The Best Assault Mech | Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries

The [insert mech] is TRASH! The [Insert mech] is the best Assault mech in Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries! The specc that you'll see in this video will allow you as an Assault mech commander to be mobile, engage targets from far (direct and indirect options), and quickly core mechs with 6 medium lasers. This video will show you the [redacted] in action, why it is surprisingly superior to other more popular mechs and how to build the mech from the ground up. The repairs on this mech should be one of the cheapest and quickest in the game as well!
Let me know in the comments below whether you prefer your command Assault mech to be a brawler, sniper or balanced!

[@edwardsmith4722]

Heres a major tip that a lot of people tend to overlook. Take any great sniping mech and flank it with 2 mean mechs with ams systems in your 2 and 3 lance positions, you can get those guys to walk just in front of you, giving you a beautiful protective shield from lrms while you snap shots and crush cockpits

[@BilobateDrip]

Hmmmm, I'll have to give it a try

[@TheCobraCom]

The Battlemaster is fun to use early-to-midgame, but lacks the necessary stopping power at range. Two or three alphas from a real assault (just one going for the cockpit which is good to get at a BM) and it goes down before it can even shoot back in earnest. That one laser toothpick is doesn't make the cut. Assault Mechs are made to kill, not to dance.

[@wither5673]

yeah because 6 maxed out medium lasers on an assault mech that runs at 64kph is not scary or hard hitting at all, 2 burns of accurate fire and typical assault mechs wont have their forward armor anymore.....i consider that more then good enough.

[@TheCobraCom]

@@wither5673 IF you get to brawling range, because the map allows it, in that case it´s fine. If you have to go through the range brackets, it doesn´t matter how much MLs you have. (The second problem is that you need to keep those on target to get maximum effect. Whereas PPCs, ACs, Gauss, SRMs needing to be only a split second on target, than you turn to your least damaged side.) A battle master closing range is a priority target and in the open it simply dies before getting into range, because you don´t want assault brawlers getting into your formation. We are talking about 2 or 3 Mechs here with 3-4 PPCs or equivalent dakkas and the capability to fire those 3-4 times before heat problems. What they focus, is gone in seconds, and already at 600+ meters. That´s what extended Sensor Range + in some cases BAP is for. The weakest of those punchers is actually my CP-S ... and even he can get like 2-3 twin-Gauss-salvoes in. The strongest being a 4 PPC King Crab, which also has a heavy rifle in there as an additional can opener. That thing has killed assaults from beyond sensor range already. The Mechs you would need to compare to in late game are more like the Agincourt Archer (ridiculous burst-damage from those up 32 SRMs) or the BW Warhammer (but this has so much more long-range firepower) on the top end and, during mid-game, the Orions and Cataphracts. Victors are also a good comparison. And there he is on par, no problem. Another exception would be against lances which use mainly LRMs ... but I don´t see those often in assault lances.

[@blisterbeetle01]

@@wither5673 like meeting a hunch back early game, that shoulder cannon packed with all those lasers and its disproportionately heavy armore for its class, it put my lance and I in the ground soooooo many times, no matter what I tried, not to mention it's own mech support not making things any easier

[@GlanHuman]

Just get hero BM, master sniping by two PPC on long distance, and forget about of short distance fire exchange

[@Cbwifey215]

@@TheCobraCom obviously didn't hear him say doesn't include hero mechs

[@ShadowknightEX]

The Atlas seems like a solid go to for me personally.

[@qwertyman459]

the atlas is great get the wardog upgrade to make it faster. and the hero version is super fast.

[@primeninja9]

Yea but the strongest one is slow

[@ShadowknightEX]

@@primeninja9 that honestly doesn’t bother me all that much.

[@primeninja9]

@@ShadowknightEX I feel u

[@polishboosterpickle7924]

Im reluctant to use it as its center torso is frickin massive

[@harumaronnet1709]

Battlemaster is pretty good for what it does It has armor It has basically all energy, so you dont need to worry about ammo It moves pretty fast for an assault

[@DoinstuffwithNate]

Heroes of the Inner Sphere cemented the Battlemaster 1G as my favorite. I swap the LRM 15 for an SRM 6, the regular mediums for Short Burst lasers, and swap the large laser for a PPC. I feel like the SRM supports the close up brawling with the medium lasers a little better. Boil away the armor with the 6 lasers, and then follow up with an SRM burst to core them out. The PPC is sort of my "nah bruh" button for dealing with missile boats until I can close the distance, as well as my chopper sniper.

[@AlM9SlDEWlNDER]

This is my exact setup, except normal lasers vs SB! Maybe I'll give SB a try. When it gets too hot, just machine gun and SRM6 until it cools down, then back on the M lasers. PPC for aircraft and tanks.

[@Justowner]

@@AlM9SlDEWlNDER I think someone worked out the SBs had higher DPS, but I found the heat build to great to use them. I Kind of universally disagree with the video author on most of his arguments though, because he really like his large lasers, and seems to like over specc-ing into brawling. Don't get me wrong, I love brawling, but you have to do so much yourself in this game that I cant in good conscience go for anything other than a trooper for my own use. The main draw-back for large lasers is burn time, I find I cant concentrate damage with them fast enough which usually leave me face tanking big hits. PPCs are my go to heavy energy slot weapon for that reason. Similarly, I don't think LRMs are a good weapon for a heavy slot in player used mech, so I'm also all in on the SRMs whenever I rig up a machine.

[@eldridgep2]

Nah Annihilator with 4 LBX 10 solid shot. May take it's time getting there but good luck stopping it.

[@KnightKnowledge]

I do like the LBX10 :) per my other videos, the mechs I normally pilot don't normally have the capability to use them, unfortunately.

[@nihilisticpoet]

Started MW5 and I tried this in Career Mode.. You were right. Painfully slow but once it's where it needs to be, it just roll face like no tomorrow. It felt cheap even.

[@dallassukerkin6878]

Just to note that the gaming reason for the arm based weapons is that, in table-top, if you torso-twist the arm mounted weapons on the relevant arm can fire into the rear arc.

[@ixman]

The Cyclops with twin-Gauss is a fast, long-range assassin.

[@Cbwifey215]

Thats like the only .echo I can't find

[@ixman]

@@Cbwifey215 I'm in Kestrel and have had no luck.

[@primeninja9]

Lack armor tho

[@sardaukerlegion]

Once i got 4 Stalkers with 4 LRM and 4 ML speed was no longer that important.

[@TomiTapio]

Stalker with two LRM 10 and two SRM 4 and buncha lasers. Cool.

[@Tanblch]

Had a little urbie with mods gor expanded loadouts like engine and stuff. I made this trash can run at 200+ kp/h. Good times

[@DariusA25]

Don't happen to know which variant do you? of stalker?

[@sardaukerlegion]

@@DariusA25 Don't remember if it was the 3F, 3H or the 5M. 4 arm ML, 2 arm and 2 torso LRM 10

[@combativeThinker]

@@DariusA25 Either the 3H or 3F. Probably the 3H.

[@AbominationalFailure]

There's a maneuver called a "Highlander burial" named after the Highlander. Because of that maneuver the Highlander is my favorite assault mech (at least in MW5, my favorite in all of mechwarrior/battletech is a Blood Asp). If you've never heard of a Highlander burial and want to know what it is your first guess will probably be right lol

[@KnightKnowledge]

Sounds deadly! I have to start using jumpjets in my campaigns.. normally never use them!

[@GUNMOFO5]

I ended up really loving the Battlemaster 1G as of recently. I thought it was not half bad after the first couple of drops- but then my single neuron fired and I decided to drop the missiles so that I could upgrade the boring medium lasers into 6 tier IV medium pulse lasers. Mechs like the Orion and Warhammer who generally have more broad sided center torsos than other designs pose a lesser threat than light Mechs when I'm taking it out for a spin. Also the addition of Assault fists just puts the cherry on top.

[@allanbaker5945]

I've had the game for four days and just got the Battlemaster this morning. I was thrilled and shocked at its effectiveness. So seeing this video in the feed was outstanding.

[@KnightKnowledge]

Even after the update and DLC, the Battlemaster is my go-to Assault mech when I can't use my Kintaro ;)

[@connorparfrey9191]

Hope you get a couple marauders those biguns are scary effective

[@ThePatank]

@@KnightKnowledge I got the golden boy pretty early in my campaign. Its so good that the game kind of got boring since it's hard to use anything else.

[@Leonidae]

I've found that mauler flanked by 2 Stalkers loaded up with SRM's and large energy weps, and backed up by Death Knell or Kintaro 19, seems to do pretty well on majority of 300t+ missions

[@generalvictorironraven.1347]

I have 3 sayings when it comes to mech design. "Speed kills but bullets kill faster. You cant run faster than a laser or cannon shell" "Armor is better then chance. You can and will be hit so you have to be able to take it" "When in doubt more medium lasers"

[@SuperGunboy]

I find the highlander to be my favorite, due to it being kind of all around.

[@6Vlad6Tepes6]

That has been my first assault mecha and I quite enjoy it sure it's alil slow but it packs a punch plus able to jump and have pretty solid armor

[@primeninja9]

It’s the best slow mech

[@markz5771]

Nightstar with two tier 4 gauss specialising in headshots from over a kilometre away and an ERPPC to cauterize the wound . My all time favourite Assault Mech.

[@KnightKnowledge]

Something happened between the last Mechwarrior game and MW5, because I went from sniping all the time to brawling 24/7 ;)

[@markz5771]

@@KnightKnowledge I haven't played MW since MW4 back in 2003 so I was pretty happy to see this come out. I've had great value from this game especially during Covid lockdown. Yes the Nightstar isn't the greatest mech in a close up brawl but it keeps damage and costs down fighting at long range. I've added the BM to my lance and it's performing well along side bigger assault mechs.

[@Traumatree]

Nightstar is fun until you lose a limb, than it is fodder.

[@Original-Yellow]

There are bigger mechs and more heavily armed mechs. But i just like the speed and the hardpoints in the battlemaster for some reason. Always end up going back to it.

[@blisterbeetle01]

Back in mw4, my favorite was the daishi, with 6 er large lasers and 2 ultra ac20s, absolutely nothing could match its destructive potential, not even the fafnir mechs rocking their signature dual heavy gauss! Downside was nasty though, in order to free up enough weight for weapons and heat sinks, you had to strip the engine and a hefty chunk of armor. But damn if it wasnt a blast!! You could core a sunder in one alpha shot!

[@KnightKnowledge]

I always enjoyed the heaviest mechs in prior Mechwarrior games, but in MW5 I've really come to love medium mechs!

[@chekovsgunman]

Hard to argue with the Battlemaster, but my personal fave is a Stalker with 2LL, 4ML, and 4xSRM-6s with Artemis IV. It takes a serious investment of hardware and double heat sinks to make it work, but once you have enough cooling there's not much that can stand in your way.

[@Dknightxs]

Stalker can destroy some mechs with a single well placed volley . You can never go wrong with it.

[@bannedagain1483]

It's the best build in game hands down. I don't run Artemis though.

[@Pirannacon]

Stalker vs Anni?

[@Traumatree]

@@Pirannacon Don't let the Anni gets in range or you will have to repair that Stalker quickly I can assure you that. Also, the MW5 Anni doesn't have the ballistic enhancing module that helps hits even harder.

[@graysoncarlyle2399]

Good video, the speed of the Battlemaster is tempting. I have tried running a Stalker with 4 SRM 6's and 4 medium lasers it wreaks almost anything fairly quickly but it is SLOW at 48 KPH. Your video inspired me to try out the Battlemaster (used to be my table top favorite). Thank you!

[@KnightKnowledge]

I hope you enjoy it when you try it!

[@mikealpha2611]

I enjoy both the stalker you mentioned and the Battlemaster. Stalker preforms better in campaign missions for me.

[@HavocLoods]

You can also load that onto the catapult hero. It's faster, but overheats quickly. But who cares about overheat if your opponent just exploded?

[@opa_plays_mw5318]

As I play modded (YAML) I swap in a second torso mounted large laser, down sizing the LRM10 to a SRM6 and double heat sinks to balance it out. I seldom use LRM's on my own ride - the time locking on to a target is better used killing the next one. I direct my support mech to LRM out of direct fire targets instead, or switch into the support mech and take care of it. Then again, since I'm playing modded, XL engines, a mobility gyro, and Wardog speed boost's get my AS7-RS dancing at 71KPH with a 360 core while busting out 110+ point alpha strikes.

[@C4l4b82]

You are right. I am a big Battlemaster fanboy too.

[@dunning-kruger551]

I’m the same, a Brawler since the 1990’s table top and every PC game released! BUT, oddly enough my favourite mech is the Clan MadCat II.

[@wakkosick6525]

I think this video is spot on. I got a Battlemaster for my first assault mech in Roguetech and I still use it after thousands of hours.

[@Captain828]

I personally prefer the 1S equipped as a brawler - that thing rips any mech apart real quick. The only downside is the heat - you need DHS for it to work.

[@that_canadian_guy_8316]

This seems like such an awesome and effective build for the Battlemaster! Now I DEFINITELY need to get this game! 😭

[@AlqaZen]

URBANMECH IS THE BEST MECH

[@x-blood93]

How is the Walking Trashcan the best? Change my mind plz

[@nicz7694]

@@x-blood93 that was a joke

[@x-blood93]

@@nicz7694 r/whoooosh

[@JarmynTschirpig]

You can buy about 5 to 6 Urbanmechs for the cost of one Battlemaster. Then you (slowly) Zerg rush the opponent.

[@steelrarebit7387]

Trashcan for the Trash God! Welcome to the Will of Urbanni.

[@vBDKv]

The Battlemaster actually made it possible for me to complete the First Strike mission. Not a single loss of equipment on me or lance. It was awesome finally be able to beat that mission!

[@KnightKnowledge]

It's a fantastic balanced mech!

[@ImRuined666]

I've always been a fan of the later era Banshees... Frequently run a pair of 3S's in MW5 to great effect...

[@KnightKnowledge]

My lancemates typically do well in Banshees 👍

[@taurvanath]

I rock a King Crab with dual Gauss Cannons and an E PPC. I don't run a missile launcher and instead go for higher heat sinks/ammo. It's a monster and I love it.

[@sizenmass6777]

Love the king crab

[@michealnelsonauthor]

I built one and put my lance pilots it, and it keeps beating me on kill count. Awesome. 4 SRM 4s, 6 MLS, maxed out armor with mod plates… +damage & range upgrades…. Thing eats all the vehicles & half the mechs. Great mech! Gonna clone it for myself. I also built one with 148 dam for an axe which is finally ready to try in the field, lol.

[@Ardelanin]

I really like the ECM battlemaster. yes i'm really weird. but cutting out two medium lasers for ECM capability really helps out my friends in coop. especially when we swapped out the defaults for BAP and gaurdian to save weight and increase effectiveness.

[@KnightKnowledge]

I'm really happy that the Battlemaster gets an ECM variant.. makes me love the mech even more!

[@hitozuki4627]

Battlemaster ip, the ecm BAP is prize enough. I use er LG sb to take out vtol and turrets. Swapped a MD lsr for tag. Sr4 4, The battlefield awareness is a godsend. Max sensor range. Nothing can hide or sneak up on you. I find just locking on to targets will allow ai to find and kill them at incredible efficiency

[@michealnelsonauthor]

@@hitozuki4627 yeah I notice as soon as I lock on my lance of snipers & missile boats is launching missiles then the gauss beats us all there.., lol.

[@bentrieschmann]

Considering I loved the Battlemaster in MechWarrior (on DOS) as a kid, a long with a Locust, I'm cool with this option.

[@Andrew85or]

I'm liking the Nighstar with duel gauss and 3 ER Large Lasers. Head shots all day. I also downloaded a mod that corrects the heat sinks and opens up hardpoints for other lore friendly variants.

[@bigwavesun]

Whats the name of the mod Andrew?

[@TomiTapio]

I tried a 64 kph only squad, Zeus Victor cyclops hero Banshee Battlemaster, but quickly went back to Stalkers and Atlases (with hero Banshee). LRM is so handy. I also like the quad UAC5 Mauler.

[@ruthiekest3218]

There good mechs,

[@agillespie89]

For me, the double gauss Cyclops CP-S is by far the best mech in the game. It's fast at 64kpm, the ballistic hardpoints are well protected in the torso, and the three medium lasers are decent for helicopters and the vehicles that managed to survive a single gauss shot. Also, heat is basically a non-issue unlike the battlemaster.

[@KnightKnowledge]

True. Isn't double gauss cyclops a hero mech?

[@Exarach]

Haven't lived till you try that with 2x AC/20 BF

[@HalcyonDaze149]

Absolute headshot machine

[@helejun7297]

I got my hands on a CP-S recently. Feels like a whole different game now. It never overheat, one-shot anything below medium, heavy and assult mech only takes a couple more shots. It's just insanely stong.

[@hideshisface1886]

To be honest, with Assaults, I learned to accept the slow speed as part of the deal, so going 48km/h is not really a major issue in my opinion, unless artillery strikes are a thing in a specific mission. As for Assault Mechs themselves - because assault mechs are at BEST going to go at average speed, they will naver really be able to dictate the pace of the engagement, so I find a mech that covers a good range brackets is a nice idea. I personally adore Stalkers - LRMs for long range, LLs for medium range, and MLs and SRM for short. And pretty devastating alpha strike potential. The only problem is heat management - Stalkers like to run very hot very quickly, so chain fire is often a good idea. Good machines for slow and steady approach. I don't take lack of ballistics as a bad thing. I personally prefer fewer weapons that can run out, honestly. Awesomes are also under-appeciated - a good old PPC boat variant works well as an anchor unit. Sure, you can go with PPC Warhammer for example for far less tonnage, but Awesome packs one more and does not overheat as quickly. But it is very vulnerable up close. You also have LRM variants, so there is that in a pinch. You can't go wrong with Atlases either - very heavy armour and weapons for every possible occasion, including some very hard hitting stuff. The only thing I find annoying in them is that massive variety of weapons may make grouping them a bit annoying at times. Obviously, you can't really go wrong with Battlemaster either - it is kind of in the name, isn't it? I mean, 6 ML volley melts anything lighter than it, so there is that. Hihglander is iconic, because it is your go-to option, if you somehow want assault mech with jump jets. Deceptively mobile, but it does sacrifice firepower. As for King Crab - I like the PPC variant - that is a stupid amount of long range firepower and no ammo dependency. There is always heat, though.

[@zangy3748]

3 Stalkers for my Lance mates and I go in with a Battlemaster is hella fun.

[@TimberWulfIsHere]

Slepnir. Fast, powerful, great hardpoints and hitboxes.

[@bradchenoweth7584]

I run the Battlemaster as well. The speed and maneuverability is huge. I set mine up different from you though. I slap on as many medium lasers as possible, srm's, and a boat load of heat sinks. Tanks at range are hard and I usually rely on lance mates for that. Helo's that get in close die. Mech pretty much melt medium range and in. Any medium range and in and you're golden. It brawls well. Its just longer range engagements that you're not so great at. Tanks and Mech will hit you at long range if you're not mobile or have no cover. Helo's always come in close before shooting. I don't find the lack of long range to be too bad, but the mech dishes out brutal damage mid range and in.

[@noppornwongrassamee8941]

I tend to prefer arm mounted weapons for the ease and quick response in aiming, but I have to say that the Battlemaster is pretty damn good. The stock 1G is damn near perfect and DHS only makes it better.

[@igorbukovy4313]

I like Atlas K variant or Annihilator 1E variant for long range engagements and Annihilator 1X or 1A for medium to short range engagements.

[@luckyomen]

I like to run a Cyclops 10 Z with double ac20 burst fire and srm6s for a mech core brawler that can also go for the legs and works well for anti-armor and air when using weapons grouped individually.

[@Tanblch]

Atlas-BH 6 medium lasers, lb10x autocanon Streak SRM6 Buttload of armor and a LOT of space for Double heatsinks. Stomping anything in it's path flat wile cruising at 64 kph. Combine with range of heavy and assault mechs with the same speed like archer/marauder/battlemaster and you pretty much set.

[@KnightKnowledge]

Gotta love the Lbx canons!

[@Tanblch]

@@KnightKnowledge yeah. Anihilator with 4 of them painted in taurian paintjob must be named "hipity-hopity get of my property" Though king crab can be loaded similarly now

[@MysticRonin101]

That's the same configuration I use for the atlas-bh, with the only difference being the SRM6+ART, instead.

[@Hive-Mind-BBX]

Bit of a long comment ahead. So I actually have two Battlemasters, a 1G and a 3M, not my favourites to pilot but I've found them to be extremely reliable Lancemate mechs. Running both without the ballistics hardpoints, and until recently getting a huge amount of Double heat sink's I also had 2 less M Lasers on them, both at 2.2 cooling rate and 496 armour. I often do stuff like this or using medium rifle's instead of AC 10's/20's to reduce weight, as I much prefer heat dissipation and armour over sheer number of gun's, which has worked wonders for me in terms of survivability and the ability to pack in extra ammo for long missions with lots of mech target's to deal with. The 1G currently has an ER PPC (at lvl5), 6 M Lasers, and an LRM 10, all lvl4. The only difference for my 3G besides having more upgrades is that it has a lvl5 LP Laser instead of the ER PPC. Personal favourite Assault mech is either the Victor Basilisk, which I've swapped out all the weapons for apart from the M Lasers. Currently running with a lvl4 AC 5, lvl3 LB 10-X AC, a lvl5 and a lvl 4 LRM 5, a decently high amount of ammo and a cooling rating of 2 (before upgrades) ensure I can fire for age's without overheating, while putting out an often devastating hail of fire. Or my Mauler 2P which I tend to use in a similar manner, or to defend Lancemates during demolition style missions so they can blast buildings to rubble, 2 lvl4 Medium rifle's, a lvl5 and a lvl4 LRM 10 (looking for the elusive second lvl5), 2 lvl4 L Lasers, cooling rating of 2.52 (tyvm heat related upgrades and dual heat sink's), and a grand total of 555 armour. (though I'm looking to find a better variant to modify the crap out of and possibly replace it). P.S I sold the hero King Crab "Carapace", because while really cool looking and definitely faster than an Annihilator, it struggles to shoot over anything including the smallest of bumps in the ground, and with how immensely wide King Crab mechs are, the Annihilator actually takes less hits and generally gets to shoot at thing's from much further away, which made it far easier for me to use as a command mech. My first time use of the titanic sized Annihilator with M Lasers, Medium rifle's and LB 10-X AC's led to coring a freshly spawned Atlas 7D in 5 second's from about 200m... Needless to say, I was absolutely mind-blown by the sheer damage output it could potentially send down range. Final note: I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a Cyclops 11 P or 10 Q, any ideas for how to build them or should I stick to my usual build style?

[@Gamefreakjl]

I got this bad boy a few days ago and I've been using it off and on whenever I can lmao. Thing fucks on everything I go up against.

[@BaghdadSon78]

I can agree with you, though I prefer the "Devastator" variant of it

[@KnightKnowledge]

what is the Devastator variant consist of?

[@LeedleLord]

Love me the annihlator with the shotgun thingys

[@lhke2012]

AS7-D with substituting LRM10 for stock SRM6.

[@wolwerine0007]

I have not completed the Game as yet but Victor is my Favorite cause it has the Large Turret mounting for Gauss rifle.

[@No1Victim]

I love the atlas AS7-D. I found it early on, exploring up in north western kurjita space when I was at reputation 4 or 5 in campaign. 11.8 million credits. sold about 6 or 7 mechs from cold storage I collected just to get enough to buy it, and make a trek back to the davion/kurjita conflicted space to earn some credits to pull myself back above a million. Switched out the ac20 for a ac10 BF, added two double heat sinks (that I got as salvage from later on) and extra single heat sinks. Because tigger happy logic. it has been carrying me since. Its speed does get to me every now and then. but I really don't mind it.

[@panzerlurch2629]

I love the Battlemaster 1G. It's such a good and as you told versetile Mech. It is especially good with SB-Medium-Lasers.

[@KnightKnowledge]

This was before the implementation of chem lasers.. can make it a super cool & deadly mech, while still being decently fast and armored!

[@princeleoofnohr583]

Battlemaster and Atlas for me. Both do solid work in my lance

[@stormbreaker415]

I really like the Stalker. It's been my go-to long-range mech and I just love the amount of pain it can dish out with those dual-large missile slots. I can't remember which variant it was but I redesigned one with 2, LRM 20 ST's and another 2 L ER lasers and it kills efficiently. I'm more of a sniper guy and as a result I can keep myself out of harm's way most of the time, sending my lancemates in front of me to screen others from getting to me while i'm in a favourable position. Most defense contracts are a breeze for me as a result. Not recommended in CQC though.

[@KnightKnowledge]

Lol, it might be the one my buddy is looking for.. the 3H. We've found the 3N and 3F which apparently both run too hot!

[@Anonymous553061]

I Love the King Crab, all my homies run King Crabs, Dual AC 20s are the way to go, no greater feeling than blasting a mech to scrap in one salvo as they jump over you.

[@primeninja9]

Yea it just lacks speed I like running the Archer better

[@e2rqey]

I know its a hero mech, but you get it from a mission so you can get it reliably in a playthrough. The Victor-BSK is definitely my favorite Assault mech in MW5. I set it up with; 2x T5 UAC/5 on Right Arm 2x M Lasers on Left Arm 2x T5 LRM5-ST on Torso 1 SRM-4 ST Artemis V on Torso the two T5 UAC/5's on the right arm just melt everything and there's still enough room for carrying 4.5 tons of UAC/5 Ammo while still having the max 506 Armor. In total they do over 2x the DPS of a T5 AC20-BF while having around 3x the range and 5x the velocity. And that is before you start adding the additional upgrades to the mech, which can boost your ballistic damage by 20%. I usually do between 1500 and 2000 DMG a mission, and take less than 100DMG. I can count the number of times I've lost that arm on one hand, and if that happens you can just restart the mission. But you kill everything so fast it's really not an issue. Especially if you are playing on PC because of the speed at which you can aim.

[@KnightKnowledge]

And it comes with a pretty sick mech skin too!

[@Rapture9999]

First assault mech I found was the ANH-1X. I was stunned with its impressive armaments and shocked at how cheap it was ($8m) thanks to my favor discount. I bought it faster than it can move across the map :(

[@KnightKnowledge]

The Annihilator is great if you're on a defense mission or Warzone (altho you'll have to crawl to the extraction point after)!

[@bigenz3728]

battlemaster with MP Lasers amazing brawler with amazing DPS. On a side note letting my AI squad use it with high skills i found he was keeping damage up close to me at end mission

[@KnightKnowledge]

thats really amazing, I usually out DPS the AI, combined x2, so if it was able to keep up, that would be great

[@bigenz3728]

@@KnightKnowledge works good to with the med short burst lasers i did a match where i was using an kintaro SRM brawler mech my AI used the short burst battlemaster while i had 1400 damage done he had almsot 900 everybody else was around 300-400 in lance

[@bigenz3728]

keep in mind the mattlemaster i used had 5 med SB lasers and 1 large pulse laser and was super cool like 2.3 or somethign with a couple DHS

[@eusouonumero232]

my fav assault is Highlander Rs, because I go to close combat pretty often, so I put an assault axe, smash enemies with one-two hits, than go the next kill, works most of the times.

[@KnightKnowledge]

I have the hero Highlander and when you can add a faster engine (via mods), it definitely is great!

[@eusouonumero232]

@@KnightKnowledge Sadly I play on console, so no mods for me... But it's ok, I was introduced to battletech by MCW 5, and love it anyway, Hope MCW 6 or new content for 5 come soon

[@AJ-oe8eg]

I love the battle master. Especially the g. I used it as soon as I got it and got lucky to keep getting them before and after kestrel missions. I had 6 at one point because they were so efficient. But they lack the concentrated long range fire that I rely on to snipe and keep rep costs down. I use a lot of Lrm+ppc/heavy ballistics to snipe and stay my lance in place and draw in all targets slowly by lobbing ac2’s in my hero king crab into cities and target areas. I tried using the battle master in rep 12-15 areas and generally it will hold up but in hard missions I start losing parts and high tier weapons. I agree in that the battle master is my favorite mech and I headshot every other mech on average with it, but it can’t hold up when I go for the million credit range in things like war zone whereas my sniping strategy has my lance decimating mechs before they even show on radar

[@danielfrancis6425]

The battlemaster has been my top used mech for years

[@matiati7172]

I like Atlas with 1 Gauss, 1 LRM 20 Artemis, 1 SRM 6 Artemis and 4 medium Lasers. Though slow it works great at all ranges and has no heating problems.

[@KnightKnowledge]

Sounds pretty good! I haven't found enough gauss to feel comfortable in equipping them yet ;)

[@matiati7172]

Except 2 medium lasers all weapons are located on left and right torso. And Atlas have enough armor to survive even the hardest fights with intact torso. So it is less likely to lose the expensive gauss cannon or the artemis missiles. I put max tier weapons on LT and RT and one or two tier medium lasers on arms.

[@nameless9573]

@@matiati7172 was just going to say that about the Atlas that the hard points are in the torso

[@primeninja9]

AC-BF20 takes more damage then the Gauss just less range but that’s what the LRMs are for

[@Burwhale1]

Stalker with 4x SRM-6 and 4 Medium lasers. Its slow but brutal

[@KnightKnowledge]

I can imagine!

[@eaglegaming2301]

i hate how the devs dumbed down the hardpoint slots and customizability of the mechs, in both mwo and battletech the video game, the awesome had more than just 4 hardpoints, i remember my go to awesome having 2 ppcs, 2 large lasers, 3 medium lasers and a laser ams, but now i cant do that in this game anymore.

[@Vagabond_Etranger]

I'm still at reputation 8. Still trying to find my Kintaro Golden Boy.

[@KnightKnowledge]

Lol, I found a Centurion Yen Lo Wang.. it's currently gathering dust in my cold storage ;)

[@Vagabond_Etranger]

@DUTCH224 Oh I have 4 of them. Also a collection of all the hero mechs. Got all except 7(heavies & assault)

[@HalcyonDaze149]

Mauler mx90 4 ac2 2 srm 4 art and 2 medium lasers is unrivalled for destruction and raid missions

[@Frankenllama]

These vids have been a real help... I also love the brawler style of gameplay, as you put it, so these mechs are quite well suited to me. I have an AI mod so my lance mates aren't that dense anymore, but what are some mechs you'd recommend for them? I just use mechs that have a massive amount of missiles as artillery while i do my thing

[@KnightKnowledge]

For lancemates, mediums: Hunchback (high armor, good DPS), heavy (Archers-lrm support), assault: Atlas or Zeus (good range)

[@Dknightxs]

Battlemaster with 6 m lasers, 2 machine guns can bully other mechs… i always use it to rush other mechs and take out their pilots. It makes short works of pretty much every mech… save for the big ones like atlas. Battlemaster when used properly can really be rewarding with its instant kills, Awesome is the long range bully and usually takes out most mechs even before they can get close to it.

[@ThePatank]

The Boars Head hero atlas. It's the only mech that can replace the Golden Boy, the hero Kintaro mech. It's damage is moderate but it has high mobility, and theyve added melee with the newest DLC so you just run at them with your 6 MP lasers, then punch their lights out.

[@KnightKnowledge]

The Charger might not be a joke mech now with melee as well!

[@cartharax4308]

I just started playing and have 2 battlemasters and a bunch of other mechs but i keep coming back to the battlemasters lol (one is hero variant, but they each serve there own function)

[@miketovey7815]

I've been a massive fan of battle tech since I bought the second edition fasa. Back in the 90's... I think my favoitre is the warhammer. The duel ppcs are good for long range wear them down... Or out right sniper shots on small mechs because they generally carry short range weapons. Medium laser when they get to moderate range. The srm 6 further dents mechs when they close and the fire linked small lasers with machine guns up close. If you manage you heat you'll probably be at the higher end of the scale and you'll be in a knife fight with mechs that would be heavily damaged by the time they got up close. So the machine guns linked with small lasers means you can keep up with the hits without over heating. Just a point about machine guns it becomes easier to deal ahead shots when you keep the trigger held and hose the cockpit area with bullets. The machine gun builds up no heat. In mech warrior 2 (yes I'm that old and a geek)... I used to outfit 100 ton dasher/dire wolf with MASC and jump jets as many machine guns as possible... I think at least 10. It would only take a couple of of seconds on the trigger to destroy a mech and build up no heat.

[@Dknightxs]

I prefer black knight over warhammer.. as it does what wh does… but only better. 3x ppcs can make short work of anything x

[@mikepowell8611]

Warhammer is almost a perfect mech. Swap out the small lasers for flamers. MG and flamers on one trigger pull, 2 medium lasers and and SRM 6 on the other trigger. Each PPC gets its own button. for long range sniping. Its a little hot but it not bad.

[@Genesis23OPB]

battlemasters and cyclopses are my favos bc they are quite fast for their class. i wanna kill stuff, not stomp around for hours to get where i want to go. also, battlemasters might be on the lighter end of the class but with their hitboxes and load of hardpoints with rather light weaponry they still pack enough punch to get through enemy assaults while keeping a lot of options for the typical enemy swarm tactics some assaults handle rather badly with their weaponry - the night star for example.

[@josephkasmarcik2895]

Cyclops CP 11P is one of my new favorites I equip it with duel Heavy rifles and 4 medium short burst lasers. it can kill most mediums and heavies with one or 2 shots of the heavy rifles even center torso and if they are still hanging on because a shot goes wide and tags a shoulder a follow up of M lasers pretty much ensures destruction. The ecm also really helps to keep the mech safe. The lasers are in the arms so they work well at downing Vtol and vehicles while the heavy rifles are mounted in the shoulders which is fine since they are mainly for targeting mechs only time i had issues was when I was on a hill and a mech was nearly under me. One tactic I found that works well with the vehicle is using the severe spike damage to get a enemies attention at range duck into cover and have my squad mates finish off the wounded mech.

[@marcusbog]

You can get the nightstar even before the end game, but you have to be maxed in reputation while on your way to the endgame. I have had three for sale even before doing the last 5 campaign missions.

[@RaZgri7]

Dual guass PPC and srm6-art King Crab-0000 the guass-PPC synergy is nice. 1. Aim for the orange window for better salvage 2. Restart mission when your tier 4 guass gets blown off.

[@KnightKnowledge]

Sounds lethal, altho i'm no so sure about the speed AND the possiblity of restarting ;) maybe if it was the last campaign mission!

[@luciusnetheril]

Restarting gets old real fast. The only reason for me to restart is when my lancemates go on too much of a rampage and I'm left with crap salvage in my chain missions. I can live with losing multiple double heatsinks and even lostek guns(I can always reload-whore hero mechs), but if I'm left with crap salvage-I can't recover my losses.

[@igorbukovy4313]

it is a shame that King Crab does not have much free space to work with but i have to say that i prefer max armor.

[@tennoskoom2233]

I prefer the all energy Banshee with MASC over the Battlemasters, even the hero variant. It sprints at almost 100 kmph, can solo other mechs and shoot while using MASC, and brawl against smaller targets. It's like a bigger Wolverine. That said, I do bring a Battlemaster with the ECM/ BAP combination as a utility mech for defense, but it shows the weakness of the Battlemaster series at mech vs mech combat since it usually has the lowest damage on the team despite not being undergunned

[@kingjoebail7300]

I am surprised ac 2 instead of the machine guns didn't make your build. I use it on my Warhammer and battle master

[@KnightKnowledge]

I'm always brawling, so I like constant damage that can shred internals 👍

[@jwoellhof]

This is a good take. I usually play in a light or medium for the speed, so assaults are reserved for my lance mates. I leave the PPC in the arm and remove the SRM, because the AI pilots do well with the ppc, and not so well with the srm. The 6xML makes this mech deadly. It's like an AC-30 that never runs out of ammo.

[@theeabyss3706]

Late to the party, but I agree with ya on the kinataro, and Warhammer, but battlemaster? Gonna go find one now.

[@KnightKnowledge]

Gotta check this week's video on my channel for more Battlemaster content! Finding many in Kurita space

[@geoffreyhebel2438]

Battlemaster is a good mech, personally i favor the 8Q Awesome

[@nameless9573]

Stalker 3f replace righ torso large laser with a PPC the left torso large laser with a medium laser add one more ton of LRM and SRM ammo. If I can replace all heatsinks with 6 double heatsinks add 3 more tons of LRM and SRM ammo and max out armor. Or just an Atlas D with stock loadout and replace all heatsinks with 6 double heatsinks.

[@iblus2225]

I have the battlemaster 1G with similar build. Not enough DMG output to justify the speed increase for me. STK-3F. Yes, its slow but it can dish out DPS better than any mech(perhaps in line with ANH). 4xSRM6+Art with 2xERLL for the longer engagements or go super brawl by dropping the ERLL for 6xSML. If you can get 4 dbl heat sinks with singles you will generate a small amount of heat vs the DMG output.

[@KnightKnowledge]

Speed is LIFE!!!! ;)

[@Cbwifey215]

The damage is perfectly fine if u can aim

[@dynamicburrito]

Hunchback 4P still my favorite Mech to use, I love the Medium laser build, added 1 or 2 double heatsinks and never have heat issues. Ill have to give this battlemaster config a try though. I have been looking for basically a heavier version of the Hunchback 4p and this could stand in quite well

[@darrenjpeters]

The Thunderbolt Hero mech is very good at that, 9 energy hardpoints. I love mine.

[@Dknightxs]

Hunchback and thunderbolt are two mechs that always surprise me.

[@Brightandheavy]

My best Assault Mech is the Stalker-4N. I set it up with 2 LP Lasers, 4 med lasers, and 4 SRM6-st. This thing melts mechs faster than any other Mech in my garage. I cycle my medium lasers at the same time as my SRM6-st. I loaded it with as many double heatsinks as it can carry, 20% extra damage upgrades, and saved 1 slot for 7.5 increased missile velocity/range. The med laser plus SRM combo can chew through parts in a few seconds at range, and then the dual LP Lasers breaks them. It cripples mechs in under 3 seconds most of the time. I should really measure it..

[@CesarSanchez-vk4ei]

Is it weird that I am rep lvl 9 and I am still using two Javelins, one with 4 lasers and one with two LRMs most of the time for my crew when it’s a mission that requieres speed 😆 It actually helps a lot if you want to train a crew member in only that specific weapon. Anyways, I am completely new to the Mech Worriers franchise but I’ve always been in love with robot games, specially big ones 😆 Front mission 4 is my all time favorite back in PS2 😍

[@TomiTapio]

Can use speedy Dragons in rep 9, but in rep 13 zones one will face three assaults plus one heavy.

[@MrWickstar]

I agree that the Battlemaster is the most effective assault mech in the game due to its versatility. I use 3 in my lance. I don't think its the best in any single aspect but the diverse hardpoints, low tonnage, and respectable speed make it a wise choice in most scenarios. I personally think that anything with an AC 20 or Gauss is more fun (at least until you're overheating and out of ammo ;)). I like the Atlas D. I double the LRM and AC 20 ammo and then walk toward targets firing LRM->M Lasers->SRM->AC 20 and just start brawling until everything is on fire. Its slower, more expensive, and less efficient than BM play but it is also a lot of fun in its own way.

[@qwertyui5086]

I pilot Kintaro with max tier Srms and let AI use atlases with gauss and ppcs & srms with Ams systems. Any light mechs trying to chew our asses are dealt with quickly if they survive the long range barrage. For heavy and assaults enemies they usually seriously crippled if not killed at range and are instantly killed with my Kintaro 28srm missiles should they get in range. Kintaro is OP, I have managed a 93 difficulty warzone mission solo with it, 22 mech kills and dozens of air and tanks all by a 55ton mech.

[@KnightKnowledge]

Nice! Kintaro brother!

[@primeninja9]

Yea Kintaros are beasts just lack armor

[@voidisvirtue8709]

Thank you for this. I really appreciate it.

[@riven5677]

Also if you get the samurai or charger mech with the swords they are pretty good in close combat

[@aickavon]

honestly I love playing in co-op with friends and being a sniper/kill mech. It's unfortunate that when playing solo, AI's do not know how to properly use mechs (like rifleman) and will have suboptimal play. I mean, I never expected them to be as good as players but god damn do they just make poor decisions.

[@apophisprime7135]

I bet shopping for mechs in the inner sphere is like ordering off of "Wish" for Clanners.

[@sebastianfuentes3482]

Thanks for the video! Not being there yet, still trying the first assaults. I will try it

[@Freelancer117]

The Battlemaster is absolutely a solid mech. Ideally, you want to dump the single heat sinks and swap them for doubles, then find a way to boost the armor a bit, but it's very capable of handling pretty much anything on the field. When you throw some quirks on it, from HotIS, it gets even better.

[@KnightKnowledge]

I tend to horde double heatsinks and other good gear for 'later' 😅😅😅

[@Freelancer117]

@@KnightKnowledge I tend to do the same, but the Battlemaster absolutely needs them. It runs absurdly hot with all those lasers.

[@ssjjshawn]

Wish we could acknowledge the Dark Age era so we could see the Warlord variant of the Battlemater in a game. 2 Heavy PPCs in arms, 6 ER Medium Lazers in torso, a shitton of heat sinks, and even reduced weight by 5 tons, but still clipping along at a reasonable assauly mech speed of 65kph. Its also not hard to make into a C3 Command vehicle, still has actuator hands for melee, and its now GM made so spare parts are no longer a bitch and a half to find like it was before the Falcons took Tycross.

[@HalcyonDaze149]

I’ve been running an all highlander lance but it’s brutal because Elite AI’s just target the gauss on all the mechs and they kinda lose their punch after that

[@KnightKnowledge]

I hear you; I hate putting expensive gear on my lancemates, b/c it just means expensive repairs! :)

[@HalcyonDaze149]

Knight Knowledge I’m the ONLY one that gets to run the Heavy Metal 🤘🏼 haha I beat the game before I finally found her in kurita space on like %25 markup because they hate me lol

[@chaoscommentary2179]

I only have one assault mech I just started playing and it’s the highlander and I love it but it’s also my only assault so I’m sure I’ll like other ones when I get them

[@chaoscommentary2179]

Yeah after a year of playing the king crab is my favorite

[@sgttelion3287]

While I have lost many King Crab arms, I never lost the two lvl5 gauss on my Nightstar, they seem to have a halo of some sorts.

[@KnightKnowledge]

Very lucky! 😁

[@joemacafee7655]

They're small targets. The only time I ever lose an arm on a Nightstar is when I get greedy and try going past 2 million bonus C-Bills in warzone missions...

[@TomiTapio]

Trying all the Battlemasters. 4 mission operation and gotta use others too; Atlas K's loadout makes the Battlemaster an ungood. (AC20 PPC ERLLSB LRM20 two med)

[@luciusnetheril]

I'm, actually, running a similar build on my Battlemaster, only I have SRM6 instead of LRM10 and PPC instead of Large Laser. I, also, have plenty of double heatsinks thrown in. I've tried double AC2's in the left arm, but that was too much weight and I had to sacrifice both armor and heatsinks-bad idea. Overall, I'd say that Battlemaster is a step-up from Stalker, even though my lancemates are always riding Stalkers. Also, funny enough, whenever I run PPCx3 Awesome, my lancemates seem to go out of their way to shoot all the small flies-vehicles and helicopters.

[@KnightKnowledge]

i tried double ac2's as well and had the same difficulties as well :)

[@tasoss.1385]

@@KnightKnowledge The answer to both of you my friends would be the 1GHE hero version of the 1G. Adds 1 more large energy slot in the place of the 2 ac2/ac2bf removes two of the six torso medium lasers and has 3 small missile slots. I run mine with 4xmed lasers/ 1xPPC / 1xLarge laser/ 2xlr5 5 stream /1x srm4. I found it more effective than the 1G either on my hands or AI. Of the rest battlemaster versions I would recommend the 1S if you are looking for a dedicated fast brawler assault mech

[@MagnusFaustus]

I play a lot of the sniper/missile boat heavies and assaults myself. I find it easier to control the combat zone if I'm calling out focus targets as they come in, and stringing my enemy out so I can 4 on 1 them with the stupid AI controlled mechs. They're not 'entirely' useless, but I find I can only manage their idiocy when I'm in a LRM boat like a Catapult or a long range LRM15x2 ER-L Laser x2 Awesome. I haven't gotten into the real thick of the highest difficulty missions but so far I seem to be doing pretty well with minimal repairs.. Plus my friends enjoy stepping into a brawly mech when they see me online. I have a bad personal habit of getting tunnel-vision so it's better for me to stand back and command the engagement's firing lines from afar while supplying long range suppressing fire.

[@KnightKnowledge]

I have a very bad habit of tunnel vision as well! I'm glad Hunter is with me in my multiplayer videos as he's always completing the objectives while I'm busy brawling!

[@MagnusFaustus]

@@KnightKnowledge Yeah a brawler tends to have too much to concentrate on while they're fighting to command their associates.