My best class has for the most part been Mech, and no one has written a detailed guide for that so I'll do so here. Be warned, this guide will be VERY in-depth.
Mech(This guide is relative to version M3)The first thing you need to know about the Mech is that it is the only character that spends a good deal of time in multiple forms. He starts as a Goliath and can turn into a speedy Vulture and a Siege Tank. The Mech's role is raw damage/transformer. It requires a high level of micro and a good knowledge of the game, but using this class you can do a number of things that other classes are never able. His versatility allows him to counter nearly every build of every unit without difficulty, making him an excellent choice in almost every game.
First I'll go into detail about how the Mech's spells operate:L1. If you aren't a Goliath, this turns you into a Goliath.
Goliaths deal normal damage (100% to all types). Its air attack is explosive, but that won't really have much of an impact in Temple Siege.
L2. If you aren't a Vulture, this turns you into a Vulture.
Vultures deal concussive damage (25% to large units, 50% to medium units, 100% to small units).
L3. If you aren't a Siege Tank, this turns you into a Siege Tank.
Tanks deal explosive damage (100% to large units, 75% to medium units, 50% to small units).
L4. This is not a transformation spell. The effect will be the same no matter what unit you are. This spell creates a barrage of units. 3 Goliaths, 2 Vultures, and 2 Tanks will spawn for about a half dozen seconds and fire as much as possible.
Each of these units has separate hit points and when you bring your unit to the Temple, whatever form you may be in, all three units will be healed.
The spells operate differently if you are in the role of whatever unit you're casting. For example, if you cast your L1 as a Goliath, your L2 as a Vulture, or your L3 as a Tank, it will not transform you.
The following effects are from casts in the form you'd otherwise change to:L1. This creates two siege tanks in siege mode which deal a substantial amount of damage, even early game before there are many upgrades in play. If you can stall long enough to get off multiple casts of this that hit, you can beat anything besides a Warrior in a 1v1 battle for a warp gate.
L2. This creates vultures that spawn alongside the Mech, fire, and are removed. About a dozen of these will spawn and fire a single shot each. With proper micro, this nearly doubles your damage for the period of the spell being cast.
L3. This creates 8 siege tanks in siege mode surrounding your hero. They will fire a single shot each which deals a huge amount of damage if timed correctly. However, it also has the effect of trapping your hero while the tanks spawn and fire, which takes a few seconds.
L4. See above.
VersatilityThe Mech is easily the most versatile character. You NEED to play to your strengths as a Mech or you will not be very successful against good opponents. Here are facets of the Mech's versatility.
Transforming- Your forms do not share hit points. This means that if you have 50 hp as the Goliath, you can transform into the Vulture, fight until that has 50 hp, and then transform into the Tank. Only when the tank is near death do you have to heal. If you've saved mana, you can transform to the Vulture and race back to heal at a high speed. Nothing should be able to stop you.
- When transforming, your unit is cloaked for a second or two before you can select it. It will still attack during this time period, which can be annoying, but also can give you an extra edge in fights that come down to the wire. You can dodge attacks by transforming back and forth, and opponents' units will run from the cloaked attack.
- If a certain special attack has a charge up, you can dodge it by swapping forms. Units won't automatically target you if they can't see you.
- The Siege Tank stays in the form it was in when you swapped out from it. This means that leaving it in siege mode and using L3 at the proper time can get you a quick long-range shot on someone low on HP who wasn't expecting it.
- If you are ever trapped in a corner or against a wall, simply by changing forms you will almost always be moved to a place outside of the surrounding enemies. This is enormously useful.
Goliath- The Goliath has a high range equaled only by the Medic, which does negligible damage to Large units. This makes it micro-able against any opponent, letting you get in more shots than your opponent than you would have if you had just stood toe to toe and fired.
- One easy way to gain free shots in the early game is to use spawns to block and simply fire over them. If you're standing far enough back, you'll have free shots against a lesser-ranged opponent. Against a melee opponent, if you maneuvered correctly, you can trap opponents behind the wall of spawns and keep firing. This is a good time to use your L1, as melee opponents often are too close to you to take the hit from your tanks.
- The Goliath is also capable of hitting pylons in the middle without ever being within range of the cannons. Combining this with your L1, you can often take over the middle at night before the opposing team even notices you doing so.
- Your L1 can be cast from enough of a distance to allow you to hit even base-pylons from out of range of their cannons. This lets you enter the enemy base more quickly than most units. If you get your L3 quickly, you can also use it in siege mode to kill enemy pylons. If approached, you can simply morph out and run away.
- Using L1 Tanks, picking off DM's Orbs or Medic's medics is easy and gives loads of experience.
Vulture- The Vulture is the fastest unit in the game, bar none. This gives ENORMOUS flexibility to the Mech. Melee opponents are incredibly weak against a skilled Mech. Coupling proper micro with L2, you can deal huge amounts of damage to opponents who are running for the heal. This means they have to heal earlier and more often, and you gain an edge in the experience race.
- The Vulture's speed also allows it to escape almost any situation without difficulty. Nothing can catch you. If you get stunned, you can transform to another unit to absorb damage, but you really should rarely get stunned because of how quickly you can dodge any trap.
- Again using the Vulture's speed, you can gain experience from multiple lanes per spawn wave. Have one group attack you, and quickly run to another lane, microing the spawns chasing you as you go (or not, depending upon your ability). Once in the other spawn, have those attack you as well. Easy double experience.
- Another aspect of the Vulture's speed is that you can contain low HP opponents inside their captured areas. If they are low on life, just your presence forces them to wait for a teammate's help before they try to heal. You can experience while this is happening, and gain a huge edge the more time they wait. Even after a teammate helps them, with skilled micro you can still often make the killing blow.
General Versatility- Putting a 4% increase in HP means putting 4% more on your Goliath, 4% more on your Vulture, and 4% more on your Tank. High-HP is hugely effective and can result in an almost unbeatable Mech, but being more offensive can pay off as well.
- Your spells are very hit or miss, but very skill-intensive. Opponents can stand within the minimum range of Siege Tanks and take no damage, but if you use it at the right time you are almost guaranteed a hit due to their high range. The 8 tank barrage and Rail Gun are likewise effective if used correctly.
- The "going into Siege Mode" animation when you cast your L1, L3, and L4 gives you the time to correctly target what you want to hit with the tanks
- The Goliath and Vulture, and possibly Tank form can be "manualed." For those not familiar with the term, this allows you to fire through a stun by manually attacking your opponents repeatedly. Some of the attacks will be canceled by the stun, but by attacking fast enough with certain units some of your attacks will get through. Even against the DM's alliance curse, you can A+Attack manual with at least the vulture.
- You are immune to maelstrom in all forms. As a Vulture, you are immune to spider mines, and can also lay them to capture a beacon.
- You can deal concussive or explosive damage, depending on your opponent. You can be a large or medium sized target, depending on your opponent.
Early Game Matchups:Easy win: Light Mage, Dark Mage, Summoner, Medic, Firebat, Mutant, Assassin
Skill-dependent: Volt, Archer
Difficult to win: Marine, Warrior
With proper micro, a good Mech can even overcome an early-game 2v1 of the "Easy win" units and come out with a couple of kills or a warp gate.
How to Vulture-MicroMove in a direction, patrol
towards your opponent. Repeat. The timing for this is difficult at first but after a while it should be easy. Using patrol instead of attack lets you fire very fast, and you can immediately move away from your opponent.
If your opponent is running to his base, you can also block him to gain even more time to fire, while still keeping up a steady stream of attacks. You can combine this with your L2 if your opponent is running in a non-downwards direction. If you use it while running downwards, your vultures will spawn below you and hinder you more than they help.
It's a personal challenge of mine to see how long I can dance around a melee opponent who will kill me in a hit or two. They usually give up or die before I do, which should tell you how absolutely dominant the Vulture can be against melee opponents.
General Strategy:As with most Heroes, put your initial civilian(s) into minerals, upgrading damage. Depending on your opponents, you may want to rush straight to Vulture with your next 3 civilians. You can get a free kill if you catch an opponent far from his base simply by vulture microing him as he flees by surprising him. Using a low-HP Goliath as bait has gotten me countless kills. Following this, most of your civilians are going to be put into minerals for damage for a good bit of time. (If playing on a non-M3 version, it's worthwhile to go for a probe and assimilators as well.)
Your current mana dictates when you change classes, and how often you need to change classes dictates how much mana you get. Getting more mana upgrades allows more flexibility, but against melee opponents it may be preferable to simply stay in Vulture form for the majority of the game and thus you're better off getting HP or Damage upgrades.
The issue of when to get the tank, or getting it at all, is a matter of your opponents. A Vulture/Goliath combo is weak against very few things, such as a Lurker Bomb-Mutant or a Reaver-LM. Otherwise, it will be your bread and butter for most games. You can use the tank form as "extra HP" if you're ever in danger, or you can simply put civilians into Hit Points. It equates to much the same thing if you don't plan on using the Tank for killing.
My personal rule of thumb is that if we are working on taking down the enemy temple, getting the Tank form is worthwhile. In games more hinging around PvP action, the tank is not as useful. Gaining entrance by hitting a pylon while in Siege Mode is quick, even without casting the 8-tank barrage. The L3 cast as a tank deals huge damage to the Temple, as does the tank form itself, and the Tank's high HP allows me to remain in their base for longer. This essentially allows me to add the Goliath's HP to the Tank's, and keep the Vulture in reserve to heal all forms quickly and get back to the action faster.
If you choose to get the Tank form and have been getting mana, you'll probably want to get the L4 soon too. Usually this is most effective against a stunned opponent, but it can be powerful against a moving opponent if timed and placed correctly. By the time you get the L4 one of your opponents likely is down to his final life. Springing it on him before their team is aware you have it can be a quick game-ender for that unlucky player.
In closing:The Mech is, in my opinion, the most powerful and most underutilized Hero. It is a hard counter to any melee unit due to the vulture's speed and microability, and allows you to play more daringly than any other class because of how quickly you can move around the battlefield. Coupled with the life bonuses from having essentially 3 separate heroes that all gain that percentage of hit points, you are very difficult to kill and yet still have very high damage-dealing potential. If you actually read all of this post, you should be a more than competent Mech player after a game or two of experimenting.
Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Feb 23 2009, 6:25 am by FaZ-.
None.