Until last week,I have been using a triplet physical setup:a heat counter,an energy counter and a rounded build (in case of dual heaters or dual electrics).I don’t have to say that each one of them was,in fact,also a phys counter.I decided to change my setup because of a couple particular things.
You see,the strategy of physicals go like this:
Against energy - deal as much damage as possible before getting drained and making use of energy-dependent weapons first,then improvising after being drained (I’m talking about hook/charge + Annihilation combo aka. the hop-hop combo).Try to make use of the range,so you’ll last longer before fully drained.
Against heat - take out your drone first;every turn,shutdown once and use any of your weapons (you still overpower them per turn,so you can afford using one action point per turn).When your heat opponent has less health left than your primary combos,then instead of shutdowning,use both action points to attack (like this,your mech will have around half a heat cap but it will be alive,most probably surviving another combo.In case of heat bomb users,shutdown once before (so you’ll have as small a cap as possible) then twice after it’s been shot (like this,you will still fire the drone twice and have a good cap left).Against F2P heaters,you can easily put them at a disadvantage:limit their options by moving in an unfavourable spot for them.You see,most F2P heaters have a range 1-2 blind spot (even better if you have a SeraphBlade,it closes the entire range gap in your favour) that you can exploit.If you are in the corner of the map,then even better!Force them to stomp or waste an action point (by hooking them etc).
Against phys - Phys vs Phys battles are…Yeah,you already know.
There are a couple things about physicals that decide the winner before the battle has even started:
The health: As you might know,physicals gain whole turns,in which they can do up to 1000 damage!You see,a mech with 1400 hp can last as long as a mech with 1900 hp and a mech with 2000 hp can last as long as one with 2500.The thing is:You take out your drone for around 200 damage,in the next turn you do around 900 damage and in the third turn you do around 1000.
Who starts first: Generally,the one who starts first wins if the opponent has close to equal health to him.If you have 2000 health (as much as your opponent),you will win with around 500 health left (unless he uses the teleport trick I’ll talk about next).If you have 1500 health and go against a 1900 health build,you will win etc (btw,I used average values regarding the RNG,as it can also change the tide of the battle).Turns are the real deciding factor regarding who wins or loses.It’s all about luck if you think about it.
The teleport trick: This is a pretty dirty trick but it can,in fact,change the tide of the battle,as well.
You see,for example I have 700-800 health left and my opponent has 1100.There’s no way I can beat him regularly (even if I started first).Instead of accepting a defeat,I’ll gamble by hitting him once (for an average of 300+200 drone,so he’ll be at 600 hp left) and teleporting away.Like that,even if he teleports/charges/hooks me,I will survive the half-combo he launches with around 100 health left.I will survive that and he will die,as I use my full primary combo on him.By the way,as I expressed earlier,this is a ‘‘cheap shot’’ move,but it’s indeed a legit (and lowly) strategy.
