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0. Yo dawg I heard you like to hear some stories…
I saw a pretty demotivating lack (I would dare to say absence) of decent Brawler guides which can actually tell how to Brawl (It's not a playstyle, It's a lifestyle!). I don’t say they are useless. But they are only two of them and ONLY in video form. Show&teach format is great but sometimes good ‘ld boring texts are better. Of course you simply won't be able to learn how to play Brawler just by reading this. All of the below requires a sh!t ton of practice. Also, I will not jump into the numbers too much, you can analyze them yourself. De-facto sorry for any grammatical and/or semantic errors.
ATTENTION: If you only starting to play this game don’t consider buying this mech yet. You’ll understand why later.
1. General Idea of the Brawler
What is Brawler? It’s a fat kid running trough the cookie shop. And cookies know that this fellow will simply not stop. If he reaches you it would be fast and painful death. He’s calm when you watch him at a distance but once you get close he unleashes a fearsome bullet hell. Underestimating this turtle-on-speeds means death sentence.
I’m done with pathos so let’s actually jump into this huge mech and see world with it’s eyes. First thing you will notice is that you are slow. Like slooooow. 'Cos this is literally the slowest mech in the game. This and also an interesting choice of starting weaponry results in completely deleting hit’n’run playstyle from you memory. Forget about chasing down damaged opponents. Now when you’re slow you really should think more about where you need to go and how do you react to active threats. You can’t escape your from enemy. You can’t afford being greedy. You can’t outmaneuver your opponent. If you get in the fight – you’re stuck. Fight like the desperate tiger till the last breath. You. Are. Defense. Your job is to sit with your fat ass on the point (AA, Silo) and beat the sh!t out of every single intruder so they will know whom this lands belong to. If you can’t kill them – hold them off your territory by any means possible as long as possible. Every precious second you’ve had your foes outside of AA or Silo can result in victory of your team. Forget about going solo gang. You’re now a team player. You must rely on your team just as much as they rely on you. This being said you can’t afford running on full yolo mode. Also never (you hear?), NEVER go to the fight alone. The damage you can do is tremendous but if there are no one to back you up – think twice. Forget about high scores too. You are not a Scout or Berserker and not even an Assault. You don’t kill. You defend like a chained dog with an unstoppable urge to bite someone’s butt. Once your opponent decides to "visit your shop maybe some another time" – they are out of your jurisdiction.
To sum it up: you are tough, slow and angry.
>:[
2. Weaponry. Items & Internals.
Big Guns:
-TAW Launcher
We all know what to do with it.
-Flak Cannon
Starting with the most worth using, in my personal opinion, secondary weapon. It's simple to use, has short range, does big holes up close. "Well, not something you would expect on a slow mech like Brawler", – might be first thought while looking at Flak. We will talk more about how to use it properly later.
-SA-Hawkins
Besides marvelous Flak you also have SA-Hawkins. It's pretty good if you can follow your target. This results in you not being able to fight in CQC almost at all (all hail the lowest turn speed cap). Some distance between you and your foe is required for Hawkins to shine. Medium range is its alma mater. Also 'cos it's a sustain damage weapon you won't be able to take cover and/or loose your target which cuts down the solid 3 quarters of all the possible maneuvers. So hands down, if you want to be a walking target use Hawkins.
-Point-D Vulcan
Lame for the same reasons, but check out the impossibility of CQC. Good to scary someone off as long as you're firing it. But 6 seconds of overheat recovery will screw you up faster than you can even imagine. Duh.
Items
-Must have: Shields MK2 or MK3. These impenetrable (for bullets) orbs will save your life more than anything else.
-Repair Orbs are also out of question. Usually you will not have any time for repairs especially during a fight. Because the starting of the repairs animation takes freaking eternity. Turret mode will not be of any use as well -it simply makes you almost a static target.
-EMP's are worth mentioning as well. Works perfectly well when you need to calm someone down as well as making a window for your attack. Excellent choice for someone perverted like me.
Internals
-Any kind of Extractor is really good. The less time you're vulnerable the better.
-Evasive Devise or Power Surger should be used as well. Self-explanatory.
-Armor Surger is good, but sometimes Repair Kit is better. It really depends on how many Repair Orbs do you use and how aggressive you are (Tip: you are always aggressive). Simple as that.
But as usual you are free to experiment. Brawler is a pretty forgiving (ha-ha) mech as long as your aim is good. And your movement, and situation awareness, and… well year.
3. Movement and tactics
Mostly I will implement all of the below to the Flak Cannon. And I already explained why.
Limitations
You are tough but for this you have to pay with a lot of things. Such as:
- Turn cap. May be it just me but piloting Brawler you need to turn so much that is seems that turn cap is even smaller than on any other C-class mech. Consider using 180 turns instead of simply following your target (i.e. sometimes it's faster to turn into the opposite direction and use 180).
- Speed. Year-year the same song once more. ~Skip~
- Repairs. Starting repairing animation will murder you. Just like smoking but way faster.
- Turret mode. It is a limitation. 'Cos it's completely worthless: makes you almost immobile; way too slow repairs; only 10% less damage up front, but additional damage in the back.
- CQC only – long- and even medium-range fights are not your strong side. Hey there, one more mobility limitation.
// 60 seconds break for silent rage and self-pity after understanding what awaits you
Mind Games
Of course, due to close range you can't just boldly approach somebody saying "Wanna some of those, babe?" considering your speed. That's why you must force your enemy to approach you instead. Cheesy false running-away moves, dodging behind cover after simultaneous shots of Flak and TOW – everything works. Actually the second "move" is your simplest and most useful tactic. Play a little game of picabu with your foe. Obviously any cover is required for your effective performance. Both natural and self-made (like shields).
Oh yes. Mind games. Predicting your enemy moves, forcing him to make reckless decisions, luring him into a trap. This is a skill you can obtain only by playing. Analyzing your opponent's moves, adjusting, adapting. You wonder, what is actually required for all these skills? Patience. It's your greatest ally. Your greatest tool.
For the start remember this: Shields are your friends. Running away and dropping a shield down, waiting for enemy to enter the shield, then turning around and shooting the face of the foe while dodging out of the shield - greatest feelings ever.
Armor managing
Oh my precious light of the Moon, you have 800 armor. You are the true king of fatness. And it can be unbelievably handy. Just as I said: patience, doctor, or you will cut the table with your scalpel. Don't rush things. Besides all of the barriers and limitations you have while playing Brawler, time is something you always have in big amounts. A class is jumping around like he's completely nuts? Wait for his next jump around you, boost forward a little and then do 180 to face him directly. After your first shot you can afford loosing your target as long as you're able to tell your opponent's positioning. You can absorb a ton of damage just by yourself. This means that we can basically convert armor to time. And you have a lot of it. But don't jump into a fight with a thought that you can manage all of the damage. Be cautious, you can take hits but if you are reckless you will end up exploding.
Surprise, fuzzy bunny
Timing. Being at a right place at a right time is not an easy task to fulfill when you're driving with a speed of a snail. Practice mixed with predicament of enemy moves baked with thinking gives you a nice kokblock (just evading censorship) delicacy. Don't be too greedy or your potential meal can feast upon you instead. I can't give you tips on timing. In general, try to keep in mind how fast and where your enemy can and will go. When does your foe spawn. What will he or she do, when taking hits. Good sense of time and in-game TTK helps a lot too. But even this requires a lot of practice.
Nobody wants to hug you
This is sad truth. People are not dumb to stay close to you. But if they don't want to hug you – hug them instead. Corner hugs are the best. You are slow but with the right positioning you can ambush other pilots easily and make them loose their sh!t. If ambush is not an option and you have to face your enemy directly try to use cover and keep close distance between you two. Keep your friends close but enemies closer. Actually this is an art to be close and at the same time unreachable for your opponent. This is where shield or EMP will roll in. Play on the greed of others. If there is no cover to use – you failed, time to fly off to space. Also remember: if enemy bails out of the fight you must not chase him. If he runs it means that he refuses to fight on your conditions and if you follow the rabbit into a hole you might not come out.
4. Teamwork
After all Brawler pilot is pretty much a team player. You sure can do a lot just on your own but with only one person to help you out you will accomplish much more. If your partner simply delivers damage or drags someone's attention from you – your life will become much more enjoyable. It can be literally anyone who is smart enough to keep you company. He can take some hits for you or secure some kills on running enemies. Imagine that you are a sheriff and he is your deputy. Then after a few drinks you will jump into your mechs and kill some bastards. And after a successful mission you will boost into the sunset…
Next thing about teamwork is obviously communication. For, as I said for like hundred times already, Brawler is the slowest mech of them all you can't rely only on your own perspective. If you're a Brawler you are very dependant on your team. If you're in the same team with a Brawler – sometimes just hitting this "Q" button may come in handy. Brawler can't scout ahead. He needs to know what's going on in the battlefield before yelling "By the power of Greyskull!" and mashing someone in the face. If Brawler knows where enemy is going – he will be there. Can you imagine this? If you hit "Q" button when you see enemy going anywhere you're making Brawler's life much more full of happiness. May be one day he will hug you for that… without any intensions of cracking your mech into two pieces just 'cos he didn't like how you looked at him (Yes, I really do enjoy thinking of Brawler as of a psychopath).
5. Verdict
Being a Brawler is a harsh… destiny? I sincerely believe that not everyone can learn how to play this mech. You're able to kill, but can not fulfill your urge to kill. You are able to defend, only to be left alone to meet your last moments in chaotic agony of the fight. You can move, but not able to appear in a right place. Pretty nerve wrecking.
Brawler is a support. Mighty and really tough. But still a support. Say hello to unforgiveness and welcome to cheer world of excruciating pain, silent lonely deaths and punishment for your every mistake. Yaaaaaay!
In the end: have fun! Try to approach every your mistake which led to your death as a lesson and with a bit of sarcastic and dark humor. That will cheer up not only you.
~With sincere sarcastic joke,
TwoDots.
Singing out~
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