How to meduim

I want to start by saying that my posts are all about making yourself more valuable to your team in a PUG.  Following my advice is likely to earn you less cash and XP than most other play methods.  My goal is to play for the team.  I ride for the brand, even if it is in 15 minute increments.  (I guess Lone Wolf suits me).

Also, before I begin, I want to qualify that I am giving advice on mediums as an observer.  I have tried to pilot them very few times, and, well... let me put it like this.  I do best with min/maxed, novelty, or purpose built mechs.  I can't get that to work for mediums.  (I do not consider a metric butt-ton of lasers to be a gimmicky build)  So I am basing my post on my observations of the medium pilots who have blasted my face off, or if I was lucky and they were on my team, racked up numbers that would make an Atlas pilot cry.

It seems that the best way for a medium to be built is fast, and general purpose.  While I would suggest lights and heavies to begin with a plan; mediums should play fast and loose.  You are the utility infielder, the pinch-hitter.  You need to chase down lights, cap points, bum rush a heavier mech, and pack enough punch to be a true menace, all in the same game, and at a moments notice.  No one expects the Atlas to cap points, and no one expects the Spider to duke it out in a firefight.  As a medium pilot you will be called on to do both.

While there are many ways to go about this, the builds that seem to do best are the laser boats.  Since (although I still hate them) lasers are the best general purpose weapons in the game, this is what I see working for people.  Many balance this out with LRMs.  One medium pilot told me the best way to play was to use up all of your LRMs, then rush what was left of the enemy line.  But then, that was before the great LRM nerfing of '13.

In a perfect world, mediums would do the capping, and lights the scouting.  I say this because a light, capping a point, usually has to run off when confronted.  A medium will be able to hold, or at least hold long enough for reinforcements.  In a skirmish, mediums can shine.  There is only one job to be done, wreak havoc.  Really, for an overburdened medium pilot, having only one job is like a vacation.