13 replies to this topic

[Cruzxavier]

When playing this mech what is the role you take_ Do you go out like a skirmisher, activate the ability and harass, and by this i mean you have lots of kills_ Or do you stay in the rear helping your team and killing fleeing mechs_

I've been playing it since the hellfires damage and homing nerfs and its been quite fun playing it...I especially have few kills but lot of assists, am i playing it wrong_ I like the team role as the harasser but i don't manage to kill a lot...

[ShadowWarg]

That..... Is a good question.

[Cruzxavier]

ShadowWarg, on December 23 2013 - 03:50 PM, said:

That..... Is a good question.

Really_

[Highchu]

The Bruiser is a fairly versatile support mech or frontliner depending how you decide to spec it.

I find the ability best used as a burst defense in combat, it has such a high damage reduction it can easily negate alpha strikes and give you an edge if timed properly. Theres basically 2 different builds you can go with [Ground offense + Vulcan] or [Air Dynamics + Assault Rifle]. The ground build can invest more heavily into armor and mobility making it a good skirmisher with good tanking potential. Air Dynamics builds take advantage of higher elevation to make better Hellfire shots combined with controlled AR bursts for midrange support. The hellfires have always been a good kill stealer and will typically earn you way more assists than kills. I've always found it to excel best in defender roles (Seige/Missile Assault) where opponents come to you rather than having to chase them down.

Edited by Highchu, December 23 2013 - 11:35 PM.

[EliteShooter]

A bit of oppression and mostly close range fight !

[Superkamikazee]

I know my bruiser isn't the best mech on the field at any point in the match, but man is it a ton of fun to use. I love arial hellfire strikes.

[Aregon]

I used to play it as a heavy front-line mech focusing on high damage-output, but with the current patches I gave that role to the CR-TA instead to to it`s ability for drastically deleting all heat created. I am still trying to find a new way for the Bruiser that is both effective and dangerous, as I don`t like the idea of changing to the Assault rifle for making it efficient when it comes to longer ranges and flying.

Edited by Aregon, January 07 2014 - 06:57 AM.

[Beefsweat]

I find the Bruiser, after its most recent patches to its ability, is like a fine sabre - brittle and outmatched against other swords with more capability, but excellent for parrying attacks (the damage absorb ability) and absolutely devastating against targets when one's attack is precisely planned and executed (vulcan/hellfire combo).

[Superkamikazee]

Is it possible to have two bruiser builds_ Is that just mean I have to buy two bruisers_

[CounterlogicMan]

Suppression, build it to out last your enemies and keep them back on their heels. Hold the lines and always call for back up. Deflect enemy assaults with clever hellfire, item, ability and main weapon use. You are not going to rambo into a fight with the bruiser, you need to finesse the engagement. Put pressure on weak points, keep your enemy always wary of your damage potential, and exploit the hell out of high ground. Don't face hug, it makes your hellfires useless, and the bruiser needs good positioning to make its hellfires most effective (face hugging = terrible positioning). Your ability will just take practice to figure out when to use it. Usually you want to use it when you think the fight is at its peak and you are taking the most amount of damage from the enemy. Keep in mind its shorter cool down than many other abilities.

Basically Bruisers role is to put pressure on the enemy attack/defense and let other mechs penetrate or flank the lines. Try and do as much damage to as many targets as you can while deflecting their assaults on your own lines. Only push with your team, not alone(aka diving), and suppress high value targets. Don't chase as a bruiser, you are not that fast and if you get baited you are pretty much sol.

Play the role it has been given by ADH, suppression, and you will do well. From that point on it is all personal preference, map, and game mode. ie. siege you may be in a pushing role sometimes and in a defending role others, tdm you will be in a more pure form of suppression role (unleashing hell on the enemy ranks from your teams front line and annihilating divers), MA more of a defense role. You will quickly notice that when optimized correctly the bruiser has tremendous staying power in a fight, as well as very good damage potential. Use these to your advantage. Things you are inherently bad at as a bruiser will be running to and from fights. You, like many other mechs, are best off with teammates at your side. Your role complements, doesn't make, a team composition.

Hope this helped, some other pilots may have differing views on this but I am just going off my experience playing.

[Khadoran]

Well i dont like the vulcan on it at all, to much heat and you have to load up before it start when u want to fire a missile.
I am using the assault rifle and full tank build, works well.

[Superkamikazee]

So how's everyone's point distribution look like_ Mine is pretty balanced, with a little more weight into armor. I also have a few points in air dynamics. I might add a point or two into fuel so I can get in the air and stay in the air longer to make the hellfires more effective.

I like the vulcan for it's damage, heat generation is brutal though. I don't mind the spin up time, just need to compensate for it. Without the vulcan the bruiser seems too much at a disadvantage, I like to dish out damage heavily and quickly. If the team is in a fight I typically hang in the middle of the fight, get up in the air, vulcan spinning up meanwhile getting a lock with the hellfires to start raining damage down from the sky. I typically take on a huge amount of damage, so I throw down my turret item (mild distraction), use my heal item to get a small amount of hp back, and hit the absorb ability to get back out there. This works well with a balanced team, or if I hang with a C class.

I struggle when I buddy up with a single A class. The A class rushes in, I support, A class bails out from taking too much damage, then I just get smoked since I can't fall back or run due to being so slow and a gas guzzler. If I hang with a pair of A's things typically go in our favor though since they're dancing the whole time distracting everyone, while I do the heavy lifting laying down fire. Full assist mode, but occationally stealing a kill here and there, oh hellfires

I do enjoy pairing up with B classes best though.

[Khadoran]

yeah the damage is on the low side, i use it to hunt a and b class mechs.
If there are many rocketers i tend to go with my d-vulcan recruit, he smokes them or sometime my grenadier, but mostly for practise.

Edited by Khadoran, January 15 2014 - 11:53 PM.

[Cannonaire]

I use my Bruiser principally for AA defense. I use high (not capped) air dynamics combined with a MKII Heal orb, Extractor, and Replenisher, and most often SMC for quick adaptability, regeneration, and hopping on top of - and all around - the AA. I have found it to work extremely well for this particular role.

Having exclusively hitscan primaries and a tracking secondary, it is also capable of doing significant damage to an enemy battleship should the need arise.