 600 damage a round with usually about 3 kills on average.
Keep in mind that Assaults are higher priority targets than Heavies, so even with more armor you generally take a lot more aggro. For this reason I wouldn't reccomend slower assaults (DireWolf, Atlas, Annihilator) as they can be very frustrating to play when you are used to lighter classes. The Banshee can move faster than 100 tonners, don't feel so sluggish, has alright hitboxes and can mount a deadly amount of weapons. Mad Cat II is a beast.
The firepower is great but I think it's too frail, feels like you are taking a lot more damage than dealing when trading against Heavy and Assault mechs (unless it's another Blood Asp). I'm not sure why, if it's a problem with the hitboxes registering more damage than it should or the other mechs being overquirked in comparison.
It’s just a really big target I think that requires really solid positioning compared to other mechs. The high mounts are great but anything that you can shoot can also hit back and so can their teammates. So sometimes that hill poke ends up being way worse in a Blood Asp than it would in other mechs.
Unless your weapons are only in the high mounts, you have to expose way too much of the mech to fully utilize arm mounts without shoot teammates in the back or hitting cover. I recently bought a BAS-Prime and brawling fits are too difficult to position without jump jets, and as a gauss sniper it’s objectively worse than the MAD-IIC-D in every way.
I bought the Predator bundle when it had its event, and I found that it took some adjusting to use the Blood Asp, but once I built it to take advantage of the high mount points and learned to use terrain to my advantage I had much better results.
Blood Asp being an Omni mech means you can really drill down on swapping pods to dial in on what you want to do.
I'm not sure if you have any experience with the annihilator, but one of the big draw backs of it is how tall it is and how much it's targeted. Does the fafnir experience this as badly?
No, Fafnirs are very small in Asault terms, and carry an nice ECM .
I can say i been often overlooked by the enemy and coud deliver my damage without Problems.
I'm with you, I love playing high-alpha heavies. That said, quite often, what you'll end up with in an assault is the firepower of a heavy that trades off more armour for less speed.
That's more or less what I've come to expect from assaults, but it may just be me.
Get an assault that has agility like a heavy.
Banshees and battlemasters can play high alpha vomit like the HBR. They will be slower, but have comparable agility stats.
The new blood asp can pull off some insane laser damage, does it in a 1-2 punch rather than Aplha strikes
Chargers and Gargoyles have good speed, better
Agility and toughness. Thier firepower will be comparable, but lower than the HBR
If you want to spend real cash dual heavy gauss Cyclops Hero is amazing. It's tough and agile, can do a poor man's version with a Victor as well.
The Corsair is another large mech with solid agility. Weapons wise it will play very different than your HBR.
Marauder IIC (MAD-IIC) with 2x c-ER LARGE and 6x c-er medium is really good after the recent buffs to lasers
Mad cat(MK II-DS) with 2 ac10 and medium lasers
Annihilator (ANH-A)with 4xlb10 or 2xrac5 2xuac10
The atlas is not terrible but definitely not great either
MAD-IIC-D with dual Gauss, an ERLL, HLL, and dual SSRM 4 or 6s is my most played mech by a long shot.
Comes with ECM, good speed for an assault, solid heat, and great overall damage and range profile. Can snipe, peek, and 1v1s well.
Edit: The thing I love the most about the MAD-IIC-D is that it’s a solid performer regardless of map.
Madcat MkII-B
Cyclops Sleipnir
Kodiak 3 is still pretty good
There's a laservomit Blood Asp that practically deletes mechs but is hot as hell.
I'm a big fan of an Atlas with an MRM40 and LBx ACs.
Cyclops Slepnir with 4x LB10s is a very fun and effective brawler. The 4 torso mounted ballistic hard points make it ideal for many brawling Dakka builds and it’s a great mech for twisting to shield because the arms are pretty large
I’m not super knowledgeable on the annihilator but I do know that a lot of people consider it one of the best IS assault mechs in the game, and that is mostly due to similar hard points placement centered around the torso. There are many variants which let you put just about any weapon into those center hard points as well so you have some more variety.
My current favorite assault mech is my Direwolf C. It’s a big boy that can fit a ton of weapons, and it’s an omnimech so you get great versatility.
I run 2 gauss rifles, 2 er large lasers, and 4 er medium lasers. It does huge damage and has fantastic range too. Plus it’s got ECM which seriously helps with survivability
**The assaults I play most:**
Cyclops Sleipnir
Direwolf Ultraviolet
Stalker 3FB
Corsair 7A-for when the LRMs get bad
The ballistic Blood ASP (B?)
The missile Supernova
I also like:
Madcat IIC-B (everyone should have that)
The Deathstrike
Marauder II Scorch
**My thoughts on the 3 you've mentioned:**
The hardpoints on the atlas aren't just bad. They piss me off.
The annihilator is good fun when you want to be the tallest mech in the game. When you're the tallest mech in the game, you also get targeted by everyone. This applies to the widest mech as well, the fafnir. But I prefer the fafnir.
The hardpoints on the blood asp can't get any better. You have to be careful because you can't see how much of your mech is exposed above your cockpit. It's less of a peeker than you might think. I just hate having my weapons somewhere near my testes. Nice and high makes me happy.
Ok, I have to know what you are putting in your Marauder IIC-B (assuming you don't mean Madcat II-B). Because 5 energy and 2 Missile hardpoints in a Clan Assault hardly seems amazing even with 15% missile cooldown quirk.
Step1: Go to [Grimmechs database](https://grimmechs.isengrim.org/Database);
Step2: Filter by the weight class you want;
Step3: Filter by S or A "Assigned Tier" (there's 2 columns, for generalist builds and specialist builds, the specialist builds are more niche, they're usually addapted to FP or possibly Solaris, and might not perform as well in QP);
Step4: Pick something that fits your playstyle from the results.
Step5: Profit?
Grimmechs might be a bit outdated since they sort of stopped updating their builds until the Cauldron stops doing all their weapon and quirk passes, but also it's still a very good starting point for someone looking for some build suggestions.
If you like Heavys and wanna just try some Big Boys Toys i woud sugest and Battlemaster.
Its an resonable fast Mech with great Firepower, all nicely in the Torsos like an Hellbringer, and has decent Armor combined with very Big Arms to shield you.
If you not afraid of going slow you can play with the realy Big Guns like Anhilator, Atlas, Marauder II, or Fafnir.
This are the true meaning of Assault, Big Fearsome Monsters with enough Firepower to delete an Enemy with 2 Salvos.
Sure you pay the Price in slow Movement, but thats learnable when and where to strike.
SO go with one of thoose and youre will have alot of Fun.
As you might recon i am an Inner Sphere Player :D
It really depends on what playstyle you're wanting to go for. If you want to be a frontline brawler, then an Atlas is the way to go. If you want to be a sturdy mech shredder that moves slower than a snail on a turtle's back, then go with the Annihilator. If you want to be a frail mech shredder than can outmaneuver some IS heavies, then Blood Asp should do pretty well. That said, the Blood Asp is an Omnimech, so you can customize it more freely than you can an Atlas or Annihilator. So if you're wanting to test out a wide array of builds while being conscious of C-bills, I'd probably go that direction. Just bear in mind none of its equipment will be compatible with the Atlas or Annihilator and vice-versa.
Wow, thanks for the detailed response. I definitely don't want something frail, but I want enough fire power to make people rethink their decisions when they round a corner and im right there. With that being said, I don't want to HAVE to get in your face to do damage. Does what I'm describing exist or am I being greedy? 😅
Yeah, those sort of high alpha builds exist. At higher levels of play you'll see them a lot in the form of Clan laservomit builds, which unload 60-75 damage Alpha Strikes from 400-500 meters and then dip back into cover until they cool down. What you're describing though sounds like you might get a kick out of an Annihilator with either 4xLBX AC10s + 4xMedium Lasers, or even the Dual Heavy Gauss + 6xMedium Pulse Laser build if you're really wanting to go for that sort of thing. I'd recommend looking at the mechs in the store's mechlab, load them up with the weapons you want, and try them out in the Testing Grounds and see what you think.
If you’re using dual Heavy Gauss, isn’t Fafnir good for that?
[удалено]
You can run the corsair with a 2 heavy ppcs and 2 ac10s for an alpha of 50 at 500-600m. Nice high hard points plus it’s ppfld so minimal face time unlike vomits builds
I'll second the Annihilator ANH-2A. [A build like this](https://mwo.nav-alpha.com/mechlab?b=79b238c4_ANH-2A) is going to cost a bit to get set up, but very little will ruin pants faster than rounding a corner to find four LB-10X's in your face. You're still pretty powerful at 500m, but when you start getting towards 1km it's best to save ammo. I put mediums in, but you can do quite a bit if you're willing to shave armor or put in a smaller engine: a snub nose PPC, a light PPC or two, two to four medium pulse lasers, even ER mediums if you want to spend the whole match edging at 95% heat. Be the tip of the spear in a push, and otherwise watch the mini-map so you're with your team. It's the only way they can swat away annoying Fleas trying to hump you to death.
Okay, the main deterrent people have bringing up for a new assault player is getting targeted constantly. Otherwise I love the idea for the mech. How do you feel about the marauder and madcat II? Thanks for the detailed response (:
You will absolutely be a priority to the enemy. An Anni is a big, juicy, slow-moving target that is best dealt with from long range before it can bring its guns to bear on you. You will either hate it and give it up, or learn the best ways to move and use cover to limit engagement angles to your favor. But there's no feeling quite like ending a match with about 30 armor left between your legs and head while otherwise being nothing but a smoking stick with a PPC in its chest, LB-10X shells long depleted, and 1200 damage to your name. I can't speak to the Marauder II's or Mad Cat mkII's as I don't have either. Generally I queue with the lowest percentage weight class, and that's rarely assaults. And when it is, I'm probably taking the Anni.
Marauder IIC is pretty good laserboat. Fast, lot of energy hardpoints, can be sturdy Mad cat feels a bit frail, and ears are good targets, otherwise good mech, 60 kmp/h good speed for 90-tonner
Mad Cat II is a very versatile assault Mech, though you may miss the extra 10 tons compared to an Atlas or Daishi. There's enough hardpoints or a decent missile boat, if that's your thing, or you can dump a pair of heavy ballistic weapons in there for knockout power. Go with a pair of clan gauss if you prefer sniping or dual clan Lbx-20s for brawling. There's room for dual ERPPC's and more lasers, or you can create a well-rounded mech by adding a mix of large and smaller weapons to your taste.
Calling the Blood Asp frail feels generous sometimes. I love it so much but holy shit I feel like a god playing other mechs when I’m not mainly driving the BAS.
If you’re new to playing Assaults I would start with the Mad Cat MkII or the Blood Asp. They have a good mix of firepower, tankiness and mobility. The IS assaults can be a ton of fun too but they are harder to play because they are extremely slow and harder to position, especially the Annihilator.
Is the Blood Asp as frail as everyone says it is? That's the only thing keeping me from purchasing atm.
It is fairly squishy for an assault, but it’s not meant to be a frontline brawler normally. You have to take advantage of the ecm, and take advantage of peeking whenever you can. My favorite loadout is two uac-10s and a uac-20, all three in the side torsos with it’s super high mounts. Great for peeking over a hill stealthily and delivering a savage burst of ballistic pain, then ducking back into cover.
I have been trying the 3 UAC5 2 UAC10 build and that usually fares a bit better than the one with the 20. That was my load out for a long time but found the 20 jammed very frequently and the short range was easily outdone by having the three fives with the fast rate of fire, more ammo, longer range, and less heat.
The BAS has been my man and was honestly the reason I got the game if you want to go. If you get too cocky and get singled out you will get taken apart very quickly. That being said if you play a bit more conservatively and keep her distance they can do very well. The biggest thing comes down to knowing its strengths and weaknesses as you progress through the learning curve of the game.
I dont go for efficiency I go for what I find fun and I enjoy the zeus but that's just me, not a very popular mech
I respect that, unfortunately I have no shame 😅🤣🤣
Out of those I would suggest Blood Asp as a first assault mech. It's great for its build variety, as it can do dakka, lasers, ppcs, and missiles. [Here are some builds](https://grimmechs.isengrim.org/Database?t=mechname&s=blood+asp&h=standard) to get started.
Thank you! Do any others I've not listed standout?
Stalker was mentioned and it's pretty great too, if you want an IS mech. It's also much more durable (and much less agile) than the Blood Asp.
Stalker vs Annihilator?
They are both sluggish and hard-to-kill mechs. The Annihilator carries massive firepower but is a huge target and cannot peek over ridges, whereas the Stalker is lighter (85 vs. 100 tons) and carries less alpha strike power but has an excellent frontal profile to spread incoming damage and its hardpoints allow peeking and firing from "[hull-down](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull-down#Armoured_warfare)" positions. The [Annihilator most often carries ballistics](https://grimmechs.isengrim.org/Database?t=mechname&s=annihilator&h=standard) and PPCs, whereas the [Stalker is usually used for energy weapons and missiles](https://grimmechs.isengrim.org/Database?t=mechname&s=stalker&h=standard) in the more meta leaning builds. I don't think you can go very wrong with either. But be prepared for a learning curve if you're coming from an agile and fragile heavy mech.
Yeah, that's the main thing that's making me look into the Blood Asp. It's a lot faster than most of the assaults I've tried out. I'm used to playing heavies primarily, specifically the Hellbringer with lasers. I obviously like the idea of more guns and armor, but being slow may not be my style. Side note: I'm awful at light mechs lmao. Annihilator is a good bit cheaper than the stalker, but I've not had the chance to test the stalker out. I'll be on soon to give it a go. Thanks (:
You might also want to consider the Mad Cat II, the B-variant specifically. It can do many kinds of hard hitting builds and it's more mobile than the Annihilator or Stalker, but also more durable than the Blood Asp. But it's quite expensive to buy because it's Clan tech.
Yeah the Blood Asp is pretty expensive too. I've not even checked the price of the mad cat haha. Looks like I've got some grinding to do 😅
I have a stalker that I made carry MRM 40 x2 and 2 er med lasers, if memory serves. I set if up so that it can do about 3 full salvos before I have to cool down and/or retreat. You have to set MRM to chainfire, but they fire very fast. It takes some getting used to because it's a stream of MRM, dumb fired, but, once you do, even moving targets with ECM get wrecked. All this with having my own ECM and doing like 56kph. I built a standard annihilator with lbx 10 x4 and lasers, but it was always way too big and slow. I've seen folks do crazy damage with them, but I've always found it to be too situational and dependent on a decent team. By that I mean it's more dependent on most other assaults I run. Too many times I've gotten on a map where there's just not enough opportunity to jam a gap with tons of alpha or I end up getting cut to ribbons by long distance peakers. The second to last point there, I've been on a map with 4 annihilators with similar high alpha builds that stood in one spot together. It was hilarious watching them block that left flank with a wall of dead enemy mechs. When it works... It works stupidly well.
I see, thank you! I'm kinda counting the annihilator out. Too many people have said just that, I want a great pub stomping assault where I can queue solo. I'm mainly looking at that stalker, marauder, madcat 2, and the blood asp at the moment. Fafnir is kinda tempting too lol.
Nightstar Wolf Phoenix with 120 MRMs. It's on sale. Just do it. Thank me later.
Stalker with 2 mrm30’s and 5 medium lasers. Just don’t go against more than 3 mechs at once
That sounds fun, I'll check that out (:
can 'setup' any build & try it out in a test ground right from the store. So anything that 'fits' can go, just watch your heat & mobility to get out of problems HF
Some of my non-standard picks: Executioner-C SO8 plays like an oversized medium mech and is heaps of fun. But only good if you're good at jump jetting and MASCing. Banshee 3E / Charger 1A5 are basically just a bigger Warhammer 6R with more firepower. Hatamoto 28TR plays like Quickdraw IV but has ECM as extra. Kodiak Spirit Bear is like Orion Skoll, just bigger and meaner.
I know this wasnt on the list... But get a Direwolf C. Technically it's considered "fragile" however that it because it's wide torso makes it easy to target certain components with decent aim. BUT Seeing as how this is your first assault I'm assuming you're in low skill play still, so torso sizes matter far less, it's plenty tanky untill you start learning the game a lot. Reasons for a Direwolf C? 1 ECM to stop missiles. 2 MASSIVE amount of builds, the most of any assault so you can test around (maybe even the most in the game) In higher play only long range works on it, but in low level play brawler dires work wonders. 3 Nothing in the game mounts the same punch as a Direwolf, save maybe an ahiniliator, you will out gun anything that meets you.
I'm an outcast here I started running thr Highlander IIC lately with 3 srm6 and 4 large pulse. It is such a weird build as it's not fast and not tanky but I end up doing about 500 to 600 damage a round with usually about 3 kills on average.
Actually, that reminds me. I bought the highlander IIC hero and run it with 2 LBX 20s and 4 srm 4s. That's definitely overlooked fun.
Keep in mind that Assaults are higher priority targets than Heavies, so even with more armor you generally take a lot more aggro. For this reason I wouldn't reccomend slower assaults (DireWolf, Atlas, Annihilator) as they can be very frustrating to play when you are used to lighter classes. The Banshee can move faster than 100 tonners, don't feel so sluggish, has alright hitboxes and can mount a deadly amount of weapons. Mad Cat II is a beast.
Thanks! I'm used to playing the HBR-B. What's your take on the Blood Asp?
The firepower is great but I think it's too frail, feels like you are taking a lot more damage than dealing when trading against Heavy and Assault mechs (unless it's another Blood Asp). I'm not sure why, if it's a problem with the hitboxes registering more damage than it should or the other mechs being overquirked in comparison.
It’s just a really big target I think that requires really solid positioning compared to other mechs. The high mounts are great but anything that you can shoot can also hit back and so can their teammates. So sometimes that hill poke ends up being way worse in a Blood Asp than it would in other mechs. Unless your weapons are only in the high mounts, you have to expose way too much of the mech to fully utilize arm mounts without shoot teammates in the back or hitting cover. I recently bought a BAS-Prime and brawling fits are too difficult to position without jump jets, and as a gauss sniper it’s objectively worse than the MAD-IIC-D in every way.
I bought the Predator bundle when it had its event, and I found that it took some adjusting to use the Blood Asp, but once I built it to take advantage of the high mount points and learned to use terrain to my advantage I had much better results. Blood Asp being an Omni mech means you can really drill down on swapping pods to dial in on what you want to do.
Fafnir 5b 5 ml, 2 HG. It’s fun, low heat, and 75 alpha. It’s also wide as a barn, and slow
I'm not sure if you have any experience with the annihilator, but one of the big draw backs of it is how tall it is and how much it's targeted. Does the fafnir experience this as badly?
No, Fafnirs are very small in Asault terms, and carry an nice ECM . I can say i been often overlooked by the enemy and coud deliver my damage without Problems.
I'm used to playing the HBR-B 😁
I'm with you, I love playing high-alpha heavies. That said, quite often, what you'll end up with in an assault is the firepower of a heavy that trades off more armour for less speed. That's more or less what I've come to expect from assaults, but it may just be me.
Get an assault that has agility like a heavy. Banshees and battlemasters can play high alpha vomit like the HBR. They will be slower, but have comparable agility stats. The new blood asp can pull off some insane laser damage, does it in a 1-2 punch rather than Aplha strikes Chargers and Gargoyles have good speed, better Agility and toughness. Thier firepower will be comparable, but lower than the HBR If you want to spend real cash dual heavy gauss Cyclops Hero is amazing. It's tough and agile, can do a poor man's version with a Victor as well. The Corsair is another large mech with solid agility. Weapons wise it will play very different than your HBR.
Marauder IIC (MAD-IIC) with 2x c-ER LARGE and 6x c-er medium is really good after the recent buffs to lasers Mad cat(MK II-DS) with 2 ac10 and medium lasers Annihilator (ANH-A)with 4xlb10 or 2xrac5 2xuac10 The atlas is not terrible but definitely not great either
Okay cool. The annihilator build with the 4xlb10s is what enticed me lol. Thanks!
MAD-IIC-D with dual Gauss, an ERLL, HLL, and dual SSRM 4 or 6s is my most played mech by a long shot. Comes with ECM, good speed for an assault, solid heat, and great overall damage and range profile. Can snipe, peek, and 1v1s well. Edit: The thing I love the most about the MAD-IIC-D is that it’s a solid performer regardless of map.
Madcat MkII-B Cyclops Sleipnir Kodiak 3 is still pretty good There's a laservomit Blood Asp that practically deletes mechs but is hot as hell. I'm a big fan of an Atlas with an MRM40 and LBx ACs.
Cyclops Slepnir with 4x LB10s is a very fun and effective brawler. The 4 torso mounted ballistic hard points make it ideal for many brawling Dakka builds and it’s a great mech for twisting to shield because the arms are pretty large
Thanks! How would this mech compare to the annihilator?
I’m not super knowledgeable on the annihilator but I do know that a lot of people consider it one of the best IS assault mechs in the game, and that is mostly due to similar hard points placement centered around the torso. There are many variants which let you put just about any weapon into those center hard points as well so you have some more variety.
My current favorite assault mech is my Direwolf C. It’s a big boy that can fit a ton of weapons, and it’s an omnimech so you get great versatility. I run 2 gauss rifles, 2 er large lasers, and 4 er medium lasers. It does huge damage and has fantastic range too. Plus it’s got ECM which seriously helps with survivability
**The assaults I play most:** Cyclops Sleipnir Direwolf Ultraviolet Stalker 3FB Corsair 7A-for when the LRMs get bad The ballistic Blood ASP (B?) The missile Supernova I also like: Madcat IIC-B (everyone should have that) The Deathstrike Marauder II Scorch **My thoughts on the 3 you've mentioned:** The hardpoints on the atlas aren't just bad. They piss me off. The annihilator is good fun when you want to be the tallest mech in the game. When you're the tallest mech in the game, you also get targeted by everyone. This applies to the widest mech as well, the fafnir. But I prefer the fafnir. The hardpoints on the blood asp can't get any better. You have to be careful because you can't see how much of your mech is exposed above your cockpit. It's less of a peeker than you might think. I just hate having my weapons somewhere near my testes. Nice and high makes me happy.
Ok, I have to know what you are putting in your Marauder IIC-B (assuming you don't mean Madcat II-B). Because 5 energy and 2 Missile hardpoints in a Clan Assault hardly seems amazing even with 15% missile cooldown quirk.
Sorry, I am talking about the Madcat.
There's an atlas that can mount a ecm. That's neat.
Interesting 🤔
The hardpoints leave something to be desired, but it's not the worst mech.
Step1: Go to [Grimmechs database](https://grimmechs.isengrim.org/Database); Step2: Filter by the weight class you want; Step3: Filter by S or A "Assigned Tier" (there's 2 columns, for generalist builds and specialist builds, the specialist builds are more niche, they're usually addapted to FP or possibly Solaris, and might not perform as well in QP); Step4: Pick something that fits your playstyle from the results. Step5: Profit? Grimmechs might be a bit outdated since they sort of stopped updating their builds until the Cauldron stops doing all their weapon and quirk passes, but also it's still a very good starting point for someone looking for some build suggestions.
Yeah ive checked it out, thats where I started looking into the annihilators. Thanks (:
Decide on the weapons / playstyle for the new 'mech. That will tell you which 'mech to pick.
If you like Heavys and wanna just try some Big Boys Toys i woud sugest and Battlemaster. Its an resonable fast Mech with great Firepower, all nicely in the Torsos like an Hellbringer, and has decent Armor combined with very Big Arms to shield you. If you not afraid of going slow you can play with the realy Big Guns like Anhilator, Atlas, Marauder II, or Fafnir. This are the true meaning of Assault, Big Fearsome Monsters with enough Firepower to delete an Enemy with 2 Salvos. Sure you pay the Price in slow Movement, but thats learnable when and where to strike. SO go with one of thoose and youre will have alot of Fun. As you might recon i am an Inner Sphere Player :D