MechAssault Mech Strategy Guide: Uziel Version 1 Copyright 2003 A. Belonio Gamertag: Hiryu02 This FAQ was written by A. Belonio. No part of this FAQ in whole or in part may be used without the consent of its author. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Table of Contents: 1.) Introduction 2.) Specifications 3.) Tactics 4.) Enemy Mech Breakdown 5.) Maps 6.) Gametypes Intro: I'm writing this guide for those diehard pilots in MechAssault who are looking for some tips or strategy for this underrated mech, the Uziel. Able to hold its own in almost every situation, the Uziel packs a powerful punch, and enough maneuverability to get it out of many tight situations. If you like PPC weapons, but don't want to pick the overpowered Mad Cat, the Uziel is a great choice. Part of using any mech effectively is knowing the strengths and limitations of your mech. As well as knowing how to turn specific battlefield situations to your advantage. I'm sure most of what I put down in this guide is already known to veteran MA pilots, but for those intermediate or just starting out I hope this guide can be helpful. Specs: -Weapons PPC (Particle Projection Cannon) x2 Damage at level 1: 600 Damage at level 2: 750 Damage at level 3: 1000 The Uziel mounts dual PPC cannons, and most of its damage is delivered by them. They are homing weapons that require to be charged to inflict full damage. Dual PPCs do a total of approximately 600 points of damage, enough to kill a small to medium Mech in 4-5 shots. Powered up shots do better damage of course, with level 3 PPCs delivering enough damage to kill a Mad Cat at full health in 4 shots. PPCs are unaffected by chaff, or nullsig ( if you can get a lock on a cloaked mech, you can hit it ), but are rendered almost useless by target jamming. A locked-on PPC shot WILL hit in almost any situation, unless blocked by an obstacle. The higher the level, the slower the bolt travels, with level 3's dodged about 30% of the time by fast mechs with skilled pilots. But in almost all situations, PPCs cannot be dodged, except by hiding behind an obstacle, or with extremely skillful/lucky dodging. PPCs generate a lot of heat, however, and you can only fire 4 charged shots before overheating, and having to wait to cool down below the redline to charge up another shot. Careful heat management is a must. Crossbow Missile Damage at level 1: 44 Damage at level 2: 62 Damage at level 3: 80 The Crossbow missile, while decent, are not worth using except when powered up or in combination with other weapons. One combo to use if your missiles are leveled up is to charge a PPC, fire, then tap B as quickly as possible to switch to missiles and fire a volley that hits the opponent almost at the same time as the PPC. You can then flip back to PPCs and charge another shot. This enables you to add extra damage to every PPC shot you fire, with an insignificant increase in heat. This will not work once you are overheating. If you charge a PPC shot and fire immediately, you'll go back over the redline and be unable to use any weapons until you cool. Missiles are negated by chaff, and cannot lock on a mech that is using Target Jamming. Machine Gun x1 Damage at level 1: 21 Damage at level 2: 30 Damage at level 3: 38 Like the Crossbow Missile, the Machine Gun will not be your primary offense. It has the shortest range of all your weapons, but has the quickest firing rate. It also does the least damage. It does however generate little to no heat. Thus its primary use is as a cooldown weapon once you are overheated. If you are in range, squeeze off four PPC shots then flip to your MG to continue dealing out pain while you cool down enough to charge your primary weapon. -Weight/Armor: 50 tons / 3,214 The Uziel is classed as a medium mech, clocking in at 50 tons. It has an Armor value of 3, 214, good, but far from the best. An Uziel can take a good beating, and absorb up to 5 level 1 dual PPC shots before core breach. This means that the Uziel is best used as a hit- and-run threat, making good use of terrain and cover to outfox heavier opponents. -Maneuverability The manual lists the Uziel as having a top speed of 35. This is slightly inaccurate in game terms. For example, the Uziel is a tiny bit slower than the Mad Dog, but is clearly faster than the Vulture. It is more accurate to use The Atlas' speed of 20 as a base. Thus, the Uziel is closer to having a speed of 30. While this may not seem terribly fast, considering that you are significantly faster than all the Heavy and Assault mechs, as well as one or two of the Medium class mechs. While all the Light class mechs are faster than the Uziel, the Uziel has more than enough firepower to handle Light mechs comfortably, given equal pilot skill. The Uziel also utilizes JumpJets, which are extremely useful for dodging flak, as well as moving over terrain and obstacles. On maps like Icepack, or Colosseum, JumpJets are invaluable for traversing the map, and getting away from opponents if need be. Just finished duking it out with an opponent, only to see another powered up enemy headed for you? Hit the Jumpjets over the nearest hill and put some distance between the two of you, knowing he'll have to waste time going around the mountain you just jumped over. By which time you're already on the far side of the map. JumpJets can also be used for DFA or Death from Above. Lets say you have your opponent core breached, he's just a shot or two away from death. But you want to save that last shot so you can make it to level three with the salvage he gives you. Jump jet above him and drop onto his head. You'll do a decent amount of damage, prolly kill him and save that precious ammo. Each mech does DFA damage equal to their tonnage x 10. So the Uziel does 500 damage DFA, almost as good as a dual PPC shot. Don't forget, if your legs are crippled, you can still move at a decent speed by jump jetting. I can't tell you how many times I've been gimped, and used my jumpjets to grab armor salvage that fixed my legs and armor, and kept me in the game*"Speed" calculation as well as other technical info is taken from Shadow Panther's MA Mech and Weapon Stats spreadsheet found here: http://members.aol.com/shdwpnthr/stats.htm -Countermeasures: The Uziel's defensive weapon is chaff, which once deployed attracts all missiles fired at you for about 3-5 seconds. Chaff takes several seconds to recharge before it can be used again. Especially effective against mechs which rely on missiles to deliver their sting, like the Catapult or Mad Dog. Chaff is ineffective against Hammer missiles, which are dumb-fire and do not need to achieve target lock. Also useless against all energy and ballistic weaponry. Chaff can be a lifesaver, as it can buy you the time you need by negating part of your opponents arsenal while you continue to dish out the pain. It's also great fun to "stick" the chaff on an enemy mech in the middle of a firefight, and watch all missiles aimed at you hit him, and his own missiles fly wildly about. One of the important things to remember about chaff is that if you deploy it after the enemy launches a salvo of missiles, the missiles will still hit you. Launch chaff on anticipation, before they launch the missiles. That way your in the clear. Or if you notice someone hitting you missiles, go ahead and launch chaff anyway, that will take care of any follow-up missile attacks. Tactics/Strategy -XBOX LIVE Destruction: He who holds the Land, can conquer Heaven. This is the bread and butter of Mechassault. Before the game starts, size up your opponents. Keep in mind which opponents will leave behind salvage that you need. Primarily Energy salvage for your PPC. Mechs that leave Energy salvage are: Atlas Mad Cat Kit Fox Prometheus Thor Uziel Ragnarok Catapult Ymir Mad Dog Make these mechs your primary targets during the game, or at least try to grab their salvage when they die, if you don't feel up to duking it out with the heavier ones. Also take into account the stage you will be fighting on. The Uziel does best in areas that offer decent cover and varied terrain, such as Icepack, Colosseum, The Junkyard, and Number 51. River City is to be avoided however. It does start out with all those buildings, but within three minutes of redecoration, there will be nowhere to hide once those Mad Cats or Ragnaroks start sniping you from across the stage. Know the location of the powerups as well, you can use all three types of powerups, so grab them whenever you have the chance. Again, Energy powerups are to take priority. Now, try to avoid direct confrontation with heavier mechs, at least in the open. You can do well by coming up from behind cover or advantageous terrain, and getting multiple PPC shots into them before they realized you have attacked. By the time they turn around and bring their weapons to bear, you have a significant edge. Use cover as much as you can. High ground is also an advantage, many of the heavier mechs cannot jump, so if you get on a hill and start firing from there, you can just back up when they fire back, and have their shots crash into the hillside. If you have no choice but to fight in the open, use your speed, you are faster than almost anything your size and bigger. Learn to circle- strafe if you have the room, but strafing back and forth in close quarters will also do. Now, when strafing back and forth, DO NOT simply move the thumbstick from right to left directly. To change direction smoothly, make a small curve, like a turn at the end of each of your strafes. This prevents your mech from momentarily stopping as its legs try to change direction on a 180 degree axis. Doing the little u-turn allows your mech to reverse direction smoothly in a single motion and be heading in the opposite direction without the danger of stopping for a second and being an easier target. Adding small JumpJet bursts at random also help throw your opponent off, but don't hang too long in the air, except when trying to get over an obstacle. Holding thrusters while also holding a charged PPC will have you heating up faster than usual, and you already have enough problems dealing with heat as it is. Another strategy to use when faced with a powered up opponent that you know you can't take out at the moment is to run for the nearest group of mechs already in a firefight. With any luck, they'll see the powered up Mad Cat on your tail and send a few shots his way, taking the pressure off you. I have done this multiple times and actually survived the encounters. Note that this won't always work, the other mechs might ignore you, in which case you can try to steal a kill off one of them and grab the salvage before your pursuer cuts you down. Or they might decide to blast you first. Anyway, if your tactic works, you got someone off your back and cleaned up the other mechs. If it doesn't well, good luck surviving. Assess your targets wisely, say you come across a Mad Cat and a Catapult fighting, which one do you fire on? Given that they both leave the same salvage, the better choice would be to attack the Mad Cat, as it is the greater threat. Also by killing the MC and taking the salvage, you'll be powered up a level and be able to take down the Catapult easily, assuming you also took the Armor salvage, denying the Catapult the health. Two kills just by picking the right target. Now say it was a Timberwolf and a Catapult, then I'd say hit the Catapult, as the T-wolf doesn't give any Energy salvage which you need. Use Chaff wisely, especially when fighting missile-heavy mechs. It only lasts for 4 seconds, but that's enough to charge up and send a PPC shot into his hide while his missiles go loco. It's also a good idea do drop chaff to one side before making a run for the powerups. That way, anyone trying to hit you with missiles before you get to the salvage is out of luck. When fighting other mechs, Target Jamming will give you a headache. It completely nullifies all target locks you have for 7 seconds. This means your PPCs wont track. There are two things you can do when facing a TJ-ing mech like the Thor or Mad Cat: one is two hold your PPC charge and keep dodging while you wait for the TJ to wear off. Then you'll have 14 second to put a quick end to your opponent before his Target Jamming kicks in again. The other is to run directly up to him and manually aim your PPCs into his face. This is easier to do on a limping mech, but can be done to healthy ones as well. It takes practice to do, but it hurts him when he doesn't expect it and gives you a tactical and psychological edge. -Enemy Mechs Assault-Class Mechs include: Atlas Prometheus Ragnarok Ymir Assault Class mechs are not a huge problem provided you know how to deal with them. The main difficulty lies in whittling down their tremendous armor. The Atlas for example has an armor value of 6,000, which means you need 10 level one PPC shots to take him down. The Prometheus is slightly less armored at 5,500. Once again, the main tactic to adopt is to hit them with as many PPC shots as you can before they can retaliate. Firing from behind cover or high ground is preferable, from there you can hit and hide as your weapons recharge. Use chaff to negate some of their offensive options. Often I'll get into sniping range, squeeze off 3-4 shots, then run and hide. Most of the time the big slow mech will give up on taking a long time to trudge across the map to hunt me down, and turn it's attention to other, closer threats. At which point I'll come back into range, and begin combat while he's fighting off other opponents, often taking the kill, and the salvage myself. Mop-up on the other mechs isn't too hard especially if they're wounded from the battle with the Atlas or Prometheus. If you manage to cripple an assault mech, your job becomes much easier. You can then circle strafe around him at close range filling him with PPC bolts as he turns just slightly too slow to keep you in his sights with his crippled legs. The biggest threat from the Atlas is the knockdown capability of its quad Autocannons, or in the case of the Prometheus, dual Gauss rifles. Both of these weapons at level two or higher have a very good chance of knocking your mech over, leaving it vulnerable to salvoes from their other weapons while you lie helpless, attempting to get up. Once you get knocked over, you can kiss a large chunk of your armor goodbye, if not death outright. Rags and Ymirs present a different set of challenges. While not as tough as the Atlas or its variant, weighing in at 5,000 armor points, the Ragnarok and its variation can be deadly in the right hands. Also both have the Shield defensive weapon, which can really throw off your game. Rags can be taken down fairly quickly provided you have 2nd level or higher PPCs, and you need to get the first 3-4 shots in. Chaff takes care of the missiles, while erratic strafing throws off Gauss slugs. Gauss rifles are also hard to use in a close combat situation. In close most Rag/Ymir pilots use the Lava gun, which does high damage, splash damage, and can knock you down. Lava guns heat them up pretty fast and take a good while to recharge. Lava guns also have no tracking ability. The best defense against the Lava gun is skillful movement. If you see the Lava gun start to fire during your strafe, reverse direction as soon as you can and hit a quick burst on the Jumpjets. This usually enables me to dodge the shots completely. Alternatively, you can continue strafing in the original direction, but you MUST hit those Jumpjets. This usually gets you out of there with one hit from the Lava gun at most. Jumping is essential so that the weapon can't knock you down. After all, you can't knock down a mech that isn't on the ground. The Ragnarok's Shield is an important factor; it reduces or negates all damage for 1 second while it is up, and takes about 2 seconds to recharge. A skilled Rag pilot can block most of your PPCs if he knows what he's doing. Also charged PPCs give your opponent warning that you are about to fire, and they can use that to time the shield. However, most Rag pilots have a rhythm to their shield use, they usually activate it to block the first hit they see coming, and continue to activate it as soon as it recharges. If you see the other pilot doing this, HOLD YOUR FIRE. Charge a PPC, and wait for him to activate the shield in anticipation. As soon as the shield is down, let him have it! With any luck they'll try to activate the shield again as soon as they can. But since the charge time of a PPC and a shield are different, his shield will go down just in time for you to hit him with the next PPC shot. In any case, he can't use the shield effectively if he doesn't see the shot coming. Therefore, sneak up behind Ragnaroks and Ymirs, make your attack while they are fighting someone else. That way you'll get your first couple of shots in, and he won't be able to see them coming. It is not advisable to approach Rags and Ymirs from the front. While the Rag's Gauss Rifles can be dodged head on, the Ymir's PPCs will hit you if you don't use cover wisely. The Ymir's disadvantage though is the PPCs heat them up even faster than the Rag. If they use PPCs and the Lava gun in combos they'll be overheating in no time. One last note on the Ymir, it has quad Autocannons which have a greater hit area than the Gauss Rifles, and at level 2 or higher, have a very good chance of knocking you down. Keep that in mind. Heavy Mechs include: Thor Summoner Mad Cat Timberwolf Faster than Assault-Class mechs and almost equal in raw firepower, you'll see a lot of Heavy Mechs on the battlefield. These guys are probably the biggest threat that you will face. They are quite popular, especially the Mad Cat and its variation, as well as the Thor. It's a good bet there will be at least one of these guys in every match you play. The Thor and the Summoner are the only Heavy-Class mechs with jump jets. The Thor is a pretty tough mech, at almost 4,000 armor. It's favored weapon is its quad Machine Gun rack. While individual MGs do only a small amount of damage, 4 of them, especially once powered-up will chip steadily away at your life. When facing a Thor, never get closer than medium range if you can help it at all. The MGs can only lock at close range, and its long-range weapon, dual Lasers, don't do that much damage. Thors also have 2 Crossbow missiles launcher, but your chaff should take care of those easily. A Thor pilot will always try to get in close so he can use his MGs. Don't let him. Snipe him from a distance whenever possible, and remember that you can steadily outrun him by backpedaling, constantly plugging him with PPCs. Thors do have Target Jamming however. Just wait for it to deactivate before firing, so you don't waste PPC shots. And at mid to long range, you can do significantly more damage than his dual Lasers. Remember to control the distance between you, and don't forget to sneak in a 2-3 shot lead whenever possible. The Summoner can be defeated using a similar strategy, note that the Summoner does not have any sort of defensive weapons so you don't have to worry about missing locked-on shots. The Summoner does have dual Autocannons, which at level 2 or higher can knock you down, like the Atlas or Ymir. Don't forget to dodge and juke to give him a hard time hitting you with those. The Summoner mounts quad Pulse Lasers, which do less damage than the Thor's quad MGs, but have a longer range. So a Summoner can attack from any range, but is slightly less effective at piling on the hurt than a Thor. As always, control the distance, and endeavor to get a 2-3 shot lead before slugging it out. Mad Cats are on the whole, the most well-balanced mech in the game. Good speed for a Heavy mech, dual PPCs, dual Machine Guns, and quad Javelins, PLUS Target Jamming. Quite overpowered if you ask me. They are the single biggest threat to an Uziel pilot on the battlefield. They have a tendency to go after you, because you have Energy powerups, and they've got enough armor with Target Jamming to survive almost any head to head confrontation. Their armor value is 4, 214, which translates into you needing 7 full- charge level 1 PPC shots to take out one of them at full health. There really isn't a way to simply trade blows with these guys and survive, plus your weaker armor means they only need 5 PPC shots to kill you. Powered-up MCs can be a major headache. It is better to avoid direct combat early on, and grab a powerup or two before attempting to take on a Mad Cat. With MCs especially, getting the first few shots in is critical. Mad Cats like nothing better than slugging it out, trading blows, knowing that their armor and defense will carry the day. Mad Cats also do better on flat terrain with little cover. Try not to engage in the open. Instead, fight on uneven terrain, using structures and hills to block PPC shots. Hide behind a rock or building, pop out, fire, and duck back behind cover while you charge your next shot. Also higher ground is extremely effective against Mad Cats as they cannot jump, so you can get on top of a hill or plateau with your JumpJets, and rain fire upon them from there. Chaff will negate missiles, and you can just back away when their PPCs launch and watch the hillside take the hit. Remember that once you have level 3 PPCs, you can take out a MC at full health with 4 shots. Just don't miss. If you manage to cripple a Cat, it's a bit safer to move in close and circle-strafe like you would with an assault mech. The Mad Cat, while faster than an assault mech, will still turn slower than usual and have a harder time hitting you with PPCs. Also, if they activate Target Jamming, it's easier to run up point-blank and hit them with aimed PPCs. Mad Cats are fast, but you are faster, not by much, but you still have a slight edge. Always help out other mechs fighting Mad Cats, that way the MC is distracted while you pound him with PPCs. Afterward, it's usually easy to grab the power-ups and finish off your temporary ally. Timberwolves need a slightly different tactic in that they have no Target Jamming, and tend to use their dual Gauss Rifles and quad Crossbows in unison. Most Timberwolf pilots start the fight with a shot or two from the Gauss Rifles, and switch to Crossbows while the Gauss recharges. Chaff is quite effective against them, as they use a lot of missiles. It is possible to dodge Gauss slugs, but you have to be good at erratic strafing with a bit of jumpjet use to dodge them consistently. Always keep moving against these guys. The Gauss rifles do less damage than PPC shots, but have a slightly shorter recharge time, and can knock you down, leaving you vulnerable. They also have the same armor as Mad Cats, so you'll need the same number of hits to dispatch them. Medium Mechs include: Catapult Bowman Vulture Mad Dog Uziel Belial Your Uziel is a match for almost any mech in its class. The Uziel is one of the fastest in the group, and packs enough heat to frag any medium mech that it comes across. Catapults can be a threat in the hands of a skilled player, but it's main weakness is that it is a missile based mech, and therefore chaff nullifies half its arsenal. A Catapult pilot usually fires quad Javelin volleys from mid to long range, possible switching to its quad Pulse Lasers as a follow-up or in close combat. When facing a Catapult, all of the above tactics apply such as erratic movement and usage of cover. A Catapult is just as slow as an Atlas however, and only has approximately 3,750 in armor. Assuming it's not fully powered up, you can rush a Catapult and engage it at close range. Drop chaff and close the distance, firing PPCs at every opportunity. Once in close range, circle-strafing works well. If you are really close, the Javelin missiles won't hit you. He can still lock and fire, but the missiles wont be able to turn sharply enough to hit you full-on. Pulse Lasers, unless they are upgraded, aren't that much of a threat, as you can do more damage per second. The Catapult does have Target Jamming as well, but it can be dealt with using any of the tactics described earlier. All in all, assuming you don't miss much, and use smart tactics, a Catapult can be taken down with a minimum of a headache. On the other hand, the Bowman is a completely different animal. All the Bowman shares with the Catapult is its chassis, not much else. The Bowman has three weapons, dual Lasers, dual MGs, and dual Hammer missiles. All of which are dumb-fire, non-homing weapons. Unlike the Catapult against which you don't want to get caught at long range, you DO NOT want to get in close against a skilled Bowman. Those dual Hammers will tear you apart. They do more damage than dual PPCs at the same level, and the splash damage radius is quite large. A good Bowman doesn't have to hit you, just get his Hammers to blow up near you to hit you with the splash. At level 3, dual Hammers are the most powerful weapon in the game, doing 1,500 damage per hit. That means two to three hits from that baby at level three will destroy you. In about 18 seconds. The main tactic to adapt against a Bowman, is to snipe, snipe, snipe! I'm also a Bowman pilot and I can tell you it is extremely aggravating to be picked apart at long distance by opponents faster than me using PPCs or Gauss Rifles. At long distance, the only viable option for a Bowman is to use the Lasers, but juking while backpedaling usually avoids that. If you are fighting a Bowman, do not be predictable. Allowing a Bowman to read your movement also allows him to place Hammers exactly where you don't want them. Also, do not run in straight lines either left to right or forward and back. Straight patterns also make it easy for a Hammer missile to nail you. Oh, BTW, chaff does not work against Hammer missiles either, so you can forget about that. Control the distance, stay out of range, and keep moving. That should help you stay alive. The Vulture is one of the most underused mechs in the game, you won't be seeing a lot of these guys. The Vulture is slightly slower than you, and is mainly a support mech. It's quad Javelin missiles do good damage, but it really doesn't have a worthwhile second or third weapon. The dual Lasers don't pack a lot of punch, and the dual Machine Guns require the Vulture to get into close range, where it is not really suited. Most Vulture pilots stay away from the main battle, and pick off targets with Javelins. They have chaff as a defensive weapon, but that doesn't affect your PPCs so it really shouldn't bother you. Stay at midrange, use chaff, and pepper them with PPC fire. The other tactics outlined against other mechs work well here, as always use cover wisely, and you won't have too much of a hard time against these guys. Mad Dogs however, are a force to be reckoned with. They have slightly better speed, slightly better armor, and a good arsenal of weapons. They use their quad Crossbow tracks mostly, as they are easy to power-up and do a constant stream of damage. Use chaff to negate at least some of their shots, and with any luck, novice Mad Dogs will keep wasting missiles on the chaff instead of switching to another weapon. More experienced pilots will flip to dual Pulse Lasers until your chaff wears off, but in this case that's the lesser of two evils. Pulse Lasers do less damage than quad Crossbows, and help to heat him up a little faster. In any case, good use of chaff will prevent some damage and give you the opening to come out on top in an exchange. The Mad Dogs last weapon is the Autocannon, but it's a single, and isn't really that useful unless it's powered up and can knock you down. But it is there, so don't be surprised if your opponent pulls it out for a random knockdown. The Mad Dog has great speed, just barely faster than you, the fastest in its class. The Mad Dog is among the few mechs I've seen that can dodge locked-on PPC shots with pure speed. The possibility of a Mad Dog dodging your shot is greater when your PPC is at higher levels, and therefore is slower. Mad Dog pilots usually rush into battle, strafing back and forth, relying on their speed to dodge projectiles and pouring out a constant stream of missiles. Once crippled, they are easier to kill, as they have no jumpjets to get to power-ups faster, and as long as you stay behind them when they are gimped they won't be able to use their missiles effectively. Mad Dogs also have no defensive weapon, and that's one less thing to worry about in the heat of combat. Fighting other Uziels is a lot like taking on Mad Cats; remember that you need only 5 shots to kill another Uziel. Try to get the first shots in, and use terrain and cover intelligently. He can't dodge your PPCs, and neither can you dodge his. So that bit of cover you hide behind could be the difference between a good kill or a quick death. More or less the same basic tactics apply. Yes I know I am repeating myself, but the fact is that with a grasp of basic tactics and smart playing, you can adapt the basic strategy to suit almost every battle situation. Belials on the other hand are slightly easier to kill than other Uziels. They have the same armor as the Uziel, but lack a defensive weapon. The dual Gauss Rifles do slightly less damage than your PPCs, and can be dodged. The main danger when playing against Belials is that they have a greater range than you, and can snipe you very effectively from a great distance. Also, once powered up, there is always the danger that they will knock you down, and get a bunch of free hits in. Keep moving erratically against these guys and don't be afraid to throw in a random thruster burst to mess up their rhythm. Gauss Rifles also are harder to use at very close range, so rushing a Belial can help. Remember that a Belial wants to keep his distance and pick you apart with Gauss slugs. Light-Class Mechs include: Cougar Puma Owens Hackman Uller Kit Fox You won't see a lot of Light mechs out there, owing to the fact that unless used by a skilled pilot who knows what they are doing, most Light mechs die in very short order. The Cougar is a decent mech, faster than you in fact. Good weapons, mounting dual Javelins, dualPulse Lasers, and an Autocannon. The main weakness of the Cougar is that it has no defensive weapon, and its weapons don't really pack that much of a kick. And with only 2, 714 in armor it's as weak as the Uller. You should have no problems taking this guy down,a s it only takes about 4-5 shots to turn him into scrap. The Javelins aren't a big threat unless they are powered up, and its other weapons simply don't do enough damage fast enough. Pumas are a bit more of a problem, as they can disappear from radar using nullsig, and can sneak behind you and do some decent damage. Pumas have dual Machine Guns, dual Crossbows and a single PPC. Pumas can chip steadily away at your health with guns and missiles, and do decent amounts of damage with its PPC. Armor-wise it has the same health as the Cougar. As long as you pay attention to your surroundings Pumas aren't a big threat, and it is advisable to go after any Pumas you see on the battlefield. They aren't too hard to kill, and they leave much needed Energy powerups for your PPC. Pumas usually play a steath game most of the time, turning invisible and trying to steal kills in big firefights, as they don't have enough weaponry to stand up to a slugfest. Pumas can be hard to hit with their speed, jumpjets and nullsig. If they stand still for a moment or two, they can go completely invisible. Once completely cloaked, they could be standing in front of you, and you wouldn't be able to see or target them. If they fire weapons though, they become more visible as they build up heat. Nullsig lasts 30 seconds and takes 14 seconds to recharge. If a Puma has just cloaked and you have a fair idea of where he is, fire bursts of Machine Gun fire at his general area. If you hit him with a random shot, his cloak decreases just enough for you to be able to lock on with your other weapons. Also, if he charges a PPC while invisible, the charging energy produced by the weapon will still be visible. So if you see a ball of energy floating around, it's a Puma running around. The Owens and its variant the Hackman can be among the most annoying mechs you'll encounter. The fastest mechs in the game, the "chicken" mechs as they are also known specialize in running around constantly barraging you with Crossbow missiles, Machine Guns, and Gauss Rifle rounds from the Hackman. The Owens also has about 2, 900 Armor points, the most in its class. The Owens carries dual Machine Guns and Crossbow missiles, and has Target Jamming as a defense. Owens pilots generally activate their defensive special, and try to get in mid-close range, continually attacking with both weapons. They rely on speed and Target Jamming to dodge your counterattacks, and will steadily bring you down to nothing. Keep in mind that it is almost impossible for an Owens to overheat, as once it hits the redline it will simply flip to MGs, which generate little to no heat, and continue attacking that way. There is almost no pause in the attacks from an Owens. An Owens will also dart into larger firefights and try to get the last hits on a smoking mech, or try to steal powerups. A powered up Owens is a pain in the butt, as it will be both fast and damaging. The Owens lacks JumpJets however, and you can use this to your advantage. Sniping an Owens from high ground it cannot climb is effective, and once an Owens is crippled, it can't even jump out of danger. You have an advantage at long range, as your PPCs can hit it while his weapons, being both close- range, can't get a lock. Remember to allow for the Target Jamming, and time your shots well. Hackman mechs can't keep up a steady barrage of fire like the Owens can, having dual Crossbows and a single Gauss Rifle. However a Hackman can cloak, and combined with the Gauss Rifle means that it can snipe you from range, and you won't even know where the shot is coming from. Hackman pilots like to hang back and snipe, although they also can get in close and start firing the missiles much like the Owens. But combined with the fact that firing their weapons constantly heats them up and makes them more and more visible, even while cloaked, the nullsig isn't that much of a problem. Another thing you have to look out for is a cloaked Hackman hanging on the edges of the battle, then swooping in, and try to steal your kill or the salvage. The only possible thing you have to worry about is if the Hackman snuck up behind you and knocked you over with its Gauss Rifle. That is pretty unlikely though, and both its weapons combined don't do as much damage as your dual PPCs. Chaff takes care of the missiles and that's pretty much all there is to it. Last on the list of mechs are the Uller and Kit Fox. The Uller is pretty much the red- headed stepchild of MA. Only carrying dual Lasers and Crossbows, the Uller is far from a mech to fear. The Lasers do too little damage by themselves, and the Uller doesn't have the speed or armor of say the Owens. An Uller will try to do hit and run tactics, and steal kills. Ullers also love to use their speed to steal salvage and powerups, and deny you the edge you need. Good Uller pilots are constantly on the move, so you'll have to keep their speed in mind. The Uller only has chaff as a defense, so disposing of it shouldn't be too hard. The Uller only has 2,714 in armor points, so it's a relatively quick kill for the salvage. The Kit Fox however, is a legitimate threat in the hands of someone who knows how to use it. It carries Warhammer missiles, which do excellent damage. Good Kit Fox pilots generally hang back and powerup their Hammer missiles before jumping in under nullsig to finish off injured mechs. A Kit fox also uses speed to grab salvage and avoid damage. It has the same speed and armor as the Uller, and is the second fastest mech in the game with a relative speed of 32, as compared to the Owens' 36. Thanks to nullsig, a Kit Fox with powered up weapons can actually come up behind you and plant a few Hammer on your backside and chop you armor in half without you even knowing he was there. Try to catch these guys in the open and do not allow them to come within close range, where the Hammers are the most effective. The Kit Fox does leave Energy salvage, so it's usually a good idea to take these guys out when you can. -Maps Map knowledge is one of the most important tools in your arsenal. Knowledge of the map, how to use the terrain, where the powerups spawn, and so forth adds immeasurably to your combat effectiveness. Running through the maps randomly doesn't really help you get kills. And knowing for example where the land bridges are to collapse them on an opponent, or good areas that are easy to defend and provide good cover gives you an edge over players who blunder through the maps guns blazing. Colosseum: One of the most popular maps, second only to River City, Colosseum can be a good map for an Uziel. Powerups spawn on the plateau on either side of the bridge, as well as directly under the bridge. One well timed powerup collection run here will get you to level 3 PPC in no time if you're lucky. Powerups also spawn in the deep ends of each ravine. You start safe from fire in one of the chambers set in a ring around the map. The map is essentially circular, with the plateaus on each side, with the bridge smack in the middle. The plateaus offer a good snipers view of most of the map as well as cover from heavier mechs on lower ground. An Uziel can just jet up to the plateau, while mechs without JJs are stuck taking the long way around. If you can get a ground based mech to fall into the deep ends of the ravines, they are stuck with only one way out to higher ground while you can shoot down at them with relative safety. Don't get right next to the flame towers. They can be used for pretty effective cover, but sitting right next to them raises your heat gauge pretty fast, and before you know it, your overheated and cant fire your weapons. Don't stay on the same level against mechs with homing weapons, especially PPCs. Try to take high ground whenever possible. Frosty: This Map is essentially a deep, wide corridor going around a central hill. There are several large hills in this map, a few of them linked by ice bridges, which are great to shoot down on an unsuspecting opponent's head. Powerups spawn on the tops of the hills on a fairly regular basis. There is a path leading up to the top of the central hill, but some of the other hills can only be reached by jump jets. It doesn't snow here like it does on Icepack, giving you pretty good visibility. The hilltops are great for sniping slower mechs below, but watch out for enemies spawning on other hilltops with a clear shot at you. Icepack: The Uziel can totally run this map if given the chance. It is several valleys separated by lines of hills, and mountains. The map is encircled by mountains that have a narrow path set into the side. The main drawback to this map is the lack of any powerups aside from those you take from the smoking rubble of your enemies. The terrain makes excellent cover and you can just jump in over the hills, take out the opponent, and grab the salvage and jet over the hills on the other side to evade pursuit. Set into the middle of the map is a large sheet of ice that can be destroyed exposing shallow water that allows more rapid cooldown for your mech. Also, if the ice is broken under a mech without JumpJets, they have to shoot their way out through the ice, and find sloping ground to get out of the ice. This can really give you an advantage as if someone is trapped in the ice, they don't have room to dodge, and are an easier target until they find a way out. The Junkyard: The main feature of this map is the huge central plateau. Powerups spawn in the middle of the plateau, as well as its four corners, and on the other smaller plateaus in the corners of the map. There are a few oil patches on this map, which make great traps. Herd an opponent onto the patch, hit the patch with a few shots, watch the ground explode, along with your opponent. Powerup collection is pretty easy on this map, as there can be as many as 9 powerups on the map at one time. The central hilltop can be accessed either by jetting up the side, or taking one of the four paths leadind upward, spaced evenly around it. The terrain is pretty uneven all around, helping you dodge some fire. There are also many stacks of trash piled around that'll take a shot or two before being destroyed, making them useful for temporary cover. When you respawn after a fight, remember to look around quickly to see if there are any power-ups nearby, which could give you an edge in the next firefight. Number 51: Number 51 is made of two main areas; a long flat airstrip, and a smaller industrial zone. These areas are separated by a large volcano, complete with lava-filed crater. On either side of the volcano between the two main zones, there is slightly hilly terrain, with small lava pits in each. One side has a land bridge connecting the volcano to the hill at one end of the airstrip, as well as a large rock balanced on a small base, which will also collapse if shot at. The other side has more uneven terrain, and a small hill next to the lava. The volcano can be climbed on one side by jump jetting up, while there is a path leading to the top on the industrial side. The only powerup on this map spawns on the level ground beside the crater on top of the volcano. Right beside the path leading up the volcano are two smaller volcanic hills which also explode when shot at, handy for surprising enemy mechs standing on or near them. The industrial zone has small generator lines that also can be destroyed, damaging whoever is near them, as well as a large generator which can be used for the same thing. If caught in a fight on top of the volcano against a non-jumping mech, try to herd them into falling into the crater, where they will continually take damage and die, or get them near the small lava hill right next to the crater, and try to blow up the hill, and have them take a good amount of damage from the explosion. River City: I almost never play on this map. It is the most played map in the game hands down. The map itself is bisected by a river that divides the map into two parts, the main part about twice the size of the smaller city. The river is crossed by three smaller bridges that can be shot out, or run under by smaller mechs. The main reason I don't play this map is because all cover provided by the buildings is completely gone after about three minutes of battle. After that, it becomes a mindless shootout, with everybody firing homing weapons across the now flat map from spawn point. The reason I never play here is because there is little to no cover, and the balance of the game swings heavily towards heavier mechs with long range weapons like the Mad Cat. I really can't give tactics for this level. -Gametypes: Destruction: for all related strategy, refer to the general tactics section above. Team Destruction: there really isn't much else different about tactics in Destruction and Team Destruction. The main variable in TD will be how effectively you can coordinate with teammates. Remember to communicate, and to share powerups. Unless you are close to death, always try to leave armor salvage for more injured teammates, and to take only the weapon upgrades you need. For example, energy powerups benefit you a lot, but missile powerups are better off left for say a Catapult or Bowman on your team. Of course, if you are the closest person to the salvage, and you have no teammates nearby with an opponent about to take the salvage, better that you take the salvage instead of the opposing player. The other half of TD is etiquette, like not claiming that a teammate stole your kill. It's TEAM Destruction after all. One kill is as good as another, so long as it's a kill for your team. Last Man Standing Team Last Man Standing Not It: once again, a question of etiquette. Don't shoot somebody if they are not IT and please refrain from noob remarks like you stole my kill. In all other situations Not It can be one of the most fun variations of the game. Shoot the guy with the arrow over his head. When you are it, kill someone as quickly as you can before all the other players kill you. Real Simple. All Stat information was taken from Shadow Panther's MA Mech and Weapon Stats spreadsheet found here: http://members.aol.com/shdwpnthr/stats.htm That's about all I can think of ... END OF FILE