Note: An updated version (July 2013) of this Atlas brawler build guide is available. Click here to view it.

One of my best friends, Strawberry5, has great success with an Atlas Brawler build, almost always topping the scoreboard and blowing scrubs to bits and pieces. This guide is the result of hours of grinding and experimenting and represents the, in my opinion, currently best load-out if you want to go toe to toe with your foes as an Atlas pilot. Be sure to drop by his profile and leave him a thumbs-up (link at the end of the guide).

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This guide has been created by Vechs and I got his permission to post it here. Only minimal changes have been made where stuff was outdated or badly formatted. With the latest patches from November 2012 the effectiveness of this build has been slightly reduced, but you will still make a lot of money easily.

” You guys go on ahead… I’ll be back here… with LRMs… and also snacks “

Oh man. First we have delicious Zombie Wang, and now a Fatlas? He’s so fat! He waddles around and just burps up LRMs on everything. Don’t worry though, he’ll make you tons of money.

… and the LRMs are free.

Yes, I’m totally serious.

Fatlas is short for Founder’s Atlas. But here’s the thing– this guide works for any Atlas. Your lasers might be in different spots, but who cares, that’s not what this guide is about.

Alright, now let’s get down to the real business — maximizing the C-Bill income of your Fatlas.

Mechwarrior Online allows you to choose not to repair and reload your mech. If you do this, you’ll get free rudimentary repairs, and 75% of your max ammo loaded for free. This is pretty awesome, and allows certain builds to get by and be totally combat effective with cheap repairs.

Yes, that’s right, if you choose to never pay for ammo again, you’ll always have 75% of your max ammo. Not bad? Personally, I’ll fully repair and reload for faction battles, but for random matches, I’m thinking I kinda like free ammo.

So for the Fatlas, your valuable asset is your LRM rack. Sure, your Center Torso is important, but that gets expensive to repair. Here’s the deal: As an LRM boat, if enemies have killed your front line, and are in your face, most times you’ve lost already. A bit more health on your CT is very rarely going to make a difference.

So, just repair your Left Torso (or wherever your LRMs are). This is very, very cheap, and because your LRMs are the only reason you’re on the field, it works pretty well. You’re not a brawling build in the first place, and if your team has died, even a full-strength LRM boat is not really going to be able to hold out without teammates.

If your mech just happens to have the LRMs in the center torso (Jenner, Dragon, etc.) then congratulations, you can be a Zombie LRM Boat. (In this case, store the ammo in your legs and head. If either of those locations die, you’re screwed anyway.)

The Build:

Fatlas (Similar builds work for any Atlas, and even other LRM-capable mechs)

2 Medium Lasers – Center Torso
2 Heat Sinks – Engine Slots

1 Medium Laser – Left Arm
1 AMS – Left Arm
5 LRM Ammo – Left Arm
1 AMS Ammo – Left Arm

1 Medium Laser – Right Arm
5 LRM Ammo – Right Arm

2 LRM20 – Left Torso
2 Heat Sinks – Left Torso

3 Heat Sinks – Right Torso

1 Heat Sink – Head
4 Heat Sinks – Left and Right Legs

Engine – 300 Standard

560 Points of Armor (Strip from legs)

Standard Everything – No fancy equipment. (DHS, FF, Endo, XL Engine, etc.)

If you can fit it (for example by removing some ammo), sponsor yourself some Artemis. This will greatly improve your damage, but also costs you a considerable one-time fee.

Battle Performance:

Unlike the Zombie Wang, the Fatlas can totally carry your team. Twin LRM20 launchers means an incredible amount of damage every few seconds. This will shred enemy mechs. As an LRM boat, all you have to do is stay towards the back of your group (You are in a group, right?) and shoot.

Even if your team derps off and you don’t have cover, you still ought to be able to dish out a lot more damage than other mech builds.

The Fatlas and your Bank Account:

Fully repairing and Atlas is expensive. It makes no sense to attempt to use an Atlas to make money if you’re actually going to repair the thing. Just use some duct tape and welfare ammunition — an LRM boat doesn’t really need more than that to do its job. I believe this is the only way a Founders Atlas can actually make use of the cash income bonus it has. Because repairing it cripples your income.

You can have the kinds of income above while having this for your repair bill:

Or, you could be hilariously inefficient at making money and have this for your repair bill, and livemaybe 3 seconds longer when your team dies and you get focused on:

Okay Vechs, you’ve convinced me to be a waddling, cute, little Fatlas… now what?

To help out your team, try doing any of the following:

• Stay behind your teammates. This is LRM Boating 101. You are support. You’re not Rambo, you’re not a hero, you’re just a walking waddling artillery turret. Your only purpose in life is to vomit LRMs en-masse onto the enemy mechs.

• Protect your Left Torso (Or other LRM location). The only reason you exist is to carry your LRM racks and LRM ammo onto the battlefield. WIthout them, you’re useless. You’re a big, useless fatty. That’s what you are. If a scout gets to you, twist your torso to let him munch on your arms first. Get your team to help get rid of them. Even with reduced armor, you’re still fairly tanky.

• Having the LRM ammo in your arms eliminates the need for CASE. If you lose one arm, oh well, you still have more ammo in the other. If you’ve lost both arms, the fight should have gone on long enough for you to use up most of your LRMs and cause your fair share of damage. Good job, you can die now.

• If you use up all your LRM ammo (Good job, by the way.) Then waddle out to the front lines and put your modest armor to use. Four medium lasers and reasonable heat sinks mean you can blast out 20 points of damage with good frequency. Especially if it’s late in the match and the enemies are injured.

Original forum post: http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/66906-guide-why-you-should-love-fatlas-a-c-bill-grinding-guide-for-the-atlas/

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