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I kind of want to do a video, but at the same time, I really don't want to do a video. I might do a video. But probably not.
As a preface to the preface, this is a thing that describes a particular playstyle and a particular mech and setup that caters to that playstyle. It assumes you know Hawken. Hell, it assumes you're halfway bored of Hawken. You might get some juice out of it as a beginner, but the setup I suggest is quite counter to the "in" fashion right now, and as such you might have a hard time.
I doubt very many of you have seen me on any of my "main" accounts as of late. If you have, it's probably because I signed into them accidentally. I play on a lot of different accounts. My primary reason is because I really like to be anonymous. I'm a friendly guy, usually, but I like my space, and I feel less pressured to do well when I'm anonymous. I also like the feeling of progression, and I also like being able to choose the game I want to play based on the map or the number of players or the server itself. (MMR locks me out of these choices on over half my accounts now.)
That being said, playing pub Hawken and playing organized Hawken can be two very different games. A lot of you will never participate or desire to participate in organized Hawken, and that's all well and good. I enjoyed it a lot a while back, but with the fairly unwavering teams, a lack of real changes to the meta of the game, and general inactivity in the game, I consider myself pretty much out of competitive Hawken for the time being.
That being said, good lord is it fun being good in pub games. I'd place myself in the upper 25% of all comp Hawken, but in public games, there really is a different mentality that allows me to pretty much double the score of the next guy down, no matter who that is.
I give you,
The Pubstar Scout
(I'll get to what it is eventually.)
A pubstar is a semi-insult. It's someone who does well in your regular matchmade games, but never participates in organized play and generally just stagnates at a certain level playing pretty much one mech, maybe, maaaaybe two. I'm sure you've got one or two people in your head right now. It doesn't have to be an insult, but sometimes playing these people over and over again gets annoying.
To be fair, this version of playing the scout may very well be viable in competitive Hawken. I've never tried it. I do know that I've been having a lot of fun and a lot of success in public games using it this way.
Now, the scout is awesome. It's a challenging little fuzzy bunny that hits like a truck. That rhymes. It gets you to the fight fast and can get you out pretty quick. It has three different options for primary weapons that are surprisingly different in utilization. It is however, easy to kill. Playing the mech in this fashion may very frequently lead to unnecessary deaths if you don't know what you're doing. (Read: be intimately familiar with every weapon on every mech in a manner indistinguishable from instinct. Also have a lot of time playing Hawken and first person shooters in general.)
The Pubstar Scout Mentality
This mech is about just knowing you're better than everyone. You know every map perfectly. You've seen a million fights in every corner of every one, and you know how the game flows. You can read a team, where they're going, and how long they'll collectively take to react to your presence. You categorize every player on the enemy team and can alter your fighting style based on name alone. You don't have to be better at dueling than everyone on that team, you just need to be objectively better than one or two, and know how to capitalize on that, hard. The mentality is about outscoring everyone and waving your epeen high and fly.
Of course, it helps if you're actually good at fighting on a micro level as well, though the mentality takes place at a decisively macro level.
Your very best friend is confusion. Your spouse is stealth. Your goal is to strike at the perfect moment and fade away. When moments don't present themselves, your goal is to poke and prod at the enemy until your team can make those moments happen. Your goal is to know where all of the enemy is without any of them knowing where you are. Your goal is to make the other team your prey.
The Pubstar Scout Scout
I mentioned before that I play on a lot of accounts. One of the variables involved in that is that if I choose to purchase a scout, a significant portion of time playing that scout will be with minimal funds, and with the miniflak. I also abhor scanner. I use no items on this scout, but, I guess, you could.
Who's your spouse?
Are there any internals that promote stealth?
Which?
Really?
Yes. In fact, it's the only internal that directly impacts stealth. You don't ever want to need to use your space bar, your dodges, nothing. You want to be able to track your enemies without the slightest radar signature. Also, you don't want to take damage, so... Prevent yourself from doing either unnecessarily by using the shock coil. The Pubstar Scout started out with the shock coil and the miniflak and nothing else. It felt goooooood.
Of course, you'll get more HC as you go along. It took me several more mechs to even consider putting anything else on, but you'll notice with the gameplay I will describe, that there's a lot of getting into position, and you're walking, so time really does count. There's an internal that can save you time on those long walks. Yes, yes, you could be a fuzzy bunny and go for the one that boosts movement speed after a kill or something like that. No. You're walking to get the kill. Not to get away from the kill. So, advanced reconstructor it is. Ten seconds without taking a shot or landing a shot, and you'll be gaining a significant chunk of health back every second. Ordinarily, right after a fight, or after an escape, I'll repair up until about 220 health, and then let the reconstructor do the rest. It saves you time because you can move places and repair at the same time. That'll be handy.
You have two slots left. Your goal is to kill single enemies before their team can react. There's an internal for this. See, you can choose a lot of things, but you can't deny the optimal time. Optimal time often trumps optimal range. If you've just walked into a full health brawler, so be it. You have to take that fuzzy bunnyer down ASAP. Failsafe. The failsafe will allow you to do the most damage in the shortest period of time, because you'll have to hold back on that right mouse button less. You don't have a lot of health to play with, but if you're both at 120 health or so, but you're at point blank, you need to ensure that you live. You need to ensure that you can end that fight immediately. Failsafe will let you do that.
All your deflectors and extractors and condition based internals are chump change. Those three directly impact the playstyle.
The Pubstar Scout's Optimal Moment of Engagement
The OME. This will depend just a little on whether you're using the flak or the miniflak. Moving on, we'll assume miniflak.
Priority 1:
Your target is further from his team than it will take you to eliminate 100%-x of your opponent's health, where x is equal to the amount of health you can successfully take down with your opponent's team bearing down on you. Bear in mind, you've been walking the whole time. You should have a full tank of gas to get out of there, plus your backup. You can typically escape any engagement in this sort of setup.
Priority 2:
The engagement range is close. You want to make sure you're landing every bit of shrapnel. You want them worried for the rest of the game that you're literally right behind them.
Priority 3:
The engagement is in the open. This is primarily if you're using the suggested miniflak. The miniflak has the highest DPS in the game, and in the time it takes a brawler to turn around and locate you, you can easily bring them down to your own health. This is hindered a little if you have to resort to burst play. Burst play takes time. You don't have time. You're playing to make people always on their toes, always afraid that you'll hit them at the exact wrong moment. You're not playing to make them go "omg that was an epic duel." No. fuzzy bunny that. You kill them fast and dirty and gtfo. Open terrain it is. In your tiny little scout.
That's the order. The further their team is, the less either 2 or 3 matter. The closer you are to them, the less priority 3 matters.
Secondary priorities in no particular order:
They're repairing.
They're damaged.
They're really really bad.
They're in a rocketeer.
They're in a tech (these meeeeeeeeellllllt under the miniflak.)
The Pubstar Scout's General Tactics
Yes, of course you need to know when to boost, how to dodge, etc. etc. What you really, really, really need to know is how to track and how to flank.
Tracking:
The art and/or science and/or other wishy washy categorical noun of reading the enemy team and predicting their movements. For this, you need to have absolute map knowledge. If you can't literally navigate every map with your eyes closed - literally - hang up and call back when you can. You need to know exactly what your opponents are seeing just by looking at the radar, and you need to combine this with your knowledge of each individual player. This is something of the macro reciprocal of flanking.
Flanking:
Getting behind your enemy without their knowledge. That last part is real important. You can counter a poor flank by baiting them around a corner only to alpha that poor bastard. You don't want to be that poor bastard. You have 320 health. I can't stress it enough, but if you even half suspect that your prey might be looking at their radar (basically any time they're not fully engaged in a fight, or any time you're just too far away to matter, and even then on the former, that's not a guarantee) you are walking. You may however, be surprised at how much you can get away with with a player's sight line. The maximum field of view a player can have without .ini modification (which is rare) is 110 degrees - less than a full third what's around them. You can be actually a little bit in front of them, as long as you're off to the side a bit, and your prey won't see you. Being in a mech isn't like having eyeballs. Human beings have peripherals that allow us to see even a little behind us just by looking down. Mechs only have a head, and their set of eyes are deeply inset in the cockpit. You can get a feel for this by putting your hands on either side of your eyes at a 110 degree angle. You'll notice a lot of information is cut off. This area is exploitable. If anything, I'd like to make a video on this. I've impressed myself time and time again by how very in the center of the enemy team I can get without anyone detecting me.
The Pubstar Scout: All together now.
The result of this is a game that plays out pretty much as the following:
Right out of spawn you skirt the edge of the map as far out as possible utilizing bunny hops and dodges to maximize speed and minimize fuel consumption. From the edge or using your radar, you locate your enemy, figure out what direction they're generally focused on, get behind them, wait for an engagement or for someone to be oblivious for a few seconds, and melt your first target. Ordinarily, you're going to want to boost out of your enemy's range regardless and give them a good radar signature showing that you've left the area. If no one is pursuing, and you know they're still moving, you walk back to them and repeat.
If you're attacking during an engagement with your own team, you'll often find that your positioning and your damage output will ensure your team's victory - often in a definitive manner.
So, all goes well, you break off and start hunting individuals as they spawn again.
The entire purpose of this setup is to get behind your enemy and wait for the opportune moment.
But what happens if they're always grouped up?
Well, your job will get a lot harder. However, you still have to contribute to your team. If they're grouped up, your TOWs should often deal damage to multiple enemies. You just keep poking them and staying alive until your team can regroup and press on the advantage you've given them. Being a single player, you can often pull the enemy team in your direction. Use this to pull them out of the center of the map, or better, pull one or two enemies off the larger group, and eat them.
Your playstyle should be the epitome of patience and discipline. You mess with them until they break. You keep them disorganized and confused and scared when they do. You soak up the stragglers.
Remember to walk. With a full fuel tank, good bunny hopping and dodging, and your ability, you can escape the whole team (though a dedicated raider will sometimes be your downfall in that regard).
General Miniflak tip:
Don't hold it down. Tap your shots like you do with the regular flak.
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