Have Atlas pilots lost their minds or something?

Was in game where the Alpha lance was all DDCs, Skirmish on Caustic Valley. We barely survived... we got pincered and couldn't focus fire at all. The enemy finally got impatient and one pincer advanced and got shredded, the other had no choice but to advance, but because they didn't advance at the same time, that gave us breathing room to regroup a bit and then finish off the other pincer. 3 badly damaged mechs survived. The DDC were mostly at the center of our formation, were positioned between he ridge line and the up slope to the crater. One pincer was in crater and the other on the other side of the ridge.

 

Just the other Night I Made this statement to my team when we dropped,, then i saw this POST and had to tell you all

I Said: "Hey guys we have an atlas here. Lets stay with him and Support his actions, But if he charges in, lets break off and leave him. Hope he knows what he is doing"

I had a feeling that He was new or not sure how to Pilot an Atlas because we were heading away from our Main force. after about 1 minute we broke off and rejoined out Team..

But on the Other Hand:
I love to pilot atlases I have a Kept my RS and D-DC, and score High damage with them like 600-900 all the time.
I have to Act in ways I don't want to act because of the Non-Me's on my Team.
they will Join me andstay behind me Using me as a Shield and hardly ever venture out from behind me to take a shot. waiting for me to make the move to move forward, I call to the Pugs to move out and begin the attack - No one moves. then when i do move to attempt to Show them how it's done,, or to lead the charge.. I am left to charge alone which looks like I am being an idiot, (which I hope I am Not) (Ok I am, because I thought they would follow )

But when i am on comms with my Unit we seldome have this issue...

 

I'm gonna chime in and offer my perspective on the subject at hand.

I am one of those bad Atlas pilots. Piloting either of them (piggie, ddc with ecm and rs(c)) is an excercise in frustration.
Coming from mostly lighter mechs, the learning curve is pretty steep. And the current meta which seems to focus on ppc-sniping sure doesn't help either.

The only way I can improve my skill would be doing more drops, preferably with friends for backup, and try to learn from my mistakes.

Tbh the real issue with pugs imo are 3rd person view and not targeting your enemy. Those twomistakes -seriusly- gimp you and your team.

 

I'd bet you're still better than average Atlas pilot. Because you are climbing learning curve, but average Atlas pilot looks like doesn't even try or want to learn.

 

I always try to stick with the atlas that drops with my lance, especially if I have a multiple AC loadout... protect the big guy so he can do his job and dish out lots o'deth. it also makes their job easier if you can supress the snipers that home in on him.

 

I don't usually think its the Atlas pilots fault. I'm an Assault pilot, and I love my atlas. I am always held back by the cowardice of my team though. They get shot at once and they go into "Peek-a-boo" mode where theyll pop around a corner or cover one at a time to get whailed on by a firing line of the entire enemy team.

Great pushes happen pretty rare in my games, but when they do, it always goes horribly for the enemy team. I'm not saying charging in like a ninny is great all the time, I just wish that people would stop being afraid of taking a few hits for the good of the team. I dont mind dieing in a glorious charge as the center of attention, as long as my team capitalizes on it and tears them all a new one.

 

I *used* to pilot an Atlas. I did stupid things sometimes, and sometimes I was the last mech standing.

The key for *me* was to realize that the Atlas is NOT a solo death-machine. Atlai need support. They need someone to keep the lights and the zippy mediums off their backs / flanks (Zombie-cents, Shadowhawks, etc). 2 spiders with 1 LLAS and 4 MG's each can tear up a lone Atlas. And they are supposed to. Why? Because the Atlas is a TEAM oriented mech.

But when your team scatters, the snipers are too far away to target lights harassing you, and the mediums / heavies are off squirreling after that lone light, piloting an Atlas is an exercise in sheer frustration, and I have usually lost interest in that game, thus leading to suicide charges or whatnot.

Why is it frustrating, you ask? Simple. An Atlas is VERY heavy and armored (100 tons). That also means that with even the highest rated engine, snails can regularly outpace you. In reverse. They are HUGE. That means they are functionally equivalent to bullet and charged particle magnets. Yes, they can soak up a LOT of rounds (as IanSane's video shows), but they have limits.

Mitigation can come in many forms: torso-twisting, using cover, hit-and-duck are a few ways, but the most effective way is for the team to function as such. Leave an Atlas alone, and he is either going to go do something deemed as stupid, or he is going to die without doing anything significant as the enemy team shreds him.

Also, because of their lumbering nature, Atlas pilots MUST think ahead a few 'turns', and make decisions that seemingly are easy for the more nimble mechs. For example, on Forest Colony, do I want to go through the water? If most enemy fire is direct fire, and is being suppressed by my snipers, I *might* chance it, if I had a good scout / sight-line to ensure that I do not have to stop in the open duking it out with a light. But if nobody from my team is anywhere near there, it would be stupid of epic proportions for me to chance it, and possibly drag some of my team to their deaths. Thinking ahead is crucial for Atlas pilots. They cannot get anywhere fast, they cannot retreat fast, and they cannot survive indefinitely. Strategy is what will be that invisible shield that protects them.

So, in addition to the Atlas pilot being sensible and forward thinking, what else can they do to maximize their chances for survival, and helping the team (both at once... not one or the other!)? Weapons. Get a sensible load of weapons. Try not to have 2 ERLLAS and 2 MLAS on the same trigger (seen this). 4 SLAS's on an Atlas are like bicycle tires on a Ferrari. Not good for anything but lulz. Have a defined role, and stick to it. Brawlers should not try to snipe (saw a D-DC trying to hit mechs 800+ meters away with SRM 6's). Snipers should try not to brawl as they tend to overheat a lot quicker (in general... I know some folks who are REALLY good at managing heat, and therefore being able to brawl in sniper setups). But for the love of all that is holy, USE them weapons, and AIM them weapons at enemy mechs! And set them up right so that you can bracket mechs in different ranges! And do not forget the ancillaries. If you have a D-DC, ECM is well worth it as an investment. AMS is also quite useful, especially since you cannot outrun / dodge long-ranged missiles. BAP is optional, and ONLY useful if you have lock-on missiles. It is USELESS as far as SRM's are concerned (saw this too). And make sure that you have enough ammunition! [I have to profess that I have sinned and dropped in a 2xUAC5 Atlas with NO UAC ammo! Wooooooops! ]

Finally, learn the beauty that is pinpoint. Hunchie plinking at you with the AC-20? DO NOT try to leg him, get the dang hunch! If nothing else, try to focus on damaged parts rather than fresh parts.

And no, you do NOT have to hog the glory / kills... soften up targets as they pass you, and let your team finish them off. This usually means that you will NOT be turning your back to the rest of the firing line trying to go squirrel after that light / medium and get torn up in 2 shots! Learn to offset your weakness in motion / maneuvering by setting up with your back to a wall. Team up with your team, complement them, and watch your enemies disintegrate.

Or, rush headlong and die, and then complain about your 'most retarded team ever!' Your choice.

--KAT.

 

I seem to have the exact opposite gripe about when I see atlases on my team.... at least 2 out of 3 are LRM boats the past month and a half.... I swear every time I see a 100T Assault mech playing them.... yes you shouldn't go all Leeroy Jenkins but I'd rather that guy then the LRM Atlas hiding behind mediums....

As far as an earlier post stated about awesome (ironic name cause they aren't awesome) & battlemaster... if using std engines a 75-85 tonner with the same movement rate have the exact same amount of available tonnage (think the chart is in Battletechnology #7) endo & XLs can shift that around a little but not all that substantially... Heck they built a 75T battlemaster for the jihad era (it got bumped up to 80T cause the Davions didn't have an 80T in that TRO)

That being said... I gave up trying to do company command in PUG (like herding cats) but lance works well... if you keep your lance together and with you... the rest of the team tends to gravitate towards you and whatever you're doing. ...

 

Have you run an awesome since they hitbox fixes?

They live up to their name now.

 

Yeah, that D-DC without ECM thing bugs me too, particularly when running into opponents who use ECM reasonably effectively. With the LRM storms that are prevalent in most matches, I cling to the ECM DCs like a drowning man on a rope since I usually drive a heavy or assault & can't keep up with those speedy ECM lights. There is no way to describe the frustration when the disconnect/AFK on your team turns out to be the DC...

The stupidity associated with DCs and ECM affects the rest of the team too, at least from what I've seen. I run my DC with ECM all the time, and until people started getting wise and using TAG or PPCs to bust the ECM shield for LRMs, I was generally in pretty good shape if I didn't go off on my own. Lately I've run my DC several times where the entire team runs off outside the ECM bubble and leave me by myself, not taking advantage of the cover provided. They only come back if they are being swamped by LRMs, happen to see me, and put 2+2 together. Often seems like the opposition are the only ones who can coordinate this thing well, keeping at least a lance grouped together around the DC for the classic "Oh &$@!" dark-alley moments in close quarters, or having a fire-support lance which just annihilates everyone else because they're invisible to missile counter fire.


When piloting an Atlas I have no problem being a bullet magnet for the other team, after all that's what this bad boy is for, particularly with a STD engine and as much armor as it will carry. This of course assumes that my team is supportive enough to take advantage of things and make the sacrifice worth it. Pushing forward by yourself or making a wrong turn and drawing an entire company's worth of fire is not healthy to say the least, as mentioned numerous times above.

LRM heavy loadouts are probably not the best in most assaults, but they have the capability to be quite useful if the pilot uses them effectively and gets proper support. While smaller mechs such as the Catapult are generally more capable of keeping up with the pack for the support you need in close, an assault can generally carry the same LRM loadout with enough close-range weapons to handle itself well in close quarters, assuming it only has enough launchers to utilize the LRMs as cover fire until it can bring the rest of the arsenal to bear. On the other hand, assaults such as the Stalker, Awesome, and Battlemaster S outfitted with massive LRM loadouts can totally annihilate opponents if properly used and given proper support.