______ _ | ___ \ | | | |_/ /__ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ ___ | | __ | // _` |/ _` | '_ \ / _` | '__/ _ \| |/ / | |\ \ (_| | (_| | | | | (_| | | | (_) | < \_| \_\__,_|\__, |_| |_|\__,_|_| \___/|_|\_\ __/ | |___/ MechAssault: Ragnarok "End of the World" Strategy Guide Version: 1.00 Author: Vlad Danilchuk "AllYourBaseBelong2Us" Date: September 20, 2003 Game: MechAssault Contact Info: link21k@hotmail.com or 'PerfectSim' (no quotes) at Xbox Live. Table of Contents - 1.) Introduction 2.) The Ragnarok "End of the World" 411 3.) The Hardware 4.) Map Tactics 5.) FAQs 6.) Guide Versions 7.) Acknowledgments *********************************************************************** 1. Introduction *********************************************************************** First things are first. No portion of this guide may not be duplicated, redistributed, or manipulated in any shape, way, or form - basically it means don't try and pass my guide in your name and take credit for it. You can however print it, show it to your friends, and obviously read it. If you have any questions, email me at my address and simply ask. There will be no harm done. Now then, this guide is a detailed guide that will help you become an 'elite' in the Ragnarok - a really great mech for Team Destruction and Capture the Flag in MechAssault (one of my personal favorites). Though, if you are still having trouble with him, I can only show you the way - you have to walk there or simply practice makes perfect. It really doesn't take that long to master the Ragnarok, so I doubt you will have any trouble with it. But this guide will give you essential tips and survival points to become one of the best. Are you ready? Let's begin. ********************************************************************** 2. The Ragnarok "End of the World" ********************************************************************** The Ragnarok is a term meaning "End of the World". It is a Mech who appears as a boss in the "Worst Day Since..." chapter of Campaign mode. As he is a very cheap boss and does extra damage, I think a good combination of "Shoot-And-Hide-Behind-The-Plane" will kill him. Take note of those annoying elements and the health kits around the plane as well. Other than that, I recommend you pick a PPC or Sniper Mech to disposable of them. Okay, after beating the Ragnarok, you will get him and the separate configuration or his "Brother" the Ymir who is a PPC freak. Seeing as this guide only goes into detail about the Ragnarok, I can give only very few tips about his brother (or basically none). Official Name: Ragnarok (nicknamed 'Rag') Class: Assault BattleMech Tonnage: 100 Armor: 5000 Speed: 20 mph Offensive Weapons: Gauss Rifle x2, Javelin Missiles x4, Lava Gun x1. Defensive Weapons: Shields (a huge shield engulfs your Mech taking all the shoots thrown at you for a short period of three seconds). ********************************************************************** 3. The Hardware ********************************************************************** Gauss Rifle x2 Damage at level 1: 430 Damage at level 2: 600 Damage at level 3: 750 The Gauss Rifle is an unbelievable addition to the Ragnarok. It is a sniper rifle but its bullets appear in long bursts of energy. They are mainly used for medium-long distance to cause great amounts of damage and strike fear into the opponents' heart. Gauss Rifle are so powerful, they can knock over any light-medium Mech if fired from the right angle into the feet. Though I'm not 100% positive that firing the Gauss Rifle into the opponents' feet will knock them over, I am positive that you'll have a much better chance of knocking them over from the side or angle. If you happen to knock them over, use your Lava Canon to finish the job (Usually the enemy should die from the first hit from your lava gun; If not then fire again). The Ragnarok is a mech that skills comes to you in a package. Its not hard at all to point and shoot. Not to mention the lava gun is leveled up already and causes great amount of burst damage (something that you should take advantage from). The Ragnarok is the second best heavy defender in Capture the Flag games. You do the easy work, while the game damages your enemies for you. As for target-jamming Corvuses, and Owens - use your Lava gun at. Wait for them to take a couple of steps to put some distance in between you (as the target jamming will wear off pretty soon) and destroy them with level three Guass. Also, the thing the makes Guass the King-Weapon of Long-Range is that it quickly fires and reloads in 2 seconds. I'm guessing that you can fire 3 gauss bullets in the amount of time it takes of PPCs to charge up and hit its enemies at level 3. Work with this seeing as you'll need it. Practice shooting at enemies from across the Map to improve your accuracy. The only hard thing about it, is spotting them from 2 miles away. Javelin Missiles x4 Damage at level 1: 400 Damage at level 2: 545 Damage at level 3: 667 To most people, Missiles are their main use. Seeing as Missiles are the Rag's weakest weapons, we're going to go into some detail with it. Remember that Guass does more damage than Missiles - at all three levels. Also, remember that if fired on your enemy, it takes 2-3 seconds to reach him, and if the enemy is directly next to it, the missiles will become ineffective and be fired over his head and miss by a clear mile. Keep your distance if you want to use this weapon at your enemies. Also, use this weapon while your Gauss Rifle recharges. Combos are nice as well (Switch rapidly in between the weapons and fire). Now, Javelin's can also overheat you a lot so be careful. On last thing to take note of is the lag. As explained before, it takes a good while for the missiles to reach its target. At that time they can run and hide behind a tree - the tree taking its damage. Switch to your lava gun to finish him off. Lava Gun x1 Damage at level 3: 12-20% This is a little freaky so bear with me. The lava gun no doubt is the second more powerful weapon in the game next to level 3 warhammers. It is how it sounds - 3 bursts of lava come flying out of your gun for maximum painage. The lava gun also does a fair amount of damage such as the warhammers, and they also do a thing called 'burst damage'. This is much different then warhammers as the lava is automatically charged and keeps going for a while. So if you fire the lava gun next to the enemy mech - chances are it either misses them or hits them. What I mean is that if it hits them dead on, it does damage. If it misses, not a single bar will be taken off. However, you may fire the lava gun a mile away and the burst damage really hurts. Remember that this weapon won't trail as much and will disappear roughly 30 mech feet away. Another great thing is that the lava gun doesn't overheat as much as warhammers do. Warhammers take roughly 3 bars on your heating scale whereas lava only takes 2. Take advantage of this, it's a really great weapon and you don't even have to level it up. It's already at level 3 (that's why Rag doesn't take the blues). Shield x1 No, this isn't Star Trek because the shields are much more powerful. The shield is a giant big purple bubble that enlarges your Mech and takes any hits thrown at you. If warhammers are charged for 10 seconds and then thrown at you, you could simply turn your shields on, the warhammer will get stuck, the shield will disappear and the warhammer will float in midair (still causing damage if you are near it) exploding some time later. It's also used as a PPC killer. The shield will take the PPCs thrown at you (however it will need a good 3-5 second recharge) so therefore the Ragnarok is essentially tougher than the Ymir. But why do you still get hit by PPCs? Chances are there's lag and you get hit online before you actually turn the shields on. So when you see a level 3 PPC floating your way, it's going to be a LOT closer (unless you are hosting). Also if you see a mech exploding next to you, turn your shields up. It should take some damage for you (not all). The only thing I recommend you not using the shields for is Gauss/Autocanons. You can't stop it/them because it's/they are too quick. ********************************************************************** 4. Map Tactics ********************************************************************** There are several different maps in MechAssault. Since CTF is the most played game type, I will describe that first followed by the Team Destruction maps. I cannot give you any other tips for the other game types since the Team Destruction maps will tell you everything you need to know. Just follow my tips, and you should be fine. ************** Desert Storm - ************** A game of desert storm could go on for minutes without a single flag capture if you're a decent defender and have decent back-up. Start by blowing up the bridge to your right, down the middle, and the nasty boulders down the back trail. Grab the power-ups as they spawn really quickly and there are three of them each time (unlike Midtown with two, and Jotenheim with only one). Next tell your medium defender to position himself just before the blown-up bridge (down the center) so he can see enemies before they go cloaked and off your radar. Use team chat, and never leave your post unless you have to chase an enemy down (which shouldn't be your job). If we look at the facts, Desert Storm will just about end up counting the kills. If the teams are both evenly good - the kills will be the only thing that matters. So if you see a minute left on the clock (with no flag captures but your team is winning by one kill), tell everyone to defend and stay back. Use your private chat as well (black button) and inform everyone of your situation. Good Luck. *********** Jotenheim - *********** The Ragnarok is the best defender here (most people use it). There are no missiles (really far out though) so stick to Gauss and Lava. The main thing you should worry about is looking at the water. When you see it move, fire the lava gun into it. There are some people out there though that wallwalk in from the sides or cloak while walking in water (glitch) making nothing seeable. You'll just going to have to deal with them. Tell your middle mech to play middleman, or stay back and light them up, and communicate whenever you lose the flag. **************** Midtown Mayhem - **************** My favorite map of the game. The first thing you have to do as soon as the game starts is blow up the walls. From the flag's left and right. This is good as if a flying Mech gets the flag; you can chase him out and not be stuck in the walls. Also, try blowing up the front walls so that you will be able to spot enemy runners more quickly. Look at the autocannons as well - they spot runners pretty easy (the direction they are pointed at, is most likely where the enemy is). If you have time, tell a runner to blow up a couple of buildings nearest you because enemy runners love to take cover behind them. Now your set. If you're guarding the red base - they will most likely come down the middle, or on the left/right ridges. Look for their footsteps 'stomp' or a dust trail you can spot. If your guarding the blue base, you can almost be 90% sure that the runners will come in from the left ridge (or left side) where that pile of trees are. Don't try and destroy them because the trees will take any weapons' damage (except your lava gun and warhammers which you don't have) sent at them. After a while the trees will explode, but they have enough armor to last the game. The runners main goal here is to fly over you, grab the flag, and flag back. Learn to wallwalk (left right really quick), shoot at them in mid air (really hard but possible with the lava gun), and follow them. But that shouldn't be your job - it should be the medium Mech's job to follow. Usually, PPCs and Gauss ammo spawn first followed by two missiles so it'll take a while to get leveled up. *********** Coliseum - *********** Gladitor-Sytled battlefield. This map is a round one with a platform and bridges leading to it in the center where Gauss power-up are king. Doors surround it where enemy Mechs and you spawn. It has several large rocks perfect for cover. Though, this isn't the ideal map for a Rag since it's so big, and you are a huge target wanting to get hit; it's still pretty fun to play. Hide in the ravines in the middle ambushing another Mech and destroying them with the lava gun. Be on the guard for level 3 PPCs and Warhammers but your shields should come in handy when cover does not. ***************** Demolition City - ***************** A huge city where everything you see is 100% destructible. Though I've never seen the entire city be destroyed in a regular game, I have seen about a good 60-70% of it down. Unless you try to destroy everything, it isn't going to happen. Here the city is surrounded by a coliseum. You are standing on a ridge just in front of the other team's spawn and next to the city. Whenever you see a heavy Mech crossing the bridge, destroy the bridge to destroy the Mech. The buildings themselves provide a LOT of cover, and are also helpful in taking down the enemy. There may be some tricky characters that go onto of the Coliseum (easy thing to do with a light jump jet Mech), and snipe from above. But they are sitting ducks, and will be destroyed easy. Power-ups occur mostly everywhere in here - so grab those level 3s. There are also nuclear factories as well that will damage you or the enemy by a lot. My tip: Stay back and slowly move your way forward with your allies. Charging is a dumb thing to do unless you're a fast Mech. ******** Frosty - ******** This map is snowing all over the place. Not that much of visibility and several huge hills where jump jets really are the king, the Rag is a very nice Mech in this map. Since the bridges can be destroyed, don't walk on them since it takes a good 10 seconds to cross them. Also take note of them while down in the ravines as they may fall and kill you as well. Instead head down into the lower parts of the level (the ravine), while taking cover against the walls. There's a great deal of space in the area below ideal for sniping mainly. Your armor will also come into effect here as well. Power-ups spawn next to your spawn point, and enemies sometimes across from you. As they cross the bridge, destroy it for an easy kill. If you want, stay up and snipe from above as its hard to get a shoot in from below, enemies will be upset at you, and jump jet up to you. Assist with the lava gun and continue your rampage. **************** Hell's Kitchen - **************** Not really a kitchen, this map is also pretty nice for a Rag. Lots of cover, great sniping room, and very easy to camp the other team's spawn point. As soon as you exit your base, take cover as the enemy is bound to be close. Stay away from the lava because it will overheat you like a pig, and damage you as well. Also take note of the fuel pumps, which damage you when destroyed (if your close). Be on the lookout for small Mechs that love to cloak and ambush you. Don't worry about focusing your attention to the Gauss Rifle; use the lava guns to scare the enemies back. Don't be afraid to go on offensive as well since the Rag is great for it. Look for the power-ups that are scattered around this level. The stiff terrain here is perfect. Jump Jets aren't a requirement or recommended but used very little. Remember to stick with your team, and don't wonder off by yourself. ********* Icepack - ********* Another great level for the Rag and yet another snowing level with lots of hills (very hard to jump jet onto since they are very high) surrounded by hills in the outer parts as well. Characters in this level love to take the Belial and snipe just about from anywhere. They jump jet over a mountain, snipe you, and go back into hiding. Don't let this be the case and stick close next to a hill. Also, don't get caught walking on the ice because a couple of hits will destroy it, and damage your Mech and trap it there as well. The bad thing about this level is the fact that there are no power-ups but remember the Ragnarok is the strongest mech in the game (with level 1's) because of its powered up lava gun and shields. Remember not to let the little Mechs grab your hard-earned salvage as they can run circles around you damaging you as well, but eventually screwing themselves over in the long run as your burst lava gun and shields help. Remember to lead the assault and let friendlies get cover by your shields. ********** Junkyard - ********** A dark and cold level, the Junkyard has a center plateau leveled above everything else in the level. Jump Jets are effective here; as walking Mechs will have to take the two paths upon to it. Power-ups are scattered and spawn points occur in the four corners were middle Mechs love to camp spawn points. The main battles take place in the center plateau where anything goes. Cloaked Mechs are almost impossible to see as well because of the darkness. Very little cover support, I suggest you either stay back and snipe or proceed forward and take your offensive to a whole new level. I strongly recommend you stick with a buddy in this level as enemies always come in pairs. Control the center plateau to control the level, as it's impossible to hit from below, and very easy to snipe from above. Charging Mechs will sometimes run in three or fours in an attempt to grab the field from you. Don't let this happen and direct your support to the two walkways that lead up to it. Only after you defeat the heavy Mechs, go after the light Mechs that love to draw your attention. *********** Number 51 - *********** My favorite level where Ragnaroks are on the loose! This level has a small city to the side where volcanoes explode around it, a large airstrip towards the center with lots of large mountains next to it, and lots of lava ravens to the other side that overheat and damage your Mech. Jump jets don't do much here, and wallwalking will help though. Most of the fights will take place in the airstrip where two spawn points are across from each other. Very easy to camp, and lots of fun for double kills. Try and draw the enemy to close space next to the city, where warhammers should finish them off. There's also a power planet that explodes when you hit it causing great damage to the Mechs near it. Most power-ups spawn either in the city or in the airstrip. Try to find a fight around in progress to end with your warhammers - don't go looking for one. Also try and steal other people's kills with your Gauss Rifle. ************ River City - ************ The best spawn point is the green one. You will start to the right of Red team's spawn point (very close to yours), and across from the Blue and Yellow's spawn. You will also get a hill that will provide cover and a great angle for spawning. This map is basically a river next to a city with lots of buildings. When you get down to the five-minute mark, the buildings will most likely be destroyed and all hell will break loose. Power-ups appear almost everywhere, and it is very easy to damage or be damaged. Also take note of that bridge next to Yellow's spawn. It provides some cover, and rarely does a Mech cross it. Also, flying and cloaked Mechs like to jump on top of buildings (no idea why) - Send the building a nice lava bath destroying the guy on top. This level is the ideal level for Ragnaroks and also Promes as well. ************ Rock Solid - ************ Another heavy mech heaven. Rock Solid is a huge asteroid that falls apart easy. The center rises up and above to about 50 feet high with geysers, and huge rocks on top of everything. Use this to your advantage, and fire at the Rock, which has been proven to kill your enemy much quicker. Yes there are a couple of power-ups scattered around but most of them are on the top of the rocks which you cannot wallwalk up to but some are around the plateau that you can get. Only flying Mechs can get up there (such as the Belial and Kit Fox) and snipe which is a pretty dumb thing seeing as the Rocks take 2-3 hits to be destroy. Be aggressive here seeing as camping spawn points determine the winner. ************ Stone Cold - ************ Not the wrestler, but a nice little compacted snowing level. Think of this as a research station with large icebergs in the middle that you can destroy. There's barely any cover, but several power-ups that spawn near your spawn point. There's also a ridge that surrounds the entire level perfect for Sniping. However, due to the fact that you're a Ragnarok, it will be hard to find an entrance up onto it, and stay there, as you will be pretty hard to miss. The only thing that I do here is run out and get as many kills as possible, charging over and over again. And its possible to get around 30 (which I've done in a 15 minute game) kills or more. No real tips here folks, just a map of craziness. ********************************************************************** 5. FAQs ********************************************************************** Q: Which is the best Mech? A: There is no 'best' Mech but there is the best Heavy Mech - The Prome. The Ragnarok could probably take it from a distance but never too close. Q: What do you mean by damage '1500'? A: Its just how much armor the Mech damages. Standard light mechs have around 3000 armor, which is equal to around 3 hits with lava gun. Q: Why no tips for Grinder? A: In Grinder, the Rag is slow and quickly becomes an overheating pig. Seeing as at times you will be down 2 to 1 and there will be other Ragnaroks that would want to get you the hell out of their Mech. Grinder is for medium mechs. Q: Who win in a fight - Ragnarok or Ymir? A: Ragnarok. Its shields will shut down the PPC. Gauss is greater than autocanons, and lava cannon is the same. Missiles help too. Q: How many kills maximum did you get in Grinder? A: About 50 my second attempt to where I just got bored. People over Xbox Live said they've reached 200, which is possible. Q: Any tips to not be such a newbie? A: If you play CTF - chose the Prome. If you play Team Destruction - chose the Rag. That's my 2 cents. To not be a newbie, use the team chat, be offensive, and never miss. Also practice your butt off and you will be an elite. Q: How do people get that many kills? A: They steal kills. That's the truth. If you see a guy with 50 kills, there's no way he played 'fair'. You know it - they go after Mechs that are damaged. What I mean is that you'd have a better and quickly chance kicking a limping or Smoking mech than a Mech that just spawned. Q: Didn't you just take content from your Prometheus guide and paste it on here? A: Well yes and no. At the time, I did take some content from my Prometheus guide as tactics will merely be the same but I went over everything making it 100% Ragnarok. Q: Can you kill yourself with the lava gun? A: Yes. Fire it at your feet and walk forward. About 2-3 bars will get taken off. Q: Why do you make up words? A: Because... I feel special. Q: What's a great map? A: For CTF - Midtown Mayhem. For Team Destruction - Number 51, Demolition City, or River City. My personal favorites. Q: Will there be more content for Live? A: Hopefully... ********************************************************************** 6. Guide Versions ********************************************************************** Version 1.00 - I'm done everything from start to finish. The Ragnarok, the hardware, the tactics, and everything else. Enjoy! It's 100% complete. ********************************************************************** 7. Acknowledgments ********************************************************************** Without these people the guide wouldn't be possible: CJayC - Thanks man, GameFAQs rocks bad! Shadow Panther - For his Mech and Weapon Stats (http://members.aol.com/shdwpnthr/stats.htm) AllYourBase - Myself for making another guide to help you! Microsoft Gaming Studious - Great game guys. Keep it up. You - For reading this. A guide by Vlad Danilchuk - AllYourBaseBelong2Us. Copyright (c) 2003. All Rights Reserved.