Gargoyle

Last Updated: 11-Nov-2015

Welcome back to Master Guides! This’ll be the third and last one I do this week.

Overview

The Gargoyle is a newly released (for pre-order) chassis which nobody (particularly not me) had any real high expectations for. Which makes it even more impressive that I was still disappointed. That being said, its lack of firepower is somewhat offset by its large potential quantity of hardpoints and its more slender figure, making it actually not terrible. Due to how similar most of the omnipods are, this will be a relatively short guide, but I’ll try to be as thorough as possible.

The winning variant of this chassis is certainly the GAR-D, which comes with 2 energy hardpoints in the CT giving it a total potential of 12 energy hardpoints. This makes it come in third behind the Nova and DWF-B for sheer quantity of energy hardpoints on a clan mech, and its available pod space falls between the two, though way closer to the Nova. The GAR-Prime does still come with a CT energy hardpoint, though only one, which puts it into place as the second most valuable variant, leaving us with 3 more variants with no CT hardpoints. Of these, the GAR-B is the best by a slight margin thanks to its structure quirks, followed by the GAR-A for its torso twisting and finally the GAR-C for its turn rate.

Chassis-Wide Information

Strengths

• By far the fastest Clan assault, making it capable of keeping pace with Clan heavies. Seeing as how the only Clan assaults available up until now really held back the speed of Clan heavies and mediums, this can be potentially useful for speed strats.
• Hitboxes are decent enough, and are way better than any other Clan assault. I’m not sure if that makes up for the lack of armor, but I think that a Gargoyle would last longer in an engagement due in part due to hitboxes + speed and in part due to not being focused nearly as hard as a Warhawk or Dire Wolf.
• First primarily energy-based Clan assault makes it a potential asset in community warfare (though probably not as it will be overshadowed by the Timber Wolf due to restrictions being tonnage-based rather than class-based).

Weaknesses

• After counting the included heat sinks, it has 26 tons of effective pod space; coming in behind mechs like the Timber Wolf, Hellbringer, and going even with the Summoner if you strip an arm – which is clearly not enough for an Assault mech. This is mainly due to the XL 400, though the lack of endo also plays a part. This is a huge drawback, as its sheer lack of firepower will likely make it a very rare pick.
• Hardpoints are mounted very low, so it cannot peek effectively, and due to how nearly-symmetrically they’re distributed, corner-peeking is hardly an option on most builds. This also makes things like shielding an issue, as no matter what side you lose you’ll be losing a considerable amount of firepower.
• So while there might not be many weaknesses, the magnitudes of the ones that exist are pretty massive.

Generic Tips

• The Gargoyle is certainly a pack animal, so being isolated will lead to pain and suffering, but a swarm of Gargoyles and Clan heavies can be a dangerous thing. If in a group without any slow assaults, you can try to take advantage of this by forcing a rotation game or blitzing the enemy.
• Your maneuverability is your asset – not just speed, but also torso twisting. While you are usually going to lose weapons while shielding, you can at least swing your torsos quickly to spread damage effectively. Take advantage of that and always be twisting.
• Reposition often. Camping a spot is the job of Dire Wolves, and you’re pretty much the opposite. If your position is registered and poking is predictable, you’ll lose ever trade. Instead, try to keep the enemy guessing and don’t trade with a single person repeatedly (unless by some miracle you’re actually winning the trades every time).
• Some builds actually work best with every omnipod belonging to the same variant, which gives you an XP bonus. Keep an eye out for opportunities like that, as they’ll help you level it.
• Important Omnipods:
  • Side torsos: GAR-B pods offer the most defense (I guess you can use the GAR-Prime LT if you want AMS)
  • Legs: GAR-A pods offer the most defense
  • Left Arm:
    • GAR-Prime and GAR-C tie for generic ballistic and defensive quirks, but GAR-Prime has an extra missile hardpoint, missile quirks, and LBX quirks whereas the GAR-C has UAC quirks
    • GAR-A has the most energy hardpoints
    • GAR-B has the most missile hardpoints and best missile quirks
    • GAR-D has more durability quirks than GAR-A if you only need 2 energy hardpoints
  • Right Arm:
    • GAR-Prime and GAR-B tie for generic ballistic and defensive quirks, but GAR-Prime has an extra missile hardpoint, missile quirks, and LBX quirks whereas the GAR-B has Gauss quirks
    • GAR-A has the only ERPPC and generic energy quirks of the chassis
    • GAR-C has the most energy hardpoints
    • GAR-D is pretty much never better than GAR-A

Builds

For those of you who are not familiar with the general format, here’s how it goes (and it is different from the IS ones). We’re going to be identifying build archetypes that the mech can do, and list them in order of how awesome they are (previously I’ve sorted by range, but I’m phasing that out). I tend to either label the archetype by what their weapons and playstyle is or occasionally by name.

We’ll look at a central build or builds to fit each archetype; generally either one which can be built out on all variants, or a specific one for each variant if the variants have distinct Center Torsos. Oftentimes, there will also be alternative versions of the same sort of build which function differently in some way.

In general, the variants which can run a build will be listed in order of which does it better (obviously the best one comes first). If they’re all the same, I’ll put the Prime variant first and then list the others alphabetically.

Each archetype 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 again whatever I feel is relevant to that stuff, including links to L2P guides, on occasion.

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!

Small Laser Madness

So the theme should be pretty clear here. This is a brawl-oriented build with a focus on energy weapons, which is pretty much the way to go in a brawl these days. This is one of the highest DPS short-range mechs in the game, and even though short-range isn’t exactly meta, it can still do work and it is perhaps the best brawler assault in the game thanks to its speed. As you can see, these all break ghost heat, so I recommend using one weapon group for the right arm and the other to cover the left arm and CT.

Your primary focuses in the early stage of the game should be closing distance to the enemy and avoiding damage. This doesn’t mean camping though, you can do it by rotating, flanking, or even coordinating a push. Once you get into range to use your weapons (usually it’s worth it around 300 meters), you can just blast down enemy mechs. I recommend focusing the CT straight away as it’s the most universally focused component (and the fastest way to kill most mechs outside of headshots), but going for a side-torso if you suspect an XL or legs if you’re alone and want to make it easy all work well too. Try not to overheat – firing just 4 lasers at a time, as in your left arm, is completely heat neutral – and remember that if the enemy is in range you can even peek around either side of a corner for nice damage.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: cERSL Range, cERSL Cooldown (D/Prime) or CSPL Range (B/A/C)

Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike

This is an alternate approach to the same idea which sacrifices a fair bit of range for better DPS and a lower beam duration. The two perform very closely, but I’ve always preferred the cERSL version as you don’t have to get quite as close to start dishing out crazy damage. This is better in a straight brawl, though, and retains the ability to corner-peek either side of cover with maximum ghost-heatless damage.

Weapon Modules: cSPL Range, cSPL Cooldown

Laser Vomit

This is, for the most part, your typical laser vomit builds and playstyle. The only really unique build here is the GAR-D, which actually is probably the best build for the chassis in general. While you will want to avoid alpha striking, it has enough heat sinks to handle 6 cERMLs at a time. In general though, they should all be fairly familiar combinations.

These builds all play as typical laser vomit in a sense, though they each have some unique features. The GAR-D is designed to have a 6xcERML alpha strike while poking to the left or right around a corner, giving it a real flexibility. That being said, you can also devastate people with your full weapons complement, just make sure to avoid the ghost heat! The GAR-Prime is more of a traditional laser vomit mech, with full asymmetry and a CT laser in case you lose your arm, focus on peeking around corners to the right if possible. And the GAR-B/A/C build is a really traditional laser vomit, but is pretty much fully symmetric and you’ll have to be pretty much in the open to get full damage out of it. Try to shield with your left side on this one to preserve your cLPL arm. For more on traditional laser vomit, check out the guide I wrote.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: cERML Range, cLPL Range (Prime/B/A/C) or cERML Cooldown (D)

Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike

Gauss Vomit

Another build typical of Clan mechs, this focuses on syncing up your Gauss and cERMLs to do massive damage in a more concentrated area than the usual laser vomit. The Gargoyle doesn’t bring much new to this sort of build (at least, not in a good way), but it does have the option to stack all of its weapons on its arms as in the GAR-A build, though I consider this less of a blessing than a curse due to its drawbacks to shielding.

Play this a lot like you would a laser vomit, and stick with your Clan heavies for just about the whole match. I’ve written on Gauss vomit in just about all of the other Clan Master Guides so you can check those out for more information on it, but the Gargoyle isn’t as good at this as most of those are. The GAR-D is probably the best at it because it can shield pretty well with the left side and still have some decent firepower left after losing the side torso and arm. Besides that, just stay mobile, stay shooting, and always be twisting. For more on Gauss Vomit, check out the guide I wrote to it.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: Gauss Cooldown, cERML Range

Consumables: Air Strike, Cool Shot

Gauss & PPC

This is another pretty straightforward build. You really can’t fit that much onto it, so you have to settle for maximizing your refire rate with that heat efficiency. The weapon combination is nice and relatively easy to use, but the alpha is pretty low so make sure it all gets on the same component. I’ve omitted a build for the GAR-B/A/C because you simply wouldn’t have enough tonnage for ammo due to its lack of CT hardpoints.

This is not the best build for the Gargoyle, but it suits a hit-and-run playstyle better than most other builds. You can engage at any range, so try to keep it from as far away as you can still hit targets (and target the biggest things on the battlefield first). Your heat should never be a problem, just focus on firing as often as possible, and always poke around the corner. Unfortunately, I had to strip down armor on the shield side in order to fit the TC1, but if you’d like you can either drop the TC1 or a half ton of ammo in order to armor it back up a bit. It should be enough to at least extend your life anyways. For more on this sort of PPFLD build, check out the guide I wrote on it.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: Gauss Cooldown, PPC Cooldown

Consumables: Air Strike, Cool Shot

Wubs

6 cMPLs can be a pretty brutal build, giving you around 50 damage with a low beam duration. The range is a bit lacking, but it can out-range most full-on brawlers, and the Gargoyle is capable of kiting most brawlers as well. These builds are biased towards the left side, but none so much as the GAR-D which thus comes out as the clear winner with an extra heat sink and a full-on shield side.

This is best played as a short-range laser vomit/brawler hybrid. You should be corner peeking as much as you can stand whenever they’re in range, and if they’re not you should be trying to (safely) reposition to get in range. Shield hard with your right side and just try to core shit out with your beams whenever you’re not shielding. Make sure to stick with your team and keep your beams steady, but other than that it should be pretty straightforward.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: cMPL Range, cMPL Cooldown

Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike

Brawler

These are probably your best bets for brawling in a Gargoyle, which honestly isn’t a bad choice for it. The maneuverability means that it will be able to close on campers better than any other Clan assault, plus it has decent hitboxes and torso twisting. The main thing that holds it back is the lack of a good way to use its missile hardpoints – and its lack of serious missile hardpoints. The best I could come up with was this which just seems very underwhelming to me, so I stuck with ballistics and lasers.

This plays more like an IS mech than any Clan, and you’ll want to focus on staying healthy enough through most of the game so that you can lead or fight off a push effectively. Despite what appear to be heat issues on the GAR-D, it’s your best bet because it gives you the most shielding ability with that left arm, though the Prime and A certainly have their perks as well. Try to get all of your damage focused on a component, as you don’t have a whole lot to begin with (particularly for a brawler), but you can tank for your team better than most mechs of your speed.

Mech Modules: Seismic Sensor, Radar Deprivation

Weapon Modules: UAC20 Cooldown, cERSL Range

Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike

Laser Sniping

Well, it should be obvious what these builds have in common. The 4 cERLLs will help you do damage at long range, but alpha striking may be an issue what with the extra 20 ghost heat it’ll generate. Try to keep it to 2 and 2 weapon groups and you shouldn’t have much of a problem, and if you get hot just shoot 2 at a time (you’ll be nearly heat-neutral like this).

This plays like most other cERLL builds too. Stay in the back of the formation, peek around corners for as little time as possible, and just generally try not to get shot back. This is one of the few Gargoyle builds which includes an actual deadside that you can shield with, so take advantage of that hard, and face your gimp side to them whenever you’re not shooting. You’ll never really have any problems with enemies being out of range, and unlike other Clan assault cERLL builds you’ll be able to reposition easily if you ever start getting focused. The GAR-A and GAR-D are both asymmetric which should provide you with a nice advantage, just make sure not to get your important arms shot off.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: cERLL Range, cERLL Cooldown

Consumables: Cool Shot, Air 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.

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. All 3 variants are unique, so if you enjoy them all I would keep them all, but if there’s only one you like I won’t blame you for selling the others.

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And that’s that. I hope you enjoy your mech, let me know if you have any questions, and as always glhf