17 replies to this topic

[T3H_D0KT0R]

Hey guys, I'm a guy who mains the Reaper, just have a few questions about my load out...

-Using Slug Rifle
-H.E. Charge, EMP charge, and 10% cool down redux
-5pts weapons loader, 3 pts. fuel tank, 1pt. armor.

I like to deal damage at long distances, and I am a little greedy when it comes to kills. I sometimes get real dumb and get lured into large engagements at close quarters. It's always a problem because I cannot get away due to the shear amount of mechs on my tail as I flee. I need help with items- such as a stunning item that I can use to get away from engagements. Any ideas, tactics, and edits to my loadout that I can use_

[MechCraft]

I also main Reaper. A few things. Long post, sorry.

Don't dive into the enemy team. Reaper has the worst mobility out of all the A-classes and can't disengage with the same impunity as Scouts or Infiltrators. Instead, constantly try to find good firing angles, where you can consistently lay down sustained damage or pick off weakened enemies while still moving with your team. On the flipside, don't be that tower camping dead-weight. Be the mobile suppressor, the guy who moves around getting lots of assists and kill steals. It's what you're good at.

If you desperately need disengage potential, maybe grab a Barricade or a stronger EMP, but again you shouldn't typically be getting stuck/surrounded as a Reaper. Be aware of your own positioning and the positions of the enemy team.

As for items: Ditch the HE charge, ditch the 10% cooldown item. HE charge is unreliable and a couple seconds off your items typically won't help much. If you want offensive power, go for Detonator/EMP, for bursting down enemies and shutting down aggression. If you need more survivability, try running Shield/Repair charge (+repair kit internal) for some damage blocking and rapid heals.

For tuning points, I have and recommend 10 points in Weapons Loader, 6 points in Armor, and maxed out Hydraulics/Cooling Units.
The maxed Weapons Loader allows for maximum Slug/KE-Sabot damage output, while the extra armor helps if you get into a skirmish. I tend to walk and dodge around a lot while firing (especially against other Reapers/Sharpshooters), so the maxed Hydraulics provide some helpful mobility. I prefer maxed Cooling Units over Heatsinks because Cooling Units are overpowered as hell and can make a significant difference in prolonged engagements/teamfights. Getting a couple extra shots off before overheating is nice, but recovering from your overheat in mere seconds is even better, since it allows you to keep laying down damage with impunity.

I've tried putting tuning points into Fuel Tank and Radar but never found them to be worth it. A big fuel tank might seem nice, but I've never had any fuel problems on Reaper so it doesn't seem worthwhile. As for Radar - if you pay attention to friendly healthbars to see who's taking damage, while also watching your own radar and watching for enemy sighted/help request pings, you shouldn't need any points in it.

Sorry if this went a little off topic. Hope it helps.

[Silverfire]

New protip tactic: Don't be dumb and get lured into large CQC engagements.  There shouldn't be a game mechanic that acts as a bailout button that saves you if you make a mistake.  You mess up, you die.  You don't mess up, you live and get your kills.

An item that might help bail you out is the ISM Disruptor in CQC.  It acts like a flashbang and you can fire one off to disorient your opponents while you make your exit. However, I don't recommend it because there shouldn't be any reason why you should be in CQC in the first place.  I also don't know why you're carrying an H.E Charge. Dump it and go with a Detonator for more offensive punch, or grab a Repair Charge to get some Armor back quickly in case you're running and you don't have the time to go into repair mode. That 10% item regenerator is fairly useless if you know when the precise moment to use your item is.  A couple seconds won't make a difference in my opinion.

As for Tuning, when you can, max out Weapons loaders and get some points into hydraulics. You'll move much faster with points into Hydraulics which will help you get into position faster and then you unload even more damage into opponents with Weapons loader. A couple of points (2-3) into Armor won't hurt, and the rest can go into Cooling Units or Heatsinks, depending on how well you manage your heat generation. If you have any leftovers, putting it into Fuel Tank won't hurt, as a larger fuel tank can help you get spot to spot without stopping so much.

Edited by Silverfire, December 15 2013 - 01:54 PM.

[fingerknitter]

Reapers are kill stealer > Kill makers if that makes any sense. Buddy up with someone on you team; while your dps may not be great your ability to surgically insert damage wherever necessary because of your hitscan primary AND secondary makes you an invaluable "assister".

I have weapons loader, armor, hydraulics maxed out and the rest is in boost speed. With the slug rifle I NEVER find myself overheating, so putting points into heatsinks or Cooling units doesn't have any advantage to me. The way I play doesn't require sustained damage, so those points are better allocated the way I have them now to accommodate my playstyle.

I don't have the HC to get the items I want on my Reaper, so I'm stuck with the universal items (the MKI shield and detonator I don't mind).

[Grizzled]

I like to think of Reapers not as kill stealers, but as kill "ensurers".

Due to the mechanics of the hit-scan weapons, lack of splash and very low damage add for max points in weapon loader, I don't use it at all on my Reaper.

You don't want to find yourself if CQC, but if you do. The way to play your Reaper is kind of how you would play a scout with a giant fuel tank and more Armor.

1. never flee in a straight line from your enemy.
2. if you are going to die, do as much damage for as long as you can live.
3. break line of sight (LOS) as much as you can.
4. use enemy C mechs to break LOS for smaller mechs. You can dance around them to get away and block LOS.
5. left no choice, close with the mech that will do the most self damage try to crawl inside while firing at them,

Reaper is a hard mech to play well, especially in CQC, you should spend a lot of time backing and dropping around corners, leading and Kiting your targets. Use Radar to know where the enemy is and control the engagement range to what is most effective for you.

[JeffMagnum]

After playing Reaper quite a bit lately, I've decided that it's a pretty decent mech for all ranges, including CQC distances. It's far easier to use in CQC than the SS, both because Slug+KE synchronizes better than Slug+Sabot and also because the KE is significantly more accurate unscoped than the Sabot. You have to make sure that you're patient with your shots (i.e. don't fire as soon as a weapon is off cooldown) and hit your enemy the majority of the time, because your DPS is too low to make many mistakes against a decent enemy. It's also possible to facehug in a way that other mechs can't anymore due to the Failsafe nerf, so there's that advantage as well.

I don't agree with people who think the Reaper should be relegated to stealing kills or support--if you're decent with it, it's entirely possible to play it just as offensively and effectively as any other mech. If you know its capabilities and you make sure not to overextend, you'll be fine.

here's my build if anyone is interested:


I don't think it's necessary to put points into either Cooling Units or Heatsinks, as heat management with Slug+KE isn't much of a challenge at all. The recent default overheat time decrease also makes overheating less dangerous, so the incentive to put points into either of those tuning options is decreased even further.

[DFTR]

No points in Radar_  I forget which SS thread it was, but I thought all the "Pros" maxed out radar_  Again it was SS thread, so perhaps Reaper does not benefit_  I feel w/ SS, I like having Radar maxed out so I can run away if I see a group of mechs getting too close.

[fingerknitter]

JeffMagnum, on December 28 2013 - 11:11 PM, said:

After playing Reaper quite a bit lately, I've decided that it's a pretty decent mech for all ranges, including CQC distances. It's far easier to use in CQC than the SS, both because Slug+KE synchronizes better than Slug+Sabot and also because the KE is significantly more accurate unscoped than the Sabot. You have to make sure that you're patient with your shots (i.e. don't fire as soon as a weapon is off cooldown) and hit your enemy the majority of the time, because your DPS is too low to make many mistakes against a decent enemy. It's also possible to facehug in a way that other mechs can't anymore due to the Failsafe nerf, so there's that advantage as well.

I don't agree with people who think the Reaper should be relegated to stealing kills or support--if you're decent with it, it's entirely possible to play it just as offensively and effectively as any other mech. If you know its capabilities and you make sure not to overextend, you'll be fine.

here's my build if anyone is interested:


I don't think it's necessary to put points into either Cooling Units or Heatsinks, as heat management with Slug+KE isn't much of a challenge at all. The recent default overheat time decrease also makes overheating less dangerous, so the incentive to put points into either of those tuning options is decreased even further.

I have the exact same load out. I don't know why some people insist on cooling units and heatsinks with a KE + slug :S To me it says you aren't moving enough and are not getting all your shots on target...

[Grizzled]

fingerknitter, on December 29 2013 - 08:56 AM, said:

JeffMagnum, on December 28 2013 - 11:11 PM, said:

After playing Reaper quite a bit lately, I've decided that it's a pretty decent mech for all ranges, including CQC distances. It's far easier to use in CQC than the SS, both because Slug+KE synchronizes better than Slug+Sabot and also because the KE is significantly more accurate unscoped than the Sabot. You have to make sure that you're patient with your shots (i.e. don't fire as soon as a weapon is off cooldown) and hit your enemy the majority of the time, because your DPS is too low to make many mistakes against a decent enemy. It's also possible to facehug in a way that other mechs can't anymore due to the Failsafe nerf, so there's that advantage as well.

I don't agree with people who think the Reaper should be relegated to stealing kills or support--if you're decent with it, it's entirely possible to play it just as offensively and effectively as any other mech. If you know its capabilities and you make sure not to overextend, you'll be fine.

here's my build if anyone is interested:


I don't think it's necessary to put points into either Cooling Units or Heatsinks, as heat management with Slug+KE isn't much of a challenge at all. The recent default overheat time decrease also makes overheating less dangerous, so the incentive to put points into either of those tuning options is decreased even further.

I have the exact same load out. I don't know why some people insist on cooling units and heatsinks with a KE + slug :S To me it says you aren't moving enough and are not getting all your shots on target...

I go with fuel and radar over weapon loader. The weapon loader comes out to 8 or 9 damage and 12 or 13 damage for each weapon per cycle where I know the fuel and radar put me in the right spot to fire on the enemy many more times before they close or return fire, The way I looked at it, looking at the number of shots to kill the primary mechs I have to fight, does the typical number of shots to kill get reduced by adding to weapons loader_ In the case of Slug/KE, the points are mostly wasted. if there were a weapon with feathered damage or ability to hit multiple opponents available then maybe but in this case it only comes into play very rarely.

[Kopra]

Slug + KE Sabot gets most of its power from firing them both at the same time at t=0. Putting 10 points into weapons loader is a huge investment without much return value because the initial burst has that much weight into the DPS calculations because the sustained DPS of the weapons is bad.

I'd rather spend those 10 extra points into Fuel Tank/Radar for better positioning power, so I'm with Grizzled.

[fingerknitter]

Grizzled, on January 10 2014 - 10:22 AM, said:

fingerknitter, on December 29 2013 - 08:56 AM, said:

JeffMagnum, on December 28 2013 - 11:11 PM, said:

After playing Reaper quite a bit lately, I've decided that it's a pretty decent mech for all ranges, including CQC distances. It's far easier to use in CQC than the SS, both because Slug+KE synchronizes better than Slug+Sabot and also because the KE is significantly more accurate unscoped than the Sabot. You have to make sure that you're patient with your shots (i.e. don't fire as soon as a weapon is off cooldown) and hit your enemy the majority of the time, because your DPS is too low to make many mistakes against a decent enemy. It's also possible to facehug in a way that other mechs can't anymore due to the Failsafe nerf, so there's that advantage as well.

I don't agree with people who think the Reaper should be relegated to stealing kills or support--if you're decent with it, it's entirely possible to play it just as offensively and effectively as any other mech. If you know its capabilities and you make sure not to overextend, you'll be fine.

here's my build if anyone is interested:


I don't think it's necessary to put points into either Cooling Units or Heatsinks, as heat management with Slug+KE isn't much of a challenge at all. The recent default overheat time decrease also makes overheating less dangerous, so the incentive to put points into either of those tuning options is decreased even further.

I have the exact same load out. I don't know why some people insist on cooling units and heatsinks with a KE + slug :S To me it says you aren't moving enough and are not getting all your shots on target...

I go with fuel and radar over weapon loader. The weapon loader comes out to 8 or 9 damage and 12 or 13 damage for each weapon per cycle where I know the fuel and radar put me in the right spot to fire on the enemy many more times before they close or return fire, The way I looked at it, looking at the number of shots to kill the primary mechs I have to fight, does the typical number of shots to kill get reduced by adding to weapons loader_ In the case of Slug/KE, the points are mostly wasted. if there were a weapon with feathered damage or ability to hit multiple opponents available then maybe but in this case it only comes into play very rarely.

That makes a lot more sense to me, and I have been experimenting with it recently. However, most recently, I've been completely spoiled with the Sharpshooter :/

[FakeName]

The reaper is a nice mech with a useless abillity.

Max out hydraulics (though it is unimportNt due to next patch)

When you see a scout or raider boosting to you, walk back and KEEP FIRING!
The slug is double faster than the ke sabot so you shoot slug and ke, then only slug then both together again.

However, without good aiming skills in CQ you will fail, aiming is the core in playing a sniper

[LoC_TR]

Reaper is a solid mech and can be used easily in CQC and long range, you have an advantage over other mechs because you don't have to worry about self damage. I think your most important tune here is hydraulics, but i run with the am-sar. I enjoy the ability to keep up sustained damage with the am-sar and move quickly without having to boost. It has a incredibly fast walk speed and you can out distance other mechs when you run out of fuel.

When in CQC hydraulics has saved my life too many times. It's easier to stay out of their field of view without dodging. With the amsar though you can afford to miss a few shots but you really need to

unlike the slug. Definetly gonna go with weapons loader here because of the am-sar... Your game awareness can make up for radar. Heat sinks and cooling units.. heat sinks are at 21 base so i throw em in cooling units.

Here's my build.

Edited by LoC_TR, January 19 2014 - 11:47 PM.

[craftydus]

I don't recommend "getting out of cqc" with the reaper.
I recommend using the Hawkins and trying to engage 2-5 enemies as much as you can using 122.75 total dps. (peppered with a det3 every so often)

I like the pace of the reaper w/-out pts to hydr. just fine (however, I do use LoC's tune when I'm feeling frisky)

internals

replenisher
power surger
basic deflector
basic fuel converter

items

detonator III
shield mk-I

[fingerknitter]

LoC_TR, on January 19 2014 - 11:40 PM, said:

Reaper is a solid mech and can be used easily in CQC and long range, you have an advantage over other mechs because you don't have to worry about self damage. I think your most important tune here is hydraulics, but i run with the am-sar. I enjoy the ability to keep up sustained damage with the am-sar and move quickly without having to boost. It has a incredibly fast walk speed and you can out distance other mechs when you run out of fuel.

When in CQC hydraulics has saved my life too many times. It's easier to stay out of their field of view without dodging. With the amsar though you can afford to miss a few shots but you really need to

unlike the slug. Definetly gonna go with weapons loader here because of the am-sar... Your game awareness can make up for radar. Heat sinks and cooling units.. heat sinks are at 21 base so i throw em in cooling units.

Here's my build.

Just want to add to this, the AM Sar has GREAT dps if you can hit your shots; much more manageable on the reaper than the SS.

[Silverfire]

I like the Am-Sar, but for some odd reason, and I don't know if this is supposed to be this way, but whenever I use the Am-Sar, it never hits where I want it to hit. The reticle is one spot, but it hits a little left and under where the crosshairs are.  I don't remember the Am-Sar being like this ever.  It's inaccurate for me 3/4 the time, and I'm certainly not an incompetent user. I bought the Reaper as soon as it came out way back last year in March or something and mained the Am-Sar Reaper for quite a while.

It just feels so inaccurate to me, so I don't use it anymore unfortunately.  I usually run around as a mid-range Slug Reaper, with a bit of Hawkins Reaper if I'm feeling adventurous.

Edited by Silverfire, January 21 2014 - 08:01 PM.

[MugenSage]

MechCraft, on December 15 2013 - 01:45 PM, said:

I also main Reaper. A few things. Long post, sorry.

Don't dive into the enemy team. Reaper has the worst mobility out of all the A-classes and can't disengage with the same impunity as Scouts or Infiltrators. Instead, constantly try to find good firing angles, where you can consistently lay down sustained damage or pick off weakened enemies while still moving with your team. On the flipside, don't be that tower camping dead-weight. Be the mobile suppressor, the guy who moves around getting lots of assists and kill steals. It's what you're good at.

If you desperately need disengage potential, maybe grab a Barricade or a stronger EMP, but again you shouldn't typically be getting stuck/surrounded as a Reaper. Be aware of your own positioning and the positions of the enemy team.

As for items: Ditch the HE charge, ditch the 10% cooldown item. HE charge is unreliable and a couple seconds off your items typically won't help much. If you want offensive power, go for Detonator/EMP, for bursting down enemies and shutting down aggression. If you need more survivability, try running Shield/Repair charge (+repair kit internal) for some damage blocking and rapid heals.

For tuning points, I have and recommend 10 points in Weapons Loader, 6 points in Armor, and maxed out Hydraulics/Cooling Units.
The maxed Weapons Loader allows for maximum Slug/KE-Sabot damage output, while the extra armor helps if you get into a skirmish. I tend to walk and dodge around a lot while firing (especially against other Reapers/Sharpshooters), so the maxed Hydraulics provide some helpful mobility. I prefer maxed Cooling Units over Heatsinks because Cooling Units are overpowered as hell and can make a significant difference in prolonged engagements/teamfights. Getting a couple extra shots off before overheating is nice, but recovering from your overheat in mere seconds is even better, since it allows you to keep laying down damage with impunity.

I've tried putting tuning points into Fuel Tank and Radar but never found them to be worth it. A big fuel tank might seem nice, but I've never had any fuel problems on Reaper so it doesn't seem worthwhile. As for Radar - if you pay attention to friendly healthbars to see who's taking damage, while also watching your own radar and watching for enemy sighted/help request pings, you shouldn't need any points in it.

Sorry if this went a little off topic. Hope it helps.

DIS GUY SPEAKS THE TRUTH^^^^

Edited by MugenSage, January 22 2014 - 09:10 AM.

[Grizzled]

craftydus, on January 20 2014 - 08:49 PM, said:

I don't recommend "getting out of cqc" with the reaper.
I recommend using the Hawkins and trying to engage 2-5 enemies as much as you can using 122.75 total dps. (peppered with a det3 every so often)

I like the pace of the reaper w/-out pts to hydr. just fine (however, I do use LoC's tune when I'm feeling frisky)

internals

replenisher
power surger
basic deflector
basic fuel converter

items

detonator III
shield mk-I

If you are going in, go in deep enough that they take maximum self damage, you wont take any from your weapons, but close but not close enough can be deadly.