Last Updated: 14-Mar-2016
The Battlemaster has found itself in a position of power lately, coming in as one of the best mechs in the game since the latest quirk pass. Let’s look at why that is.
Overview
When the Battlemaster was introduced, there were no quirks, it was visually very indistinct (in my opinion, it’s one of the very few mechs that PGI really missed the mark on artistically – seriously look at its TT artwork, it looks so friggin weird but I think in a cool way, though I am glad they didn’t go for the hand holding a gun thing…so tacky), and it was just generally worse than every competitor it had. In the current status quo, however, it is actually kinda decent, accompanying mechs like the Banshee and Stalker at the top of the Assault totem pole.
The Battlemaster is one of the mechs that’s been variant-spammed to hell (actually tied with a few others for the prestigious award of “most variants”), which has led to more than a few headaches on my part due to the quirks being pretty goddamn similar on most of them too. Topping the charts, though, has got to be the BLR-2C. This new variant may not have the same offensive quirks as the others, but the structure quirks make it much tankier than the other variants, without sacrificing much in the way of firepower. After that, the BLR-1G’s quirks let it fit pretty well into the current meta, making it my second pick, as it adds quite a bit of firepower when compared to the BLR-2C. In third we have the BLR-3S, which doesn’t have anything particularly special but its quirks are decent enough.
The rest have their own gimmicks but are just not at the same power level: the BLR-3M has the most energy hardpoints at 8, the BLR-1GHE has a unique quirk which reduces the effect of ambient heat, the BLR-1S is a good missile boat, and the BLR-1D has the most ballistics of the bunch (though I’d personally rate it as the worst). But if I had to pick 3 to master a chassis with, I would definitely go BLR-2C, BLR-1G, and BLR-1S. But if anything I just mentioned tickles your fancy, feel free to get that too.
Chassis-Wide Information
Strengths
- Pretty high energy mounts in the side torsos. They’re very close to cockpit-level, and there are up to 6 of them. Unfortunately, you do have to expose more than you would in the Stalker which makes it more vulnerable, but less than you would in most other mechs.
- It’s got a big max engine. Like, really big. Like maximum maximum engine. This is one of its main advantage over the Stalker, and it means you get more (potential) internal heat sinks.
- It’s got a lot of hardpoints. Not counting AMS, they all have between 8 and 10 hardpoints, which is a lot for an IS mech.
- There’s a decent quirk spread; nothing really crazy but at the same time most variants have 3 of the 4 laser quirks at around a 10% generic power level.
- It’s acceptable at shielding. The torso twist speed is a bit low to excel at it, but you can catch a fair few shots with your arms and they’re quirked up with 14 armor.
Weaknesses
- The front profile is very broad, leading to easily identifiable and focused hitboxes. This makes taking it down pretty easy, and XL’s pretty risky (though it’s an assault, so that’s kind of a moot point).
- The hand actuators drive me crazy. Eating up slots that could be spent on a DHS on an energy mech really does hurt. Even just dropping one hand could mean an extra heat sink in that arm if it’s empty. It’s the little things that drive me crazy.
Generic Tips
- It can’t take much punishment, even the BLR-2C, so you won’t be terrible successful in the front lines leading a push. But this doesn’t mean you have to play scared either – always look for places you can poke from, and as long as you’re not too over-extended you should be able to smash most things you see.
- If you’ve got high mounted weapons (which you really should), hill hump like crazy. It’s really your best bet to avoid damage. And if it’s the difference between getting free damage and out-traded, it’s ok to back off before your laser duration finishes.
Builds
If you’re not familiar with my Inner Sphere Master Guides, each pretty much follows the same formula. Each variant gets its own section; within that section I try to include at least two main builds, each with a few variations on the core principle (if applicable).
Each build has one paragraph about the build itself – going over anything I feel is relevant to understanding it such as quirks, tonnage issues, how it fits the meta, my general feeling about it…just whatever. And then there’s a paragraph about using the build, going over tactics, tips, and whatever I feel is relevant to that, including links to L2P guides, on occasion.
I may miss a build that you like, or my builds may differ slightly from what you find works best for you because our philosophies may differ – I strongly encourage that you experiment for yourself to see what works best for you.
The modules are listed in order of which one is most important and the consumables I’ve listed are the ones that are generally the best, but while leveling the mech you may want to swap the less important consumable out for a UAV. That is, if you can afford to use consumables at all (they aren’t necessary, just nice, and if you’re low on C-Bills they’re not necessarily worth it).
On with it!
BLR-2C
The BLR-2C gets liiiiike 50% extra structure on all its bits, in addition to 10% extra energy range, laser duration, and missile velocity (lol), plus some pretty sweet agility quirks – 35% to accel/decel and turn rate, and 25% to torso twist speed.
Build 1:
Yay! Cookie cutter! But it’s generic for a reason – it works. Plenty of heatsinks, takes advantage of high mounts, extra structure and stuff helps you trade. Fits good too. Well, it fits ok. I really hate the arms with 4 locked slots. Just get rid of one slot and I get an extra heatsink. Erghh. It’s worth noting that you can also swap the Larges out to ERs, but that’s on you.
Hill-hump for days. If you’re gonna corner peak, do it with your left side and shield with your right. And try not to alpha strike so that you don’t get slammed by ghost heat. Other than that, it plays a lot like other Laser Vomits, and you can check out my guide to that here.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: Large Laser Range, Large Laser Cooldown
Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike
This takes a slightly shorter-range approach than the previous, opting for way more damage and lower duration instead. This frequently works out in your favor, as 55 damage is enough to even make a brawler worry. Alpha striking is an absolutely terrible idea, but the duration means that splitting the beams up doesn’t hurt your damage focus much at all. The build gets hot (even just 2 LPLs isn’t quite heat neutral), but it’s worth it.
Weapon Modules: Large Pulse Range, Medium Pulse Range
Build 2:
This is a much faster option than the previous builds, which is pretty important considering the range difference! But it is capable of absolutely destroying most enemies. I prefer this style of build on the BLR-1G for a few reasons, but the BLR-2C is great at it thanks to the durability – you can trade frequently and just bully people really hard with this baby.
You’ll still want to hill-hump with this build as much as is reasonable, and even your arm mount isn’t too low (though oftentimes it’s not worth exposing to use it), but you’re not limited to just that style of play. If you can get in range to pick on a relatively isolated target, feel free, and if your team’s willing, a coordinated push is great! And again, for more on this stuff, check out the Laser Vomit guide.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: Large Pulse Range, Medium Laser Range
Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike
I’m still not sure about this – you definitely get a lot of mobility out of the XL, but the Battlemaster will frequently lose a side torso before the CT, so it’s not without risk.
This is another popular version which I slightly prefer to the Medium Laser one, just because it’s more powerful!
Weapon Modules: Large Pulse Range, Medium Pulse Range
Pretty self-explanatory.
Weapon Modules: Large Pulse Range, Medium Pulse Range
BLR-1G
This is probably my favorite Battlemaster, in large part because of how well it fits the meta. For quirks it gets 10+10 ML range, heat gen, and duration. This is the most important stuff, but it also has 15% ballistic cooldown, 10% ballistic range, and 20% PPC velocity. Whatever. My issue with the BLR-1G (which I’m actually kind of pissed about) is that it has a severely limited range of torso twist. Like, on the same level as the Stalker. Just a huge loss of quality of life, particularly considering how it has 14 extra armor on each arm which is made less useful by its impeded shielding.
Build 1:
I’ve found this build to be just amazingly effective. Its range is pretty on par with that of most modern builds, with its Large Pulse optimal at 438m and Mediums at 350, which are maybe a bit short for most engagements but long enough to be workable. And more importantly, the damage is insaaane. It seems hot on paper (and it kind of is), but the heat gen quirks help a lot and the 20% bonus to Mediums in particular is vital. And shout out to Myags for reminding me of how good the BLR-1G is at Medium Lasers.
Again, hill-hump everything. But don’t be afriad to just shoot mechs from the open, too. You got a lot of damage, there’s no sense in playing scared when you could be tearing the other team up. Poke as frequently as you can, and when you get too hot to go on, back off behind cover, maybe reposition, wait to cool off, and poke some more. And again, for more on this stuff, check out the Laser Vomit guide.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: Large Pulse Range, Medium Laser Cooldown
Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike
It’s a really nastily fast build with loads of oomph behind it. I don’t think the XL is necessary, but maybe you do!
This is the more traditional build for the variant that I have experience with, which provides exceptional damage at exceptional range…while producing an exceptional amount of heat. Personally, I’ve not had huge problems with the heat (sure it’s hot, but you can cool down quickly enough), but some people might not be comfortable with it.
Weapon Modules: Large Laser Range, Large Laser Cooldown
If you are uncomfortable with the heat of the previous build, you can go for this without much of a worry.
Weapon Modules: Large Laser Range, Large Laser Cooldown
This is surprisingly not bad – I like that you get an extra heat sink out of it, and extra speed is always nice. Just make sure to spread damage out!
Weapon Modules: Large Laser Range, Large Laser Cooldown
Build 2:
It’s a pretty decent mid-range punch with some Medium Lasers tossed in as short-mid range backup. My main concern with this build is that it’s a little weak to be trading with most mechs and not maneuverable enough to avoid damage. Plus the Gauss is low-mounted, and it takes a while to cool down.
This is an asym corner-peaking build. Blast that 45 damage into whatever you’re shooting at, and swing you torso left to shield. Don’t risk exposing to fire the Mediums unless you think you’re safe to do so, but don’t forget to fire them if there’s no reason not to. And if the worst should happen (well, second worst) and you lose your LT, you’ve got a little pokey backup. For more on Gauss Vomit, check out the guide I made.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: Large Laser Range, Gauss Cooldown
Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike
This takes advantage of the pretty sweet Medium Laser quirks the BLR-1G gets – bumping them up to 350 meters (with the module) and down to a .72 duration (just a bit longer than a LPL) and 3.2 heat each. That last bit means that firing 7 of these quirks Mediums works out to be about the same heat as 6 unquirked Medium Lasers despite ghost heat, but I would avoid doing so in a drawn-out fight and stick to a weapon group of 6 and then another for the extra beam.
Weapon Modules: Medium Laser Range, Gauss Cooldown
This is like, kind of an amalgamation of Version 1 and the default build for Gauss Vomit
Weapon Modules: Medium Laser Range, Gauss Cooldown
This swaps out a Medium Laser from Version 1 to a Large, losing some speed and a heat sink in the process.
Weapon Modules: Medium Laser Range, Gauss Cooldown
Aaaaand this drops endo from the last build to squeeze in extra heat sinks (leaving only 4 empty slots! Which is pretty good for a build without endo or ferro).
Weapon Modules: Medium Laser Range, Gauss Cooldown
BLR-3S
This variant is, hardpoint-wise, the most useless one. Slightly different positions and stuff but…nothing special. But its quirks really save it. For energy quirks, the BLR-3S has 10+5 Med Pulse cooldown and range, as well as 10% generic heat gen. It also has 15% cooldown and 10% velocity on missile weapons, and 14 armor on each arm.
Build 1:
This is easily one of my favorite builds for the Battlemaster, and it’s not much worse than the main BLR-1G build. It focuses on low duration, high damage weapons and as long as you’re in range you can focus that damage really hard. I also love that it has cooldown, range, and heat gen, forgoing duration quirks because they’re (in my mind) less important on pulse lasers. Since most of the carbon-copy Battlemasters have 3 of the 4 laser quirks, this is the way I like it to work out for this particular build (though on regular lasers, I’d forgo coooldown for duration, part of why I rate the BLR-1G highly).
Of course, you want to be hill-humping with this mech like the others, but at a shorter range. This means you usually don’t get to really hill-hump per se, but the high mounts let you do damage without having to completely expose or anything like that, which also means you can sometimes get free shots on low-mounted mechs at short range.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: MPL Range, LPL Range
Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike
As with all the other XL Battlemasters…use at your own risk. But it’s not bad at all.
Build 2:
For a while, it bugged me that PGI gave this variant MPL quirks instead of the BLR-3M, since there was no ghost heat on MPLs. Adding ghost heat to MPLs definitely made me sad, but at least this build is less sub-optimal! The BLR-3S makes some pretty badass use of the wubs, with comprable quirks to the TDR-5SS in all categories but range (15% instead of 30% frowny face) and it has some missiles to back it up.
This is very much a brawler. The main difference between a mech like this and a more traditional ballistic/missile brawler (like the Atlas) is that it doesn’t rely on those hard engagements. It’s a brawler that doesn’t have to brawl. Not for the faint of heart, though.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: MPL Range, SRM4 Cooldown
Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike
BLR-3M
The BLR-3M’s defining feature is its 8 energy hardpoints. Sadly, this feature is less meaningful now that MPLs have the ghost heat limit of 6. For energy quirks, we’re looking at 5% cooldown and 10+10 duration and range on Medium Lasers. ER PPCs also get 25% velocity and missiles get a 10% generic cooldown, and then there’s 14 armor one each arm.
Build 1:
I was really hoping this mech would get MPL quirks when the quirks were originally introduced. And now, ghost heat has made the 8xMPL not even worthwhile. So, I edited it in order to not break ghost heat. Unfortunately, it’s barely stronger than a BJ-1X.
This is pretty much a brawler, but you want to play it more hit-and-run than commit. Hill-hump or peak around corners to the right at 300 meters or so, lead rotations, flank the shit out of the bad guys, whatever you’ve gotta do to fire your lasers without getting shot back…too much. And if it does devolve into a full brawl, get your hands dirty.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: MPL Range, MPL Cooldown
Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike
Weapon Modules: MPL Range, LPL Cooldown
Build 2:
The 25% bonus to ER PPC velocity makes this build worth considering. It is…super duper hot, but leaves you open to either snipe from crazy range, or fool around at ~400 meters with your meds.
Stick to hill-humping for the most part with your PPC’s, and mediums when they’re in range. If you’re feeling good about it, you can expose fully too, and use all 6 medium lasers for really nasty DPS. Your alpha can also be pretty devestating, but again that’s a lot of heat, so make sure you won’t overheat as a result. And, of course, shield with your left side whenever you’re not shooting or behind cover.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: Medium Laser Range, Medium Laser Cooldown
Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike
Just shoot one side at a time, never alpha. Hill hump for days. And…be careful. Shit is hottttttt.
Weapon Modules: ER PPC Cooldown, ER PPC Range
If you’re more corner-peeky, this might be for you. More of a traditional style than the previous builds, but obviously that makes it less modern.
Weapon Modules: ER PPC Cooldown, ER PPC Range
And the best build is still:
The same as the BLR-2C build, but with slightly different quirks (lower duration, higher range, and a new cooldown quirk). Really not a huge difference at all. Check out the description of that build for more info.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: Large Laser Range, Large Laser Cooldown
Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike
BLR-1GHE (Hellslinger)
Time for the hero! Still the only mech in the game to have that unique 50% reduction on environmental heat effects. Not much else notable about it, though. Energy quirks include 10% heat gen and laser duration, 5+10% PPC cooldown, and 20% PPC velocity. It’s also got 15% missile cooldown and 14 armor on each arm, which are nice.
Build 1:
Despite having decent quirks, the hardpoint layout limits a lot of build possibilities for this mech. The main thing that it doesn’t limit at all is PPCs. 20% velocity and cooldown mean you can keep firing for a while and be pretty accurate while you do so. It’s not the most stupendous build, but it’ll do.
I’m sure you’re tired of hearing it, but you still wanna be hill humping. Corner-peaking is okay too, as long as you make it quick, but you want to limit both exposure time and the amount of mech you have exposed, so be sure to twist and shield when you are exposed. Other than that…nail your targets and try to avoid spreading your damage too much.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: PPC Cooldown, PPC Range
Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike
Other Builds:
It’s not the most appropriate for it of the Battlemasters, but it does still have quite a bit of power without breaking ghost heat. Doesn’t mean it’s not hot, but it’s manageable. Just pick and choose which weapons to use at which range. Depends on your target, your heat, and a bunch of other things, but my rule of thumb when I have to choose one to fire is Medium Lasers over 200, SRMs under. Shield with your right side, and just do your brawler thing.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: Medium Laser Range, SRM6 Cooldown
Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike
The Wubs and SRM4s mean that your damage might not be so high, but it’ll be more concentrated, valuable, and just better. Plus, it feels better in my opinion.
Weapon Modules: MPL Range, SRM4 Cooldown
Of the variants which can do this build, the Hellslinger does it the worst. I mean come on, the one advantage that the Battlemaster has over the Stalker in this is that it can put all the lasers up high, and now we can’t even do that? Damn. For info on how to Laser Vomit, check out the guide I wrote.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: Large Laser Range, Large Laser Cooldown
Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike
BLR-1S
This variant lost its crazy energy quirks, and is now just a missile specialist for the most part. For energy weapons, it has 10% range and laser duration, with 10+10 Medium Laser heat gen, and for missile weapons you get 15% cooldown and 10% heat gen, which is good enough for most intents and purposes. And, of course, 14 armor per arm.
Build 1:
It’s just a really solid build. The lasers reach out to an over-500 meter optimal, and the LRMs have that bonus to heat gen and cooldown to help keep up consistent damage. There is ghost heat on the LRMs, but it’s 2 points per alpha, so if you get hot you can cut out one of the launchers.
First and foremost, this is a laser build. 27 damage isn’t a whole lot to trade with, but you can do it from far away and you can keep it up for a long time. And if you want, you can even swap it out to ER Large Lasers to get a range of over 800 meters, but honestly that seems a bit overkill for PUGs. Point is, you shouldn’t be sitting back in cover to LRM. Get all up in that, use your LRMs to cockpit shake like a prick, and do as much damage as you can before getting super hurt. After you are super hurt though, then you have permission to sit back (still like a prick) and lob your LRMs, still taking any opportunity to poke with your lasers that you get.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Target Decay
Weapon Modules: Large Laser Range, Large Laser Cooldown
Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike
I had a really hard time deciding which was better. The original version up there has a shorter cooldown on the LRMs, tighter grouping on the LRMs, and an extra heatsink. But this LRM15 one has BAP, more ammo, and substantially less heat from the LRMs (plus no ghost heat). It’s a tight race, and it’s up to you.
Ew.
Weapon Modules: LRM15 Cooldown, LRM10 Cooldown
Build 2:
Pretty brutal build in terms of sheer damage. Gets even better when you take into account the quirks. Gets way worse when you consider how spread that damage is gonna be and how hard it’ll be to get into range without getting super damaged. Still, it’s the best missile brawler that the Battlemaster has, and it’s not bad at it.
4 SRM6s with artemis is absolutely nasty, so you’ll want to get into range with this build ASAP. There are lots of ways to do this, but since most rely on speed or tankiness, getting close is gonna be difficult. Rotating, ambushing, or even just pushing are all options, but you do also have the benefit of having 4 324m Medium Lasers so you’re not completely useless without your SRMs. Just mostly useless.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: Medium Laser Range, SRM6 Cooldown
Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike
So this doesn’t have quite the same oomf to it as the first one, but the lower duration on the MPLs and tighter spread on the 4s will concentrate that damage better. This is a bit worse overall, but your quality of life may go up with it.
Weapon Modules: MPL Range, SRM4 Cooldown
Other Builds
The old 25% energy range was this build’s raison d’etre, but it’s still your best meta-whore-y option. Just like most of the other builds in this style, hill-humping is your go-to. While this is your focus, you should be playing pretty aggressively, the 44 nearly-pinpoint damage can tear mechs apart if you are half-decent at aiming. Most of the time you’ll want to fire in 3+1 or 2+2 groups, but you can alpha strike if you’re playing particularly pokey, with plenty of time to cool off if you need it and a focus on not getting damaged. Which this mech is pretty good at – the duration is super low so you can avoid lots of return fire if you time it right. This does play a lot like traditional laser vomit, so check out the guide if you want to read more.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: Large Pulse Range, Large Pulse Cooldown
Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike
BLR-1D
It’s the ballistic one. And it’s super blech. I mean, the one real thing it has over the BLR-1G is that it has 3 ballistics instead of 2, but that limits the advantage to AC/2s.As far as quirks go, it has 5% energy cooldown and 10% range, 20% PPC velocity, and 10+10 Medium Laser duration, in addition to its 10% ballistic cooldown, 15% ballistic velocity, and 14 armor per arm. Nothing terribly special here.
Build 1:
The way I see it, if you made the conscious decision (sorry to my Phoenix pack bros) to buy a BLR-1D, you did it for the dakka. Well, since the bonus of having a UAC/5 over an AC/5 isn’t much on this mech, I maxed out the cannons with 1 AC/5 and 2 AC/2s, enough to spit out shells at a pretty nice rate, but the damage won’t be amazing. The lasers are really just backup (even though they make up the bulk of your alpha strike damage) and while you can definitely use them when you’re running cool, stay away when you’re hot.
Find a bit of cover to poke your left arm out of and hold down the trigger. There’s not a whole lotta subtlety beyond the usual “try not to get shot” stuff I say. You need to be in the open to do damage, but you can’t really take much return fire and your stand-there-and-shoot DPS is nothing compared to a real mech like a Dire Wolf or King Crab. Just…try to annoy one enemy into wasting his damage on you maybe.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: AC/5 Cooldown, Medium Laser Range
Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike
And the best builds are still:
Again, this is the BLR-2C build with better offensive quirks (Cooldown, Range, Duration) but no useful defensive ones. And you don’t get all high mounts. Have fun! Something something Laser Vomit guide.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: Large Laser Range, Large Laser Cooldown
Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike
Okay this one doesn’t suck. It’s not gonna be that great for you either; handling ghost heat can be clunky and the speeds pretty bad and I can just see a bunch of things cropping up as little annoyances. But overall, I think you could make this work. I believe in you. Well I don’t even know you. Or maybe I do. Something something Gauss Vomit guide.
Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules: Large Laser Range, Gauss Rifle Cooldown
Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike
Pilot Skills
I’ve figured that this is the best skill order for pretty much any mech, and so I’m just going to customize it for mechs that have to emphasize unusual pilot skills. But the Battlemaster is about as usual as a mech gets.
Basics: Cool Run – Heat Containment – Hard Brake – Kinetic Burst – Twist Speed – Twist X – Anchor Turn – Arm Reflex
Elites: Speed Tweak – Fast Fire – Quick Ignition – Pinpoint
Then just master it. At this point…just hold on to whichever ones you like.
_________
And that’s that. I hope you enjoy your mech, let me know if you have any questions, and as always glhf