Battlemaster 1G (Phoenix Hero Variant) Pubstomper Guide

Project Phoenix has arrived, and people have already come up with decent builds for Shadowhawks and Locusts. However, good Battlemaster builds are much harder to come by. The build presented here is a big mile stone in the development of the Battlemaster. It has everything you need: Long range high pinpoint damage, close quarter punch, and above average survivability. Two AC/5s and a single PPC provide excellent sniping and fire support capabilities. Six (6!) Medium Lasers allow you to dish out insane damage at close range. You can also continue to fire your double AC/5s while brawling. Finally, the Battlemaster is an Assault Mech and this build utilises a standard engine making it very durable. Let’s take a look at the build.

There are a few minor adjustments possible, depending on your preferred play style. For example, if you are more comfortable having all sniper weapons on your arms for increased precision, you can swap the PPC to your right arm and move the Medium Laser to the torso. While this is more comfortable, it is also less effective. Sniping around corners becomes more difficult and you will lose more important weapons when using your right arm as a shield arm. Addition of AMS is also possible, just remove any of the Medium Lasers, AC/5 ammo, or DHS to free up the tonnage. However, do not remove armor from your head. The cockpit is really easy to hit at the moment and you need every point of armor on it.

• PPCs have a minimum range of 90ms. Do not fire them beyond that range ever. You will overheat and die miserably.
• In high heat situations stop firing your PPCs immediately. You will always do more damage, if you do not overheat and use your AC/5s exclusively.
• AC/5s reload much faster than PPCs. Try working in at least one additional AC/5s salvo in between PPC recycle times when engaged at longer ranges.
• Use your right arm as a shield. One of your most vulnerable spots is you center torso. Try to protect it at all times.
• The Battlermaster’s upper torso twisting angle is very crappy. Keep this in mind when crossing through open spaces. Try to back up against a wall when engaged in close quarters.
• If you are playing in an organised group it is highly recommended allocating almost every point of armor in the front. If you are playing random games without a group, 10-25 rear armor are probably the better choice.
• Weapon grouping advice: 1) PPC and both AC/5s 2) All Medium Lasers 3) Both AC/5s only
• For modules use Cool Shot 9 by 9, Advanced Sensor Range, and Advanced Seismic Sensor. You can play around with the Advanced Zoom Module in exchange for the Advanced Seismic Sensor.

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Cataphract 2X Brawler Build

I am a great fan of the Cataphract chassis. I bought a 4X, 2X, and 1X right when they came out. However, the CTF-3D and the Hero Mech variant “Ilya Muromets” are much more popular. While those are really fun and powerful variants, I wanted to beat something with my 2X and 1X. So this guide came to life. See how a Cataphract 2X can easily deal as much damage as the more popular variants. People will only underestimate you until you blasted the second Assault Mech in their team to bits.

This build features everything you need. The Cataphract 2X brawler build is like the whole family fun package. A Gauss Rifle for long range shots and in order to add critical pinpoint damage while brawling. It can also be used in the rare case of running on high heat. Three Medium Lasers will serve as your all-purpose weapons. Finally, double SRM6 will be your melee range blaster. The recent MWO patch buffed their damage even further. Note, that all screenshots where taken before this patch and the damage values were already insanely high. Especially when encountering Assault Mechs, the SRM6s will provide the critical damage needed to take them down quickly.

• Although your Cataphract 2X is equipped with a Gauss Rifle, the most damage can be dealt at close range. Try to engage in brawls early on for maximum output.
• This build is very heat efficient. Do not fear to fire all weapons at all times. In the rare case of running on high heat, continue firing your SRM6s and the Gauss Rifle only.
• The combination of a Cataphract chassis and an XL-engine make you very susceptible to frontal attacks. Try to hug buildings, ledges, and cliffs at all times.

Note, that the following screenshots where taken before the recent buff to SRM damage. You should be able to easily reach or even surpass those numbers.

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Get Connected!

If you know of an excellent build, resource, or guide, submit it and maybe it will be featured on mwo-builds.net and seen by thousands of players. You can submit builds by sending us an e-mail, post it in the official looking-for-builds thread, or send us a private message via the official forums. You can also submit guides and builds via Facebook or Twitter (see below). Join hundreds of other Mechwarrior enthusiasts and like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Receive the latest guides and the best MWO builds directly to your favourite social platform!

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Premium Time vs Hero Mech

What do Premium Time and Hero Mechs have in common?

Premium Time and Hero Mechs have two things in common: 1) They will cost you Mechwarrior Credits ( or simply “mc”). 2) They will provide you with a bonus to your c-bills earned from each match played. The bonus is really huge, and you will see up to 250,000 c-bills in a great match being pushed to your account. The bonuses even stack if you have both active at the same time resulting in close to double c-bills earned.

Where do Premium Time and Hero Mechs differ?

Apart from the 50% vs 30% c-bill bonus, there are some other differences which cannot be compared as easily. Everybody has to decide for themselves, which of these things he/she cares more about.

Premium Time	Hero Mech
Lasts a fixed amount of days.	Lasts forever.
Will expire, whether you play or not.	Does not care if you play or not.
50% c-bill bonus.	30% c-bill bonus.
50% more xp and GXP gained.	No bonus to xp or GXP.
No Mech or other items provided.	Unique variant.
No cosmetic bonuses.	Unique skin.
Works on all Mechs you play.	Works only on the Hero variant.

The following graph illustrates when the smaller, but permanent, Hero Mech bonus surpasses a 30 day premium time package. Assuming you are playing almost every day of your 30 day premium time, the Hero Mech will surpass the Premium Time package after roughly 50 days. However, this also requires, that you played your Hero Mech variant only. The amount of XP and GXP gained during 30-50 days of continuous play with premium time active is also quite significant. Using premium time will boost your GXP quite heavily and unlocking upgrades on your new chassis was never that easy.

Which Premium Time Package is the best?

 Premium Time vs Hero Mech is a very personal decision. If you don’t care about the Mech itself and play MWO constantly, getting Premium Time is usually the better choice when looking at time frames of a few months. The most practical (and arguably best) Premium Time package is the one for 30 days.

If you want to play hardcore for a weekend or so, get the 3 days pack. Its value is better than the one for only 1 day. If you want to go crazy on your free week, get the 7 days package. The 7 days package is worth more if you play at least 6 of the 7 days. On to the 30 days package: This package is so awesome because you only need to play 15 out of the 30 days to make it worth your money. The bigger packs 180 and 360 days are not worth it in my opinion. You would need to play 163/180 or 288/360 days respectively in order to achieve the same C-Bills to MC ratio as the 30 days pack. If you are actually considering getting the 180 or 360 days pack, consider buying a Hero Mech instead or at least purchase the time in multiple 30 days packages. You will have the same effect, but with more flexibility and more value. Maybe PGI will adjust the larger packages at some time in the future.

TL/DR

What premium time to get? 30 days premium time is the best value for almost all situations.

I don’t want premium time, I want a Hero Mech! All things considered, the Dragon (C), The X-5 and Pretty Baby have the best values.

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Get Connected!

If you know of an excellent build, resource, or guide, submit it and maybe it will be featured on mwo-builds.net and seen by thousands of players. You can submit builds by sending us an e-mail, post it in the official looking-for-builds thread, or send us a private message via the official forums. You can also submit guides and builds via Facebook or Twitter (see below). Join hundreds of other Mechwarrior enthusiasts and like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Receive the latest guides and the best MWO builds directly to your favourite social platform!

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I finally delved into the Stalker chassis and bought three of them (Misery, 3H and 3F). Let’s start with a Stalker 3H build. This build is an LRM-Boat but features excellent close-range defensive capabilities in the form of Medium Lasers and Streak SRMs. It also comes with a Beagle Active Probe and an Anti-Missile System. In my opinion, the Stalker 3H is one of the best Mechs to build an LRM-Boat.

• Stay behind your teammates to provide firing support.
• Always tag enemies, but do not expose yourself too long to enemy fire.
• Your optimal attack range is ~250m; at this range you can fire all your weapons at once.
• The minimum range for LRMs is 180m. If you are closer to your target they will do NO damage.
• Do not forget to open your missile bay doors at the beginning of each match. The lights at the border of your screen will switch from yellow to green when they are opened.

 

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Ever wondered if you should buy double heat sinks for one of your mechs, but didn´t want to spend so many millions just to try it and fail? Ever wondered how exactly the internal structure of the new mech you are saving for looks like? If it is at all possible to make that armament work? Wouldn´t it be nice to have an online tool that simulates the mechbay from Mechwarrior Online 1:1 and always have the most up-to-date patching data? Look no further, your prayers have been answered:

A guy named Smurfynet made a stats look-up site which automatically generates the data from the game files. In this way it is accurate at all times. However, the most excellent feature of the page is a mechbay simulator. It works exactly like the current mechbay in the game and allows you to plan and experiment with builds. If you register for the site you will also be allowed to store mech setups in your personal online mechbay.

Link to the Smurfy free online Mechbay tool – Click here!

The builds on this site will feature a link in the following style which you can simply click to view the setup on smurf-net:

Be sure to check out the thread in the official forums and drop him a like:

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In case you haven’t found this thread I definitely recommend checking it out. A guy named Ohmwrecker put together all the cheatsheets a serious Mech pilot needs. The thread includes easy to read sheets on the following:

• All Mech hardpoints with locations on the respective chassis (Image, PDF, Exel)
• Complete and up to date weapons lists (Image, PDF, Exel)
• Information on all engines and their exact stats (Image, PDF, Exel)
• All Pilot Upgrades
• …

Ohmwrecker received the community contributor award for his contributions. Check out all the sheets in the official thread and leave him a nice response: http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/27065-ohms-quick-reference-sheets-for-all-mech-hardpoints-weapons-engines-pilot-lab-images-pdfs-excel-inside/ Be sure to check out his Youtube channel as well: http://www.youtube.com/maskedgamer

 

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