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The Brawler is one of the most difficult mechs to learn in Hawken. It moves slowly and only has short range burst damage to start, leaving most new pilots baffled about the point of this seemingly useless mech. It may have the most health of any mech, but can’t stay in the open for that long due to its slow speed and poor maneuvering. Many pilots try this cheap mech once or twice and chose to leave it sit in their garage and gather dust. However, this mech isn’t useless like they have come to believe. It is however, an unwieldy and unforgiving beast with a steep learning curve. Look up Soldierhobbs11 for in depth video tutorials about all mechs, however his Brawler video didn’t quite explain how best to use it. This guide is intended to fill in the gaps he left that I found and used to enormous effect. So, without further adue, let’s get started.
I‘ll cover three subjects here:
- What not to do in your Brawler
- How to use your Brawler
- Load outs
Never ever EVER try to fight in the air with this thing, you’re slow enough on the ground. Every so often you need to hop over cover to pop a repairing enemy, which is the only time to fly in a Brawler.
Also, in its current state, the turret mode is worthless. Technically you can heal with your guns still out, but I can’t recall a single time where a regular repair sequence would have been less effective. The turret mode doesn’t absorb and repair enough to be worth the total loss of mobility. The soul possible exception involves a load out I will discuss later.
Never let yourself overheat, it’s got a 6 second cool down.
While the Brawler has a learning curve like a brick wall, the wall is short and once you overcome it, you can pilot any heavy mech.
Now let’s get to the reason you’re all here, how to use your Brawler.
Remember what I said about this being a defensive mech_ Park one of these on the AA and no one is getting through. Well, I say park but you never really stop moving. You get behind a big hunk of cover (preferably one were you can pop out of different spots and keep them guessing) and play a game called peekaboo.
All you have to do is wait for someone to have the audacity to come in range of your guns and smack them with your flack and TOW simultaneously. Immediately afterward you doge back into cover to avoid their pathetic retaliation. After you dodge, do not use your boost, doge, or, god forbid, try to fly till you’ve fired again and boost back into cover.
Every time you use fuel or generate heat you can be seen on radar. It’s always better if the other guy doesn’t know where you’re going to pop up next. This puts you in control and lets you control the pace of any given situation. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve shot and dodged back into cover and the guy thought he’d be clever and flank me. Most of the time people use their boost to close the distance and give away their entire advantage of surprise. Remember, keep them guessing and you’ll always be one step ahead.
Despite the Brawler’s incredible power, you can’t really attack or play aggressively yourself. You have to bait people into situations you control the pace of battle, which is difficult, but incredibly rewarding.
Always stick with your pack, you need them to flank and cover your back, and they need your firepower and armor. Don’t be afraid to tank some rounds for your pack, they’ll stick around long enough to pay you back.
Whenever possible, try to stay hidden from radar. This requires patience due to your slow walking speed, but it’s amazing the chaos you can create punching people in the back of the head.
Most Brawler pilots, including myself, will tell you the flack cannon is the best due to its high burst damage combined with the TOW. However you HAVE to watch your heat because this gun heats up fast. You can manage this a bit by only shooting the TOW and flack simultaneously, but this only works for so long. Remember that this setup is only effective at short range playing peekaboo.
The second weapon is the SA Hawkens, which is closer to an assault rifle, and is effective at mid to long ranges. This is the only load out where the turret can be used in combat because you can doge more easily and are a smaller target at mid to long range. With the Hawkens, you become more of a support gunner than a hunter. Your goal is to attrite enemy health so your pack can get the kills. Another way to phrase it is you switch from a short range defensive mech to a mid-range hybrid defense\suppression mech. With this gun, it becomes far more important to stick with your pack, because it is very hard to get kills alone with this rifle. Your DPS is lower than that of an AR and you are a big target in the open.
Now the prestige weapon, the Vulcan, is pretty bad on the Brawler. The ½ second spin up time prevents you from reacting as fast as you need to and the heat generation is just terrible. This gun really needs a faster mech to chase people down to be used effectively. On the Brawler, it combines the disadvantages of both the previous weapons (short range and lack of reaction burst damage, respectively) without having merits of its own. Perhaps another Brawler pilot will sing this gun’s praises, but they’re rare. The rare occasions I do see one, they’re in the scrap yard rather quickly.
For Items, I go with the mk2 shield and repair charge. The Brawler can shield duel pretty well and the repair charges are good when you need health and can’t afford to lose mobility. One tactic you can use is deploy turret and a charge to quickly heal about 250 armor.
My internals are advanced deflectors (-20% damage while boosting/dodging), the advanced reconstructer (heals automatically if out of combat for a set period of time), and the shock coils (reduces fall damage 100%). They’re pretty self-explanatory, but if you want to know more ask.
I do believe that covers everything. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I’ll answer as best I can.
Edited by Behemoth66, September 01 2014 - 04:07 AM.
. In all seriousness, Nice guide! On my second account, the only mechs I have are the Brawler and my CR-T, so I play it quite a lot. This guide seems to cover most of the points I'd make about flak brawler. Good job! 
