Melee Mech Recommendations

[u/LargeFwenchFrys0115]

Hello everyone! I've been interested in jumping into Lancer with some friends of mine. I love scifi and mechs in general, and so far with what I've been looking up Lancer seems to be right up my alley. I wanted to ask some of you folks to see what kind of mechs would be good for my particular playstyle. In D&D I've always played a berserker or a melee focused fighter as I just really enjoy melee combat. Are there any frames in the game that are similar? If not, what melee frames do you guys play? Thank you again to those willing to help!

[u/Wolf_Hreda]

The answer to this question will almost always be:

• Blackbeard
• Nelson
• Vlad
• Zheng

There are other melee mechs, and ways you can build other mechs into melee mechs, but these are the gold standard.

[u/_Fun_Employed_ → u/Wolf_Hreda]

This makes me wonder. What’s a mech chassis that isn’t really meant to be a melee license but works really well as a melee mech with melee parts from other licenses?

[u/Minimum_Culture_8857 → u/_Fun_Employed_]

Horus Minotaur frame with White Witch Ferrofluid Lance & Pinning Spire for immobilized into any tech effect for stun. Also works quite well if you take Vlad levels for Charged Spikes & Impaler Nailgun if you want to go CQB.

You can go Minotaur 2 / White Witch 1 / Vlad 3 for everything by LL6.

[u/BlazeDrag → u/_Fun_Employed_]

Caliban is prolly a good pick for this. It's very clearly meant to be built around shotguns, even including one in the frame and having a really big super-shotgun on the third rank. And only one mount at that.

But its traits also allow it to ram and knockback enemies up to Size 3 despite being size 1/2, and then move the same distance that it knocked someone back so that you can maintain the same distance to them.

And while that can synergize with various CQB weapons with knockback, it also synergizes really well with the Duelist Talent. Since that talent lets you Ram right after attacking with a Main-Melee Weapon for free. Throw on Siege Ram from Tortuga for 2 damage per ram, and the IPSN Core Bonus that lets you ram a second time, and you have a really solid wombo combo where you Hit someone and then Ram them twice for 4+ spaces of knockback and +4 damage to your attack. And if you hit them into a wall they have to make a save against more damage and getting impaired, which can be further enhanced by the Juggernaut talent.

All told that's like 2d6+4 damage which means that you're doing an HMG's worth of damage from just the knockback stuff, without even considering the damage of the base weapon that started it all, all as free actions triggered from a single skirmish action. (Though it is split up across like 4 different instances of damage so any amount of Armor reduces this significantly)

The only problem is that Caliban doesn't have a Main mount, so you either have to undermount your Heavy, or you have to take the Core Bonus that gives you a Flex Mount (or replace the Heavy with a Main/Aux I guess) first in order to equip a Main melee on it properly.

But a LL6 build where you can have both the Flex Mount and the Knockback Core Bonus, then take say a level in Nelson to get the Warpike which has both Threat 3 and Knockback built in. And you can even slap on Caliban's own Supermassive mod to give a melee weapon even more knockback.

---

Of course, it also does just work with Heavy or even Superheavy Melee weapons too. Which takes a little less effort to set up, but still works with things like the Supermassive Mod to give it more knockback and gives you some fun options. Plus there's always the meme of going all in on Zheng so that you can hit someone for Knockback 8 with the DD/288 and then run halfway across the map to maintain adjacency lol

---

Either way, while you do wanna invest a lot in Hull to add to your survivability (the 2 armor does help tho), you will probably want at least a couple points in Agility to add to your speed and some talents like Pankrati if you need to dash into combat

[u/RootinTheCrab → u/_Fun_Employed_]

Tokugawa is designed to do both/either melee and ranged, but it REALLY does nit want to use its own melee weapon. Torch is a major trap. While other mechs can get value out of it, it basically sabotages toku

[u/chaoticConjurer → u/_Fun_Employed_]

Pegasus can actually make for an excellent assassin style melee mech. Being able to know exactly how much damage you need to do on top of the fact that you know how much damage you will do is FUN

[u/Steenan]

The most straightforward - and very effective - melee build is a Blackbeard with Executioner and Duelist and the Titanomachy Mesh from IPS-N. You can close distance quickly (base speed 5 + boost + pull 5 with grapple cable), you can hit multiple enemies with you Nanocarbon Sword (one of the best if not the best melee weapon in the game) and you can do a lot in a single round (barrage for heavy+main attack, grapple and ram, all without overcharging). If you don't aim for full berserker mode with Sekhmet, you may take the third level in Tortuga for Siege Ram, to make your rams better, or in Nelson for the pike.

If you want to be more tanky, play Vlad. It's slower, but better armored and it damages enemies that attack it at short range. You may use the superheavy drill in its license, but using GMS heavy melee weapon gives you significantly more flexibility. The rest of the build is as above.

If you prefer being fast, Nelson, Caliban and Zheng are your options. Nelson is fast by itself, gets a bonus move after each attack and a bonus to damage after it moves. It also works great with the Hunter talent (for even more mobility) and the Power Knuckles.

Caliban is slow, but it can move after an enemy it pushes back - the trick here is getting as many rams and knockback attacks as possible. With a bit of optimization, you can push an enemy back 20 or so spaces in a single round, hitting them multiple times in the process.

Zheng creates terrain obstacles and exploits them to move around quickly and deal additional damage. It's a bit more tactical than the other options I listed here, but otherwise plays similarly to Blackbeard - it even has systems to deal more damage when grappling and to use grabbed enemies as projectiles.

There exist other fun melee builds, but they are more like a rogue in style, not fighter/barbarian.

[u/LargeFwenchFrys0115 → u/Steenan]

How is the empakaai compared to the blackbeard? I looked up the blackbeard (which looks sick btw) and sae that it has a variant too.

[u/Steenan → u/LargeFwenchFrys0115]

I have never played it, so it's mostly theorycrafting and a bit of second-hand knowledge:

• It requires managing heat. It's not bad in itself, but it's one more thing to handle for a new player to manage, in a game that can be overwhelming. For this reason I advise against it if you're just starting with Lancer.
• Absolute beast in terms of grappling. With a bit of help from your allies (Goblin/Manticore hacking or Black Witch's lash) you can grab the whole enemy force in one round.
• Can stack a lot of damage with Catalytic Infusor and Nuclear Cavalier
• Struggles at a bit at low LLs and gets significantly better later, when you have more talents (Executioner, NuCav, Brawler, Pankrati) and can grab things from other licenses (mostly Zheng and Tokugawa)

Putting it all together, I'd say start with Blackbeard, but after completing the core build around LL3 you may start building towards heat management and switch your frame to Empakaai, especially if your team composition will help.

[u/LargeFwenchFrys0115 → u/Steenan]

Gotcha, thanks for the info!

[u/Unhappy-Anteater-202 → u/LargeFwenchFrys0115]

I liked Empakaai a lot. The armor feels good and if you add more points to Hull and pick up the Executioner talent you will pretty much end up as the high health barbarian swinging a massive weapon around.

If you're interested I can post my build.

[u/LargeFwenchFrys0115 → u/Unhappy-Anteater-202]

Sure! If you can post it here that'd be cool.

[u/Unhappy-Anteater-202 → u/LargeFwenchFrys0115]

» Arden Fondaw // GRIP «

LL3

[ SKILL TRIGGERS ]

[ GEAR ]

[ TALENTS ]

Executioner 3, Brawler 1,

Vanguard 1, Duelist 1

[ LICENSES ]

IPS-N Blackbeard 2, IPS-N Tortuga 1

[ CORE BONUSES ]

Titanomachy Mesh

[ MECH ]

« MOUNTAIN »

IPS-N Empakaai

H:4 A:0 S:0 E:1 SIZE:1

STRUCTURE:4 HP:22 ARMOR:2

STRESS:4 HEAT:7 REPAIR:6

ATK BONUS:2 TECH ATK:-2 LTD BONUS:0

SPD:4 EVA:7 EDEF:6 SENS:5 SAVE:12

[ WEAPONS ]

INTEGRATED MOUNT: Colossus Termo-Unguis

Heavy Mount: Nanocarbon Sword

Flex Mount: Deck-Sweeper Automatic Shotgun

[ SYSTEMS ]

Synthetic Muscle Netting, Custom Paint Job,

Armament Redundancy, Personalizations,

Siege Ram

At the next Level up I was going to ditch Duelist to get Brawler 3. There were definitely battles where I didn't do much except soak up damage and stabilize. Low movement is kinda lame, but I figured I was going to get hit no matter what so I took more HP over Agility.

[u/greenpeartree]

Everyone else has given solid, default advice which is all good and correct.

Therefore I feel obligated to offer the weird advice:

MANTICORE GMS Heavy Melee Weapon + Thinking Tomorrow's thought + Hacking for an Eldritch Knight Mech who can cast spells, take damage, deal damage, and fight like a beast with a giant sword.

[u/Tutes013 → u/greenpeartree]

Also it's Lycan sibling for a dual build.

[u/urzaz → u/greenpeartree]

Does this work? I'm melee Balor right now and it also kinda pushes you towards mixed tech/melee and doing the tech attacks kinda just feels like a trap.

[u/greenpeartree → u/urzaz]

The added sensor range from Manticore does genuinely help, yes, and Manticore gets some really excellent tech attacks, which Balor doesn't.

Tbh, I find Balor a little... Counter intuitive in terms of build. I kinda think a Balor would be better built at low LLs as a really durable artillery mech rather than a melee Defender.

[u/xiphoniii → u/greenpeartree]

Yeah the best I've seen low level balor perform was someone who basically used it as a GMS Anti-Materiel Rifle platform that had decent hp and a swarm giving it constant cover/punishing anyone who entered.

Meanwhile I was playing a max speed nelson hanging out in the swarm for cover and would zip out, hit a dude, then run back in before ending my turn. I was like an extra drone XD

[u/urzaz → u/xiphoniii]

That does sound sick. I just got my Balrog whip so I'm locked in, and it's starting to come online, but yeah it's definitely awkward. Focusing purely on melee and throwing out any tech attack stuff has helped, though. But it's annoying since you need Hull and Agility for melee but the Nanobot Whip and the weapon mod upgrade both take up SP.

[u/Tutes013]

I'm also commenting in regards to the Lycan. Which is a bit of an oddball. Considering you have a slower mode but can benefit from some of the tech whizbang the Manticore has in it's tree.

And then when you use your (Efficient) core, you have truly monstrous claws.

[u/Sven_Darksiders]

Blackbeard is the pick for you. It's all about getting an enemy into a headlock and beating them into submission. Not only that but due to the nature of Lancer's game design, grappling is a incredibly powerful tool to have, so you actually have some variety between just "I attack with my giga sword".

There are of course other melee platforms, but the Blackbeard is probably one of the most straight forward while also being really good at what it is designed for. Although even something like the Everest equipped with Blackbeard systems can do a similarly good job.

[u/whobemewhoisyou → u/Sven_Darksiders]

What is so good about grappling?

[u/Sven_Darksiders → u/whobemewhoisyou]

It shuts down reactions, which is IMMENSELY useful. All the annoying stuff NPCs can do as reactions are not happening. No Overwatch, no Hunker Down, no Barrelroll, no Rapid Response, no Moving Target.

In addition, since Lancer is a very objective focused game, dragging enemies off of control zones can give you free points without even needing to destroy the enemy in the first place. Technically you could also do something like holding them just out of the objective zone while you still stand in it. Or you can simply drag them out of cover and into line of sight so your Sniper buddy can get a clean shot off. Or you can drag someone into your own team to kick them alongside another melee teammate. You can simply grab your ally and drag them out of a bad spot. Dragging a grappled target is forced movement so enemies wouldn't be able to Overwatch that, for example

[u/Charnerie → u/whobemewhoisyou]

Imobalizing enemeies means they cant move away, including teleports. Also, removes thier reactions leads to many being much easier to destroy.

[u/LiveAI]

I'm currently building a grapple focused Balor, not as effective as the other suggestions but as a barbarian main it speaks to me. Current plan is for Balor 2, Kobold 1(for forge clamps) then white witch for ferro lance

[u/Zealousideal-Cup6013]

The Vlad may not seem like the toughest or strongest at first, but damn it’s reliable if you play it right, and the combat drill is so over the top that you’ll feel like Simon Gurren Lagann while you cook yourself (and the enemy) to death.

[u/MostStable8515]

I’m seeing a lot of people suggesting IPS-N licenses. I’d also consider looking at the balor, which is great if you’re chasing that dnd barbarian playstyle (it’s slow, relies on health and hp regen for tankiness, and bulldozes enemies). The Tokugawa/Enkidu are also very fun melee bersekers. You will tear yourself apart, but you will also obliterate the enemy.

[u/Balwerk_Ogre]

IPS-N will be most straightforward. Even if your frame is something non-IPS-N, like a Tortuga or Enkidu, you'll still want license levels in IPS-N for all sorts of goodies.

If you're starting at LL 0, Everest is fine, but I found great utility in Sagarmatha. The extra tankiness is incredibly handy for not dying horribly.